christianity and islam in spain a.d. - c.r. haines, m.a. author of "england and the opium trade"; "education and missions"; "versions in verse." london kegan paul, trench &co., paternoster square [note: while there is only one chapter ix in the table of contents, there are two in text. i believe the first was meant to be part of chapter viii.] table of contents. chapter i. invasion of spain by the barbarians--its easy conquest--quarrels among the conquerors--departure of the vandals--visigoths gain the supremacy--conflict with eastern empire--reduction of the suevi--all spain becomes gothic--approach of saracens--planting of christianity in spain--st james--gospel first preached at elvira--irenaeus--persecutions--martyrs--council of elvira--council of nice--number of christians--paganism proscribed--julian--arianism--ulphilas--conversion of barbarians--degeneracy of religion--priscillian--his heresy condemned--priscillian burnt--paganism, in spain--the gothic government--church and state--power of king--election of bishops--arianism of goths--ermenegild--bigotry in spain--jews--influence of clergy--of the pope - chapter ii. period of gothic rule--degeneracy of goths--causes of their fall--battle of guadalete--resistance of towns--theodomir--remnant in the north--mohammedanism--its rise and progress--reduction of africa--siege of constantinople--attacks on spain--tarif--arabs in gaul--anarchy in spain--christians in the north--clemency of the arabs--treaties--conquest easy--rhapsodies of isidore--slaves--jews--impartiality of arab governors--khalifate established--feuds of arabs and berbers--revolt of berbers--syrian arabs--settlement of arabs--effect of berber wars - chapter iii. landing of abdurrahman--khalifate of cordova--condition of christians--proselytism--apostates--arabs and spaniards--evidence of christian writers--condition of the people--serfs--no revolts--no solidarity with the christians in the north--relations with arabs at first friendly--the jehad in spain--martyrs in battle--fabulous martyr--anambad, first martyr--peter of najuma--no other till --john and adulphus--causes of martyrdoms--amalgamation of the two peoples--intermarriage--children of mixed parents--nunilo and alodia--mania for martyrdom--voluntary martyrdoms--the spanish confessors--threatened deterioration in the church--christianity infected with moslem customs--religious fervour in convents--fanaticism, of monks--fresh martyrs--perfectus, john, isaac--arab inability to understand the motives of these martyrs--causes of fanaticism--sanctus--peter--walabonsus, etc - chapter iv. flora and maria--their adventures--trial--meet eulogius in prison--their execution--other martyrs--hidden christians--aurelius, sabigotha, etc--plan for procuring martyrdom--miracle in prison--execution--other martyrs--death of abdurrahman ii.--mohammed i.--martyrs--prodigy upon their execution--outrage in a mosque--punishment of offenders--apprehension of king--meditates a persecution--even a massacre--series of martyrdoms--cloister of tabanos suppressed--columba, pomposa--abundius a true martyr--others martyred--censor of cordova--persecution and death of ruderic--eulogius--parentage and antecedents--opposes amalgamation of arabs and christians--encourages learning of latin--imprisonment--elected bishop of toledo--again imprisoned--trial--execution--his relics - chapter v. doubtful martyrs--no persecution raging--the muzarabes--churches in cordova--arab description of a church--monasteries outside the city--voluntary martyrs, chiefly from cordova--no ferment at elvira--enthusiasts not a large body--their leaders--the moderate party--objections against the martyrs--voluntary martyrdoms forbidden by the church--answer of apologists--evidence as to persecution--apologists inconsistent--eulogius and alvar--reviling of mohammed--martyrs worked no miracles--defence of apologists illogical--martyrs put to death not by idolaters--death without torture--their bodies corrupted--moslem taunts--effect of martyrdoms on the moslems--prohibition of relics--traffic in relics--they work miracles--relics taken from spain to france--expedition of monks for that purpose--st vincent's body--relics of george, aurelius, etc., carried off--return to france--measures of the moderate party--of the moslems--reccafredus--supported by the majority of christians--fanatics coerced--anathematized--action of king--suspects political movement--revolt at toledo--grand council--measures against zealots--meditated persecution--the extreme party broken up--apostasies--reason of these--the exceptor gomez--the decision of the council--cessation of martyrdoms - chapter vi. national party--revolt of spaniards against arabs--martyrs in battle--martyrdoms under abdurrahman iii.--pelagius--argentea--the monks of cardena--eugenia--no real persecution under the great khalif--general view of christian church in spain under abdurrahman ii.--civil position of christians--councils--neglect of latin--arabic compulsory--protests of alvar, etc.--latin forgotten--cultivation of moslem learning--moslem theology--church abuses--simony--breach of canons--unworthy priests--rival pastors--heresy in the church--depravity of clergy--their apostasy--their deposition--muzarabes--free christians in the north--the church in the north--its dangerous position--cut short by almanzor--clergy oppress christians--count of cordova--ill-treats the christians--councils--held by elipandus--by reccafredus--by hostegesis--jews and moslems summoned--council held by basilius - chapter vii. khalifate saved by abdurrahman iii.--commander of the faithful--his character--embassy to the emperor of the west--return embassy--john of gorz--detained in cordova--messengers from the king--cause of detention--john of gorz and john of cordova--the king's threats--dead-lock--fresh embassy to otho--a second embassy from otho--first embassy received--condescension of sultan--tolerance of moslems--mohammed's injunctions--tolerant mohammedan rulers elsewhere--alcuin--arnold of citeaux--bernard, archbishop of toledo--christians tolerated, even encouraged--"officer of protection"--christian courts--censors--sclavonian bodyguard--arab pride of race--partial amalgamation of races--alliances between arabs and christians--intermarriages--offspring of these--the maiden tribute--evidence in its favour--no myth--conversions--mohammedan view of apostasy - chapter viii. arab factions--berbers--spaniards--muwallads--despised by arabs--revolts at cordova, &c.--intrigues with the franks--letter of louis--revolt of toledo--christians and muwallads make common cause--omar--begins life as a bandit--captured--escapes--heads the national party--becomes a christian--utterly defeated--muwallads desert him--death of omar--stronghold of bobastro captured--end of rebellion--christians under abdurrahman iii.--almanzor--anarchy--end of khalifate--knowledge of christianity and mohammedanism slight among those of the opposite creed--christian writers on islam--eulogius--mohammed's relation to christianity--alvar--unfair to mohammed--his ignorance of the koran--prophecy of daniel.--moslem knowledge of christianity--mistaken idea of the trinity--ibn hazm--st james of compostella - chapter ix. traces of amalgamation of religions--instances elsewhere--essential differences of islam and christianity--compromise attempted--influence of islam, over christianity--innovating spirit in spain--heresy in septimania--its possible connection with mohammedanism--migetian heresy as to the trinity--its approach to the mohammedan doctrine--other similar heresies--adoptionism--our knowledge of it--whence derived--connection with islam--its author or authors--probably elipandus--his opponents--his character--independence--jealousy of the free church in the north--nature of adoptionism--not a revival of nestorianism---origin of the name--arose from inadvertence--felix--his arguments--alcuin's answers--christ, the son of god by adoption--unity of persons acknowledged--first mention of theory--adrian---extension of heresy--its opponents--felix amenable to church discipline--elipandus under arab rule--councils--of narbonne--friuli--ratisbon--felix abjures his heresy--alcuin--council of frankfort--heresy anathematized--councils of rome and aix--felix again recants--alcuin's book--elipandus and felix die in their error--summary of evidence connecting adoptionism with mohammedanism--heresy of claudius---iconoclasm libri carolini--claudius, bishop of turin--crusade against image-worship--his opponents--arguments--independence--summoned before a council--refuses to attend--albigensian heresy - chapter x. mutual influences of the two creeds--socially and intellectually--"no monks in islam"--faquirs--the conventual system adopted by the arabs--arab account of a convent--moslem nuns--islam christianised---christian spirit in mohammedanism--arab magnanimity--moslem miracles---like christian ones--enlightened moslems--philosophy--freethinkers--theologians--almanzor--moslem sceptics--averroes--the faquis or theologians--sect of malik ibn ans--power of theologians---decay of moslem customs--wine drunk--music cultivated--silk worn--statues set up--turning towards mecca--eating of sow's flesh--enfranchisement of moslem women--love--distinguished women---women in mosques--at tournaments--arab love-poem--treatise on love - chapter xi. influence of mohammedanism--circumcision of christians--even of a bishop--customs retained for contrast--cleanliness rejected as peculiar to moslems--celibacy of clergy--chivalry--origin--derived from arabs--favoured by state of spain--spain the cradle of chivalry--arab chivalry--qualifications for a knight--rules of knighthood--the cid--almanzor--his generosity--justice--moslem military orders--holy wars--christianity mohammedanized--the "apotheosis of chivalry"--chivalry a sort of religion--social compromise--culminates in the crusades - appendices. appendix a. jews persecuted by goths--help the saracens--numbers--jews in france--illtreated--accusations against--eleazar, an apostate--incites the spanish moslems against the christians--intellectual development of jews in spain--come to be disliked by arabs--jews and the messiah--judaism deteriorated--contact with islam--civil position--jews at toledo--christian persecution of jews--massacre--expulsion--conversion--the "mala sangre"--the inquisition - appendix b. spain and the papal power--early independence--early importance of spanish church--arian spain--orthodox spain--increase of papal influence--independent spirit of king and clergy--quarrel with the pope--arab invasion--papal authority in the north--crusade preached--intervention of the pope--st james' relics--claudius of turin--rejection of pope's claims--increase of pope's power in spain--appealed to against muzarabes--errors of migetius--keeping of easter--eating of pork--intermarriage with jews and moslems--fasting on sundays--elipandus withstands the papal claims--upholds intercourse with arabs--rejects papal supremacy--advance of christians in the north--extension of power of the pope--gothic liturgy suspected--suppressed--authority of pope over king--appeals from the king to the pope--rupture with the roman see--resistance of sovereign and barons to the pope--inquisition established--victims--moriscoes persecuted--reformation stamped out--subjection of spanish church - list of authorities - chapter i. the goths in spain. just about the time when the romans withdrew from britain, leaving so many of their possessions behind them, the suevi, alani, and vandals, at the invitation of gerontius, the roman governor of spain, burst into that province over the unguarded passes of the pyrenees.[ ] close on their steps followed the visigoths; whose king, taking in marriage placidia, the sister of honorius, was acknowledged by the helpless emperor independent ruler of such parts of southern gaul and spain as he could conquer and keep for himself. the effeminate and luxurious provincials offered practically no resistance to the fierce teutons. no arthur arose among them, as among the warlike britons of our own island; no viriathus even, as in the struggle for independence against the roman commonwealth. mariana, the spanish historian, asserts that they preferred the rule of the barbarians. however this may be, the various tribes that invaded the country found no serious opposition among the spaniards: the only fighting was between themselves--for the spoil. many years of warfare were necessary to decide this important question of supremacy. fortunately for spain, the vandals, who seem to have been the fiercest horde and under the ablest leader, rapidly forced their way southward, and, passing on to fresh conquests, crossed the straits of gibraltar in : not, however, before they had utterly overthrown their rivals, the suevi, on the river baetis, and had left an abiding record of their brief stay in the name andalusia. [ ] "inter barbaros pauperem libertatem quam inter romanos tributariam sollicitudinem sustinere."--mariana, apud dunham, vol i. for a time it seemed likely that the suevi, in spite of their late crushing defeat, would subject to themselves the whole of spain, but under theodoric ii. and euric, the visigoths definitely asserted their superiority. under the latter king the gothic domination in spain may be said to have begun about ten years before the fall of the western empire. but the goths were as yet by no means in possession of the whole of spain. a large part of the south was held by imperialist troops; for, though the western empire had been extinguished in , the eastern emperor had succeeded by inheritance to all the outlying provinces, which had even nominally belonged to his rival in the west. among these was some portion of spain. it was not till , the year in which mohammed was born, that a king came to the gothic throne strong enough to crush the suevi and to reduce the imperialist garrisons in the south; and it was not till , the very year of the flight from mecca, that a gothic king, swintila, finally drove out all the emperor's troops, and became king in reality of all spain. scarcely had this been well done, when we perceive the first indications of the advent of a far more terrible foe, the rumours of whose irresistible prowess had marched before them. the dread, which the arabs aroused even in distant spain as early as a century after the birth of mohammed, may be appreciated from the despairing lines of julian,[ ] bishop of toledo:-- "hei mihi! quam timeo, ne nos malus implicet error, demur et infandis gentibus opprobrio! africa plena viris bellacibus arma minatur, inque dies victrix gens agarena furit." before giving an account of the saracen invasion and its results, it will be well to take a brief retrospect of the condition of christianity in spain under the gothic domination, and previous to the advent of the moslems. [ ] migne's "patrologie," vol. xcvi. p. . there can be no doubt that christianity was brought very early into spain by the preaching, as is supposed, of st paul himself, who is said to have made a missionary journey through andalusia, valencia, and aragon. on the other hand, there are no grounds whatever for supposing that james, the brother of john, ever set foot in spain. the "invention" of his remains at ira flavia in the th century, together with the story framed to account for their presence in a remote corner of spain so far from the scene of the apostle's martyrdom, is a fable too childish to need refutation. the honour of first hearing the gospel message has been claimed (but, it seems, against probability) for illiberis.[ ] however that may be, the early establishment of christianity in spain is attested by irenæus, who appeals to the spanish church as retaining the primitive doctrine.[ ] the long roll of spanish martyrs begins in the persecution of domitian ( a.d.) with the name of eugenius, bishop of toledo. in most of the succeeding persecutions spain furnished her full quota of martyrs, but she suffered most under diocletian ( ). it was in this emperor's reign that nearly all the inhabitants of cæsar augusta were treacherously slaughtered on the sole ground of their being christians; thus earning for their native city from the christian poet prudentius,[ ] the proud title of "patria sanctorum martyrum." [ ] florez, "españa sagrada," vol. iii. pp. ff. [ ] bk. i. ch. x. (a.d. ). [ ] - a.d. the persecution of diocletian, though the fiercest, was at the same time the last, which afflicted the church under the roman empire. diocletian indeed proclaimed that he had blotted out the very name of christian and abolished their hateful superstition. this even to the romans must have seemed an empty boast, and the result of diocletian's efforts only proved the truth of the old maxim--"the blood of martyrs is the seed of the church." the spanish christians about this time[ ] held the first ecclesiastical council whose acts have come down to us. this council of illiberis, or elvira, was composed of nineteen bishops and thirty-six presbyters, who passed eighty canons. [ ] the date is doubtful. blunt, "early christianity," p. , places it between and , though in a hesitating manner. other dates given are and . the imperial edict of toleration was issued in , and in was held the first general council of the church under the presidency of the emperor, constantine, himself an avowed christian. within a quarter of a century of the time when diocletian had boasted that he had extirpated the christian name, it has been computed that nearly one half of the inhabitants of his empire were christians. the toleration, so long clamoured for, so lately conceded, was in put an end to by the christians themselves, and pagan sacrifices were prohibited. so inconsistent is the conduct of a church militant and a church triumphant! in , after a brief eclipse under julian, christianity was formally declared by the senate to be the established religion of the roman empire. but the security, or rather predominance, thus suddenly acquired by the church, resting as it did in part upon royal favour and court intrigue, did not tend to the spiritual advancement of christianity. almost coincident with the edict of milan was the appearance of arianism, which, after dividing the church against itself for upwards of half-a-century, and almost succeeding at one time in imposing itself on the whole church,[ ] finally under the missionary zeal of ulphilas found a new life among the barbarian nations that were pressing in upon all the northern boundaries of the empire, ready, like eagles, to swoop down and feast upon her mighty carcase. [ ] at the council of rimini in . "ingemuit totus orbis," says jerome, "et arianum se esse miratus est." most of these barbaric hordes, like the goths and the vandals, adopted the semi-arian christianity first preached to them by ulphilas towards the close of the fourth century. consequently the nations that forced their way into southern gaul, and over the pyrenees into spain, were, nominally at least, christians of the arian persuasion. the extreme importance to spain of the fact of their being christians at all will be readily apprehended by contrasting the fate of the spanish provincials with that which befell the christian and romanized britons at the hands of our own saxon forefathers only half-a-century later. meanwhile the church in spain, like the church elsewhere, freed from the quickening and purifying influences of persecution, had lost much of its ancient fervour. gladiatorial shows and lascivious dances on the stage began to be tolerated even by christians, though they were denounced by the more devout as incompatible with the profession of the christian faith. spain also furnishes us with the first melancholy spectacle of christian blood shed by christian hands. priscillian, bishop of avila, was led into error by his intercourse with an egyptian gnostic. what his error exactly was is not very clear, but it seems to have comprised some of the erroneous doctrines attributed to manes and sabellius. in , the new heresy, with which two other bishops besides priscillian became infected, was condemned at a council held at saragoza, and by another held five years later at bordeaux. priscillian himself and six other persons were executed with tortures at the instigation of ithacius,[ ] bishop of sossuba, and idacius, bishop of merida, in spite of the protests of martin of tours and others. the heresy itself, however, was not thus stamped out, and continued in spain until long after the gothic conquest. there is some reason for supposing that at the time of the gothic invasion spain was still in great part pagan, and that it continued to be so during the whole period of gothic domination.[ ] some pagans undoubtedly lingered on even as late as the end of the sixth century,[ ] but that there were any large numbers of them as late as the eighth century is improbable. dr dunham, who has given a clear and concise account of the gothic government in spain, calls it the "most accursed that ever existed in europe."[ ] this is too sweeping a statement, though it must be allowed that the haughty exclusiveness of the gothic nobles rendered their yoke peculiarly galling, while the position of their slaves was wretched beyond all example. however, it is not to their civil administration that we wish now to draw attention, but rather to the relations of church and state under a gothic administration which was at first arian and subsequently orthodox. [ ] see milman, "latin christianity," vol. iii. p. . [ ] dozy, ii. , quotes in support of this the second canon of the sixteenth council of toledo. [ ] mason, a bishop of merida, was said to have baptized a pagan as late as this. [ ] dunham's "hist. of spain," vol. i. p. . the government, which began with being of a thoroughly military character, gradually tended to become a theocracy--a result due in great measure to the institution of national councils, which were called by the king, and attended by all the chief ecclesiastics of the realm. many of the nobles and high dignitaries of the state also took part in these assemblies, though they might not vote on purely ecclesiastical matters. these councils, of which there were nineteen in all (seventeen held at toledo, the gothic capital, and two elsewhere), gradually assumed the power of ratifying the election of the king, and of dictating his religious policy. thus by the sixth council of toledo (canon three) it was enacted that all kings should swear "not to suffer the exercise of any other religion than the catholic, and to vigorously enforce the law against all dissentients, especially against that accursed people the jews." the fact of the monarchy becoming elective[ ] no doubt contributed a good deal to throwing the power into the hands of the clergy. dr dunham remarks that these councils tended to make the bishops subservient to the court, but surely the evidence points the other way. on the whole it was the king that lost power, though no doubt as a compensation he gained somewhat more authority over church matters. he could, for instance, issue temporary regulations with regard to church discipline. witiza, one of the last of the gothic kings, seems even to have authorized, or at least encouraged, the marriage of his clergy.[ ] the king could preside in cases of appeal in purely ecclesiastical affairs; and we know that recared i. ( - ) and sisebert ( - ) did in fact exercise this right. he also gained the power of nominating and translating bishops; but it is not clear when this privilege was first conceded to the king.[ ] the fourth council of toledo ( ) enacted that a bishop should be elected by the clergy and people of his city, and that his election should be approved by the metropolitan and synod of his province: while the twelfth council, held forty-eight years later, evidently recognizes the validity of their appointment by royal warrant alone. some have referred this innovation back to the despotic rule of theodoric the ostrogoth, at the beginning of the sixth century; others to the sudden accumulation of vacant sees on the fall of arianism in spain. another important power possessed by the kings was that of convoking these national councils, and confirming their acts. [ ] in a.d. [ ] monk of silo, sec. , who follows sebastian of salamanca; robertson, iii. . we learn from the "chron. sil," sec. , that fruela ( - ) forbade the marriage of clergy. but these accounts of witiza's reign are all open to suspicion. [ ] robertson, "hist. of christian church," vol. iii. p. . the sudden surrender of their arianism by the gothic king and nobles is a noticeable phenomenon. all the barbarian races that invaded spain at the beginning of the fifth century were inoculated with the arian heresy. of these the vandals carried their arianism, which proved to be of a very persecuting type, into africa. the suevi, into which nation the alani, under the pressure of a common enemy, had soon been absorbed, gave up their arianism for the orthodox faith about . the visigoths, however, remained arians until a somewhat later period--until namely, when recared i., the son of leovigild, held a national council and solemnly abjured the creed of his forefathers, his example being followed by many of his nobles and bishops. the visigoths, while they remained arian, were on the whole remarkably tolerant[ ] towards both jews and catholics, though we have instances to the contrary in the cases of euric and leovigild, who are said to have persecuted the orthodox party. the latter king, indeed, who was naturally of a mild and forgiving temper, was forced into harsh measures by the unfilial and traitorous conduct of his son ermenegild. if the latter had been content to avow his conversion to orthodoxy without entering into a treasonable rebellion in concert with the suevi and imperialists against his too indulgent father, there is every reason to think that leovigild would have taken no measures against him. even after a second rebellion the king offered to spare his son's life--which was forfeit to the state--on condition that he renounced his newly-adopted creed, and returned to the arian fold. his reason--a very intelligible one--no doubt was that he might put an end to the risk of a third rebellion by separating his son effectually from the intriguing party of catholics. to call ermenegild a martyr because he was put to death under such circumstances is surely an abuse of words. [ ] lecky, "rise of rationalism," vol. i. p. , note, says that the arian goths were intolerant; but there seem to be insufficient grounds for the assertion. with the fall of arianism came a large accession of bigotry to the spanish church, as is sufficiently shewn by the canon above quoted from the sixth council of toledo. a subsequent law was even passed forbidding anyone under pain of confiscation of his property and perpetual imprisonment, to call in question the holy catholic and apostolic church; the evangelical institutions; the definitions of the fathers; the decrees of the church; and the sacraments. in the spirit of these enactments, severe measures were taken against the jews, of whom there were great numbers in spain. sisebert ( - ) seems to have been the first systematic persecutor, whose zeal, as even isidore confesses, was "not according to knowledge."[ ] a cruel choice was given the jews between baptism on the one hand, and scourging and destitution on the other. when this proved unavailing, more stringent edicts were enforced against them. those who under the pressure of persecution consented to be baptised, were forced to swear by the most solemn of oaths that they had in very truth renounced their jewish faith and abhorred its rites. those who still refused to conform were subjected to every indignity and outrage. they were obliged to have christian servants, and to observe sunday and easter. they were denied the _s connubii_ and the _ius honorum_. their testimony was invalid in law courts, unless a christian vouched for their character. some who still held out were even driven into exile. but this punishment could not have been systematically carried out, for the saracen invasion found great numbers of jews still in spain. as dozy[ ] well says of the persecutors--"on le voulut bien, mais on ne le pouvait pas." [ ] apud florez, "esp. sagr.," vol. vi. p. , quoted by southey, roderic, p. , n. "sisebertus, qui in initio regni judaeos ad fidem christianam permovens, aemulationem quidem habuit, sed non secundum scientiam: potestate enim compulit, quos provocare fidei ratione oportuit. sed, sicut est scriptum, sive per occasionem sive per veritatem christus annunciatur, in hoc gaudeo et gaudebo." [ ] "history of mussulmans in spain," vol. ii. p. . naturally enough, under these circumstances the jews of spain turned their eyes to their co-religionists in africa; but, the secret negotiations between them being discovered, the persecution blazed out afresh, and the seventeenth council of toledo[ ] decreed that relapsed jews should be sold as slaves; that their children should be forcibly taken from them; and that they should not be allowed to marry among themselves.[ ] [ ] canon , de damnatione judaeorum. [ ] for the further history of the jews in spain, see appendix a. these odious decrees against the jews must be attributed to the dominant influence of the clergy, who requited the help they thus received from the secular arm by wielding the powers of anathema and excommunication against the political enemies of the king.[ ] moreover the cordial relations which subsisted between the church and the state, animated as they were by a strong spirit of independence, enabled the spanish kings to resist the dangerous encroachments of the papal power, a subject which has been more fully treated in an appendix.[ ] [ ] the councils are full of denunciations aimed at the rebels against the king's authority. by the fourth council ( ) the deposed swintila was excommunicated. [ ] appendix b. chapter ii. the saracens in spain. the gothic domination lasted years, and in that comparatively short period we are asked by some writers to believe that the invaders quite lost their national characteristics, and became, like the spaniards, luxurious and effeminate.[ ] their haughty exclusiveness, and the fact of their being arians, may no doubt have tended to keep them for a time separate from, and superior to, the subject population, whom they despised as slaves, and hated as heretics. but when the religious barrier was removed, the social one soon followed, and so completely did the conquerors lose their ascendency, that they even surrendered their own teutonic tongue for the corrupt latin of their subjects. [ ] cardonne's "history of spain," vol. i. p. . "bien différens des leurs ancêtres étoient alors énervés par les plaisirs, la douceur du climat; le luxe et les richesses avoient amolli leur courage et corrompu les moeurs." cp. dunham, vol. i. . but the goths had certainly not become so degenerate as is generally supposed. their saracen foes did not thus undervalue them. musa ibn nosseyr, the organiser of the expedition into spain, and the first governor of that country under arab rule, when asked by the khalif suleiman for his opinion of the goths, answered that "they were lords living in luxury and abundance, but champions who did not turn their backs to the enemy."[ ] there can be no doubt that this praise was well deserved. nor is the comparative ease with which the country was overrun, any proof to the contrary. for that must be attributed to wholesale treachery from one end of the country to the other. but for this the gothic rulers had only themselves to blame. their treatment of the jews and of their slaves made the defection of these two classes of their subjects inevitable. the old spanish chroniclers represent the fall of the gothic kingdom as the direct vengeance of heaven for the sins of successive kings;[ ] but on the heads of the clergy, even more than of the king, rests the guilt of their iniquitous and suicidal policy towards the arians[ ] and the jews. the treachery of julian,[ ] whatever its cause, opened a way for the arabs into the country by betraying into their hands ceuta, the key of the straits. success in their first serious battle was secured to them by the opportune desertion from the enemy's ranks of the disaffected political party under the sons of the late king witiza,[ ] and an archbishop oppas, who afterwards apostatized; while the rapid subjugation of the whole country was aided and assured by the hosts of ill-used slaves who flocked to the saracen standards, and by the jews[ ] who hailed the arabs as fellow-shemites and deliverers from the hated yoke of the uncircumcised goths. [ ] al makkari, vol. i. p. . (de gayangos' translation). [ ] "chron. sil.," sec. , "recesserat ab hispania manus domini ob inveteratam regum malitiam." see above, p. , note . [ ] arianism lingered on till the middle of the eighth century at least, since rodrigo of toledo, iii., sec. , says of alfonso i., that he "extirpavit haeresin arianam." [ ] for julian, or, more correctly, ilyan, see de gayangos' note to al makkari, i. p. , etc. [ ] called ghittishah by the arabs. for the witizan party see "sebast. salan," sec. ; "chron. sil.," sec. . the daughter of witiza married a noble arab. the descendants of the king, under the name witizani, were known in spain till the end of the eighth century at least. see letter of beatus and etherius to elipandus, sec. ; "multi hodie ab ipso rege sumunt nomen _witizani_, etiam pauperes." see also al makkari, ii. . [ ] the jews garrisoned the taken towns (al makkari, i. pp. , , and de gayangos' note, p. ). even as late as we find the jews betraying barcelona to the moors, who slew nearly all the christians. yet in spite of all these disadvantages the goths made a brave stand--as brave, indeed, as our saxon forefathers against the normans. the first decisive battle in the south[ ] lasted, as some writers have declared, six whole days, and the arabs were at one time on the point of being driven into the sea. this is apparent from tarik's address to his soldiers in the heat of battle: "moslems, conquerors of africa, whither would you fly? the sea is behind you, and the foe in front. there is no help for you save in your own right hands[ ] and the favour of god." nor must we lay any stress on the disparity of forces on either side, amounting to five to one, for a large proportion of roderic's army was disaffected. it is probable that only the goths made a determined stand; and even after such a crushing defeat as they received at guadalete, and after the loss of their king, the gothic nobles still offered a stubborn resistance in merida, cordova, and elsewhere.[ ] one of them, theodomir, after defending himself manfully in murcia for some time, at last by his valour and address contrived to secure for himself, and even to hand down to his successor athanagild, a semi-independent rule over that part of spain. [ ] generally called the battle of guadalete (wada lek, see de gayangos on al makk. i. pp. , ), fought either near xeres or medina sidonia. [ ] "una salus victis nullam sperare salutem." see al makk. i. p. ; conde i. p. (bohn's translation). [ ] we must not forget also that the mild and politic conduct of the saracens towards the towns that surrendered, even after resistance, marvellously facilitated their conquest. but the great proof that the goths had not lost all their ancient hardihood and nobleness, is afforded by the fact that, when they had been driven into the mountains of the north and west, they seem to have begun at once to organize a fresh resistance against the invaders. the thirty[ ] wretched barbarians, whom the arabs thought it unnecessary to pursue into their native fastnesses, soon showed that they had power to sting; and the handful of patriots, who in the cave of covadonga gathered round pelayo, a scion of the old gothic line, soon swelled into an army, and the army into a nation. within six years of the death of roderic had begun that onward march of the new spanish monarchy, which, with the exception of a disastrous twenty-five years at the close of the tenth century, was not destined to retrograde, scarcely even to halt, until it had regained every foot of ground that had once belonged to the gothic kings. let us turn for a moment to the antecedents of the arab invaders. history affords no parallel, whether from a religious or political point of view, to the sudden rise of mohammedanism and the wonderful conquests which it made. "the electric spark[ ] had indeed fallen on what seemed black unnoticeable sand, and lo the sand proved explosive powder and blazed heaven-high from delhi to granada!" mohammed began his preaching in , and confined himself to persuasion till , the year of the flight from mecca. after this a change seems to have come over his conduct, if not over his character, and the prophet, foregoing the peaceful and more glorious mission of a heaven-sent messenger, appealed to the human arbitrament of the sword: not with any very marked success, however, the victory of bedr in being counterbalanced by the defeat of ohud in in the following year. in , arabia being mostly pacified, the first expedition beyond its boundaries was undertaken under mohammed's own leadership, but this abortive attempt gave no indications of the astonishing successes to be achieved in the near future. mohammed himself died in the following year, yet, in spite of this and the consequent revolt of almost all arabia, within two years syria was overrun and damascus taken. persia, which had contended for centuries on equal terms with rome, was overthrown in a single campaign. in jerusalem fell, and the sacred soil of palestine passed under the yoke of the saracens. within three years alexandria and the rich valley of the nile were the prize of amru and his army. the conquest of egypt only formed the stepping-stone to the reduction of africa, and the victorious moslems did not pause in their career until they reached the atlantic ocean, and akbah,[ ] riding his horse into the sea, sighed for more worlds to conquer. we may be excused perhaps for thinking that it had been well for the inhabitants of the new world, if fortune had delivered them into the hands of the generous arabs rather than to the cruel soldiery of cortes and pizarro. [ ] al makk., ii. . "what are thirty barbarians perched upon a rock? they must inevitably die." [ ] carlyle's "hero worship" ad finem. [ ] cardonne, i. p. ; gibbon, vi. , note. in , that is, in a little more than a generation from the death of mohammed, the moslems undertook the siege of constantinople. fortunately for the cause of civilisation and of christendom, this long siege of several years proved unsuccessful, as well as a second attack in . but by the latter date the footing in europe, which the valour of the byzantines denied them, had already been gained by the expedition into spain under tarik in . the same year that witnessed the crossing of the straits of gibraltar in the west saw also in the east the passage of the oxus by the eager warriors of islam. there seems to be some ground for supposing that the saracens had attacked spain even before the time of tarik. as early as , or only one year after the invasion of africa, an expedition is said to have been made into that country under abdullah ibn sa'd,[ ] which resulted in the temporary subjugation of the southern provinces. a second inroad is mentioned by abulfeda[ ] as having taken place in othman's reign ( - ); while for an incursion in the reign of wamba ( - ) we have the authority of the spanish historians, isidore of beja and sebastian of salamanca, the former of whom adds the fact that the saracens were invited in by erviga, who afterwards succeeded wamba on the throne--a story which seems likely enough when read in the light of the subsequent treason of julian. these earlier attacks, however, seem to have been mere raids, undertaken without an immediate view to permanent conquest. by way of retaliation, or with a commendable foresight, the goths sent help to carthage when besieged by the arabs in ; and, while julian their general still remained true to his allegiance, they beat off the saracens from ceuta. but on the surrender of that fortress the arabs were enabled to send across the straits a small reconnoitring detachment of five hundred men under tarif abu zarah,[ ] a berber. this took place in october ; but the actual invasion did not occur till april , , when , men landed under tarik ibn zeyad. there seems to have been a preliminary engagement before the decisive one of gaudalete (july th- th)--the gothic general in the former being stated variously to have been theodomir,[ ] sancho,[ ] or edeco.[ ] [ ] see de gayangos' note on al makkari, i. p. . [ ] "annales moslemici," i. p. . [ ] the names of tarif ibn malik abu zarah and tarik ibn zeyad have been confused by all the careless writers on spanish history--_e.g._ conde, dunham, yonge, southey, etc.; but gibbon, freeman, etc., of course do not fall into this error. for tarif's names see de gayangos, al makk., i. pp. , ; and for tarik's see "ibn abd el hakem," jones' translation, note . [ ] al makk., i. ; isidore: conde, i. . [ ] cardonne, i. . [ ] dr dunham. it will not be necessary to pursue the history of the conquest in detail. it is enough to say that in three years almost all spain and part of southern gaul were added to the saracen empire. but the arabs made the fatal mistake[ ] of leaving a remnant of their enemies unconquered in the mountains of asturia, and hardly had the wave of conquest swept over the country, than it began slowly but surely to recede. the year witnessed the high-water mark of arab extension in the west, and christian gaul was never afterwards seriously threatened with the calamity of a mohammedan domination. the period of forty-five years which elapsed between the conquest and the establishment of the khalifate of cordova was a period of disorder, almost amounting to anarchy, throughout spain. this state of things was one eminently favourable to the growth and consolidation of the infant state which was arising among the mountains of the northwest. in that corner of the land, which alone[ ] was not polluted by the presence of moslem masters, were gathered all those proud spirits who could not brook subjection and valued freedom above all earthly possessions.[ ] here all the various nationalities that had from time to time borne rule in spain, "punic and roman kelt and goth and greek," [ ] all the various classes, nobles, freemen, and slaves, were gradually welded by the strong pressure of a common calamity into one compact and homogeneous whole.[ ] meanwhile what was the condition of those christians who preferred to live in their own homes, but under the moslem yoke? it must be confessed that they might have fared much worse; and the conciliatory policy pursued by the arabs no doubt contributed largely to the facility of the conquest. the first conqueror, tarik ibn zeyad, was a man of remarkable generosity and clemency, and his conduct fully justified the proud boast which he uttered when arraigned on false charges before the sultan suleiman.[ ] "ask the true believers," he said, "ask also the christians, what the conduct of tarik has been in africa and in spain. let them say if they have ever found him cowardly, covetous, or cruel." [ ] al makkari, ii. . [ ] according to sebastian of salamanca, the moors had never been admitted into any town of biscay before . [ ] prescott, "ferdinand and isabella," seems to think that only the lower orders remained under the moors. yet in a note he mentions a remark of zurita's to the contrary (page ). [ ] southey, "roderick," canto iv. [ ] thierry, "dix ans d'Études historiques," p. . "reserrés dans ce coin de terre, devenu pour eux toute la patrie, goths et romains, vainqueurs et vaincus, étrangers et indigènes, maîtres et esclaves, tous unis dans le même malheur ... furent égaux dans cet exil." yet there were revolts in every reign. fruela i. ( - ), revolt of biscay and galicia: aurelio ( - ), revolt of slaves and freedmen, see "chron. albeld.," vi. sec. , and rodrigo, iii. c. , in pristinam servitutem redacti sunt: silo ( - ), galician revolt: also revolts in reigns of alfonso i., ramiro i. see prescott, "ferd. and isab.," p. . [ ] or his predecessor, welid, for the point is not determined. the terms granted to such towns as surrendered generally contained the following provisions: that the citizens should give up all their horses and arms; that they might, if they chose, depart, leaving their property; that those who remained should, on payment of a small tribute, be permitted to follow their own religion, for which purposes certain churches were to be left standing; that they should have their own judges, and enjoy (within limits) their own laws. in some cases the riches of the churches were also surrendered, as at merida,[ ] and hostages given. but conditions even better than these were obtained from abdulaziz, son of musa, by theodomir in murcia. the original document has been preserved by the arab historians, and is well worthy of transcription: "in the name of god the clement and merciful! abdulaziz and tadmir make this treaty of peace--may god confirm and protect it! tadmir shall retain the command over his own people, but over no other people among those of his faith. there shall be no wars between his subjects and those of the arabs, nor shall the children or women of his people be led captive. they shall not be disturbed in the exercise of their religion: their churches shall not be burnt, nor shall any services be demanded from them, or obligations be laid upon them--those expressed in this treaty alone excepted.... tadmir shall not receive our enemies, nor fail in fidelity to us, and he shall not conceal whatever hostile purposes he may know to exist against us. his nobles and himself shall pay a tribute of a dinar[ ] each year, with four measures of wheat and four of barley; of mead, vinegar, honey, and oil each four measures. all the vassals of tadmir, and every man subject to tax, shall pay the half of these imposts."[ ] these favourable terms were due in part to the address of theodomir,[ ] and partly perhaps to abdulaziz's own partiality for the christians, which was also manifested in his marriage with egilona, the widow of king roderic, and the deference which he paid to her. this predilection for the christians brought the son of musa into ill favour with the arabs, and he was assassinated in .[ ] [ ] conde i. p. . this was perhaps due to musa's notorious avarice. [ ] somewhat less than ten shillings. [ ] al makkari, i. : conde, i. p. . [ ] isidore, sec, , says of him: "fuit scripturarum amator, eloquentia mirificus, in proeliis expeditus, qui et apud amir almumenin prudentior inter ceteros inventus, utiliter est honoratus." [ ] al makkari, ii. p. . he was even accused of entering into treasonable correspondence with the christians of galicia; of forming a project for the massacre of moslems; of being himself a christian, etc. on the whole it may be said that the saracen conquest was accomplished with wonderfully little bloodshed, and with few or none of those atrocities which generally characterize the subjugation of a whole people by men of an alien race and an alien creed. it cannot, however, be denied that the only contemporary christian chronicler is at variance on this point with all the arab accounts. "who," says isidore of beja, "can describe such horrors! if every limb in my body became a tongue, even then would human nature fail in depicting this wholesale ruin of spain, all its countless and immeasurable woes. but that the reader may hear in brief the whole story of sorrow--not to speak of all the disastrous ills which in innumerable ages past from adam even till now in various states and regions of the earth a cruel and foul foe has caused to a fair world--whatever troy in homer's tale endured, whatever jerusalem suffered that the prophets' words might come to pass, whatever babylon underwent that the scripture might be fulfilled--all this, and more, has spain experienced--spain once full of delights, but now of misery, once so exalted in glory, but now brought low in shame and dishonour."[ ] [ ] cp. also isidore, sec . dunham, ii. p. , note, curiously remarks: "both isidore and roderic may exaggerate, but the exaggeration proves the fact." this is evidently mere rhapsody, of the same character as the ravings of the british monk gildas, though far less justified as it seems by the actual facts. rodrigo of toledo, following isidore after an interval of years, improves upon him by entering into details, which being in many particulars demonstrably false, may in others be reasonably looked upon with suspicion as exaggerated, if not entirely imaginary. his words are: children are dashed on the ground, young men beheaded, their fathers fall in battle, the old men are massacred, the women reserved for greater misfortune; every cathedral burnt or destroyed, the national substance plundered, oaths and treaties uniformly broken.[ ] to appreciate the mildness and generosity of the arabs, we need only compare their conquest of spain with the conquest of england by the saxons, the danes, and even by the christian normans. the comparison will be all in favour of the arabs. it is not impossible that, if the invaders had been franks instead of moors, the country would have suffered even more, as we can see from the actual results effected by the invasion of charles the great in . placed as they were between the devil and the deep sea, the spaniards would perhaps have preferred (had the choice been theirs) to be subject to the saracens rather than to the franks.[ ] [ ] dunham, ii. p. , note. [ ] dozy, ii. p. , note, quotes ermold nigel on barcelona: "urbs erat interea francorum inhospita turnis, maurorum votis adsociata magis." to the down-trodden slaves, who were very numerous all through spain, the moslems came in the character of deliverers. a slave had only to pronounce the simple formula: "there is no god but god, and mohammed is his prophet": and he was immediately free. to the jews the moslems brought toleration, nay, even influence and power. in fact, since the fall of jerusalem in b.c. the jews had never enjoyed such independence and influence as in spain during the domination of the arabs. their genius being thus allowed free scope, they disputed the supremacy in literature and the arts with the arabs themselves. many of the earlier governors of spain were harsh and even cruel in their administration, but it was to moslems and christians alike.[ ] some indeed increased the tribute laid upon the christians; but it must be remembered that this tribute[ ] was in the first instance very light, and therefore an increase was not felt severely as an oppression. moreover, there were not wanting some rulers who upheld the cause of the christians against illegal exactions. among these was abdurrahman al ghafeki (may-aug. , and - ), of whom an arab writer says:[ ] "he did equal justice to moslem and christian ... he restored to the christians such churches as had been taken from them in contravention of the stipulated treaties; but on the other hand he caused all those to be demolished, which had been erected by the connivance of interested governors." similarly of his successor anbasah ibn sohaym alkelbi ( - ), we find it recorded[ ] that "he rendered equal justice to every man, making no distinction between mussulman and christian, or between christian and jew." anbasah was followed by yahya ibn salmah (march-sept. ), who is described as injudiciously severe, and dreaded for his extreme rigour by moslems as well as christians.[ ] isidore says that he made the arabs give back to the christians the property unlawfully taken from them.[ ] similar praise is awarded to okbah ibn ulhejaj asseluli ( - ).[ ] yet though many of the ameers of spain were just and upright men, no permanent policy could be carried out with regard to the relations between moslems and christians, while the ameers were so constantly changing, being sometimes elected by the army, but oftener appointed by the khalif, or by his lieutenant, the governor of africa for the time being. this perpetual shifting of rulers would in itself have been fatal to the settlement of the country, had it not been brought to an end by the election of abdurrahman ibn muawiyah as the khalif of spain, and the establishment of his dynasty on the throne, in may . but even after this important step was taken, the causes which threatened to make anarchy perpetual, were still at work in spain. chief among these were the feuds of the arab tribes, and the jealousy between berbers and arabs. [ ] _e.g._, alhorr ibn abdurrahman ( - ); see isidore, sec. , and conde, i. : "he oppressed all alike, the christians, those who had newly embraced islam, and the oldest of the moslemah families." [ ] merely a small poll-tax (jizyah) at first. [ ] conde, i. . [ ] conde, i. p. . isidore, however, sec. , says: "vectigalia christianis duplicata exagitat." [ ] conde, i. . [ ] isidore, sec. . terribilis potestator fere triennio crudelis exaestuat, atque aeri ingenio hispaniae sarracenos et mauros pro pacificis rebus olim ablatis exagitat, atque christianis plura restaurat. [ ] conde, i. , . most of the first conquerors of the country were berbers, while such arabs as came in with them belonged mostly to the maadite or beladi faction.[ ] the berbers, besides being looked down upon as new converts, were also regarded as nonconformists[ ] by the pure arabs, and consequently a quarrel was not long in breaking out between the two parties. as early as the berbers in aragon and catalonia rose against the arabs under a jew named khaulan, who was put to death the following year. in they revolted again, crying that they who had conquered the country alone had claims to the spoil.[ ] this formidable rising was only put down by the arabs making common cause against it. but the continual disturbances in africa kept alive the flame of discontent in spain, and the great berber rebellion against the arab yoke in africa was a signal for a similar determined attempt in spain.[ ] the reinforcements which the khalif, yezid ibn abdulmalik, sent to africa under kolthum ibn iyadh were defeated by the berbers under a chief named meysarah, and shut up in ceuta. [ ] the two chief branches of arabs were ( ) descendants of modhar, son of negus, son of maad, son of adnan. to this clan belonged the mecca and medina arabs, and the umeyyade family. they were also called kaysites, febrites, and beladi arabs. ( ) descendants of kahtan (joktan), among whom were reckoned the kelbites and the yemenites. these were most numerous in andalus; see al makkari, ii. . [ ] dozy, iii. . see al makk., ii. , de gayangos' note. though nominally moslem, they still kept their jewish or pagan rites. [ ] see de gayangos, al makk. ii. , note. he quotes borbon's "karta," xiv. _sq._ stanley lane-poole, "moors in spain," p. , says, monousa, who married the daughter of eudes, was a leader of the berbers. conde, i. , says, othman abi neza was the leader, but othman an ibn abi nesah was ameer of spain in . [ ] al makkari, ii. . meanwhile in spain, abdalmalik ibn kattan[ ] alfehri taking up the cause of the berbers, procured the deposition of okbah ibn ulhejaj in his own favour, but, this done, broke with his new allies. he was then compelled to ask the help of the syrian arabs, who were cooped up in ceuta, though previously he had turned a deaf ear to their entreaties that they might cross over into spain. the syrians gladly accepted this invitation, and under balj ibn besher, nephew of kolthum, crossed the straits, readily promising at the same time to return to africa when the spanish berbers were overcome. this desirable end accomplished, however, they refused to keep to their agreement, and abdalmalik soon found himself driven to seek anew the alliance of the berbers and also of the andalusian arabs against his late allies.[ ] but the latter proved too strong for the ameer, who was defeated and killed by the yemenite followers of balj. [ ] cardonne, i. p. . [ ] the syrian arabs seem to have borne a bad character away from home. the sultan muawiyah warned his son that they altered for the worse when abroad. see ockley's "saracens." these feuds of yemenites against modharites, complicated by the accession of berbers now to one side, now to the other, continued without intermission till the first khalif of cordova, abdurrahman ibn muawiyah, established his power all over spain. the successor of balj and thaleba ibn salamah did indeed try to break up the syrian faction by separating them. he placed those of damascus in elvira; of emesa in seville; of kenesrin in jaen; of alurdan[ ] in malaga and regio; of palestine in sidonia or xeres; of egypt in murcia; of wasit in cabra; and they thus became merged into the body of andalusian arabs. these berber wars had an important influence on the future of spain; for, since the berbers had settled on all the northern and western marches, when they were decimated by civil war, and many of the survivors compelled to return to africa,[ ] owing to the famine which afflicted the country from to , the frontiers of the arab dominion were left practically denuded of defenders,[ ] and the christians at once advanced their boundaries to the douro, leaving however a strip of desert land as a barrier between them and the moslems. this debateable land they did not occupy till fifty years later.[ ] [ ] _i.e._, jordan. see al makkari, i. , de gayangos' note. [ ] dozy, iii. . [ ] al makkari, ii. . [ ] when they built a series of fortresses as zarnora, simancas, san estevan. chapter iii. the martyrdoms at cordova. abdurrahman ibn muawiyah landed in spain with berber horsemen in may . the khalifate of cordova may be said to begin with this date, though it was many years before the new sultan had settled his power on a firm basis, or was recognised as ruler by the whole of moslem spain. during the forty-five years of civil warfare which intervened between the invasion of tarik and the landing of abdurrahman, we have very little knowledge of what the christians were doing. the arab historians are too busy recounting the feuds of their own tribes to pay any particular attention to the subject christians. but we may gather that the latter were, on the whole, fairly content with their new servitude.[ ] the moslems were not very anxious to proselytize, as the conversion of the spaniards meant a serious diminution of the tribute.[ ] those christians who did apostatize--and we may believe that they were chiefly slaves--at once took up a position of legal, though not social, equality with the other moslems. it is no wonder that the slaves became mohammedans, for, apart from their hatred for their masters, and the obvious temporal advantage of embracing islam, the majority of them knew nothing at all about christianity.[ ] the ranks of the converts were recruited from time to time by those who went over to islam to avoid paying the poll-tax, or even to escape the payment of some penalty inflicted by the christian courts.[ ] one thing is noticeable. in the early years of the conquest there was none of that bitterness displayed between the adherents of the rival creeds, to which we are so accustomed in later times. isidore of beja, the only contemporary christian authority, though he rhapsodizes about the devastations committed by the conquerors, and complains of enormous tributes exacted, yet speaks more fairly about the moslems[ ] than any other spanish writer before the fourteenth century. "if he hates the conquerors," says dozy,[ ] "he hates them rather as men of another race than of another creed;" and the marriage of abdulaziz and egilona awakens in his mind no sentiment of horror. [ ] this was not so when the fierce almoravides and fiercer almohades overran spain in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. see freeman's "saracens," p. . [ ] as happened in egypt under amru. see cardonne, i. p. , and gibbon, vi. p. . [ ] dozy, ii. , quotes a passage from pedraca, "histor. eccles. of granada" ( ), in which the author points out that even in his day the "old christians" of central spain were so wholly ignorant of all christian doctrines that they might be expected to renounce christianity with the utmost ease if again subjected to the moors. [ ] samson, "apolog.," ii. cc. , . [ ] speaking of omar, the second khalif of that name, isidore, sec. , says, "tanta ei sanctimonia ascribitur quanta nulli unquam ex arabum gente." [ ] dozy, ii. p. . on the whole the condition of the mass of the people, christian or renegade, was certainly preferable to their state before the conquest.[ ] those serfs who remained christian, if they worked on state lands, payed one-third of the produce to the state; if on private lands, four-fifths to their arab owners.[ ] the free christians retained their goods, and could even alienate their lands. they paid a graduated tax varying from thirteen pounds to three guineas.[ ] in all probability the christians under moslem rule were not worse off than their coreligionists in galicia and leon. a signal proof of this is afforded by the fact that, in spite of the distracted state of the country, which would seem to hold out a great hope of success, we hear of no attempts at revolt on the part of the subjected christians in the eighth century, except at beja, where the christians seem to have been led away by the ambition of an arab chief.[ ] they were even somewhat indifferent to the cause of their coreligionists in the north, and the attempts which pelayo and his successors made to induce them to rise in concert with their brethren met with but scant success.[ ] [ ] see especially conde, pref. p. vi. [ ] dozy, ii. . [ ] dozy, ii. . [ ] dozy, ii. . [ ] cardonne, i. . there can be no doubt, however, that the good understanding, which at first existed between the moslems and their christian subjects, gradually gave place to a very different state of things, owing in no small degree to the free christians in the north, whose presence on their borders was a continual menace to the moslem dominion, and a perpetual incentive to the subject christians to rise and assert their freedom. our purpose now is to trace out, so far as the scanty indications scattered in the writers of the time will allow, the relations that existed between the two religions during the years of the khalifate, and the influence which these relations had upon the development of the one and the other. it will be agreeable to the natural arrangement to take the former question first. with a view to the better understanding of the position of christianity and mohammedanism at the very beginning of our inquiry, we have thought it advisable to point out in a preliminary sketch the development of christianity in spain previous to the period when the moslems, fresh from their native deserts of arabia and africa, bearing the sword in one hand and the koran in the other, possessed themselves of one of the fairest provinces of christendom. this having been already done, we can at once proceed to investigate the mutual relations of christianity and mohammedanism in spain during the years of the khalifate of cordova. it was in fulfilment of a supposed prophecy of mohammed's, and in obedience to the precepts of the koran itself, that the arabs, having overrun syria, egypt, and africa, passed over into spain, and the war from the very first took the character of a jehad, or religious war--a character which it retained with the ever-increasing fanaticism of the combatants until every mohammedan had been forced to abjure his creed, or been driven out of spain. but, as we have seen, the conquest itself was singularly free from any outbursts of religious frenzy; though of course there must have been many christians, who laid down their lives in defence of all that was near and dear to them, in defence of their wives and their children, their homes and their country, their religion and their honour. one such instance at least has been recorded by the arab historians,[ ] when the governor, and of the garrison, of cordova, after three months' siege in the church of st george, chose rather to be burnt in their hold than surrender upon condition either of embracing islam, or paying tribute. omitting the story of the fabulous martyr nicolaus, as being a tissue of errors and absurdities,[ ] the first martyr properly so called was a certain bishop, named anambad, who was put to death by othman ibn abi nesah ( - )--a governor guilty of shedding much christian blood, if isidore is to be believed.[ ] [ ] al makkari, i. , says: "this was the cause of the spot being called ever since the kenisatu-l-haraki (the church of the burnt), as likewise of the great veneration in which it has always been held by the christians, on account of the courage and endurance displayed in the cause of their religion by those who died in it." [ ] florez, "españa sagr," xiv. . [ ] isidore, sec. , "munuza quia a sanguine christianorum, quen ibidem innocentem fuderat, nimium erat crapulatus, et anabadi, illustris episcopi,... quem ipse cremaverat, valde exhaustus," etc. it is doubtful who this munuza was, but probably othman ibn abi nesah, governor of spain. fifteen years later a christian named peter, pursuing very much the same tactics as the pseudo-martyrs in the next century, brought about his own condemnation and death. he held a responsible post under government, that of receiver of public imposts, and seems to have stood on terms of friendship with many of the arab nobles. perhaps he had been rather lax in his religious observances, or even disguised his christianity from motives of interest. however, he fell sick, and thinking that his life was near its end, he called together his moslem friends, and thanking them for showing their concern for him by coming, he proceeded, "but i desire you to be witnesses of this my last will. whosoever believeth not on the father, the son, and the holy ghost, the consubstantial trinity, is blind in heart, and deserveth eternal punishment, as also doth mohammed, your false prophet, the forerunner of antichrist. renounce, therefore, these fables, i conjure you this day, and let heaven and earth witness between us." though greatly incensed, as was natural, the hearers resolved to take no notice of these and other like words, charitably supposing the sick man to be light-headed; but peter, having unexpectedly recovered, repeated his former condemnation of mohammed, cursing him, his book, and his followers. thereupon he was executed, and we cannot be altogether surprised at it.[ ] besides these two isolated cases of martyrdom, we do not find any more recorded until the reign of abdurrahman ii. (may -aug. ). in the second year of this king's reign, two christians, john and adulphus, making public profession of their faith, and denouncing mohammed, were put to death on sept , .[ ] [ ] we give the account as fleury, v. (bk. ), gives it, but with great doubts as to its genuineness, no other writer that we have seen mentioning it. [ ] florez, x. : fleury, v. . they were buried in st cyprian's church, cordova. see "de translatione martyrum georgii etc.," sec. . this is the first definite indication we have that the toleration shown by the moslems was beginning to be abused by their christian subjects; and there can be no reasonable doubt that this ill-advised conduct on the part of the latter was the main cause of the so-called persecution which followed. but besides this fanaticism on the part of a small section of the subject christians, there were other causes at work calculated to produce friction between the two peoples. during the century which had elapsed since the conquest, the christians and mohammedans, living side by side under the same government, and one which, considering the times in which it arose, was remarkable no less for its equity and moderation than for its external splendour and magnificence, had gradually been drawn closer together. intermarriages had become frequent among them;[ ] and these proved the fruitful cause of religious dissensions. accordingly we find that the religious troubles in the reigns of abdurrahman ii. ( - ) and mohammed i. ( - ) began with the execution of two children of mixed parents. nunilo and alodia were the children of a moslem father and a christian mother. their father was a tolerant man, and, apparently, while he lived, permitted his children to profess the faith of their mother. on his death, the mother married again, and the new husband, being a bigoted mohammedan, and actuated, as we may suppose, by the _odio vitrici_, immediately set about reclaiming his step-children to the true faith of islam, his efforts in this direction leading him to ill-treat, even to torture,[ ] the young confessors. his utmost endeavour to effect their conversion failing, he delivered them over to the judge on the charge of apostasy, and the judge to the executioner, by whom they were beheaded on oct. , .[ ] [ ] due in part no doubt to the marriage of captives. see also below for "the maiden tribute," pp. , . [ ] so miss yonge. [ ] this date is given by morales, apud migne, vol. cxv. p. , and by fleury, v. , who accuse eulogius, "mem. sanct.," ii. c. , of being in error when he assigns the date . the pseudo-luitprand gives , vouching for this date as an eye-witness: "me vivente, in castro wergeti, id est castellon, etc." though there were some cases of martyrdom of this character, where the sufferers truly earned their title of martyrs,--and we may believe that all such cases have not been recorded--yet the vast majority of those which followed in the years - were of a different type. they were due to an outbreak of fanatical zeal on the part of a certain section of the christians such as to overpower the spirit of toleration, which the moslem authorities had so far shown in dealing with their christian subjects, and to raise a corresponding tide of bigotry in the less enlightened, and therefore more intolerant, masses of the mohammedans. the sudden mania for martyrdom which manifested itself at this time is certainly the most remarkable phenomenon of the kind that has been recorded in the annals of the christian church. there had been occasional instances before of christians voluntarily offering themselves to undergo the penalty of the laws for the crime of being christians. one such instance in the case of a phrygian, named quintus, had caused grave scandal to the church of smyrna; for, having gone before the proconsul and professed himself ready to die for the faith, when the reality of the death, which he courted, had been brought home to him by the sight of the wild beasts ready to rend him, the courage of the phrygian had failed, and he had offered incense to the gods. africa also had had her self-accused martyrs. but the spanish confessors have an interest over and above these, both by reason of their number and the constancy which they displayed in their self-imposed task. not a single instance is recorded, though there may have been some such, where the would-be martyr from fear or any other cause forwent his crown. moreover these martyrdoms, by dividing the church on the question of their merit, whether, that is, the victims were to be ranked as true martyrs or not, and, giving rise to a written controversy on the subject, has supplied us with ample, if rather one-sided, materials for estimating the provocation given, and received, on either side. as time went on, and the christians and moslems mingled more closely together in political and social life, the church no doubt suffered some deterioration. every interested motive was enlisted in favour of dropping as far as possible out of sight[ ] those distinctive features of christianity which might be calculated to give offence to the moslems; of conforming to all those mohammedan customs, which are not in the bible expressly forbidden to a christian;[ ] and, generally, of emphasizing the points on which christianity agrees with mohammedanism, and ignoring those (far more important ones) in which they differ. the moslems had no such reason for dissembling their convictions, or modifying their tenets. consequently a spiritual paralysis was creeping upon the church, which threatened in the course of time, if not checked, to destroy the very life of christianity throughout the peninsula. the case of africa, from which islam had extirpated christianity, showed that this was no imaginary danger. but spain had this advantage over africa: it contained a free christian community which had never passed under the moslem yoke, where the fire of christianity, in danger of being swept away by the devouring flames of mohammedanism, might be nursed and cherished, till it could again blaze forth with its former brilliancy. [ ] see below, p. , note . [ ] _e.g.,_ circumcision. yet in mohammedan spain religious fervour was not wholly vanished: it was still to be found among the clergy, and specially among the dwellers in convents. monks and nuns, severed from all worldly influences, in the silence of their cloisters, would read the lives of the saints[ ] of old, and meditate upon their glorious deeds, and the miracles which their faith had wrought. they would brood over such texts as, "ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake;"[ ] and, "every one who shall confess me before men, him will i also confess before my father, which is in heaven;"[ ] till they brought themselves to believe that it was their imperative duty to bring themselves before rulers and kings, and not only to confess christ, but to revile mohammed. [ ] see dozy, ii. . [ ] st mark xiii. . [ ] st matt. x. . however, the reproach of fanatical self-destruction will not apply, as the apologists of their doings have not failed to point out, to the first two victims that suffered in this persecution. perfectus,[ ] a priest of cordova, who had been brought up in the school attached to the church of st acislus, on going out one day to purchase some necessaries for domestic use, was stopped by some of the moslems in the street, and asked to give his opinion of their prophet. what led them to make this strange request, we are not told,[ ] but stated thus barely it certainly gives us the impression that it was intended to bring the priest into trouble. for it was a well-known law in moslem countries that if any one cursed a mohammedan, he was to be scourged,[ ] if he struck him, killed: the latter penalty also awaiting any one who spoke evil of mohammed, and extending even to a mussulman ruler, if he heard the blasphemy without taking notice of it.[ ] perfectus, therefore, being aware of this law, gave a cautious[ ] answer, declining to comply with their request until they swore that he should receive no hurt in consequence of what he might say. on their giving the required stipulation, he quoted the words, "for there shall arise false christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect,"[ ] and proceeded to speak of mohammed in the usual fashion, as a lying impostor and a dissolute adulterer, concluding with the words, "thus hath he, the encourager of all lewdness, and the wallower in his own filthy lusts, delivered you all over to the indulgence of an everlasting sensuality." this ill-advised abuse of one, whom the moslems revere as we revere christ, and the ungenerous advantage taken of the oath, which they had made, naturally incensed his hearers to an almost uncontrollable degree. they respected their promise, however, and refrained from laying hands on him at that time, with the intention, says eulogius, of revenging themselves on a future occasion.[ ] [ ] eulogius, "mem. sanct.," ii., ch. i. secs. - : alvar, "indic. lum.," sec. . [ ] see, however, appendix a, p. . [ ] alvar, "ind. lum.," sec. . "ecce enim lex publica pendet, et legalis iussa per omnem regnum eorum discurrit, ut, qui blasphematur, flagellatur, et qui percusserit occidatur." neander v., p. , note, points out that "blasphemaverit" refers to cursing moslems, not mohammed. eul., "mem. sanct.," pref., sec. , "irrefragibilis manet sententia, animadverti debere in eos qui talia de ipso non vcrentur profiteri." on hearing of isaac's death the king published a reminder on this law. [ ] see p. . [ ] alvar, "ind. lum.," sec. , calls it a timid answer. [ ] matt. xxiv. . [ ] "accensum ultionis furorem in corde ad perniciem eius reponunt." eulogius, . . if this was so, the opportunity soon presented itself, and perfectus, being abroad on an errand similar to the previous one, was met[ ] by his former interrogators, who, on the charge of reviling mohammed, and doing despite to their religion, dragged him before the kadi. being questioned, his courage at first failed him, and he withdrew his words. he was then imprisoned to await further examination at the end of the month, which happened to be the ramadhan or fast month. in prison the priest repented his weakness, and when brought again before the judge on the mohammedan easter, he recanted his recantation, adding, "i have cursed and do curse your prophet, a messenger not of god, but of satan, a dealer in witchcraft, an adulterer, and a liar." he was immediately led off for execution, but before his death prophesied that of the king's minister, nazar, within a year of his own. he was beheaded on april , .[ ] the apologists, on insufficient evidence, describe the death of two moslems, who were drowned the same day in the river, as a manifest judgement of heaven for the murder of perfectus.[ ] [ ] "dolo circumventum," says alvar, "ind. lum.," sec. . [ ] johannes vasaeus places this persecution (by a manifest error) in , under abdurrahman iii., stating at the same time that some writers placed it in , but, as it appeared to him, wrongly: "abdurrahman halihatan rex cordobae movit duodecimam persecutionem in christianos." [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct." ii., ch. i. sec. . the example set by perfectus did not bear fruit at once, but no doubt the evidence which it gave of the ease and comparative painlessness, with which a martyr's crown could be obtained, was not lost upon the brooding and zealous spirits living in solitary retreats and trying by a life of religious devotion to cut themselves off from the seductive pleasures of an active life. the next victim, a little more than a year later, was a petty tradesman, named john,[ ] who does not seem to have courted his own fate. he had aroused the animosity of his moslem rivals by a habit which he had contracted of pronouncing the name of the prophet in his market transactions, taking his name, as they thought, in vain, and with a view to attracting buyers.[ ] john, being taxed with this, with ill-timed pleasantry retorted, "cursed be he who wishes to name your prophet." he was haled before the kadi, and, after receiving stripes,[ ] was thrown into prison. subsequently he was taken thence and driven through the city riding backwards on an ass, while a crier was sent before him through the christian quarters, proclaiming: "such shall be the punishment of those, that speak evil of the prophet of god." [ ] eugolius, "mem. sanct." i. sec. ; and alvar, ind. lum. sec. . [ ] so eulogius, . ., and dozy, ii., . alvar's account ( . .) is not very intelligible: "parvipendens nostrum prophetam, semper eius nomen in derisione frequentas, et mendacium tuum per iuramenta nostrae religionis, ut tibi videtur, falsa auribus te ignorantium christianum esse semper confirmas." [ ] or, according to eulogius, . so far we have had cases, where the charge of persecution, brought by the apologists of the martyrs against the moslems, can be more or less sustained, but the next instance is of a different character. isaac,[ ] a monk of tabanos, and descended from noble and wealthy ancestors, was born in , and by his knowledge of arabic, attained in early life to the position of an exceptor, or scribe,[ ] but gave up his appointment at the age of twenty, in order to enter the monastery of tabanos, which his uncle and aunt, jeremiah and elizabeth, had founded near cordova. [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," ii. ch. ii. sec. , also pref., secs. ff. after his death isaac was credited with having performed miracles from his earliest years. he was said to have spoken three times in his mother's womb (cp. a similar fable about jesus in the koran, c. iii. verse ), and when a child, to have embraced, unhurt, a globe of fire from heaven. [ ] not, as florez, a tax-gatherer. roused by the tale of perfectus' death and john's sufferings, he voluntarily went before the kadi, and, pretending to be an "enquirer," begged him to expound to him the doctrines of islam. the kadi, congratulating himself on the prospect of such a promising convert, gravely complied; when isaac, answering him in fluent arabic, said: "he has lied unto you--may the curse of heaven consume him!--who full of all wickedness has led astray so many men, and doomed them with himself to the lowest deep of hell. filled with satan, and practising satanic arts, he hath given his followers a drink of deadly wine, and will without doubt expiate his guilt with everlasting damnation." hearing these, and other like _chaste_[ ] utterances, the judge listened in a sort of stupor of rage and astonishment, feelings which even found vent in tears; till, his indignation passing all control, he struck the monk in the face, who then said, "dost thou strike that which is made in the image of god?"[ ] the assessors of the kadi also reproached him for striking a prisoner, their law being that one who is worthy of death should not suffer other indignities. the kadi, having now recovered his self-command, gave his decision, that isaac, whether drunk or mad, had committed a crime which, by an express law of mohammed's, merited condign punishment. he was accordingly beheaded, and, his body being burnt, his ashes were cast into the river (june , ). this was done to prevent the christians from carrying off his body, and preserving it for the purpose of working miracles.[ ] isaac's conduct and fate, eulogius tells us, electrified the people, who were amazed at the _newness_ of the thing.[ ] it was at this point that eulogius himself began to shew his sympathy with these fanatical doings by encouraging and helping others to follow isaac's example. [ ] eulogius, "mem. sanct.," pref., sec. , "_ore pudico_ summisque reverentiae ausibus viribusque." [ ] cp. acts xxiii. . [ ] eulog., "lib. apolog.," sec. , mentions a proposed edict of the authorities, visiting the seeker of relics with severer penalties. [ ] see eulog., letter to alvar, apud florez., xi. . the number of misguided men and women that now came forward and threw their lives away is certainly remarkable, and seems to have struck the moslems as perfectly unaccountable. the arabs themselves were as brave men as the world has ever seen, and, by the very ordinances of their faith, were bound to adventure their lives for their religion in actual human conflict with infidel foes, yet they were unable to conceive how any man in his senses could willingly deprive himself of life in such a way as could do no service to the cause, religious or other, which he had at heart. they were quite unable to appreciate that intense antagonism towards the world and its perilous environment, which christianity teaches; that spirit of renouncement of the vanities, nay, even of the duties of life, which prompted men and women to immure themselves in cloisters and retreats, far from all spheres of human usefulness. life under these circumstances had naturally little to make it worth the living, and became all the more easy to relinquish, when death, in itself a thing to be desired, was further invested with the glories of martyrdom. the example of isaac was therefore followed within two days by a monk named sanctius[ ] or sancho, who was executed on june th. three days later were beheaded peter, a priest of ecija; walabonsus, a deacon of ilipa; sabinianus and wistremundus, monks of st zoilus; habentius, a monk of st christopher's church at cordova; while jeremiah,[ ] uncle of isaac, was scourged to death. their bodies were burned, and the ashes cast into the river. sisenandus of badajos[ ] found a similar fate on july th: four days subsequently paul, a deacon of st zoilus, gave himself up; and the same number of days later, theodomir, a monk of carmona: all of whom were beheaded. [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," ii. c. . [ ] _ibid._, c. iv. [ ] after his martyrdom he procured the release from prison of tiberias, priest of beja! eulog., "mem. sanct.," ii. c. vi. chapter iv. fanaticism of the martyrs. the next candidates for martyrdom were two young and beautiful girls, whose history we learn from their patron, eulogius, who seems to have regarded one of these maidens, flora, with a platonic love mingled with a sort of religious devotion. flora,[ ] the daughter of a moslem father and a christian mother, was born at cordova. she is said to have practised abstinence even in her cradle. at first she was brought up as a moslem, and lived in conformity with that faith, until, being converted to christianity about eight years before this time, and finding the intolerance of her father and her brother unbearable, she deserted her home. but when her brother, in his efforts to discover and reclaim her, persecuted many christian families, whom he suspected of conniving at her escape, she voluntarily surrendered herself to him, saying, "here am i whom you seek, and for whose sake you persecute the people of god. i am a christian. do your best to annul that confession: none of your torments will be able to overcome my faith." her brother, after trying in vain, by alternate threats and blandishments, to bring her back from her error, finally dragged her before the kadi; and he, hearing her brother's accusation, and her own confession, ordered her to be barbarously beaten, and then given up nearly dead to her brother. she managed, however, to recover, and escaped under angelic guidance.[ ] shortly afterwards, while praying in a church, she was found by maria, sister of walabonsus above-mentioned,[ ] who had been martyred a few months previously. their father, being a christian, converted his unbelieving wife. they came to live at froniano, near cordova, and their daughter was educated at the nunnery of cuteclara, near the city, under the care of the abbess, artemia. brooding over her brother's martyrdom, and perhaps, as was so often the case, seeing his glorified spirit in a vision, she left the cloister, determining to follow in his saintly footsteps. while on her way to give herself up, she turned aside into a church to pray, and found flora there. [ ] "life of flora and maria," by eulogius, secs. ff. [ ] _ibid._, sec. . "agelico comitante meatu." [ ] "life of flora and maria," sec. . lane poole, "moors in spain," says, "sister of isaac." together, then, did these devoted girls go forth[ ] to curse mohammed, of whom they probably knew next to nothing, and lose their own lives. the judge, however, pitying their youth and beauty, merely imprisoned them. news of his sister's imprisonment being brought to flora's brother, he induced the judge to make a further examination of her, and she was brought out of prison before the kadi, who, pointing to her brother, asked her if she knew him. flora answered that she did--as her brother according to the flesh. "how is it, then," asked the judge, "that he remains a good moslem, while you have apostatized?" she answered that god had enlightened her; and, on professing herself ready to repeat her former denunciations of the prophet, she was again remanded to prison. here she and maria are threatened with being thrown upon the streets as prostitutes[ ]--a punishment far worse than the easy death they had desired. this shakes their constancy; when they find an unexpected comforter in eulogius himself, who is now imprisoned for being an encourager and inciter of defiance to the laws. it is strange that he should have been allowed to carry on in the prison itself the very work for which he had been imprisoned. the support of eulogius enabled these tender maidens to stand firm through another examination, and the judge, proving too merciful, or too good a moslem, to carry out the above-mentioned threat, they were led forth to die (november , ). before their death they had promised eulogius to intercede before the throne of god for his release, which accordingly is brought to pass six days after their own execution.[ ] an interval of only a little more than a month elapsed before gumesindus, a priest of the district called campania, near cordova, and servus dei, a monk, suffered death in the same way (january , ).[ ] [ ] eulog. to alvar, i. sec. ; "life of flora and maria," by eulog., sec. . [ ] _ibid._, sec. , and eulog., "doc. mart.," sec. . eulogius tried to lessen the terror of this threat by pointing out that "non polluit mentem aliena corruptio, quam non foedat propria delectatis,"--a poor consolation, but the only one! he does not seem to have known--or surely he would have quoted it--the express injunction of the koran (xxiv. verse ):--"compel not your maidservants to prostitute themselves, if they be willing to live chastely ... but, if any shall compel them thereto, verily god will be gracious and merciful unto such women after their compulsion." [ ] eulog., letter to alvar, florez, xi. . fleury, v. . [ ] eulogius, "mem. sanct.," ii. c. ix. there was now a pause for six months in the race for martyrdom, and it seemed as if the church had come to its right mind upon this subject. this, however, was far from being the case. hitherto the victims had been almost without exception priests, monks, and nuns; but the next martyrs afford us instances of married couples claiming a share in this doubtful honour. these were aurelius, son of a moslem father and a christian mother, and his wife sabigotha (or nathalia), the daughter of moslem parents, whose father dying, her mother married a christian and was converted; and felix and his wife liliosa.[ ] it would seem that with all the harm that was done by this outbreak of fanaticism, some good was also effected in awaking the worldly-minded adherents of christianity from the spiritual torpor into which they were sinking; for these new martyrs were of the class of hidden[ ] christians, who were now shamed into avowing their real creed.[ ] yet surely it had been far better if they had been content to live like christians instead of dying like suicides. in their case, indeed, we find no sudden irresistible impulse driving them to defy the laws, but a slowly-matured conviction that it was their duty, disregarding all human ties, to give themselves up to death. in this resolution they were fortified by the advice and encouragement of eulogius and alvar,[ ] the latter of whom prudently warns aurelius to make sure that his courage is sufficient to stand the trial.[ ] sabigotha is persuaded to accompany her husband in his self-destruction, her natural reluctance to leave her children being overcome by eulogius,[ ] who recommends that they should be given over to the care of a monastery. a seasonable vision, in which flora and maria appear to her, clenches her purpose. [ ] _ibid._, ii. ch. x., secs. , . [ ] see below, p. . [ ] aurelius was roused from his religious dissimulation by seeing the sufferings of john. see eulog., "mem. sanct.," ii. c. x. sec. . [ ] _ibid._, sec. . [ ] this would lead us to suppose that the courage of some _had_ failed. [ ] eulogius comments:--"o admirabilis ardor divinus, quo filiorum affectus respuitur!" the parents not only desert their children, but give away most of their goods to the poor, thereby making their own children of the number. meanwhile a foreign monk from bethlehem, who, being sent on business connected with his monastery to africa, had crossed over in spain, impelled by the wild enthusiasm there prevailing, determined to offer himself as a candidate for martyrdom with the four persons above mentioned. they then take counsel together how they may best effect their purpose, there being evidently enough difficulty in procuring martyrdom for themselves to shew the statements of the apologists, that there was a fierce persecution raging, to be at least much exaggerated, if not entirely without foundation. the plan decided upon, which the devisers audaciously attributed to the suggestion of god,[ ] was that the women should go forth unveiled and with hurried steps to the church, in the hope that such an unwonted sight would direct attention to them, and occasion the arrest of the whole number. it fell out as desired, and they were all brought before the judge, and interrogated with the usual result, except that the judge on this occasion dismissed them with scornful anger.[ ] but george, disappointed at his untoward clemency, as they were being led away broke out with,[ ] "can you not go down to hell without seeking to drag us also thither as your companions?" this incoherent abuse naturally incensed the soldiers, as it was no doubt intended that it should. accordingly the prisoners were dragged again before the kadi, who asked them in a mild tone of remonstrance, why they had abandoned the faith of islam,[ ] and refused to live, promising them at the same time great rewards, if they would become moslems again. on their refusal they were remanded for two days, which seemed a very long time, so eager were they to die. they pass the time with singing hymns, and are blessed with visits of angels and miraculous signs. their chains drop off, and the gaolers dare not again bind those whom christ himself had loosed.[ ] the authorities, now as ever, anxious if possible to avoid extreme penalties, determine to release george, because they had not themselves[ ] heard his blasphemy. he baulks their merciful intention by repeating his words on the spot, and he is accordingly led forth and beheaded with the others (july , ). within a month christopher,[ ] a monk of rojana, and of arab lineage, and leovigild, a monk of fraga, both being places near cordova, are executed for the same offence and in the same manner, their dead bodies being nailed to stakes. while taking the air in his palace,[ ] the king saw these bodies, and ordered them to be burnt, and the ashes scattered in the river. the same night abdurrahman ii. was struck down with apoplexy, and the martyrs' friends hailed it as a manifest judgment from heaven. [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," ii. sec. . "omnes in cornmuni coepimus _cogitare quomodo ad desideratum perveniremus coronam:_ et ita _domino disfiensante_ visum est nobis ut fugerent sorores nostrae revelatis vultibus ad ecclesiam si forte nos alligandi daretur occasio, et ita factum est." [ ] _ibid._, sec. . "exite quibus vita praesens taedium est, et mors pro gloria computatur." [ ] _ibid._, sec. . "an non poteritis vos infernalia claustra adire, nisi nos comites habeatis? numquid sine nobis aeterna vos cruciamina non adurent?" [ ] _ibid._, sec. . [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," sec. . [ ] _ibid._, sec. . "ipsi optimates et priores palatii." george, being a foreigner, could not be charged with apostasy like the others. [ ] _ibid._, ii. c. xi. alvar's life of eul., iv. . [ ] on a "sublime solarium," eul., "mem. sanct.," c. ii. sec. . see ortiz, "compendio," iii. (apud buckle, ii. , note.) "en lo mas cruel de los tormentos subió abderramen un dia á las azutens ó galerias de su palacio. descubrió desde alli los cuerpos de los santos marterizados en los patibulos y atravesados con los palos, mandó los quemasen todos paraque no quedase reliquia cumplióse luego la órdsa; pero aquel impio probó bien presto los rigores de la venganza divina que volviá por la sangre derramada de sus santos. improvisamente se le pegó la lengua al paladar y fauces: cerróssle la boca, y no pudo pronunciar una palabra, ni dar un gemido. conduxeronle, sus criados á la cama, murio aguella misma noche, y antes de apagarse las hoqueras en que ardian los santos cuerpos, entró la infeliz alma de abderramen en los etemos fuegos del infierno." he was succeeded by mohammed i. ( - ), a less capable and more bigoted ruler than his father. no sooner was he on the throne than emila, a deacon, and jeremiah a priest of st cyprian's church, near cordova, following in the footsteps of so many predecessors, came before the kadi, and reviled mohammed,--the former being enabled to do this with the more point and effect, as he was to a remarkable degree master of the arabic language.[ ] emila and jeremiah won the prize they coveted, and were put to death (september , ). the customary prodigy occurred after the execution, in describing which the pious eulogius breaks into metre, saying, "athletas cecidisse pios elementa fatentur." on the following day occurred an outrage which the most bigoted partizans of the martyrs must have blushed to record. two eunuchs, rogel, a monk of parapanda, near elvira, and servio deo, a eunuch of foreign extraction, forced their way into a mosque, and by way of preaching--as they said--to the assembled worshippers, they reviled their prophet and their religion. [ ] being set upon and nearly torn in pieces by the infuriated congregation, they were rescued by the kadi, who imprisoned them till such time as their sentence should be declared. they were condemned to have their hands and feet cut off, and be beheaded; which sentence was carried into effect.[ ] [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct," ii. c. xii. arabic boasts a larger vocabulary of abuse than most languages: see the account of prof. palmer's death in his life by besant. [ ] _ibid._, c. xiii. secs. , . [ ] eul. ( . ), adds: "et ipsa gentilitas tali spectaculo stupefacta nescio quid de christianismo indulgentius sentiebat." upon this fresh provocation the fury and apprehension of the king knew no bounds. he might well be pardoned for thinking that this defiance of the laws, and religious fanaticism, could only mean a widespread disaffection and conspiracy against the moslem rule. in fact, as we shall see, the christians of toledo raised the banner of revolt in favour of their cordovan brethren at this very time. mohammed therefore seems to have meditated a real persecution, such as should extirpate christianity in his dominions.[ ] he is said even to have given orders for a general massacre of the males among the christians, and for the slavery, or worse, of the women, if they did not apostatize.[ ] but the dispassionate advice of his councillors saved the king from this crime. they pointed out that no men of any intelligence, education, or rank among the christians had taken part in the doings of the zealots, and that the whole body of christians ought not to be cut off, since their actions were not directed by any individual leader. other advisers seem to have diverted the king from his project of a wholesale massacre by encouraging him to proceed legally against the christians with the utmost rigour, and by this means to cow them into submission.[ ] these strong measures apparently produced some effect, for no other executions are recorded for a period of nine months; when fandila, a priest of tabanos,[ ] and chosen by the monks of st salvator's monastery to be one of their spiritual overseers, came forward and reviled the prophet: whereupon he was imprisoned and subsequently beheaded (june , ). his fate awakened the dormant fanaticism of anastasius,[ ] a priest of st acislus' church; of felix, a gaetulian monk of alcala de henares; and of digna, a virgin of st elizabeth's nunnery at tabanos (the latter being strengthened in her resolve by a celestial vision), who, pursuing the usual plan, are beheaded the following day; their example being followed by benildis, a matron (june ).[ ] [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct," ii. c. xii. "non iam solummodo de mortibus resistentium sibi excogitare coepenint, verum etiam totam extirpare ecclesiam ruminarunt. quoniam nimio terrore tot hominim recurrentium ad martyrium concussa gentilitas regni sui arbitrabatur imminere excidium, cum tali etiam praecinctos virtute parvulos videret." a similar project is attributed (mistakenly, without doubt) to abdurrahman. [ ] _ibid._, iii. c. vii. sec. . "iusserat enim omnes christianos generali sententia perdere, feminasque publico distractu disperdere." cp. also alvar, life of eul., iv. . "rex mahomad incredibili rabie et effrenata sententia christicolum genus del ere funditus cogitabat." [ ] _ibid._ "multi insaniam modificare nitentes per trucem voluntatis iniquae officium diversis et exquisitis occasionibus gregem christi impetere tentaverunt." [ ] _ibid._ iii. c. vii. secs. , . fleury, v. , says he was a monk of guadix. [ ] _ibid._, ch. viii. secs. , . [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," iii. ch. ix. the cloisters of tabanos had furnished so many fanatics that the government now suppressed the place, removing the nuns and shutting them up to prevent others giving themselves up.[ ] one of these however, columba,[ ] sister of elizabeth and of the abbot martin, contrived to escape. this columba had persisted in remaining a virgin, in spite of her mother's efforts to make her marry, which only ceased when the mother died. she now gave herself up and was beheaded (september ). just one month later pomposa,[ ] from the monastery of st salvator, pegnamellar, suffered the same fate. then there was a pause in these executions, which was not broken till july th of the following year, when abundius, a priest, was martyred. he seems to have really deserved the name of martyr, for he was given up to the authorities by the treachery of others,[ ] and did not seek martyrdom. another similar period elapsed before amator, a priest of tucci (tejada); peter, a monk of cordova; and ludovic, a brother of paul, the deacon, beheaded four years before, shared the same fate (april , ).[ ] after nearly a year witesindus, a repentant renegade; elias, an old priest of lusitania; and paul and isidore, young monks, gave themselves up to execution[ ] (april , .) in june of that year a more venerable victim was, like abundius, betrayed to his destruction. this was argimirus, an old monk, once censor of cordova (june ).[ ] exactly one month later aurea, a virgin and sister of the brothers john and adulphus, whose martyrdom has been already mentioned, was brought before the magistrate. descended from one of the noblest arab families,[ ] she had long been left unmolested, though her apostasy to christianity was well known. she was now frightened into temporary submission; but soon repenting of her compliance, and avowing herself truly a christian, she gained a martyr's crown (july ). [ ] so miss yonge. [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," iii. c. x. secs. i, . [ ] _ibid._, c. xi. [ ] _ibid._, ch. xii. "quorundam commento vel fraude gentilium ad martyrium furore pertractum." [ ] _ibid._, ch. xiii. [ ] _ibid._, cc. xiv. xv. [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," iii. c. xv., "quorundam ethnicorum dolo vel odio circumventus." [ ] _ibid._, xvii. sec. i, "grandi fastu arabicae traducis exornabatur." the next example affords a similar instance of real persecution. ruderic,[ ] a priest, whose brother was a moslem, unadvisedly intervened as a peacemaker, in a quarrel, in which his brother was engaged. with the usual fate of peacemakers, he was set upon by both parties, and nearly killed. in fact his brother supposed him to be quite dead, and had the body carried through the town, proclaiming that his brother had become a mussulman before his death.[ ] however, ruderic recovered, and made his escape, but being obliged to return to cordova, met his brother, who immediately brought him before the kadi on a charge of apostasy. his life and liberty were promised to him if he would only acknowledge that christ was merely man, and that mohammed was the messenger of god. on refusing, he is imprisoned, and finds in prison a certain salomon, also charged with apostasy from islam. the two fellow-prisoners contract a great friendship and are consequently separated. after a third exhortation, they are condemned to death, but not before the judge had done his best to bribe them to forego their purpose by offers of honour and rewards.[ ] they were executed march , , and their bodies thrown into the river--even the stones sprinkled with their blood being taken up and cast into the water, lest the christians should preserve them as relics. ruderic's body was washed on shore, fresh as when killed; while salomon, not being equally fortunate, informed a devout christian in a vision, where his body lay in a tamarisk thicket near the town of nymphianum. hitherto the aider and abettor of these martyrdoms had himself contrived to escape the penalty, which he had urged others to brave. whether this was due to any unworthy fear of death on his part is not clear, but it may have been owing to the respect in which he was held by the moslem authorities. to these he was well known as a man of irreproachable character and unaffected piety, and several arabs of high rank, who were his personal friends, shewed themselves anxious to screen him from the effects of his folly. eulogius[ ] was descended from a senatorial family of cordova, and was educated at the church of st zoilus, where he devoted himself to ecclesiastical studies, and soon surpassed his contemporaries in learning. with his friend alvar he sat at the feet of speraindeo, an eminent abbot in the province of baetica. besides a sister anulo, eulogius had two brothers engaged in trade, and another brother, joseph, who seems to have been in government employ.[ ] [ ] eulog., "lib. apol.," sec. ff. [ ] so the inquisitors in spain used to pretend that their victims had abjured their errors before being burnt. [ ] eul., "lib. apol.," sec. . [ ] life by alvar, c. i. sec. . [ ] eul. ad wiliesindum, sec. , "joseph, quem saeva tyranni indignatio eo tempore a principatu dejecerat:" unless this is a metaphorical allusion to joseph in egypt. eulogius became early noted for his practice of asceticism, and his desire for the life of a monk,[ ] and for the glory of martyrdom. when strong measures were taken by the authorities, in concert with reccafredus, bishop of seville, to stamp out the mania for martyrdom by threats, stripes, and imprisonment, though many were frightened into submission, eulogius, alvar tells us,[ ] remained firm, in spite of his being singled out as an "incentor martyrum" by a certain gomez, who was a temporising christian in the king's service.[ ] [ ] life by alvar, sec. , "ne virtus animi curis saecularibus enervaretur, quotidie ad caelestia cupiens volare corporea sarcina gravabatur." [ ] "hic inadibilis (=firm) nunquam vacillare vel tenui est visus susurro."--life by alvar, sec. . [ ] this man, says alvar, sec. , by a divine judgment, lost his hold on the christian faith, which he thus scrupled not to attack. see below, p. . there is no doubt that eulogius did all he could to interfere with and check that amalgamation of the christians and arabs which he saw going on round him. believing that such close relations between the peoples tended to the spiritual degradation of christianity, he set himself deliberately to embitter those relations, and, as far as he could, to make a good understanding impossible. to discourage the learning of arabic by the christians, he brought back with him from a journey to pampluna the classical writings of virgil, horace (satires), juvenal, and augustine's "de civitate dei." at the time when these martyrdoms took place, eulogius was a priest, but for some reason he tried to abstain from officiating at the mass on the ground that he was himself a great sinner.[ ] however, his ecclesiastical superior[ ] (? saul, bishop of cordova), soon made him take a different view of the question by threatening him with anathema if he neglected his duty any longer. coming forward as a prominent champion of the extreme party in the church, he was imprisoned in , where he wrote treatises in favour of the martyrs, and was released, as we have seen, by the intercession of flora and maria on november th of that year. [ ] he pleads his "delicti onera," ch. i. sec. . perhaps he was infected with one of the "migetian errors" of the previous century, which was that "priests must be saints." saul, bishop of cordova ( - ), in a letter to another bishop (florez, xi. - ), refers with disapproval to those (? eulogius) who held that "sacramenta tunc esse solum modo sancta, cum sanctorum fuerint manibus praelibata;" and he quotes augustine and isidore against the error. [ ] pontifex proprius. in ,[ ] on the death of wistremirus, he was chosen by the votes of the people[ ] to succeed him as bishop of toledo; but from some cause, perhaps by the intervention of the moslems, he was prevented from occupying his see. the people then determined to have no bishop, if they might not have him.[ ] yet, adds the pious alvar, he got his bishopric after all, for "all holy men are bishops, though not all bishops holy men." [ ] "life of eul.," alvar, ii. sec. . [ ] "communis electio." [ ] fleury, v. , says another bishop was elected in eulogius' lifetime; but alvar's words are "alium sibi eo vivente interdixerunt eligere." in the following year he was again imprisoned as being a disturber of the public peace, but as on a former occasion he had been allowed to support and encourage flora and maria, so now was he permitted to finish in prison a book in defence of the martyrs,[ ] which had the direct tendency of inciting others to go and do likewise. the occasion of eulogius' second imprisonment was as follows:--leocritia, a maiden of arab extraction and of noble birth,[ ] had been secretly baptised by liliosa, the wife of felix. her parents, learning her apostasy, cruelly ill-treated, and even beat her, in order to make her renounce christ. she naturally turned to eulogius and his sister anulo for advice in her afflictions, expressing a wish to escape to a part of spain where the christian worship was free. as a first step to this, she leaves her parents under pretence of going to a wedding, and takes refuge with eulogius. her parents, furious at her escape, get all sorts of people imprisoned on the charge of aiding her; and she is at last betrayed and surprised at the house of her protector. they are both dragged before the kadi, who asks eulogius angrily why he persists in defying the laws in this way.[ ] the bishop defends himself by pleading that christian clergy are bound to impart a knowledge of their religion, if asked, as he had been by leocritia.[ ] the judge then threatens to have him scourged, but eulogius, preferring death to so painful and degrading a punishment, repeats the lesson which he had taught to so many others, and reviles mohammed. even so the judge shows a disposition to treat him with leniency, and he is remanded to prison with leocritia. when brought up again before the royal council,[ ] an influential friend makes a last effort to save him, saying: "fools and idiots rush on their own destruction, but what induces you, a man of approved wisdom and blameless character, in defiance of all natural instincts, to throw away your life in this manner?" he urges eulogius to say but one word of concession in the hour of peril, promising that he should afterwards be free to exercise his religion as he pleased, without let or hindrance. but the bishop could hardly turn back now, and he rejected all such offers with the ejaculation, "if they only knew the joy that awaits us on high!" [ ] see eulog., letter to alvar, florez, xi. . [ ] alvar, life of eulog., i. sec. . [ ] alvar, "life of eulog.," i. secs. , . [ ] this kind of proselytism was not held to be a capital crime by the moslems. see dozy, ii. . [ ] alvar, "life of eul.," v. sec. . fleury v. . on his way to execution, when struck by one of the bystanders on one cheek, he turned the other meekly to the striker. he was beheaded on march , , and leocritia four days later. miraculous appearances honoured the body of the martyred bishop, which was buried in the church of st genesius, whence it was translated in the next year to his own church of st zoilus, and in was given up, together with that of leocritia, to alphonso iii. ( - ) by express stipulation. chapter v. controversy concerning the martyrs. with the death of eulogius the series of voluntary martyrdoms comes to an end, and it will be convenient at this point to consider the whole question of the relation of the church to the civil power, and how far those "confessors," who were put to death under the circumstances already related, were entitled to the name of martyrs. unfortunately the evidence we have on the subject is drawn almost entirely from the apologists of their doings, and therefore may fairly be suspected of some bias. yet even from them can be shown conclusively enough that no real persecution was raging in mohammedan spain at this time, such as to justify the extreme measures adopted by the party of zealots. if we except the cases of john and adulphus, and of nunilo and alodia, the date of which is doubtful, there is not a single recorded instance of a christian being put to death for his religion by the arabs in spain before the middle of the ninth century. the muzarabes,[ ] as the christians living under the arabs were called, enjoyed a remarkable degree of freedom in the exercise of their religion--the services and rites of the church being conducted as heretofore.[ ] in cordova alone we find mention of the following churches:[ ] the church of st acislus, a former martyr of cordova; of st zoilus; of the three martyrs--faustus, januarius, martialis; of st cyprian; of ss. genesius and eulalia; and of the virgin mary. [ ] de gayangos on al makk., i. p. , says the word means "those who try to imitate the arabs in manners and language." [ ] eulog. letter to alvar. after the death of flora he says he spent the ninth hour in prayer, then "auctis tripucliis, vespertinum, matutinum, missale sacrificium consequenter ad honorem (dei) et gloriam nostrarum virginum celebravimus." [ ] florez, x. . of the last of these there is an interesting account in an arab writer, who died in .[ ] "i once entered at night," he says, "into the principal christian church. i found it all strewed with green branches of myrtle, and planted with cypress trees. the noise of the thundering bells resounded in my ears; the glare of the innumerable lamps dazzled my eyes; the priests, decked in rich silken robes of gay and fanciful colours, and girt with girdle cords, advanced to adore jesus. everyone of those present had banished mirth from his countenance, and expelled from his mind all agreeable ideas; and if they directed their steps towards the marble font it was merely to take sips of water with the hollow of their hands. the priest then rose and stood among them, and taking the wine cup in his hands prepared to consecrate it: he applied to the liquor his parched lips, lips as dark as the dusky lips of a beautiful maid; the fragrancy of its contents captivated his senses, but when he had tasted the delicious liquor, the sweetness and flavour seemed to overpower him." on leaving the church, the arab, with true arabian facility, extemporized some verses to the following effect: "by the lord of mercy! this mansion of god is pervaded with the smell of unfermented red liquor, so pleasant to the youth. it was to a girl that their prayers were addressed, it was for her that they put on their gay tunics, instead of humiliating themselves before the almighty." ahmed also says: "the priests, wishing us to stay long among them, began to sing round us with their books in their hands; every wretch presented us the palm of his withered hand (with the holy water), but they were even like the bat, whose safety consists in his hatred for light; offering us every attraction that their drinking of new wine, or their eating of swine's flesh, could afford." this narrative is in many respects very characteristic of an arab writer, who would not feel the incongruity of an illustration on such a theme drawn from "the lips of a maid," or the irrelevancy of a reference to swine's flesh. but the account merits attention on other grounds, for it shews how little even the more intelligent moslems understood the ceremonies of the religion which they had conquered, though they might be pardoned for thinking that the christians worshipped the virgin mary, both because mohammed himself fell into the same error, and because probably the roman church and its adherents had already begun to pay her idolatrous worship. the chief church in cordova at the conquest seems to have been the church of st vincent. on the taking of the town,[ ] the christians had to give up half of it to the arabs, a curious arrangement, but one enforced elsewhere by the saracens. in the christians were induced, or compelled, to sell their half for , dinars, and it was pulled down to make room for the great mosque.[ ] in we find that the cordovans were allowed to build a new church. [ ] ahmed ibn abdilmalik ibn shoheyd, al makk., i. . i quote de gayangos' translation. [ ] de gayangos on al makk., i. , says the cathedral was at first guaranteed to the christians. some time later than they had to surrender half of it; in they were obliged to sell the other half, and in return were allowed to rebuild the destroyed churches. for the "church of the burnt" see above, p. , note . [ ] this was not finished till . the original structure cost , dinars. several khalifs added to it, and hakem ii. ( - ) alone spent on it , dinars. besides these within the walls, there were ten or twelve monasteries and churches in the immediate neighbourhood of cordova: among them the monastery of st christopher, the famous one of tabanos, suppressed as above mentioned, in ;[ ] those of st felix at froniano, of st martin at royana, of the virgin mary at cuteclara, of st salvator at pegnamellar; and the churches of ss. justus and pastor, and of st sebastian. we have given the names of these churches and monasteries[ ] at or near cordova, both to shew how numerous they were, and also because from one or other of them came nearly all the self-devoted martyrs, of whom we are about to consider the claims. except in cases like that above-mentioned, the christians were not allowed to build new churches,[ ] but considering the diminution in the numbers of the christians owing to the conquest, and the apostasy of a great many, this could not be reckoned a great hardship. moreover the christian churches, it was ordained, should be open to moslems as well as christians, though during the performance of mass it seems that they had to be kept closed. the mosques were never to be polluted by the step of an infidel.[ ] [ ] dozy, ii. . [ ] monasteries were established in spain years before the saracen conquest. they mostly fared badly at the hands of the arabs, in spite of the injunctions of the khalif abubeker (see conde, i. , and gibbon), but that of lorban at coimbra received a favourable charter in (fleury, v. ; but dunham, ii. , doubts the authenticity of the charter). [ ] cp. the stipulation of omar at the fall of jerusalem. [ ] see charter of coimbra, apud fleury, v. . the religious ferment, which manifested itself so strongly at cordova, did not extend to other parts of spain. for instance, at elvira, the cradle of spanish christianity, it was shortly after the cordovan martyrdoms (in ) that the mosque, founded in the year of the conquest, and left unbuilt for years, was finally finished. what we hear about the christians at elvira at this time is not to their credit, their bishop, samuel, being notorious as an evil liver.[ ] it is in cordova that the main interest at this period centres; and to cordova we will for the present confine our attention. there is abundant evidence to show that the party of enthusiasts, both those who offered themselves for martyrdom, and those who aided and abetted their more impulsive brethren, were a comparatively small body in the church of spain; and that their proceedings awakened little short of dismay in the minds of the more sensible portion of the christian community, both in the arab part of spain, and perhaps in a less degree in the free north.[ ] the chief leaders of the party of zealots--as far as we find mention of them--were saul, bishop of cordova ( - ), eulogius, and samson, abbot of the monastery of pegnamellar; while reccafredus, bishop of seville, and hostegesis of malaga, were the prominent ecclesiastics on the other side. [ ] ibn khatib, apud dozy, ii. . [ ] yonge, p. . before relating what steps the latter took in conjunction with the moslem authorities to put down the dangerous outbreak of fanaticism, it will be interesting to note what was the attitude of the different sections of the church towards the misguided men who gave themselves up to death, and their claims to the crown of martyrdom. those who denied the validity of these claims, rested their contention on the grounds, that the so-called martyrs had compassed their own destruction, there being no persecution at the time; that they had worked no miracles in proof of their high claims; that they had been slain by men who believed in the true god; that they had suffered an easy and immediate death; and that their bodies had corrupted like those of other men. it was an abuse of words, said the party of moderation, to call these suicides by the holy name of martyrs, when no violence in high places had forced them to deny their faith,[ ] or interfered with their due observance of christianity. it was merely an act of ostentatious pride--and pride was the root of all evil--to court danger. such conduct had never been enjoined by christ, and was quite alien from the meekness and humility of his character.[ ] they might have added that such voluntary martyrdoms had been expressly condemned, (_a._) by the circular letter of the church of smyrna to the other churches, describing polycarp's martyrdom, in the terms: "we commend not those who offer themselves of their own accord, for that is not what the gospel teacheth us:"[ ] (_b._) by st cyprian,[ ] who, when brought before the consul and questioned, said "our discipline forbiddeth that any should offer themselves of their own accord;" and in his last letter he says: "let none of you offer himself to the pagans, it is sufficient if he speak when apprehended:" (_c._) by clement of alexandria: "we also blame those who rush to death, for there are some, not of us, but only bearing the same name, who give themselves up:"[ ] (_d._) implicitly by the synod of elvira, or illiberis (_circa_ ), one of the canons of which forbade him to be ranked as a martyr, who was killed on the spot for breaking idols: (_e._) by mensurius, bishop of carthage, who, when consulted on the question of reducing the immense lists of acknowledged martyrs, gave it as his opinion that those should be first excluded who had courted martyrdom.[ ] one bishop alone, and he a late one, benedict xiv. of rome,[ ] has ventured to approve what the church has condemned. nor is this the only instance in which the roman church has set aside the decisions of an earlier christendom. [ ] eul., "mem. sanct.," i., sec. , "quos nulla praesidalis violentia fidem suam negare compulit, nec a cultu sanctae piaeque religionis amovit:" sec. , "quos liberalitas regis suum incolere iusserat christianismum." [ ] quoting such texts as matt. v. , "bless them that curse you, and pray for them that despitefully use you:" pet. ii. , "submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the lord's sake." [ ] eusebius iv. . see neander, i. p. . (a.d. .) [ ] martyred . [ ] see long's "m. aurelius antoninus," introd., p. . [ ] burton's "history of the christian church," p. . [ ] - : in his "de servorum dei beatificatione et beatorum canonizatione," bk. iii. , sec. . fleury, v. . the charges against the zealots were twofold, that there had been no persecution worthy of the name, such as to justify their doings, and that those doings themselves were contrary to the teaching and spirit of christianity. the latter part of the charge has already been dealt with, and may be considered sustained. as to the other part, the apologists, it must be confessed, answer with a very uncertain sound. sometimes, indeed, they deny it point-blank:[ ] "as if," says eulogius, "the destruction of our churches,[ ] the insults heaped upon our clergy, the monthly tax[ ] which we pay, the perils of a hard life, lived on sufferance, are nothing." these insults and affronts are continually referred to. "no one," says the same author,[ ] "can go out or come in amongst us in security, no one pass a knot of moslems in the street without being treated with contumely. they mock at the marks[ ] of our order. they hoot at us and call us fools and vain. the very children jeer at us, and even throw stones and potsherds at the priests. the sound of the church-going bell[ ] never fails to evoke from moslem hearers the foulest and most blasphemous language. they even deem it a pollution to touch a christian's garment." alvar adds that the moslems would fall to cursing when they saw the cross;[ ] and when they witnessed a burial according to christian rites, would say aloud, "shew them no mercy, o god," throwing stones withal at the lord's people, and defiling their ears with the filthiest abuse.[ ] "yet," he indignantly exclaims, "you say that this is not a time of persecution; nor is it, i answer, a time of apostles. but i affirm that it is a deadly time[ ] ... are we not bowed beneath the yoke of slavery, burdened with intolerable taxes, spoiled of our goods, lashed with the scourges of their abuse, made a byword and a proverb, aye, a spectacle to all nations?"[ ] [ ] eul., "mem. sanct.," i. sec. : alvar, "ind. lum.," sec. . [ ] _ibid._; and alvar, "ind. lum.," sec. . [ ] leovigild, "de habitu clericorum." "migne," , p. . [ ] eul., l.l. [ ] stigmata. [ ] alvar, "ind. lum.," sec. , "derisioni et contemptui inhiantes capita moventes infanda iterando congeminant." he adds: "daily and nightly from their minarets they revile the lord by their invocation of allah and mohammed!" eul., "lib. ap.," sec. , confesses that hearing their call to prayer always moved him to quote psalm xcvi. : "confounded be all they that worship carved images"--a very irrelevant malediction, as applied to the moslems. [ ] alvar, l.l., "fidei signum opprobrioso elogio decolorant." [ ] "spurcitiarum fimo."--_ibid._ [ ] "mortiferum."--"ind. lum.," sec. . [ ] alvar, "ind. lum.," sec. , gives us a very savage picture of the moslem character: "sunt in superbia tumidi, in tumore cordis elati, in delectatione carnalium operum fluidi, in comestione superflui ... sine misericordia crudeles, sine iustitia invasores, sine honore absque veritate, benignitatis nescientes affectum ... humilitatem velut insaniam deridentes, castitatem velut spurcitiam respuentes." that there was a certain amount of social ill-treatment, and that the lower classes of moslems did not take any pains to conceal their dislike and scorn of such christian beliefs and rites as were at variance with their own creed, and moreover regarded priests and monks with especial aversion, there can be no doubt. but, on the other hand, there is no want of evidence to show that the condition of the christians was by no means so bad as the apologists would have us suppose. petty annoyances could not fail to exist anywhere under such circumstances, as were actually to be found in spain at this time, and we may be sure that the christian priests in particular did not bear themselves with that humility which might have ensured a mitigation of the annoyances. organised opposition to christianity, unless the moslem rule can itself be called such, there was none, till it was called into being by the action of the fanatics themselves. but apart from all the other facts which point to this conclusion, we can call the apologists themselves in evidence that there was no real persecution going on at the time of the first martyrdoms. eulogius[ ] admits that the christians were not let or hindered in the free exercise of their religion by saying that this state of things[ ] was not due to the forbearance (forsooth!) of the moslems, but to the divine mercy. alvar, too, in a passage which seems to contradict the whole position which he is trying to defend, says[ ]:--"though many were the victims of persecution, very many others--and you cannot deny it--offered themselves a voluntary sacrifice to the lord. is it not clear that it was not the arabs who began persecuting, but we who began preaching? read the story of the martyrs, and you will see that they rushed voluntarily on their fate, not waiting the bidding of persecutors, nor the snares of informers; aye, and--what is made so strong a charge against them--that they tired out the forbearance of their rulers and princes by insult upon insult."[ ] [ ] "mem. sanct.," i. sec. . [ ] viz., "quod inter ipsos sine molestia fidei degimus." [ ] "ind. lum.," sec. . [ ] "fatigasse praesides et principes multis contumeliis."--_ibid._ as to the other part of the accusation, that voluntary martyrs were no martyrs, eulogius could only declaim against the scriptures quoted by his opponents,[ ] and refer to the morally blind, who make evil their good, and take darkness to be their light;[ ] while he brought forward a saying of certain wise men that "those martyrs will hold the first rank in the heavenly companies who have gone to their death unsummoned."[ ] he also sought to defend the practice of reviling mohammed by the plea that exorcism was allowed against the devil, which is sufficiently ridiculous; but alvar goes further, and calmly assures us that these insults and revilings of the prophet were merely a form of preaching[ ] to the poor benighted moslems, naïvely remarking that the scriptures affirm that the gospel of christ must be preached to all nations. whereas, then, the moslems had not been preached to, these martyred saints had taken upon themselves the sacred duty of rendering them "debtors to the faith." the second count[ ] against the martyrs was that they had worked no miracles--a serious deficiency in an age when miracles were almost the test of sanctity. eulogius[ ] could only meet the charge by admitting the fact, but adding that miracles were frequent in the early ages, in order to establish christianity on a firm basis; and that the constancy of the martyrs was in itself a miracle (which was true, but not to the point). had he been content with this, he had done wisely; but he goes on: "moreover, miracles are no sign of truth, as even the unbelievers can work them."[ ] now, by trying to show why these martyrs did not perform any miracles, he admits by implication that they were deficient in this particular;[ ] and yet in other parts of his work he mentions miracles performed by these very martyrs, as, for instance, by isaac, and by flora, and maria.[ ] so that the worthy priest is placed in this dilemma: if miracles are really no sign of truth, why attribute them to the martyrs, when, as is allowed elsewhere, they were unable to work them? if, on the other hand, they did perform these miracles, why not adduce them in evidence against the detractors? [ ] eul., "mem. sanct.," i. sec. . [ ] isaiah v. . [ ] eul., "mem. sanct.," i. sec. . taken from some "acts of the saints," probably those of ss. emetherius and caledonius--a book obviously of no authority. [ ] "ind. lum.," sec. , "in hac israelitica gente nullus hactenus exstitit praedicator, per quod debitores fidei tenerentur. isti enim (_i.e._, the martyrs) apostolatus vicem in eosdem et evangelicam praedicationem impleverunt, eosque fidei debitores reddiderunt." [ ] eul., "mem. sanct.," i. . [ ] "lib. apol.," sec . [ ] "lib. apol.," sec. . [ ] cp. "mem. sanct.," i. sec. . [ ] "mem. sanct.," pref., sec. . the third objection is a curious one, that the martyrs were not put to death by idolaters, but by men worshipping god and acknowledging a divine law,[ ] and therefore were not true martyrs. eulogius misses the true answer, which is obvious enough, and scornfully exclaims:--"as if they could be said to believe in god, who persecute his church, and deem it hateful to believe in a christ who was very god and very man."[ ] fourthly, the martyrs died a quick and easy death. but, as eulogius points out,[ ] pain and torture give no additional claim to the martyr's crown. lastly, it was objected that the bodies of these martyrs, as indeed was to be expected, corrupted, and were even, in some cases, devoured by dogs. "what matter," says eulogius,[ ] "since their souls are borne away to celestial mansions." [ ] eul. "lib. apol.," sec. . [ ] _ibid._, sec. . [ ] _ibid._, sec. . [ ] "mem. sanct.," i. sec. . but it was not objections brought by fellow-christians only that eulogius took upon himself to answer, but also the taunts and scoffs of the moslems. "why," said they, "if your god is the true god, does he not strike terror into the executioners of his saints by some great prodigy? and why do not the martyrs themselves flash forth into miracles while the crowd is round them? you rush upon your own destruction, and yet you work no wonders that might induce us to change our opinion of your creed, thereby doing your own side no good, and ours no harm."[ ] yet the constancy of the martyrs affected the moslems more than they cared to confess, as we may infer from the taunts levelled at the christians, when, in mohammed's reign, some christians, from fear of death, even apostatized. "whither," they triumphantly asked,[ ] "has that bravery of your martyrs vanished? what has become of the rash frenzy with which they courted death?" yet though they affected to consider the martyrs as fools or madmen, they could not be blind to the effect that their constancy was likely to produce on those who beheld their death, and to the reverence with which their relics were regarded by the christians. they therefore expressly forbade the bodies of martyrs to be preserved[ ] and worshipped, and did their best to make this in certain cases impossible by burning the corpses and scattering the ashes on the river, though sometimes they contented themselves with throwing the bodies, unburnt, into the stream. [ ] "mem. sanct.," i. sec. . [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," iii. sec. . [ ] see "de translatione corporum sanctorum martyrum," etc., sec. . "non enim, quos martyres faciunt, venerari saraceni permittunt." see above, p. . the bodies of earlier martyrs were more freely given up at the request of the christians. see "chron. silen.," secs. - ; dozy, iv. , for the surrender of the body of justus; and eul., "ad wiliesindum," sec. , where eulogius mentions that he had taken the bodies of saints zoilus and austus to pampluna. later, hakem ii. ( - ) gave up the body of the boy pelagius at ramiro iii.'s request. mariana, viii. . however, in spite of these regulations, many bodies were secretly carried off and entombed in churches, where they were looked upon as the most precious of possessions; and martyrs, who, by the admission of their admirers themselves, had never worked any miracles when living, were enabled, when dead, to perform a series of extraordinary ones, which did not finally cease till modern enlightenment had dissipated the darkness of the middle ages. we happen to possess a very interesting account of the circumstances under which the relics of three of these cordovan martyrs were transferred from the troubled scene of their passion to the more peaceful and more superstitious cloisters of france.[ ] it was in that hilduin, the abbot of the monastery of st vincent and the holy cross, near paris, learning that the body of their patron saint, st vincent, was at valencia, sent two monks, usuard and odilard, with the king's[ ] permission, to procure the precious relics for their own monastery. on their way to perform this commission, the monks learnt that the body was no longer at valencia. it had been, in fact, carried[ ] by a monk named andaldus to saragoza. senior, the bishop of that city, had seized it, and it was still held in veneration there, but under the name of st marinus, whose body the monk had stoutly asserted it to be. senior apparently doubted the statement, and tortured andaldus to get the truth out of him, but in vain; for the monk, knowing that st vincent had been deacon of saragoza, feared that the bishop would never surrender the body if aware of its identity. however, usuard and odilard knew not but that the body was that of marinus, as stated. [ ] de translatione ss. martyrum georgii, aurelii, et nathaliae ex urbe cordobae parisios: auctore aimoino.--"migne," vol. , pp. ff. [ ] charles the bald. [ ] "under a divine impulse," as usual. disappointed, therefore, in their errand, they lingered about at barcelona, thinking to pick up some other relics, when a friend, holding a high position in that town, sunifridus by name, mentioned the persecution at cordova, news of which does not seem to have travelled beyond spain. they determine at once to go to cordova, relying on a friend there, named leovigild, to help them to obtain what they wished. travelling in spain, however, seems to have been by no means safe[ ] at this period, and their bold resolution is regarded with fear and admiration by their friends. the lord of the gothic marches, hunifrid, being on friendly terms with the wali of saragoza, writes to him on their behalf, and he entrusts them to the care of a caravan which chanced to be just starting for cordova. [ ] see sec. , and eul., "ad wiliesindum," where he speaks of the road to gaul as "stipata praedonibus," and of all gothia as "perturbata funeroso wilihelmi incursu." on reaching cordova, after many days, they go to st cyprian's church, where lay the bodies of john and adulphus. the rumour of their arrival brings leovigild (called abad salomes), who proves a very useful friend, and samson, who just at this juncture is made abbot of the monastery at pegnamellar, where the bodies of george, aurelius, and sabigotha were buried--the very relics which they had decided to try and obtain. the monks of the monastery naturally object to parting with such precious possessions, but samson contrives to get the bishop's permission to give up the bodies. this was all the more opportune, as a chance was now given them of returning to barcelona, by joining the expedition which mohammed i. was on the point of making against toledo. orders had been given that all the inhabitants, strangers as well as citizens, except the city guard, should go out with the king. however, the frankish monks were met by an unexpected difficulty. in the temporary absence of the abbot, the monks of pegnamellar refused to give up the relics, and it was only with much difficulty that the bishop saul was induced to confirm his former permission to remove them. the bodies were now exhumed without the knowledge of the moslems, and sealed with charles' own seal, brought for that purpose. george's body was found whole, but of the other two, only the head of nathalia, and the trunk of aurelius' body. the two latter are united to form one corpse, as it is written, "they two shall be one flesh." after a stay in cordova of eight weeks, they set out under the protection of some christians serving in the army. leovigild, who had been away on the king's business, now returns, and escorts them to toledo. the approach of the army having cleared away the brigands who infested those parts, the monks with their precious freight got safely away to saragoza, and returned with their booty to france, where the relics worked numbers of astonishing miracles. let us return from this digression to the steps taken by the moderate party among the christians, and by the moslem authorities, to put an end to what seemed so dangerous an agitation. that reccafredus was not the only ecclesiastic of high position who took exception to the new movement we learn clearly enough from alvar,[ ] who tells us that "bishops, priests, deacons, and 'wise men' of cordova joined in inveighing against the new martyrdoms, under the impulse of fear wellnigh denying the faith of christ, if not in words, yet by their acts." we may, therefore, conclude that the greater part of the ecclesiastical authorities were heart and soul with the bishop of seville, while the party led by eulogius and saul was a comparatively small one. however, strong measures were necessary, and reccafredus did not hesitate to imprison several priests and clergy.[ ] eulogius complains that the churches were deprived of their ministers, and the customary church rites were in abeyance, "while the spider wove her web in the deserted aisles, tenanted only by a dreadful silence." in this passage the writer doubtless gives reins to his imagination, yet there must have been a certain amount of truth in the main assertion, for he repeats it again and again.[ ] the evidence of alvar is to the same effect: "have not those who seemed to be columns of the church, the very rocks on which it is founded, who were deemed the elect of god, have they not, i say, in the presence of these cynics, or rather of these epicureans, under no compulsion, but of their own free will, spoken evil of the martyrs of god? have not the shepherds of christ, the teachers of the church, bishops, abbots, priests, the chiefs of our hierarchy, and its mighty men, publicly denounced the martyrs of our church as heretics?"[ ] [ ] "life of eulog.," ch. i. sec. . [ ] alvar, "life of eulog.," ii. sec. --"omnes sacerdotes quos potuit carcerali vinculo alligavit." eul., "doc. martyr," sec. --"repleta sunt penetralia carceris clericorum catervis, viduata est ecclesia sacro praesulum et sacerdotum officio ... privata prorsus ecclesia omni sacro ministerio." alvar, "ind. lum.," secs. , --"templa christi a sacrificio desolata, et loca sancta ab ethnicis exstirpata." [ ] eul., "doc. mart.," sec. --"eremitatem ecclesiarum, compeditionem sacerdotum ... et quod non est nobis in hoc tempore sacrificium nec holocaustum nee oblatio." cp. ep. ad wilies, sec. . [ ] alvar, "ind. lum.," sec. . not content with imprisoning the fanatics, the party of order forced them to swear that they would not snatch at the martyr's palm by speaking evil of the prophet.[ ] those who disobeyed were threatened with unheard-of penalties, with loss of limbs, and merciless scourgings.[ ] this last statement must be taken with reservation, at least if put into the mouth of the christian party under reccafredus. it is extremely unlikely that christian bishops and priests should have had recourse to such treatment of their coreligionists: yet they had a spiritual weapon ready to their hands, and they were not slow to use it. they anathematised[ ] those who aided and abetted the zealots; and eulogius himself seems to have narrowly escaped their sentence of excommunication.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, sec. --"ne ad martyrii surgerent palmam, iuramentum extorsimus ... et maledictum ne maledictionibus impeterent, evangelio et cruce educta, vi iurare improbiter fecimus." [ ] _ibid._, cp. alvar, "life of eulog.," iv. sec. --"duris tormentis agitati, commoti sunt." [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct." i. sec. --"ne ceteri ad huiusmodi palaestram discurrant schedulis anathematum per loca varia damnari iubentur." alvar, "ind. lum.," sec. --"plerosque patres anathematizantes talia patientes." [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," iii. c. iv. sec. . this action against the zealots was in all probability taken, if not at the instigation of the moslem authorities, yet in close concert with them. eulogius[ ] attributes all the evils which had befallen the church, such as the imprisonment of bishops, priests, abbots, and deacons, to the wrath of the king; and alvar distinctly states that the king was urged, even bribed, to take measures against the christians.[ ] it is not likely that the king required much persuading. mohammed at least seems to have been thoroughly frightened by the continued agitation against mohammedanism. he naturally suspected some political plot at the bottom of it; a supposition which receives some countenance from the various references in eulogius[ ] to the martyrs as "soldiers of god" bound to war against his moslem enemies; and from the undoubted fact that the christians of toledo did rise in favour of their coreligionists at cordova.[ ] however that may be, the king in certainly took counsel[ ] with his ministers, how the agitation should be met, and he seems to have assembled a sort of grand council[ ] of the church, when the same question was discussed. stronger measures were in consequence taken, and a more rigorous imprisonment resorted to. but mohammed went farther than this. he deprived of their posts all christians, who held offices in the palace,[ ] or in connection with the court, and withdrew from the christian "cadet corps,"[ ] the royal bounty usually extended to them. he ordered the destruction of all churches built since the conquest, and of all later additions to those previously existing. he made a severe enactment against those who reviled mohammed.[ ] he even had in mind to banish all christians from his dominions.[ ] this intention, together with the order respecting the churches, was not carried out, owing probably to the opportune revolt at toledo.[ ] [ ] ep. ad wilies, sec. . [ ] alvar, "ind. lum.," sec. . [ ] see dozy, ii. . [ ] conde, i. : dozy, ii. , says on eulogius' authority, that he incited them to revolt under sindila. [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," ii. c. xiv. [ ] robertson calls it a conciliabulum. [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," ii. § . [ ] "militares pueros." eulog. "mem. sanct.," iii. c. i. [ ] eulog. "mem. sanct.," ii. c. xiv--"tunc iam procul dubio enecandi nos difficultas fuit adempta, si quisquam vatis sui temerarius exprobator ultro occurreret." this seems to mean that christians and saracens were bound to give up to justice any who reviled the prophet; or else to kill him on the spot. [ ] eulog., "doc. mart.," sec. --"moslemi ... omne regni sui, sicuti cernitis, genus excludere moliuntur christicolarum." [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," iii. c. iv. in one of his works on this subject, eulogius expresses a fear lest the intervention of the martyrs should bring disaster on the church in spain, just as the intervention of moses in egypt did much at first to aggravate the hardships of the israelites.[ ] he ought not, therefore, to have been surprised, when such a result actually did follow; nor ought he to complain that now the moslems would only let the christians observe their religion in such a way as they chose to dictate; and that the christians were subjected to all sorts of taxes and exactions.[ ] these combined measures of repression, taken by the king and the bishop of seville, soon produced their effect. the extreme party were broken up, some escaping to quieter regions, others hiding, and only venturing abroad in disguise and at night--not, as eulogius is careful to add, from fear of death, but because the high prize of martyrdom is not reserved for the unworthy many, but for the worthy few.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, ii. c. xvi. [ ] eulog., "doc. mart.," sec. --"_nunc_ pro suo libito tantummodo exercere nos sinentes christianismum ... _nunc_ publicum imponentes censum, _nunc_ rebus nos abdicantes detrimentis atterunt rerum." [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," ii. sec. --"quia indigni sumus martyrio, quod quibusdam et non omnibus datum est." some even apostatized,[ ] while many of those who had applauded the proceedings of the martyrs, now called them indiscreet, and blamed them for indulging in a selfish desire to desert the suffering church for an early mansion in the skies.[ ] others, in order to retain posts under government, or to court favour with the king, dissembled their religion, taking care not to pray, or make the sign of the cross in public.[ ] eulogius himself was singled out at the meeting of the king's council by one of the royal secretaries, gomez, son of antonian, son of julian,[ ] as the ringleader of the new seditious movement. this man was a very worldly-minded christian,[ ] and was, no doubt, at this time, in fear of losing his lucrative office at court, which he had obtained by his remarkable knowledge of arabic. he did, in fact, lose his post with all the other christian officers of the court, but regained it by becoming a moslem;[ ] and such was the ardour of the new proselyte that he was called "the dove of the mosque."[ ] the result of this council was, as we have seen, hostile to the party of which eulogius and saul were the chiefs, but the former writer, mentioning the actual decree that was passed, pretends that it was merely a blind to deceive the king, and spoken figuratively; and he acknowledges that such hypocrisy was unworthy of the prelates and officers assembled.[ ] is it not more reasonable to suppose that eulogius and his supporters voted for it--as they seem to have done--with a mental reservation, while their opponents honestly considered such a step necessary? [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," ii. c. xv. --"fidem praevaricantur, abdicant religionem, crucifixum detestantur." [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," ii. c. ii. sec. . also in his letter to alvar sending the "mem. sanct.," he says, very few remained firm to their principles. [ ] alvar, "ind. lum.," sec. --"cum palam coram ethnicis orationem non faciunt, signo crucis oscitantes frontem non muniunt ... christianos contra fidei suae socios pro regis gratia, pro vendibilibus muneribus et defensione gentilicia praeliantes." elsewhere he says: "nullus invenitur qui iuxta iussum domini tonantis aetherii super montes babiloniae, caligosasque turres crucis fidei attollat vexillum, sacrificium deo offerens vespertinum." [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," iii. c. iv. sec. : alvar, "ind. lum.," sec. . see above, p. . [ ] ibn al kuttiya--apud dozy, ii. . [ ] eulog., "mem. sanct.," iii. c. ii. [ ] dozy, ii. . [ ] eul., "mem. sanct.," ii. c. xv., sec. --"aliquid commentaremur, quod ipsius tyranni ac populorum serperet aures." the "praemissum pontificate decretum" he calls "allegorice editum." chapter vi. the muzarabes. the death of eulogius was a signal for the cessation of the dubious martyrdoms which had for some years become so common, though the spirit, which prompted the self-deluded victims, was by no means stifled either in spain or the adjoining countries.[ ] yet the measures taken to put down the mania for death succeeded in preventing any fresh outbreak for some time. under the weak government of abdallah ( - ) the christians, determining to lose their lives to better purpose than at the hands of the executioner, rose in revolt, as will be related hereafter, in several parts of spain. after the battle of aguilar, or polei, in , between the arab and spanish factions, of the defeated christians were given the choice of islam or death, and all, save one, chose the latter alternative.[ ] during the long reign of abdurrahman iii. ( - ) there were a few isolated cases of martyrdom, which may as well be mentioned now. after the great battle in the vale of rushes,[ ] where abdurrahman defeated the kings of navarre and leon, one of the two fighting bishops, who were taken prisoners on that occasion, gave, as a hostage for his own release, a youth of fourteen, named pelagius. the king, it is said, smitten with his beauty, wished to work his abominable will upon the boy, but his advances being rejected with disdain, the unhappy youth was put to death with great barbarity, refusing to save his life by apostasy.[ ] a different version of the story is given by a saxon nun of gaudersheim, named hroswitha, who wrote a poem on the subject fifty years later. she tells us that the king tried to kiss pelagius, who thereupon struck him in the face, and was in consequence put to death by decapitation (june , ).[ ] [ ] see "life of argentea," secs. , . [ ] dozy, ii. . [ ] val du junqueras, a.d. [ ] johannes vasaeus ex commentariis resendi. romey, iv. , disbelieves this version of the story. perhaps al makk., ii. , is referring to the same pelagius when he mentions the king's liking for a handsome christian page. [ ] sampiro, secs. - . in the death of argentea (ap. , ) we have the last instance in spain of a christian seeking martyrdom. she was the daughter of the great rebel omar ibn hafsun,[ ] and his wife columba, and was born at that chieftain's stronghold of bobastro. upon her mother's death omar wished her to take up her mother's duties in the palace, for omar had become a sort of king on his own domain. she declined, asking only for a quiet retreat, where she might prepare her soul for martyrdom; and she wrote to a devout christian, whose wishes inclined him in the same direction, suggesting that they should seek the crown of martyrdom together.[ ] on the destruction of bobastro by abdurrahman in , she went to cordova.[ ] she there met with a gaul named vulfura, who had been warned in a dream that in that city he should find a virgin, with whom he was to suffer martyrdom. however, his object becoming known, vulfura is cast into prison by the governor of the city. argentea goes to visit him there, and is stopped by the guards, who, finding she is a christian, take her before the judge as a renegade, and she is imprisoned with vulfura. the alternative of islam instead of death being refused, they are both executed, but argentea, as being an "insolens rebellis," is first scourged with stripes, and her tongue cut out. her body was buried at the church of the three saints. in the year [ ] we hear of two hundred monks of cardena being massacred by the berbers in abdurrahman's army; and in some sense they can be regarded as martyrs to their faith. [ ] who on becoming a christian, took the name of samuel. florez, x. p. , ff. [ ] see "life of argentea," by an anonymous author. [ ] _ibid._, sec. . [ ] dozy, iii. . mariana, viii. , gives , but says it may have occurred in . in a martyr named eugenia is said to have perished;[ ] and thirty years later, the last martyrs of whom we have any record under the arab rule. dominicus sarracinus, son of john, and his companions taken prisoners at the capture of simancas, were kept for two years and a-half in prison.[ ] they were then brought out and put to death, just when ramiro iii., or his successor, had sent to ransom them.[ ] there is no evidence whatever to show that there was a persecution of the christians under the great abdurrahman, and the statements of those writers who intimate the contrary may be set aside as unsupported by evidence.[ ] we will now turn back and take a general view of the christian church and its condition under the arabs in spain, especially--for our information is greatest as to those periods--under the two kings abdurrahman ii. and iii. under the former of these sovereigns the condition of the christians, until the persecution, which they themselves provoked, began, was very tolerable, and the majority of the christians were quite content with their lot. they served in the army, both free men and slaves; they held lucrative posts at court, or in the houses of the arab nobles, or as government officials. but though the lay community was well off, the clergy and stricter churchmen had something to complain of; for the church[ ] could not be said to be free, though the worship was, since the power of summoning councils had now passed to the arab executive, who, as we have seen, made even moslems and jews sit at these councils. sees were also put up to auction, and the scandalous spectacle was not unknown, of atheists and heretics holding the titles, and drawing the emoluments, of bishops.[ ] [ ] schott., iv. . [ ] rohrbacher, xii. . [ ] charter, apud florez, xiv. . [ ] see above, p. , note . a letter also is mentioned of john servus dei, bishop of toledo, to the muzarabes with regard to the late martyrdoms and apostasies, purporting to have been written in . [ ] dozy, ii. . [ ] alvar, "ep.," xiii. . samson, "apol.," ii. cc. ii.-iv. as was to be expected, arabic soon began to displace latin throughout the country, and even before the ninth century the scriptures were translated into the tongue of the conquerors [ ] by odoarius, bishop of accita, and john of seville. hischem i. ( - ) forbade the use of any language but arabic, so that his christian subjects had to use arabic gospels;[ ] and the spaniards were soon not even permitted to write in latin.[ ] even if this statement be doubtful, we know that latin came gradually to be neglected and forgotten. alvar utters an eloquent protest against this: "alas, the christians are ignorant of their own tongue, and latins neglect their language, so that in all the college of christ[ ] there is scarcely to be found one who can write an address of welcome to his brother intelligibly in latin, while numbers can be found competent to mouth the flowery rhetoric of the chaldeans."[ ] in the department of poetry--the peculiar boast of the arabs--the christians seem even to have surpassed their masters; and to the rivalry of the two nations in this art we may attribute the excellence and abundance of native ballads of which spain can boast. we have seen how eulogius did his best to check this neglect of latin, by introducing into spain some of the masterpieces in that language; but it is doubtful whether his efforts had much result. we can see from the remains of the spanish writers which we possess that the structure of that language had considerably degenerated in spain.[ ] [ ] murphy, "hist. mahom. empire in spain," p. . [ ] yonge, p. . [ ] conde, i. . [ ] "omni christi collegio." [ ] alvar, "ind. lum.," sec. . [ ] see elipandus and alvar passim. alcuin, on the other hand, writes wonderfully good latin. some sentences are so ungrammatical as to be scarcely intelligible. moreover, we find samson[ ] directly accusing hostegesis, bishop of malaga, of not being able to write latin; and similarly jonas of orleans ( ) accusing claudius, bishop of turin, who was himself a spaniard, of the same defect. the neglect of latin was accompanied by an increasing indifference to the doctrinal basis of christianity, educated christians being led to devote their time, which might have been more profitably spent on their own scriptures, to becoming acquainted with the mohammedan religion, and even to unravelling the intricacies of the controversial theology which had grown up round, and overlaid, the original simplicity of the koran.[ ] the great fathers of the church were laid aside unread, and even the prophets and apostles, and the gospel itself, found few to study them. while the higher classes were indifferent to religion, the lower were sunk in poverty[ ] and ignorance.[ ] the inevitable result of this indifference, ignorance, and poverty, was a visible deterioration in the character of spanish christianity, of which there are only too many proofs. [ ] samson, "apol.," c. vii. [ ] alvar, "ind. lum.," sec. --"ac dum illorum sacramenta inquirimus, et philosophorum sectas scire non pro ipsorum convincendis erroribus sed pro elegantia leporis et locutione luculenter diserta. quis rogo hodie solers in nostris fidelibus laicis invenitur, qui scripturis sanctis intentus volumina quorumcunque doctorum latine conscripta respiciat? quis evangelico, quis prophetico, quis apostolico ustus tenetur amore? nonne omnes iuvenes christiani vultu decori, linguae diserti, habitu gestuque conspicui, gentilicia eruditione praeclari, arabico eloquio sublimati, volumina chaldaeorum avidissime tractunt?" [ ] florez, xix. , charter of ; see also "dozy," iii. ; and for the condition of christians in the free states, buckle, "hist. of civiliz.," i. . [ ] dozy (l.l.). we find the abbot samson distinctly accusing hostegesis, bishop of malaga, of simony, asserting that he sold the priesthood to low and unworthy people;[ ] while alvar charges saul, bishop of cordova, with obtaining his bishopric by bribery.[ ] other irregularities imputed to hostegesis were that he held his see from his twentieth year, contrary to the canons of the church, and that he beat priests, in order to extort money from them, till they died under his hands. besides the election to the priesthood, by unworthy means, of unworthy men, whose ignorance and impudence the congregation had to endure in silence,[ ] many were informally ordained without vouchers for character being given, or the assent of their fellow-clergy and flocks being obtained.[ ] many churches presented the unseemly spectacle of two rival pastors, contrary to the ordinances received from the fathers.[ ] changes, too, were made in doctrine and ritual, for which no authority could be alleged, in contravention of established custom and the teaching of the church. so far was this carried that samson was accused by his opponents of being a heretic and an idolator because he permitted the marriage of cousins; dissented from the view that god was ever enclosed in the chambers of the virgin's heart;[ ] asserted the omnipresence of god, even in idols and the devil, and this in an actual, not a metaphysical, sense;[ ] and denied that god sat upon an exalted throne above his creatures. from this it is clear that hostegesis and those who thought with him[ ] were infected with the anthropomorphite heresy. [ ] samson, "apol.," bk. ii., pref. sec. . [ ] see "letter to saul," sec. --"poterant enim quovis asserente canonice incohationis vestrae primordia comprobari, si quadringenti solidi non fuissent palam eunuchis vel aliis exsoluti." dozy, ii. , adds that the money was guaranteed on the episcopal revenues, but this is a conjecture. [ ] samson, "apol.," ii. pref. sec ; dozy, ii. . [ ] alvar ad saulum, sec. --"sine testimonis, sine connibentia clericorum." [ ] _ibid._ [ ] samson, "apol.," ii. pref. sec. and iii.--"cubiculum cordis virginei." this appears to be a quotation from the gothic liturgy. [ ] "per substantiam, non per subtilitatem."--_ibid._ [ ] romanus and sebastianus, samson, pref, sec. . not only did many of the clergy hold heretical views, but their depravity was notorious. hostegesis did not blush to spend the produce of the church tithes and offerings, which he had with difficulty extorted from his flock,[ ] in bribing the court officials and the king's sons, giving them feasts at which open and flagrant vice was indulged in.[ ] the clergy were not above pretending illness in order to avoid paying the monthly tax to their moslem rulers.[ ] some, even in the highest positions in the church, denied their saviour and apostatized to the moslems; one of these renegades being samuel, bishop of elvira, the uncle of hostegesis' mother, who, with a pervert's zeal, persecuted the church he had deserted, imprisoning the clergy, taxing his former flock, and even forcing some to embrace islam.[ ] it is not surprising, therefore, that bishops and clergy were sometimes deposed. samson, indeed, underwent this disgrace at the hands of a hostile faction under hostegesis, on the ground of his pretended heresy; and, similarly, valentius,[ ] bishop of cordova, was deprived of his see because he was a supporter of samson. but these instances reflect more discredit on the deposers than on their victims. instances of deposition are not wanting, in the free states the north. sisenandus, seventh bishop of compostella ( ), was deposed by king sancho for dissolute living, and malversation of church moneys.[ ] on the king's death he recovered his see, driving out his successor. pelayo, another bishop of compostella, suffered the same punishment.[ ] [ ] the offering of one-third for the church was refused to hostegesis as being sacrilegious; so he proceeded to extort it, "suis codicibus institutis."--samson "apol.," ii. pref. sec. . [ ] _ibid._ the state of the church in the north was not much better. see yonge, p. . [ ] leovigild de habitu clericorum. dozy, ii. . [ ] samson, pref. ii. . [ ] succeeded saul in , and was deposed in . [ ] mariana, viii. . he went over to the moslems. southey, "chronicle of the cid," p. . yonge, p. . [ ] mariana ( . .). when the kings of castile gradually drove back the moors, and when alfonso took toledo in , his wife, constance of burgundy, and her spiritual adviser, a monk named bernard, were horrified at the laxity in morals and doctrine of the muzarabic christians. their addiction to poetry and natural science was regarded with suspicious aversion, and the pork-eating, circumcision, and, not least, the cleanly habits,[ ] contracted from an intercourse with moslems, were looked upon as so many marks of the beast. in the crusaders, who had swarmed to the wars in spain, even wished to turn their pious arms against these poor muzarabes, so scandalised were they at the un-romish rites. yet we are told that alfonso the great, when building and restoring churches in the territory newly wrested from the moors, set up again the ordinances of the goths, as formerly observed at toledo.[ ] the free church in the north had itself been in great danger of extinction, when the armies of the great almanzer ( - ) swept yearly through the christian kingdoms like some devastating tempest.[ ] fifty-two victorious campaigns did that irresistible warrior lead against the infidels.[ ] barcelona, pampluna, and leon fell before his arms, and the sacred city of compostella was sacked, and for a time left desolate, the bells of st james' shrine being carried off to cordova to serve as lamps in the grand mosque. we are not, therefore, surprised to find that there were many bishops in the north who had lost their sees; and this was the case even before the tenth century, for a bishop named sabaricus, being driven from his own see by the arabs, was given that of mindumetum by alfonso iii. in ,[ ] and twenty years later a bishop named sebastian received the see of auria in the same way.[ ] it is natural enough that the moslems and the clergy of the christian church should be hostile to one another, but it is surprising to find--as we do find in some cases--the latter making common cause with the arabs in ill-treating their fellow-countrymen and coreligionists. thus, as we have seen, hostegesis, relying on the support of the secular arm,[ ] beat and imprisoned the clergy for withholding from him the church tithes, dragging them through the city naked, with a crier crying before them:--"such is the punishment of those who will not pay their tithes to their bishop."[ ] bishops were even found to make episcopal visitations, getting the names of all their flock, as if with the intention of praying for them individually, and then to hand in their names to the civil power for the purpose of taxation.[ ] others obtained from the arabs the privilege of farming the revenues derived from christian taxation, and cruelly oppressed their coreligionists.[ ] [ ] the christians in the north were vulgarly supposed by the arabs not to wash. see conde, i. --"it is related of these people of galicia ... that they live like savages or wild beasts, and never wash either their persons or their garments." [ ] "chron. albeld.," sec. --"ordinem gothorum sicuti toleto fuerat statuit." [ ] "chron. silense," sec. --"eadem tempestate in hispania omnis divinus cultus periit." [ ] he was not defeated in his last battle, as is generally stated in histories.--see al makkari, ii. . [ ] florez, "esp. sagr.," xviii. . [ ] _ibid._, xvii. . [ ] "praesidali manu fultus." samson, ii. pref. sec. . [ ] _ibid._ [ ] _ibid._, and eulog., "mem. sanct.," iii. c. iv. sec. . [ ] eul., . . these nefarious measures were backed up, even if they were not instigated, by servandus, the christian count of cordova. he was the son of a serf of the church,[ ] and married a cousin of hostegesis.[ ] instead of championing the cause of the christians, as his position should have impelled him to do, he went so far in the opposite direction as to call them up before him, and try to shake their attachment to christianity--a religion, nominally at least, his own also. those who held firm he forced to pay increased taxes, and even levied blackmail on the churches. he did not scruple to drag forth the bodies of martyrs from under the altars of churches, and, showing them to the king, to remind him that it had been forbidden to christians to bury their martyrs.[ ] following up the hostile measures instituted by hostegesis against samson and valentius, he proceeded to accuse them of inciting the fanatics to revile mohammed, urging that they should be tested with this dilemma. they should be asked whether what the revilers said were true or not. "if they answer, 'true,' let them be punished as well as the reviler; if 'false,' bid them slay the man themselves; refusing which, you will know that they have aided and abetted him to abuse your prophet. in that case, give me permission, and i will slay the three myself."[ ] [ ] dozy, ii. . [ ] samson, "apol.," ii. pref. sec. . [ ] samson, . . [ ] _ibid._, sec. . this same servandus, the meanest of timeservers, seeing the sultan's (abdallah's) cause failing, deserted to the rebel omar and his christian following, and was killed at polei(?)--ibn hayyan., apud dozy, ii. . his arab name was sherbil, and he was beheaded at cordova by the arabs.--see de gayangos' note on al mak., ii. , . we have had occasion to mention one or two cases of church, and national, councils held in spain under the arabs, and it will be worth while to enumerate all the instances which are recorded, that we may contrast them with those held under the goths. it was one of the most characteristic features of the old church in spain that it was united so closely with the civil power as almost to render the government of spain a theocracy. this intimate connection of church and state was naturally overthrown by the arab conquest; but the moslem rulers, seeing how useful such institutions as general councils were likely to be in adjusting the relations between mussulmans and christians, both allowed purely ecclesiastical councils to be called under their jurisdiction, and also summoned others in which they took part themselves, together with jews, to the great scandal of the stricter christians.[ ] to the purely ecclesiastical kind belong a council held at seville by elipandus[ ] to condemn the errors of migetius; and another, held by cixila at toledo in , against the errors of egila, bishop of elvira.[ ] whether egila abjured his error is not known, but it is certain that he remained bishop. elipandus is also said, but on very doubtful authority, to have held a council, whereat he renounced his own error of adoptionism.[ ] [ ] we even find in that the bishops of toledo and cordova had moslem names, viz., obeidollah ibn kasim (al makkari, ii. ), and akbar ibn abdallah. dozy, iii. . [ ] the exact date is unknown. fleury, ii. p. . [ ] "pseudo luitprand," sec. , says--"ad concilium ex omnibus hispaniae partibus concurrunt." see also pope adrian i.'s letter to the bishops of spain in . very little is known of this egila, nor is it certain of what see he was the bishop. [ ] see below, p. ad fin. and ff. but the other class of councils, partly ecclesiastical and partly political, seem to have been commoner, and we have already seen how reccafredus, bishop of seville, in conjunction with the moslem authorities, held such a council, in order to coerce the fanatical party among the christians; and we have a more particular account of another, which was held by hostegesis, bishop of malaga, and servandus, count of cordova.[ ] this council seems to have had some connection with the preceding one under reccafredus, for servandus was a strong and unscrupulous opponent of the party led by eulogius, while samson was their devoted supporter, though he did not carry his opinions so far as to suffer martyrdom in his own person. samson was now accused of heresy[ ] and sacrilege, as has been already mentioned. hostegesis forced his views on the assembled bishops by the help of the secular arm, and a sentence of anathema and deposition was accordingly pronounced against the unfortunate abbot.[ ] one of the apparently consenting bishops was valentius, bishop of cordova, but his judgement had evidently been coerced, for after the close of the council he sounded the other consenting bishops, and some who had not attended, as to their opinions, and found that most of them were ready to affirm samson's orthodoxy, and a memorial was drawn up to that effect this action of valentius' brought upon him also a sentence of deposition, and he was succeeded by stephanus flaccus,[ ]--the election of the latter being quite informal, as no metropolitan assisted thereat,[ ] and neither the clergy nor laymen of his diocese made a petition in his favour. [ ] samson, "apol.," ii. pref. [ ] on the ground, among others, that he recognised "nescio quam similitudines (besides the trinity) non creaturas sed creatores." these appear (chap, ix.) to have been merely qualities, such as wisdom, etc. see samson, chap. iii. [ ] "indiscreta simplicitate et metu impiorum in superbiae fascibus sedentium."--_ibid_. samson was rendered incapable of holding office, or even of belonging to the church.--_ibid_. [ ] in . [ ] see above, p. . this fresh deposition was formally sanctioned by a new council, held at the church of st acislus; flaccus, and some of those who had sided with valentius, but were now terrified into submission, being in attendance; while the places of those who refused to come were taken by jews and moslems.[ ] these high-handed proceedings nearly led to an open rupture in the church.[ ] in a council is said to have been held (but on doubtful authority) by orontius of toledo,[ ] and twenty years later by basilius of cordova. these would fall under the reign of the greatest of the umeyyade khalifs of spain.[ ] [ ] sayones (?) in the latin. samson, chap. iii. [ ] _ibid._, sec. . [ ] "pseudo luit," sec. . [ ] _ibid._ sec. . chapter vii. spain under abdurrahman iii. abdurrahman iii., annasir lidinillah ( - ), may be looked upon as the solomon of the spanish sultans. succeeding to the throne when quite a youth, to the exclusion of his uncles, the sons of the late sultan, he found the country torn by innumerable factions, and the king's power openly defied by rebels, arab, berber, and christian. in person, and through his generals, he put down all these rebels, and though not uniformly successful against the christians in the north, yet he defeated them in a series of great engagements.[ ] he welded all the discordant elements under his rule into one great whole,[ ] thereby giving the arab domination in spain another lease of life. in he took the title of amir al mumenin, or commander of the faithful. his alliance was sought by the emperor of the east,[ ] and he treated on equal terms with the emperor of germany and the king of france. to this great king, with more truth than to his namesake abdurrahman ii., may be applied the words of miss yonge:--[ ] "he was of that type of eastern monarch, that seems moulded on the character of solomon--large-hearted, wise, magnificent, tolerant, and peaceful. he was as great a contrast to the stern, ascetic, narrow-minded, but earnest alfonso or ramiro, as were the exquisite horse-shoe arches, filagree stonework lattices, inlaid jewellery of marble pavements, and slender minarets, to their dark vault-like, low-browed churches, and solid castles built out of hard unmanageable granite." [ ] mutonia ( ); calaborra; vale de junqueras ( ). [ ] dozy, ii. , from an arab writer. [ ] a very interesting account of this embassy from constantine vii. ( ) is given in al makkari, ii. , from ibn khaldun.---see conde, i. . [ ] p. . we find in this king none of that suspicious jealousy which we saw in mohammed, even though omar, the arch rebel, and christian renegade, still held out at bobastro, when he ascended the throne; and his treatment of christians was, throughout his reign, tolerant and politic. but his claims in this respect will be best seen from a very interesting fragment that has come down to our own times, describing the embassy of a certain john of gorz, a monk from an abbey near metz, who carried letters from otho, emperor of germany, to the spanish sultan.[ ] in abdurrahman had sent an embassy to the emperor. a bishop who had been at the head of this embassy died, and this seems to have caused a delay in the answer. as the khalif's letter contained blasphemies against christ, it was determined to write a reply in the king's name, such as might perhaps convince abdurrahman of the error of his ways. a certain bishop, adalbero, was appointed to be at the head of the return embassy,[ ] and he asks the abbot of the monastery of gorz to give him two assistants. two are chosen, but one of these quarrels with his superior, and is expelled from the body; whereupon john offers himself as a substitute. the abbot only gives his consent to john's going with great reluctance, knowing that the young monk had an ardent longing to be a martyr, if he could only get the opportunity. [ ] see "vita johannis abbatis gorziensis," , by john, abbot of arnulph. "migne," vol. cxxxvii., pp. - . [ ] in . going through lyons, and by ship to barcelona, the ambassadors reached the frontier town, tortosa, and at last got to cordova, where they were assigned a house two miles from the palace, and, though well entertained, were informed, to their dismay, that, as the moorish ambassadors had been made to wait three years for an answer, otho's messengers would have to wait nine years. moreover, they now discovered that the king had been already apprised of the contents of the letter, which otho had sent, by a comrade of the late ambassador-bishop, whom john and his companions had taken with them to barcelona. the king employs hasdai, a jew, as his go-between; who warns them not to divulge the contents of the letter, as it would make them liable to punishment; for the letter contained what moslems would consider blasphemy against their prophet. soon after this john, the bishop of cordova, is sent to them to suggest that they should carry their gifts to the king, and say nothing of the letter. but john of gorz stoutly refused to do this, saying that the delivery of the letter was his chief duty, and that as abdurrahman had begun by reviling christ, he must not be surprised at otho's retaliating against mohammed. however, john of cordova begs him to remember the position in which the christians stood, viz., under pagan rule. "we are forbidden," he said, "by the apostle to resist the powers that be. in our calamity, we have this one consolation, we are allowed to observe our own laws and rites, and our rulers, if they see us diligent in our religion, honour us, cherish us, and delight in our society, while they abhor the jews. as our religion, then, suffers no harm at their hands, let us obey the moslems in other things." the bishop was anxious, therefore, that the letter should be suppressed, as calculated to do harm to the christian community, and no good to otho. his advice, however, fell on deaf ears. the monk of gorz was resolved on doing what he deemed his plain duty; nor was he content to forego his chance of martyrdom, though his action might entail disastrous consequences on the christians subject to the moors. he taunted the bishop with giving his advice from a fear of man. "better die of hunger than eat the salt of unbelievers;" and expressed horror at the fact that the bishop was circumcised, and also abstained from certain meats in deference to moslem scruples. it was in vain that the bishop pointed out that otherwise they could not live with the saracens. john of gorz now expressed his intention of delivering the letter forthwith; but the king denied the ambassadors an audience, leaving them to themselves for six or seven weeks. early in , however, the king sent to them, and asked if they held firm to their previous resolve, and on receiving an answer in the affirmative, he threatened all the christians in his dominions with loss of privileges and even death. john of gorz merely answers that the guilt would be on the king's head; but the latter is persuaded to milder counsels by his advisers, who remind him of otho's power, and the certainty that he would interfere in favour of his ambassadors. john of gorz now proposes the only practicable course, that abdurrahman should send a fresh embassy to otho and ask for instructions for his ambassadors under the circumstances. recemundus,[ ] a christian, offers to go as ambassador, if a vacant bishopric be given him as a reward. he sets out and reaches gorz in february . otho gives him a fresh letter, with instructions to suppress the former one, to conclude an alliance with the sultan, and make an arrangement with him for putting down the brigands who infested the marches. [ ] de gayangos, on al makkari, ii. p. , identifies him with rabi, a bishop mentioned as an ambassador of abdurrahman iii. in al makkari, i. , ii. ; but rabi may have been the bishop who died during the embassy to otho. recemundus, as de gayangos ( . .) says, was a katib or clerk of the palace. leaving gorz with dudo, the emperor's legate, on march , he reached cordova on june st, but the sultan declined to receive the second comers till he had received the earlier embassy. so, after three years semi-captivity, john is released, and told to prepare himself for the king's presence by shaving, washing, and putting on new apparel. he declines to go in any otherwise than he is; and even when the king, thinking his refusal due to poverty, sends him a sum of money, the monk accepts the gift and distributes it to the poor, but says he will only see the king as a poor monk. the king good-naturedly said: "let him come as he likes." on june , , the ambassadors were conducted to the king's presence along a road thronged with sight-seers. the steps of the palace were laid down with tapestry, and a guard of honour lined both sides of the approach. on john's entrance, the king, as a great mark of distinction, gave him his open palm to kiss, and beckoned him to a seat near his own couch. after a silence abdurrahman apologised to the monk for the long delay which he had been obliged to impose on the embassy, and which was in no sense due to disrespect for john himself, whose virtue and wisdom he could not but acknowledge. as a proof that this was no mere empty compliment, the king expressed his readiness to give him whatever he asked. john's wrath vanishes at these gracious words, and they talk amicably together. but when the monk asks leave to depart abdurrahman says:--"after waiting so long to see one another, shall we part so soon?" he suggests that they should have at least three interviews. at their next meeting they discourse on the respective power of the empires of otho and the khalif himself; and the sultan, taught by the experience of spain, points out the unwisdom of allowing feudal subjects to become too powerful, by dividing kingdoms between them. so ends this unique and interesting fragment, which throws so pleasant a light on the character and the court of the greatest of spanish sultans, and proves that the christians at that time enjoyed considerable freedom, and even honour, at the hands of the moslem government. the reason why the king was unwilling to receive the first letter brought by john was not so much because he was reluctant to read words against mohammed, as because he would by so doing render himself liable to the penalty of death, which was ordained by law to any moslem--king or slave--who listened to abuse of the prophet without exacting summary vengeance from the blasphemer. but--and here was the king's dilemma--he could not punish the ambassadors without incurring the enmity of otho. the only possible alternative was that suggested by john, that otho should be asked to withdraw the objectionable letter, without the sultan having officially read it, and this abdurrahman adopted. the moderation of the king is conspicuous throughout, for we must regard the threat against the christians as merely a threat, never really intended to be put into execution. in showing tolerance towards their christian subjects, the spanish khalifs might be thought to have forgotten the traditions of islam; but, as a matter of fact, mohammed seems to have been very inconsistent in his views with regard to christians and jews at different times of his career, and while he enjoined the necessity of holy wars,[ ] he permitted the people of the book to be admitted to tribute.[ ] in one passage he even seems to allow the possibility of salvation to jews, christians, and sabians: "verily they who believe, and those who judaize, and the sabians, and the christians--whoever of these believeth in god and the last day, and doeth that which is right--there shall come no fear on them, neither shall they be grieved."[ ] and there is one remarkable text to find in the mouth of mohammed, "let there be no violence in religion." [ ] moreover, some of the best mohammedan rulers that have ever lived upheld the same principle of toleration. abbas ii., one of the persian sufis, is reported to have said: "it is for god, not for me, to judge of men's consciences, and i will never interfere with what belongs to the tribunal of the great creator and lord of the universe."[ ] again, akbar, one of the greatest kings that ever lived, followed in practice the principle thus expressed by his minister, abul fazl: "persecution after all defeats its own ends; it obliges men to conceal their opinions, but produces no change in them."[ ] noble sentiments surely, and such as we should expect from followers of christ rather than of mohammed! [ ] tradition attributes even stronger approval of holy wars to mohammed than can be found in the koran,--_e.g._, "the sword is the key of paradise and hell. a drop of blood shed in the cause of god, a night spent in arms, are of more avail than two months of fasting and prayer. whoever falls in battle against the infidel, his sins are forgiven him." [ ] koran, xlvii., ad init. [ ] koran, v., v. . this may be said in the general sense of acts x. . [ ] koran, ii., v. . [ ] see freeman's "saracens," p. ; from malcolm's "persia," i. p . [ ] _ibid._, from "ayeen akbery," p. . yet far too often have portions of the christian church been conspicuous for intolerance rather than tolerance. alcuin, indeed, does say in his letter to aquila, bishop of winchester, that he does not approve of punishing heresy with death, because god, by the mouth of his prophet, had said: "i have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live;"[ ] but alcuin was a man of unusual mildness and sweet reasonableness, as his letters to felix and elipandus testify. on the other hand, there were too many frantic bigots in the church, like arnold of citeaux, whose impious words, in connection with the massacre of albigensians, are not likely to be forgotten--"slay all; god will know his own." in fact, so opposed did the christian spirit come to be to the mohammedan in this respect, that their toleration was made a principal argument against the moors by the archbishop of valencia in his memorial to philip iii. at the end of the sixteenth century.[ ] a very melancholy instance of bigotry and intolerance is afforded by bernard, a french monk, who was made archbishop of toledo by alfonso, on the capture of that city in . by the treaty of capitulation certain mosques had been expressly reserved to the moslems, just in the same way as certain churches had been reserved for the christians by musa in . but bernard, by way of showing his zeal in the cause of god, in defiance of the king's plighted word, chose to perform mass in the chief mosque. alfonso was furiously angry when he heard of his archbishop's proceedings, but the moslems, with wonderful forbearance, seeing that the king had not authorised bernard's outrageous conduct, came forward of their own accord and begged him to pardon the act, and even voluntarily surrendered their mosque.[ ] not only were the christians allowed to practise their religion, but even, as we have seen above, encouraged in it.[ ] almanzor, the champion of islam, allowed his christian servants to rest on sundays. christians in every reign held high posts at court[ ] and throughout the land, and not only timeserving christians but men like samson and leovigild, who were known to sympathise with the party of zealots, were employed by the king to write letters to, and negotiate with, the neighbouring kings. this was no doubt due to their general trustworthiness, their quickness, and their knowledge of arabic as well as latin. [ ] ezekiel xxxiii. . [ ] prescott, "ferd. and isab.," p. , n. [ ] mariana, ix. . [ ] see p. . recent history affords a similar instance from the christian side. see "gordon in central africa," p. --"i have made them make a mosque, and keep the ramadhan." _ibid._, p. , "i had the mosque cleared out and restored for worship, and endowed the priests and crier, and had a great ceremony at the opening of it.... they blessed me and cursed zebehr pasha who took the mosque from them. to me it appears that the mussulman worships god as well as i do, and is as acceptable, if sincere, as any christian." [ ] such as secretary, farmer of taxes, or even prime minister. among the great functionaries of state there was one who held the office of kitabatu-dh-dhimam, which, being interpreted, is "the office of protection." the christians and jews were under his general jurisdiction, and were called "the people of the protection."[ ] but besides this arab "secretary of state for the christians," the latter had their own counts--a relic of the gothic system--who, however, did not always stand up for their interests.[ ] there were also christian censors,[ ] but it is not known what position they held in the state. the young christian cadets of noble birth were brought up at court, and numbers of sclavonian christians served in the king's bodyguard, of whom under hakem i. ( - ) there were .[ ] [ ] al makk., i. p. ; and de gayangos' note, p. . [ ] _e.g._. servandus. cp. also cyprianus. [ ] see above, p. . [ ] conde, i. p. . all things considered, it is a matter for surprise that these two peoples, so unlike in race, habits, prejudices, and religion, lived so comparatively quietly side by side in spite of a perpetual state of warfare between the arabs and the christians in the north, which tended to keep alive the animosities of the two races in that part of spain which was under mohammedan rule.[ ] moreover, the pride of race was very strong in the pure-blooded arabs. thus the poet said ibn djoud, in a poem called the "battle of the town" (polei), boasts that the conquerors are of the pure race of adnan and kahtan, without any foreign admixture; while he calls the defeated spaniards miscreants, followers of a false faith,[ ] sons of the pale-faces. the haughty arabs, in fact, were too prone to look upon all the spaniards, both renegades and christians, as mere canaille.[ ] but, in spite of this, the races to a certain extent amalgamated; and eulogius endeavours to prove that, but for the outbreak of fanaticism in the middle of the ninth century, this amalgamation would have had serious results for christianity in spain.[ ] the arabs did not disdain to seek the alliance of the free christian states, nor were the latter averse from doing the same, when political occasion demanded it. as early as the walis of the frontier cities sought to make themselves independent by what the arab writer describes as "vile policy and unworthy acts," _i.e._, by seeking the friendship of the christian kings;[ ] and there are many instances of these kings asking aid, even servilely, from arab princes.[ ] [ ] dozy, ii. , puts the distinction between the races very forcibly:--"ce peuple qui joignait à une gaité franche et vive une sensualité raffinée devait inspirer aux prêtres, qui aimaient les retraites éternelles et profondes, les grands renoncéments et les terribles expiations, une répugnance extrême et invincible." [ ] dozy, ii. . [ ] "c'était leur terme consacrée." dozy, ii. . [ ] "heu pro dolor! quia esse sub gentibus delicias computamus, iugumque cum infidelibus ducere non renitimur. et inde ex cotidiano usu illorum sacrilegiis plerumque utimur et magis ipsorum contubernia affectamus."--eul., "doc. martyr," sec. . [ ] conde, i. : "chron. alb.," vi. sec. : "chron. lib.," sec. . [ ] al makkari, ii. , ordono the bad and hakem ii. again, as was inevitable from the nature of the case, intermarriages were common between the two races. the example was early set by the widow of roderic, the last gothic king, marrying abdulaziz, son of musa. the sons of witiza also married arab women, and sarah, the daughter of one of these princes, was the progenetrix of a noble family of arabs, one of her descendants being the historian, ibn al kuttiya, which means son of the gothic princess.[ ] abdurrahman anassir, the greatest of all the spanish sultans, was the son of a christian slave, named maria,[ ] and the mighty almanzor had for grandmother the daughter of a renegade christian.[ ] these are some instances, but it is not necessary to dwell on what was so common an occurrence as intermarriage between the peoples, and is forbidden neither by the koran,[ ] nor by the bible. however, there is one point in this connection which deserves a more particular notice. the intermingling of the races has been supposed to have been facilitated in part by the yearly tribute of maidens paid by the northern kings to the earlier arab sultans. modern historians mostly throw doubt upon the story, saying that of the early historians none mention it, and that the arabs do not even allude to it.[ ] but if conde is to be trusted, an arab writer does speak of it, as of a thing well known. in a letter of omar[ ] ibn alaftas almudafar, king of algarve, to alfonso vi., in , occur the words:--"do thou remember the time of mohammed almanzor, and bring to thy mind those treaties wherein thy forefathers offered him the homage even of their own daughters, and sent him those damsels in tribute even to the land of our rule." [ ] al makkari, ii. , , and de gayangos' note, p. . [ ] conde, i. . [ ] dozy, iii. . [ ] koran, v. :--"ye are allowed to marry free women of those that have received the scriptures before you." [ ] dunham, ii. : romey's "histoire d'espagne," iii. . [ ] conde, ii. : al makkari, ii. , calls him omar ibn mohammed etc ibn alafthas almutawakkel, king of badajos. the maiden tribute is the subject of several ancient ballads by the christian spaniards. the following are two verses from one of these:-- "for he who gives the moorish king a hundred maids of spain each year when in the season the day comes round again; if he be not a heathen he swells the heathen's train-- 'twere better burn a kingdom than suffer such disdain! "if the moslems must have tribute, make men your tribute-money, send idle drones to tease them within their hives of honey; for, when 'tis paid with maidens, from every maid there spring some five or six strong soldiers to serve the moorish king."[ ] southey also says that the only old portuguese ballad known to him was on this subject. the evidence, then, of the ballads is strong for a fact of this kind, telling, too, as it does, so much against the writers of the ballads.[ ] as to the christian chroniclers, it is quite true that we find no mention of this tribute in the history of sebastian of salamanca and the chronicle of albeldum, but there is a direct allusion to it in a document included in the collection of florez.[ ] "our ancestors," says ramiro, "the kings of the land--we blush to record it--to free themselves from the raids of the saracens, consented to pay them yearly a shameful tribute of a hundred maidens distinguished for their beauty, fifty of noble birth, and fifty from the people." it was to put an end to this nefarious tribute that ramiro now ordered a levy _en masse_. this, if the document is genuine (and florez gives no hint to the contrary), is good evidence for the fact. many succeeding writers mention it. lucas of tuy[ ] says that ramiro was asked for the tribute in . johannes vasaeus[ ] speaks of it, as also alfonso, bishop of burgos;[ ] and lastly, rodrigo of toledo[ ] says that mauregatus ( - ), having obtained the throne of leon by saracen help, agreed to send this tribute yearly. on the whole, then, the evidence is in favour of the maiden tribute being no myth, but of its having been regularly paid for more than fifty years. most of these christian maidens probably embraced the religion of their husbands, but in some cases they no doubt converted them to their own faith. from different causes, some of which will be mentioned elsewhere, conversions were frequent from one religion to the other. motives of worldly interest naturally caused the balance in these to fall very much against the christians, but as the mohammedan power declined the opposite was the case. though voluntary apostasy was, and is, unpardonable, mohammed seems to have made allowances for those who apostatized under compulsion; for when one of his followers, ammar ibn yaser, being tortured by the koreish, renounced his belief in god and in mohammed's mission, but afterwards came weeping to the prophet, mohammed received him kindly, and, wiping his eyes, said: "what fault was it of thine, if they forced thee?"[ ] [ ] lockhart. [ ] unless the ballads were written later than --_i.e._, after rodrigo of toledo had made the story known by his history. [ ] "espana sagrada," xix. --"privilegiam quod dicitur votoram, anno a rege ranemiro i., ecclesiae b. jacobi concessae." [ ] lucas tudensis, "chronicon mundi," bk. iv. [ ] "hispaniae chronicon," a.d. [ ] "anacephalaiosis," sec. . [ ] iii. c. . [ ] koran, xvi. ver. , sale's note. chapter viii. the muwallads. that the conversions from christianity to islam were very numerous at first we can sufficiently gather from the fact that the new converts formed a large and important party in the state, and almost succeeded in wresting the government of spain from the arabs. the disorder and civil war which may almost be said to have been chronic in spain during the arab dominion were due to the fact that three distinct races settled in that country were striving for the mastery, each of these races being itself divided into two bitterly hostile factions. the arabs were split up into the two factions of yemenite or beladi arabs, the descendants of kahtan, and modharites, the arabs of mecca and medina, who claimed descent from adnan.[ ] to the latter section belonged the reigning family of umeyyades. the berbers, who looked upon themselves as the real conquerors of spain, and whose numbers were subsequently reinforced by fresh immigrations, were composed of two hostile tribes of botar and beranis. thirdly, there were the spaniards, part christian, part mohammedan; the latter being either renegades themselves or the descendants of renegades. these apostates were called by the arabs mosalimah, or new moslems,[ ] and their descendants muwallads,[ ] or those not of arabic origin. the christians were either tribute-paying christians, called ahlu dh dhimmah; or free christians, under moslem supremacy, called ajemi;[ ] or apostates from islam,[ ] called muraddin. the muwallads, in spite of the mohammedan doctrine of the equality and brotherhood of moslems, were looked down upon with the utmost contempt by the pure-blooded arabs.[ ] their condition was even worse than that of the christians, for they were, generally speaking, excluded from lucrative posts, and from all administration of affairs--a dangerous policy, considering that they formed a majority of the population.[ ] stronger and more humane than the berbers, they were friends of order and civilization. intellectually they were even superior to the conquering arabs.[ ] the natural result of their being spaniards by race, and arabs by religion, was that they sided now with one faction and now with another, and at one time, under the weak abdallah ( - ), were the mainstay of the sultan against his rebellious subjects. after breaking with the sultan they almost succeeded in gaining possession of the whole kingdom, and carried fire and desolation to the very gates of cordova.[ ] [ ] see above, p. , note . [ ] cp. "new christians." [ ] pronounced mulads, hence mulatto. the word means "adopted." [ ] al makkari, ii. . de gayangos' note. [ ] al makkari, ii. . [ ] cp. "gordon in central africa," p. . "... the only regret is that i am a christian. yet they would be the first to despise me if i recanted and became a mussulman." an arab poet calls them "sons of slaves," dozy, ii. . [ ] so dozy, ii. p. . but perhaps he meant "of the arab population." [ ] dozy, ii. . [ ] al makkari, ii. p. . de gayangos' note. as early as the muwallads of cordova, incited by certain theologians, revolted under hakem i., but the rising was suppressed. in , however, they again rose, and the rebellion being put down with great severity by the help of the berbers, the cordovan muwallads were exiled, going to alexandria, and to fez.[ ] but though exterminated in cordova, the renegades still mustered strong in spain. at elvira they rose in abdallah's reign, under a chief named nabil, and threw off the arab yoke;[ ] and, previously to this, abdurrahman ibn merwan ibn yunas and sadoun had headed similar revolts at badajos and merida.[ ] at seville the muwallad element was specially strong, as we see from the many family names, such as beni angelino, beni sabarico, which betray a spanish origin. the majority of the inhabitants embraced islam early, and had their mosque by the middle of the ninth century, but they retained many spanish customs and characteristics. when the arabs of seville revolted against the sultan, the renegade party joined the latter. at saragoza, the beni kasi, descendants of a noble gothic family, set up an independent kindgom, waging war indifferently with all their neighbours. [ ] dozy, app. b to vol. ii. hakem was called al rabadhi (=he of the suburb) from this. [ ] ihn hayyan, apud al makkari, ii. , ff. [ ] in . "chron albel.," sec. . dozy, ii. . it does not come within the scope of this inquiry to trace out the history of all the revolts made by the arabs or berbers against the sultan's authority, but the policy and position of the muwallads and christians are a necessary part of our subject. the latter, though well treated on the whole, naturally looked back with regret to the days of their own supremacy, and were ready to intrigue with anyone able to assist them against their arab rulers. accordingly we find them communicating with the kings of france; and there is still extant a letter from louis the debonnaire to the people of merida, written in , which is as follows:--"we have heard of your tribulation, which you suffer from the cruelty of your king abdurrahman, who has tried to take away your goods, and has oppressed you just as his father abulaz did. he, making you pay unjust taxes, which you were not bound to pay, turned you from friends into enemies, and from obedient to disobedient vassels, inasmuch as he infringed your liberties. but you, like brave men, we hear, are resisting the tyrant, and we write now to condole with you, and to exhort you to continue your resistance, and since your king is our enemy as well as yours, let us join in opposing him. "we purpose to send an army to the frontier next summer to wait there till you give us the signal for action. know then that, if you will desert him and join us, your ancient liberties shall be secured to you, and you shall be free of all taxes and tributes, and shall live under your own laws."[ ] the army promised was sent under the king's son, but seems to have effected nothing. during the period of religious disturbance at cordova, when the voluntary martyrdoms became so frequent, and just at the time of mohammed's accession, the christians of toledo, encouraged, we may suppose, by their proximity to the free christians, revolted in favour of their coreligionists at cordova. no wonder then that mohammed imagined that the outbreak of fanaticism in cordova was but the signal for a general mutiny of his christian subjects. as we have already seen, the king set out with an army against the toledans, who appealed to ordono i. of leon for help. glad enough to get such an opportunity for weakening the arab government, ordono sent a large auxiliary force, but the toledans and leonnese were defeated with great slaughter by the sultan's troops.[ ] within twenty years, however, toledo became practically independent, except for the payment of tribute.[ ] [ ] apud florez, "españo sagrada." [ ] dozy, ii. . [ ] _ibid_, p. . from all this it will be clear that the spanish part of the population, whether moslem or christian, was opposed to the exclusiveness of the old arabs, and ready to make common cause against them. the unity of race prevailed over the difference of creed, as it did in the case of the english roman catholics in the war with spain, and as it usually will under such circumstances. the national party were fortunate enough to find an able leader in the person of the celebrated rebel, omar ibn hafsun, who came near to wresting the sovereignty of spain from the hands of the umeyyades. omar was descended from a count alfonso,[ ] and his family had been christians till the apostasy of his grandfather djaffar. omar, being a wild unmanageable youth, took up the lucrative and honourable profession of bandit, his headquarters being at bobastro or bishter, a stronghold somewhere between archidona and ronda, in the sierra stretching from granada to gibraltar.[ ] after a brief sojourn in africa, where his ambition was inflamed by a prophecy announcing a great future, he returned to spain, and at once began business again as brigand at bobastro with nearly men.[ ] being captured, he was brought to cordova, but spared on condition of enlisting in the king's forces. but he soon escaped from cordova, and became chief of all the spaniards in the south, moslem and christian,[ ] whose ardour he aroused by such words as these: "too long have you borne the yoke of the sultan, who spoils you of your goods, and taxes you beyond your means. will you let yourselves be trampled on by the arabs, who look upon you as their slaves? it is not ambition that prompts me to rebel, but a desire to avenge you and myself." to strengthen his cause he made alliances at different times with the muwallads in elvira, seville, and saragoza, and with the successful rebel, abdurrahman ibn merwan, in badajos. [ ] dozy, ii. . [ ] al makkari, ii. . de gayangos' note. [ ] in or . [ ] see a description of him quoted by stanley lane-poole ("moors in spain," p. ) from an arab writer: "woe unto thee, cordova! when the captain with the great nose and ugly face--he who is guarded before by moslems, and behind by idolaters--when ibn hafsun comes before thy gates. then will thine awful fate be accomplished." openly defying the sultan's forces, he was only kept in check by almundhir, the king's son, who succeeded his father in . omar was further strengthened by the accession to his side of sherbil, the count of cordova.[ ] the death of almundhir in removed from omar's path his only able enemy, and, during abdallah's weak reign, the rebel leader was virtual king of the south and east of spain. the district of regio[ ] was made over to him by the king, and omar's lieutenant, ibn mastarna, was made chief of priejo. this protracted war, which was really one for national independence, was carried on year after year with varying success. at one time omar conceived the intention of proclaiming the abasside khalifs,[ ] at another he grasped at the royal power himself; and abdallah's empire was only saved by a seasonable victory in at hisn belay (or espiel).[ ] the battle was fought on the eve of the passover, and the moslems taunted their enemies with having such a joyful feast, and so many victims to commemorate it with. this shows that a large, perhaps the largest, part of omar's army was christian. another indication of this is found in a poem of tarikh ibn habib,[ ] where, speaking of the coming destruction of cordova, he says: "the safest place will then be the hill of abu abdu, where once stood a church," meaning that omar's christian soldiers would respect that sanctuary, and no other. indeed, it is certain that omar himself became a christian some time before this battle,[ ] as his father had done before him. he took the name of samuel, and his daughter argentea, as we have seen, suffered martyrdom. this change of creed on omar's part changed the character of the war, and gave it more of a religious,[ ] and perhaps less of a national, character, for the spanish moslems fell off from him, when he became christian and built churches. [ ] servandus. al makkari, ii. . de gayangos' note. [ ] where islam was almost extinct. dozy, ii. . [ ] al makkari, ii. p. . de gayangos' note. [ ] ibn hayyan, apud al makk., ii. p. . this seems to be the same victory as that which dozy (ii. ) calls polei or aguilar. [ ] see dozy, ii. p. . [ ] ibn hayyan, apud dozy, ii. p. . [ ] in , on the capture of cazlona by a renegade named ibn as khalia, all the christians were massacred.--dozy, ii. p. . towards the close of his reign abdallah was able to assert his supremacy, though omar and his followers still held out. omar himself did not die till , some years after abdallah's death. the king's successor, abdurrahman iii., was a different stamp of man from abdallah, and the reduction of omar became only a question of time, though, in fact, the apostasy of omar from islam had made the ultimate success of the national party very doubtful, if not impossible. after omar's death, his son, djaffar, thought to recover the support of the spanish moslems by embracing islam; but he thereby lost the confidence of the christians, by whom he was murdered. in his brother hafs surrendered, with bobastro, to the sultan, and the great rebellion was finally extinguished. so ended the grand struggle of the national party, first under the-direction of the muwallads, and then of the christians, to shake off the arab and berber yoke. during the remainder of the tenth century the strong administration of abdurrahman iii., hakem ii., and the great almanzor, gave the christians no chance of raising the cry of "spain for the spanish." the danger of a renewal of the rebellion once removed, the position of the christians does not seem to have been made any worse in consequence of their late disaffection, and abdurrahman, himself the son of a christian mother, treated all parties in the revolt with great leniency, even against the wishes and advice of the more devout moslems. almanzor, too, made himself respected, and even liked, by his christian subjects, and there is no doubt that his victories over the christian states in the north[ ] were won very largely with the aid of christian soldiers. his death was the signal for the disruption of the spanish khalifate, and from - , when the khalifate was finally extinguished, complete anarchy prevailed in saracen spain. the berbers made a determined effort to regain their ascendency, and their forces, seconded by the christians, succeeded in placing suleiman on the throne in . a succession of feeble rulers, set up by the different factions--arab, berber, and slave--followed, until hischem iii. was forced to abdicate in , and the umeyyade dynasty came to an end, after lasting years. by this time the christians in the north had gathered themselves together for a combined advance against the saracen provinces, never again to retrograde, scarcely even to be checked, till in fell granada, the last stronghold of the moors in spain.[ ] [ ] al makkari, ii. p. . [ ] in there was not a single moslem left in spain.--al makk., i. p. . chapter ix. christians and moslems ignorant of one another's creed. in spite of the close contact into which the christians and mohammedans were brought in spain, and the numerous conversions and frequent intermarriages between the two sections, no thorough knowledge seems to have existed, on either side, of the creed of the other party. such, at least, is the conclusion to which we are driven, on reading the only direct records which remain on the subject among arab and christian writers. these on the christian side consist chiefly of quotations from a book on mohammedanism by the abbot speraindeo in a work of his disciple, eulogius;[ ] and some rather incoherent denunciations of mohammed and his religion by alvar,[ ] another pupil of the abbot's. in these, as might be expected, great stress is laid on the sensuality of mohammed's paradise,[ ] and the lewdness of the prophet himself. as to the latter, though many of gibbon's coarse sarcasms do not rest on good authority, very little can be said for the prophet. but among other blasphemies attributed by speraindeo to mohammed is one of which we find no mention in the koran--the assertion, namely, that he would in the next world be wedded to the virgin mary. john, bishop of seville, is equally incorrect when, in a letter to alvar,[ ] he alleges a promise on the part of mohammed that he would, like christ, rise again from the dead; whereas his body, being neglected by his relations, was devoured by dogs. the christian bishop does not hesitate to add--sepultus est in infernum--he was buried in hell.[ ] [ ] eul., "mem. sanct.," i. sec. . [ ] alvar, "ind. lum.," secs. - . [ ] _ibid._, secs. , . mohammed's paradise was by no means wholly sensual.--sale's koran. introd., p. . [ ] sec . [ ] this shows the hatred of christians for mohammed, whom, says eulogius ("mem. sanct.," i. sec. ), it would be every christian's duty to kill, were he alive on earth. it is generally supposed that mohammed could neither read nor write, and this appears to have been the opinion of alvar;[ ] but the same witness acknowledges that the koran was composed in such eloquent and beautiful language that even christians could not help reading and admiring it.[ ] on the important question of mohammed's position with regard to christianity, eulogius[ ] at least formed a correct judgment. mohammed, he tells us "blasphemously taught that christ was the word of god,[ ] and his spirit;[ ] a great prophet,[ ] endowed with much power from god;[ ] like adam in his creation,[ ] but not equal to god (the creator);[ ] and that by reason of his blameless[ ] life, being filled with the holy spirit,[ ] he showed marvellous signs and wonders through the power of god,[ ] not working by his own godhead, but as a righteous man, and an obedient servant,[ ] obtaining much power and might from the almighty god through prayer." [ ] alvar, "ind. lum.," sec. . [ ] _ibid._, sec. . this is more than can be said at the present day. [ ] eul., "lib. apol.," sec. . [ ] koran, ch. iii. . [ ] koran, ch. ii. , "strengthened with holy spirit." [ ] kor., c. iii. . [ ] kor., c. iii. . [ ] kor., c. iii. . [ ] kor., c. ix. . [ ] kor., c. iii. [ ] this is a mistake of eulogius. see sale's note on koran, ch. ii. , note. [ ] kor., ch. v. ff. [ ] koran, cc. iv. ad fin; xliii. . alvar is much more unfair to mohammed than his friend eulogius, and he even seems to have had a prejudiced idea[ ] that the prophet set himself deliberately to preach doctrines the opposite of those taught by christ. it would be nearer to the truth to say that the divergence between the two codes of morals was due to the natural ignorance of an illiterate arabian, brought into contact only with an heretical form of christianity, the real doctrines of which he was therefore not likely to know. according to alvar, the sixth day of the week was chosen for the mohammedan holy day, because christ suffered on that day. we shall realise the absurdity of this when we consider the reverence in which mohammed held the very name of christ, going so far even as to deny that christ himself was crucified at all.[ ] the true reason for selecting friday, as alleged by mohammed himself, was, because the work of creation ended on that day.[ ] again, sensuality was preached, says alvar, because christ preached chastity. but mohammed cannot fairly be said to have preached sensuality, though his private life in this respect was by no means pure. gluttony was advocated instead of fasting. a more baseless charge was never made; for how can it be contended that christianity enjoins fasting, while islam disapproves of it, in the face of such texts as matthew ix. ,[ ] and isaiah lviii. --"is not this the fast that i have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free?" on the one hand; and on the other the express injunction of the koran[ ]:--"o true believers, a fast is ordained you, as it was ordained to those before you ... if ye fast, it will be better for you, if ye knew it. the month of ramadan shall ye fast." but alvar goes on to make a more astonishing statement still:--"christ ordained that men should abstain from their wives during a fast, while mohammed consecrated those days to carnal pleasure." christ surely gives us no such injunction, though st paul does say something of the kind. the koran[ ] explicitly says--"it is lawful for you on the night of the fast to go in unto your wives; they are a garment unto you, and you are a garment unto them." we even find an incident recorded by an arabian writer, where yahya ibn yahya, the famous faqui, imposed a penance of a month's extra fast on abdurrahman ii. ( - ) for violating the prophet's ordinance, that wives should be abstained from during the fasting month.[ ] alvar, being a layman, may perhaps be supposed not to have studied mohammedanism critically, and that his zeal was not according to knowledge is perhaps the best explanation of the matter. in one place[ ] he informs us of his intention of writing a book on the cobar,[ ] but the work, if ever written, has not survived. nor is this much to be regretted, if we may judge by the wild remarks he indulges in elsewhere[ ] on this theme. in that passage he seems to apply the obscure prophecy of daniel[ ] to mohammed, forgetting that verse speaks of one who "shall regard not the desire of women," a description hardly characteristic of mohammed. he identifies the god maozim (hebr. mauzim), which our revised version (v. ) translates the "god of fortresses" with the mohammedan cobar;[ ] and the strange god, whom he shall acknowledge, alvar identifies with the devil which inspired the prophet in the guise of the angel gabriel. all this, as the writer himself allows, is very enigmatical. [ ] see dozy, ii. . [ ] see koran, cc. iii. ; iv. ; and sale's notes. [ ] see sale's note on koran, c. lxii. . [ ] cf. also matt. xi. --"the son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, behold a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber." [ ] chapter ii. . [ ] chapter ii. . the mohammedan fast is confined to the day time. [ ] from ibn khallekan, apud dozy, ii. . [ ] "ind. lum.," sec. . [ ] _i.e._, the caaba apparently. [ ] "ind. lum.," sec. , ff. [ ] c. xi. vv. , ff. [ ] ? caaba. alvar does not scruple even to accuse the moslems of idolatry, asserting that the arabian tribes worship their idol (the caaba black stone[ ]) as they used to do of yore, and that they set apart a holy month, al mozem, in honour of this idol.[ ] finally, mohammed is spoken of variously as the precursor of antichrist,[ ] or as antichrist himself.[ ] let us now see how far we can gather the opinions of educated moslems with regard to christian doctrine and worship. if we find these to be no less one-sided and erroneous than the opinions of christians as to mohammedanism, yet can we the more easily excuse the moslems, for the koran itself, the very foundation and guide of all their religious dogmas, is full of incorrect and inconsistent notions on the subject. the most important of these mistakes was that the christians worshipped a trinity of deities--god, christ, mary.[ ] the inclusion of the virgin mary into this trinity was perhaps due to the fact that worship was paid to her even at that early date, as it certainly is among the roman catholics at this day. as will have been seen from a passage quoted above,[ ] something very like adoration was already paid to the virgin in the churches of spain. [ ] sale, introduction to koran, p. . [ ] alvar, "ind. lum.," sec. . [ ] _ibid._, sec. . [ ] _ibid._, sec. . [ ] see koran, v. ad fin.:--"and when god shall say unto jesus at the last day: o jesus, son of mary, hast thou said unto men, take me and my mother for two gods, beside god? he shall answer, praise be unto thee! it is not for me to say that which i ought not." [ ] p. . but the following extract from a treatise on religions, by ali ibn hazm,[ ] the prime minister of abdurrahman v. (dec. -march ), will show that some educated moslems knew enough of the christian creed to appreciate its difficulties:--"we need not be astonished," says ibn hazm, "at the superstition of men. look at the christians! they are so numerous that god only knows their numbers. they have among them men of great intelligence, and princes of great ability. nevertheless they believe that three is one, and one is three; that one of the three is the father, another the son, another the spirit; that the father is, and is not, the son; that a man is, and is not, god; that the messiah is god in every respect, and yet not the same as god; that he who has existed from all eternity has been created. "one of their sects, the members of which they call jacobites, and which number hundreds of thousands, believes even that the creator himself was scourged, crucified, and put to death; so that the universe for three days was deprived of its governor." another extract from an arabic writer will show us what the moslems thought of the worship of st james, the patron saint of spain, round whose shrine rallied the religious revival in the north of the peninsula. it is ibn hayyan,[ ] who, in his account of almanzor's fiftieth expedition against the christians, says:--"shant yakoh (santiago)[ ] is one of the sanctuaries most frequented, not only by the christians of andalus, but of the neighbouring continent, who look upon its church with a veneration such as moslems entertain for the caaba of mecca; for their caaba is a colossal idol (statue) which stands in the middle of the church. they swear by it, and repair to it in pilgrimage from the most distant parts, from rome, as well as other countries beyond rome, pretending that the tomb to be seen in the church is that of yakob (james), one of the twelve apostles, and the most beloved by isa (jesus).--may the blessing of god be on him, and on our prophet!--the christians call this yakob the brother of jesus, because, while he lived, he was always with him. they say that he was bishop of jerusalem, and that he wandered over the earth preaching the religion [of christ], and calling upon the inhabitants to embrace it, till he came to that remote corner of andalus; that he then returned to syria, where he died at the age of solar years. they pretend likewise that, after the death of yakob, his disciples carried his body and buried it in that church, as the most remote part, where he had left traces [of his preaching]." [ ] ii. , apud dozy, iii. . ibn hazm was, says dozy, "a strict moslem, _averse to judging divine questions by human reasoning_." [ ] al makkari, ii. . [ ] miss yonge, p. , says the arabs called him sham yakub, but what authority has this statement? in a country where literature and the arts were so keenly cultivated, as they were in spain during the time of arab domination, and where the rivalry of christian, jew, and moslem produced a sustained period of intellectual activity such as the world has rarely seen, controversial theology could not fail to have been largely developed. but the books, if any were written, from the christian or moslem standpoint, have all perished, and we have only such slight and unsatisfactory notices left to us as those already quoted. in estimating, therefore, what influences the rival religions of spain had upon each other, we are driven to draw such inferences as we can from the meagre hints furnished to us by the writers of the period; from our knowledge of what christianity was in spain, and mohammedanism in africa, before they were brought into contact in andalusia, compared with what they became after that contact had made itself felt; and from the observed effects of such relations elsewhere. upon a careful consideration of these scattered hints we shall see that certain effects were visible, which, had the amalgamation of the two peoples been allowed to continue uninterruptedly for a longer period, and had there been no disturbing element in the north of spain and in africa, would in all probability have led to some marked modification in one or both religions, and even to their nearer assimilation. chapter ix. heresies in spain. such mixtures of religions are by no means without example in history. the sabians, for instance, were the followers of a religion, which may have been a cross between judaism, christianity, and magianism.[ ] but mohammedanism itself has furnished the most marked instances of such amalgamation. in persia islam combined with the creed of zoroaster to produce babyism; while in india hinduism and mohammedanism, fused together by the genius of nanak guru, have resulted in sikhism. it may be said that mohammedanism has been able to unite with zoroastrianism and hinduism owing to their very dissimilarity with itself, whereas christianity is too near akin to islam to combine with it in such a way as to produce a religion like both, and yet different from either.[ ] christianity and mohammedanism, each have two cardinal doctrines (and two only) which cannot be abrogated if they are to remain distinctive creeds. in one of these, the unity of god, they agree. in the other they do, and always must, differ. the divinity of christ on the one side, and the divine mission of mohammed on the other, are totally incompatible doctrines. if the one is true, the other cannot be so. surrender both, and the result is judaism. no compromise would seem possible. yet a compromise was attempted, if we can credit a statement attributed by dozy to ibn khaldun,[ ] in recounting the history of the successful rebel, abdurrahman ibn merwan ibn yunas, who during the last quarter of the ninth century, while all moslem spain was a prey to the wildest anarchy, became a leader of the renegade or muwallad party in merida and the neighbourhood. thinking to unite the muwallads and christians in one revolt, he preached to his countrymen a new religion, which held a place halfway between christianity and islam. this is all we are told of an endeavour, which might have led to the most important consequences. that we hear no more of it is evidence enough that the attempt proved abortive. the only other attempt, if it can be called so, to combine islam and christianity has resulted in that curious compound called the religion of the druses. [ ] for an attempted compromise between christianity and brahmanism, see the proceedings of beschi, a roman catholic priest, "education and missions," p. . [ ] cp., however, the druse religion. [ ] dozy, ii. . dozy adds that abdurrahman was called the galician (el jaliki) in consequence of this attempt of his: but there is some error here, as ibn hayyan (see al makkari, ii. , and de gayangos' note) says he was called ibn ul'jaliki, _i.e._, of the stock of the galicians. but though no religion, holding a position midway between islam and christianity, arose in spain, yet those religions could hardly fail to undergo considerable modifications in themselves by reason of their close contact for several centuries. in respect to christianity we shall naturally find the traces (if any) of such modification in the so-called heresies which may have arisen in spain during this period. these will require a somewhat strict examination to be made to yield up their secret. the church of spain seems to have gained a reputation for introducing innovations[ ] into the doctrines and practices of the true faith, and even of priding itself on its ingenuity in this way. the very first council whose acts have come down to us, held at elvira in spain, early in the fourth century, contains a canon censuring the use of pictures. the very first heretics, who were punished for their error with death by the hands of their fellow-christians, were reared in the bosom of the spanish church. the doctrine, novel then, but accepted now by all the western churches, of the procession of the holy ghost from the son as well as from the father, was first formulated in a spanish council at the end of the sixth century, but not universally received in the west until years later.[ ] and as we have seen, the use of pictures was denounced long before the times of the iconoclasts. we will now take in order the several heresies that made themselves noticeable in spain, or gothic gaul, during the arab supremacy, and see if we can trace any relation between them and the moslem faith. to take an unimportant one first, a heresy is mentioned as having arisen in septimania (gothic gaul), presumably during the eighth century.[ ] it was more practical than speculative, and consisted in a denial of the need of confession to a priest, on the (unimpeachable) ground that men ought to confess to god alone. this appears to us protestants a wholly laudable and reasonable contention; but not so to the worthy abbé who records it: cette doctrine, _si favorable à libertinage_, trouva un grand nombre de partisans, et excite encore le zèle d'alcuin.[ ] [ ] alcuin ad elipandum, iv. ---"audi me, obsecro, patienter, scholastica hispaniae congregatio, tibi loquentem, quae novi semper aliquid audire vel praedicare desideras, non contenta ecclesiae universalis catholica fide, nisi tu aliquid per te invenies, unde tuum nomen celebrares in mundo." [ ] lateran council, . [ ] see, however, alcuin's letter to the clergy of the province, ep., . migne, vol. ci. p. . [ ] rohrbacher, "hist. univ. dé l'eglise cathol.," ix. . that this error was due in any sense to the influence of the arabs in the neighbouring territories of spain, it is of course impossible to affirm, but at all events the reform was quite in the spirit of the verses of the koran: "o ye who have received[ ] the scripture come to a just determination between us and you, that we worship not any except god, and associate no creature with him: and that the one of us take not the other for lords, beside god." and "they take their priests and monks for their lords besides god."[ ] [ ] chap. iii. p. . see sale's note: "that is, come to such terms of agreement as are indisputably consonant to the doctrine of all the prophets and scriptures, and therefore cannot reasonably be rejected." [ ] chap. ix. mohammed charged the jews and christians with idolatry both on other grounds and because "they paid too implicit an obedience to their priests and monks, who took upon them to pronounce what things were lawful and what unlawful, and to dispense with the laws of god." see sale, _ibid._ _cp._-- haughty of heart and brow the warrior came, in look and language proud as proud might be, vaunting his lordship, lineage, fights, and fame, yet was that barefoot monk more proud than he. and as the ivy climbs the tallest tree, so round the loftiest soul his toils he wound; and with his spells subdued the fierce and free. till ermined age and youth in arms renowned honouring his scourge and hair-cloth meekly kissed the ground. and thus it chanced that valour, peerless knight, who ne'er to king or kaiser veiled his crest, victorious still in bull-feast or in fight, since first with mail his limbs he did invest, stooped ever to that anchoret's behest; nor reasoned of the right, nor of the wrong, but at his bidding laid the lance in rest, and wrought fell deeds the troubled world along, for he was fierce as brave, and pitiless as strong. --scott's "don roderick," xxix. xxx. let us next consider an heretical view of the trinity attributed to migetius (_circa_ ). according to the rather obscure account, which has come down to us,[ ] he seems to have regarded the three persons of the trinity, at least in their relations with the world, as corporeal, the father being personified in david, the son in jesus, and the holy ghost in paul. it is difficult to believe that the doctrine, thus crudely stated by elipandus, was really held by anyone. we may perhaps infer[ ] that migetius revived the error of priscillian (itself a form of sabellianism), and reducing the three persons of the trinity to one, acknowledged certain [greek: energeiai], or powers, emanating from him, which were manifested in david, jesus, paul respectively. as the first and last of these three recipients of the divine powers were confessedly men, it follows that migetius was ready to strip jesus of that divinity, which is the cardinal doctrine of christianity, and which more than any other doctrine distinguishes it from the creed of mohammed. accordingly he appears to have actually denied the divinity of the word,[ ] and in this he made an approach to mohammedanism.[ ] [ ] elipandus to migetius, sec. . see migne, vol. , p. . [ ] with enhueber. dissert, apud migne, ci., p. ff., sec. . [ ] enhueber, sec. . [ ] neander, v. , n., says, migetius held that the [greek: logos] became personal with the assumption of christ's humanity; that the [greek: logos] was the power constituting the personality of christ. hence, says neander, he was accused of asserting that christ, the son of david according to the flesh, and not christ, the son of god, was the second person of the trinity. a similar, but seemingly not identical, error was propagated by those who, as we learn from a letter of alvar to speraindeo, did not believe the three in one and one in three, "denying the utterances of the prophets, rejecting the doctrine of learned men, and, while they claimed to take their stand upon the gospel, pointing to texts like john xx. , 'i ascend unto my father, and your father, unto my god and your god,' to prove that christ was merely man."[ ] in his answer to alvar's letter, speraindeo says, "if we speak of the trinity as one person, we judaize;" he might have added, "and mohammedanize." these heretics, according to the abbot, spoke of three powers (_virtutes_) forming one person, not, as the orthodox held, three persons forming one god.[ ] here we see a close resemblance to the error mentioned in the preceding paragraph; but the heretics we are now dealing with make an even closer approach to the teaching of mohammed in their quotation of john xx. given above, as will be seen, if we compare with that text the following passages of the koran, put into the mouth of christ: "verily, god is my lord, and your lord; therefore serve him:"[ ] "they are surely infidels who say, verily, god is christ, the son of mary, since christ said, o children of israel, serve god, my lord and your lord:"[ ] and, "i have not spoken unto them any other than what thou didst command me--namely, worship god, my lord and your lord."[ ] [ ] alvar's letter. florez, xi. . another text quoted in defence of this doctrine of agnoetism was matt. xxiv. : "of that day and that hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels of heaven, but my father only." in answer to this, speraindeo refers to gen. iii. , where god the father seems not to know where adam is. [ ] speraindeo's illustration of the trinity cannot be called a happy one. he likens it to a king, whose power is one, but made up of the man himself, his diadem, and his purple. [ ] koran, c. iii. v. . [ ] kor., c. v. . [ ] kor., c. v. . we come next to the famous adoptionist heresy, the most remarkable and original of those innovations to which alcuin taunts the spanish church with being addicted. unfortunately we derive little of our knowledge of the new doctrine from the originators and supporters of it--our information on the subject coming chiefly from passages quoted by their opponents (notably our own alcuin) in controversial works. but that the heresy had an important connection with the mohammedan religion has been the opinion of many eminent writers on church history. mariana, the spanish historian, and baronius, the apologist for the roman church, held that the object of the new heresiarchs was, "by lowering the character of christ, to pave the way for a union between christians and mohammedans."[ ] enhueber,[ ] also, in his treatise on this subject, quotes a tract, "de primatu ecclesiae toletanae," which attributes the heresy to its author, elipandus, being brought into so close a contact with the saracens, and living on such friendly terms with them.[ ] neander[ ] thinks that there are some grounds for supposing that felix, one of the authors of the heresy, had been employed in defending christianity against objections brought against it from the moslem standpoint,[ ] and in proving the divinity of christ, so that they might be induced to accept it. felix, therefore, may have been led to embrace this particular doctrine, called adoptionism, from a wish to bring the christian view of christ nearer to the mohammedan opinion. there is considerable doubt as to who first broached the new theory, the evidence being of a conflicting character, and pointing now to elipandus, bishop of toledo and primate of all spain, now to felix, bishop of urgel, in catalonia.[ ] [ ] mariana, vii. . baronius, "ann. eccl." xiii. p. . see blunt, "dictionary of religions," etc., article on adoptionism; and migne, vol. xcvi. p. --"deceptus uterque contagione forsan insidentiurn cervicibus aut e proximo blasphemantium mohametanorum commercio." [ ] enhueber, sec. . mansi, "coll. concil," x. , sec. . [ ] "usus enim frequenti maurorum commercio."--_ibid_. [ ] v. . [ ] this perhaps refers to a "disputatio cum sacerdote" which the emperor charles the great had heard of as written by felix. alcuin (see "ep.," ) knows nothing of it. in his letter to charles, alcuin, speaking of a letter from felix, says: "inveni peiores errores, quam ante in eius scriptis legerem." [ ] the prevailing opinion seems to be that the new doctrine arose out of elipandus' controversy with migetius. the claims of felix[ ] are supported by eginhard,[ ] saxo, and jonas of orleans; while paulinus of aquileia, in his book entitled "sacrosyllabus," expressly calls elipandus the author of the baneful heresy; and alcuin, in his letter to leidrad,[ ] says that he is convinced that elipandus, as he was the first in rank, so also was the chief offender. the evidence being inconclusive, we are driven to follow _à priori_ considerations, and these point to elipandus as the author. according to neander,[ ] he was a violent, excitable, bigoted man; and he certainly uses some very strong language in his writings against his opponents, and stands a good deal on his dignity as head of the spanish church. for instance, speaking of his accusers, etherius, bishop of osma, and beatus,[ ] a priest of libana, he says of the former that he wallows in the mire of all lasciviousness;[ ] that he is totally unfit to officiate at god's altar;[ ] that he is a false prophet[ ] and a heretic; and, forgetting the courtesies of controversy, he doesn't hesitate, in another place, to call him an ass. beatus also he accuses of gross sensuality, and calls him that iniquitous priest of astorga,[ ] accusing him of heresy, and giving him the title antiphrasius, which means that instead of being called beatus, he should have been named the very opposite.[ ] [ ] see "froben dissertation," migne, vol. ci. p. . [ ] "annals," . [ ] alcuin, "epist. ad leidradum," says that the heresy arose in cordova, and he appeals to elipandus' letter to felix after the latter's recantation. [ ] neander (v. p. ) seems to infer these qualities from his writings. an author, quoted by enhueber (tract, de primata eccl. tolet), describes him as "parum accurate in sacris litteris versatus." [ ] died in . fleury v., p. . [ ] elipand. epist., iv. , "carnis immunditia fetidus." [ ] "ab altario dei extraneus." neander, v., p. , takes this to mean that he was deposed. [ ] he gave the revelation of st john a moslem application: and prophesied the end of the world in the near future. see letter of beatus, book i., sec. --"novissima hora est ... nunc antichristi multi facti sunt. omnis spiritus qui solvit jesum est illius antichristi, quem audistis quoniam venit, et nunc in mundo est." see also alcuin's letter to the spanish bishops. [ ] "elipandus and bishops of spain to those of gaul," sec. . [ ] this practice of punning on names is very common in these writers. "infelix felix" is a poor witticism which constantly occurs. so samson says of hostegesis that he ought to be called "hostis jesu"; and in the account of the translation of the bodies of aurelius, etc., we find leovigild spoken of as a very "leo vigilans." but in spite of outbreaks like these we must beware of judging the venerable elipandus too hardly. alcuin himself, in his letter to the bishop, written, as he says, "with the pen of charity," speaks of him as most blameless,[ ] and confesses that he has heard much of his piety and devotion, an admission which he also makes with regard to felix, in a letter to him.[ ] yet in his book against elipandus, he exclaims, not without a touch of bathos: "for all the garments of wool on your shoulders, and the mitre upon your brow, wearing which you minister to the people, for all the daily shaving of your beard[ ] ... if you renounce not these doctrines, you will be numbered with the goats!" another testimony (of doubtful value, however) in elipandus' favour is to be found in the anonymous life of beatus,[ ] where elipandus is said to have succeeded cixila in the bishopric of toledo, because of his reputation for learning and piety, which extended throughout spain. [ ] "sanctissime praesul," sec. . cp. sec. , "audiens famam bonam religiosae vitae de vobis." [ ] "celeberriman tuae sanctitatis audiens famam." the "pseudo luitprand" calls him "vir humilis, prudens, ae in zelo fidei catholicae fervens." [ ] beards were the sign of laymen, see alvar, "ep.," xiii., and probably the distinction was much insisted on because of the moslem custom of wearing long beards. for the distinctive dress of the clergy see the same letter of alvar, ... "quern staminia et lana oviuin religiosum adprobat." [ ] see migne, xcvi., ff. elipandus, who boasted of having refuted and stamped out the migetian errors, and who also took up so independent an attitude with regard to the see of rome, was not the man to endure being dictated to in the matter of what was, or what was not, sound doctrine, and, in the letter quoted above, he scornfully remarks that he had never heard that it was the province of the people of libana to teach the toledans. here, as in the defiant attitude taken up towards the pope, we may perhaps see a jealousy, felt by the old independent church of spain under its own primate, towards the new church, that was growing up in the mountains of the north, the centre of whose religious devotion was soon to be compostella, and its spiritual head not the primate of spain, but the bishop of rome. it is now time to explain what the actual heresy advocated by elipandus and felix was. some have held the opinion that adoptionism was merely a revival of the bonosian errors, which had long taken root in spain;[ ] others, that it was a revival of the nestorian[ ] heresy, a new phase of the controversy between the schools of antioch and alexandria;[ ] or that it was an attempt to reform christianity, purging it from later additions.[ ] alcuin, however, speaks of its followers as a new sect, unknown to former times.[ ] stated briefly, the new doctrine was that jesus, in so far as his manhood was concerned, was son of god by adoption. this error had been foreseen and condemned in advance by cyril of alexandria ( - ):[ ] by hilary of arles ( - ).[ ] the eleventh council of toledo had also guarded against this same error a hundred years before this ( ), affirming that christ the son of god was his son by nature, not by adoption. [ ] enhueber, diss., sec. . the errors of bonosus were condemned at capua in . for their development in spain, see "isidore of seville." [ ] condemned at ephesus, . for connection of adoptionism with this, see letter of adrian to bishops of spain ( ?). [ ] neander, v., p. . [ ] _ibid._, vi., p. , see letter of alvar to speraindeo. [ ] alcuin contra felicem, i., sec. . elipandus denied that it had anything to do with other heresies. "nos vero anathematizamus bonosum, qui filium dei sine matre genitum, adoptivum fuisse adfirmat. item sabellium, qui ipsum esse patrem, quem filium, quem et spiritus sanctus (_sic_) et non ipsud, delirat. anathematizamus arium, qui filium et spiritum sanctum creaturas esse existimat. anathematizamus manichaeum qui christum solum deum et non hominem fuisse praedicat. anathematizamus antiphrasium beatum carnis lasciviae deditum, et onagrum etherium, doctorem bestialem ...," etc. [ ] "lectures on the catechism," xi. "christ is the son of god by nature, begotten of the father, not by adoption." [ ] de trinit, v., p. , "the son of god is not a false god--a god by adoption, or a god by metaphor (nee adoptivus, nec connuncupatus)." it is a mistake to suppose adoptionism to be a mere resuscitation of nestorianism.[ ] it agreed with the latter in repudiating the term "mother of god" as applied to the virgin mary,[ ] but it differed from it in the essential point of acknowledging the unity of person in christ. what felix--and on him devolved the chief onus of defence in the controversy--wished to make clear, was that the predicates of christ's two natures could not logically be interchanged.[ ] he therefore reasoned thus: christ in respect to his deity is god, and son of god; with respect to his manhood he is also god and son of god, not indeed in essence, but by being taken into union with him, who _is_ in essence god, and son of god. therefore christ, unless he derived his humanity from the essence of god, must as man, and in respect of that humanity, be son of god only in a nuncupative sense. this relation of jesus the man to god he preferred to describe by the term adoption--a word not found in scripture in this connection, "but," says felix, "implied therein,[ ] for what is adoption in a son, if it be not election, assumption _(susceptio)_." the term itself was no doubt found by elipandus _in_ the gothic liturgy;[ ] and he most likely used it at first with no thought of raising a metaphysical discussion on so knotty a point. being brought to task, however, for using the word by those whom he deemed his ecclesiastical inferiors, he was led to defend it from a natural dislike to acknowledge himself in the wrong. "we can easily believe," says enhueber, "that elipandus, who appears to have been the chief author of the heresy at this time, fell into it at first from ignorance and inadvertently, and did not appear openly as a heretic, till, admonished of his error, he arrogantly and obstinately defended a position which he had only taken up through ignorance."[ ] elipandus also seems to have applied to felix[ ] for his opinion on christ's sonship; and the latter, who was a man of great penetration and acuteness, first formulated the new doctrine, stating in his answer that christ must be considered with regard to his divinity as truly god and son of god, but with regard to his manhood, as son of god in name only, and by adoption. [ ] see blunt, "dict. of relig.," article on adoptionism. [ ] neander, v. . blunt ( . .) says just the contrary. [ ] neander, v. . [ ] alcuin contra felicem, iii. c. . [ ] "elipand. ad albinum," sec, . adoptio assumptio ([greek: analêpsis]) occurs _(a)_ in the missa de coena domini: _adoptivi hominis passio;_ _(b)_ in the prayer de tertia feria pascha: _adoptionis gratia;_ _(c)_ in that de ascensione: _adoptionem carnis._ the council of frankfurt ( ) branded the authors of the liturgy as heretics (so also did alcuin) and as the main cause of the saracen conquest! see fleury, v. . [ ] enhueber, "dissertatio," sec. . neander, v. , has the same remark in other words. [ ] see blunt, art. on adoptionism. to give an idea of the lines on which the controversy was carried on, it will be necessary to state some of the arguments of felix, and in certain cases alcuin's rejoinders. these are:-- _(a.)_ "if christ, as man, is not the _adopted_ son of god, then must his manhood be derived from the essence of god and consequently must be something different from the manhood of men."[ ] to this alcuin can only oppose another dilemma, which, however, is more of the nature of a quibble. "if," he says, "christ is an adopted son of god, and christ is also god, then is god the adopted son of god?"[ ] here alcuin confounds the predicates of christ's two natures--the very thing felix protested against--and uses the argument thus obtained against that doctrine of felix, which was based on this very denial of any interchange of predicates. _(b.)_ christ is spoken of sometimes as son of david, sometimes as son of god. one person can only have two fathers, if one of these be an adoptive father. so is it with christ. alcuin answers: "as a man (body and soul) is called the son of his father, so christ (god and man) is called son of god."[ ] but to those who deny that a man's soul is derived from his father, this argument would carry no weight. _(c.)_ christ stood in a position of natural dependence towards god over and above the voluntary submission which he owed to his father as god.[ ] this dependence felix expresses by the term _servus conditionalis_, applied to jesus.[ ] he may have been thinking of matt. xii. i , "behold my servant, whom i have chosen;" and st paul's ep. to philipp. ii. , "he took upon. him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men."[ ] or perhaps he had in his mind, if the theory of the influence of mohammedanism is true, those passages of the koran which speak of christ as a servant, as, "christ doth not proudly disdain to be a servant unto god,"[ ] and, "jesus is no other than a servant."[ ] (_d._) to prove that scripture recognises a distinction between christ the man and christ the god, felix appeals to luke xviii. , "why callest thou me good? there is none good, save one, even god;" mark xiii. , "of that day, or that hour, knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the son, but the father." texts such as these can only be met by a reference to other texts, such as john iii. , where god is said to have given his only begotten son to suffer death upon the cross. [ ] alcuin contra felicem, ii. sec. . [ ] alcuin (_ibid.,_ i. sec. ) also answers: "if christ be the adopted son of god, because as man, he could not be of god's substance: then must he also be mary's adopted son in respect to his deity. but then mary cannot be the mother of god." but this alcuin thinks an impious conclusion. cp. also contra felic., vii. sec. . [ ] contra felic, iii. sec. . [ ] cp. corinth, xi. , "the head of christ is god." this position of dependence was due, says felix, "ad ignobilitatem beatae virginis, quae se ancillam dei humili voce protestatur." [ ] cp. elipandus' "confession of faith": "... per istum dei simul et hominis filium, adoptivum humanitate et nequaquam adoptivum divinitate ... qui est deus inter deos (john x. ) ... quia, si conformes sunt omnes sancti huic filio dei secundum gratiam, profecto et cum adoptione (sunt) adoptivi, et cum advocato advocati, et cum christo christi, et _cum servo servi_." [ ] cf. acts iii. . [ ] koran, iv. v. . [ ] koran, xliii. v. . conceiving, then, that it was logically necessary to speak of christ the man as son of god by adoption, felix yet admits that this adoption, though the same in kind[ ] as that which enables _us_ to cry abba, father, yet was more excellent in degree, and even perhaps specifically higher. it differed also from man's adoption in not being entered into at baptism, since christ's baptism was only the point at which his adoption was outwardly made manifest by signs of miraculous power, which continued till the resurrection. christ's adoption--according to felix, was assumed at his conception, "his humanity developing in accordance with its own laws, but in union with the logos."[ ] it will be seen that though felix wished to keep clear the distinction between christ as god, and as man, yet he did not carry this separation so far as to acknowledge two persons in christ. "the adoptionists acknowledged the unity of persons, but meant by this a juxtaposition of two distinct personal beings in such a way that the son of god should be recognised as the vehicle for all predicates, but not in so close a manner as to amount to an absorption of the human personality into the divine person."[ ] the two natures of christ had been asserted by the church against the monophysites, and the two wills against the monothelites, but the church never went on to admit the two persons.[ ] with regard to the contention of felix, we are consequently driven to the conclusion that either the personality ascribed to christ was "a mere abstraction, a metaphysical link joining two essentially incompatible natures,"[ ] or that the dispute was only about names, and that by adopted son felix and the others meant nothing really different from the orthodox doctrine.[ ] [ ] see john x. . cp. neander, v. p. . [ ] neander (l.l.) blunt, art. on adopt., puts this differently: "there were (according to felix) two births in our lord's life--(a) the assumption of man at the conception; (_b_) the adoption of that man at baptism. cp. contra felic., iii. : "qui est secundus adam, accepit has geminas generationes; primam quae secundum carnem est, secundum vero spiritatem, quae per adoptionem fit, idem redemptor noster secundum hominem complexus, in semet ipso continet, primam videlicet, quam suscepit ex virgine nascendo, secundam vero quam initiavit in lavacro [ ] a mortuis resurgendo." [ ] blunt, article on adopt. [ ] cp. paschasius: "in christo gemina substantia, non gemina persona est, quia persona personam consumere potest, substantia vero substantiam non potest, siquidem persona res iuris est, substantia res naturae." [ ] blunt, _ibid._ cp. also alcuin contra felic., iv. , where he says that felix, although he shrank from asserting the dual personality of christ, yet insisted on points which involved it. [ ] so walchius. the first mention of the new theory appears in a letter of elipandus to the abbot fidelis, written in ,[ ] but it did not attract notice till a little later. the pope adrian, in his letter to the orthodox bishops of spain ( ), speaks of the melancholy news of the heresy having reached him--a heresy, he remarks, never before propounded, unless by nestorius. together with elipandus, he mentions ascarius,[ ] bishop of braga, whom elipandus had won over to his views. the new doctrine seems to have made its way quickly over a great part of spain,[ ] while felix propagated it with considerable success in septimania. the champions of the orthodox party in spain were beatus and etherius, whom we have mentioned above, and theudula, bishop of seville; while beyond its borders alcuin, paulinus of aquileia, and agobard of lyons, under the direction of charles the great and the pope, defended the orthodox position. [ ] see migne, p. . [ ] fleury, v. , mentions a letter of his to elipandus, asking the latter's opinion on some doubtful points in the new doctrine. [ ] jonas of orleans, in his work against claudius, says: "hac virulenta doctrina uterque hispaniam magna ex parte infecit." felix, being bishop in a province of which charles claimed the overlordship, was amenable to his ecclesiastical superiors, and suffered for his opinions at their hands; but elipandus, living under a mohammedan government, could only be reached by letters or messages. he seems even to have received something more than a mere negative support from the arabs, if we are right in so interpreting a passage in the letter of beatus and etherius.[ ] but it is hard to believe that elipandus was on such friendly terms with the arab authorities; indeed, from passages in his writings, we should infer that the opposite was rather the case.[ ] neander suggests that it may have been a gothic king in galicia who supported elipandus, but this seems even more unlikely than the other supposition. the first council called to consider this question was held by the suggestion of the emperor and the pope at narbonne in , when the heresy was condemned by twenty-five bishops of gaul.[ ] a similar provincial council was held by paulinus at friuli in , with the same results.[ ] but in the following year the heresy was formally condemned at a full council held at ratisbon, under the presidency of the emperor. here felix abjured his error, and was sent to rome to be further condemned by the pope, that the whole western church might take action in the matter. felix was there induced to write a book condemning his own errors, but in spite of this he was not restored to his see.[ ] on his return, however, to spain, felix relapsed into his old heresy, which he had never really abjured.[ ] [ ] i. sec. . "et episcopus metropolitanus et princeps terrae pari certamine schismata haereticorum, unus verbi gladio, alter virga regiminis ulciscens, de terra vestra funditus auferantur." see on this passage neander, v. , and cp. sec. , "haereticus tamen scripturarum non facit rationem, sed cum potentibus saeculi ecclesiam vincere quaerit." [ ] elip. ad. albinum, sec. --"oppressione gentis afflicti non possumus tibi rescribere cuncta;" also, ad felic. "quotidiana dispendia quibus duramus potius quam vivimus." [ ] there are some doubts about this council. [ ] fleury, v. . hefele dates it . [ ] see letter of spanish bishops to charles, asking for felix's restoration ( ). [ ] leo iii. said of him, at a council held in rome ( ): "_fugiens ad paganos consentaneos_ perjuratus effectus est." see froben, "dissert," sec. ; apud migne, ci, pp. - . in alcuin was summoned from england to come and defend the orthodox position. he wrote at once to felix a kindly letter, admonishing him of his errors, and acknowledging that all his previous utterances on theology had been sound and true. felix answered this letter, but his reply is not preserved. to the same, or following, year belongs the letter of elipandus and the bishops of spain to charles and the bishops of gaul, defending their doctrine, and asking for the restoration of felix. in was held another council at frankfurt, at which alcuin and other english clergy were present. felix was summoned to attend, and heard his heresy again condemned and anathematised, the decree to this effect being sent to elipandus.[ ] alcuin's book was read by charles, and sent into septimania by the hands of the abbot benedict. the next council was held at rome in to confirm the one at frankfurt.[ ] in came out felix's answer to alcuin, sent by him first to elipandus, and, after being shewn to the cordovan clergy, sent on to charles. alcuin is charged to answer it, with paulinus and the pope as his coadjutors. in the same year another council was held at aix, where alcuin argued for a week with felix, and apparently convinced him, for felix again recanted, and even wrote a confession of faith discarding the word adoption, but still preserving the distinction of predicates belonging to the two natures.[ ] alcuin's book, after being revised by charles, was published a.d. previously to this he had written to elipandus, who answered in no measured terms, accusing alcuin, among other things, of enormous wealth. this letter was sent through felix, and, in answer, alcuin wrote the book against elipandus, which we now have, and which was the means of converting twenty thousand heretics in gothic gaul.[ ] but in spite of emperor or pope, of the books of alcuin, or the anathemas of the councils, neither felix nor elipandus really gave up his new doctrines, and even the former continued to make converts. elipandus, though very old[ ] at this time ( a.d.), lived ten years longer, and felix survived him eight years;[ ] and they both died persisting in their error.[ ] [ ] fleury, v. , says there was no anathema; but migne, xcvi. , gives us the canon: "anathematizata esto impia ac nefanda haeresis elipandi toletanae sedis episcopi, et felix (_sic_) orgellitani, eorumque sequacium." [ ] neander, v. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] froben, sec, . neander says , . [ ] alcuin adv. elip. preface to leidrad: "non pro eius tantummodo laboravi salute, quem timeo forsan citius vel morte praereptum esse propter decrepitam in eo senectutem." [ ] or perhaps six. [ ] no reliance can be placed in the statement of the pseudo-luitprand, who, in a letter to recemundus, speaking of elipandus, says: "postquam illius erroris sui de adoptione christi sero et vere poenituit, ad quod manifestandum concilium ( ) episcoporum ... collegit; et coram omnibus abiurato publice errore _fidem sanctae ecclesiae romanae_ confessus est." these words in italics reveal a later hand. cp. also sec. and julianus. alcuin, in a letter to aquila, bishop of salisbury, says that elipandus in a.d. still adhered to his error. we have dealt somewhat at length with the adoptionist heresy, both from its interest and importance, and because, as mentioned above, there are some reasons for thinking that it was the outcome of a wish to conciliate mohammedan opinion. it will be as well to recapitulate such evidence as we have obtained on this point. but we must not expect to find the traces of mohammedan influence in the development, so much as in the origination, of the theory. what we do find is slight enough, amounting to no more than this:-- (_a._) that the one point, which repelled the mohammedan from genuine christianity--setting aside for a moment the transcendental mystery of the trinity--was the divinity of christ. anything, therefore, that tended to emphasise the humanity of jesus, or to obscure the great fact of christ the man, being son of god, which sounded so offensive to mohammedan ears, would so far bring the christian creed nearer to the mohammedan's acceptance, by assimilating the christian conception of christ, to that which appears so often in the koran.[ ] there can be no doubt that the theory of adoption, if carried to its logical conclusion, did contribute to this result: (_b._) that elipandus was accused of receiving the help of the secular arm in disseminating his heretical opinions: (_c._) that the application of the term _servant_ to christ, besides being authorised by texts from scripture, is countenanced in two passages from the koran: (_d._) that leo iii., speaking of, felix's return to spain, and his relapse into error, implies that it was due to his renewed contact with infidels who held similar views: (_e._) that in a passage, quoted by enhueber, elipandus is said to have lost his hold on the truth in consequence of his close intercourse with the arabs: (_f._) that elipandus accused etherius of being a false prophet, that is, for giving, as has been conjectured, a mohammedan interpretation to the beast in the revelation of st john. something must now be said of one more doctrine, which, though it did not arise in spain, nor perhaps much affected it, yet was originated by a spaniard, and a disciple of felix,[ ]--claudius, bishop of turin. some have seen in this doctrine, which was an offshoot of iconoclasm, traces of adoptionism, a thing not unlikely in itself.[ ] of the relations of claudius to the saracens we have the direct statement of one of his opponents, who said that the jews praised him, and called him the wisest among the christians; and that he on his side highly commended them _and the saracens_.[ ] yet his tendency seems to have been against the judaizing of the church.[ ] [ ] fifty years later alvar ("ind. lum.," sec. ), accuses certain christians of dissembling their religion under fear of persecution:--"deum christum non aperte coram eis (_i.e._ saracenis) sed fugatis sermonibus proferunt, verbum dei et spiritum, ut illi asserunt, profitentes, suasque confessiones corde, quasi deo omnia inspiciente, servantes." [ ] jonas of orleans (migne, cvi. p. ) calls him so, and says elsewhere, "felix resuscitur in claudio." [ ] neander, vi. . [ ] fleury, v. . [ ] neander, vi. . the great iconoclastic reform, which arose in the east, undoubtedly received its originating impulse from the moslems. in the khalif destroyed all images in syria. his example was followed in by the eastern emperor, leo the isaurian. he is said to have been persuaded to this measure by a man named bezer, who had been some years in captivity among the saracens.[ ] in the great council of constantinople condemned images. unfortunately neither the great patriarchates nor the pope were represented, and so this council never obtained-the sanction of all christendom; and its decrees were reversed in at the council of nicæa. in appeared the libri carolini, in which we rejoice to find our english alcuin helping charles the great to make a powerful and reasonable protest against the worship of images.[ ] in this protest was upheld by the german council of frankfurt. but the pope, and his militia,[ ] the monks, made a strenuous opposition to any reform in this quarter, and the recognition of images became part and parcel of roman catholic christianity. claudius was made bishop of turin in .[ ] though placed over an italian diocese, he soon shewed the independence, which he had imbibed in the free air of spain, where the mohammedan supremacy had at least the advantage of making the supremacy of the pope impossible. finding that the people of his diocese paid worship to their images, claudius set to work to deface, burn, and abolish, all images and crosses in his bishopric. in respect to the crosses he went further than other iconoclasts, in which we can perhaps trace his adoptionist training.[ ] these new views did not, as might be expected, find favour with the catholic party, whose cause was taken up by theodemir, abbot of nîmes, a friend of claudius', by jonas of orleans, and dungal, an irish priest. but, as in the case of felix, the heresiarch was more than a match for his opponents in argument.[ ] [ ] fleury, xl. ii. , says he was an apostate. see mendham, seventh general council, introd., pp. xii. xiv. [ ] "adorationem soli deo debitam imaginibus impertire aut segnitiae est, si utcumque agitur, aut insaniae, vel potius infidelitatis, si pertinaciter defenditur."--iii. c. . "imagines vero, omni cultura et adoratione seclusa, utrum in basilicis propter memoriam rerum gestarum sint, nullum fidei catholicae afferre poterunt praeiudicium, quippe cum ad peragenda nostrae salutis mysteria nullum penitus officium habere noscantur."--iii. c. . [ ] prescott. [ ] neander says , herzog . [ ] neander, v. . the spanish christians were not free from the charge of adoring the cross, as we can see from the answer of the khalif abdallah ( ) when advised to leave his brother's body at bobastro: shall i, he said, leave my brother's body to the mercy of those who ring bells and adore the cross. ibn hayyan, apud al makk., ii. . [ ] fleury, v. , confesses that the case of the image-worshippers rests mainly on tradition and the usage of the church--meaning that they can draw no support from the bible. he might have remembered matt. xv. --"ye make void the word of god because of your tradition." claudius' own defence has been lost, but we gather his views from his opponents' quotation of them. briefly expressed, they are as follows:-- _(a.)_ image-worship is really idol-worship: _(b.)_ if images are to be adored, much more should those living beings be adored, whom the images represent. but we are not permitted to adore god's works, much less may we worship the work of men:[ ] _(c.)_ the cross has no claim to be adored, because jesus was fastened to it: else must we adore other things with which jesus was similarly connected; virgins, for example, for christ was nine months in a virgin's womb; mangers, asses, ships, thorns, for with all these jesus was connected. to adore the cross we have never been told, but to bear it,[ ] that is to deny ourselves. those generally are the readiest to adore it, who are least ready to bear it either spiritually or physically.[ ] claudius also had very independent views on the question of papal supremacy.[ ] being summoned before a council, with more wisdom than felix, he refused to attend it, knowing that his cause would be prejudged, and contented himself with calling the proposed assembly a congregation of asses. he died in in secure possession of his see, and with his iconoclastic belief unshaken. such were the heresies which connect themselves with spain during the first three hundred years of arab domination, and which seem to have been, in part at least, due to mohammedan influence. one more there was, the albigensian heresy, which broke out one hundred and fifty years later, and was perhaps the outcome of intercourse with the mohammedanism of spain.[ ] [ ] jonas of orleans, apud migne, vol. cvi. p. . [ ] luke xiv. . [ ] jonas, apud migne, vol. cvi. p. . [ ] see appendix b, pp. - . [ ] so blunt. it found followers in leon. see mariana, xii. , from lucas of tuy. chapter x. social influence of christianity. having considered the effects of mohammedanism on doctrinal christianity (there are no traces of similar effects on doctrinal mohammedanism), it will fall within the scope of our inquiry to estimate the extent to which those influences were reciprocally felt by the two religions in their social and intellectual aspects; and how far the character of a christian or a mohammedan was altered by contact with a people professing a creed so like, and yet so unlike.[ ] this influence we shall find more strongly manifested in the action of christianity on islam, than the reverse. it is well known that mohammed, though his opinion as to monks seems to have varied[ ] from time to time, is reported to have expressly declared that he would have no monks in his religion.[ ] abubeker, his successor,--if gibbon's translation may be trusted,--in his marching orders to the army, told them to let monks and their monasteries alone.[ ] it was not long, however, before an order of itinerant monks--the faquirs--arose among the moslems. in other parts of their dominions these became a recognised, and in some ways privileged, class; but in andalusia they did not receive much encouragement,[ ] though they were very numerous even there. most of them, says the arabian historian,[ ] were nothing more than beggars, able but unwilling to work. this remark, however, he tells us, must not be applied to all, "for there were among them men who, moved by sentiments of piety and devotion, left the world and its vanities, and either retired to convents to pass the remainder of their days among brethren of the same community, or putting on the darwázah, and grasping the faquir's staff, went through the country begging a scanty pittance, and moving the faithful to compassion by their wretched and revolting appearance." that moslem monkeries did exist, especially in rather later times, we can gather from the above passage and from another place,[ ] where a convent called zawiyatu l'mahruk (the convent of the burnt) is mentioned. on that passage de gayangos[ ] has an interesting note, in which he quotes from an african writer an account of a monastic establishment near malaga.[ ] the writer says: "i saw on a mountain, close to this city, a convent, which was the residence of several religious men living in community, and conversant with the principles of sufism: they have a superior to preside over them, and one or more servants to attend to their wants. their internal regulations are really admirable; each faquir lives separately in a cell of his own, and meets his comrades only at meals or prayers. every morning at daybreak the servants of the community go round to each faquir, and inquire of him what provisions he wishes to have for his daily consumption.... they are served with two meals a day. their dress consists of a coarse woollen frock, two being allowed yearly for each man--one for winter, another for summer. each faquir is furnished likewise with a regular allowance of sugar, soap to wash his clothes, oil for his lamp, and a small sum of money to attend the bath, all these articles being distributed to them every friday.... most of the faquirs are bachelors, a few only being married. these live with their wives in a separate part of the building, but are subject to the same rule, which consists in attending the five daily prayers, sleeping at the convent, and meeting together in a lofty-vaulted chamber, where they perform certain devotions.... in the morning each faquir takes his koran and reads the first chapter, and then that of the king;[ ] and when the reading is over, a koran, previously divided into sections, is brought in for each man to read in turn, until the whole is completed. on fridays and other-festivals these faquirs are obliged to go to the mosque in a body, preceded by their superior.... they are often visited by guests, whom they entertain for a long time, supplying them with food and other necessaries. the formalities observed with them are as follows:--if a stranger present himself at the door of the convent in the garb of a faquir, namely, with a girdle round his waist, his kneeling-mat suspended between his shoulders, his staff in his right hand, and his drinking vessel in his left, the porter of the convent comes up to him immediately, and asks what country he comes from, what convent he has resided in, or entered on the road, who was the superior of it, and other particulars, to ascertain that the visitor is not an impostor.... this convent was plentifully endowed with rents for the support of its inmates, for besides the considerable revenue in lands which was provided by its founder, a wealthy citizen of malaga, who had been governor of the city under the almohades, pious men are continually adding to the funds either by bequests in land or by donations in money." the resemblance between these faquirs and christian monks is sufficiently obvious, and need not be dilated upon: and though this particular convent was established at a later time, we cannot doubt that the influence, which produced such a modification of the very spirit of islam, must have made itself felt much earlier. this is apparent in the analogous case of moslem nuns, as a passage from an arab writer seems to shew,[ ] where it is said that the body of the moorish king, gehwar ( - ), was followed to the grave even by the damsels who had retired into solitude. [ ] mohammedanism is even called a _heresy_ by a writer quoted by prescott, "ferdin. and isab.," p. . [ ] kor. v. --"thou shalt find those to be most inclinable to entertain friendship for the true believers who say, we are christians. this comes to pass, because there are priests and monks among them." kor. lvii. --"as to the monastic state (deus loquitur), the christians instituted the same (we did not prescribe it for them) only out of desire to please god, yet they observed not the same as it ought truly to be observed." see also kor. ix. --"verily many of the priests and monks devour the substance of men in vanity, and obstruct the way of god;" and kor. xxiii. . [ ] kor. v. . sale's note. [ ] so almanzor spared the monk of compostella. al makkari, ii. . [ ] see the interesting account, _ibid._, i. . [ ] al makkari. [ ] al makkari, i. . [ ] _ibid._, i. p. , note. [ ] in the fourteenth century. [ ] ? chapter . [ ] conde, ii. . unless the writer is referring to christian nuns. but over and above copying the institutions of christianity, islam shews signs of having become to a certain extent pervaded with a christian spirit. it is easy to be mistaken in such things, but the following anecdotes are more in keeping with the bible than the koran. hischem i. ( - ) in his last words to his son, hakem i., said: "consider well that all empire is in the hand of god, who bestoweth it on whom he will, and from whom he will he taketh it away.[ ] but since god hath given to us the royal authority and power, which is in our hands by his goodness only, let us obey his holy will, which is no other than that we do good to all men,[ ] and in especial to those placed under our protection. see thou therefore, o my son, that thou distribute equal justice to rich and poor, nor permit that any wrong or oppression be committed in thy kingdom, for by injustice is the road to perdition. be clement, and do right to all who depend upon thee, for all are the creatures of god."[ ] the son was not inferior to the father, and capable, as the following story shews, of the most christian generosity.[ ] one of the faquirs who had rebelled against hakem being captured and brought into the presence of the king, did not shrink in his bigotry and hate from telling the sultan that in hating him he was obeying god. hakem answered: "he who bid thee, as thou sayest, hate me, bids me pardon thee. go, and live in god's protection."[ ] [ ] daniel, iv. , and koran, ii. v. --"god giveth his kingdom unto whom he pleaseth;" and koran, iii. v. . [ ] galatians vi. --"let us do good unto all men, especially unto them that are of the household of faith." [ ] conde, i. . [ ] it is fair to state that hakem i. was not always so generous. [ ] lane-poole, "story of the moors," p. . prone as the mohammedans were to superstition, and many as are the miracles and wonders, which are described in their histories, it must be acknowledged that their capacity for imagining and believing in miracles never equalled that of christian priests in the middle ages.[ ] we hear indeed of a vision of mohammed appearing to tarik, the invader of spain;[ ] of a miraculous spring gushing forth at the prayer of akbar ibn nafir;[ ] of the marvellous cap of omar;[ ] of the wonders that distinguished the corpse of the murdered hosein; of the vision shewing the tomb of abu ayub;[ ] but nothing that will bear a comparison with the invention of st james' body at ira flavia (padron), nor the clumsy and unblushing forgery of relics at granada in the year of the armada.[ ] yet the following story of baki ibn mokhlid, from al kusheyri,[ ] reminds us forcibly of similar monkish extravagancies. a woman came to baki, and said that, her son being a prisoner in the hands of the franks, she intended to sell her house and go in search of him; but before doing so she asked his advice. leaving her for a moment he requested her to wait for his answer. he then went out and prayed fervently for her son's release, and telling the mother what he had done, dismissed her. some time after the mother came back with her son to thank baki for his pious interference, which had procured her son's release. the son then told his story:--"i was the king's slave, and used to go out daily with my brother slaves to certain works on which we were employed. one day, as we were going i felt all of a sudden as if my fetters were being knocked off. i looked down to my feet, when lo! i saw the heavy irons fall down broken on each side." the inspector naturally charged him with trying to escape, but he denied on oath, saying that his fetters had fallen off without his knowing how. they were then riveted on again with additional nails, but again fell off. the youth goes on:--"the christians then consulted their priests on the miraculous occurrence, and one of them came to me and inquired whether i had a father. i said 'no, but i have a mother.' well, then, said the priest to the christians, 'god, no doubt, has listened to her prayers. set him at liberty,'" which was immediately done. as a set-off to this there is a remarkable instance of freedom from superstition recorded of king almundhir( - ).[ ] on the occasion of an earthquake, the people being greatly alarmed, and looking upon it as a direct interposition of god, this enlightened prince did his best to convince them that such things were natural phenomena, and had no relation to the good or evil that men did,[ ] shewing that the earth trembled for christian and moslem alike, for the most innocent as well as the most injurious of creatures without distinction. they, however, refused to be convinced. [ ] see the story of atahulphus, bishop of compostella, and the bull--alfonso of burgos, ch. : a man swallowed up by the earth--mariana, viii. : sancho the great's arm withered and restored--_ibid._, c. : a sabellian heretic carried off by the devil in sight of a large congregation--isidore of beja, sec. : the miracle of the roses ( )--mar. ix. . [ ] cardonne, i. p. . [ ] _ibid_, p. . [ ] see ockley. [ ] gibbon, "for such are the manufacture of every religion," p. . [ ] see geddes, miscell. tracts, "an account of mss. and relics found at granada." but we must remember that these miraculous phenomena appear much earlier in the history of islam than of christianity. [ ] al makkari, ii. ; cp. conde, i. . [ ] conde, i. . [ ] cp. matt. v. : luke xiii. . this independence of thought in almundhir was perhaps an outcome of that philosophic spirit which first shewed itself in spain in the reign of this sultan's predecessor.[ ] the philosophizers were looked upon with horror by the theologians, who worked upon the people, so that at times they were ready to stone and burn the free-thinkers.[ ] the works of ibnu massara, a prominent member of this school, were burnt publicly at cordova;[ ] and the great almanzor, though himself, like the great caesar, indifferent to such questions,[ ] by way of gaining the support of the masses, was ready, or pretended to be ready, to execute one of these philosophers. at length, with feigned reluctance, he granted the man's life at the request of a learned faqui.[ ] even among the mohammedan "clergy"--if the term be allowable--there were sceptics and deists,[ ] and others who followed the wild speculations of greek philosophy. among the last of these, the greatest name was averroes, or more correctly, abu walid ibn roshd ( - ), who besides holding peculiar views about the human soul that would almost constitute him a pantheist, taught that religion was not a branch of knowledge that could be systematised, but an inward personal power:[ ] that science and religion could not be fused together. owing to his freedom of thought he was banished to a place near cordova by yusuf abu yakub in . he was also persecuted and put into prison by abdulmumen, son of almansur,[ ] for studying natural philosophy. another votary of the same forbidden science, ibn habib, was put to death by the same king. [ ] dozy, iii. . [ ] al makk., i. , . they were called zendik or heretics by the pious moslems. see also said of toledo, apud dozy, iii. . [ ] al makk., ii. . [ ] he was supposed to be in secret addicted to the forbidden study of natural science and astrology.--al makk., i. . yet he let the faquis make an "index expurgatorius" of books to be burnt.--dozy, iii. . his namesake, yakub almansur ( - ), ordered all books on logic and philosophy to be burnt. [ ] dozy, iii. . [ ] dozy, iii. , . [ ] see article in the "encyclop. britann." [ ] al makk., i. . de gayangos, in a note, points out that this was a mistake: for abdulmumen was grandfather of yakub almansur, and could not be the king meant here. he therefore reads, "yakub, one of the beni abdulmumen." side by side with, and in bitter hostility to, the earlier freethinkers lived the faquis or theologians. the andalusians originally belonged to the mohammedan sect of al auzai[ ] ( - ), whose doctrines were brought into spain by the syrian arabs of damascus. but hischem i., on coming to the throne, shewed his preference for the doctrines of malik ibn aus,[ ] and contrived that they should supplant the dogmas of al auzai. it may be that hischem i. only shewed a leaning towards malik's creed, without persuading others to conform to his views, but at all events the change was fully accomplished in the reign of his successor, hakem i., by the instrumentality of yahya ibn yahya al seythi, abu merwan abdulmalek ibn habib,[ ] and abdallah zeyad ibn abdurrahman allakhmi, three notable theologians of that reign. yahya returned from a pilgrimage to the east in , and immediately took the lead in the opposition offered to hakem i. on the ground of his being a lax mussulman, but, in reality, because he would not give the faquis enough power in the state.[ ] in the reign of mohammed ( ) these faquis had become powerful enough to impeach the orthodoxy of a well-known devout mussulman, abu abdurrahman ibn mokhli, but the sultan, with a wise discretion, as commendable as it was rare, declared that the distinctions of the ulema were cavils, and that the expositions of the new traditionist "conveyed much useful instruction, and inculcated very laudable practices."[ ] efforts were made from time to time to overthrow this priestly ascendency, as notably by ghàzali, the "vivificator," as he was called, "of religious knowledge." this attempt failed, and the rebel against authority was excommunicated.[ ] yet the strictly oxthodox party did not succeed in arresting--to any appreciable extent--the progress of the decay which was threatening to attack even the distinctive features of the mohammedan religion.[ ] it is a slight indication of this, that the peculiar moslem dress gradually began to be given up, and the turban was only worn by faquis,[ ] and even they could not induce the people to return to a habit once thought of great importance.[ ] [ ] al makk., i. . de gayangos' note. [ ] died . al makk., i. , , ascribes the change to hakem i.; and an author quoted, i. p. , ascribes it to abdurrahman i. [ ] al makk., ii. . [ ] al makk., i. , implies the reverse of this. dozy, ii. p. . [ ] conde, i. . [ ] dozy, iv. . [ ] in spite of al makkari's statement, i. , where he says that all innovations and heretical practices were abhorred by the people. if the khalif, he says, had countenanced any such, he would have been torn to pieces. [ ] dozy, iii. . [ ] al makkari, ii. . but in other and more important respects we can see the disintegrating effect which intercourse with christians had upon the social institutions of the koran.[ ] _(a.)_ wine, which is expressly forbidden by mohammed,[ ] was much drunk throughout the country,[ ] the example being often set by the king himself. hakem i. seems to have been the first of these to drink the forbidden juice.[ ] his namesake, hakem ii. ( - ), however, set his face against the practice of drinking wine, and even gave orders for all the vines in his kingdom to be rooted up--an edict which he recalled at the instance of his councillors, who pointed out that it would ruin many poor families, and would not cure the evil, as wine would be smuggled in or illicitly made of figs or other fruit. hakem consequently contented himself with forbidding anew the use of spirituous liquors in the most stringent terms.[ ] even the faquis had taken to drinking wine, and they defended the practice by saying that the prohibition might be disregarded by moslems, who were engaged in a perpetual war with infidels. _(b.)_ music was much cultivated, yet a traditionary saying of mohammed runs thus: "to hear music is to sin against the law; to perform music is to sin against religion; to enjoy music is to be guilty of infidelity."[ ] abdurrahman ii. ( - ) in especial was very fond of music, and gave the great musician ziryab or ali ibn nafi a home at his court, when the latter was driven from the east by professional jealousy. strict mohammedans always protested against these violations of their law. the important sect of hanbalites in particular, like our own puritans, made a crusade against these abuses. they "caused a great commotion in the tenth century in baghdad by entering people's houses and spilling their wine, if they found any, and beating the singing-girls they met with and breaking their instruments."[ ] _(c.)_ the wearing of silk, which had been disapproved of by mohammed, became quite common among the richer classes, though the majority do not seem to have indulged themselves in this way.[ ] _(d.)_ the prohibition of sculptures, representing living creatures, was disregarded. we find a statue, raised to abdurrahman's wife zahra, in the medinatu'l zahra, a palace built by abdurrahman iii. in honour of his beloved mistress. images of animals are mentioned on the fountains,[ ] and a lion on the aqueduct.[ ] we also hear of a statue at the gate of cordova.[ ] _(e.)_ the spanish arabs even seem to have given up turning towards mecca: for what else can we infer from a fact mentioned by an arab historian,[ ] that abu obeydah was called sahibu l'kiblah as a distinctive nickname, because he did so turn? _(f.)_ a reformer seems even to have arisen, who wished to persuade his coreligionists to eat the flesh of sows, though not of pigs or boars.[ ] [ ] al makkari, ii., app. . author quoted by de gayangos: the moslems in the eleventh century "began to drink wine and commit all manner of excesses. the rulers of andalus thought of nothing else than purchasing singing-women and slaves, listening to their music, and passing the time in revelry and mirth." [ ] kor. v. --"surely wine, lots, and images are an abomination of the work of satan ... avoid them." [ ] al makkari, ii. p. . [ ] cardonne, i. p. . [ ] al makkari, i. p. ; ii. p. . [ ] yonge, "moors in spain," p. . [ ] sale, koran, introduc., p. . (chandos classics.) [ ] al makkari, ii. p. . in yezid, son of muawiyah, was objected to as a drunkard, a lover of music, and a wearer of silk. see ockley, p. . (chandos classics.) [ ] al makkari, i. p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] akbar madjmoua. dozy, ii. p. . [ ] al malckari, . . [ ] hamim, a berber, in . he was crucified by the faquis. conde, i. . there is good reason to suppose that all this relaxation of the more unreasonable prohibitions of the koran was due to contact with a civilised and christian nation, partly in subjection to the arabs, and partly growing up independently side by side with them. but in nothing was this shewn more clearly than in the social enfranchisement of the moslem women, whom it is the very essence of mohammed's teaching to regard rather as the goods and chattels than as the equals of man; and also in the introduction among the moslems of a more christian conception of the sacred word--love. consequently we become accustomed to the strange spectacle--strange among a mohammedan people--of women making a mark in the society of men, and being regarded as intellectually and socially their equals. thus we hear of an arabian sappho, muatammud ibn abbad volada, daughter of almustakfi billah;[ ] of aysha, daughter of ahmad of cordova--"the purest, loveliest, and most learned maiden of her day;"[ ] of mozna, the slave and private secretary of abdurrahman iii.[ ] again, contrary to the invariable practice elsewhere, women were admitted into the mosques in spain. this was forbidden by mohammedan law,[ ] the women being obliged to perform their devotions at home; "if," says sale, "they visit the mosques, it must be when the men are not there; for the moslems are of opinion that their presence inspires a different kind of devotion from that which is requisite in a place dedicated to the service of god." sale also quotes from the letter of a moor, censuring the roman catholic manner of performing the mass, for the reason, among others, that women were there. if the evidence of ballads be accepted, we shall find the moorish ladies appearing at festivities and dances.[ ] at tournaments they looked on, their bright smiles heartening the knights on to do brave deeds, and their fair hands giving the successful champion the meed of victorious valour.[ ] their position, in fact, as prescott remarks, became assimilated to that of christian ladies. [ ] murphy, "hist. of moh. empire in spain," p. . [ ] conde, i. p. . [ ] for others see conde, i. , . [ ] sale, introd., koran, p. . (chandos classics.) [ ] prescott, "ferd. and isab.," p. . [ ] see a picture in the alhambra, given in murphy's "moorish antiquities of spain," lockhart, pref., p. ; and the ballad called "the bullfight of ghazal," st. v. p. . the effect of this improvement in the social position of women could not fail to reflect itself in the conception of love among the spanish arabs; and, accordingly, we find their gross sensuality undergoing a process of refinement, as the following extract from said ibn djoudi,[ ] who wrote at the close of the ninth century, will shew. addressing his ideal mistress, djehama, he says:-- "o thou, to whom my prayers are given, compassionate and gentle be to my poor soul, so roughly driven, to fly from me to thee. "i call thy name, my vows outpouring, i see thine eyes with tear-drops shine: no monk, his imaged saint adoring, knows rapture like to mine!" of these words dozy[ ] says:--"they might be those of a provençal troubadour. they breathe the delicateness of christian chivalry." this christianising of the feeling of love is even more clearly seen in a passage from a treatise on love by ali ibn hazm, who was prime minister to abdurrahman v. (dec. -mar. ). he calls love[ ] a mixture of moral affection, delicate gallantry, enthusiasm, and a calm modest beauty, full of sweet dignity. being the great grandson of christian parents, perhaps some of their inherited characteristics reappeared in him:--"something pure, something delicate, something spiritual which was not arab."[ ] [ ] killed, . [ ] ii. . [ ] quoted by dozy, iii. . [ ] dozy, . . chapter xi. influence of islam on christianity. we have so far investigated the influence of christianity on the social and intellectual character of mohammedanism; let us now turn to the analogous influence of mohammedanism on christianity under the same aspects. this, as was to be expected, is by no means so marked as in the reverse case. one striking instance, however, there is, in which such an influence was shewn, and where we should least have thought to find it. we have indisputable evidence that many christians submitted to be circumcised. whether this was for the sake of passing themselves off on occasion as mussulmans, or for some other reason, we cannot be certain: but the fact remains.[ ] "have we not," says alvar,[ ] "the mark of the beast, when setting at nought the customs of the fathers, we follow the pestilent ways of the gentiles; when, neglecting the circumcision of the heart,[ ] which is chiefly commanded us, we submit to the corporeal rite, which ought to be avoided for its ignominy, and which can only be complied with at the cost of no small pain to ourselves." even bishops did not shrink from conforming to this semitic rite,[ ] whether voluntarily, or under compulsion, we cannot say; but we know that the mohammedan king, under whom this occurred, had at one time the intention of forcing all his christian subjects to be circumcised.[ ] another sign of an approximation made by christians to the outward observances of moslems, was that some among them thought it necessary to abstain from certain meats,[ ] those, namely, forbidden by the mohammedan law. a bishop, being taxed with compliance of this kind, gave as his excuse that otherwise the christians could not live with the saracens.[ ] this was, naturally, not considered a good reason by the stricter or more bigoted party, who regarded with alarm and suspicion any tendency towards amalgamation with mohammedans. if we can credit certain chroniclers, a council was even held some years before this time by basilius, bishop of cordova, for considering the best method of preventing the contamination of the purity of the christian faith by its contact with mohammedanism.[ ] [ ] see john of cordova, in the "life of john of gorz," above, p. . [ ] alvar, "ind. lum.", sec. . [ ] romans ii. ; galatians v. . [ ] see "life of john of gorz," sec. . [ ] see "life of john of gorz," sec. ; samson, "apolog.," ii. c. . cp. "loys de mayerne turguet," xvii. . the king, halihatan (abdurrahman iii.), published an edict, "par lequel il estait mandé a tous chrestiens habitans és terres et villes a luy subjectes de laisser la religion de jesu, et se faisans circoncire prendre cette de mahomet, sur peine de vie." [ ] see appendix b, p. ; and koran v. _ad init._--" you are forbidden to eat that which dieth of itself, and blood, and swine's flesh ... and that which hath been strangled." [ ] "john of gorz," . . [ ] "pseudo-luit.", sec. . cp. "chron. juliani," sec. . "viritanus coegit concilium toleto ad inveniendum remedium ne muzarabes toletani, imo totius hispaniae, saracenis conjuncti, illorum caeremoniis communicarent." sometimes, however, the contact with islam acted by way of contraries, and christian bigots, such as the monks often were, would cling to some habit or rite of their own from a mere spirit of opposition to a reverse custom among moslems. thus we know that the monks in the east became the more passionately devoted to their image-worship, because iconoclasm savoured so much of mohammedanism. in the same way, but with far more objectionable results, the clergy in spain did their best to impress the people with the idea that cleanliness of apparel and person, far from being next to godliness, was incompatible with it, and that baths were the direct invention of the devil.[ ] later on we know that philip ii., the husband of our queen mary, had all public baths in his spanish dominions destroyed, on the ground that they were relics of infidelity.[ ] celibacy of the clergy, again, was strongly advocated as a contrast to the polygamy of mohammedans; and an abbot, saulus, is mentioned with horror as having a wife and children, one of whom afterwards succeeded him, and also married.[ ] one of the last acts of a gothic king had been to enforce the marriage of the clergy, and though this act was repealed by fruela i. ( - ) in the north, yet concubinage became very common among the clergy;[ ] and it was perhaps to remedy a similar state of things that witiza wished to compel the clergy to have lawful wives. [ ] miss yonge, p. . [ ] lane-poole, "story of the moors," p. . [ ] florez, "esp. sagr.," xviii. --"conventus episcoporum pro restoratione monasterii." the children are called "spinae ac vepres, nec nominandi proles." [ ] prescott, "ferd. and isab.," p. . from samson, "apol.," ii. cc. , , we learn that christians had begun to imitate the moslems in having harems. we have left to the last the great and interesting question of the origin of chivalry. though forming no part of the doctrines of christianity or islam, chivalry and its influences could not with justice be wholly overlooked in a discussion like the present. the institution known by that name arose in the age of charles the great ( - ),[ ] and was therefore nearly synchronous with the invasion of europe by the arabs. its origin has been, indeed, referred to the military service of fiefs, but all its characteristics, which were personal and individual, such as loyalty, courtesy, munificence, point to a racial rather than a political source, and these characteristics are found in an eminent degree among the arabs. "the solitary and independent spirit of chivalry," says hallam,[ ] "dwelling as it were upon a rock, and disdaining injustice or falsehood from a consciousness of internal dignity, without any calculation of the consequences, is not unlike what we sometimes read of arabian chiefs or american indians." whatever the precise origin of chivalry may have been, there can be no doubt that its development was largely influenced by the relative positions of arabs and christians in spain, and the perpetual war which went on between them in that country. though not a religious institution at the outset, except perhaps among our saxon forefathers,[ ] chivalry soon became religious in character, and its golden age of splendour was during the crusades against the moslems of spain and palestine. spain itself may almost be called the cradle of chivalry; and it must be allowed that even in the first flush of conquest the arabs shewed themselves to be truly chivalrous enemies, and clearly had nothing to learn from christians in that respect. the very earliest days of moslem triumph, saw the same chivalrous spirit displayed at the capture of jerusalem, forming a strange and melancholy contrast to the scene at its recapture subsequently by the crusaders under the heroic godfrey de bouillon. [ ] hallam, "mid. ages.," iii. . [ ] _ibid._ cp. p. . "the characteristic virtues of chivalry have so much resemblance to those which eastern writers of the same period extol, that i am disposed to suspect europe for having derived some improvement from imitation of asia." [ ] hallam, "mid. ages" ( . .). similarly the last triumph of the moors in spain, at the end of the tenth century, furnished an instance of generosity rarely paralleled. the almohade king, yakub almansur, after the great victory of alarcos ( ), released , christian prisoners. it cannot, however, be denied that the action displeased many of the king's followers, who complained of it "as one of the extravagancies proper to monarchs,"[ ] and yakub himself repented of it on his deathbed. in many passages of the arabian writers we find those qualities enumerated which ought to distinguish the moorish knight--such as piety, courtesy, prowess in war, the gift of eloquence, the art of poetry, skill on horseback, and dexterity with sword, lance, and bow.[ ] chivalry soon became a recognised art, and we hear of a certain yusuf ben harun, or abu amar, addressing an elegant poem to hakem ii. ( - ) on its duties and obligations;[ ] nor was it long before the moorish kings learnt to confer knighthood on their vassals after the christian fashion, and we have an instance of this in a knighthood conferred by the king of seville in .[ ] [ ] conde, iii. . [ ] al makk., ii. , from ibn hayyan. cp. prescott, "ferd. and isab.," p. . [ ] conde, i. . [ ] conde, ii. . as the ideal knight of spanish romance was ruy diaz de bivar, or the cid, so we may perhaps regard the historic almanzor as the moorish knight _sans peur et sans reproche;_ and though, if judged by our standards, he was by no means _sans reproche_, yet many are the stories told of his magnanimity and justice. on one occasion after a battle against the christians, the count of garcia being mortally wounded, his faithful castilians refused to leave him, and were hemmed in by almanzor's men. when the latter was urged to give the word, and have the knot of christians put to the sword, he said: "is it not written? 'he who slayeth one man, not having met with violence, will be punished like the murderer of all mankind, and he who saveth the life of one man, shall be rewarded like the rescuer of all.'[ ] make room, sons of ishmael, make way; let the christians live and bless the name of the clement and merciful god." [ ] on another occasion almanzor is asked by the count of lara for wedding gifts for an enemy[ ] of the arabs, another christian count, and he magnanimously sends the gifts; or we see him releasing the father of the infantes of lara, on hearing of the dreadful death of his seven sons.[ ] it must be admitted that these instances savour too much of the romantic ballad style, but anecdotes of generosity do not gather round any but persons who are noted for that virtue, and though the instances should be false in letter, yet in spirit they may be eminently true. however this may be as respects almanzor's generosity, of his justice we have unimpeachable evidence. the monk who wrote the "chronicle of silo," says that the success of his raids on the christian territories was due to the large pay he offered his soldiers, and also to his extreme justice, "which virtue," says the chronicler, "as i learned from my father's lips, almanzor held dearer, if i may so say, than any christian."[ ] [ ] koran, v. . [ ] yonge, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] johannes vasaeus, . [ ] "chron. sil.," sec. . in connection with chivalry there is one institution which the christian spaniards seem to have borrowed from the moors--those military orders, namely, which were so numerous in spain. "the rabitos, or moslemah knights," says conde,[ ] "in charge of the frontier, professed extraordinary austerity of life, and devoted themselves voluntarily to the continual exercise of arms. they were all men of high distinction; and bound themselves by a vow to defend the frontier. they were forbidden by their rules to fly from the enemy, it being their duty to fight and die on the spot they held." in any case, whether the christian military orders were derived from the moorish, or the reverse, one thing is certain, that it was the moors who inoculated the christians with a belief in holy wars, as an essential part of their religion.[ ] in this respect christianity became mohammedanized first in spain. chivalry became identified with war against the infidel, and found its apotheosis[ ] in st. james of compostella, who--a poor fisherman of galilee--was supposed to have fought in person against the moors at clavijo.[ ] in the ballad we hear of christian knights coming to engage in fight from exactly that same belief in the efficacy and divine institution of holy wars, as animated the arab champions. the clergy, and even the bishops, took up arms and fought against the enemies of their faith. two bishops, those of leon and astorga,[ ] were taken prisoners at the battle of val de junqueras ( ).[ ] sisenandus of compostella was killed in battle against the northmen ( ); and the "chronicle of the cid" makes repeated mention of a right valiant prelate named hieronymus.[ ] [ ] conde, ii. p. , note--"it seems highly probable that from these arose the military orders of spain in the east." cp. prescott, "ferd. and isab.," p. . the military orders of spain were mostly instituted by papal bulls in the last half of the th century. [ ] islam made christianity military, milman, "lat. chr.," ii. pp. - . lecky, "hist. eur. moral," p. , ff. [ ] presc., "ferd.," p. . [ ] mohammed also imagined celestial aid in battle, see kor. iii., ad init. [ ] "rodrigo of toledo," iii. p. . johannes vasaeus says they were the bishops of tuy and salamanca. [ ] mariana, viii. . see also _ibid._, c. . [ ] "chronicle of cid" (southey), p. . yet, in spite of all this, in spite of the fanaticism which engendered and accompanied it, chivalry proved to be the only common ground on which christian and moslem, arab and european, could meet. it was in fact a sort of compromise between two incompatible religions mutually accepted by two different races. though perhaps not a spiritual religion, it was a social one, and served in some measure to mitigate the horrors of a war of races and creeds. chivalry culminated in the crusades, and richard i. of england and saladin were the achilles and the hector of a new iliad. with this short discussion of the origin and value of chivalry as a compromise between christianity and mohammedanism, we will now conclude. in discussing the relations between christianity and mohammedanism, we have been naturally led to compare not only the religions but their adherents, for it is difficult to distinguish between those who profess a creed, and the creed which they profess; but at least we may have thus been enabled to avoid missing any point essential to the proper elucidation of the mutual relations which existed between the two greatest religions of the world, and the influence they had upon each other. appendix. a. the jews in spain. the persecution of the jews by the gothic spaniards naturally made them the implacable enemies of the christians. being a very numerous colony in spain--for hadrian had transported thither many thousand families--the jews gave the arabs very effective help in conquering the country, both by betraying places to them, and garrisoning captured towns while the arabs went on to fresh conquests. consequently the relations between the jews and moslems were for a long time very cordial, though this cordiality wore off in the course of time. their numbers seem to have been considerable under the moslem occupation, and whole towns were set apart as jewries.[ ] in france the prejudice against the jews shewed itself very strongly among the clergy, though louis i. and his wife judith favoured them. they were generally ill-treated, and their slaves were induced by the clergy to be baptized. thereupon they became free, as jews were not allowed to have christian slaves.[ ] but it must be admitted that the franks had reason for disliking the jews, as it was well known that they sold christian children as slaves to the moslems of spain.[ ] [ ] al makkari, ii. . [ ] fleury, v. . [ ] _ibid._ they also seem to have been able to make some proselytes from among the christians, and we hear of one apostate of this kind, named eleazar, to whom alvar addressed several letters under the title of "the transgressor." this man's original name was bodon. a christian of german extraction,[ ] he was brought up with a view to holy orders. in , while on his way to rome,[ ] he apostatised to judaism,[ ] and opened a negotiation with the jews in france to sell his companions as slaves, stipulating only to keep his own grandson. the next year he let his hair and beard grow, and went to spain, where he married a jewess, compelling his grandson at the same time to apostatise. in or his attitude became so hostile to the christians in spain, that the latter wrote to charles, praying him to demand eleazar as his subject, which however does not seem to have been done. there seems good reason to believe that eleazar stirred up the moslems against the christians, and the deaths of prefectus and john may have been due to him.[ ] after this we hear no more of eleazar; but the position of the jews with regard to the arabs seems to have been for long after this of a most privileged character. consequently the jews in spain had such an opportunity to develop their natural gifts as they have never had since the capture of jerusalem by nebuchadnezzar; and they shewed themselves no whit behind the arabs, if indeed they did not outstrip them, in keeping alive the flame of learning in the dark ages.[ ] in science generally, and especially in the art of medicine they had few rivals, and in learning and civilisation they were, no less than the arabs, far ahead of the christians.[ ] [ ] "ann. bertin.," . [ ] orationis gratia, "ann. bert," . . [ ] florez, xi. p. ff. [ ] the "ann. bert." say that he induced abdurrahman ii. to give his christian subjects the choice between islam, judaism, or death. see rohrbacher, xii. . [ ] prescott, "ferd. and isab." p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . the good understanding between the jews and the arabs with the gradual process of time gave place to an ill-concealed hostility, and at the beginning of the twelfth century there seems even to have been a project formed for forcing the jews to become moslems on the ground of a promise made by their forefathers to mohammed that, if in five centuries their messiah had not appeared, they would be converted to mohammedanism.[ ] perhaps this was only a pretext on the part of the moslems for extorting money; at all events the jews only succeeded in evading the alternative by paying a large sum of money. even in the early years of the conquest they were subject to the rapacity of their rulers, for when, on the rumour of the messiah having appeared in syria, many of the spanish jews, leaving their goods, started off to join him, the moslem governor, anbasa, seized the property so left, and refused to restore it on the return of the disappointed emigrants. from their contact with arabs and christians the jews seem to have lost many of their distinctive beliefs, and in the twelfth century maimonides,[ ] the greatest name among the spanish jews, wrote against their errors. one of these seems to have been that the books of moses were written before the creation;[ ] another, that there was a series of hells in the next world.[ ] many jews attained to very high positions among the arabs, and we hear of a certain hasdai ibn bahrut, who was inspector of customs to abdurrahman iii., ambassador to the king of leon in , and the king's confidential messenger to the monk, john of gorz, a few years later. he was also distinguished as a physician.[ ] [ ] conde, ii. . [ ] fleury, v. . [ ] cp. the moslem belief about the koran. sale, introduc., p. . (chandos classics.) [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] al makk., i., app. v. p. xxiv. note by de gayangos. while the arabs still retained their hold on the fairest provinces of spain, the lot of the jews, even in christian territories, was by no means unendurable. they were sometimes advanced to important and confidential posts, and it was the murder of alfonso vi.'s jewish ambassador by the king of seville which brought about the introduction of the almoravides into spain. there is a strange story told of the jews at the taking of toledo by the christians in . they waited on alfonso and assured him that they were part of the ten tribes whom nebuchadnezzar transported into spain, and not the descendants of those jerusalem jews who crucified christ. their ancestors, they said, were quite free from the guilt of this act, for when caiaphas had written to the toledan synagogue for their advice respecting the person who claimed to be the messiah, the toledan jews returned for answer, that in their judgment the prophecies seemed to be fulfilled in him, and therefore he ought not by any means to be put to death. this reply they produced in the original hebrew.[ ] it is needless to say that the whole thing was a fabrication. gradually, as the christians recovered their supremacy in spain, the tide of prejudice set more and more strongly against the jews. they were accused of "contempt for the catholic worship, desecration of its symbols, sacrifice of christian infants,"[ ] and other enormities. severe laws were passed against them, as in the old gothic times, and their freedom was grievously curtailed in the matters of dress, residence, and profession. as a distinctive badge they had to wear yellow caps.[ ] [ ] southey, "roder.," i. p. , note. [ ] prescott, "ferd. and isab.," pp. , . [ ] al makk., i. . at the end of the fourteenth century the people rose against them, and , jews were massacred in different parts of spain. many were nominally converted, and , conversions were put to the credit of a single saint. these new christians sometimes attained high ecclesiastical dignities, and intermarried with the noble families--the taint of which "mala sangre" came afterwards to be regarded with the greatest horror and aversion. it was against the converted jews that the inquisition was first established, and they chiefly suffered under it at first. in , on the final extinction of the arab dominion in spain, a very large number of jews were expelled from castile,[ ] the evil example being afterwards followed in other parts of spain. the story of the treatment of jews by christians is indeed one of the darkest in the history of christianity. [ ] variously estimated at , or , . b. spain and the papal power. perhaps no part of the history of spain affords so interesting a study as the consideration of those gradual steps by which, from being one of the most independent of churches, she has become the most subservient, and therefore the most degraded, of all. the question of how this was brought about, apart from its intrinsic interest as illustrating the development of a great nation, is well worth investigating, from the momentous influence which it has had upon the religious history of the world at large. for it is not too much to say that rome could never have made good its ascendency, spiritual no less than temporal, over so large a part of mankind, had not the material resources and the blind devotion of spain been ready to back the haughty pretensions and unscrupulous ability of the italian pontiffs. in fact, spain is the only country, apart from italy, that as a nation, has accepted the monstrous doctrines of rome in all their entirety--doctrines which the whole christian east repudiated from the first with scorn, and which the north and (with the exception of spain) the west of europe--the birthplace and cradle of the mighty teutonic races--have agreed with equal disdain to reject and trample under their feet. this result is all the more remarkable, from the fact that in early times the church of spain, from its rapid extension, its greatness, and its prosperity, held a position of complete equality with the roman and other principal churches. the see of cordova held so high a rank in the fourth century that hosius, its venerable bishop, was chosen to preside at the important councils of nice ( ) and sardica ( ). the gothic invasion at the beginning of the fifth century made spain still less likely to acknowledge any supremacy of rome, for the goths, besides being far more independent in character than the romanized kelts, were arian heretics, and cut off, in consequence, from all communion with rome. the orthodox party, however, gradually gained strength, and in the remnants of the suevi abjured arianism, and the gothic king's son ermenegild, with their help, revolted against his father. he was finally put to death for his treason, but his brother, recared, on ascending the throne in , avowed his conversion to the orthodox creed, his example being followed by most of his nobles and prelates. the reception of recared and his court into the catholic fold was the signal for an attempt to establish the papal authority, which was the more dangerous now, as the popes had gained a great increase of power since spain was cut off from orthodox christendom by the invasion of the arian goths. one of recared's first acts was to write to the pope and, saluting him, ask him for his advice in spiritual matters. the papal authority thus acknowledged was soon exercised in-- _(a.)_ deciding ecclesiastical appeals without regard to the laws of the land; _(b.)_ sending to spain pontifical judges to hear such cases; _(c.)_ sending legates to watch over the discipline of the church; _(d.)_ sending the pall to metropolitans. these metropolitans, unknown in the earlier history of the spanish church, came gradually to be recognised, owing to the papal practice of sending letters to the chief bishops of the country. they became invested in consequence with certain important powers, such as those of convoking provincial councils; of consecrating suffragans; of holding ecclesiastical courts, and watching over the conduct of bishops.[ ] but though a certain authority over the spanish church _was_ thus conceded to the pope, yet owing to the independent spirit of the spanish kings and clergy, he contented himself with a very sparing use of his power. in two points, in especial, the claims of the pope were strenuously resisted. _(a.)_ the purchase of dispensations from rome was expressly forbidden. _(b.)_ papal infallibility was a dogma by no means admitted. thus the prelates of spain in the fifteenth and sixteenth councils of toledo, defended the orthodoxy of their fellow-bishop, julian, against the strictures of the then pope, bendict ii.; and benedict's successor, john v., confessed that they had been in the right.[ ] this spirit of opposition to the supremacy of the pope we find manifested to the last by the spanish kings, and there is some reason for thinking that in the very year of the saracen invasion the king, witiza, held a synod, which emphatically forbade appeals to rome.[ ] one author even goes so far as to say that the gothic king and his clergy being at variance with the pope, the latter encouraged and favoured the saracen invasion.[ ] [ ] masdeu, xi. p. , ff., quoted by dr dunham. [ ] dunham, i. p. . [ ] see hardwicke's "church in the middle ages," p. . he quotes gieselar, "ch. hist.," iii- . [ ] j.s. semler, quoted by mosheim, ii. , note. however that may have been, and it certainly looks very improbable, the invasion did not help the pope much directly, though indirectly, and as events turned out, the arab domination was undoubtedly the main cause of the ultimate subjection of spain to the papal yoke, which happened in this way:--the christian church in the north being, though free, yet in a position of great danger and weakness, would naturally have sought help from their nearest christian neighbours, the franks. but the selfish and ambitious policy of the latter, who preferred extending their temporal dominion to fighting as champions of christianity in defence of others, naturally forced the spanish christians to look to the only christian ruler who could afford them even moral assistance; and the popes were not slow to avail themselves of the opportunity thus offered for establishing their authority in a new province. it was by the intervention of the popes that the war against the arabs partook of the nature of a crusade, a form of warfare which carried with it the advantage of filling the treasury of the bishops of rome. by means of indulgences, granting exemption from purgatory at maravedis a head, the pope collected in four years the sum of four million maravedis.[ ] the first important instance of the pope's intervention being asked and obtained was in , when, the body of st james being miraculously discovered, alfonso wrote to the pope asking leave to move the see of ira flavia (padron) to the new church of st lago,[ ] built on the spot where the relics were found. the birth of the new spanish church dates from this event, which was of ominous import for the future independence of the church in that country. what the claims of rome had come to be within a quarter of a century of this epoch, we may see from the controversy which arose between claudius, bishop of turin, and the papal party. claudius was himself a spaniard, and a pupil of the celebrated felix, bishop of urgel, one of the authors of the adoptionist heresy. among other doctrines obnoxious to the so-called catholic party, claudius stoutly resisted the papal claim to be the head of christendom, resting his opposition, so far as we can gather from what remains to us of his writings,[ ] on the grounds, first, that christ did _not_ say to peter, "what thou loosest in heaven, shall be loosed upon earth;" meaning by this that the authority vested in peter was only to be exercised during his life; secondly, in answer to the supposed efficacy of a pilgrimage to rome, claudius retorts on his accuser, theodomir, abbot of a monastery near nîmes:--"if a doing of penance to be effectual involves a journey to rome, why do you keep so many monks in your monastery and prevent them from going--as you say is necessary--to rome itself?" as to the journey itself, claudius said that he neither approved nor disapproved of it, knowing that it was not prejudicial to all, nor useful to all: but this he was assured of, that eternal life could not be gained by a mere journey to rome; thirdly, as to the pope being the dominicus apostolicus, as his supporters called him, apostolic, says claudius, is a title that does not belong to one "who fills the see of an apostle, but who fulfils the duties thereof." [ ] prescott, "ferd. and isab.," p. , n. [ ] romey, "hist. d'esp.," iii. . [ ] jonas of orleans, iii., apud migne, vol. civ. p. ff. fleury, v. . being summoned to appear before a council, the bishop proved contumacious, and refused to go, calling the proposed assemblage a congregation of asses. in spite of his independence of spirit claudius remained bishop of turin till his death in . the pope's authority being once recognised in spain, the sphere of his interference rapidly enlarged, and we soon find the king unable even to call a council of bishops without a papal bull. this became the established practice.[ ] in the tenth century bermudo ii. ( - ), in confirming the laws of the goths, took the opportunity to make the canons and decrees of the pope binding in secular cases.[ ] meanwhile, even before the free christians in the north had established their independence, the weakness of the christian church under arab domination seemed to afford a good opportunity for obtaining from them a recognition of the authority of the pope. we accordingly find that an appeal was made to the pope towards the close of the eighth century to give an authoritative decision with regard to what the appellants deemed to be certain irregularities which had found their way into the practice of those christians who were under the arab yoke. the pope adrian readily undertook to define what was, and what was not, in accordance with christianity. in a letter addressed to the bishops of spain he inveighs against the following errors, countenanced by a certain migetius, and by egila, bishop of elvira, and sometimes called in consequence the migetian errors:-- _(a.)_ the wrong celebration of easter. this had already been noticed and condemned by peter, a deacon of toledo, in a letter to the people of seville ( ).[ ] the error was not the same as that of the quarto-decimani, but consisted apparently in deferring easter to the twenty-second day, if the full moon fell on the th, and the following day was sunday. curiously enough this very error had been held by the latin church itself till the sixth century.[ ] the fulminations of the pope failed in suppressing the error. as late as it was sufficiently general in andalusia to cause the date of a battle which took place at the easter of that year to be placed in the year of the hegira , which only began on april th, whereas had easter been observed according to the usage of the latin church, the paschal feast would have been already past.[ ] _(b.)_ the eating of pork and things strangled.[ ] with respect to these innocent articles of food, the pope goes so far as to threaten anathema against those who will not abstain from them. it is curious to find the christian church upholding the eating of pork, when brought into contact with the moslems, and forbidding it elsewhere. _(c.)_ intermarriage with jews and moslems, which had become very common, is denounced and forbidden.[ ] _(d.)_ the pope cautions the spanish church against consecrating priests without due preparation, and speaks as if there were many false priests, wolves in sheep's clothing, dealing havoc in the flock. _(e.)_ one doubtful authority,[ ] who tells us that adrian ordered cixila, bishop of toledo, to hold a council and condemn egila for not fasting on sundays, according to the decrees of previous popes. [ ] "chron. sil.," sec. , who says that in a legate was in spain holding a council at leon. "chron. sampiri," (florez, xiv.), sec. (a later addition), says that in alfonso iv. sent severus and sideric, asking the leave of pope john viii. to hold a council and consecrate a church. cp. mariana, vii. . [ ] mariana, viii. . [ ] isid. pac, sec. . see migne, vol. xcviii. pp. , , . [ ] see victorius aquitanus, quoted by noris "de paschali latinorum cyclo." (iii. ), apud migne. [ ] dozy, ii. p. , note. [ ] florez, "esp. sagr.," v. : fleury, ii. . [ ] adrian's letter to the spanish bishops. [ ] the pseudo-luitprand, sec. --"ex mandatis litterisque adriani papae contra egilanum ... nolentem dei sabbate a carnibus abstinere" ( a.d.). but though there was a strong party in spain favouring the pretensions of the pope, yet many of the clergy and laity, headed by the venerable elipandus, bishop of toledo ( - ), boldly resisted the encroachments of the bishop of rome. elipandus himself, as primate of all spain, wrote to migetius condemning him for certain heresies, and boasts of having completely refuted and silenced him;[ ] but at the same time elipandus shewed his independence of the roman pontiff by characterising those who abstained from pork and things strangled as foolish and ignorant men; though migetius in this matter was in thorough accord with the pope,[ ] and could justify his views by a reference to the decision of the church of jerusalem in the earliest days of christianity.[ ] another doctrine combated by elipandus was the unscriptural one, that it was unlawful to eat with unbelievers, or even to take food touched by them. it was easy for him to quote texts such as: "not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man;" [ ] or "to the pure all things are pure;"[ ] and to point out that christ ate with publicans and sinners. but the assumption which elipandus, like his fellow-countrymen, claudius of turin, later, especially attacked, was that which regarded the roman see as alone constituting the catholic church and the power of god.[ ] this he very properly calls a heresy; and indignantly denies that christ's words, "thou art peter," &c., apply to the church of rome alone, affirming that they were spoken of the whole church. "how," he adds, "can the roman church be, as you say it is, the very power of god without spot or blemish, when we know that at least one bishop of rome (liberius) has been branded as a heretic by the common voice of christendom." [ ] epilandus, letter to migetius. migne, xcviii. p. . see neander, v. ff. n. enhueber, "dissert," secs. , , apud migne, vol. ci. [ ] see adrian's letter to egila. [ ] acts xv. , . see, however, epist. to timothy, i. . [ ] st matt. xv. . [ ] titus i. . [ ] see also letter to alcuin, and felix's answer to alcuin's first book, where he gives us his idea of a _catholic_ church founded on our lord christ (and not on the pope), ... which catholic church may even consist of few members. neander, v. . had the arab domination embraced the whole of spain, and continued to be established over it, spain could never have become the priest-ridden country which it now is; but the gradual advance of the christian arms in the north brought in its train a more and more complete subserviency to the pope. as the kings of castile and leon gradually won back towns and provinces from the arabs, some difference was observed to exist between the religious usages of the newly freed christians and of those who had set them free. this was specially apparent in the old gothic liturgy, which the muzarabic christians had used all along, and were still using, whereas the christians of leon and the asturias had imported a newer recension from rome. rumours of these discrepancies in religious ritual reached rome, and accordingly a legate,[ ] named zanclus, was sent to spain in from john x. to inquire into matters of religion, and particularly into the ceremony of the mass, the opinion being prevalent at rome that the mass was incorrectly performed according to the gothic liturgy, and that false doctrines were taught. however, zanclus found that the divergence was not sufficiently wide to warrant the suppression of the ancient ritual. it may be that the power of the roman church was not established so securely as to admit of an interference so unpalatable to the ancient church. she was content to bide her time; for such a standing witness to the primitive usage[ ] of the church against the innovations of the roman see could not long be allowed to continue. accordingly, we find that very soon after the fall of toledo in , the question of the old gothic liturgy came up for discussion again. the gothic and the roman books were subjected, after the absurd fashion of the times, to two ordeals--by water and by fire; but in spite of the fact that the gothic liturgy, thanks to its greater solidity and stronger binding, resisted both those elements incomparably better than its younger rival, and so, if the ordeal went for anything, should have been hailed victorious, the old native liturgy was partially suppressed at the bidding of the pope, and by the consent of the spanish king alfonso vi. of leon,[ ] and sancho iv. of aragon. yet the muzarabic christians were loath to give up their customary liturgy, and it remained in use in several churches of toledo till late in the fifteenth century. [ ] mariana, vi. . pseudo-luit. gives the legate the name of marinus, and says he was sent in to basilius, bishop of toledo. [ ] cp. the monstrous way in which the portuguese roman catholics, under don alexis de menezes, destroyed the sacred books and memorials of the ancient syrian church on the malabar coast in india. [ ] and i. of castile. but the interference of the pope was not confined to matters relating to the spanish church at large, his heavy hand fell upon the king himself, and at the end of the twelfth century alfonso ix. and all his kingdom were laid under an interdict by celestine iii. because he had married within forbidden limits, and refused to divorce his wife at the bidding of the pope. he did in the end divorce her, but only to repeat the same offence with a second wife, berengaria, and incur the same penalty at the hands of innocent iii. encroachments on the king's power went on apace, and gradually appeals came to be referred to rome from the king's courts, and the pope took upon himself to appoint to benefices and bishoprics; a usurpation which was countenanced by alfonso x. ( - ).[ ] but this result was not attained without remonstrances from the cortes, and finally, under ferdinand and isabella, the question came to an open rupture between the spanish court and the reigning pope, sixtus iv. isabella, though so ready to submit herself in matters of personal religion to the pope and his legates, refused, like her later namesake of england, to bate one jot of her ecclesiastical rights; and the pope had to give way, contenting himself with the barren power of appointing those nominated by the sovereigns of the land. but if the sovereign was jealous of his rights, no less so were the barons of theirs, and when in the war of the barons with henry iv. ( - ), the papal legate threw his influence on to the king's side, and excommunicated the rebellious barons, they firmly answered that "those who had advised the pope that he had a right to interfere in the temporal concerns of castile had deceived him; and that they, the barons of the kingdom, had a perfect right to depose their sovereign on sufficient grounds, and meant to exercise it."[ ] a similarly independent spirit shewed itself in aragon. in pedro ii. died fighting against the papal persecutor of the albigensians, and down to the time of charles v., the princes of aragon were at open enmity with the roman see,[ ] and the aragonese strenuously resisted the establishment of the inquisition.[ ] [ ] prescott, "ferd. and isab.," p. . [ ] prescott, p. . cp. the charter of aragon, whereby the king, if he violated the charter of the realm, might be deposed, and any other _pagan_ or christian substituted. _ibid_, p. . [ ] lockhart, introduction to spanish ballads, p. . (chandos classics.) [ ] prescott, "ferd. and isab.," p. , n. that fatal instrument of religious bigotry, the cause of more unmerited suffering and more unmixed evil than any other devised by man, whereby more innocent people passed through the fire than were perhaps ever sacrificed at the altar of moloch, was first put into action in september , during the reign of the pious and noble-minded isabella.[ ] the festival of epiphany in the following year was selected as an appropriate date for the manifestation of the first auto da fé, when six jews were burnt at seville; for it was against that unfortunate people that this inhuman persecution was devised, or at least first used. that one year witnessed the martyrdom of persons, and the infliction on , others of punishments only less than death itself. during the administration of thomas of torquemada, which lasted eighteen years, more than , persons perished at the stake, nearly , were, as the phrase went, reconciled.[ ] the confiscation of property which accompanied all this burning and imprisoning brought in enormous sums into the coffers of the inquisitors. the jews being burnt, converted, or expelled the country, the inquisition was turned upon the wretched moriscoes, as the moors under christian government were called, who were oppressed and persecuted in the same way as the jews, and finally driven from spain. but a more important conquest than these--more important, that is, to the supremacy of the roman see--was the undoubted conquest achieved by the inquisition over the reforming doctrines which in the sixteenth century began to find their way into spain from germany and england. finding a congenial soil, the reformation began to spread in spain with wonderful rapidity. the divines sent by charles v. into england were themselves converted, and returned full of zeal for the protestant faith--"their success," says geddes,[ ] "was such that had not a speedy and full stop been put to their pious labours by the merciless inquisition, the whole kingdom of spain had in all likelihood been converted to the protestant religion, in less time than any other country had ever been before."[ ] so untrue is it to say that persecution always fails of its object! in spain it has riveted the fetters, which the weakness and superstition of the earlier kings of leon and castile, together with the piety and misdirected enthusiasm of isabella, placed upon a proud and once peculiarly independent people. plunged in the depths of ignorance and imbecility, social, religious, and political, spain affords a melancholy but instructive spectacle to the nations. [ ] the inquisitional code was drawn up in , and introduced into spain, . prescott. [ ] prescott, "ferd. and isab.," p. . [ ] miscell. tracts. pref. to "spanish martyrs," pp. , ff. [ ] geddes, pref. to "spanish martyrs," p. , , quotes a romanist author, who says: "the number of converts was so great that had the stop which was put to that evil been delayed but two or three months longer, i am persuaded that all spain had been put into a flame by them." list of authorities consulted. i. original authorities:-- a. arab (in translations): ( .) _ibn abd el hakem._ "history of the conquest of spain." with notes by j.h. jones, ph.d., . this work only goes down to . ( .) _j.a. conde._ "history of the domination of the arabs in spain," translated from the spanish by mrs foster. vols. bohn, . the author (preface, p. ) says that "he has compiled his work from arabian memorials and writings in such sort that those documents may be read as they were written;" (p. ), "the student of history may read this book as written by an arabic author." older writers used to speak very highly of this work, but their modern successors cannot find a good word for it.[ ] de gayangos, the learned translator of the arabic history of al makkari, though not blind to the "unmethodical arrangement of the whole work, the absence of notes and citations of authorities, and the numerous errors and contradictions,"[ ] yet does not hesitate to call conde's book the foundation of all our knowledge of the history of mohammedan spain. it certainly is astonishing that conde, who points out[ ] the errors of his predecessors, makes precisely the same kind of mistakes himself, not only once, but constantly. claiming to be above all things faithful to his authorities, he is found, where those authorities can be identified, not to be faithful. [ ] stanley lane-poole, preface to "moors in spain" ( ). dozy, preface to "mussulmans in spain," p. : "conde ... qui manquait absolumment de sens historique." [ ] as to these he might plead al makkari's excuse, that in transcribing or extracting the accounts of different historians some facts are sure to be repeated, and others entirely contradicted. see al makk., i. p. . [ ] pref., p. ff. ( .) _j.c. murphy._ "history of the mahometan empire in spain," with additions by professor shakespear, . this work is based on mohammedan sources, those, namely, which are mostly to be found in al makkari's compilation. the concluding chapters on the influence, scientific and literary, exercised by the arabs in europe, are exhaustive and interesting. ( .) _ahmed ibn mohammed al makkari_. "history of the mohammedan dynasties in spain," being an extract from a larger work by that author, translated by pascual de gayangos. vols. london, . this work, which dozy finds fault with for certain inaccuracies, is on the whole very trustworthy, and its notes form a perfect mine of information for the student wandering helplessly among the mazes of arab history. al makkari, a native of africa, flourished at the beginning of the seventeenth century; but he quotes from many old arabic writers, whose evidence is most valuable. among these are-- [greek: a.] _abu bekr mohammed ibn omar, ibn al kuttiyah_, descended from the grand-daughter of witiza; died, . [greek: b.] _ahmed ibn mohammed ibn musa arrazi_, flourished in the reign of abdurrahman iii. [greek: g.] _ibn ghalib temam ibn ghalib_, of cordova; died, . [greek: d.] _abu mohammed ali ibn ahmed ibn said ibn hazm_, born at cordova, ; died, . [greek: e.] _abu merwan hayyan ibn khalf ibn huseyn ibn hayyan,_ born at cordova, . [greek: z.] _abul kasim khalf ibn abdilmalik ibn mesud ibn musa al anssari_, cordova, - . [greek: ê.] _abul hasan ali ibn musa ibn mohammed ibn abdalmalik ibn said_ of granada, - . [greek: th.] _abu zeyd abdurrahman ibn mohammed ibn khaldun. ishbili,_ born at tunis, ; died, . b. christian (in latin). these are to be found in-- ( .) _schott's_ "hispania illustrata," vols. frankfort, . ( .) _florez,_ "españa sagrada," vols., containing a most useful collection of spanish writers, together with much information about them, written in spanish. ( .) _migne's_ "patrologia," latin and greek, a most invaluable collection in several score volumes. the following is a list of those consulted:-- ([greek: a].) _isidore of beja_, "epitome imperatorum vel arabum ephemerides atque hispaniae chronographia," being a continuation of the chronicle of isidore of seville. sidenote: migne, xcvi pp. - . ([greek: b].) chronicon _sebastiani_, "salmanticensis episcopi," . (conde, pref., p. , says - .) sidenote: _ibid._, cxxix. pp. - . ([greek: g].) chronicon _albeldense_, - . (conde, _ibid._, says to .) this is also called chronicon emilianense. it was perhaps begun by dulcidius, bishop of salamanca, and carried on by the monk vigila. sidenote: _ibid._ . ([greek: d].) chronicon _sampiri_ "asturicensis episcopi" (written about ), - . sidenote: florez, "esp. sagr.," xiv. - . ([greek: e].) _chronicon regum legionensium_, - , by pelagius, bishop of oviedo--a very doubtful authority, and branded with the epithet "fabulosus." sidenote: _ibid._, pp. - . ([greek: z].) chronicon _silensis_ monachi, written _circa_ . sidenote: _ibid._, xvii. - . ([greek: ê].) _lucas of tuy_, "chronicon mundi," written _circa_ . sidenote: schott, iv. - . ([greek: th].) _alfonso_, bishop of burgos, "anacephalaiosis rerum hispanarum," etc. sidenote: _ibid._, i. - . ([greek: i].) _luitprand_, died . the chronicon and adversaria attributed to him are by a later hand, and extend over the years - . the author of these is generally called the pseudo-luitprand, and very little credit can be placed in his statements. sidenote: migne, cxxxvi. pp. - . ([greek: k].) _rodrigo_, archbishop of toledo, "history of the arabs from christian and arabic sources, carried down to ." he died in . the work is full of irrelevant references to scripture and to profane history. he does not even mention the christian martyrdoms in the ninth century. sidenote: schott, "hisp. illustr.," i. pp. - ([greek: l].) _annales bertiniani_, from the french point of view. sidenote: florez, x. - . ([greek: m].) _johannes vasaeus_, "hispaniae chronicon." sidenote: schott, i. ff. the above writers must not be regarded as of equal value. some are valuable, but all are meagre to the last degree; others are nearly worthless. other authorities there are of a different kind--not historians, but writers on incidental subjects, whose works throw great light on the history of the time. among these are-- (_a._) _elipandus_, bishop of toledo; died . letters-- sidenote: migne, xcvi. to migetius. sidenote: pp. - . to charles the great. sidenote: pp. - . to albinus (alcuin). sidenote: pp. - . to fidelis, an abbot ( ). sidenote: pp. , . (_b_.) _felix_, bishop of urgel; died . confessio fidei ( ). sidenote: migne, xcvi. pp. - . (_c_.) _beatus_, priest of libana (or astorga). letter to elipandus. sidenote: " - . (_d_.) _letters of spanish bishops_ to bishops of gaul. sidenote: _ibid._, ci. - . (_e_.) _alcuin_. letters-- sidenote: _ibid._, c. and ci. ad felicem haereticum ( ). ad elipandum. ad carolum magnum ( ), sending his work against felix. epistle xc. ( ), epistle cxiii. ( ). ad aquilam pontificem ( ). books-- adversus felicis haeresin ad abbates et monachos. gothiae missus (libellus), vii. books. adversus elipandum, iv. books. epistola ad leidradum et nefridium episcopum. altera ad eosdem. (_f._) _adrian_, pope. sidenote: _ibid._, xcviii. p. . epistola episcopis per universam spaniam commorantibus directa, maxime tamen elipando, vel ascarico ( ). ad egilam episcopum (in spania) seu johannem presbyterum ( ). sidenote: _ibid._, p. . ad carolum magnum. epistle lxiv. (_g_.) letter from _louis the débonnaire_ to the christians of merida ( ). sidenote: florez, xiii. . (_h_.) _etdogius_, priest of cordova, and bishop-designate of toledo. died . sidenote: migne, cxv. - . letter to alvar, sending his book. "documentum martyrii," dedicated to flora and maria, virgins and martyrs, oct. . letter to alvar: another letter to the same, sending "memorialis sanctorum liber," books. "liber apologeticus martyrum" ( ). "de vita et passione ss. virginum florae et mariae." (_i_.) _alvar_, paulus,[ ] of cordova, and, according to his letters, both of jewish birth and gothic lineage. died, , according to the pseudo-luitprand. sidenote: florez, "esp. saagr.", xi. [ ] robertson says peter. confessio. sidenote: pp. - . letter to john of seville, sidenote: " - . to the same. sidenote: " - . to john of seville. sidenote: " - . to the same. sidenote: " - . to speraindeo. sidenote: "florez, "esp. sagr.," xi. pp. , . to romanus, a doctor ( ). sidenote: " - . to saul of cordova. sidenote: " - . to the same. sidenote: " - . to eleazar, a transgressor. sidenote: " - . to the same. sidenote: " - . to the same. sidenote: " - . to the same. sidenote: " - . to eulogius. sidenote: " - . to eulogius. sidenote: " - . life of eulogius. sidenote: _ibid._, x. ff. indiculus luminosus, so called because "luminasse quae sequenda sunt docet, et apertis indiciis hostem ecclesiae, quem omnis vitare christianitas debet, ostendit." sidenote: _ibid._, xi. - .[ ] [ ] ascribed by luitprand, sec. , to bonitus, bishop of toledo. morales doubts alvar's authorship, from there being no mention of eulogius; but see sec. , where _praesul_ is spoken of. (_k_.) _john of seville_. letter to alvar. sidenote: florez, xi. pp. - . to the same. sidenote: _ibid._, - . (_l_.) _speraindeo_, abbot, flourished . letter to alvar ( ). sidenote: _ibid._, - . (_m_.) _saul_ of cordova. letter to other bishops. sidenote: _ibid._, xi. pp. - . to the same. sidenote: " - . (_n_.) _eleazar_, an apostate to judaism. letter to alvar. sidenote: " - . to the same. sidenote: " , . to the same. sidenote: " , . (_o_.) _leovigildus_, priest of cordova, flourished . "de habitu clericorum." sidenote: migne, cxxi. p. . (_p_.) _cyprianus_, arch-priest of cordova. "epigrammata." sidenote: _ibid._, p. . (_q_.) _samson_, priest of st zoilus at cordova, abbot of the monastery of pegnamellar, died . (see epigram or epitaph of cyprianus.) "apologeticus liber contra perfidos" (jan. , ). (_r_.) _jonas aurelianensis_. "de cultu imaginum." an answer to claudius, bishop of turin ( ). sidenote: florez, xi. - . (_s_.) _de translatione ss. martyrum georgii_ monachi, aurelii et nathaliae ex urbe cordubae parisios auctore _aimoino_ monacho: from usuard and odilard, monks. sidenote: migne, cxv. pp. ff. (_t_.) _vita johannis abbatis gorziensis_ (died ), by john, abbot of st arnulph. sidenote: _ibid._, cxxxvii. pp. - . (_u_.) _john of cirita_, abbot of tharauca, in spain. sidenote: _ibid._, clxxxviii. pp. - . (_v_.) _life of st rudesindus._ sidenote: florez, xviii. ff. (_w._) _passio st nicholai alsamae_ regis filii et sociorum martyrum qui passi sunt apud ledesmam. a purely fabulous account. sidenote: florez, xiv., . (_x._) _vita et passio b. virginis argenteae_ et comitum eius qui passi sunt cordobae, id. maii. sidenote: florez. (_y._) _life of beatus_, by an anonymous author. not very trustworthy,--_e.g._, death of elipandus placed in (sec. ): mythical council mentioned (sec. ). sidenote: migne, xcvi. - and the following _charters_, etc.:-- of alfonso iii. to the church of auria, . sidenote: florez, xvii. . of the same to the church of mindumnetum, . sidenote: _ibid._, xviii. . of bermudo ii. ( - ) to the church of compostella. sidenote: _ibid._, xvii. . assembly of bishops pro restauratione monasterii st mariae de logio a parentibus rudesindi instaurati, . sidenote: _ibid._, xvii. ii. secondary authorities:-- ( .) "histoire generale d'espagne" par _loys de mayerne turguet_. book xvi. ( .) sidenote: schott. ( .) _john de mariana_.[ ] "history of spain." books vi.-xi., translated from the spanish by john stevens. ( .) [ ] dr dunham says of his work: "it is well that it is sunk in oblivion. no one reads it in spain." ( .) _fleury_, "history of the church," translated from the french. ( .) vol. v. books xli. ff. ( .) _morales_. "remarks on the state of the christian religion under the arabs at cordova." sidenote: migne, cxv. p. . ( .) _froben_. "dissertatio historica de haeresi elipandi et felicis." sidenote: _ibid._, - . ( .) _enhueber's_ "dissertation against walchius' view of adoptionism." sidenote: _ibid._, - . ( .) _dunham_. "history of spain and portugal" (lardner), . buckle, "civilization in england," p. , says of this history, very extravagantly, that it is "perhaps the best history in the english language of a foreign modern country." it certainly has the merit--no small one in so confused a period--of being clear and succinct; but he has a bias against the moors. ( .) _w.h. prescott_. "ferdinand and isabella." an excellent work. the parts chiefly bearing on the present subject are the introduction and chapter viii. the great drawback to the work is the want of direct citations of authorities used. ( .) _hardwicke's_ "history of the christian church in the middle ages," . ( .) the abbé _rohrbacher_. "histoire universelle de l'eglise catholique." paris, . vols. xi., xii., xiii. ( .) _neander_. "general history of the christian religion and church" (bohn's translation). vol. v. pp. - , - ; vol. vi. - . ( .) "histoire d'afrique et de l'espagne sous la domination des arabes," par _m. cardonne_. vols., . a history based chiefly on arab writers, but not very trustworthy, as conde (pref., p. ) and murphy (notes, passim) have shown. ( .) _dozy_. "histoire des mussulmans d'espagne jusqu' à la conquête de l'andalousie par les almoravides, - ." vols., leyden, . an invaluable history of the time, being both lucid and thorough. ( .) _e.a. freeman_. "history and conquests of the saracens." six lectures (ed. ). spanish affairs are treated rather as a [greek: parergon] in lecture v. an unprejudiced and accurate writer, with a strong bias, however, against chivalry (see lecture v., p. ). ( .) _ockley_. "history of the saracen empire" (reprint in the chandos classics). ( .) _gibbon_. the parts relating to the saracens are conveniently reprinted in the "chandos classics." ( .) _robertson's_ "history of the christian church." vol. iii. ( .) _milman's_ "latin christianity." bk. ix. ( .) _stanley_. "lectures on the eastern church." lect. viii. ( .) _hallam's_ "middle ages." vol. iii. (chivalry). ( .) _geddes_. expulsion of the moriscoes, in his miscellaneous tracts. . also account of mss. and relics found at granada in ; and view of court of inquisition in portugal. ( .) _lecky's_ "rise and influence of rationalism in europe." vols. ( .) _buckle_. "history of civilisation in england," chap. viii. "spanish intellect from fifth to nineteenth centuries." vol. ii. pp. - . ( .) _carlyle_. "hero worship. the hero as prophet." ( .) _c.m. yonge_. "christians and moors in spain." "golden treasury" series. . obscure in method, and often inaccurate in facts. to give one instance only out of many--the authoress says (p. ), that ali, the son-in-law of the prophet rebelled and died in battle. it is well known (gibbon, vi. , ) that he did neither. ( .) _r. bosworth smith._ "mohammed and mohammedanism." . a brilliant, but essentially unfair book, christianity being extolled in theory, but sneered at in practice. we are too forcibly reminded of "brutus is an honourable man." his own accusation of others falls upon himself. p. , he says--"most other writers have approached the subject only to prove a thesis. mohammed was to be either a hero or an impostor: they have held a brief for the prosecution or the defence." ( .) _s. lane-poole._ "the moors in spain." "story of the nations" series. . a clever and popular compilation from de gayangos' translation of al makkari, dozy, southey's "chronicle of the cid," and washington irving's "granada." ( .) _blunt._ "dictionary of sects, heresies, and schools of thought." . the articles on mohammedanism, the adoptionists, and others i have found very useful. there is, however, nothing said of the priscillianists (of spain), or the druses. ( .) _hughes._ "dictionary of islam." ( .) _the koran._ sale's edition. ( .) _encyclopaedia metropolitana._ vol. xi. ( .) _encyclopaedia britannica._ article on averroes. iii. poetry:-- (_a._) _lockhart's_ "spanish ballads." . reprint, with introduction, in the "chandos classics." (_b._) _southey's_ "chronicle of the cid." reprinted, with introduction, in the "chandos classics." a truly admirable translation. (_c._) _southey's_ "roderic," with many interesting notes. (_d._) _scott's_ "don roderic." iv. referred to:-- (_a._) _romey._ "histoire d'espagne." . vols. (_b._) _reinaud._ "invasion des sarrasins." . (_c._) _moshieim._ "institutes of ecclesiastical history." translated by murdoch. . printed by turnbull and spears, edinburgh. correspondence relating to executions in turkey for apostacy from islamism. [stamped:] bibliothÈque du palais de la paix presented to the house of lords, by her majesty's command. may, . london: printed by t. r. harrison. correspondence relating to executions in turkey for apostacy from islamism. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received september_ .) (extract.) _buyukderé, august_ , . within the last few days an execution has taken place at constantinople under circumstances which have occasioned much excitement and indignation among the christian inhabitants. the sufferer was an armenian youth of eighteen or twenty years, who having, under fear of punishment, declared himself a turk, went to the island of syra, and returning, after an absence of some length, resumed his former religion. apprehensive of the danger but resolved not to deny his real faith a second time, he kept out of sight till accident betrayed him to the police, and he was then thrown into prison. in spite of threats, promises, and blows, he there maintained his resolution, refused to save his life by a fresh disavowal of christianity, and was finally decapitated in one of the most frequented parts of the city with circumstances of great barbarity. inclosed herewith is a statement of the particulars drawn up by mr. alison. it is not merely on grounds of humanity that i would draw your lordship's attention to this incident: political considerations of serious importance are connected with it; and on this account, no less than from regard for the tears and entreaties of a distracted family, i exhausted my influence in vain endeavours to divert the porte from its purpose. every member of the council to whom i applied, returned the same answer, expressing a willingness to meet my wishes, and regretting the inexorable necessity of the law. for my own part i do not believe that any such necessity exists. the determination of the government to sacrifice the armenian youth, in spite of my earnest solicitations, unless he recanted publicly, is part and parcel of that system of reaction which preceded my arrival here, against which i have constantly struggled, and which, notwithstanding the assurances given to me, and the efforts of its partisans to conceal it, is day by day gaining strength, to the despair of every enlightened turkish statesman, to the prejudice of our relations with this country, and to the visible decline of those improvements which, in my humble judgment, can alone avert the dissolution of the sultan's empire. the law, which, in this instance, has torn a youth from the bosom of his family, and consigned him to an ignominious and cruel death, would apply with equal force to a subject of any christian power. such of my colleagues as i have consulted upon this subject appear to take a view of it similar to my own, i refer, in particular, to the austrian, french, russian, and prussian ministers: each of them has told me that he intended to recommend the question to the serious consideration of his government. since my arrival here one british and two french subjects have declared in favour of mahomedanism, and much difficulty has been experienced in dealing with the individuals concerned. the british subject, a maltese, returned to the catholic faith a few days after he had declared himself a turk, and he was privately conveyed out of this country. the porte, on that occasion, evidently identified the change of allegiance with the change of creed, and not only would a trifling incident have sufficed to raise the question arising out of that principle between her majesty's embassy and the porte, but had the man been arrested after his recantation, i should perhaps have been reduced to the necessity of putting all to hazard in order to snatch him from the hands of the executioner. the only* articles relating to this matter in our capitulations with the porte are the sixty-first and seventy-first. the french have an article of similar meaning in their capitulations, and by the treaty of kainardji between russia and the porte it was agreed that individuals who had changed their religion should be mutually exempted from the operation of the article, which otherwise stipulates for the extradition of refugees and malefactors. * article lxi.--that if any englishman should turn turk, and it should be represented and proved that besides his own goods he has in his hands any property belonging to another person in england, such property shall be taken from him and delivered up to the ambassador or consul, that they may convey the same to the owner thereof. article lxxi.--that should any englishman coming with merchandize turn turk, and the goods so imported by him be proved to belong to merchants of his own country, from whom he had taken them, the whole shall be detained, with the ready money, and delivered up to the ambassador, in order to his transmitting the same to the right owners, without any of our judges or officers interposing any obstacle or hindrance thereto. under these impressions i trust that your lordship will not think i have exceeded the bounds of prudence in stating confidentially, though without reserve, to the grand vizier the impressions made upon my mind by the recent execution. couched as my message was in respectful and kindly terms, i hope it will operate as a salutary admonition. the interpreter's report of his highness' reply is inclosed with this despatch. inclosure l in no. . _case of the armenian avakim, son of yagya, of the parish of top kapousee_. about a year and a half ago avakim having had a drunken quarrel with some neighbours, was sentenced at the war office to receive bastinadoes. fear and intoxication induced him to become a mussulman, and he was conducted on the spot to the mehkemé where the name of mehemet was given him. some days afterwards avakim repented of what he had done, and fled to syra, from whence he returned a few months ago. about three months ago, while returning from his sister's house with a small bundle containing wearing apparel, he was recognized by the kolaga of the quarter, mustapha, and denounced at the war office of having renegaded from islamism. he was then submitted to the most cruel punishment to compel him to re-abandon his original belief, and was even paraded through the streets with his hands tied behind his back as if for execution. avakim, however, unintimidated by torture or the prospect of death, proclaimed aloud his firm belief in christianity, and was led forth to suffer on wednesday last amidst the execrations of the ulema partisans. only one man, taouk-bazarli ali, among the thirty armed police who conducted him, could be prevailed upon to strike the blow. many of the turks spat on him as they passed, and openly reviled the faith for which he had died. a yafta, in the following terms, was affixed on the opposite shop:-- "the armenian shoemaker, avakim, son of yagya, having last year, in the beginning of moharrem, while at an age of discretion, accepted islamism, and received the name of mehemet, some time afterwards renegaded, and having now obstinately persisted in refusing the proffer made to him by the law to re-become a moslem, sentence of death was awarded unto him according to fetwa, and he has thereby suffered." the first intelligence received in pera of this occurrence was the appearance in the streets of the unfortunate lad's mother tearing her grey hair, and rushing distractedly from the scene of bloodshed. the poor old woman, when assured of her boy's fate, returned and sat in grief by the corpse, from which she was afterwards removed. a petition of the armenians for the corpse was rejected, and it was after three days exposure cast into the sea. _constantinople, august_ , . inclosure in no. . m. pisani to sir stratford canning. excellence, _péra, le_ _août_, . conformément à vos ordres, j'ai vu le grand vizir, et je lui ai rendu, mot à mot, le message contenu dans votre instruction confidentielle en date d'hier, relativement au jeune arménien qui vient d'être exécuté. son altesse a répondu de la manière suivante: "quant à moi, personnellement, j'ai en horreur même d'égorger une poule. les exécutions, si fréquentes dans l'ancien système, sont très rares aujourd'hui. mais dans le cas récent, je vous ai déjà dit, et je vous répète, qui ni les ministres, ni le sultan, ne pouvaient absolument pas sauver la vie de l'arménien. les lois du coran ne forcent personne de se faire musulman; mais elles sont inexorables tant à l'égard du musulman qui embrasse une autre religion, qu'à l'égard du non-musulman qui, après avoir de son propre gré embrassé publiquement l'islamisme, est convaincu d'y avoir renoncé. nulle considération ne peut faire commuer la peine capitale à laquelle la loi le condamne sans miséricorde. le seul, l'unique moyen d'échapper à la mort, c'est pour l'accusé de déclarer qu'il s'est fait de nouveau musulman. c'est dans le seul but de sauver la vie a l'individu en question que nous avons, contre la lettre de la loi, qui exige que la sentence dans le cas dont il s'agit soit mise à exécution aussitôt qu'elle a été prononcée, que nous lui avons laissé quelques jours de temps pour y bien réflêchir, avec l'assurance que la déclaration voulue par la loi une fois faite, il serait mis en liberté, et qu'il pourrait partir de constantinople; mais comme il a résisté à toutes les tentatives faites pour le persuader de recourir au seul moyen d'échapper à la mort, force fut à la fin d'obéir à la loi, sans quoi les oulémas se souleveraient contre nous. l'exécution a dû, aux termes de la loi, être faite publiquement." voyant que le grand vizir n'avait rien dit par rapport aux observations de votre excellence sur ce qui arriverait si un étranger, un anglais par exemple, se trouvait dans des circonstances analogues, j'ai prié son altesse de considérer et de faire considérer au ministère ottoman, dans quelle position la porte se mettrait vis à vis du gouvernement anglais, si elle recourait à des violences. le grand vizir a dit alors: "je ne sais pas vraiment ce qu'un cas pareil exigerait s'il s'agissait d'un étranger; j'ignore ce que les lois disent à l'égard d'un franc qui se trouverait compromis par les circonstances qui ont fait condamner à la mort l'arménien, qui est un rayah." le grand vizir a fini par dire; "faites mes complimens à monsieur l'ambassadeur, et dites lui que j'apprécie ses sentimens d'humanité et de bienveillance; mais que ce qui vient d'arriver était un mal tout à fait sans remêde." j'ai l'honneur. &c., (signé) fred. pisani. (translation.) excellency, _pera, august_ , . in conformity with your orders i saw the grand vizier and communicated to him, word for word, the message contained in your confidential instruction of yesterday respecting the young armenian who has just been executed. his highness made answer to the following effect:-- "as regards myself personally, i have a horror of even putting a fowl to death. executions, so frequent under the old system, are now of rare occurrence. but in the late instance, as i have already said to you, and again repeat, positively neither the ministers nor the sultan could have saved the life of the armenian. the laws of the koran compel no man to become a mussulman, but they are inexorable both as respects a mussulman who embraces another religion, and as respects a person not a mussulman, who, after having of his own accord publicly embraced islamism, is convicted of having renounced that faith. no consideration can produce a commutation of the capital punishment to which the law condemns him without mercy. the only mode of escaping death is for the accused to declare that he has again become a mussulman. it was only with a view to saving the life of the individual in question, that we--contrary to the letter of the law, which requires that the sentence in cases of this nature, should be executed as soon as pronounced--allowed him some days respite to think over the matter carefully, with the assurance that having once made the declaration required by law, he would be set at liberty and would be able to leave constantinople; but inasmuch as he resisted all the attempts which were made to induce him to have recourse to the only means of escaping death, it finally became necessary to obey the law, otherwise the ulemas would have risen against us. the execution, according to the terms of the law, was necessarily public." seeing that the grand vizier had said nothing with reference to your excellency's observations as to what would occur if a foreigner, an englishman for instance, were to be placed in similar circumstances, i begged his highness to consider, and to direct the consideration of the ottoman ministry to the nature of the position in which the porte would place itself as regards the british government, were it to have recourse to violence. the grand vizier then said, "i really do not know what would become necessary in such a case if a foreigner were concerned; i am ignorant as to what is said in the law as regards a frank who should be compromised by the circumstances which caused the armenian, who was a rayah, to be condemned to death." the grand vizier concluded by saying, "present my compliments to the ambassador, and tell him that i appreciate his humane and well-intentioned sentiments, but that what has occurred was a misfortune for which there was no remedy whatever." i have, &c. (signed) f. pisani. no. . _lord cowley to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received september_ .) my lord, _paris, september_ , . m. guizot informed me this morning that he had received a communication from m. de bourqueney, relative to a most unjustifiable act of the turkish government, in having, under circumstances of great cruelty, put to death an armenian turk who had embraced christianity, and had refused to renounce that religion and resume the ottoman faith. m. bourqueney having asked for instructions for his guidance in this matter, the minister for foreign affairs sent him a protest which he is to present to the ottoman government on the behalf of the government of france. m. guizot observed, that as the great powers of europe were using their best endeavours to induce the sultan's christian subjects to live peaceably under the ottoman rule, they could not allow of such arbitrary acts of cruelty as that which had been perpetrated, and which was sufficient to rouse the whole of the christian population against the government. he understood, he said, that sir stratford canning had asked for instructions from your lordship in this matter, and that he trusted that they would be in a similar tenor to those he was about to send to m. de bourqueney. i have, &c., (signed) cowley. no. . _chevalier bunsen to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received september_ .) le soussigné, envoyé extraordinaire et ministre plénipotentiaire de sa majesté le roi de prusse, a l'honneur de transmettre à son excellence le comte de aberdeen, principal secrétaire d'etat de sa majesté britannique pour les affaires etrangères, copie d'une dépêche qu'il vient de recevoir, avec l'ordre d'en donner connaissance à sa seigneurie. en s'acquittant de cette commission, il profite, &c. (signé) bunsen. _londres, le_ _septembre_, . (translation.) the undersigned, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from his majesty the king of prussia, has the honour to transmit to his excellency the earl of aberdeen, her britannic majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, a copy of a despatch which he has just received, with instructions to communicate it to his lordship. in executing this instruction, he avails himself, &c. (signed) bunsen. _london, september_ , . inclosure in no. . _baron bülow to chevalier bunsen_. monsieur, _berlin, ce_ _septembre_, . vos rapports au roi jusqu'au no. du du courant nous sont parvenus et ont été placés sous les yeux de sa majesté. vous êtes sans doute déjà instruit, par la voie des journaux, des détails de l'exécution de l'arménien serkiz papazoghlou, mis à mort dernièrement à constantinople pour avoir renié la foi de mahomet qu'il avait embrassée quelque temps avant. a la vérité, la lettre du coran inflige la peine de mort à tous ceux qui abandonnent le mahométisme, mais longtemps déjà l'usage avait adouci la rigueur d'une loi si peu en harmonie avec les préceptes de la civilisation, et depuis nombre d'années aucune exécution de ce genre n'avait eu lieu. celle du malheureux serkiz doit par conséquent être considérée comme un triste retour aux barbaries du fanatisme musulman. elle le doit d'autant plus que, d'un côté, l'énergique intercession de sir stratford canning en faveur de la victime est restée infructueuse; et que, de l'autre, les autorités turques, en conduisant serkiz, quoique arménien, en costume franc et la casquette sur la tête au supplice, semblent avoir voulu donner à ce sanglant spectacle le caractère d'un défi public porté par l'ancienne cruauté mahométane à l'influence des moeurs européennes et de la civilisation chrétienne. partant de ce point de vue et regardant la catastrophe qui vient d'avoir lieu comme un symptôme de plus d'une tendance rétrograde et pour ainsi dire anti-européenne dont, dans son propre intérêt, il importe de détourner le gouvernement ottoman, les répresentans des cinq grandes puissances à constantinople ont cru qu'un avertissement unanime, à la fois bienveillant et sérieux, que ces puissances feraient parvenir à cet effet à la sublime porte, produirait sur elle une impression salutaire. ils ont, en conséquence, et sur l'invitation spéciale de sir stratford canning, sollicité de leurs cours respectives les instructions nécessaires pour se porter à la démarche en question, et m. l'ambassadeur d'angleterre voulait en outre proposer à lord aberdeen de s'employer dans le même sens auprès des cabinets de berlin, de vienne, de paris, et de st. pétersbourg. je n'ai pas encore reçu de communication à ce sujet de la part de monsieur le principal secrétaire d'etat, mais je me suis empressé de répondre par la dépêche dont je joins ici une copie, à celle que l'envoyé du roi à constantinople a adressé à sa majesté sur cette affaire. veuillez, monsieur, en donner connaissance, ainsi que de la présente dépêche, à lord aberdeen, et exprimer de ma part à sa seigneurie l'espoir d'être allé de cette manière au devant des ouvertures qu'elle serait peut-être dans le cas de me faire faire [sic] sur la démarche proposée par les cinq représentans à constantinople, mais mise, de préférence, sur le tapis par m. l'ambassadeur d'angleterre. recevez, &c., (signé) bulow. (translation.) sir, _berlin, september_ , . your reports to the king, to no. of the th instant, have been received and laid before his majesty. you are doubtless already acquainted, by means of the newspapers, with the details of the execution of the armenian, serkiz papazoghlou, lately put to death at constantinople for having renounced the mahomedan faith, which he had embraced some time before. in truth, the letter of the koran inflicts the punishment of death upon all those who abandon mahomedanism, but for some time past custom had mitigated the rigour of a law so little in harmony with the precepts of civilization, and for a number of years no execution of this kind had taken place. that of the unfortunate serkiz must therefore be considered as a sad return to the barbarity of mahomedan fanaticism. it must be so much the more so because, on the one hand, the energetic intercession of sir stratford canning in behalf of the victim was fruitless; and because, on the other, the turkish authorities, in leading serkiz, although he was an armenian, in the frank costume and with a cap upon his head to execution, seem to have wished to give to this bloody spectacle the character of a public defiance offered by the old mahomedan cruelty to the influence of european manners and christian civilization. setting out from this view of the case and looking upon the catastrophe which has just taken place as a fresh symptom of the retrograde, and it may be said anti-european, tendency from which it is important that the turkish government should, in its own interest, be diverted, the representatives of the five great powers at constantinople thought that a joint representation, at once kind and earnest, which those powers should make for this purpose to the sublime porte, would produce a salutary impression upon it. they, therefore, and at the special request of sir stratford canning, applied to their respective courts for the instructions necessary to enable them to take the step in question, and the english ambassador wished moreover to propose to lord aberdeen to communicate in the same sense with the cabinets of berlin, vienna, paris, and st. petersburgh. i have not yet received any communication upon this subject from the principal secretary of state; but i lost no time in replying by the despatch of which i inclose a copy, to that which the envoy of the king at constantinople addressed to his majesty respecting this affair. have the goodness, sir, to communicate it, as well as this despatch, to lord aberdeen, and to express to his lordship, on my part, the hope that i have in this manner anticipated the overtures which he would perhaps have caused to be made to me with reference to the step proposed by the five representatives at constantinople, but especially suggested by the english ambassador. accept, &c., (signed) bulow inclosure in no. . _baron bülow to m. le coq_. monsieur, _berlin, ce_ _septembre_, . vos rapports au roi, &c., &c. ce que vous avez mandé sur l'exécution de l'arménien serkiz papazoghlou n'a pu manquer de nous inspirer un intérêt aussi vif que douloureux. en effet tous les détails de cette sanglante catastrophe sont bien de nature à mériter la sérieuse attention des puissances européennes. ce sont autant de symptômes d'une tendance rétrograde à laquelle la sublime porte paraît s'être abandonnée depuis quelques années, et qui, en tolérant et en favorisant peut-être même les excès du fanatisme musulman, est aussi contraire aux lois de l'humanité qu'aux règles qu'une saine politique devrait dicter au gouvernement ottoman. a en juger d'après les circonstances qui ont précédé, accompagné et suivi la mort de cette malheureuse victime de la rigueur mahométane, ne serait-on pas tenté de croire que ce gouvernement a oublié ce qu'il doit aux efforts réunis des grandes puissances, à leurs conseils désintéressés, à la salutaire influence de la civilisation européenne? ne semble-t-il pas, en opposant aux moeurs plus douces qui sont la suite de cette civilisation la lettre impitoyable du coran, avoir l'intention de faire sentir à l'europe entière le peu de cas qu'il fait du bienveillant intérêt, de la constante sollicitude que lui ont voués les cabinets européens, or, les graves conséquences, qu'un pareil sytème [sic] entraînerait pour la porte, en finissant par lui aliéner réellement l'intérêt de ces cabinets, sont si évidentes, que nous aimons à croire qu'un avertissement unanime de leur part suffira pour la détourner d'une voie également désastreuse sous le point de vue politique et moral. je me range sous ce rapport entièrement à l'avis de sir stratford canning, et après avoir pris les ordres du roi, notre auguste maître, je vous invite, monsieur, à vous associer à la démarche que, je n'en doute pas, messieurs vos collègues d'autriche, de france et de russie seront également autorisés à faire à cet effet auprès du gouvernement turc en commun avec m. l'ambassadeur d'angleterre. dans cette occasion où les représentans des cinq grandes puissances agiront en quelque sorte comme organes de la civilisation européenne, il importera surtout de constater leur unanimité. veuillez par ce motif, monsieur, attendre que les instructions que messieurs vos collègues ont sollicitées, leur soient parvenues, et alors vous concerter avec eux sur la meilleure forme à donner à la démarche qu'elles prescrivent. si contre toute attente ces instructions n'étaient pas de nature à établir un accord entier des cinq puissances dans cette affaire, vous voudrez bien, monsieur, m'en informer, pour que je puisse, selon les circonstances, vous faire parvenir des directions ultérieures. en tout cas la démarche en question devra se borner à être simultanée et non pas collective, et le langage que vous tiendrez à la porte, pour être sérieux et ferme, ne s'en tiendra pas moins dans les bornes d'un conseil amical, et évitera tout ce qui pourrait blesser la susceptibilité politique et religieuse du gouvernement ottoman. nous n'avons pas encore reçu la communication à laquelle nous pouvons nous attendre de la part de lord aberdeen, en suite de la demande que sir stratford canning lui a adressée au sujet de l'affaire qui fait l'objet de la présente dépêche. mais j'envoie une copie de cette dernière à l'envoyé du roi à londres, pour en donner connaissance à m. le principal secrétaire d'etat, et pour informer de cette manière sa seigneurie que, d'accord avec sir stratford canning sur l'opportunité de la démarche qu'il a proposée, le cabinet du roi s'est empressé de vous autoriser à y concourir. recevez, &c., (signé) bulow. (translation.) sir, _berlin, september_ , . your reports to the king, &c. &c. the account which you have given of the execution of the armenian serkiz papazoghlou could not fail to excite our lively and painful interest. indeed all the details of this bloody catastrophe are well calculated to deserve the serious attention of the european powers. they are so many symptoms of a retrograde tendency to which the sublime porte appears to have given itself up for some years past, and which, by tolerating, and perhaps even encouraging the excesses of mahomedan fanaticism, is as contrary to the laws of humanity as to the rules which a wholesome policy should dictate to the turkish government. to judge from the circumstances which preceded, attended, and followed the death of this unhappy victim of mahomedan severity, should we not be tempted to think that that government has forgotten what it owes to the united exertions of the great powers, to their disinterested advice, and to the salutary influence of european civilization? does it not appear, by placing in opposition to the milder customs which are the result of that civilization the inexorable letter of the koran, to intend to make the whole of europe feel the little importance which it attaches to the benevolent interest and the constant solicitude with which the european cabinets have regarded it? wherefore, the serious consequences, which such a system would entail upon the porte, by finally alienating from it in reality the interest of those cabinets, are so evident, that we are fain to believe that an unanimous intimation on their part will suffice to turn it aside from a course equally disastrous in a political and in a moral point of view. i side entirely in this respect with the opinion of sir stratford canning, and after having taken the orders of the king, our august master, i request you, sir, to join in the step which i doubt not your colleagues of austria, france and russia will be equally authorized to take to this effect towards the turkish government, in common with the ambassador of england. on this occasion when the representatives of the five powers will act in some manner as the organs of european civilization, it will above all things be important to evince their unanimity. for this reason, have the goodness, sir, to wait until the instructions for which your colleagues have applied, have reached them, and thereupon concert with them as to the best form to be given to the step which those instructions prescribe. if, contrary to all expectation, those instructions should not be such as to demonstrate an entire agreement of the five powers on this matter, you will have the goodness, sir, to inform me of the fact, in order that i may, according to circumstances, transmit to you further instructions. in any case the step in question should be limited to being simultaneous and not collective, and the language which you will hold to the porte, while it is serious and firm, must not the less be confined within the bounds of friendly counsel, and must avoid everything that could wound the political and religious susceptibility of the ottoman government. we have not yet received the communication which we may expect from lord aberdeen, in pursuance of the application made to him by sir stratford canning, on the subject of the matter treated of in this despatch. but i send a copy of this last to the king's envoy in london, in order that he may communicate it to the principal secretary of state, and in this manner acquaint his lordship that the king's cabinet, agreeing with sir stratford canning as to the fitness of the step which he has proposed, has hastened to authorize you to concur in it. receive, &c., (signed) bulow. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to sir stratford canning_. sir, _foreign office, october_ , . the barbarous execution of the armenian, recorded in your excellency's despatch of the th of august, has excited the attention and interest of her majesty's government in an unusual degree; and they highly approve the line of conduct which you pursued in reference to it. her majesty's government had hoped that the time had passed away when the perpetration of such acts of atrocity could have been tolerated; and that the law by which they are permitted or enjoined, although it might still disgrace the mahomedan code, had fallen so completely into disuse as to have become virtually null and of no effect. it is, therefore, with the most painful feelings, that her majesty's government have seen so cruel a law brought so injudiciously again into operation; and they consider every christian government not only justified, but imperatively called upon to raise their voices against such proceedings, whether the law be executed to the prejudice of their own subjects, or of the christian community in general. her majesty's government confidently trust that no repetition of so unjustifiable an act as that against which your excellency so properly remonstrated will ever be suffered, and still less authorized by the turkish government; and they earnestly counsel that government to take immediate measures for effectually preventing the future commission of such atrocities. under the full conviction that the sultan will have the humanity and wisdom to listen to this counsel, which is given with the most friendly feeling, and which will, i doubt not, be equally impressed on his highness by other christian governments, i do not think it necessary to enter further at present into the other points set forth in your excellency's despatch above referred to. you will not fall to communicate this despatch to rifaat pasha. i am, &c., (signed) aberdeen. no. . _the earl of westmorland to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received october_ .) my lord, _berlin, october_ , . i have communicated to baron bülow your lordship's despatch of the th instant to sir stratford canning relative to the late execution of an armenian at constantinople, and his excellency has requested me to express the interest with which he had learnt your lordship's views on that subject. i have, &c., (signed) westmorland. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received november_ .) my lord, _buyukderé, october_ , . the prussian minister has communicated to me an instruction addressed to him by baron bülow in reply to his representations on the subject of the armenian youth, whose execution and its natural consequences were brought under your lordship's notice in my despatch of august the th. the french minister has also communicated to me a note, transmitted to him from paris for presentation to the porte, with reference to the same deplorable act of the turkish government. copies of these two papers have not been given to me; but i understand that the prussian instruction has been sent to your lordship, and it is probable that the same degree of confidence has been shewn to your lordship by m. guizot. i have only to remark that the terms in which these documents are respectively expressed, appear to me highly creditable to the cabinets from which they have issued, and, should your lordship see fit to instruct me in a similar sense, it would afford me great satisfaction to repeat to the turkish minister, with the immediate authority of her majesty's government, what i ventured at the time to intimate by anticipation on my own suggestion. baron bülow and m. guizot appear to be equally impressed with the dangerous character of that policy to which the armenian execution is traceable, and their reprobation of the act itself is proportionally strong. baron de bourqueney is prepared to give in his note without waiting for the concurrence of his colleagues. m. le coq is instructed to act simultaneously with the other representatives of the five powers. with respect to the austrian and russian ministers, i am informed by m. de titow that the emperor of russia's absence from st. petersburgh has prevented his receiving an immediate answer to his despatches; and i hear that the internuncio refers to a communication made by prince metternich to the turkish ambassador at vienna as sufficiently expressive of the sentiments of his court and superseding the necessity of any step on his part without further instructions. i would venture humbly to submit that a concurrent expression of the sentiments of the five courts on such an occasion would hardly fail of producing a most beneficial effect upon the counsels of the porte. i have, &c., (signed) stratford canning. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to sir stratford canning_. (extract.) _foreign office, november_ , . i have received your despatch of the th of october, reporting that the french and prussian ministers had received instructions from their respective governments on the subject of the execution of the armenian referred to in your despatch of the th of august. i calculate that your excellency will have received on the th ultimo my despatch of the th, by which your excellency will have been enabled to acquaint the porte with the feelings with which her majesty's government had received the intelligence of that melancholy transaction. i have nothing to add to that instruction. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received november_ .) my lord, _buyukdéré, october_ , . the instruction which i have received from your lordship respecting the armenian decapitated for returning to the christian faith, cannot fail of making a deep and, i hope, a salutary impression upon the ottoman ministers. i have had it carefully translated into turkish, and placed in m. pisani's hands for communication to the porte, accompanied with an instruction of which i have the honour to inclose a copy herewith. monsieur de bourqueney having been directed to present an official note upon the same subject, i thought it advisable to give a certain degree of formality to the communication of your lordship's despatch, and particularly to leave it with the minister for foreign affairs in writing. a copy of the french minister's note is herewith inclosed. the presentation of this remonstrance has strongly excited the public attention, and occasioned no small embarrassment at the porte. it was proposed in council to return it, but the suggestion was overruled, and i hear that nothing will be added to the verbal reply already given. the substance of that reply, which m. de bourqueney read to me from the report of his first interpreter, is by no means unfavourable. the language employed by rifaat pasha in speaking of the french minister's note to m. pisani, admitted, in substance, that much might be said with reason against the manner and circumstances of the execution, but as to the act itself, he said that nothing could be alleged against a judgment founded upon the express will of god. his answer to the communication of your lordship's instruction has not yet reached me. it will have the greater interest as two more cases of religion involving capital punishment have recently occurred. the offender in each instance is a native mussulman; and nothing, i conceive, but the late expression of indignation has prevented the porte from executing the sentence of the law. i am informed that rifaat pasha, on consulting the grand mufti as to one of these cases, was advised not to bring it under his holiness' notice as he had no choice but to declare the law; and a charitable intimation was added, that where a state necessity existed, the porte would herself be found the most competent judge. the russian minister informs me that he is still in expectation of instructions from st. petersburgh. the internuncio refers to the remarks addressed by prince metternich himself to the turkish ambassador at vienna. m. de le coq reserves the communication of his instruction, in the hope of being able to act simultaneously with m. de titow. the silence of any one of the leading courts on such an occasion would be a cause of just regret. i have, &c., (signed) stratford canning. inclosure l in no . _baron de bourqueney to rifaat pasha_. _thérapia_, _octobre_, . le soussigné, ministre plénipotentiaire de sa majesté le roi des français près la porte ottomane, a reçu de son gouvernement l'ordre de faire à son excellence le ministre des affaires etrangères la communication suivante. c'est avec un douloureux étonnement que le gouvernement du roi a appris la récente exécution d'un arménien qui, après avoir embrassé la religion musulmane, était revenu à la foi de ses pères, et que pour ce seul fait on a frappé de la peine capitale, parcequ'il refusait à racheter sa vie par une nouvelle abjuration. en vain pour expliquer un acte aussi déplorable voudrait-on se prévaloir des dispositions impérieuses de la législation. on devait croire que la législation faite pour d'autres temps était tombée en désuétude; et en tout cas il était trop facile de fermer les yeux sur un pareil fait pour qu'on puisse considérer ce qui vient d'arriver comme une de ces déplorables nécessités dans lesquelles la politique trouve quelquefois non pas une justification mais une excuse. lors même que l'humanité, dont le nom n'a jamais été invoqué en vain en france, n'aurait pas été aussi cruellement blessée par le supplice de cet arménien, lors même que le gouvernement du roi, qui a toujours protégé, et protégera toujours la religion chrétienne en orient, pourrait oublier que c'est le christianisme qui a reçu ce sanglant outrage, l'intérêt qu'il prend à l'empire ottoman et à son indépendance, lui ferait encore voir avec une profonde douleur ce qui vient de se passer. cette indépendance ne peut aujourd'hui trouver une garantie efficace que dans l'appui de l'opinion européenne. les efforts du gouvernement du roi ont constamment tendu à lui ménager cet appui. cette tâche lui deviendra bien plus difficile en présence d'un acte qui soulevera dans l'europe entière une indignation universelle. le gouvernement du roi croit accomplir un devoir impérieux en faisant connaître à la porte l'impression qu'il a reçue d'un fait malheureusement irréparable, mais qui, s'il pouvait se renouveler, serait de nature à appeler des dangers réels sur le gouvernement assez faible pour faire de telles concessions à un odieux et déplorable fanatisme. le soussigné, &c., (translation.) _therapia, october_ , . the undersigned, minister plenipotentiary of his majesty the king of the french at the ottoman porte, has received orders from his government to make the following communication to the minister for foreign affairs. it has been with a painful astonishment that the king's government has learnt the late execution of an armenian who, after embracing the musulman religion, returned to the faith of his fathers, and who, for this act alone, has been capitally punished, because he refused to redeem his life by a fresh recantation. in vain can the imperious terms of the law be appealed to for an explanation of so lamentable an act. it might have been supposed that a system of law formed for other times had fallen into desuetude; and at all events it was too easy to overlook such a circumstance to admit of that which has happened being considered as one of those lamentable cases of necessity, in which policy sometimes finds not so much a justification as an excuse. even had not humanity, whose name has never been vainly invoked in france, been so cruelly hurt by the punishment of this armenian,--even could the king's government, which has always protected, and ever will protect, the christian religion in the east, forget that it is christianity which has been thus cruelly outraged,--the interest which it takes in the ottoman empire and in its independence would still cause it to behold what has occurred with profound regret. that independence can in these times find a real security only in the support of the public opinion of europe. the efforts of the king's government have been constantly directed towards obtaining for it that support. this task will become much more difficult after an act which will excite universal indignation throughout the whole of europe. the king's government considers that it discharges an imperious duty in making known to the porte the impression which has been made upon it by an event unfortunately irreparable, and which, were it to occur again, would be likely to cause real danger to a government weak enough to make such concessions to a hateful and lamentable fanaticism. the undersigned, &c., inclosure in no. . _sir stratford canning to m. pisani_. sir, _buyukderé, october_ , . in presenting to the minister for foreign affairs the accompanying translation of an instruction addressed to me by the earl of aberdeen, with reference to the armenian who was lately executed at constantinople, you will be careful to impress his excellency with a conviction of the deep and painful sentiments excited throughout great britain by that deplorable act. you will require that the instruction be forthwith submitted not only to his highness the grand vizier, but also to his imperial majesty the sultan. a copy of this letter, with a translation in turkish, is to be left with rifaat pasha. (signed) stratford canning. no. . _sir stratford canning to mr. addington_.--(_received november_ .) sir, _buyukderé, november_ , . a delay in the departure of the messenger affords me the opportunity of transmitting to you at once the inclosed report addressed to me to-day by m. pisani. though not official, it shews the strong impression which has been made upon the porte by a knowledge of the sentiments entertained throughout europe with reference to the armenian lately executed. the porte will probably seek to avoid replying ostensibly to the remonstrances of the several leading courts, but means will, no doubt, be taken to prevent the necessity of practising such atrocities in future. a degree of success so important, though limited, might reasonably encourage the allied courts to enter into a more complete understanding for the removal of other blots from the legal or political practice of the turks, in their intercourse with christians. i have, &c., (signed) stratford canning. inclosure in no. . _m. pisani to sir stratford canning_. excellence, _péra, ce_ _novembre_, . j'ai conformément à vos ordres remis à rifaat pacha la traduction en turc des instructions du comte d'aberdeen et de la lettre de votre excellence, avec une copie de votre lettre. rifaat pacha a lu la traduction des deux pièces qu'il a trouvées très-importantes. il m'a dit qu'il mettra les instructions de lord aberdeen sous les yeux du grand vizir et du sultan. rifaat pacha m'a dit confidentiellement que les mesures qu'il est question de prendre sont, d'ordonner à toutes les autorités à constantinople et dans les provinces, d'avoir désormais soin, lorsqu'un turc qui était chrétien, se fait chrétien de nouveau, et lorsqu'un turc dit des injures contre mahomet ou contre les prophètes, ou vomit d'autres blasphèmes, de ne pas permettre qu'il soit traduit et jugé devant un mehkemé quelconque; mais si le cas arrive à constantinople, d'envoyer l'accusé à la porte, et s'il arrive dans un pays hors de constantinople, de l'envoyer au pacha de la province, sans aucune espèce de jugement préalable. de cette manière-ci, dit rifaat pacha, la porte et les pachas au-dehors songeront aux moyens de terminer ces sortes d'affaires sans éclat, et (j'ose inférer des paroles de son excellence) sans recourir à la peine capitale. rifaat pacha a ajouté que la porte ne peut faire aucune réponse par écrit sur cette affaire sans se compromettre, soit vis-à-vis des puissances chrétiennes, en disant qu'elle est obligée de mettre à exécution la loi qui regarde les chrétiens qui, après avoir embrassé l'islamisme de leur propre gré, y renoncent et redeviennent chrétiens, et qui encourent par là la peine de mort,--soit vis-à-vis de la loi, en déclarant qu'elle ne sera pas exécutée à l'avenir dans un cas semblable à celui de l'arménien. mais rifaat pacha m'a paru convaincu qu'après le bruit que l'europe a fait, une scène semblable à celle de l'arménien ne se renouvellera point. les mesures que le gouvernement se propose de prendre ont pour but d'éviter un jugement; et sans jugement on ne peut condamner personne à mort. l'arménien avait été jugé au mehkemé dit du stambol effendi, avant d'être envoyé à la porte. le kiatib qui est en prison pour avoir dit des injures contre mahomet, a été jugé au mehkemé de salonique, avant d'être envoyé à constantinople; et le conseil suprême l'a déclaré digne de mort, quoiqu'il n'ait pas été juridiquement et formellement condamné ici encore. la circonstance que le kiatib a été jugé déjà et convaincu d'avoir blasphémé le nom de mahomet, expose ses jours au plus grand danger. j'ai l'honneur, &c., (signé) frederic pisani. (translation.) excellency, _pera, november_ , . in conformity with your orders, i placed in the hands of rifaat pasha the turkish translation of lord aberdeen's instructions and of your excellency's letter, with a copy of your letter. rifaat pasha read the translation of the two documents which he considered to be of great importance. he told me that he will lay lord aberdeen's instructions before the grand vizier and the sultan. rifaat pasha told me confidentially that the measures which it is proposed to take, are to order all the authorities at constantinople and and [sic] in the provinces henceforth to take care that when a turk who was a christian, becomes again a christian, and when a turk speaks insultingly of mahomet or the prophets, or utters other blasphemies, he shall not be allowed to be given up to, and judged by, any mehkemé whatever; but if the case occurs at constantinople, the accused shall be sent to the porte, or if it occurs in a district beyond constantinople, he shall be sent to the pasha of the province without any previous judgment. in this manner, said rifaat pasha, the porte and the provincial pashas will devise means for terminating affairs of this kind without noise, and (i venture to infer from his excellency's words) without having recourse to capital punishment. rifaat pasha added, that the porte can give no written answer respecting this affair without compromising itself either as regards the christian powers, by stating that it is forced to execute the law regarding christians who, after having of their own accord embraced islamism, renounce it and become christians again, and thus incur capital punishment,--or as regards the law, by declaring that it will not for the future be executed in cases similar to that of the armenian. rifaat pasha, however, seemed to me convinced that after the noise which has been made in europe, a scene similar to that of the armenian cannot be renewed. the measures which the government are about to adopt have for their object to avoid a trial, and without a trial no one can be condemned to death. the armenian was tried at the mehkemé called that of the stambol effendi, before being sent to the porte. the kiatib who is in prison for having uttered blasphemies against mahomet, was judged at the mehkemé of salonica, before he was sent to constantinople; and the supreme council has declared him worthy of death, although he has not yet been judicially and formally condemned here. the circumstance of the kiatib having already been tried and convicted of uttering blasphemy against the name of mahomet puts his life in the most imminent danger. i have, &c., (signed) frederick pisani. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen.--(received december _.) (extract.) _buyukderé, november_ , . i am happy to state that a serious and salutary impression has been made upon the turkish government by the communication of your lordship's instruction respecting the armenian decapitated in the streets of constantinople. preceded as that communication was by the delivery of m. guizot's impressive note, and followed, as i believe it to have been, by the presentation of baron bülow's instruction to m. de le coq, the porte has felt, even in the absence of any similar declaration from the austrian and russian legations, that she cannot with prudence or safety repeat an atrocity tending so directly to excite the indignant feelings of christendom against her. i have not received, nor indeed have i yet demanded, an official answer to my remonstrance. m. de bourqueney, though, like myself, without instructions on that point, has made the demand, but, at my request, he has abstained from pressing it, agreeing, on reflection, with me, that it would be advisable at all events to afford time for m. de titow to hear from his government, and to take a step more or less in harmony with ours. it remains indeed to be considered whether it would be prudent, even with that advantage, to insist upon receiving a formal answer. i have already forwarded to your lordship's office the substance of rifaat pasha's remarks, and they convey an assurance that the porte will in future find means to avoid the application of the law in cases like that which proved fatal to the unfortunate armenian. the apparent consequences of what has been done in this matter are, a ministerial understanding that occasions of calling the law into action as to religious offences involving a capital punishment are for the future to be avoided, and a proclamation addressed to the turkish authorities in roumelia for the better treatment and protection of the sultan's christian subjects. i venture to believe that your lordship will derive the same gratification which i do from this result. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received december_ .) my lord, _buyukderé, november_ , . i have the satisfaction to state, that the russian envoy has informed me of his having received an instruction from his court on the subject of the armenian youth decapitated at constantinople. his excellency has given me to understand that the terms of this instruction are in harmony with the sentiments of her majesty's government; and i presume that he will make me a more complete communication of its contents the first time we meet. i have, &c., (signed) stratford canning. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received december_ .) (extract.) _constantinople, december_ l, . having sounded rifaat pasha as to his intention of answering the representations of the five powers concerning the late religious execution, i was told by his excellency that, although the porte wished to avoid any recurrence of that atrocity, yet, as such executions, divested of the objectionable forms which accompanied the armenian's death, were obligatory under the law considered by mahomedans divine, and might be forced incidentally upon the government, it would be embarrassing to give an official declaration to that effect. some ostensible record of the porte's intention to avoid religious exeutions [sic] in future would, i humbly conceive, be satisfactory to her majesty's government, and it would not perhaps be impossible to frame a reply, which might convey the required security without coming into collision with the mussulman faith. there is reason otherwise to apprehend that the advantage now obtained will be of very short duration. p.s.--there is reason to fear that another religious execution has recently taken place in the pashalic of brussa. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received january_ , .) (extract.) _buyukderé, december_ , . i have the honour to state, and i do so with much concern, that the rumour, which has for some time prevailed, of another execution, similar to that of the armenian youth, having taken place by order of the porte, is now confirmed. the statements inclosed herewith describe the circumstances as far they are known. one of them is an extract of a despatch addressed to me by her majesty's consul at brussa, which is at no great distance from biligik where the greek was executed. the other was communicated to me by one of my diplomatic colleagues. rifaat pasha in conversing with me some time ago alluded to this execution, of which i had then scarcely heard the rumour, and he spoke of it as a kind of accident, which had occurred prior to the late remonstrances respecting the armenian, and which was not to be taken in proof of an objectionable policy at the porte. with a variation of terms, and in some degree of facts also, he has offered the same kind of vague excuse to others, and i believe in particular to the internuncio. i presume that your lordship would not approve of such an occurrence being thrown into oblivion without an attempt at explanation, and i am persuaded that any backwardness under such circumstances would only serve to confirm the porte in her present infatuated course of policy. i have, therefore, communicated upon the subject with my colleagues of austria, france, russia, and prussia, and finding them all substantially of the same mind, i have drawn up the instruction of which a copy is here inclosed, and sent it to rifaat pasha by m. pisani. similar instructions were sent in by the others, though neither collectively, nor simultaneously, and perhaps not in writing by the austrian and russian ministers. your lordship will observe that we ask for a distinct assurance from the porte that measures shall be taken to prevent the recurrence of such revolting punishments in future. in proposing to make this demand i had in view the corresponding passage in your lordship's instruction, communicated to rifaat pasha, and i thought to satisfy m. de bourqueney, who had presented an official note in the former instance and applied for an answer, without exceeding the limits which my other colleagues were prepared to observe. their joint acceptance of the suggestion, and their engagements to make the same demand, induce me to hope that the porte's reply will prove satisfactory, though i cannot yet speak with confidence in that respect. inclosure i in no. . _mr. consul sandison to sir stratford canning_. (extract.) _brussa, december_ , . a fresh instance, i learn, has unfortunately occurred about a week ago of the sanguinary spirit of the turkish law and people against relapsed proselytes. a young greek at biligik in the adjoining district, who had become a mussulman and returned to his own creed, has been put to death by hanging. he must have been a willing victim from what my informant states, as his profession of islamism had been complete according to the usual rites. p.s.--the execution of the greek at biligik took place, i further learn, after the return of an answer from the turkish government to a report on the case from the municipality of biligik. inclosure in no. . _extract of letter communicated by m. de cordoba to sir stratford canning_. _constantinople_, _décembre_, . un jeune grec s'était fait turc dans un moment de mauvaise humeur; revenu a lui, il était allé trouver un prêtre et avait témoigné le désir de rentrer dans sa croyance. l'ecclésiastique, approuvant sa pensée, lui dit qu'il devait réparer sa faute en revenant publiquement sur son erreur. le jeune homme, âgé de ans, fit la chose comme elle lui était ordonnée. aussitôt les autorités turques s'emparent de lui et le mettent au secret: ceci se passe aux environs de brousse. l'on rapporte le fait à constantinople: ici, en dépit des notes française, anglaise, &c., on tient conseil, et l'ordre est envoyé de l'exécuter, et en effet il y a quatorze à quinze jours cet infortuné a été pendu publiquement à biligik. l'effet qui cet événement a produit sur les habitans turcs du lieu a été tel que le gouverneur a dû prendre les plus grandes précautions pour empêcher le massacre de tous les habitans. (translation.) _constantinople, december_ , . a young greek turned turk in a moment of ill temper; having come to himself, he went to a priest and evinced a desire to return to his faith. the priest, approving his intention, told him that he must repair his fault by a public retractation of his error. the young man, who was twenty-two years of age, did as he was ordered. forthwith the turkish authorities lay hold of him and shut him up: this happens in the neighbourhood of brussa. the transaction is reported to constantinople: here, notwithstanding the french and english notes, &c., a council is held, and the order to execute him is sent off, and in fact this unfortunate person was publicly hanged at biligik fourteen or fifteen days ago. the effect which this event produced on the turkish inhabitants of the place has been such that the governor has been under the necessity of taking the greatest precautions to prevent the massacre of all the inhabitants. inclosure in no. . _sir stratford canning to m. pisani_. sir, _buyukderé, december_ , . it is with sentiments of deep concern that i have received unquestionable intelligence of another religious execution, similar in principle to that of the armenian avakim. in stating this circumstance without delay to the minister for foreign affairs, you will lay before his excellency the substance of the two accompanying papers, which contain a relation of the principal facts. you will express the surprise and disappointment which i feel in the contemplation of so revolting an act, after the very distinct communications which had recently taken place between his excellency and myself respecting the previous case. a full knowledge of the sentiments entertained by her majesty's government, and also by four other leading cabinets of europe, has not to all appearance prevented the porte from again publicly outraging the principles of humanity, and again exposing herself to the just animadversion of those friendly powers. under these circumstances, and referring to the instructions of my government already communicated to rifaat pasha, i deem it an indispensable duty to invite the explanations of the porte, and to state my expectation that the turkish government will not only declare its regret for the two executions in suitable terms, but that it will accompany the declaration with an assurance, admitting of no question for the future, that effective measures will be immediately taken to preclude the recurrence of such unwise and odious acts. you will conclude by leaving with rifaat pasha a copy of this instruction, and by calling upon his excellency to lay it before the sultan, and to apprize you on an early day of the answer sanctioned by his majesty, for the information of my government. i am, &c., (signed) stratford canning. no. . _m. guizot to count ste. aulaire_.--(_communicated by count ste. aulaire to the earl of aberdeen, january_ .) (extract.) _paris, le_ _janvier_, . malgré les promesses formelles de la porte, et les mesures qu'elle disait avoir prises pour empêcher le renouvellement du douloureux scandale auquel avait donné lieu, il y a quelques mois, l'exécution d'un arménien supplicié pour être revenu à la religion chrétienne après avoir embrassé l'islamisme, un grec des environs de brousse vient encore d'être mis à mort dans des circonstances absolument semblables. interpellé à ce sujet par m. de bourqueney, la porte n'a su alléguer pour se justifier que des malentendus et des méprises dont les allégations même sont contradictoires. un tel fait n'est plus seulement un outrage à l'humanité, c'est une insulte jetée à l'europe civilisée par le fanatisme d'un parti que le gouvernement ottoman n'a pas le courage de contenir et de réprimer, à supposer qu'il n'en soit pas lui-même le complice dans une certaine mesure. ce courage, il faut le lui donner en lui faisant craindre d'encourir le sérieux mécontentement des puissances dont l'appui bienveillant lui est si nécessaire. je vais charger m. de bourqueney de faire à cet effet une démarche énergique auprès de la porte, et je ne doute pas que lord aberdeen ne donne à sir stratford canning des instructions analogues. le gouvernement britannique croira certainement aussi devoir se joindre à nous pour demander le concours des autres grandes puissances. (translation.) _paris, january_ , . notwithstanding the formal promises of the porte, and the measures which it had declared that it had taken to prevent the repetition of the mournful scandal to which a few months ago the execution of an armenian who was punished for having returned to christianity after having embraced islamism, gave rise, a greek of the neighbourhood of brussa, has now been put to death, under circumstances precisely similar. on being questioned on this subject by m. de bourqueney, the porte could only allege in its justification misunderstandings and mistakes the very allegations with regard to which are contradictory. such a transaction is no longer only an outrage to humanity, it is an insult cast upon civilized europe, by the fanaticism of a party which the ottoman government has not the courage to keep within bounds and repress, supposing that it is not itself to a certain degree an accomplice in the measure. this courage must be given to it by causing it to apprehend that it will incur the serious displeasure of the powers whose benevolent support is so necessary to it. i am about to instruct m. de bourqueney to take an energetic step for this purpose towards the porte, and i doubt not that lord aberdeen will furnish sir stratford canning with corresponding instructions. the british government will likewise assuredly think fit to unite with us in demanding the concurrence of the other great powers. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to sir stratford canning_. sir, _foreign office, january_ , . i have received your excellency's despatch of the th of december, reporting that a greek had been executed near brussa as an apostate from islamism, and inclosing a copy of the communication which you had directed mr. dragoman frederick pisani to make to the porte in consequence of that transaction. i have to state to your excellency that her majesty's government entirely approve the promptitude with which you acted on this occasion. but the repetition of a scene of this revolting kind so soon after that which had, in the course of last summer, excited the horror and indignation of europe, evinces such total disregard, on the part of the porte, for the feelings and remonstrances of the christian powers, that it is incumbent upon her majesty's government without loss of time to convey their sentiments on the matter still more explicitly to the knowledge of the porte. they take this course singly, and without waiting for the co-operation of the other christian powers, because they desire to announce to the porte a determination which, though it doubtless will be concurred in by all, great britain is prepared to act upon alone. her majesty's government feel too that they have an especial right to require to be listened to by the porte on a matter of this nature, for they can appeal to the justice and to the favour with which the vast body of mahomedans subject to the british rule are treated in india, in support of their demand that all persons, subjects of the porte and professing christianity, shall be exempt from cruel and arbitrary persecution on account of their religion, and shall not be made the victims of a barbarous law, which it may be sought to enforce for their destruction. whatever may have been tolerated in former times by the weakness or indifference of christian powers, those powers will now require from the porte due consideration for their feelings as members of a religious community, and interested as such in the fate of all who, notwithstanding shades of difference, unite in a common belief in the essential doctrines of christianity; and they will not endure that the porte should insult and trample on their faith by treating as a criminal any person who embraces it. her majesty's government require the porte to abandon, once for all, so revolting a principle. they have no wish to humble the porte by imposing upon it an unreasonable obligation; but as a christian government, the protection of those who profess a common belief with themselves, from persecution and oppression, on that account alone, by their mahomedan rulers, is a paramount duty with them, and one from which they cannot recede. your excellency will therefore press upon the turkish government that, if the porte has any regard for the friendship of england,--if it has any hope that, in the hour of peril or of adversity, that protection which has more than once saved it from destruction, will be extended to it again, it must renounce absolutely, and without equivocation, the barbarous practice which has called forth the remonstrance now addressed to it. your excellency will require an early answer; and you will let the turkish ministers understand that if that answer does not fully correspond with the expectations which her majesty's government entertain, your excellency is instructed to seek an audience of the sultan, and to explain to his highness, in the most forcible terms, the feelings of the british government, and the consequences, so injurious to turkey, which a disregard for those feelings will involve. her majesty's government are so anxious for the continuance of a good understanding with turkey, and that the porte should entitle itself to their good offices in the hour of need, that they wish to leave no expedient untried before they shall be compelled to admit the conviction that all their interest and friendship is misplaced, and that nothing remains for them but to look forward to, if not promote the arrival of, the day when the force of circumstances shall bring about a change which they will have vainly hoped to procure from the prudence and humanity of the porte itself. your excellency will seek an interview with the reis effendi, and, having read to him this despatch, leave a copy of it, with an accurate translation in his hands. i am, &c., (signed) aberdeen. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to sir stratford canning_. sir, _foreign office, january_ , . with reference to my other despatch of this day upon the subject of the execution of the greek near brussa as an apostate from islamism, i inclose, for your excellency's information, an extract of so much of a despatch from m. guizot to count ste. aulaire as relates to this matter, which count ste. aulaire communicated to me a few days ago. your excellency will perceive from this paper that m. guizot anticipates that her majesty's government will be disposed to invite the co-operation of the other great powers with the view of making a simultaneous appeal to the porte on that subject. but although her majesty's government would certainly be glad to see the other powers of europe declaring their abhorrence of so revolting a system as that against which your excellency and your french colleague will be instructed to protest, they consider it, nevertheless, unnecessary formally to solicit their co-operation in a matter in which they all may be supposed to take a common interest, and to be prepared to act without previous concert with each other. i have however directed her majesty's ambassador at paris to communicate to m. guizot a copy of my other despatch of this day; and i should wish your excellency to concert with m. de bourqueney as to the manner in which the instructions which i have addressed to your excellency and those which m. de bourqueney will receive from his court on this matter, and which i conclude will closely correspond with those addressed to yourself, shall be carried into execution so as to produce a salutary impression on the porte. a copy of my former instruction will be transmitted to her majesty's ambassador at st. petersburgh for communication to the russian government; but lord stuart de rothsay will not be instructed, for the reason stated in this despatch, to invite the russian government to make a similar representation to the porte. i inclose a copy of my despatch to lord stuart de rothsay. a corresponding despatch will be addressed to sir robert gordon and to lord westmorland. i am, &c., (signed) aberdeen. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to lord cowley_. my lord, _foreign office, january_ , . i inclose, for your excellency's information, a copy of a despatch from m, guizot which has been placed in my hands by the count de ste. aulaire, expressive of the just indignation of the french government on receiving the tidings that, notwithstanding the representations which were made to the porte by the five powers on the occasion of the execution of the armenian at constantinople in september last, a greek has now been put to death near brussa for returning to christianity after having embraced islamism. this event had been already made known to her majesty's government by a despatch from sir stratford canning of which i herewith transmit a copy. the government of the queen share entirely the feelings of indignation and disgust which the french government evince on this occasion; and i have consequently instructed her majesty's ambassador at the porte to make a fresh and more energetic representation than before to the turkish government, in condemnation of this repeated act of barbarity. i inclose a copy of this instruction to sir stratford canning, and also of a further one of the same date, in which i direct his excellency to concert with the baron de bourqueney in carrying that instruction into effect. your excellency will communicate these instructions to m. guizot. i am, &c., (signed) aberdeen. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to lord cowley_. my lord, _foreign office, january_ , . with reference to my other despatch of this day, inclosing, for communication to m. guizot, a copy of an instruction which i have addressed to sir stratford canning respecting the execution of a greek near brussa who had apostatized from islamism, i have to state to your excellency that, in the event of your making the communication to m. guizot in sufficient time to enable him to send his instructions to the french minister at constantinople by the steam-vessel which leaves marseilles on the st of this month, the post for which is made up in paris on the evening of the th, i should wish your excellency to acquaint sir stratford canning by that opportunity with what may have passed between you and m. guizot. the despatch will be sent this evening by post through france so as to go on by the marseilles steam-vessel of the st. i am, &c., (signed) aberdeen. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to lord stuart de rothsay_*. my lord, _foreign office, january_ , . i inclose for your excellency's information, a copy of a despatch from sir stratford canning reporting that a greek has been executed near brussa as an apostate from islamism; and a copy of an instruction which i have in consequence addressed to that ambassador. your excellency will communicate this instruction to count nesselrode for the information of the russian government; but although her majesty's government would doubtless see with pleasure that the other powers of europe should declare their abhorrence of so revolting a system as that which the porte has twice acted upon within the last few months, they do not think it necessary formally to solicit their co-operation in a matter in which they all may be supposed to take a common interest, and to be prepared to act without previous concert with each other. your excellency will therefore merely put count nesselrode in possession of the instructions given to sir stratford canning, and leave to the russian government to determine for itself whether it shall instruct m. de titow to the same effect. i am, &c., * a similar despatch was addressed on the th january to sir robert gordon and the earl of westmorland. (signed) aberdeen. no. . _lord cowley to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received january_ .) my lord, _paris, january_ , . with reference to your lordship's despatches of the th instant on the subject of the execution of a greek for returning to christianity after having embraced islamism, i have the honour to report that i had yesterday evening an interview with m. guizot, when i communicated to him the contents of those despatches, and also of your lordship's instructions to sir stratford canning in consequence of the aforesaid transaction; and i have now the honour to inclose a copy of the despatch which, conformably to your lordship's instructions, i have addressed to sir stratford canning informing him of what passed upon this subject between m. guizot and me. my despatch was forwarded last night to her majesty's ambassador at constantinople, and will reach marseilles in time to go by the steam-vessel which sails from that port on the st. i have, &c., (signed) cowley. inclosure in no. . _lord cowley to sir stratford canning_. sir, _paris, january_ , . i have received instructions from lord aberdeen to communicate to the french minister for foreign affairs your excellency's despatches to his lordship respecting the execution of a greek near brussa who had apostatized from islamism, as also his instructions to your excellency, under date the th instant, in consequence of that transaction. i am also desired to take the earliest opportunity of acquainting you with what may have passed between m. guizot and me after this communication. i had this evening a conference with the minister for foreign affairs, when i communicated to him the contents of your despatches upon this subject, and also lord aberdeen's instructions to you of the th instant, and i am happy to be enabled to state that m. guizot expressed his entire approbation of those instructions. he also assured me that he had signified to m. de bourqueney, in terms not less strong than those used by lord aberdeen in his instructions to you, the indignation and disgust of the french government at this transaction, affording as it did a painful testimony of the total disregard of the porte to the remonstrances of the allies upon a previous act of a similar kind. the minister for foreign affairs then assured me that he had directed m. de bourqueney to consult with your excellency as to the best manner of carrying into effect the instructions of the two governments. the representatives of france at st. petersburgh, vienna, and berlin, have likewise been directed to bring the subject under the consideration of those courts; but m. guizot inclines to the opinion that a separate, rather than joint, representation to the turkish government would be advisable. he trusts, however, that the british and french plenipotentiaries will act in concert upon this occasion, as they have done successfully in every other transaction at constantinople in which the allies have taken any interest. i have, &c., (signed) cowley. no. . _the earl of westmorland to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received january_ .) my lord, _berlin, january_ , . in compliance with the directions contained in your lordship's despatch of the th instant, i have communicated to baron bülow your instructions to sir stratford canning relative to the late execution of a greek at brussa. baron bülow gave me an instruction to read addressed to m. de le coq, which was dated only two days later than your lordship's, and which expressed in strong terms his reprobation of the conduct of the turkish government upon this occasion. baron bülow felt the greatest satisfaction at the statements made by your lordship, and determined to write again to m. le coq directing him to act in accordance with them. he hopes that by conduct and language so energetic as that adopted by your lordship an impression may be made upon the turkish government, and an end be put to the barbarous cruelties of which it has of late been guilty. i have, &c., (signed) westmorland. no. . _sir robert gordon to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received february_ .) (extract.) _vienna, february_ , . in compliance with your lordship's instructions, i have communicated to prince metternich, for the information of the austrian government, your despatch to sir stratford canning relating to the execution of the greek renegade by the turkish authorities at brussa on the ground of his apostacy from islamism. whilst i stated to his highness that my government did not think it necessary formally to solicit the co-operation of the internuncio in a matter which could only be viewed by every government in europe with the greatest abhorrence, i have been anxious to ascertain in how far the instructions which are forwarded from hence would be made to coincide with your lordship's; and i have now to state that, although agreeing in the principle upon which have been founded the remonstrances of her majesty's government, and seeking to arrive at the same result, the austrian minister has nevertheless a decided objection to the wording of your lordship's instructions, and the peremptory terms in which it is endeavoured by them to enforce the sultan's compliance. no. . _lord stuart de rothsay to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received february_ .) (extract.) _st. petersburgh, february_ , . in obedience to the orders contained in your lordship's despatch of the th january, i have communicated to count nesselrode a copy of your instructions to sir stratford canning upon the subject of a greek who had been executed near brussa as an apostate from islamism. i did so without alluding to the wish of her majesty's government that the russian minister at constantinople might be furnished with instructions on the subject. the vice-chancellor, nevertheless, said that he should consider attentively the communication i had made, and see how far it might be useful to adopt a similar course, adding, that although he quite participated in the feelings which actuated her majesty's government, he thought that other means might be tried which would be more efficacious in attaining our common object. he afterwards remarked that through the instrumentality of some of the russian consular agents pashas had not unfrequently been persuaded, in an unofficial manner, to facilitate the removal from their government of greeks and others who had rendered themselves liable to capital punishment for apostacy; and he gave me to understand that he was of opinion that greater security to christians would be obtained by the exercise of the individual influence of foreign agents, than by seeking an alteration in the fundamental laws of the turkish empire, such as appeared to be the object of her majesty's government. count nesselrode appears disposed to instruct m. titow to give his general support to her majesty's ambassador. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received march_ .) (extract.) _constantinople, february_ , . on the th instant i received your lordship's instructions of the th ultimo, relating to the execution of a greek near brussa for relapsing from islamism, and directing me to require of the porte an unequivocal renunciation of the principle involved in that barbarous act. i received at the same time, from her majesty's ambassador at paris a despatch informing me that he had communicated those instructions to m. guizot, and was authorized by him to express that minister's approbation of their contents, and his intention of ordering m. de bourqueney to concur with me for the attainment of the object to which they were directed. i proceeded at once to execute the commands of her majesty's government. to the french minister i read your lordship's first instruction, and also lord cowley's despatch. he returned my confidence by putting me in possession of m. guizot's instructions to him of the th ultimo, and by expressing his readiness to act in concert with me for the accomplishment of our common purpose. to rifaat pasha i communicated a copy, together with an exact translation, of your lordship's first instruction. i waited upon his excellency by appointment for this object on the th instant, having apprized the russian, austrian, and prussian ministers of my intention the day before. the ottoman minister for foreign affairs read, in my presence, the whole of your lordship's instruction translated into turkish. having finished it, he rose from his seat rather abruptly, without saying a word, and left the room for a few minutes. on his return, he told me that the subject was too important for him to give me an answer without referring to the council; but, if i were inclined to listen, he would at once impart to me such observations as occurred to his mind. i assured him that i was willing to receive with becoming consideration whatever he thought proper to state; and he then proceeded to draw a strong line of distinction between custom and divine law, intimating that a practice derived from the former source might be abandoned to meet the wishes of europe, or even of great britain alone, but that a law, prescribed by god himself, was not to be set aside by any human power; and that the sultan in attempting it might be exposed to a heavy, perhaps even to a dangerous, responsibility. he sought to learn from me whether your lordship had been fully aware of this view of the case in writing the instruction communicated to him; and it seemed to be his object both to prepare me for an unsatisfactory answer, and to obtain from me some admission which might give him an advantage in shaping the decision of the council. i had already, in presenting the instruction, endeavoured to make it clearly understood, that her majesty's government had no object in view but the one so distinctly and powerfully stated therein; and also to show how imperiously the welfare of the porte itself requires that a practice and principle which operate as moral barriers between turkey and christendom, should now be once for all renounced and utterly abandoned. i had every reason to believe that your lordship had instructed me with a full knowledge of the question in all its bearings and eventual consequences; that the course deliberately adopted by her majesty's government, and announced to the principal courts of europe previously united in reprobation of the late impolitic and atrocious executions, was not to be receded from; and that any opening to a compromise on so vital a point could only encourage resistance and endanger the most important interests. i, therefore, rested entirely on the terms of your lordship's instruction, to which, in truth, there was nothing for me to add. although i replied to some of rifaat pasha's remarks in a considerate and conciliatory manner, i referred him steadily to your lordship's instructions, and left no reason to hope that any evasive or temporizing assurance would be accepted as satisfactory by her majesty's government. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received march_ .) my lord, _constantinople, february_ , . the interview which i had on the th instant with rifaat pasha was followed yesterday by one of a similar character between that minister and the french representative. m. de bourqueney obligingly called upon me as soon as he returned from the pasha's house; and his report of the conference presented in substance a counterpart of what had before passed between his excellency and myself. he stated that he had given in a paper composed of the strongest passages from m. guizot's instruction to him of the th ultimo; that he had found in rifaat pasha's remarks the same indication of resistance on the ground of religion which i had experienced; that in reprobating the executions complained of, and urging the abandonment of so barbarous a law for the future, he had placed himself as nearly as possible on the same ground with me, and that he had carefully avoided any premature discussion of the form of declaration by which the porte would probably, in the end, attempt to satisfy the remonstrating governments without a surrender of the principle, or more than a virtual suspension of the practice. notwithstanding the want of any instruction from m. guizot, subsequent to lord cowley's communication to that minister, baron de bourqueney found himself sufficiently authorized by the instruction of the th to give me his cordial and unqualified support. agreeably to m. guizot's suggestion, as conveyed to me in lord cowley's despatch, we have acted separately in form, though concurrently in substance. i have, &c., (signed) stratford canning. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to sir stratford canning_. sir, _foreign office, march_ , . i have received your excellency's despatch of the th of february, giving an account of the manner in which you had executed the instruction of the th of january, which i addressed to your excellency on receiving your report of the execution of a greek near brussa on the ground of his having renounced his profession of islamism and returned to christianity. i have to acquaint you that her majesty's government entirely approve of your having rested your communication to the turkish minister on the terms of my instruction, and of your having steadily referred his excellency to that document, while replying in a considerate and conciliatory manner to the remarks which he addressed to you. nothing, indeed, can be further from the wish of her majesty's government than that a communication which they have been compelled by a strong sense of duty, and, i may add, by a sincere regard for the welfare of turkey, to make to the porte, should be rendered more unpalatable than from its nature it was likely to be, by being conveyed in harsh or dictatorial terms; and they wish, if the question is still under discussion when this despatch reaches your excellency's hands, that you should constantly bear in mind, that her majesty's government, although they propose to abide by the general tenour of the communication which you have been directed to make to the porte, have no desire, and would deeply regret, that the acquiescence of the porte in the demand which they have addressed to it, should be attended with unnecessary pain to the feelings of the turkish government. her majesty's government are persuaded that if the ministers of the porte will dispassionately consider what has been desired of them, they will find that, without any real sacrifice of national or religious opinion, they may place themselves in harmony with the wishes and the feelings of the christian powers. her majesty's government have not urged, and do not propose to urge, them to abrogate any law, divine or human, but merely to revert to the system which her majesty's government believe to have been for some time past constantly acted upon, and to allow the law to remain practically dormant, and thus silently withdraw from a practice which cannot be enforced without rousing the feelings of christendom, and rendering it impossible for the turkish government to retain the good-will of christian powers. the ministers of the porte cannot, on calm reflection, suppose that if they deliberately deprive their government of the moral or physical support of christendom, the turkish empire can long be preserved from the destruction with which, from numerous causes, it is continually menaced; neither can they believe that, although the sentiments of the various powers of europe on the question to which the revival of an obsolete practice has now unfortunately given rise, may be conveyed to the porte in terms more or less decided, there is any real and essential difference between the expectations and the intentions of all. all must yield to public opinion universally expressed; and the porte may rest assured that christian states will, with one accord, refuse to tolerate any longer a practice which, both in the principle on which it rests and the manner in which it is carried into execution, is designed to stigmatize the faith which they profess and cherish. i am, &c., (signed) aberdeen. no. . _count nesselrode to m. de titow_.--(_communicated by baron brunnow to the earl of aberdeen_, march .) _st. pétersbourg, le_ / _février_, . je n'ai pas manqué de prendre les ordres de l'empereur sur le contenu de votre rapport no. , du janvier/ février, par lequel vous nous avez rendu compte de la fâcheuse impression que la nouvelle exécution religieuse qui a eu lieu à biligik a produite à constantinople. sa majesté a voué une attention sérieuse aux diverses considérations que vous nous avez exposées pour décider du plus ou moins d'opportunité qu'il y aurait pour les puissances de l'europe en général, et pour la russie en particulier, à protester contre des actes de cruauté incompatibles avec les principes d'humanité dont la porte devrait se montrer pénétrée à l'égard de ses sujets chrétiens. d'une part, nous avons reconnu la difficutté, pour ne pas dire l'impossibilité, de découvrir le moyen propre pour paralyser d'une manière définitive les effets de la loi du coran qui concerne les apostasies; d'autre part, nous ne saurions ne pas élever la voix, lorsqu'il s'agit de l'application de la peine de mort à des individus qui, en embrassant le christianisme, ou en retournant dans le sein de l'eglise, invoquent notre protection, et nous imposent le devoir de les soustraire aux rigueurs d'une législation barbare. dans un tel état de choses, l'opinion que vous a communiquée m. le comte de stürmer, nous a paru celle qui offre le plus de chances de succès. cette opinion est d'ailleurs conforme aux vues que j'ai été dans le cas de vous développer sur la même matière dans une occasion précédente. il est donc de l'intention de l'empereur que vous déclariez à la porte ottomane, sous la forme d'un conseil bienveillant, que nous nous attendons positivement à ne plus voir se renouveler des exécutions qui soulèvent contre elle l'indignation de toute la chrétienté. c'est dans son propre intérêt que nous lui adressons cette demande. la porte ne doit pas se faire illusion sur les élémens qui fermentent en turquie. au lieu de s'aliéner les sentimens des populations chrétiennes, le gouvernement ottoman doit travailler plus que jamais, à se les concilier. qu'il comprenne enfin la nécessité de laisser tomber en désuétude des dispositions surannées de la loi mahométane, qui ne peuvent être maintenues qu'au mépris des représentations unanimes de toutes les puissances. tel serait à peu près le langage que vous auriez à tenir, monsieur, à la porte ottomane, de concert avec les autres représentans, et nous espérons qu'en la rappelant ainsi à la conscience de ses devoirs et de ses intérêts réels, nous l'empêcherons de retomber dans la voie vicieuse qu'elle a suivie en dernier lieu. recevez, &c., (signé) nesselrode. (translation.) _st. petersburgh_, / _february_, . i have not failed to take the orders of the emperor upon the contents of your despatch no. , of the january/ february, in which you have reported the painful impression which the fresh religious execution which has taken place at biligik has produced at constantinople. his majesty has given his serious attention to the various considerations which you have laid before us in order to determine the greater or less degree of propriety there would be in the principal powers of europe generally, and in russia particularly, protesting against acts of cruelty incompatible with the principles of humanity with which the porte should show itself animated as regards its christian subjects. on the one hand, we have perceived the difficulty, not to say the impossibility, of discovering the suitable means of definitively paralyzing the effects of the law of the koran relating to apostacy; on the other hand, we cannot but raise our voice when it is a question of inflicting the penalty of death upon individuals who, in embracing christianity, or in returning into the bosom of the church, appeal to our protection, and impose upon us the duty of withdrawing them from the rigours of a barbarous legislation. in such a state of things the opinion which m. de stürmer has communicated to you, has appeared to us to be that which offers the greatest chance of success. this opinion is, moreover, in conformity with the views which i have had occasion to explain to you on the same subject on a former occasion. it is then the emperor's intention that you should declare to the ottoman porte, in the form of friendly counsel, that we positively expect no longer to witness executions which array against it the indignation of all christendom. it is with a view to its own interest that we address to it this demand. the porte must not delude itself with regard to the elements now in a state of fermentation in turkey. instead of alienating from itself the feelings of the christian population, the ottoman government ought more than ever to labour to conciliate them to itself. let it comprehend, in fine, the necessity of allowing to become obsolete antiquated enactments of the mahomedan law, which cannot be upheld but in disregard of the unanimous representations of all the powers. such should be the purport of the language which, sir, you should hold to the ottoman porte, in concert with the other representatives; and we trust that in thus recalling it to a sense of its duties and real interests, we shall prevent it from again falling into the vicious system which it has recently followed. receive, &c., (signed) nesselrode. no. . _lord cowley to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received march_ .) (extract.) _paris, march_ , . with reference to the representations made to the ottoman government by the french and english representatives at constantinople on the subject of the execution of a greek near brussa, as reported in sir stratford canning's despatches of the th and th february, i have the honour to state that m. guizot has communicated to me the substance of what passed at a conference which he has had within these few days with reshid pasha upon that subject. the pasha said that he was instructed to express in strong terms the concern of the sultan at this interference of the allied sovereigns (of great britain and france in particular) in the internal concerns of his empire; that a compliance with these demands might be attended with very serious consequences to himself and his government; and that he (the pasha) was instructed to express the fervent hope of his master, that they would not be persisted in. m. guizot replied that the french and british governments never could desist from expressing their abhorrence of such atrocious acts of cruelty as had been perpetrated upon the late occasion, and which had given rise to a renewal of the requisition that the practice should be entirely abandoned, and that they confidently expected that their representations would have the desired effect upon the ottoman government. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to lord cowley_. (extract.) _foreign office, march_ , . i transmit to your excellency herewith a copy of an instruction which i addressed on the th instant to sir stratford canning, in reply to his excellency's despatch of the th of february last relative to the execution of the greek near brussa, a copy of which was forwarded to your excellency on the th instant. you will lose no time in communicating this instruction to m. guizot and you will at the same time, suggest to him the propriety of instructing the french minister at the porte to make it perfectly clear to the turkish government, that neither great britain nor france demand the abrogation of any law of the turkish empire; and that all that we desire is an assurance that the practice which has so justly called forth the reprobation of all christian countries, shall cease, by the law being suffered to remain, as it had long been, dormant. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received march_ .) (extract.) _constantinople, february_ , . i applied to rifaat pasha on the th instant, in concert with the french minister, for an answer to your lordship's requisition on the subject of the executions for apostacy from islamism. my application was made in the form of an instruction to m. frederick pisani, and baron de bourqueney adopted a similar line of proceeding. copies of my instruction to m. pisani and of his report of rifaat pasha's reply, identical with the report of the french interpreter, are inclosed herewith for your lordship's more complete information. several councils have been held, as well at the porte as at the sheik-ul-islam's residence. i inclose with this despatch a short report from m. pisani, which preceded the instruction referred to above. inclosure l in no. . _sir stratford canning to m. pisani_. monsieur, _péra, le_ _février_, . le message que vous m'avez transmis avant-hier de la part de son excellence rifaat pacha, laisse tout-à-fait incertaine l'époque où je recevrai une réponse à la communication importante que j'ai eu l'honneur de lui faire le du courant par l'ordre exprès de ma cour. il est pourtant à désirer que cette incertitude ne soit pas prolongée hors de mesure. la question dont il s'agit est toute entière dans la dépêche officielle dont la copie se trouve depuis quinze jours entre les mains du ministre, et j'attends du gouvernement ottoman la prompte solution d'une affaire qui touche de trop près ses intérêts, son avenir, et ses rapports avec les puissances amies, pour que son excellence soit autorisée à la regarder comme purement du ressort de la religion. il me semble, au contraire, que cette question est, à ne pas en douter, essentiellement liée avec les considérations les plus élevées de la politique. j'aime par conséquent à croire que les ministres de sa hautesse ne méconnaîtront pas leur obligation d'en mesurer la portée par les principes de la raison et les règles de la prudence dont aucun etat ne pourrait impunément se dispenser. eviter la responsabilité qui appartient nécessairement à leur position serait-ce en effet autre chose que priver leur souverain du gage le plus sûr de leur exactitude à en remplir les conditions conformément au but de leur nomination, aux exigeances de la conjoncture, et aux inspirations de la sagacité que la providence leur a accordée? je vous invite donc, monsieur, à vous rendre de nouveau auprès du ministre des affaires etrangères, et à exprimer formellement à son excellence ma juste attente que le conseil ne tardera pas à me faire remettre par son canal une réponse catégorique et comme je l'espère, satisfaisante à la demande d'un gouvernement sincèrement ami de la porte. vous lui laisserez une copie de cette instruction, et vous vous entendrez quant au temps de sa présentation avec monsieur l'interprète de l'ambassade française, qui est muni d'une instruction pareille par son ministre. je suis, &c., (signé) stratford canning. (translation.) sir, _pera, february_ , . the message which you yesterday conveyed to me from his excellency rifaat pasha leaves altogether uncertain the time at which i shall receive an answer to the important communication which i had the honour to make to him on the th instant by the express order of my court. it is however to be desired that this uncertainty should not indefinitely be prolonged. the question at issue is altogether contained in the official despatch the copy of which has been for the last fortnight in the minister's hands, and i expect from the ottoman government the speedy settlement of a matter which affects its interests, its future position, and its relations with friendly powers too nearly for his excellency to be authorized in considering it merely as a religious question. on the contrary it appears to me that without doubt this question is essentially connected with the highest political considerations. i am consequently fain to believe that the ministers of his highness will not overlook their obligation to estimate the bearing of it by the principles of reason and the rules of prudence which no state can with impunity disregard. to shrink from the responsibility which necessarily attaches to their position, what else would that be than to deprive their sovereign of the surest pledge of their diligence in discharging the conditions thereof consistently with the object of their appointment, the emergencies of the state of affairs, and the inspirations of the sagacity which providence has bestowed upon them? i accordingly request you, sir, to go again to the minister for foreign affairs, and formally to intimate to his excellency my just expectation that the council will not delay to cause to be delivered to me through him a categorical answer, and, as i hope, a satisfactory answer to the demand of a government sincerely friendly to the porte. you will leave with him a copy of this instruction, and you will concert as to the time of its delivery with the interpreter of the french embassy, who is furnished by his minister with a similar instruction. i have, &c., (signed) stratford canning. inclosure in no. . _answer of rifaat pasha to m. pisani, february_ , . aucune nouvelle démarche n'était nécessaire pour nous faire sentir l'importance de cette question, importance dont nous sommes profondément pénétrés. nous la traitons avec tout le sérieux et tous les soins que sa gravité exige. oui, ce que vos chefs respectifs disent est vrai; cette question a son côté politique aussi bien que son côté religieux. il faut en effet que nous nous séparions de la nation, ou bien des puissances chrétiennes; ce sont là deux grands maux également à éviter. le sultan a ordonné que cette question soit discutée dans un conseil d'oulémas qui s'ouvrira samedi prochain chez le sheik-ul-islam, auquel seront appelés le cazi-asker et d'autres notabilités parmi les hommes de loi; après quoi, le conseil des ministres s'en occupera de nouveau. ne croyez-pas au reste que nous nous soyons bornés à appeler leur attention purement et simplement sur la question sous le rapport religieux; nous leur avons remis aussi les protocoles des conférences, les dépêches des deux gouvernemens, et même des extraits des journaux qui ont agité cette question, et nous leur communiquerons également les instructions que vous venez de me remettre, et qui, bien que superflues pour la porte, peuvent encore ajouter à l'impression produite par les autres pièces qui sont entre leurs mains. comme nous ne devons pas douter des bonnes intentions des puissances, nous espérons que mm. les représentans d'angleterre et de france, dans leur haute sagesse et avec l'esprit d'équité qui les anime, ne se refuseront pas à prendre en considération les graves difficultés qui existent, et qu'ils se prêteront à amener une solution qui nous sauverait des deux maux que je vous ai signalés. c'est là le but que nous devons nous efforcer d'atteindre. c'était pour vous informer de la marche de cette affaire que je vous ai prié ce matin de passer chez moi. (translation.) no fresh step was requisite to make us sensible of the importance of this question, with which we are deeply impressed. we are dealing with it with all the seriousness and all the care which its gravity requires. yes, what your respective chiefs say is true; this question has its political as also its religious side. it is requisite, in fact, that we should separate ourselves from the nation, or otherwise from the christian powers; those are two great evils to be equally avoided. the sultan has commanded that this question shall be discussed in the council of oulemas which will be opened next saturday at the sheik-ul-islam's, to which the cazi-asker and the other principal persons among the men of the law will be summoned; after which, the council of ministers will again apply themselves to it. do not suppose, however, that we have confined ourselves to directing their attention purely and simply to the question as it regards religion; we have likewise submitted to them the protocols of the conferences, the despatches of the two governments, and even the extracts of the newspapers which have discussed this question, and we shall likewise communicate to them the instructions which you have just delivered to me, and which, although superfluous as far as the porte is concerned, may still add to the impression produced by the other documents in their hands. as we must not doubt the good intentions of the powers, we trust that the representatives of england and france, in their profound wisdom, and with the spirit of equity by which they are animated, will not refuse to take into consideration the serious difficulties which exist, and that they will lend themselves to bring about a solution which would preserve us from the two evils which i have pointed out to you. that is the object which we must strive to attain. it was in order to acquaint you with the progress of this matter that i requested you to call upon me this morning. inclosure in no. . _answer of rifaat pasha to m. pisani, february_ , . nous connaissons toute l'importance de la question dont il s'agit. mais il faut considérer que cette question n'est ni politique ni administrative, et qu'elle regarde la religion. il faut donc que nous consultions préalablement les docteurs de la loi, et la mission d'examiner cette affaire leur a été donnée de la part du conseil; cette affaire reviendra ensuite au divan. j'accomplis ma mission, qui est celle de porter exactement à la connaissance des ministres de la sublime porte tout ce que les deux représentans me disent, et je ne manquerai pas de leur faire savoir la réponse du conseil. ainsi, non seulement je ne suis pas à même de répondre aujourd'hui, mais il m'est encore impossible de vous dire avec précision quel jour je pourrais vous la donner. je ferai savoir au conseil le message dont vous vous êtes acquitté aujourd'hui. (translation.) we know all the importance of the case in question. but it is necessary to consider that this question is neither one of policy nor of administration, and that it concerns religion. we must therefore first consult the doctors of the law, and the charge of inquiring into this matter has been entrusted to them by the council; the matter will then come back to the divan. i discharge my duty, which is to represent exactly to the ministers of the sublime porte what the two representatives say to me, and i shall not fail to let the latter know the answer of the council. for this reason, not only is it not in my power to give you an answer to-day, but it is also impossible for me to say to you precisely on what day i can give it to you. i will let the council know the message which you have communicated to-day. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received march_ .) (extract.) _constantinople, march_ , . i have this moment received important information, and i rely so much upon its correctness that i send off an express to overtake the messenger. the turkish government has virtually decided on complying with your lordship's requisition. rifaat pasha has written to propose in rather urgent terms a private interview with me. i have assented to this proposal, repeating at the same time my opinion that no advantage is likely to result from it. the french minister will be present, and we shall probably meet on the th. in reply to our renewed demand for the porte's official answer, rifaat pasha has pressed for an additional delay of eight or ten days, alleging that the deliberations of the council are not yet closed. on the expiration of that term, or shortly afterwards, i trust it will be in my power to forward the official confirmation of what i now submit to your lordship with confidence. no. . _lord cowley to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received march_ .) my lord, _paris, march_ , . with reference to your lordship's despatch of the nd instant inclosing a copy of your instructions to sir stratford canning under date the th instant, i have the honour to state that upon communicating those instructions to the minister for foreign affairs, he assured me that he would without loss of time send instructions of a similar tenour to m. de bourqueney, although that minister was already in possession of the sentiments of his government relative to those barbarous executions; which are, that the government of france had no intention of requiring of the ottoman government that they should abrogate any law, but they expect a satisfactory assurance in writing should be given to the allies that the practice complained of should cease. i have, &c., (signed) cowley. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received march_ .) my lord, _constantinople, march_ , . the confidential interview to which i was invited by rifaat pasha, took place yesterday, and the french minister was also present. in order to mark more emphatically the private character of this meeting we trusted entirely to foad effendi, who accompanied rifaat pasha at my request, for the interpretation of what passed between us. i am happy to say that although the pasha repeated all the arguments stated in m. pisani's report, of which a copy has been already transmitted to your lordship, nothing occurred to shake my confidence in the information previously conveyed to me and recorded in my preceding despatch. the french minister participated fully in this impression, and gave me his support in a most frank and effectual manner. the pasha's main position was this: if we refuse, we lose the friendship of europe; if we consent, we hazard the peace of the empire; you come as friends, and therefore we reckon upon your helping us to find some course by which we may satisfy you without injuring ourselves. in answer we confirmed his persuasion that our intentions were friendly; but we added that our course was prescribed by the instructions; that we could not admit the supposition of our governments having acted without a full consideration of the consequences; and that although we were not called upon to require an express and formal repeal of the law which they termed religious, we must, at the very least, require an official declaration that effectual measures would be taken to prevent the recurrence of executions for apostacy, and a disclaimer of every idea involving insult to christianity, or the persecution of its followers, on account of their faith. this explanation appeared to produce a good effect on the pasha's mind, and i observed with particular satisfaction, that he admitted that the mufti had expressed to the porte a personal opinion, which drew a very desirable distinction between the strict language of the law and the discretion warranted by state necessity. upon the whole, my lord, it was sufficiently apparent that the objections entertained by the porte are far from insuperable; that much of the remaining difficulty arises from the reference unwisely made to the ulemah; and that, with every wish to escape from our demand, and every determination to give us the least acceptable degree of satisfaction, there is no intention ultimately to refuse, although it is possible that we shall not be able to obtain as complete a declaration as we could desire without a reference to london and paris. i have, &c., (signed) stratford canning. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received april_ .) (extract.) _constantinople, march_ , . since i had last the honour of addressing your lordship the turkish ministers have been almost exclusively occupied with the great question which formed the subject matter of your lordship's instruction of th january. the deferred settlement of this question is, indeed, a source of much inconvenience to all who have business to transact with the porte. the affairs of her majesty's embassy, and those of the french and even of the austrian legation, are almost suspended. i have, therefore, been doubly anxious to obtain the porte's definitive answer; but notwithstanding every exertion consistent with the consideration due to an independent and friendly government, i have only this moment succeeded in obtaining it; and i lament to say that it is so unsatisfactory as to induce me to reject it without a moment's hesitation. in this decision the french minister concurs with equal promptitude and completeness. i inclose herewith the terms of the answer, as reported to us by our respective interpreters. it was given verbally, but with some additional authority derived from the presence of the grand vizier and the president of the council. the th instant had been previously fixed for the delivery of the porte's answer, and we were content to wait. this morning, however, i received through several channels a confirmation of intelligence which had reached me imperfectly the evening before, to the effect that an unfavourable resolution had already been adopted by the council, and that the turkish ministers deferred the communication of it for the sole purpose of engaging the sultan's word, and frustrating any eventual appeal to his majesty. at the same time, therefore, that, in concurrence with the french minister, i directed m. pisani to demand an audience, if an immediate and satisfactory answer were not delivered at the porte, i sent to the grand marshal of the palace and called upon him to apprize the sultan forthwith of my intention to seek a formal audience of his majesty, and to entreat that the royal decision might be withheld until i had an opportunity of executing your lordship's instruction in that respect. meanwhile in spite of adverse appearances, i still retain the opinion expressed in a former part of my correspondence. the porte, i am satisfied, is prepared to give way in the end, though with much reluctance. nothing whatever has occurred to warrant the alarming rumours of popular excitement and insurrection diligently circulated, and even countenanced by rifaat pasha, some days ago. if my information be correct, there is reason, on the contrary, to believe that not only the mussulman inhabitants of the capital are sufficiently indifferent to the question at issue, but that many of the upper classes, some of the most distinguished turkish statesmen, and a few even of the ulemah are favourable to our view of the subject. inclosure in no. . _answer of rifaat pasha to m. frederic pisani, march_ , . la réponse de son excellence rifaat pacha, dite verbalement et officiellement, se trouve dans une pièce qui nous a été présentée. cette pièce était un extrait d'une dépêche à aali effendi et à réchid pacha. nous avons refusé de la prendre parcequ'elle n'est pas satisfaisante. elle est conçue ainsi: "comme la loi ne permet nullement de changer les dispositions à l'égard de la punition des apostats, la sublime porte prendra des mesures efficaces, les mesures possibles, pour que l'exécution des chrétiens qui, devenus musulmans, retournent au christianisme, n'ait pas lieu." (translation.) the answer of his excellency rifaat pasha, verbally and officially pronounced, is contained in a document which was presented to us. this document was an extract from a despatch to aali effendi and to reshid pasha. we refused to take it, because it is not satisfactory. it is couched in these terms: "as the law does not admit of any change being made in the enactments regarding the punishment of apostates, the sublime porte will take efficacious measures, the measures which are possible, in order that the execution of christians who, having become mussulmans, return to christianity, shall not take place." no. . _the earl of aberdeen to sir stratford canning_. (extract.) _foreign office, april_ , . the latest account which i have received from your excellency of your proceedings with regard to the question pending with the porte, arising out of the execution of the greek near brussa on the charge of apostacy from islamism, is contained in your despatch of the th of march. from that despatch it appears that, in conjunction with your french colleague, you had rejected as unsatisfactory the communication made to your dragomans on that day by the ministers of the porte, and that you were taking measures to secure an audience of the sultan, in the event of your failing to obtain from the porte without further delay, a more satisfactory reply. on the statements in that despatch i have to acquaint your excellency that her majesty's government concur with you in considering that the communication made to you through your dragoman on the th of march, was not of that absolute and unequivocal character which you were instructed in my despatch of the th of january to require from the porte; and that you consequently acted rightly in refusing to receive it, and in taking steps to obtain either a more satisfactory communication from the ministers of the porte, or admission to the presence of the sultan for the purpose of addressing to his highness in person that appeal which you were directed in case of necessity to make to him. with regard, however, to the nature of the communication which her majesty's government would consider satisfactory, i have to state to your excellency that her majesty's government are content to abide by the terms which, it appears from your despatch of the th of march, were suggested to rifaat pasha on the preceding day by your excellency and m. de bourqueney, namely, that the porte should make "an official declaration that effectual measures would be taken to prevent the recurrence of executions for apostacy," or, as the proposition has been reported by m. de bourqueney to his government, "that the porte will take effectual measures to prevent the renewal of executions similar to those which have recently taken place at constantinople and biligik." with such a declaration, officially made, her majesty's government would be perfectly satisfied, even without the additional clause reported by your excellency, which appears to them to be unnecessary. i need scarcely inform your excellency that her majesty's government look with much anxiety to an early solution of this question. they are sensible of the many inconveniences which the continued agitation of it may involve, although it is with no small satisfaction that they perceive from your excellency's despatch that there is no present appearance of the difficulties necessarily attached to the question being increased by any insurrectionary or fanatical movement on the part of the mussulman inhabitants of the capital. i have not yet received from the turkish ambassador in this country any communication of the despatch from which the answer given to your excellency, through m. pisani, appears to be an extract. it is greatly to be desired that the porte should act with promptitude. much of the embarrassment to which the agitation of this question has given rise, may be traced to the attempt of the porte to invest it exclusively with a religious character. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received april_ .) (extract.) _constantinople, march_ , . i have the honour and satisfaction to inform your lordship that the question of religious executions is happily and, to all appearance, conclusively settled. the concession has been obtained with great difficulty; and, even to the last moment, it required the firmness of resolution inspired by your lordship's instruction to overcome the obstacles which were raised against us, and to keep the turkish ministers steady to their professions. i felt it to be my duty to accept nothing short of your lordship's requisition in its full extent. but this obligation did not preclude me either from adopting such means of success as were best calculated to hasten a favourable result, or from accepting that result in a conciliatory though effective shape. by availing myself of an overture to communicate directly with the sultan, i succeeded in obtaining all that was necessary, and in receiving his highness' acknowledgments for the consideration i had shewn to his wishes. these transactions have so little interest now, that it would be a waste of your lordship's time to enter upon a narration of them. it may suffice for me to state that, after several unacceptable propositions, the porte's definitive reply was communicated to me and to the french minister in suitable terms, and also in writing, which had been long refused; that to leave no doubt of what i understand to be the meaning of the porte, i sent in an acknowledgment, of which a copy is herewith inclosed, together with a translated copy of the porte's declaration; and that to-day, at my audience of the sultan, his highness not only confirmed what the porte had declared, but added, in frank and explicit language, the assurances which i had previously required as to the general good treatment of the christians throughout his dominions. he, in fact, gave me his royal word that, henceforward, neither should christianity be insulted in his dominions, nor should christians be in any way persecuted for their religion. important as it was to obtain this assurance from the lips of the sovereign himself, i should have thought it right to demand an audience for the mere purpose of removing false impressions from his highness' mind respecting the motives and objects of her majesty's government. in this respect, also, i had every reason to be satisfied. the sultan expressed the strongest reliance on the friendly intentions of great britain; he fully appreciated the motives which had actuated her on the present occasion; he acknowledged more than once the signal and frequent services rendered to his empire by british arms and counsels; he declared that the great concession which he had now confirmed, though entirely consonant with his own feelings, had been made to his sense of obligation towards the british government; he called upon me to convey his thanks to her majesty for the good treatment experienced by the millions of mussulman subjects living under british sway in india, and his anxious desire that the engagements which he had taken to protect from violent and undue interference the christians established in his empire, should be appreciated by her majesty's government, and prove a source of increased good-will between the two nations, and an occasion of eliciting fresh proofs of friendly interest on the part of great britain towards his dominions. what passed at this audience is the more important and binding, as it was one of a formal character, applied for on public grounds; and, to give it still greater value, the sultan, after i had retired from his presence, called back the dragoman of the porte, and desired him to assure me that what he had said in public proceeded from his real conviction, and was, in fact, the sincere expression of his personal sentiments. inclosure in no. . _official declaration of the sublime porte, relinquishing the practice of executions for apostacy_. (translation.) it is the special and constant intention of his highness the sultan that his cordial relations with the high powers be preserved, and that a perfect reciprocal friendship be maintained, and increased. the sublime porte engages to take effectual measures to prevent henceforward the execution and putting to death of the christian who is an apostate. _march_ , . inclosure in no. . _acknowledgment of the sublime porte's official declaration respecting executions for apostacy. march_ , . the official declaration communicated by his excellency the minister for foreign affairs shall be transmitted to the british government, who will understand with satisfaction that the sublime porte, in taking effectual measures to prevent henceforward the execution and putting to death of any christian, an apostate from islamism, relinquishes for ever a principle inconsistent with its friendly professions; and the further assurances to be given at the ambassador's audience of the sultan, in the sense of the instruction presented in copy to the porte on the th ultimo, will fully satisfy the british government that christianity is not to be insulted in his highness' empire, nor any one professing it to be treated as a criminal, or persecuted on that account. (signed) stratford cann ng. no. . _earl of westmorland to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received april_ .) my lord, _berlin, april_ , . i received a private letter from sir stratford canning, dated constantinople, march , announcing the termination of his negotiation with the turkish government as to its future conduct in the cases of christians who have renounced the mahomedan religion, and bearing witness to the cordial manner in which m. de le coq, the prussian minister, under baron bülow's instruction, had assisted his exertions. i thought it my duty to communicate this feeling to baron bülow, who has expressed himself obliged by the expressions of sir stratford canning, and most happy to have contributed to so good a work as the attainment of a written pledge from the turkish government that it will take effectual means to prevent henceforward the execution of the christian who is an apostate. i have, &c., (signed) westmorland. no. . _lord cowley to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received april_ .) my lord, _paris, april_ , . at the desire of her majesty's ambassador at constantinople i have the honour to forward to your lordship copies of a despatch and of its inclosures which his excellency has addressed to me in consequence of the acquiescence of the porte in the representations of great britain and france on the subject of the execution of apostates from islamism. m. guizot read to me yesterday baron de bourqueney's report announcing the successful termination of these negotiations, and expressing his entire satisfaction at the assurances afforded him by the sultan, at the audience to which his majesty has been graciously pleased to invite him, of his determination to adhere strictly to the engagements he had entered into with the two powers. i have, &c., (signed) cowley. inclosure in no. . _sir stratford canning to lord cowley_. my lord, _constantinople, march_ , . as the question relating to the execution of apostates from islamism is now successfully terminated, it will be satisfactory for your lordship to learn that the entire approbation expressed by m. guizot of the instructions addressed to me on the th of january by the earl of aberdeen, procured me the active support of baron de bourqueney throughout the late negotiations with the porte, and that by acting separately, according to m. guizot's suggestion, i was enabled to give the fullest effect to my instructions, marked and decisive as they were, without losing any part of the advantage derived from the french minister's concurrence. together we rejected the unsatisfactory answer at first and more than once proposed by the porte; together we accepted what appeared to offer a sufficient guarantee for the accomplishment of our common object. the terms in which the final declaration of the porte was conveyed to us on the st instant, are recorded in the accompanying paper translated exactly from the turkish original. i thought it advisable to acknowledge this communication, and as i was entitled to expect some additional assurances from the sultan at the public audience which i had demanded of his majesty according to my instructions, i avoided embarrassing the french minister by proposing to him to take part in a step which related exclusively to my position. a copy of this acknowledgment is inclosed herewith; and in order to give your lordship a complete view of the transaction in its full extent, i add the very terms, as translated to me, in which the sultan was pleased to confirm and to enlarge the engagement of his government. i may venture to add that his majesty's assurances were given in the most gracious form, accompanied with an expression of thanks for the liberal manner in which the millions of mahomedan subjects in india are treated by the british authorities, and followed by a message, after i had left his presence, to the effect that the sentiments which he had declared to me were not only those of the monarch but of the individual. in short, my lord, i am sanguine enough to hope that her majesty's government have laid the foundation of a more real improvement in the temper and policy of this state than was to have been previously expected; and it is a subject of just congratulation that the counsels of two great nations have united successfully for the attainment of so beneficent an object. the invitation to baron de bourqueney to wait upon the sultan the day after my audience, and to receive, for the information of his court, a repetition of the assurances addressed to me, affords another proof of his majesty's sincerity. i have, &c., (signed) stratford canning. p.s.--i request that a copy of this despatch and its inclosures may be forwarded immediately to her majesty's government. s. c. inclosure in no. . _official declaration of the sublime porte, relinquishing the practice of executions for apostacy from islamism_. [see inclosure l in no. .] inclosure in no. . _acknowledgment of the sublime porte's official declaration respecting executions for apostacy_. [see inclosure in no. .] inclosure in no. . _declaration of his highness the sultan to sir stratford canning at his audience on the rd of march_, . "henceforward neither shall christianity be insulted in my dominions, nor shall christians be in any way persecuted for their religion." no. . _the earl of aberdeen to sir stratford canning_. (extract.) _foreign office, april_ , . i received on the th of this month your excellency's despatch of the rd of march conveying the gratifying intelligence that the porte had given way on the question of the execution of apostates from islamism. the concession made by the porte in this respect, entirely consistent as it is with the wishes and intentions of her majesty's government, as expressed in my several instructions of the th of january, th of march, and th of april, has given them the greatest satisfaction; and i have been happy to receive the queen's commands to signify to your excellency her majesty's gracious approbation of the manner in which you have executed your instructions, and brought to a successful close a question of which the importance cannot be too highly rated. a critical exposition of the popular "jihÁd." a critical exposition of the popular "jihÁd." showing that all the wars of mohammad were defensive; and that aggressive war, or compulsory conversion, is not allowed in the koran. with appendices proving that the word "jihad" does not exegetically mean 'warfare,' and that slavery is not sanctioned by the prophet of islam. by moulavi gherÁgh ali, _author of_ "reforms under moslem rule," "hyderabad (deccan) under sir salar jung." calcutta: thacker, spink and co. . calcutta: printed by thacker, spink and co. note. i here take the opportunity of removing a wrong idea of the alleged injunction of the prophet against our countrymen the hindús. the hon'ble raja sivá prasad, in his speech at the legislative council, on the th march, , while discussing the ilbert bill, quoted from amir khusro's _tarikh alái_ that, "ala-ud-dín khiliji once sent for a kází, and asked him what was written in the code of mehammadan law regarding the hindús. the kází answered that, the hindús were _zimmis_ (condemned to pay the jízya tax); if asked silver, they ought to pay gold with deep respect and humility; and if the collector of taxes were to fling dirt in their faces, they should gladly open their mouths wide. god's order is to keep them in subjection, and the prophet enjoins on the faithful to kill, plunder and imprison them, to make mussulmáns, or to put them to the sword, to enslave them, and confiscate their property....'" [_vide_ supplement to the _gazette of india_, april , , page .] these alleged injunctions, i need not say here, after what i have stated in various places of this book regarding intolerance, and compulsory conversion, are merely false imputations. there are no such injunctions of the prophet against either _zimmis_, (_i.e._, protected or guaranteed) or the hindús. to the honorable syed ahmed khan bahadur, c.s.i., this book is, without even asking permission. and wholly without his knowledge. dedicated as a slight but sincere testimony of admiration for his long and various services in the cause of islam and in respect of his religious and social reforms in the moslims of india, and of gratitude for much personal kindness and friendship, by the author. [transcriber's note: all errata listed below have been corrected in the e-text. mistakes not listed below have been left as they appeared in the printed book, although missing or misplaced punctuation marks have been corrected.] errata. _page_ _line_ _for_ _read_ v them _omit_ " them it xvii _f.n._ maaddite moaddite xxxiv morra murra " soleim suleim xlii kauuka kainuka xliii _f.n._ mozeima mozeina xlv khusain khushain liv ban bani " ghassianide ghassanide lxxxviii khalips khalifs xci caliphater caliphate kurzibn kurz-ibn god[ ] god: " " desist[ ] desist " persecution persecution[ ] " (fitnah (fitnah[ ]) liberty and liberty, any of " brethern merely brethren, merely " - such a manner such manner " society or society, or " of it materially of it, materially " deserve pity deserve only pity ibu ibn rafi rafe ibu ibn " ibu ibn bil bin as stallions for breeding purposes durar dinar sirni sirin jihad does not mean {read this as a the waging of war marginal gloss " _jahad_ _jahd._ " katal and kital read this as a marginal gloss. " conclusion ditto, ditto. summary of contents. introduction i-civ note cv genealogical table of the arabs cvi-cvii i. the persecutions suffered by the early moslems - ii. the meccans or the koreish - iii. the defensive character of the wars of mohammad - iv. the jews - v. the christians or romans - vi. the intolerance - vii. the ninth chapter of _sura barát_ - viii. the alleged interception of the koreish caravans by the moslems - ix. the alleged assassinations by the command or connivance of mohammad - x. the alleged cruelty in executing the prisoners of war - xi. some miscellaneous objections refuted - xii. the popular jihád or crusade - appendix a. the word jihad in the koran does not mean warfare - appendix b. slavery and concubinage not allowed by the koran - appendix c. koranic references - index - table of contents introduction-- paras. page. . object of the book i . early wrongs of the moslem; justification in taking up arms, if taken ii . commencement of the war; the koreish being public enemy were liable to be treated as such _ib._ . but the moslems could not take up arms to redress their wrongs under certain circumstances iii . moslems otherwise engaged at medina had no intention of suffering the horrors of war by taking the initiative, but were in imminent danger from the enemy iv . the koreish first attacked the moslems at medina. they could not forbear the escape of the moslems v . three battles waged by the koreish against mohammad--badr, ohad, and ahzáb: these wars on the moslem side were purely in defence, not waged even to redress their wrongs or re-establish their rights vii . the battle of badr was defensive on the part of mohammad. reasons for the same viii . mohammad at medina, owing to the attacks, inroads, and threatening gatherings of the koreish and other tribes, had hardly time to think of offensive measures xi . armed opposition of the koreish to the moslem pilgrims from medina in the vicinity of mecca. the truce of hodeibia xv . the koreish again commit hostilities and violate their pledge. war declared against those who had violated the truce. war not carried out xvi . war with foes other than koreish xviii . expedition to tabúk to check the advancing enemy. no war took place xix . number of the wars of mohammad much exaggerated: _ghazava_ defined; number of actual wars xx . the revd. mr. green's remarks on the wars of mohammad criticised xxiii . another view of the wars of mohammad xxviii . caravans if waylaid were waylaid by way of reprisal xxx . intolerance; no compulsory conversion enjoined or took place during mohammad's lifetime: sir w. muir quoted and refuted xxxi . a brief sketch of the propagation of islam at mecca: islam at mecca; islam at abyssinia; conversions at nakhla xxxii . rapid stride of islam at medina xxxvii . the increasing number of moslem converts at mecca after the hegira xxxix . disturbed state of the public peace among the tribes surrounding medina. internicine wars, an obstacle to the propagation of islam xl . sketch of the intertribal wars in arabia during the lifetime of mohammad xli . spread of islam in the surrounding tribes at medina after the hegira i--vi xliii . mecca a barrier against the conversion of the southern tribes xliv . tribal conversions in the sixth year. conversion among several other tribes of the north and north-east in a.h. viii xlv . surrender of mecca, a.h. viii xlvii . mecca not compelled to believe _ib._ . the wholesale conversion of the remaining tribes, a.h. ix and x xlviii . the various deputations in the th and th year of the hegira li . a list of the deputations of conversion received by mohammad at medina during a.h. ix and x li--lviii . all conversions, individual and tribal, were without any compulsion lix . mohammad was not favoured with circumstances round him. the difficulty mohammad encountered in his work. marcus dods quoted: dr. mohseim's causes of the spread of islam and hallam quoted lx--lxv . mohammad's unwavering belief in his own mission and his success show him to be a true prophet. mohammad's efforts established monotheism in arabia. his manly exertions, and his single handed perseverance. the business and office of a prophet described. sir w. muir and stobart quoted lxv--lxix . the reforms of mohammad, his iconoclastic policy. the redemption of arabia from venal debauchery and infatuated superstition. muir, marcus dods, stephens quoted lxix--lxxvii . indictment against mohammad. his alleged cruelty and sensuality. muir, rev. hughes, marcus dods, and stanley poole refuted lxxviii--lxxxvii . objections to the ( ) finality of the social reforms of mohammad, ( ) positive precepts, ( ) ceremonial law, ( ) morality, ( ) want of adaptability to the varying circumstances lxxxvii--lxxxix . all these objections apply rather to the teaching of the mohammadan common law than to the koran xc . ( ) finality of social reforms of mohammad discussed. intermediary not to be considered final xc--xcii . ( ) positive precepts and ( ) ceremonial law, pilgrimage, _kibla_, amount of alms, fasts, forms and attitude of prayer, &c.: pretentious prayers and ostentatious almsgiving xcii--xcvii . ( ) the koran, both abstract and concrete in morals xcvii--cii . ( ) adaptability of the koran to surrounding circumstances cii--ciii . suitability of the koran to all classes of humanity ciii--civ note cv genealogical tables of the tribes mentioned in para. of the introduction cvi--cvii all the wars of mohammad were defensive. _i.--the persecution._ . the early persecution of moslems by the people of mecca . notices of the persecutions in the koran . insults suffered by mohammad . historical summary of the persecutions . the hegira, or the expulsion of the moslems from mecca . the persecution of the moslems by the koreish after their flight from mecca _ii.--the meccans or the koreish._ . a koreish chieftain commits a raid near medina, a.h. _ib._ . the koreish march to attack medina. battle of badr _ib._ . attack by abu sofian upon medina, a.h. . battle of ohad . mohammad's prestige affected by the defeat _ib._ . abu sofian threatened the moslems with another attack next year . the koreish again attack medina with a large army. mohammad defends the city. the enemy retire. a.h. . mohammad with his followers advanced to perform the lesser pilgrimage of mecca. the koreish oppose mohammad, who return disappointed. the treaty of hodeibia . violation of the treaty by the koreish and their submission . two other tribes assume the offensive _ib._ _iii.--the defensive character of the wars._ . verses from the koran in support of the defensive character of the wars . what the above quoted verses show . justification of the moslems in taking up arms against their aggressors . the first aggression after the hegira was not on the part of mohammad . the alleged instances examined . hamza and obeida's expeditions _ib._ . abwa, bowat, and osheira expeditions . the affair at nakhla . at badr mohammad came only in his defence . the first aggression after the hegira if from mohammad, might fairly be looked upon as retaliation _iv.--the jews._ . the jews broke treaties _ib._ . bani kainukaa, bani nazeer, khyber, and ghatafán . notice of them in koran . the judgment of sád . defensive character of the expedition against the jews of khyber _v.--the christians or romans._ . tabúk, the last expedition _ib._ . description of the wars concluded _vi.--the intolerance._ . mohammad never taught intolerance . in what sense the wars were religious wars . the alleged verses of intolerance explained . sir william muir quoted . comment on the above quotation . object of mohammad's wars _vii.--the ninth chapter or sura barát._ . the opening portion of the ix sura of the koran only relates to the koreish who had violated the truce _viii.--the alleged interceptions of the koreish caravans._ . the nine alleged interceptions of the koreish caravans . the interceptions were impossible under the circumstances in which mohammad was placed . the interceptions, if occurred, were justified by way of reprisal _ix.--the alleged assassinations._ . instances of the alleged assassinations cited . mr. stanley poole quoted . asma-bint marwan . the story deserves not our belief . abu afak . kab, son of ashraf . mohammad could never have had any share in kab's murder . sofian bin khalid . justification of sofian's alleged murder . abu rafe . oseir bin zarim . the intended assassination of abu sofian . irving and muir quoted; concluding remarks _x.--the alleged cruelties in executing prisoners of war and others._ . treatment of the prisoners of war _ib._ . law of nations regarding the prisoners of war . the execution of nadher ibn harith . the execution of okba . free liberty granted to ozza, a prisoner of war . abul ozza proved a traitor and was executed _ib._ . the execution of moavia ibn mughira _ib._ . justification of mughira's execution . the intended execution of the prisoners of badr and the wrong version of sir w. muir . mohammad was never blamed in the koran for releasing prisoners . the koran enjoins the prisoners of war to be either freely liberated or ransomed, but neither executed nor enslaved . high treason of the bani koreiza against medina and their execution . the whole of the bani koreiza were never executed _ib._ . the women and children of bani koreiza were never sold . the exaggerated number of persons executed _xi.--some miscellaneous objections refuted._ . the execution of omm kirfa for brigandage . the alleged mutilation of the urnee robbers . amputation or banishment substituted temporarily in place of imprisonment for want of a well organized system of jails . torture of kinana . the alleged execution of a singing girl . the charitable spirit of mohammad towards his enemies . abu basir not countenanced by the prophet in contravention to the spirit of the treaty of hodeibia . nueim not employed by the prophet to circulate false reports in the enemy's camp . deception in war allowed by the international law _ib._ . lecky's standard of morality . the alleged permission to kill the jews . sir w. muir quoted . the expulsion of the bani nazeer _ib._ . their fruit-trees were not cut down . females and the treaty of hodeibia . stanley defended . marriage a strict bond of union _the popular jihád._ . the koran enjoins only defensive wars . the mohammadan common law and the jihád . when is jihád a positive injunction _ib._ . the hedáya quoted and refuted . rule of interpretation . the common law and its commentators . kifáya quoted . further quotations . the _kifáya_ refuted . s. ix, , discussed . s. ii, , discussed _ib._ . s. ii, , and viii, , are defensive . all injunctions were local and for the time being . _ainee_ quoted and refuted _ib._ . _sarakhsee_ quoted and refuted . _ibn hajar_ quoted . _ibn hajar_ refuted . _halabi_ quoted _ib._ . _halabi_ refuted . _ainee_ again quoted and refuted _ib._ . continuation of the above . traditions quoted and refuted _ib._ . early moslem legists against the jihád . biographical sketches of the legists . european writers' mistakes . sir w. muir quoted and refuted . islam not aggressive . mr. freeman quoted and refuted . the revd. mr. stephens quoted and refuted . mr. bosworth smith quoted and refuted . mr. george sale quoted and refuted _ib._ . major osborn quoted . major osborn refuted . the ix sura of the koran _ib._ . the revd. mr. wherry quoted . example cited from jewish history explained . mosaic injunctions . the revd. mr. hughes quoted and refuted . meaning of the word jihád . sura xlviii, , explained . the revd. malcolm maccoll quoted . the untenable theories of the mohammadan common law - appendix a. . jihád or jihd in the koran does not mean war or crusade . classical meaning of jihád, &c. . post-classical or technical meaning of jihád . the classical logic and arabian poets _ib._ . the conjugation and declination of jahd or jihád in the koran . the number of instances in which they occur in the koran . in what sense they are used in the koran . conventional significations of jihád . mohammadan commentators, &c., quoted . when the word jihád was diverted from its original signification to its figurative meaning of waging religious wars . all verses of the koran containing the word jihád and its derivations quoted and explained . the above verses quoted with remarks _the meccan suras._ . _lokman_, xxxi, _ib._ . _furkan_, xxv, , . _the pilgrimage_, xxii, , _ib._ . _the bee_, xvi, , . _the spider_, xxix, . _ibid_, _ib._ . _ibid_, _ib._ . _the bee_, xvi, . _creator_, xxxv, _ib._ _the medinite suras._ . _the cow or heifer_, ii, . _al amran_, iii, _ib._ . _the spoils_, viii, . _ibid._ _ib._ . _ibid._ _ib._ . _the cattle_, vi, _ib._ . _mohammad_, xlvii, . _battle array_, lxi, _ib._ . _woman._ iv. . _light._ xxiv, _ib._ . _the forbidding._ lxvi, _ib._ . _the immunity._ ix, . _the tried_, lx, . hatib's _story_ . _the apartment_, xlix, _ib._ . _the immunity_, ix, _ib._ . _ibid_. _ib._ . _ibid_, . _ibid_, _ib._ . _ibid_, _ib._ . _ibid_, . _ibid_, _ib._ . _ibid_, _ib._ . _ibid_, . _the table_, v, _ib._ . _ibid_, _ib._ . _ibid_, _ib._ . jihád does not mean the waging of war . _katal_ and _kitál_ _ib._ . conclusion _ib._ appendix b. . slavery and concubinage not allowed by the koran . measures taken by the koran to abolish future slavery . none of the prisoners of war was enslaved . _bani koreiza_ not enslaved . _rihana_ . omar, the second khalif, liberated all the arab slaves . concubinage . maria the coptic . despatch of _mokowkas_ & . maria neither a slave nor a concubine . maria had no son . the story of maria and haphsa a spurious one . the affair not noticed in the early biographies . sir w. muir's authority not valid _ib._ . the best commentators and traditionalists refute the story . the story not accredited by the koran _ib._ . the story when fabricated _ib._ . zeinab's case . the story a spurious one . sir w. muir's conjectures not justified . a wrong translation of sir w. muir . in zeinab's case no exceptional privilege was secured . the false story traced to _mukatil_ _ib._ . _katádas_ conjectural interpretation not warranted . other conjectures appendix c. i.--the verses of the koran referring to the persecution of the koreish at mecca ii.--the verses of the koran referring to the aggressions of the koreish at medina as well as those of the inhabitants thereof _ib._ iii.--the verses of the koran alluding to the wars of defence against the koreish and arabs, &c., with several references to their aggressions _ib._ iv.--the verses of the koran alluding to the various battles introduction. [sidenote: object of the book.] . in publishing this work, my chief object is to remove the general and erroneous impression from the minds of european and christian writers regarding islam, that mohammad waged wars of conquest, extirpation, as well as of proselytizing against the koreish, other arab tribes, the jews, and christians;[ ] that he held the koran in one hand and the scimitar in the other, and compelled people to believe in his mission. i have endeavoured in this book, i believe on sufficient grounds, to show that neither the wars of mohammad were offensive, nor did he in any way use force or compulsion in the matter of belief. [footnote : "he now occupied a position where he might become the agent for executing the divine sentence, and at the same time triumphantly impose the true religion on those who had rejected it." the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, page . london, . (new edition.) "the free toleration of the purer among the creeds around him, which the prophet had at first enjoined, gradually changes into intolerance. persecuted no longer, mohammad becomes a persecutor himself; with the koran in one hand, and scymitar in the other, he goes forth to offer to the nations the three-fold alternative of conversion, tribute, death."--mohammed and mohammedanism, by mr. r. bosworth smith, page . second edition.] [sidenote: early wrongs of the moslems.] [sidenote: justification in taking up arms, if taken.] . all the wars of mohammad were defensive. he and those who took interest in his cause were severely oppressed at intervals, and were in a sort of general persecution at mecca at the hands of the ungodly and fierce koreish. those who were weak and without protection had to leave their city, and twice fly to the christian land of abyssinia, pursued by the wrathful koreish, but in vain. those who remained at mecca were subject to all sorts of indignities, malignity and a deprivation of all religious and social liberty, because they had forsaken the inferior deities of the koreish, and believed in the only one god of mohammad, in whose mission they had full belief. mohammad and his followers had every sanction, under the natural and international law, then and there to wage war against their persecutors with the object of removing the (_fitnah_) persecution and obtaining their civil rights of freedom and religious liberty in their native city. [sidenote: commencement of the state of war.] [sidenote: the koreish being public enemies were liable to be treated as such.] . the fierce persecutions renewed by the koreish at the time of the expulsion of the moslems from mecca were acts of hostility tantamount to a declaration of war. from that time commenced the state of war between the parties. in the arab society at mecca there was neither an organized government, nor any distinction between a public and private person and property. there was no regular army in the state, and what existed was not a permanently organized body, so provided with external marks that it could be readily identified. the form of government at mecca was patriarchal, and the chiefs of the koreish and the citizens of medina themselves constituted an army when occasion arose. therefore, since the commencement of hostilities or the state of war, every individual of the koreish or the meccans was a public enemy of the moslems, and liable to be treated as such in his person and property, except those who were unable to take part in the hostilities, or, as a matter of fact, abstained from engaging in them. therefore it was lawful for the moslems to threaten or to waylay the caravans of the enemy, which passed to and from mecca close to medina, and also to attack the koreish at mecca, if they could possibly do so. [sidenote: but the moslems could not take up arms to redress their wrongs under certain circumstances.] . but as the people amongst whom the prophet and his fugitive moslems now sojourned had only pledged to defend them at medina, the flying mohammadans could not take up arms against their aggressors, the koreish, to defend their rights of religious liberty and citizenship, much less of taking arms to compel the non-believers to believe in moslem faith, and so they preferred to live in peace at medina, and enjoy the blessings of their new religion without any disturbance from without, if possible. [sidenote: moslems otherwise engaged at medina had no intention of suffering the horrors of war by taking the initiative.] [sidenote: but were in imminent danger from the enemy.] . in fact, the moslems, after suffering so long such heavy persecutions at mecca, had at length got an asylum of peace at medina, where they had very little desire left to entertain any idea of commencing hostilities or undergoing once more the horrors of war, and were too glad to live in peace after their last escape. the people of medina had only agreed to defend the prophet from attack, not to join him in any aggressive steps towards the koreish. the attention of mohammad and his followers who had fled with him was mainly occupied in preaching and teaching the tenets of islam, in establishing a fraternity between the refugees and the citizens, in building a house for prayer, in providing houses for refugees, in contracting treaties of neutrality with the jews of medina and other surrounding tribes, bani zamra (a tribe connected with mecca) and also with bani mudlij (a tribe of kinana related to the koreish), in anticipation of the impending danger[ ] from the koreish, who had pursued them on the similar occasions before, and in organizing, above all these, some of the religious and civil institutions for the moslems, who were now fast assuming the position of an independent society or commonwealth. under such circumstances, it was next to impossible for mohammad or his adherents to think of anything like an offensive war with their inveterate foes, or to take up arms for proselytizing purposes. [footnote : see sura xxiv, verse .] [sidenote: the koreish first attacked the moslems at medina. they could not forbear the escape of the moslems.] . the koreish, seeing the persecuted had left almost all their native lands for a distant city out of their approach, except by a military expedition, and losing mohammad, for whose arrest they had tried their utmost, as well as upon hearing the reception, treatment, religious freedom and brotherly help the moslems received and enjoyed at medina, could not subdue their ferocious animosity against the exiles. the hostility of the koreish had already been aroused. the severity and injustice of the koreish was so great, that when, in a.d., a party of moslems had emigrated to abyssinia, they had pursued them to overtake them. and again, in a.d., when the persecution by the koreish was hotter than before, a party of about moslems had fled from mecca to abyssinia, the koreish sent an embassy to abyssinia to obtain the surrender of the emigrants. there is every reason to believe that the koreish, enraged as they were on the escape of the moslems in their third and great emigration in a.d., would naturally have taken every strong and hostile measure to persecute the fugitives.[ ] it was in the second year from the general expulsion of the moslems from mecca that the koreish, with a large army of one thousand strong, marched upon the moslems at medina. medina being miles or stages from mecca, the aggressive army, after marching stages, arrived at badr, which is or stages from medina. mahommad--with only moslems, more being from among the people of medina than the refugees--came out of medina in self-defence to encounter the koreish, and the famous battle of badr was fought only at thirty miles from medina. there could be no doubt that the affair was purely and admittedly a defensive one. sura xxii, verses - , copied at page of this book, was first published in the matter of taking up arms in self-defence after the battle of badr. [footnote : the idea of forbearance on the part of the koreish, as entertained by sir w. muir, is not borne out by their former conduct of persecuting the believers and pursuing the fugitives among them. he says: "mahomet and abu bakr trusted their respective clans to protect their families from insult. but no insult or annoyance of any kind was offered by the coreish. nor was the slightest attempt made to detain them; although it was not unreasonable that they should have been detained as hostages against any hostile incursion from medina"[a]. they were contemplating a grand pursuit and attack on the moslems, and had no reason to detain the families of mahomet and abu bakr as hostages whilst they could not think that the moslems will take the initiative, as they were too glad to escape and live unmolested.] [footnote a: muir's life of mahomet, vol ii, page .] [sidenote: the three battles waged by the koreish against mohammad.] . the koreish carried on three aggressive battles against the moslems at medina. the first, called the battle of badr, took place at thirty miles from medina, the koreish having come down miles from mecca. the second, called the battle of ohad, was fought at a distance of one mile from medina, the enemy having advanced miles from mecca. the third was the battle of confederates, in which they had mustered an army of ten thousand strong. the city was besieged for several days, and the moslems defended themselves within the walls of medina which they had entrenched. these were the only battles between the koreish and mohammad, in each the latter always acted on the defensive. neither he attacked the koreish offensively to take revenge, nor to compel them by force of arms to accept his religion. [sidenote: these wars were purely in defence, not to redress their wrongs or to establish their rights.] even these three battles were not waged by mohammad to redress wrong or establish imperilled rights. they were only to repel force by right of self-defence. had mohammad and his moslems invaded mecca and fought battles against the koreish there, he would have been justified for waging war to redress the injuries of person and property inflicted by the meccans on the moslems whom they were tormenting for their religion and had expelled them from their homes, and had even barred their yearly visitation to the shrine of kaába. a war which is undertaken for just causes, to repel or avert wrongful force, or to establish a right, is sanctioned by every law, religious, moral or political. [sidenote: the battle of badr was defensive.] . sir w. muir, the great advocate for the aggressive koreish, holds that the war of badr was "brought on by mahomet himself,"[ ] and that he intended to surprise the caravan of the koreish returning from syria under the charge of abu sofian, and had come out to medina to waylay it. abu sofian sent for an army of the koreish for his aid, and thus commenced the battle of badr. i have given my reasons at pages - of the book to show that this is a false account. i will point out from contemporary records, _i.e._, the koran, that mohammad neither meant, nor had he come out of medina, to attack the caravan. [sidenote: reasons for the same.] i. the verses and of sura viii[ ] show that a part of the believers were quite averse to mohammad's coming out of medina on the occasion of the battle of badr. had their mission been one of plundering rich caravans, as it is generally alleged, there could be no reason for that aversion of a party of believers who are accused so often of a hostile attitude towards the koreish, and possessed of that great love of booty and adventure so prominent among the arabs. the fact is, a party of believers had disputed with mohammad the necessity of the combat and its probable result outside medina. they preferred to defend themselves within its walls. this argument is against the allegation that mohammad with his followers had started to waylay the caravan, and the koreish had come only to rescue it. ii. the rd[ ] verse of the same sura shows that it was by a mere accident or coincidence that all the three parties of the moslems, the koreshite army and the caravan had arrived, and encamped close to badr in front of each other. this is an argument against those who say that mohammad had intentionally come to badr to waylay the caravan there.[ ] there was, in fact, no predetermination on the part of mohammad either to waylay the caravan, or encounter the koreish army at badr. mohammad with his followers had come out only to check the advancing enemy in his self-defence. iii. the seventh[ ] verse of the same sura shows that while the parties had so accidentally encamped close to each other, the moslems had desired then and there only to attack the caravan, as a reprisal or by way of retaliation, instead of combating with the koreish army. this is an argument in support of my contention that there was no previous arrangement to attack the caravan. iv. the same verse also shows that mohammad had no intention of attacking the caravan either before his coming out of medina, as it is alleged by ignorant people, or after coming at badr in front of the enemy's army. v. sura viii, verse ,[ ] which treats of the prisoners of the war taken at badr, expressly notes the treachery of the meccans before their being taken prisoner, and refers obviously to their aggressively setting out of mecca to attack the moslems at medina. vi. sura ix, verse ,[ ] at a subsequent event of the violation of the truce of hodeibia by the koreish, very distinctly charges them with attacking first and waging offensive war and being aggressive. as there was no war or attack from the koreish on the moslems before badr, i conclude that in the war of badr the koreish were aggressive. [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iii, page , _foot-note_. this note has been expunged in the new edition of "the life": _vide_ page .] [footnote : . "_remember_ how thy lord caused thee to go forth from thy home on _a mission_ of truth, and verily a part of the believers were quite averse to it." . "they disputed with thee about the truth after it had been made clear, as if they were being led forth to death and saw it before them." sura viii.] [footnote : . "when ye were encamped on the near side of the valley, and they were on the further side, and the caravan was below you, if ye have made an engagement to _attack_, ye would assuredly have failed the engagement; but _ye were led into action notwithstanding_, that god might accomplish the thing _destined_ to be done." sura viii.] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet. new edition, page .] [footnote : "and _remember_ when god promised you that one of the two troops should fall to you, and ye desired that they who had no arms should fall to you: but god purposed to prove true the truth of his words, and to cut off the uttermost part of the infidels."] [footnote : "but if they seek to deal treacherously with thee--they have already dealt treacherously with god before! therefore hath he given you power over them."] [footnote : "will ye not do battle with a people who have broken their covenant and aimed to expel your apostle and attacked you first? will you dread them?"] [sidenote: mohammad, owing to the attacks, inroads and threatening gatherings from the koreish and other arab tribes, had hardly time to think of offensive measures.] . but mohammad, harassed and attacked every year by the koreish and other hostile arab tribes, had hardly any time to wage an aggressive war against his koreshite foes, to establish his imperilled rights, or to redress the injuries of the moslems or his own wrong; much less of taking up arms to compel them to renounce idolatry and believe in his divine mission. during the first year after their expulsion from mecca, the moslems were in constant danger from the ferocity of the koreish, and when mohammad was contracting treaties of neutrality with the neighbouring tribes, kurz-bin-jábir, a koreish of the desert, committed a raid upon medina. in the course of the second year the koreish fought the battle of badr, followed by a petty inroad of theirs upon medina at the end of the year. the bani nazeer treasoned against medina by giving intelligence to, and entertaining, the enemy. in the beginning of the third year, the nomad tribes of suleim and ghatafán, inhabitants of the plains of najd, and descendants of a stock common with the koreish, twice projected a plundering attack upon medina. at the same time the moslems were defeated at the battle of ohad, near medina, by the koreish, which circumstance greatly affected the prestige of the prophet, who was threatened with a similar fate the next year by his victorious enemies. with the opening of the fourth year, the inimical spirit of many of the bedouins, as well as that of the jews of bani nazeer, was perceptible, and in various quarters large masses were organized to act against mohammad and to take advantage of the defeat at medina. the tribes of bani asad and bani lahyán were brought together to follow the victory of the koreish at ohad. and last, not least, the moslem missionaries were cut to pieces at ráji and bir máuna. at the close of the year, the people of medina were alarmed by an exaggerated account of the preparations at mecca to attack medina as promised last year (sura iii, v. ). during the fifth year certain tribes of ghatafán were assembling with suspicious purposes at zat-al-rikaa and the marauding bands near dumatal jandal threatened a raid upon medina. the bani mustalik, a branch of khozaa, hitherto friendly to mohammad's cause, took up arms with a view of joining the koreish in the intended attack upon medina. at the end of the year, the koreish, joined by an immense force of the bedouin tribes,[ ] marched against medina, and laid siege to it for many days. the bani koreiza, having defected from mohammad, joined the koreish army when medina was besieged. in the beginning of the sixth year uyeina, the chief of the bani fezárá, had committed an inroad upon medina.[ ] a medinite caravan, under the charge of zeid-bin-háris, was seized and plundered by the bani fezárá.[ ] in the month of zul-kada, (the eleventh month of the arab lunar year), when war was unlawful throughout arabia, but much more so within the sacred precincts of mecca, mohammad and his followers, longing to visit the house of their lord and the sacred places around it, and to join the yearly pilgrimage which they had grown from their childhood to regard as an essential part of their social and religious life, not to mention their intense desire of seeing their houses and families from which they were unjustly expelled, started from medina for performing the lesser pilgrimage. they were under the impression that, in the peaceful habits of pilgrims, the koreish would be morally bound by every pledge of national faith to leave them unmolested, and mohammad had promised them a peaceful entry. but the koreish armed themselves and opposed the progress of the moslems towards mecca, notwithstanding the pious object and unwarlike attitude of the pilgrims. at length a treaty, in terms unfavourable to the moslems, but in fact a victory won by islam, was concluded by mohammad and the koreish at hodeibia. by this peace war was suspended for ten years. from my brief sketch of mohammad's first six years' sojourn in medina, it is evident that during this time medina was constantly in a sort of military defence. the moslems were every moment in the danger of an invasion, attack, or inroad from without, and treachery, conspiracy and treason from within. they either had to encounter superior numbers or to disperse hostile gathering or to chastise sometimes marauding tribes. so mohammad could scarcely breathe freely at medina, but much less could he find time and opportunity to mature a scheme of attacking the koreish at mecca in order to revenge himself and his refugees for the persecutions which the koreish had inflicted on the moslems, to redress their wrongs, and to re-establish their rights of civil and religious liberty, or to make converts of them or any other tribes at the point of sword. [footnote : bani ashja, murra fezárá, suleim, sád, asad, and several clans of ghatafán, the jews of wady-al-koraa and khyber.] [footnote : a party of moslems at zil kassa was slain, and dihya, sent by mohammad to the roman emperor, on his return, was robbed of every thing by the bani juzám beyond wady-al-kora.] [footnote : the jews at khyber were enticing the bani fezárá and bani sad-bin-bakr and other bedouin tribes to make depredations upon medina.] [sidenote: armed opposition of the koreish to the moslem pilgrims in the vicinity of mecca.] [sidenote: mohammad proclaimed war against the opposing koreish to obtain the right of civil and religious liberty at mecca.] . it was only when the moslems, unarmed as they were in pilgrim's garb, were opposed by the armed koreish, who had encamped at zú towa, clothed in panther's skin, or, in other words, with a firm resolution to fight to the last, and when osman, the moslem envoy to mecca, was actually placed in confinement,[ ] of whom the rumour was constantly rife that he was murdered at mecca, and when a party of the koreish had actually attacked the camp of mohammad,[ ] that excitement, alarm and anxiety prevailed in the moslem camp, and mohammad took a solemn oath from the faithful to stand by their cause even unto death. (sura xlviii.[ ]) in the meantime appeals were received from the moslems detained in confinement at mecca, and otherwise oppressed for deliverance. _vide_ sura iv, verses , , ; sura viii, verses , . he, on this occasion, proclaimed a war with the koreish in the event of their attacking first, and enjoining the believers to redress their earlier and later wrongs, to establish their civil and religious liberty, to have free access to their native city, to have the free exercise of their religion, and to make away with the oppressions of koreish once for all. the following verses were published on the occasion:--sura ii, verses - , - . the sura xlviii afterwards had reference to the occasion, specially verses , - . they are quoted in pp. - . [sidenote: the war thus proclaimed did not take place.] but happily a truce was agreed upon, and not a drop of blood was shed on either side. thus the injunctions contained in the verses referred to above were never carried out. mohammad, in proclaiming this war, had all the laws and justice on his side. even this war, had it been waged, would have been defensive, undertaken for the purpose of establishing the civil rights of the moslems and their religious liberty, hitherto unjustly denied them. [footnote : ibn hisham, p. .] [footnote : _ibid._ , see sura xlviii.] [footnote : mohammad had gained over some of the bedouin tribes in the direction of mecca, and were on friendly terms with him. at this time they were summoned by mohammad to join him if there be a war. they did not join him except a very few.] [sidenote: the koreish again commit hostilities and violate their pledges.] [sidenote: war declared against those who had violated the truce.] . this truce did not last long. the last act of hostility on the part of the aggressive koreish was the violation of the truce within two years of its being concluded. this resulted in the submission of mecca. the tribe of bani khozáa,[ ] who were now converts to islam since the truce, and who had entered into an open alliance with mohammad at the treaty, were attacked by the koreish and their allies, the bani bakr.[ ] the aggressed moslems appealed for aid to mohammad through a deputation, that displayed their wrongs to mohammad and his followers in very touching terms, urging in a plaintive tone to avenge them upon the treacherous murderers. war was declared by mohammad against the aggressors, who had violated the truce, and attacked the bani khozáa, to redress their wrongs. a proclamation was issued declaring immunity from god and his apostle to those who had broken the league and aided the bani bakr against the khozáa. four months' time was allowed them to make terms, in default of which they were to be warred against, seized, and besieged, in short, to suffer all the hardships of war. sura ix, verses - , was published declaring the war. it has been copied at pages - of the book. [sidenote: war not carried out.] but the threatened war did not actually take place, and mecca surrendered by a compromise. thus mohammad obtained his object of civil and religious liberty of the moslems at mecca and medina, and averted the (_fitnah_) persecutions and oppressions of the koreish without actual war or bloodshed, and also secured peace for his followers in exchange of the constant fear and agitation impending over them. this was promised some years ago in sura xxiv, verse , which runs as follows:-- "god hath promised to those of you who believe and do the things that are right, that he will cause them to succeed other in the land, as he gave succession to those who went before them, and that he will establish for them their religion in which they delight, and that after their fears he will give them security in exchange. they shall worship me: nought shall they join with me: and whoso after this believe not, they will be the impious." [footnote : the bani khozáa are also taken notice of in sura viii, verses - .] [footnote : the bani bakr, son of abd monát, were a branch of kinána of the moaddite stock.] [sidenote: war with foes other than the koreish.] . now i shall dispense with the koreish and refer to the wars of other enemies of the early moslems. there is only one war of the arab tribes other than the koreish noticed in the koran, and that is the battle of honain. in this war the sakifites were the aggressors. the battle of muraisia is not noticed in the koran, but it is stated by biographers that information of a new project against him after the defeat at ohad in the direction of mecca, and the bani mustalik's raising fresh forces with a view of joining the koreish in the threatened attack of medina having reached mohammad, he resolved by a bold attempt to prevent their design. i have shown in the book that the expedition of mohammad against khyber was purely in self-defence. a war undertaken to protect ourselves from the impending danger of an attack from the enemy and with the purpose of checking its advance, is a defensive war under the law. i am not going to treat of expedition of the bani koreizá separately, but this much is necessary to say here, that they had treacherously defected from the moslem with whom they had entered into a defensive alliance, and had joined the confederate army against the moslems. for a detail account of them, the reader is referred to pages - of this book. [sidenote: expedition to tabúk to check the advancing enemy. no war took place.] . the expedition of mecca, already described, ended in a submission and compromise without any resort to arms; that against tabúk was undertaken, as it is admitted by all writers, moslem and european, for purely defensive purposes. mohammad was much alarmed on this occasion owing to the threatening news of a foreign invasion against the moslem commonwealth. the following verses of the ninth sura are most probably directed towards the romans and their jewish and christian allies,[ ] if not towards the jews of khyber:-- . "make war upon such of those to whom the scriptures have been given as believe not in god or in the last day, and who forbid not that which god and his apostle have forbidden, and who profess not the profession of the truth, until they pay tribute out of hand, and they be humbled." . "believers wage war against such of the unbelievers as are your neighbours, and let them assuredly find rigour in you, and know that god is with those who fear him."--_sura ix._ mohammad returned without any war, and there was no occasion to carry out the injunctions contained in these verses. mohammad had taken great pains, according to the severity of the impending danger, to induce the moslems to go to war in their own defence. but as the season was hot, and the journey a long one, some of them were very backward in doing so. there is a very violent denunciation against those who on various false pretences held back on the occasion. [footnote : the jews of macna azrúh and jabra, and the christian chiefs of ayla and dúma.] [sidenote: number of the wars of mohammad.] . the above sketch of the hostilities will show that there were only five battles in which actual fighting took place. the biographers of mohammad and the narrators of his campaigns are too lax in enumerating the expeditions led by mohammad. they have noted down the names and accounts of various expeditions without having due regard to a rational criticism, or without being bound by the stringent laws of the technical requirements of traditionary evidence. consequently, they give us romances of the expeditions without specifying which of them are true and which fictitious. there are many expeditions enumerated by the biographers[ ] which have, in fact, no trustworthy evidence for their support; some are altogether without foundation, and some of them are wrongly termed as expeditions for warring purposes. _ghazávát_ is wrongly understood by european writers as meaning "plundering expeditions." deputations to conclude friendly treaties, missions to teach islam, embassies to foreign chiefs, mercantile expeditions, pilgrims' processions, parties sent to disperse or chastise a band of robbers, or to watch the movements of an enemy, spies sent to bring information, and forces dispatched or led to fight with or check an enemy are all called "_ghazavát_" (expeditions,) "_saráya_" and "_baús_" (enterprises and despatches). thus the number of mohammad's expeditions has been unduly exaggerated, first by biographers, who noted down every expedition or warlike enterprise reported in the several authentic and unauthentic traditions long after their occurrences, and did not at all trouble their heads by criticising them; and secondly by giving all missions, deputations, embassies, pilgrims' journies, and mercantile enterprises under the category of "_ghazavát_" and "_saráya_," lately construed by european writers as "plundering expeditions," or "a despatch of body of men with hostile intents." the biographers, both arabian and european, have gone so far as to assert that there were expeditions led by mohammad in person, and others headed by persons nominated by himself, making in all . this number is given by ibn sád kátib wákidi (vide _kustaláni_, vol. vi, page ). ibn is-hak also gives the number of mohammad's expeditions to be , while others led at his order are put down at only (vide _ibn hishám_, pp. and ). abú yola has a tradition from jabir, a contemporary of mohammad, who mentions only expeditions. but the best authority, zeid-bin-arqam, in the earliest traditions collected by bokhári, _kitábul maghazi_, in two places in his book, reduces the number to , including all sorts of expeditions and the number in which he was with mohammad. out of these alleged , , and expeditions, there were only [ ] or ,[ ] in which an actual fighting took place. even the latter minimized numbers are not deserving of confidence. the actual expeditions are as follow:-- . badr. . ohad. * muraisi. . ahazáb. * koreiza. . khyber. * mecca. . honain. * táyif. there are no good authorities for the war at muraisi with the bani mustalik. there were no fightings with the koreiza, as their affair was but a continuation of the war of ahzab, and therefore does not require a separate number. at mecca there was no action, and it surrendered by a compromise. as for táyif it was a part of the battle of honain like autás. it was besieged to lay hold of the fugitives who had sought there a shelter, and subsequently the siege was raised. thus, there remain only five expeditions, which i have numbered out of nine, in which mohammad fought against his enemies in his and his followers' defence. even these five scarcely deserve the name of battle. from a military point of view, they were but petty skirmishes in their results. the enemy's loss at badr was , at ohad , at ahzáb , at khyber , and at honain ; but the last two numbers are open to doubt, and seem to be exaggerated. the loss on the moslem side was , , , , and respectively. the whole casualties in these wars on the side of the moslems were , and on that of the enemies , which is exactly double those of the moslems, and looks suspicious; hence it must be accepted with caution. [footnote : the biographers have only compiled or arranged the mass of popular romances and favourite tales of campaigns, which had become stereotyped in their time, but were for the most part the inventions of a playful fantasy.] [footnote : musa-bin-akba (died a.h.)] [footnote : ibn sád and ibn is-hak as already alluded to.] [sidenote: mr. green quoted.] . the rev. samuel green writes:-- "it has been insinuated that mahomet first took up arms in his own defence, and by more than one historian he has been justified in seeking to repel or prevent the hostilities of his enemies, and to exact a reasonable measure of retaliation. 'the choice of an independent people,' says gibbon, 'had exalted the fugitive of mecca to the rank of a sovereign, and he was invested with the just prerogative of forming alliances, and of waging offensive or defensive war.'[ ] that such a sentiment was entertained by a mahometan does not at all surprise us, nor is it marvellous that it should be justified by an infidel; if it be true, war needs nothing to render laudable but the pretext of former injuries and the possession of power. the defence set up for mahomet is equally availing for every sanguinary and revengeful tyrant; and men, instead of being bound together by the ties of clemency and mutual forgiveness of injuries, are transformed into fiends, watching for the opportunity of destroying each other."[ ] there was no pretence of former injuries on the part of the moslems to make war on the koreish. they were actually attacked by the koreish and were several times threatened with inroads by them and their allies. so it was not until they were attacked by the enemy that they took up arms in their own defence, and sought to repel and prevent hostilities of their enemies. the defence set up for mohammad is not equally availing of every sanguinary and revengeful tyrant. it was not only that mohammad was wronged or attacked, but all the moslems suffered injuries and outrages at mecca, and when expelled therefrom, they were attacked upon, were not allowed to return to their homes, and to perform the pilgrimage there. the social and religious liberty, a natural right of every individual and nation, was denied them. a cruel or revengeful tyrant may not be justified in taking up arms in his own defence, or in seeking to redress his personal wrongs and private injuries; but the whole moslem community at mecca was outraged, persecuted and expelled,--and the entire mohammadan commonwealth at medina was attacked, injured and wronged,--their natural rights and privileges were disregarded--after such miseries the moslems took up arms to protect themselves from the hostilities of their enemies and to repel force by force; and were justified by every law and justice. the right of self-defence is a part of the law of nature, and it is the indispensable duty of civil society to protect its members. even if a sanguinary and revengeful tyrant were to do so in his own behalf, he would be quite justified in this particular act. a just war, that is one undertaken for just causes to repel or revert wrongful force, or to establish a right, cannot be impeached on any ground, religious, moral, or political. but the moslems had tried every possible means of obtaining a pacific solution of the difficulty which had arisen between them and their enemies, the koreish and the jews, to avert war and its horrors. mohammad had repeatedly informed the koreish that if they desist they will be forgiven. . "but if they desist, then verily god is gracious, merciful." . "but if they desist, then let there be no hostility, save against wrong-doers."--_sura ii._ . "_o meccans!_ if ye desired a decision, now hath the decision come to you. it will be better for you to give over _the struggle_. if ye return _to it_, we will return; and your forces, though they be many, shall by no means avail you aught, because god is with the faithful." . "say to the infidels: if they desist what is now past shall be forgiven them; but if they turn _to it_, they have already before them the doom of the former."--_sura viii._ and the same was the case regarding the jews. . "many of those who have scripture would like to bring you back to unbelief after you have believed, out of selfish envy, even after the truth hath been shown to them. forgive them then, and shun them till god shall come with his decree. truly god hath power over all things."--_sura ii._ . "but if they lean to peace, lean thou also to it; and put thy trust in god. he verily is the hearing, the knowing."--_sura viii._ . ... "thou wilt not cease to discover the treacherous ones among them, except a few of them. but forgive them and pass it over. verily god loveth those who act generously."--_sura v._ but there could be no peace or mutual agreement on the part of the enemy until the truce of hodeibia, which was also violated by them in a short time. even in the wars which were waged for self-preservation, the prophet had very much mitigated the evils which are necessarily inflicted in the progress of wars. fraud, perfidy, cruelty, killing women, children and aged persons were forbidden by mohammad;[ ] and a kind treatment of the prisoners of war enjoined. but foremost of these all--slavery, and domestication of concubinary slaves, the concomitant evils of war--were abolished by him, ordering at the same time that prisoners of war should be either liberated gratis or ransomed. neither they were to be enslaved nor killed. (_vide_ sura xlvii, verses and ; and appendix b of this work.) attacking offensively was forbidden by the koran (ii, _la taatadú_, _i.e._ 'do not attack first'). mohammad had taken oaths from the moslems to refrain from plundering (_vide_ page of this book). "all hostilities and plundering excursions between neighbouring tribes that had become musalman he forbade on pain of death; and this among those who had hitherto lived by plunder or by war, and who he knew might be deterred by such prohibition from joining him. 'let us make one more expedition against the temim,' said a tribe that was almost, but not altogether, persuaded to embrace the faith, 'and then we will become musalmans.'"[ ] "in avenging my injuries," said he (mohammad), "molest not the harmless votaries of domestic seclusion; spare the weakness of the softer sex, the infant at the breast, and those who in the course of nature are hastening from this scene of mortality. abstain from demolishing the dwellings of the unresisting inhabitants; destroy not their means of subsistence, respect their fruit trees, and touch not the palm, so useful to the syrians for its shade, and delightful for its verdure."[ ] "the bani bakr," writes sir w. muir, "meanwhile, foreseeing from the practice of the prophet that, under the new faith, their mutual enmities would be stifled, resolved upon a last passage of arms with their foes. the battle of _shaitain_ fought at the close of a.d. was a bloody and fatal one to the bani tamím."[ ] [footnote : "decline and fall, chap. ."] [footnote : the life of mahomet, founder of the religion of islamism and of the empire of the saracens, by the rev. samuel green, page : london, .] [footnote : mohammad's instruction to abdal-rahman was--"in no case shalt thou use deceit or perfidy, nor shalt thou kill any child."--muir, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : 'quoted by dr. cazenove,' "christian remembrancer," january, , page , from caussin de perceval. mohammed & mohammedanism. by r. bosworth smith, second edn., pp. & . london, .] [footnote : an history of mohammedanism; comprising the life and character of the arabian prophet; by charles mills, page . london .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. i, intro., p. ccxxvii. london, .] [sidenote: another view of the wars of mohammad.] . there is another view of the wars of mohammad held by some of the european and american writers that he commenced hostilities on the caravans of the koreish which passed from medina by way of reprisal and retaliation,[ ] and that he at first took up arms in his self-defence, but at last he proclaimed, and waged, offensive wars against the koreish.[ ] i have already shown how improbable the line of action was on the part of mohammad under the circumstances at medina; and this line of policy is quite contrary to the several verses of the koran on the subject, all enjoining the waging of wars in self-defence. but supposing that hostilities were first commenced by mohammad after the hegira, the state of war having commenced at the expulsion of the moslems from mecca, it was lawful for him to take up arms to redress the wrongs of the moslems and to establish their lawful right by force of arms. a war commenced on these grounds is a defensive war, though from a military point of view it may be an offensive one.[ ] "the right of self-defence," writes kent, a great authority on the international law, "is part of the law of our nature, and it is the indispensable duty of civil society to protect its members in the enjoyment of their rights, both of person and property. this is the fundamental principle of the social compact.... the injury may consist, not only in the direct violation of personal or political rights, but in wrongfully withholding what is due, or in the refusal of a reasonable reparation for injuries committed, or of adequate explanation or security in respect to manifest and impending danger."[ ] [footnote : sir w. muir doubts the intense hatred and bitter cruelty attributed by tradition to the koreish, and says: "in accordance with this view is the fact that the first aggressions, after the hegira, were solely on the part of mahomet and his followers. it was not until several of their caravans had been waylaid and plundered and blood had thus been shed that the people of mecca were forced in self-defence to resort to arms." the life of mahomet, vol. ii, page , foot-note. london, . this note disappears in the new edition of . in his work "the coran," page , london, , sir w. muir says: "the caravans of mecca offered a tempting opportunity for reprisals, and several expeditions were organized against them."] [footnote : mr. g. sale writes: "he gave out that god had allowed him and his followers to defend themselves against the infidels; and at length, as his forces increased, he pretended to have the divine leave even to attack them." _the prelim. dis. sect. ._ mr. henry coppée writes regarding mohammad: "but he soon found that he must take up arms in self defence, and in the thirteenth year of his mission, he announced that god permitted him not only to fight in his self-defence, but to propagate his religion by the sword." history of the conquest of spain by the arab-moors, by henry coppée. vol. i, page . boston, . but dr. a. sprenger makes the object of the wars of mohammad purely defensive. he writes:--"the prophet now promulgated, in the name of god, the law to fight their enemies, in order to put a stop to persecutions; and this became henceforth the watchword of his bloody religion." the life of mohammad, p. : allahabad, .] [footnote : m. bluntschili, a modern authority on the international law, holds: "a war undertaken for defensive motives is a defensive war, notwithstanding that it may be militarily offensive." the international law, by william edward hall, m.a., oxford, , page .] [footnote : kent's commentary on international law. edited by j.t. abdy, ll.d., second edition, page .] [sidenote: caravans, if waylaid, were by reprisal.] . as regards the threatened attack on the caravans or capturing of it, there are not any satisfactory grounds of proof; but if they were attacked and captured, i do not see any reason why they should be objected to. when hostilities commence, the first objects that naturally present themselves for detection and seizure are the person and property of the enemy. even under the international law of most civilized countries, the legitimacy of appropriating the enemy's property rests on the commencement of the state of war. under the old customs of war a belligerent possessed the right to seize and appropriate all the property belonging to an enemy's state or its subjects, of whatever kind they be or in whatsoever place where the acts of war are permissible. so those who object to the early moslems' threatening, or capturing, or appropriating the person or property of the enemy, and call them robbery, rapine or brigandage, show their complete ignorance of the international law, ancient or modern. [sidenote: intolerance--no compulsory conversion enjoined, or took place during mohammad's life-time.] . the subject of the alleged intolerance on the part of mohammad, the prophet, towards the unbelievers has been fully discussed in paragraphs - (pp. - ). it is altogether a wrong assumption of european writers that the koran enjoins compulsory conversion of the unbeliever, or that mohammad proselytized at the point of the sword. sir w. muir writes:-- [sidenote: sir w. muir quoted.] "persecution, though it may sometimes have deterred the timid from joining his ranks, was eventually of unquestionable service to mahomet. it furnished a plausible excuse for casting aside the garb of toleration; for opposing force to force against those who obstructed the ways of the lord; and last of all for the compulsory conversion of unbelievers."[ ] opposing force to force and even redressing our wrongs and re-establishing our imperilled rights is not 'intolerance.' mohammad did repel the force of his enemies when it was quite necessary for the moslem self-preservation and protection, but he never compelled any of his enemies or unbelievers, whether a single individual, or a body of men, or a whole tribe, to believe in him. the koran and history contradict such an allegation. the koran everywhere in the meccan and medinite suras preaches complete toleration of every religion. history nowhere authentically records any instance of mohammad's enforcing conversion by means of the sword. [footnote : the life of mahomet from original sources, by sir w. muir, ll.d. new edition, page , london, . see also page of the same.] [sidenote: a brief sketch of the propagation of islam at mecca.] [sidenote: conversion at nakhla.] . mohammad propagated his religion both at mecca and medina before, as well as after, the hegira, by persuasion and preaching sustained by reasonable evidence. it prevailed against all persecution and opposition of the koreish and jews. in fact, it flourished and prospered under the severe persecutions and crushing oppositions by the mere dint of its own truth.[ ] sometimes the persecution of the koreish itself was the cause of conversion to the moslem faith.[ ] the number of converts during the first three years after the assumption by mohammad of his prophetical office is estimated at fifty. then commenced the general persecution and the overwhelming opposition. mohammad had, in order to prosecute his endeavours peaceably and without interruption, occupied the house of arqam, one of his early converts, and there preached and recited the koran to those who used to be conducted to him. a great multitude believed therein; but the brunt of the jealousy and enmity of the koreish fell upon the converted slaves, as well as upon strangers and believers among the lower classes, who had no patron nor protector. some believers, sixteen in number, had already left for abyssinia. some came back and brought tidings of their kind reception there. at this time about a hundred moslems emigrated to abyssinia.[ ] this shows the increasing number of the converts, who represented for the most part fugitives of mecca. there were some christian converts to islam at abyssinia also.[ ] the koreish being disquieted by the hospitable reception of the refugees at abyssinia, and enraged by the refusal of najashee to surrender them, sought to stay the progress of secession from their ranks by utterly severing the party of the prophet from social and friendly communication with them. in the seventh year of the prophet's mission the ban commenced, and lasted for full three years. there could be very few conversions during the period of this weary seclusion. the efforts of the prophet were chiefly confined to the conversions of the members of his own noble clan, the bani hàshim, who, though unbelievers in his mission, had resolved to defend his person, and were with him in their confinement. the time of pilgrimage alone afforded mohammad a wider field. he preached against idolatry at the fairs and assemblages of the pilgrims[ ]. after his release from imprisonment in the tenth year of his mission, he went to preach at tàyif, but was ignominiously expelled the city[ ]. on his return to mecca he converted a party of the tribe of jinn[ ] (not genii according to the vulgar notion)[ ] at nakhla. after his return from tàyif he preached to an audience of six or seven persons from medina, who believed and spread islam there. [footnote : i do not mean to say that flourishing under persecution is a convincing proof of the divine origin of a religion. not that a religion established by force is altogether of human invention. almost all religions are divine however they may have been established, but flourishing under opposition and persecution is a natural course. christianity suffered from persecutions and other harrowing evils for years, after which time it was established, and paganism abolished by public authority, which has had great influence in the propagation of the one and destruction of the other ever since.] [footnote : "the severity and injustice of the cureish, overshooting the mark, aroused personal and family sympathies; unbelievers sought to avert or to mitigate the sufferings of the followers of the prophet; and in so doing they were sometimes themselves gained over to his side." the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, second edition, page .] [footnote : among them were the representatives of the following tribes or clans of the koreish, the háshimites, omiyyiads, bani abd shams, bani asad, bani abd bin kosáyy, bani abd-ud-dár, bani zohrá, bani taym bin morra, the mukwhumites, the jomahites, and the bani sahm. _vide_ sprenger, page , allahabad, .] [footnote : _vide_ hishamee, page . an allusion to these converts may be found in sura v, verses and , if it does not refer to those of najrán.] [footnote : he preached to the following tribes among others:--bani aamr bin sasaa, bani mohárib, bani hafasa (or khafasa), bani fezára, bani ghassán, bani kalb, bani háris, bani kab, bani ozra, bani murra, bani hanifa, bani suleim, bani abs, bani nazr, bani bakka, bani kinda, and bani khozaimah.] [footnote : "there is something lofty and heroic in this journey of mahomet to tâyif; a solitary man, despised and rejected by his own people, going boldly forth in the name of god,--like jonah to nineveh--and summoning an idolatrous city to repentance and to the support of his mission. it sheds a strong light on the intensity of his own belief in the divine origin of his calling."--the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, vol. ii, page .] [footnote : the arabs also had a similar clan named bani shaitán, a clan of the hinzala tribe, the descendants of tamim, through zeid monat of the moaddite stock. the bani shaitán (the children of satan) dwelt near kúfa.--_vide_ qalqashandi's dictionary of arab tribes.] [footnote : sura xlvi, verses , . these people were from nisibin and nineveh in mesopotamia. they were chaldeans, soothsayers, and cabalists. in the book of daniel the chaldeans are classed with magicians and astronomers, and evidently form a sort of the priest class who have a peculiar "tongue" and "learning" (dan. i. ). in arabic, persons of similar professions were called _kahins_. some of this class of people pretended to receive intelligence of what was to come to pass from certain satans or demons, whom they alleged to hear what passed in the heavens. others pretended to control the stars by enchanting them. they produced eclipses of the sun and moon by their alleged efficiency in their own enchantments. they practised astrology as well as astronomy and fortune-telling. it appears that the chaldeans (kaldai or kaldi) were in the earliest times merely one out of the many cushite tribes inhabiting the great alluvial plain known afterwards as chaldea or babylonia. in process of time as the kaldi grew in power, their name prevailed over that of the other tribes inhabiting the country; and by the era of the jewish captivity it had begun to be used generally for all the inhabitants of babylonia. it had thus come by this time to have two senses, both ethnic: in the one, it was the special appellative of a particular race to whom it had belonged from the remotest times; in the other, it designated the nation at large in which the race was predominant. afterwards it was transferred from an ethnic to a mere restricted sense, from the name of a people to that of a priest caste or sect of philosophers. the kaldi proper belonged to the cushite race. while both in assyria and in babylonia, the sernitic type of speech prevailed for special purposes, the ancient cushite dialect was purely reserved for scientific and religious literature. this is no doubt the "learning" and the "tongue" to which reference is made in the bible (dan. i. ). it became gradually inaccessible to the great mass of people who had emigrated by means, chiefly, of assyrian influence. but it was the chaldean learning in the old chaldean or cushite language. hence all who studied it, whatever their origin or race, were, on account of their knowledge, termed chaldeans. in this sense daniel himself, "the master of chaldeans" (dan. v. .), would, no doubt, have been reckoned among them, and so we find seleucas, a greek, called a chaldean by strabo (xvi. , § ). the chaldeans were really a learned class, who by their acquaintance with the language of science became its depositaries. they were priests, magicians or astronomers, as their preference for one or other of those occupations inclined them; and in the last of these three capacities they probably effected discoveries of great importance. the chaldeans, it would appear, congregated into bodies forming what we may perhaps call universities, and they all engaged together in it for their progress. they probably mixed up to some extent astrology with their astronomy, even in the earlier times, but they certainly made great advance in astronomical science to which their serene sky and transparent atmosphere specially invited them. in later times they seem certainly to have degenerated into mere fortune-tellers (_vide_ smith's dict. of the bible, art. _chaldeans_). in their practice of astromancy or enchanting the stars, and in pretending to overhear what passed in the heavens, they, the jinns, used to sit on the tops of lofty mansions at night-time for hours offering sacrifices to the stars and enchanting them. in their peculiar tongue and learning they called this practice "stealing a hearing" and "sitting for listening" (suras xv, verse , and lxxii, verses , ). now at the time of mohammad's assuming the prophet's office there had been an unusually grand display of numerous falling stars, which at certain periods are known to be specially abundant. at the same time there were good many comets visible in different parts of heavens, which certainly might have smitten with terror these jinns, _i.e._, the astromancers and soothsayers. there was one comet visible in a.d., and other two appeared in a.d. in a.d. two more comets were visible; another one appeared in a.d. each of the years and had one comet. there were also comets visible in a.d. (_vide_ chambers's descriptive astronomy). these comets are most probably noticed in the contemporary record (_i.e._ the koran). a comet is called _tariq_, or "night comer," in sura lxxxvi, verse ; and described as the star of piercing radiance. (_annajmus saqib. ibid_ .) the _kahins_ were very much alarmed at the stupendous phenomena of the falling stars and the comets; and had stopped their soothsaying and divinations. whenever they used to sit on their places of listening, enchanting, and divination during night-time, looking at the heavens, their eyes met with showers of shooting stars and brilliant comets which bewildered them very much. it is said that the first whose attention was attracted to the unusual shooting stars was a clan of the sakeefites of us-tayif (ibn hisham, page ). these jinns, when they were converted to islam at nakhla near tayif, expressed their bewilderment from the unusual shower of falling stars and the appearance of numerous comets in their peculiar language:-- "the heaven did we essay but found it filled with mighty garrison and of darting flames." "we sat on some of the seats to listen, but whoever now listeneth findeth a darting flame in ambush for him." "we know not whether evil be meant for them that are on earth, or whether their lord meaneth true guidance for them."--sura lxxii, verses - . so the pretenders of hearing the discourses of heavenly bodies being quite harassed by the extraordinary showers of the falling stars, and the appearances of numerous comets, had stopped their divination. this was taken notice of in the koran:-- "they overhear not exalted chiefs, and they are darted from every side." "driven off and consigned to a lasting torment; while if one steal by stealth then a glistering flame pursueth him."--sura xxxvii, verses - . "save such as steal a hearing, and him do visible flames pursue."--sura xv, verse . "the satans were not sent down with this _koran_. it beseemed them not, and they had not the power. for they are far removed from the hearing."--sura xxvi, verses - . as an instance of terror and bewilderment caused by meteors and shooting stars among credulous people, i will quote the following anecdote: about the middle of the tenth century an epidemic terror of the end of the world had spread over christendom. the scene of the last judgment was expected to be in jerusalem. in the year the number of pilgrims proceeding eastwards, to await the coming of the lord in that city, was so great that they were compared to a desolating army. during the thousandth year the number of pilgrims increased. every phenomenon of nature filled them with terror. a thunderstorm sent them all upon their knees. every meteor in the sky seen at jerusalem brought the whole christian population into the streets to weep and pray. the pilgrims on the road were in the same alarm. every shooting star furnished occasion for a sermon, in which the sublimity of the approaching judgment was the principal topic (_vide_ extraordinary popular delusions by charles mackay, ll.d., london, pp. and ). it was a conceit or imposture of the _kahins_ to pretend that their demons had access to the outskirts of the heavens, and by assiduous eavesdropping secured some of the secrets of the upper world and communicated the same to the soothsayers or diviners upon earth. the jews had a similar notion of the demons (schedim), learning the secrets of the future by listening behind the veil (pargôd). the koran falsified them in their assertions. it says that the heavens (or the stars) are safe and protected against the eavesdropping (or enchantments) of the soothsayers. "we have set the signs of zodiac in the heavens, and we have decked them forth for the bewilders." "and we guard them from every stoned satan."--sura xv, verses , . "verily we have adorned the lower heaven with the adornment of the stars;" "and we have guarded them against every rebellious satan."--sura xxxvii, verses , . "... and we have furnished the lower heaven with lights and have protected it...."--sura xli, verse . the koran further says that the soothsayers impart to their votaries or to those who go to consult them what they have heard from other people and are liars:-- "they impart what they have heard, but most of them are liars."--sura xxvi, verse . it is nowhere said in the koran that the stars are darted or hurled at the satans. sura lxvii, verse , literally means, "of a surety we have decked the lower heaven with lights and have made them to be (means of) '_rojúm_' conjectures to the (or for the) devils, _i.e._ the astrologer." the primary meaning of _rajm_ is a thing that is thrown or cast like a stone: pl. '_rojúm_,' but it generally means speaking of that which is hidden, or conjecturing or speaking by conjecture, as in sura xviii, verse . in sura xix, verse , the word "_la-arjomannaka_" has been explained both ways, meaning ( ) "i will assuredly cast stones at thee," and ( ) "i will assuredly say of thee, (though) speaking of that which is hidden (from me) or unknown (by me), what thou dislikest or hatest." _vide_ lane's arabic-english lexicon, page .] [sidenote: rapid stride of islam at medina.] . next year twelve new converts were made from persons who had come to see the prophet from medina. they returned as missionaries of islam, and islam spread rapidly in medina from house to house and from tribe to tribe. the jews looked on in amazement at the people whom they had in vain endeavoured from generations to convince of the errors of polytheism, and to dissuade from the abominations of their idolatry, suddenly of their own accord casting away idols and professing belief in the one true god.[ ] thus speedily without let or hindrance, force or compulsion, did islam take firm root at medina and attain to a full and mature growth. there remained not a single house among the aws and khazraj tribes[ ] of medina in which there were not believing men and women, excepting the branch of the aws allah, who were not converts till after the siege of medina. at this time there were many moslems in mecca, medina, and abyssinia, and not a single one of them could be said to have been converted to islam by compulsion: on the contrary, they were used to be forced to renounce islam. [footnote : "after five centuries of christian evangelization, we can point to but a sprinkling here and there of christian converts;--the bani hârith of najrân: the bani hanîfa of yemâma; some of the bani tay at tayma, and hardly any more. judaism, vastly more powerful, had exhibited a spasmodic effort of proselytizm under dzu nowâs; but, as an active and converting agent the jewish faith was no longer operative."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. i, page ccxxxix.] [footnote : the aws or khazraj were two branches of the azdite tribes of yemen from the kahlanite stock. after their emigration to the north they separated themselves from the ghassinides and returned to medina, where they settled.] [sidenote: the increasing number of moslem converts at mecca after the hegira.] . when the moslems were obliged to emigrate from mecca under the severe koreishite persecutions, all the followers of the prophet with the exception of those detained in confinement or unable to escape from slavery had emigrated with their families to medina. but there were many new converts at mecca since the expulsion of the moslems. those unable to fly from mecca in the teeth of the oppressions of the wrathful koreish (sura iv., , , ) were increasing. they appealed for deliverance and aid, while the moslem pilgrims were near mecca at hodeibia, six years after the hegira, and an allusion is made to the great number of the meccan converts, living at mecca during that time in sura xlviii, . [sidenote: disturbed state of the public peace among the tribes surrounding medina. internecine wars an obstacle to the propagation of islam.] . irrespective of the wars prosecuted by the koreish from the south against mohammad at medina, and the constant danger of inroad and attack upon medina from the neighbouring tribes--a great obstacle in the propagation of islam which could only be successfully accomplished in a state of peace and tranquility of both parties,--the most important and great tribes in the north and centre of arabia were at war against each other during the life of mohammad, either before his mission from to a.d. or during his public mission from to a.d. the disastrous internecine wars were kept up for scores of years and the evils necessarily inflicted in their progress were not confined to the belligerents only. it required years to remove the evils of war and to efface the traces of misery and sorrow the wars had brought.[ ] [footnote : the same remarks apply to the wars fought during mohammad's lifetime but before his public mission.] . here i will give a brief sketch of the internecine wars which took place among the various arab tribes during the time of mohammad. *wars during mohammad's lifetime, between the arabian tribes in the north and centre of arabia.* _before his mission_, - , a.d. ( .) the battle of rahrahán between bani aamir bin saasaa and bani tamim in najd, , a.d. ( .) the bani abs on the side of bani aamir and bani zobian on the side of tamim, , a.d., at _sheb jabala_. ( .) sacrilegious war at táyif called harb fi-jár, - , a.d. ( .) several battles between bani bakr and tamim in , a.d. and the following years. _during his mission._ (a)--_while at mecca, - , a.d._ ( .) the war of dáhis between bani abs and zobian, the branches of ghatafán in central arabia; lasted forty years, to , a.d. ( .) the battle of zú-kár between the bani bakr and the persians in the kingdom of hira, , a.d. ( .) the bani kinda and bani háris attacked bath tamim when they had retired to kuláb in the confines of yemen and repulsed them. ( .) the bani aws and khazraj of medina were at war. the battle of boás was fought in , a.d. the bani aws were assisted by two tribes of ghassan, by mozeima and the jewish tribes nazeer and koreiza. the bani khazraj were supported by joheina, ashja and the jews of kainuka. (b)--_while at medina_, to , _a.d._ ( .) the standing warfare between the bani hawázin and the bani abs, zobian, and ashja of ghatafán was kept up by assassinations and petty engagements till they become converts to islam. ( .) the koreish fought two battles of badr and ohad against the moslems at medina in and , a.d., respectively. ( .) several clans of the great ghatafán family (the bani murra, ashja and fezára) the bani suleim and sád, a branch of hawázin, and bani asad from najd bedouin tribes, and bani koreiza the jews, had besieged medina in , a.d., in confederation with the koreish. ( .) bani tamim and bani bakr renewed their hostilities, and from to , a.d., several battles occurred between them. the last battle was that of shaitain in , a.d. in this year, after the battle, both the tribes were converted to islam. ( .) the bani ghaus and jadila branches of bani tay in the north of medina warred against each other. the war of fasád continued twenty-five years till they embraced islam in , a.d. [sidenote: spread of islam in the surrounding tribes at medina after the hegira i-vi.] . during the six eventful years of mohammad's sojourn at medina, from the hegira to the truce of hodeibia, where he was every year attacked or threatened by other hostile arab tribes, acting always in self-defence, he had converted several members or almost entire tribes residing round medina. among them were the following:-- . the bani aslam.[ ] . joheina.[ ] . mozeina.[ ] . ghifár.[ ] . saad-bin-bakr.[ ] . bani ashja.[ ] we never find a single instance even in the _magházis_ (accounts of the campaigns of mohammad, however untrustworthy they be) of mohammad's converting any person, families, or branches of tribes by the scimitar in one hand and the koran in the other. [footnote : the bani aslam tribe settled north of medina in the valley of wady-al-koraa. they were a branch of the kozaaite tribes descended from himyar.] [footnote : joheina were a branch of kozaa, the descendants of himyar. this tribe inhabited in the vicinity of yenbo, north of medina.] [footnote : mozeina were a tribe of the moaddite stock of mecca. they inhabited in najd, north-east of medina.] [footnote : ghifár were sons of moleil-bin-zamra, the descendants of kinána, one of the moaddite tribes.] [footnote : saad-bin-bakr were a branch of hawazin. mohammad had been nursed among them.] [footnote : the bani ashja were a branch of the ghatafán of the meccan stock of the moaddites. the bani ashja appear all to have been hostile to mohammad. they fought against the prophet at the siege of medina with four hundred warriors in their contingent. sir w. muir says, "the bani ashjâ, who had joined in the siege of medina, gave in their adhesion shortly after the massacre of the coreitza; they told mahomet that they were so pressed by his warring against them, that they could stand out no longer.--k. wackidi, page ." muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, , _footnote_. this story is altogether false. we never hear of mohammad warring against bani ashja; on the contrary, they had themselves invaded medina.] [sidenote: mecca a barrier against the conversion of the southern tribes.] . up to this time, notwithstanding the persecutions, exiles and wars against islam, it had spread by the mere force of persuasion among the meccans, some of whom had emigrated to abyssinia and most to medina, the whole of the influential tribes of aws and khazraj at medina, as well as among the jews there, and among some of the tribes in the north, and east of medina and the centre of arabia. but as mecca in the south had declared war against islam, most of the arab tribes connected somehow with the meccans, and those inhabiting the southern and south-eastern parts of arabia, to whom mecca served geographically as a barrier, watched the proceedings of the war and the fate of islam, and had no opportunity of coming to medina to embrace islam, nor of having friendly intercourse with the moslems, nor of receiving mohammadan missionaries in the face of the wars waged by the koreish who were looked upon as the guardians of the kaaba, the spiritual or religious centre of the idolatrous arabs. at the end of the last or the fifth year many bedouin tribes, among whom might be counted the bani ashja, murra, fezara, suleim, sad-bin-bakr and bani asad, had furnished several thousand arabs to the koreish for the siege of medina. only when the aggressions of the koreish against the moslems were suspended that the warring tribes and those of the central, southern and eastern arabia could think of what they had heard of the reasonable preaching of islam against their idolatry and superstitions. [sidenote: tribal conversions in the sixth year.] . since the truce of hodeibia at the end of the sixth year after the hegira mecca was opened for intercourse, where there were some more and fresh conversions. the bani khozaa, descendants of azd, were converted to islam at the truce of hodeibia. at the pilgrimage in the following year some influential men of mecca adopted islam. the movement was not confined to these leading men, but was wide and general. in the seventh year the following tribes were converted to islam and their deputations joined mohammad at khyber: . bani ashár.[ ] . khushain.[ ] . dous.[ ] [sidenote: conversions among several other tribes of the north and north-east in a.h., .] during the same year mohammad converted several other tribes in the north and north-east of arabia. among them were-- . bani abs. . zobián. . murra. . fezara.[ ] . suleim.[ ] . ozra. . bali. . juzám.[ ] . sálaba.[ ] . abdul kays.[ ] . bani tamim.[ ] . bani asad.[ ] [footnote : the bani ash-ár inhabited jedda. they were of the kahlánite stock, the descendants of al-azd.] [footnote : the bani khushain were a clan of kozaá, of himiarite stock.] [footnote : the bani dous belong to the azdite tribe of the stock of kahtán. they lived at some distance south of mecca. they had joined mohammad at khyber.] [footnote : these were the sub-tribes of ghatafán of the meccan stock. the chief families of ghatafán were the bani ashja, zobian, and the bani abs. murra and fezára were the branches of zobian. they all inhabited najd. uyenia, the chief of the bani fezára, had committed an inroad upon medina in a.h. . in the same year the bani fezára had waylaid a medina caravan and plundered it.] [footnote : the bani suleim, a branch of the bani khasafa and a sister tribe to hawázin, who lived near mecca, and in whose charge, mohammad, when but an infant, was placed, were also a tribe of the meccan stock descended through khasafa from mozar and moádd. bani suleim, like bani murra and fezára, branches of ghatafán, had long continued to threaten mohammad with attacks. the bani suleim having joined aamir bin tofeil, chief of bani aamir, a branch of the tribe of hawázin with their clans usseya, ril, and zakawán, had cut to pieces a party of moslem missionaries at bir mauna, invited by abu bera amr ibn málik, a chief of the bani aamir, who had pledged for their security. the bani suleim had joined also the koreish army at the siege of medina. in the seventh year, they had slain another body of moslem missionaries sent to them.] [footnote : the bani ozra were a tribe of kozaá, like joheina. they, together with the bani bali and juzám, inhabited the north of arabia in the part of the territory belonging to ghassan. the family of himyar, descendants from kahtán in yemen, had flourished through the line of kozaá, the bani ozza, joheina and other important tribes to the north of the peninsula on the border of syria. it has been quoted by sir w. muir from katib wakidi that the chief of the bani juzám carried back to them a letter from mohammad to this tenor: "whoever accepteth the call of islam, he is among the confederates of the lord; whoever refuseth the same, a truce of two months is allowed for him for consideration." (muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. , _foot-note_). the words "for consideration" are not in the original arabic.--_vide_ ibn hisham, p. . it is not clear what was meant by the two months' truce he was advised to give them, to make terms before he could commence hostilities, if the tradition for which there is no authority be true. this has nothing to do with their compulsory conversions.] [footnote : salaba was a branch of the zobián.] [footnote : the bani abd-ul-kays are a moaddite tribe, the descendants of rabia. they inhabited bahrein on the persian gulf.] [footnote : the bani tamim were branch of tábikha, a tribe of the moaddite stock of mecca and a sister tribe of mozeina. they are famous in the history of najd, a province north-east of medina, from the confines of syria to yemen. some of these branches were with mohammad at the expeditions to mecca and honain. all the branches of the tribes that had not yet embraced islam were now converted.] [footnote : the bani asad ibn khozeima were a powerful tribe residing near the hill of katan in najd. they were of the moaddite tribe of the meccan stock. tuleiba, their chief, had assembled a force of cavalry and rapid camel-drivers to make a raid upon medina in a.h. . they were dispersed by the moslems. in the next year they joined the koreish in the siege of medina.] [sidenote: surrender of mecca. a.h., .] . the position of islam at mecca was greatly strengthened since the truce in a.h. , by increase in the number of moslems, influential and leading, as well as of persons of minor note and importance there, consequently the advocates of islam, peace and compromise were growing in number and confidence. among the idolatrous koreish there were no chiefs of marked ability or commanding influence left at mecca; almost all of them had gone over to the cause of islam. in the meantime the infraction of the terms of the truce by the bani bakr and koreish caused the surrender of mecca without bloodshed. [sidenote: the meccans not compelled to believe.] . though mecca had surrendered, all its inhabitants had not already become converts to islam. mohammad did not take any compulsory means to convert the people: "although the city had cheerfully accepted his supremacy," writes sir w. muir, "all its inhabitants had not yet embraced the new religion, or formally acknowledged his prophetical claim. perhaps he intended to follow the course he had pursued at medina and leave the conversion of the people to be gradually accomplished without compulsion."[ ] [footnote : the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, vol. iv, page . those who had newly joined the moslem camp at mecca to repel the threatening gathering of hawázin, and those of them who preferred submission to the authority of mohammad, are called by sir w. muir "his new converts." (iv., ). but in fact they were not called believers. they are called simply _muallafa qolubohum_ in the koran (ix., ) which means whose hearts are to be won over.] [sidenote: the wholesale conversion of the remaining tribes in a.h., & .] . now it was more than twenty years that the koran had been constantly preached to the surrounding tribes of arabs at mecca at the time of fairs[ ] and at the annual pilgrimage gatherings,[ ] by mohammad, and by special missionaries of islam from medina, and through the reports of the travellers and merchants coming and going from mecca and medina to all parts of arabia. the numbers of different distant tribes, clans and branches had spread the tidings of islam. there were individual converts in most of the tribes. those tribes already not brought over to islam were ready to embrace it under the foregoing circumstances. idolatry, simple and loathsome, had no power against the attacks of reason displayed in the doctrines of the koran. but the idolatrous koreish opposed and attacked islam with persecution and the sword, and strengthened idolatry with earthly weapons. the distant pagan tribes on the side of the koreish, geographically or genealogically, were prevented by them from embracing the new faith. as soon as the hostilities of the koreish were suspended at the truce of hodeibia, the arabs commenced to embrace islam as already described, and no sooner they surrendered and kaaba[ ] stripped of its idols--and the struggle of spiritual supremacy between idolatry and islam was practically decided--all the remaining tribes on the south and east who had not hitherto adhered to islam hastened to embrace it hosts after hosts during the th and th year of the hegira. [footnote : okáz between táyif and nakhla. mujanna in the vicinity of marr-al zahrán, and zul-majáz behind arafat, both near mecca.] [footnote : "from time immemorial, tradition represents mecca as the scene of a yearly pilgrimage from _all_ quarters of arabia:--from yemen, hadhramaut and the shores of the persian gulph, from the deserts of syria, and from the distant environs of híra and mesopotamia."--muir, i, ccxi.] [footnote : sir w. muir thinks: "the possession of mecca now imparted a colour of right to his pretensions; for mecca was the spiritual centre of the country, to which the tribes from every quarter yielded a reverential homage. the conduct of the annual pilgrimage, the custody of the holy house, the intercalation of the year, the commutation at will of the sacred months,--institutions which affected all arabia,--belonged by ancient privilege to the coreish and were now in the hands of mahomet.... moreover, it had been the special care of mahomet artfully to interweave with the reformed faith all essential parts of the ancient ceremonial. the one was made an inseparable portion of the other."--the life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. . but the remaining tribes who had not hitherto embraced islam, and the chiefs of the southern and eastern arabia, did not adopt islam, because mohammad possessed mecca, a position of no political supremacy. no paramount authority throughout the peninsula had ever been vested in the chief who possessed mecca. mohammad on the surrender of mecca had abolished all the idolatrous institutions which might have served as political or social inducements to the pagan arabs to embrace islam. the intercalation of the year and commutation of the sacred months were cancelled for ever in the plain words of the koran: "verily, twelve months is the number of months with god, according to god's book, _since_ the day when he created the heavens and the earth, of these, four are sacred; this is the right usage." ... "to carry over _a sacred month to another_ is an increase of unbelief only. they who do not believe are led into error by it. they allow it one year and forbid it another, that they may make good the number of _months_ which god hath hallowed, and they allow that which god hath prohibited. the evil of their deeds hath been prepared for them _by satan_; for god guideth not the people who do not believe."--sura ix, verses , . the custody of the house was no more an office of honour or privilege. the ancient ceremonial of pilgrimage was not interwoven with the reformed faith. the rites of kaaba were stripped of every idolatrous tendency. and the remaining and essential part of the pilgrimage was depreciated. "by no means can their flesh reach unto god, neither their blood; but piety on your part reacheth him."--sura xxii, verse . and after all the idolaters were not allowed to enter it. "it is not for the votaries of other gods with god, witnesses against themselves of infidelity, to visit the temples of god."--sura ix, verse . sir w. muir himself says regarding mohammad: "the rites of kaaba were retained, but stripped by him of every idolatrous tendency; and they still hang, a strange unmeaning shroud, around the living theism of islam."--vol. i, intro., p. ccxviii.] [sidenote: the various deputations and embassies in the th and th year of the hegira.] . during these two years deputations of conversion to islam were received by mohammad at medina from the most distant parts of the peninsula, from yemen and hazaramaut from mahra oman and bahrein in the south, and from the borders of syria and the outskirts of persia. many of the chiefs and princes of yemen and mahra, of oman, bahrein and yemama--christians and pagans--intimated by letter or by embassy their conversion to islam. the prophet used to send teachers with deputations and embassies, where they were not already sent, to instruct the newly converted people the duties of islam and to see that every remnant of idolatry was obliterated. [sidenote: list of the deputations of conversion received by mohammad at medina during a.h. and .] . here is a list of the important deputations and embassies as well as the conversion of notable personages during these two years arranged in alphabetical order with geographical and genealogical notes.[ ] sir w. muir thinks it "tedious and unprofitable" to enumerate them all,[ ] while he takes notice of every apocryphal tradition and devours with eagerness all fictions unfavourable to the cause of islam. bani aámir.[ ] bani abd-ul-kays.[ ] bani ahmas.[ ] bani anaza.[ ] bani asad.[ ] bani azd (shanovah).[ ] bani azd (oman).[ ] bani báhila.[ ] bani bahra.[ ] bani bajíla.[ ] bani baka.[ ] bani bakr bin wail.[ ] bani bali.[ ] bani báriq.[ ] bani dáree.[ ] farwa.[ ] bani fezára.[ ] bani gháfiq.[ ] bani ghánim.[ ] bani ghassán.[ ] bani hamadán.[ ] bani hanífa.[ ] bani háris of najrán.[ ] bani hilál bin aamir bin sáasáa.[ ] bani himyar.[ ] bani jaad.[ ] bani jaafir bin kelab bin rabia.[ ] jeifer bin al jalandi.[ ] bani joheina.[ ] bani jufi.[ ] bani kalb.[ ] bani khas-am bin anmár.[ ] bani khaulán.[ ] bani kiláb.[ ] bani kinána.[ ] bani kinda.[ ] bani mahrah.[ ] bani mohárib.[ ] bani morád.[ ] bani muntafiq.[ ] bani murrah.[ ] bani nakhá.[ ] bani nohd.[ ] bani ozra.[ ] bani raha.[ ] bani rawasa.[ ] bani saad hozeim.[ ] bani sadif.[ ] bani sadoos.[ ] bani sahim.[ ] bani sakeef.[ ] bani salámáni.[ ] bani shaibán.[ ] bani sodaa.[ ] bani taghlib.[ ] bani tajeeb.[ ] bani tamim.[ ] bath tay.[ ] bani zobeid.[ ] [footnote : for these deputations see ibn is-hak (died ), hishamee (died ), ibn sad (died ), muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, chap. th, seerat shámí (died ), and halabí (died ). for the genealogies of these tribes consult qalqashandi's dictionary of tribes, and ibn khaldún's history. regarding the geographical positions of these tribes the reader is referred to the most valuable map of arabia in sir w. muir's annals of early caliphate, london .] [footnote : the life of mahomet by sir w. muir, vol. iv, pp. and .] [footnote : a branch of hawázin and sister tribe of the sakeef inhabited the province of najd and were of the moaddite stock. the tribe had taken little share with the rest of the bani hawázin at the battle of honain against the moslems a.h. . the famous poet lebid, author of one of the moallakas, belonged to that tribe. [see the life of lebid from ketab-ul-aghani, in an article on the moallaqah by lebid, by c.j. lyall, c.s., in the journals of the asiatic society, bengal, no. , , pp. - : calcutta.]] [footnote : bani abd-ul-kays from bahrein. the tribe has been described at page . there were many persons in the embassy. they were christians before they embraced islam.] [footnote : descended from anmár of the kahtanite stock of yemen.] [footnote : a sub-tribe of asad, descendants of rabia of the moaddite stock. these are the aneze of burkhardt.] [footnote : already described at p. . the rest of them now embraced islam. it is said that sura xlix, , refers to them.] [footnote : bani azd (shanovah) from yemen. this tribe was a portion of the azdite tribe left at yemen at the time of the northern emigration of azd. they were a branch of kahtan of the kahtanite stock. in their emigration northward from yemen they resided a long time in hijaz at batn murr near mecca. in their journey further on to the north of syria, leaving kozaa, they changed their name to ghassán from their long residence, by the way, near a fountain of that name. the tribes aus and khazraj had separated afterwards from these ghassanides, and settled at yathrib, afterwards known as medina. one surad was the chief of the embassy of azd from yemen to mohammad at medina. sir w. muir says: "this person was recognized by mahomet as the ruler of his clan, and commission was given to him to war against the heathen tribes in his neighbourhood." (the life of mahomet, vol. iv, page .) the arabic word "_yojáhid_," in the original biographies, only means "to strive," and does not mean "to make war," as understood by sir w. muir. he has himself translated the same word as "striving" in vol. iii, page . at page of the same volume he translates it by "to do utmost." i have discussed the subject in full in appendix a. of this work.] [footnote : another branch of the azd described above.] [footnote : bani báhila, otherwise called sáad manát, descendants of ghatafán of the moaddite stock.] [footnote : bani bahra (bin amr bin al-háf bin kozaá), who were a branch of the kozaá of the himyarite stock, had emigrated to the north, and settled in the ghassanide territory.] [footnote : bani bajíla, a sister of khas-am and descendants of anmar bin nizar of the kahtanite stock. they inhabited yemen. the bajíla after professing islam had destroyed the famous image of kholasa.] [footnote : a branch of bani aamir bin sáasáa in the centre of arabia.] [footnote : they lived about yemama and the shores of the persian gulf. they were one of the moaddite tribes. the war of basus between bani bakr and their sister tribe bani taghlib had lasted for forty years. there have been famous poets in the bani bakr tribe, among whom are tarafa, haris bin hiliza, and maimún al-asha. the bani bakr and bani tamim were constantly at war, which was abandoned under the influence of islam, when both the parties were converted to it during the lifetime of mohammad.] [footnote : they were a branch of the kozaá from the himyarite stock, the descendants of kahtan, and had settled in the north of arabia in the ghassanide territory on the borders of syria.] [footnote : a sub-tribe of kozaá.] [footnote : a clan of the tribe of lakhm.] [footnote : an arab of the bani juzam in the north of arabia and governor of amman in the ghassanide territory announced his conversion to mohammad by a despatch in a.h. .] [footnote : they have already been described at page . their deputation waited upon mohammad on his return from tabúk.] [footnote : descendants of anmár of the kahtanite stock.] [footnote : a sub-tribe of azd at yemen.] [footnote : already described under bani azd.] [footnote : bani hamadán of the kahtanite descent. an important tribe in the east of yemen.] [footnote : a christian branch of the bani bakr who inhabited yemama. "the account of the embassy of the bani hanífa is more decidedly unfavourable to christianity, but its details appear of doubtful authority. moseilama, the false prophet, was among the number, and there are some unlikely anticipations of his sacrilegious claims. "as the embassy were departing, mahomet gave them a vessel in which were the leavings of the water with which he had performed his lustration; and he said,--'_when you reach your country, break down your church, and sprinkle its sight with this water, and make in its place a mosque_'.... "the story appears to me improbable, because nowhere else is mahomet represented as exhibiting such antagonism to christians and their churches when they submitted themselves to him."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. ii, pp. - , _footnote_. the author changes his opinion in the fourth volume of his work and says: "i have there stated (in vol. ii) the story to be improbable. but i am now inclined to think that during the last year or two of mahomet's life, there was quite enough of antagonistic feeling against christianity as it presented itself in the profession of the arab and syrian tribes to support the narrative."--life of mahomet by sir w. muir, vol. iv, page , _footnote_. this is a mere presumption on the part of the writer, and there is no proof of mohammad's antagonism towards christianity at any period of his life except against those who waged war with him. the following verse of the koran will show how far i am true:-- "verily they who believe (moslems), and they who follow the jewish religion, and the christians and sabeites, whoever of those believeth in god and the last day, and doth that which is right shall have their reward with their lord: fear shall not come upon them, neither shall they be grieved."] [footnote : also a christian tribe in yemen descended from the kahtanite stock of the bani madhij, and collateral therefore with bani kinda. two of the embassy, one of them being akil or abd-ul-masih, the chief of the deputation, adopted islam. the rest returned with a full guarantee from mohammad for the preservation of their social and religious liberty. further information regarding the bani háris of najrán will be found at pp. and of this book. "_kâtib al wâckidi_, p. . the subsequent history of the najrán christians is there traced. they continued in possession of their lands and rights under the treaty during the rest of mohammad's life and the whole of abu bakr's caliphate. then they were accused of taking usury, and omar expelled them from the land, and wrote as follows:-- "the despatch of omar, the commander of the faithful, to the people of najrán. whoever of them emigrates is under the guarantee of god. no moslem shall injure them;--to fulfil that which mahomet and abu bakr wrote unto them. "now to whomsoever of the chiefs of syria and irâc they may repair, let such chiefs allot them lands, and whatever they cultivate therefrom shall be theirs; it is an exchange for their own lands. none shall injure or maltreat them; moslems shall assist them against oppressors. their tribute is remitted for two years. they will not be troubled except for evil deeds. "some of them alighted in irâc, and settled in najránia near to cufa. "that the offence of usury is alleged in justification of this measure appears to me to disprove the common tradition that a command was said to have been given by mahomet on his deathbed for the peninsula to be swept clear of all other religions but islam."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. ii, pp. - .] [footnote : descendants of the great ghatafán tribe already described.] [footnote : bani himyar from yemen. the himyarites are too well-known to be described. the himyarite princes of ro-en, mu-afir, hamadan and bazan, all of the christian faith in yemen, embraced islam and announced their conversion by letter sent to mohammad through their emissaries which reached him after his return from tabúk.] [footnote : either a clan of lakhm, or a branch of bani aámir.] [footnote : a sub-tribe of the bani aámir bin sáasáa already described.] [footnote : the king of omán, together with the people of omán, embraced islam during a.h. and . the people of omán were of the azdite stock.] [footnote : already described at page .] [footnote : a branch of saad-al-ashira from the kahtanite stock. this tribe inhabited yemen. they had some peculiar prejudice against eating the heart of an animal. mohammad had caused their chief to break his superstition, which he did by making him eat the roasted heart of an animal. but they returned disgusted when told that his (the chief's) mother who had committed infanticide was in hell. however they sent another deputation a second time and finally embraced islam.] [footnote : they settled in dumat-ul-jundal, now jal-al-jowf, north of arabia. they were a tribe of the bani kozaá descended from himyar.] [footnote : a tribe of the kahtanite stock at yemen. they lived in a hilly country of that name in yemen.] [footnote : they were a tribe of the kahtanite stock on the coast of yemen.] [footnote : a clan of the bani aámir bin sáasáa of the hawázin tribe already described.] [footnote : descendants of khazima of the moaddite stock.] [footnote : the bani kinda princes, vail bin hijar and al-ash-as bin kays; the former, the chief of the coast, and the latter, the chief of the hazaramaut in the south of arabia. they with their whole clans embraced islam. bani kinda were a powerful tribe of the kahálánite stock.] [footnote : a clan of ozra from kozaá described at page .] [footnote : descendants of ghatafán of the moaddite stock.] [footnote : they inhabited the sea-coast of yemen, and were a tribe of muzhie of the kahtanite stock.] [footnote : a branch of the tribe of aámir bin sáasáa.] [footnote : a branch of zobian.] [footnote : they were a tribe of the kahtanite stock, residing in yemen. their deputation consisted of two hundred persons. it is said this was the last deputation received by mohammad. some time before this ali was sent to the bani nakh-a and other tribes of the mudhij stock in yemen.] [footnote : a tribe of kozaá of the himyarite stock at yemen.] [footnote : a sub-tribe of kozaá inhabiting syria described at page .] [footnote : a tribe of muzhij of the kahtanite stock at yemen.] [footnote : they were a clan of the bani aámir bin sáasáa already described.] [footnote : a tribe of the kozaá of the moaddite stock, and according to some from yemen.] [footnote : descendants of hazaramaut of the kahtanite stock at yemen.] [footnote : a clan of the bani hanifa, descendants of bakr bin wail already described.] [footnote : a clan of the bani shaiban, the descendants of bakr bin wail already mentioned.] [footnote : the bani sakeef (thackif) were a branch of the mazar tribes of the moaddite stock. they were a sub-tribe of the hawázin and sister tribe to the bani adwán, ghatafán, and suleim. they (the bani sakeef) lived at tayif and worshipped the idol _lat_ or _táqhia_. orwa, a chief of tayif, had gone to medina to embrace islam. his first generous impulse was to return to tayif and invite his fellow-citizens to share in the blessings imparted by the new faith. upon his making public his conversion, he was wounded by a mob and suffered martyrdom. but he left a favourable impression of islam at tayif. their deputation consisted of six chiefs with fifteen or twenty followers. the prophet received them gladly and pitched a tent for their accommodation in the court of his mosque. every evening after supper he paid them there a visit and instructed them in the faith till it was dark. sir w. muir writes:--"the martyrdom of orwa compromised the inhabitants of tayif, and forced to continue the hostile course they had previously been pursuing. but they began to suffer severely from the marauding attacks of bani hawazin under malik. that chief, according to his engagement, maintained the increasing predatory warfare against them."--life of mahomet, vol. iv, page . at page he says regarding malik,--"being confirmed in his chiefship he engaged to maintain a constant warfare with the citizens of tayif." but there was no such engagement with málik. the authority (hishamee) referred to by sir w. muir does not speak anything of the alleged engagement. _vide_ hishamee, page . hishamee has only so much that mohammad made malik chief of those who were converted from the tribe. these were the clans of somála, salma, and fahm, and that he used to fight with them against the sakifites. sir w. muir further writes that the inhabitants of tayif said among themselves: "we have not strength to fight against the arab tribe all around that have plighted their faith to mahomet, _and bound themselves to fight in his cause_" (vol. iv, p. ). the italics are mine and these words are not to be found in the original authorities. hishamee (page ) has _bayaoo va aslamoo_, _i.e._, they have plighted and submitted (or converted to islam).] [footnote : descendants of the kozaá inhabited the hills of that name (salámán).] [footnote : descendants and branch of bakr bin wail.] [footnote : a tribe of the kahtanite stock from yemen.] [footnote : the bani taghlib bin wail were a tribe of the moaddite stock of meccan origin and a sister tribe to the bani bakr bin wail. their wars are famous in the annals of arabia. the war of basús has been already alluded to under bani bakr. these tribes, the bani bakr and taghlib, were located in yemama, bahrein, najd, and tihama, but lastly the bani taghlib had emigrated to mesopotamia and professed the christian faith. the members of their deputation to mohammad wore golden crosses. when invited to islam, they did not embrace it, but promised to allow their children to become moslems. mohammad allowed them to maintain unchanged their profession of christianity. their christianity was of a notoriously superficial character. "the taghlib," said ali, the fourth khalif, "are not christians; they have borrowed from christianity only the custom of drinking wine."--dozy _historie_, i, .] [footnote : a clan of kinda from the sub-tribe of sakun at yemen.] [footnote : the bani tamim were descendants of tabikha bin elyas of the moaddite stock. they are famous in the history of najd, the northeastern desert of which from the confines of syria to yemama they inhabited. they were at constant warfare with the bani bakr bin abd monát, descendants of kinána of the moaddite stock, from to a.d. all the branches of the tribe which had not yet converted to islam were now converted in a.h. .] [footnote : the bani tay was a great tribe of the kahtanite stock of yemen, had moved northwards, and settled in the mountains of ajá and salmá to the north of najd and hijaz and the town of tyma. they had adopted christianity, but some of them were jews and pagans. their intertribal war has been alluded to in para. . the whole tribe now embraced islam. "a deputation from the bani tay, headed by their chief, zeid-al-khail, came to medina to ransom the prisoners, soon after ali's expedition. mahomet was charmed with zeid, of whose fame both as a warrior and a poet he had long heard. he changed his name to zeid _al kheir_ (_the beneficent_), granted him a large tract of country, and sent him away laden with presents." muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : they were a branch of sad-al-ashirá of the mazhij tribe of the kahtanite stock. they inhabited the sea-coast of yemen.] [sidenote: all the conversions, individual and tribal, without any compulsion.] . thus all these tribal conversions and the speedy spread of islam in the whole of arabia was accomplished without any resort to arms, compulsion, threat, or "the scymitar in one hand and the koran in the other." the pagan arabs, the christians and the jews, those who embraced islam, adopted it joyfully and voluntarily. islam had been much persecuted for many years from the third year of its prophet's mission to the sixth year after the hegira--a period of about sixteen years, but it flourished alike during persecutions and oppositions as well as during periods of peace and security of the moslems. it was the result of mohammad's staunch adherence to the uncompromising severity of his inflexible principles of preaching the divine truth and his sincere belief in his own mission that he bore steadfastly all the hardships of persecutions at mecca and the horrors of the aggressive wars of the koreish and others at medina, and persuaded the whole of arabia, pagan, jewish and christian, to adopt islam voluntarily.[ ] [footnote : the rebellion of almost the whole of arabia--wrongly called apostasy--after the death of mohammad was chiefly against the government of abu bakr, the first khalifa of the republic of islam. no such paramount power over the whole of arabia was ever vested in the chiefs of mecca, and the arabs were unaccustomed to this new form of government. they had neither rebelled against islam, nor apostatized from their religion, except a very few of them who had attached themselves to moseilama for a short time.] [sidenote: mohammad was not favoured with circumstances round him.] . it was not an easy task for mohammad to have converted the arabs from their national idolatry to a religion of pure and strict monotheism. the aspect of arabia was strictly conservative, and there were no prospects of hopeful changes. the indigenous idolatry and deep-rooted superstition, the worship of visible and material objects of devotion,--idols and unshaped stones,--something that the eyes can see and the hands can handle,--and the dread of invisible genii and other evil spirits, held the arab mind in a rigorous and undisputed thraldom. arabia was obstinately fixed in the profession of idolatry which the peninsula being thickly overspread, widely diffused and thoroughly organized, was supported by national pride and latterly by the sword. "it was," writes dr. marcus dods, "certainly no hopeful task which mohammed undertook when he proposed by the influence of religion to combine into one nation tribes so incapable of being deeply influenced by any religion, and so irreconcilably opposed to one another; to abolish customs which had the sanction of immemorial usage; and to root out an idolatry, which, if it had no profound hold upon the spiritual nature, was at least bound up with old family traditions and well-understood tribal interests."[ ] the sacrifices made to, and the requirements essential to islam, its numerous positive prohibitions, the immediate repudiation of old prejudices, the renunciation of all sorts of idolatry and superstition, the throwing aside of favourite idols and the abandoning of licentious rites and customs, the total abstinence from much-relished vices, the demand for producing practical effect on the will and character, and the reaping of material fruits from holy and religious life--were barriers insurmountable for the speedy progress of islam. notwithstanding these impediments mohammad succeeded, by the influence of his religion, in combining into one nation the wild and independent tribes, and putting a stop to their internecine wars; in abolishing the custom which had the sanction of immemorial usage; and in rooting out the national idolatry of indigenous growth, without compromising his inflexible principles of truth and sincerity and honesty; and without adopting the superstitions and vices of the people. dr. mosheim thinks that, "the causes of this new religion's rapid progress are not difficult to be discovered: mahomet's law itself was admirably fitted to the natural disposition of man, but especially to the manners, opinions and vices prevalent among the people of the east; for it was extremely simple proposing few things to be believed; nor did it enjoin many and difficult duties to be performed, or such as laid severe restraints on the propensities."[ ] it is manifest from the history of religions that the people generally try their best to obtain religion's sanction for the vices prevalent among them. but there is no doubt in this that mohammad never sanctioned the idolatries and superstitions of the arabs, nor he framed his doctrines according to the opinions and fancies of the people. he preached vehemently against everything he found blamable in the people; he spared not their dear idols and beloved gods and the dreaded genii, nor accommodated his preaching and reform to indulge them in their evil practices; nor did he adopt any of the vices current among the people into his system. mohammad certainly did lay stress on the propensities of the mind and made the actions of the heart answerable to god, and preferred inward holiness to outside form. . "the heart is prone to evils."--sura xii. . "the hearing and the sight and the heart, each of these shall be inquired of."--sura xvi. . "god will not punish you for a mistake in your oaths; but he will punish you for that which your hearts have assented to. god is gracious, merciful." . "whatever is in the heavens and in the earth is god's, and whether ye disclose what is in your minds or conceal it, god will reckon with you for it; and whom he pleaseth will he forgive, and whom he pleaseth will he punish; for god is all-powerful."--sura ii. . "and unless made with intent of heart, mistakes in this matter shall be no crimes in you."--sura xxxiii. the teachings of the koran make our natural inclination subject to regulation. it lays stress upon the heart of men. note the following injunctions regarding internal purity: . "abandon the outside iniquity and its inside."--sura vi. . "come not near the pollutions outside or inward."--_ibid._ . "say: truly my lord hath forbidden filthy actions whether open or secret, and iniquity and unjust violence."--sura viii. referring to dr. mosheim's cause of the spread of islam, i will quote henry hallam's opinion regarding the causes of the success of islam. henry hallam, after enumerating the three important causes of the success of islam, the first of which is "those just and elevated notions of the divine nature and of moral duties, the gold-ore that pervades the dross of the koran, which were calculated to strike a serious and reflecting people," and explaining the two others which are not against us, he says:-- "it may be expected that i should add to this what is commonly considered as a distinguishing mark of mohammedanism,--its indulgence to voluptuousness. but this appears to be greatly exaggerated. although the character of its founder may have been tainted by sensuality as ferociousness, i do not think that he relied upon inducements of the former kind for the diffusion of his system. we are not to judge of this by rules of christian purity, or of european practice. if polygamy was a prevailing usage in arabia, as is not questioned, its permission gave no additional license to the proselytes of mohammed, who will be found rather to have narrowed the unbounded liberty of oriental manners in this respect; while his decided condemnation of adultery and of incestuous connections, so frequent among barbarous nations, does not argue a very lax and accommodating morality. a devout mussulman exhibits much more of the stoical than the epicurean character. nor can any one read the koran without being sensible that it breathes an austere and scrupulous spirit. and in fact, the founder of a new religion or sect is little likely to obtain permanent success by indulging the vices or luxuries of mankind. i should rather be disposed to reckon the severity of mohammed's discipline among the causes of its influence. precepts of ritual observance, being always definite and unequivocal, are less likely to be neglected, after their obligation has been acknowledged than those of moral virtue. thus the long fasting, the pilgrimages, and regular prayers and ablutions, the constant almsgiving, the abstinence from stimulating liquors, enjoined by the koran, created a visible standard of practice among its followers, and preserved a continual recollection of their law. "but the prevalence of islam in the lifetime of its prophet, and during the first ages of its existence, was chiefly owing to the spirit of martial energy that he infused into it. the religion of mohammed is as essentially a military system as the institution of chivalry in the west of europe. the people of arabia, a race of strong passions and sanguinary temper, inured to habits of pillage and murder, found in the law of their native prophet not a license, but a command, to desolate the world, and the promise of all that their glowing imaginations could anticipate of paradise annexed to all in which they most delighted upon earth."[ ] this is sufficient to refute the opinion of dr. mosheim. but what hallam says regarding the prevalence of islam in the lifetime of the prophet, and during the first ages of its existence, that "the people of arabia, a race of strong passions and sanguinary temper, inured to habits of pillage and murder, found in the law of their native prophet not a license, but a command, to desolate the world," is untenable. there was neither a command nor a license to desolate the world, nor was any person or tribe converted to islam with that object in view. all the teachings of the koran and the history of the early spread of islam falsify such an idea. [footnote : mohammed, buddha and christ, by marcus dods, d.d., page .] [footnote : mosheim's ecclesiastical history, book ii, chap. iii, page .] [footnote : hallam's middle ages, vol. ii, pp. - .] [sidenote: mohammad's unwavering belief in his own mission and his success show him to be a true prophet.] . i will pause here for a while, and ask the indulgence of the reader to reflect upon the circumstances of the persecutions, insults and injuries, expulsion and attack suffered by mohammad and his early followers,[ ] and his unwavering adherence to preach against the gross idolatry and immorality of his people, which all show his sincere belief in his own mission, and his possession of an irresistible inward impulse to publish the divine truth of his revelations regarding the unity in the godhead and other moral reforms. his preachings of monotheism, and his enjoining righteousness, and forbidding evil deeds, were not attended to for many years with material success. in proportion as he preached against the gross idolatry and superstition of his people, he was subjected to ridicule and scorn, and finally to an inveterate persecution which ruined his and his follower's fortune. but he unflinchingly kept his path; no threats and no injuries hindered him from still preaching to the ungodly people a purer and higher theology and better morality than had ever been set before them. he claimed no temporal power, no spiritual domination; he asked but for simple toleration, for free permission to win men by persuasion into the way of truth. he declared he was sent neither to compel conviction by miracles, nor to constrain outward profession by the sword.[ ] does this leave any doubt of the strong conviction in his mind, as well as in the truth of his claim, to be a man sent by god to preach the divine perfection, and to teach mankind the ways of righteousness? he honestly and sincerely conveyed the message which he had received or which he conscientiously or intuitively believed to have received from his god and which had all the signs and marks of truth in itself. what is meant by a true prophet or a revelation is not more than what we find in the case of mohammad.[ ] the general office and main business of a prophet is to proclaim to mankind the divine perfection, to teach publicly purer theology and higher morality, to enjoin the people to do what is right and just, and to forbid what is wrong and bad. it is neither a part of the prophet to predict future events, nor to show supernatural miracles. and further, a prophet is neither immaculate nor infallible. the revelation is a natural product of human faculties. a prophet feels that his mind is illumined by god, and the thoughts which are expressed by him and spoken or written under this influence are to be regarded as the words of god. this illumination of the mind or the effect of the divine influence differ in any prophet according to the capacity of the recipient, or according to the circumstances--physical, moral, and religious--in which he is placed. [footnote : the early followers of mohammad bore persecutions and exile with patience and steadfastness; and never recanted. look to the increasing number of these early moslems, their magnanimous forbearance, and the spontaneous abandonment of their dear homes and relations, and their defending their prophet with their blood. the number of christian believers during the whole lifetime of christ was not more than (act i, ). they had a material view of the messiah's kingdom, and had fled at the first sound of danger. two of the disciples when walking to emmaus observed, "we trusted that it had been he who should have redeemed israel," and the apostle asked jesus after the so-called resurrection, "lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom of israel?" "during the periods thus indicated as possible for comparison, persecution and rejection were the fate of both. but the thirteen years' ministry of mahomet had brought about a far greater change to the external eye than the whole lifetime of christ. the apostles fled at the first sound of danger, and however deep the inner work may have been in the by whom our lord was seen, it had produced as yet but little outward action. there was among them no spontaneous quitting of their homes, nor emigration by hundreds, such as distinguished the early moslems; nor any rapturous resolution by the converts of a foreign city to defend the prophet with their blood."--the life of mahomet by sir w. muir, vol. ii, page .] [footnote : "let us for a moment look back to the period when a ban was proclaimed at mecca against all the citizens, whether professed converts or not, who espoused his cause; when they were shut up in the _sheb_ or quarter of abu tâlib, and there for three years without prospect of relief endured want and hardship. those must have been steadfast and mighty motives which enabled him amidst all this opposition and apparent hopelessness of success, to maintain his principles unshaken. no sooner was he relieved from confinement, than, despairing of his native city, he went forth to tâyif and summoned its rulers and inhabitants to repentance; he was solitary and unaided, but he had a message, he said, from his lord. on the third day he was driven out of the town with ignominy, blood trickling from the wounds inflicted on him by the populace. he retired to a little distance, and there poured forth his complaint to god: then he returned to mecca, there to carry on the same outwardly hopeless cause with the same high confidence in its ultimate success. we search in vain through the pages of profane history for a parallel to the struggle in which for thirteen years the prophet of arabia in the face of discouragement and threats, rejection and persecution retained his faith unwavering, preached repentance, and denounced god's wrath against his godless fellow-citizens. surrounded by a little band of faithful men and women, he met insults, menaces, dangers, with a high and patient trust in the future. and when at last the promise of safety came from a distant quarter, he calmly waited until his followers had all departed, and then disappeared from amongst his ungrateful and rebellious people."--muir, vol. iv, pages - .] [footnote : "that he was the impostor pictured by some writers is refuted alike by his unwavering belief in the truth of his own mission, by the loyalty and unshaken confidence of his companions, who had ample opportunity of forming a right estimate of his sincerity, and finally, by the magnitude of the task which he brought to so successful an issue. no impostor, it may safely be said, could have accomplished so mighty a work. no one unsupported by a living faith in the reality of his commission, in the goodness of his cause, could have maintained the same consistent attitude through long years of adverse fortune, alike in the day of victory and in the hour of defeat, in the plenitude of his power and at the moment of death."--islam and its founder, by j.w.h. stobart, m.a., page . "of the sincerity of his belief in his own mission there can be no doubt. the great merit is his that among a people given up to idolatry he rose to a vivid perception of the unity of god, and preached this great doctrine with firmness and constancy, amid ridicule and persecution. but there it seems to me that the eulogy of the prophet ought to cease."--islam under the arabs by r.d. osborn. london , p. .] [sidenote: striking effects of mohammad's reforms.] . although his mission was only to convey the message and preach publicly what was revealed to him, and he was not responsible for the conversion of the ungodly polytheists to the purer theology and higher morality, or in other words, to the faith of islam, yet whatever success and beneficial results in the sphere of theology, morality, and reforms in social matters he achieved was a strong evidence of his divine mission. in the name of god and in the character of his apostle, he wrought a great reform according to his light in his own country. "every good tree bringeth forth good fruit."--(matt. vii, ). facts are stubborn things, and facts are conclusive in these points. the effects produced by his preaching, and the changes wrought by them in the religious, social, and political sphere of the polytheists, the idolatrous and grossly superstitious arabs within a comparatively short period, mostly consisting of persecutions at mecca, and struggles at medina, were very striking. from an indiscriminate mass of polytheism and gross superstitious belief in gods, genii, the sons and daughters of god, he gave them a pure monotheistic belief, recognizing no other superior power but the almighty. he raised the moral standard of his countrymen, ameliorated the condition of women, curtailed and mitigated polygamy and slavery, and virtually abolished them as well as infanticide. he most sternly denounced and absolutely forbade many heinous evils of the arab society. he united a number of wild and independent tribes into a nation and abolished their internecine wars. sir w. muir says:-- "few and simple as the positive precepts of mahomet up to this time appear, they had wrought a marvellous and a mighty work. never, since the days when primitive christianity startled the world from its sleep, and waged a mortal combat with heathenism, had men seen the like arousing of spiritual life, the like faith that suffered sacrifice and took joyfully the spoiling of goods for conscience sake. "from time beyond memory, mecca and the whole peninsula had been steeped into spiritual torpor. the slight and transient influence of judaism, christianity, or philosophy upon the arab mind, had been but as the ruffling here and there the surface of a quiet lake;--all remained still and motionless below. the people were sunk in superstition, cruelty, and vice. it was a common practice for the eldest son to marry his father's widows inherited as property with the rest of the estate. pride and poverty had introduced among them, as it has among the hindus, the crime of female infanticide. their religion consisted in gross idolatry, and their faith was rather the dark superstitious dread of unseen beings, whose goodwill they sought to propitiate, and to avert their displeasure, than the belief in an over-ruling providence. the life to come and retribution of good and evil were, as motives of action, practically unknown. "thirteen years before the hegira, mecca lay lifeless in this debased state. what a change those thirteen years had now produced! a band of several hundred persons had rejected idolatry, adopted the worship of one great god, and surrendered themselves implicitly to the guidance of what they believed a revelation from him;--praying to the almighty with frequency and fervour, looking for pardon through his mercy, and striving to follow after good works, almsgiving, chastity and justice. they now lived under a constant sense of the omnipotent power of god, and of his providential care over the minutest of their concerns. in all the gifts of nature, in every relation of life, at each turn of their affairs, individual or public, they saw his hand. and, above all, the new spiritual existence in which they joyed and gloried, was regarded as the mark of his especial grace, while the unbelief of their blinded fellow-citizens was the hardening stamp of his predestined reprobation. mahomet was the minister of life to them,--the source under god of their new-born hopes; and to him they yielded a fitting and implicit submission. "in so short a period, mecca had, from this wonderful movement, been rent into two factions, which, unmindful of the old land-marks of tribe and family, were arrayed in deadly opposition one against the other. the believers bore persecution with a patient and tolerant spirit. and though it was their wisdom so to do, the credit of a magnanimous forbearance may be freely accorded to them. one hundred men and women, rather than abjure the precious faith, had abandoned their homes, and sought refuge, till the storm should be overpast, in abyssinian exile. and now even a larger number, with the prophet himself, emigrated from their fondly-loved city, with its sacred temple,--to them the holiest spot on earth,--and fled to medîna. there the same wonder-working charm had within two or three years prepared for them a brotherhood ready to defend the prophet and his followers with their blood. jewish truth had long sounded in the ears of the men of medîna, but it was not till they heard the spirit-stirring strains of the arabian prophet, that they too awoke from their slumber, and sprang suddenly into a new and earnest life."[ ] further on sir w. muir says:-- "and what have been the effects of the system which, established by such instrumentality, mahomet has left behind him. we may freely concede that it banished for ever many of the darker elements of superstition which had for ages shrouded the peninsula. idolatry vanished before the battle-cry of islam; the doctrine of the unity and infinite perfections of god, and of a special all-pervading providence, became a living principle in the hearts and lives of the followers of mahomet, even as it had in his own. an absolute surrender and submission to the divine will (the very name of _islam_) was demanded as the first requirement of the religion. nor are social virtues wanting. brotherly love is inculcated within the circle of the faith; orphans are to be protected, and slaves treated with consideration; intoxicating drinks are prohibited, and mahometanism may boast of a degree of temperance unknown to any other creed."[ ] dr. marcus dods writes:-- "but is mahommed in no sense a prophet? certainly he had two of the most important characteristics of the prophetic order. he saw truth about god which his fellowmen did not see, and he had an irresistible inward impulse to publish this truth. in respect of this latter qualification mahommed may stand comparison with the most courageous of the heroic prophets of israel. for the truth's sake he risked his life, he suffered daily persecutions for years, and eventually banishment, the loss of property, of the goodwill of his fellow-citizens, and the confidence of his friends--he suffered in short as much as any man can suffer short of death, which he only escaped by flight, and yet he unflinchingly proclaimed his message. no bribe, threat or inducement could silence him. 'though they array against me the sun on the right hand, and the moon on the left, i cannot renounce my purpose.' and it was this persistency, this belief in his call, to proclaim the unity of god which was the making of islam. other men have been monotheists in the midst of idolaters, but no other man has founded a strong and enduring monotheistic religion. the distinction in his case was his resolution that other men should believe.... his giving himself out as a prophet of god was, in the first instance, not only sincere, but probably correct in the sense in which he himself understood it. he felt that he had thoughts of god which it deeply concerned all around him to receive, and he knew that these thoughts were given him by god, although not, as we shall see, a revelation strictly so called. his mistake lay by no means in his supposing himself to be called upon by god to speak for him and introduce a better religion, but it lay in his gradually coming to insist quite as much on men's accepting him as a prophet as on their accepting the great truth he preached. he was a prophet to his countrymen in so far as he proclaimed the unity of god, but this was no sufficient ground for his claiming to be their guide in all matters of religion, still less for his assuming the lordship over them in all matters civil as well...." the learned doctor further on in his book, "mohammed, buddha, and christ," remarks:-- "but as we endeavour to estimate the good and evil of islam, it gradually appears that the chief point we must attend to is to distinguish between its value to arabia in the seventh century and its value to the world at large. no one, i presume, would deny that to mohammed's contemporaries his religion was an immense advance on anything they had previously believed in. it welded together the disunited tribes, and lifted the nation to the forefront of the important powers in the world. it effected what christianity and judaism had alike failed to effect--it swept away, once and for ever, idolatry, and established the idea of one true god. its influence on arabia was justly and pathetically put by the moslem refugees in abyssinia, who when required to say why they should not be sent back to mecca, gave the following account of their religion and what it had done for them: 'o king, we were plunged in ignorance and barbarism; we worshipped idols; we ate dead bodies; we committed lewdness; disregarded family ties and the duties of neighbourhood and hospitality; we knew no law but that of the strong, when god sent among us a messenger of whose truthfulness, integrity, and innocence we were aware; and he called us to the unity of god, and taught us not to associate any god with him; he forbade us the worship of idols, and enjoined upon us to speak the truth, to be faithful to our trusts, to be merciful, and to regard the rights of others; to love our relatives and to protect the weak; to flee vice and avoid all evil. he taught us to offer prayers, to give alms, and to fast. and because we believed in him and obeyed him, therefore are we persecuted and driven from our country to seek thy protection.'"[ ] but after all we have here seen of the opinions of dr. marcus dods and sir w. muir, let us turn to what the rev. stephens thinks of mohammad:-- "the aim of mahomet was to revive among his countrymen the arabs, as moses revived among his countrymen the jews, the pure faith of their common forefather abraham. in this he succeeded to a very great extent. for a confused heap of idolatrous superstitions he substituted a pure monotheistic faith; he abolished some of the most vicious practices of his countrymen, modified others; he generally raised the moral standard, improved the social condition of the people, and introduced a sober and rational ceremonial in worship. finally he welded by this means a number of wild independent tribes, mere floating atoms, into a compact body politic, as well prepared and as eager to subdue the kingdoms of the world to their rule and to their faith, as ever the israelites had been to conquer the land of canaan. * * * * * "the koran also enjoins repeatedly and in very emphatic language the duty of showing kindness to the stranger and the orphan, and of treating slaves, if converted to the faith, with the consideration and respect due to believers. the duty even of mercy to the lower animals is not forgotten, and it is to be thankfully acknowledged that mohammedanism as well as buddhism shares with christianity the honour of having given birth to hospitals and asylums for the insane and sick. * * * * * "the vices most prevalent in arabia in the time of mahomet which are most sternly denounced and absolutely forbidden in the koran were drunkenness, unlimited concubinage and polygamy, the destruction of female infants, reckless gambling, extortionate usury, superstitious arts of divination and magic. the abolition of some of these evil customs, and the mitigation of others, was a great advance in the morality of the arabs, and is a wonderful and honourable testimony to the zeal and influence of the reformer. the total suppression of female infanticide and of drunkenness is the most signal triumph of his work."[ ] the reverend gentleman quoted above continues: "first of all, it must be freely granted that to his own people mahomet was a great benefactor. he was born in a country where political organization, and rational faith, and pure morals were unknown. he introduced all three. by a single stroke of masterly genius he simultaneously reformed the political condition, the religious creed, and the moral practice of his countrymen. in the place of many independent tribes he left a nation; for a superstitious belief in gods many and lords many he established a reasonable belief in one almighty yet beneficent being; taught men to live under an abiding sense of this being's superintending care, to look to him as the rewarder, and to fear him as the punisher of evil-doers. he vigorously attacked, and modified and suppressed many gross and revolting customs which had prevailed in arabia down to his time. for an abandoned profligacy was substituted a carefully regulated polygamy, and the practice of destroying female infants was effectually abolished. "as islam gradually extended its conquest beyond the boundaries of arabia, many barbarous races whom it absorbed became in like manner participators in its benefits. the turk, the indian, the negro, and the moor were compelled to cast away their idols, to abandon their licentious rites and customs, to turn to the worship of one god, to a decent ceremonial and an orderly way of life. the faith even of the more enlightened persian was purified: he learned that good and evil are not co-ordinate powers, but that just and unjust are alike under the sway of one all-wise and holy ruler, who ordereth all things in heaven and earth. "for barbarous nations, then, especially--nations which were more or less in the condition of arabia itself at the time of mahomet--nations in the condition of africa at the present day, with little or no civilisation, and without a reasonable religion--islam certainly comes as a blessing, as a turning from darkness to light and from the power of satan unto god."[ ] [footnote : the life of mahomet by sir w. muir, ll.d., vol. ii, pp. - .] [footnote : the life of mahomet by sir w. muir, vol. iv, pp. - .] [footnote : mohammed, buddha and christ, by marcus dods, d.d., pp. - & .] [footnote : christianity and islam: the bible and the koran, by rev. w.r.w. stephens, pp. , , , london, .] [footnote : christianity and islam: the bible and the koran, by the rev. w.r.w. stephens, pp. - , london, .] [sidenote: indictment against mohammad.] . what the opponents of mohammad can possibly say against his mission is his alleged moral declension at medina.[ ] they accuse him of cruelty[ ] and sensuality[ ] during his sojourn in that city after he had passed without any blame more than fifty-five years of his age, and had led a pious missionary life for upwards of fifteen years. these moral stains cannot be inconsistent with his office of being a prophet or reformer. it is no matter if a prophet morally degrades his character under certain circumstances, or morally degrades his character at the end of his age--after leading for upwards of fifty-five years a life of the highest moral principles, and as a paragon of temperance and high-toned living--while he has faithfully conveyed the message, and has sincerely and honestly preached religious reforms, and the sublimity of his preachings have in themselves the marks of divine truth. if the said prophet defends his stains or immoral deeds by professed revelations, and justifies himself in his flagrant breaches of morality by producing messages from heaven, just and equally as he does when he teaches the purer theology and higher morality for which he is commissioned, then and from that time only we will consider him as an impostor, guilty of high blasphemy in forging the name of god for his licentious self indulgences. but in the case of mohammad, in the first place, the charges of cruelty and sensuality during a period of six or seven years towards the end of his life, excepting three years, are utterly false; and secondly, if proved to have taken place, it is not proved that mohammad justified himself by alleging to have received a divine sanction or command to the alleged cruelties and flagrant breaches of morality. the charges of assassinations and cruelties to the prisoners of war and others, and of the alleged perfidy and craftiness enumerated by sir w. muir, have been examined and refuted by me in this book. _vide_ pp. - and pp. - . the cases of maria, a slave-girl, and zeinab not coming directly under the object of this book have been treated separately in appendix b, pp. - of this work. mohammad, in his alleged cruelties towards his enemies, is not represented by sir w. muir to have justified himself by special revelation or sanction from on high, yet the rev. mr. hughes, whose work has been pronounced as having "_the rare merit of being accurate_," makes him (mohammad) to have done them under the sanction of god in the koran. "the best defenders of the arabian prophet[ ] are obliged to admit that the matter of zeinab, the wife of zeid, and again of mary, the coptic slave, are 'an indelible stain' upon his memory; that he is untrue once or twice to the kind and forgiving disposition of his best nature; that he is once or twice unrelenting in the punishment of his personal enemies, and that he is guilty even more than once of conniving at the assassination of inveterate opponents; but they do not give any satisfactory explanation or apology for all this being done _under the supposed sanction_ of god in the qurán."[ ] such is the rare accuracy of mr. hughes' work. it is needless for me to repeat here that none of these allegations are either true or facts, or alleged to have been committed under the sanction of god in the koran. the rev. marcus dods writes regarding the character of mohammad:-- "the knot of the matter lies not in his polygamy, nor even in his occasional licentiousness, but in the fact that he defended his conduct, when he created scandal, by professed revelations which are now embodied as parts of the koran. when his wives murmured, and with justice, at his irregularities, he silenced them by a revelation giving him conjugal allowances which he had himself proscribed as unlawful. when he designed to contract an alliance with a woman forbidden to him by his own law, an inspired permission was forthcoming, encouraging him to the transgression."[ ] both of these alleged instances given above are mere fabrications. there was no revelation giving mohammad conjugal allowances which he had himself proscribed as unlawful, nor any permission was brought forward to sanction an alliance forbidden to him by his own law. this subject has been fully discussed by me in my work "mohammad, the true prophet," and the reader is referred to that work.[ ] a few verses on the marital subject of mohammad are greatly misunderstood by european writers on the subject, and dr. dods shares the generally wrong idea when he says:-- "he rather used his office as a title to license from which ordinary men were restrained. restricting his disciples to four wives, he retained to himself the liberty of taking as many as he pleased." (page .) this is altogether a gross misrepresentation of the real state of things. mohammad never retained to himself the liberty of taking as many wives as he pleased. on the contrary, sura xxxiii, , expressly forbade him all women except those he had already with him, giving him no option to marry in the case of the demise of some or all of them. this will show that he rather used his office as a restraint against himself of what was lawful for the people in general to enjoy. the only so-called privilege above the rest of the believers (sura xxxiii, ) was not "to retain to himself the liberty of taking as many wives as he pleased," but to retain the wives whom he had already married and whose number exceeded the limit of four under sura iv, . other believers having more wives than four as in the case of kays, ghailán, and naofal, were requested to separate themselves from the number exceeding the limit prescribed for the first time. this was before polygamy was declared to have been virtually abolished, _i.e._, between the publication of _vv._ and of sura iv. there was neither any breach of morality, nor anything licentious in his retaining the marriages lawfully contracted by him before the promulgation of sara iv, . even this privilege (sura xxxiii, ) was counterbalanced by _ibid_, , which runs thus:-- "women are not allowed thee hereafter, nor to change them for other women, though their beauty charm thee, except those already possessed by thee." mr. stanley lane poole suffers under the same misrepresentation as other european writers[ ] do when he says that:-- "the prophet allowed his followers only four wives, he took more than a dozen himself." he writes:-- "when, however, all has been said, when it has been shown that mohammad was not the rapacious voluptuary some have taken him for, and that his violation of his own marriage-law may be due to motives reasonable and just from his point of view rather than to common sensuality." "did mohammad believe he was speaking the words of god equally when he declared that permission was given him to take unto him more wives, as when he proclaimed, 'there is no god but god?'"[ ] mohammad did not violate his own marriage-law, and never pretended that permission was given to him to take more wives than what was allowed for other people. all his marriages (which are wrongly considered to have been about a dozen) were contracted by him before he published the law unjustly said to have been violated by him. he retained these wives after the law was promulgated, and their number exceeded four, but he was interdicted to marry any other women in the place of these in case of their demise or divorce. other believers were advised after the promulgation of the law to reduce the number of their wives exceeding four, but were at liberty to replace their wives within the limit assigned in the case of their demise or divorce. mohammad's case had no breach of morality or sensual license in it. it was very wise of mohammad to retain all the wives he had married before sura iv, , came into force, for the reason that the wives thus repudiated by him might have married some of the unbelievers, even some of his enemies, which would have been derogatory to the prophet in the eyes of his contemporaries and a laughing-stock for his enemies. [footnote : "we may readily admit that at the first mahomet did believe, or persuaded himself to believe, that his revelations were dictated by a divine agency. in the meccan period of his life there certainly can be traced no personal ends or unworthy motives to belie this conclusion. the prophet was there, what he professed to be, 'a simple preacher and a warner;' he was the despised and rejected teacher of a gainsaying people; and he had apparently no ulterior object but their reformation. mahomet may have mistaken the right means to effect this end, but there is no sufficient reason for doubting that he used those means in good faith and with an honest purpose. "but the scene altogether changes at medîna. there the acquisition of temporal power, aggrandisement, and self-glorification mingled with the grand object of the prophet's previous life, and they were sought after and attained by precisely the same instrumentality. messages from heaven were freely brought forward to justify his political conduct, equally with his religious precepts. battles were fought, wholesale executions inflicted, and territories annexed, under pretext of the almighty's sanction. nay, even baser actions were not only excused, but encouraged by the pretended divine approval or command. a special license was produced, allowing mahomet a double number of wives; the discreditable affair of mary the coptic slave was justified in a separate sura; and the passion for the wife of his own adopted son and bosom friend was the subject of an inspired message in which the prophet's scruples were rebuked by god; a divorce permitted, and marriage with the object of his unhallowed desires enjoined."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. - .] [footnote : "but the darker shades of character as well as the brighter must be depicted by a faithful historian. magnanimity or moderation are nowhere discernible as features in the conduct of mahomet towards such of his enemies as failed to tender a timely allegiance. over the bodies of the coreish who fell at badr he exulted with savage satisfaction; and several prisoners, accused of no crime but that of scepticism and political opposition, were deliberately executed at his command. the prince of kheibar, after being subjected to inhuman torture for the purpose of discovering the treasures of his tribe, was, with his cousin, put to death on the pretext of having treacherously concealed them; and his wife was led away captive to the tent of the conqueror. sentence of exile was enforced by mahomet with rigorous severity on two whole jewish tribes at medîna; and of a third like his neighbours, the women and children were sold into distant captivity, while the men amounting to several hundreds were butchered in cold blood before his eyes. "in his youth mahomet earned among his fellows the honourable title of 'the faithful.' but in later years, however much sincerity and good faith may have guided his conduct in respect of his friends, craft and deception were certainly not wanting towards his foes. the perfidious attack at nakhla, where the first blood in the internecine war with the coreish was shed, although at first disavowed by mahomet, for its scandalous breach of the sacred usages of arabia, was eventually justified by a pretended revelation. abu basîr, the freebooter, was countenanced by the prophet in a manner scarcely consistent with the letter, and certainly opposed to the spirit, of the truce of hodeibia. the surprise which secured the easy conquest of mecca was designed with craftiness, if not with duplicity. the pretext on which the bani nadhîr were besieged and expatriated (namely, that gabriel had revealed their design against the prophet's life), was feeble and unworthy of an honest cause. when medîna was beleaguered by the confederate army, mahomet sought the services of nueim, a traitor, and employed him to sow distrust among the enemy by false and treacherous reports; 'for,' said he, 'what else is war but a game at deception?' in his prophetical career, political and personal ends were frequently compassed by the flagrant pretence of _divine_ revelations, which a candid examination would have shewn him to be nothing more than the counterpart of his own wishes. the jewish and christian systems, at first adopted honestly as the basis of his own religion, had no sooner served the purpose of establishing a firm authority, than they were ignored, if not disowned. and what is perhaps worst of all, the dastardly assassination of political and religious opponents, countenanced and frequently directed as they were in all their cruel and perfidious details by mahomet himself leaves a dark and indelible blot upon his character."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. - . "the reader will observe that simultaneously with the anxious desire to extinguish idolatry, and to promote religion and virtue in the world, there was nurtured by the prophet in his own heart a licentious self-indulgence; till in the end, assuming to be the favourite of heaven, he justified himself by 'revelations' from god in the most flagrant breaches of morality. he will remark that while mahomet cherished a kind and tender disposition, 'weeping with them that wept,' and binding to his person the hearts of his followers by the ready and self-denying offices of love and friendship, he could yet take pleasure in cruel and perfidious assassination, could gloat over the massacre of an entire tribe, and savagely consign the innocent babe to the fires of hell."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. - .] [footnote : "in domestic life the conduct of mahomet with one grave exception was exemplary. as a husband his fondness and devotion was entire, bordering, however, at times upon jealousy. as a father he was loving and tender. in his youth he is said to have lived a virtuous life. at the age of twenty-five he married a widow forty years old; and for five and twenty years he was a faithful husband to her alone. yet it is remarkable that during this period was composed most of those passages of the coran in which the black-eyed houris, reserved for believers in paradise, are depicted in such glowing colours. shortly after the death of khadija the prophet married again; but it was not till the mature age of fifty-four that he made the dangerous trial of polygamy, by taking ayesha, yet a child, as the rival of sauda. once the natural limits of restraint were overpassed, mahomet fell an easy prey to his strong passion for the sex. in his fifty-sixth year he married haphsa; and the following year, in two succeeding months, zeinab bint khozeima and omm salma. but his desires were not to be satisfied by the range of a harem already greater than was permitted to any of his followers; rather as age advanced, they were stimulated to seek for new and varied indulgence. a few months after his nuptials with zeinab and omm salma, the charms of a second zeinab were by accident discovered too fully before the prophet's admiring gaze. she was the wife of zeid, his adopted son and bosom friend; but he was unable to smother the flame she kindled in his breast; and, by _divine_ command, she was taken to his bed. in the same year he married a seventh wife, and also a concubine. and at last, when he was full three score years of age, no fewer than three new wives, besides mary the coptic slave, were within the space of seven months added to his already well-filled harem."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. - .] [footnote : "_vide_ muhammad and muhammadanism, by mr. r. bosworth smith, m.a., an assistant master of harrow school."] [footnote : notes on muhammadanism, by the rev. t.p. hughes, missionary to the afghans, peshawar; second edition, page , london, .] [footnote : mohammed, buddha and christ, by marcus dods, d.d., pp. & .] [footnote : _vide_ pp. - . this work is being printed at education society's press, byculla, bombay. it appears that dr. dods, in the first instance, had in view sura xxxiii, . this is by no means giving mohammad conjugal allowances which he himself had proscribed as unlawful. as a preliminary measure to abolish polygamy and to accustom the people to monogamy, mohammad, when reducing the unlimited polygamy practised in arabia, had put a strong condition to treat their wives, when more than one, equitably in every sense of the word,--_i.e._, in the matter of social comfort, love and household establishment (sura iv, ). when the measure had given a monogamous tendency to the arab society, it was declared that it was impossible practically to treat equitably in all respects the contemporary wives (sura iv, ), and those who had already contracted contemporaneous marriage before the measure referred to above was introduced were absolved from the condition laid down in sura iv, , but were advised, regarding their then existing wives, not to yield wholly to disinclination. similarly mohammad was also relieved from that condition in sura xxxiii, , without "giving him any conjugal allowance which he had himself pronounced unlawful." the second instance is of zeinab's case i suppose. zeinab was in no way, when divorced by zeid, "a woman forbidden to him by his own laws."] [footnote : "the apostle becomes a creature so exalted that even the easy drapery of mohammadan morality becomes a garment too tight-fitting for him. 'a peculiar privilege is granted to him above the rest of the believers.' he may multiply his wives without stint; he may and he does marry within the prohibited degrees."--_islam under the arabs_, by r.d. osborn, london , p. .] [footnote : studies in a mosque, by s.l. poole, pp. and , london, .] [sidenote: finality of the social reforms of mohammad.] [sidenote: positive precepts.] [sidenote: ceremonial law.] [sidenote: concrete morals of the koran.] [sidenote: want of adaptibility of the koran to surrounding circumstances.] . it has been said with much stress regarding the teachings of mohammad: ( ) that although under the degraded condition of arabia, they were a gift of great value, and succeeded in banishing those fierce vices which naturally accompany ignorance and barbarism, but an imperfect code of ethics has been made a permanent standard of good and evil, and a final and irrevocable law, which is an insuperable barrier to the regeneration and progress of a nation. it has been also urged that his reforms were good and useful for his own time and place, but that by making them final he has prevented further progress and consecrated half measures. what were restrictions to his arabs would have been license to other men.[ ] ( ) that islam deals with positive precepts rather than with principles,[ ] and the danger of a precise system of positive precepts regulating the minute detail, the ceremonial worship, and the moral and social relations of life, is, that it should retain too tight a grip upon men when the circumstances which justified it have changed and vanished away, and therefore the imposition of a system good for barbarians upon people already possessing higher sort of civilization and the principles of a purer faith is not a blessing but a curse. nay more, even the system which was good for people when they were in a barbarous state may become positively mischievous to those same people when they begin to emerge from their barbarism under its influence into a higher condition.[ ] ( ) that the exact ritual and formal observations of islam have carried with them their own nemesis, and thus we find that in the worship of the faithful formalism and indifferences, pedantic scrupulosity and positive disbelief flourish side by side. the minutest change of posture in prayer, the displacement of a simple genuflexion, would call for much heavier censure than outward profligacy or absolute neglect.[ ] ( ) that morality is viewed not in the abstract, but in the concrete. that the koran deals much more with sin and virtue in fragmentary details than as a whole. it deals with acts more than principles, with outward practice more than inward motives, with precepts and commands more than exhortation. it does not hold up before man the hatefulness and ugliness of _all_ sin _as a whole_.[ ] ( ) "that islam is stationary; swathed in the rigid bands of the coran, it is powerless, like the christian dispensation,[ ] to adapt itself to the varying circumstances of time and place, and to keep pace with, if not to lead and direct, the progress of society and the elevation of the race. in the body politic the spiritual and secular are hopelessly confounded, and we fail of perceiving any approach to free institutions or any germ whatever of popular government."[ ] [footnote : _vide_ islam and its founder, by j.w.h. stobart, b.a., page , london, ; and mohammed, buddha and christ, by marcus dods, d.d., pp. - , london, . major osborn writes, "but to the polity erected on these rude lines was given the attribute of finality. in order to enforce obedience and eliminate the spirit of opposition, mohammad asserted that it was, down to the minutest details, the work of a divine legislature."--_islam under the arabs_, pp. and .] [footnote : _vide_ the faith of islam, by the rev. edward sell, page , london, .] [footnote : _vide_ christianity and islam, the bible, and the koran, by the rev. w.r.w. stephens, pp. and , london, .] [footnote : _vide_ islam and its founder, by j.w.h. stobart, b.a., page ; and stephens' christianity and islam, page . major osborn writes: "from the hour of his birth the moslem becomes a member of a system in which every act of his life is governed by a minute ritual. he is beset on every side with a circle of inflexible formalities."--_islam under the khalifs of baghdad_, pp. - . he further writes in a footnote, p. : "thus prayer is absolutely useless if any matter, legally considered impure, adheres to the person of the worshipper, even though he be unconscious of its presence. prayer also is null and void unless the men and women praying are attired in a certain prescribed manner."] [footnote : _vide_ christianity and islam, by w.r.w. stephens, pp. - . major osborn writes: "the prophet knew of no religious life where the external rite was not deemed of greater importance than the inner state, and, in consequence, he gave that character to islam also. hence there are no moral gradations in the koran. all precepts proceed from the will of god, and all are enforced with the same threatening emphasis. a failure of performance in the meanest trivialities of civil life involves the same tremendous penalties as apostacy and idolatry."--_islam under khalifs_, p. . he further says: "in their religious aspect, these traditions are remarkable for that strange confusion of thought which caused the prophet to place on one level of wickedness serious moral crimes, breaches of sumptuary regulations, and accidental omissions in ceremonial observations. sin, throughout, is regarded as an external pollution, which can, at once, be rectified by the payment of a fine of some kind." _ibid_, page .] [footnote : "occasionally our author would seem to write what he certainly does not mean; thus, in the middle of an excellent summary of the causes of islam's decadence, it is stated,--'swathed in the rigid bands of the koran, _islam is powerless like the christian dispensation_ to adapt itself to the varying circumstances of time and place.'"--_the saturday review_, june , .] [footnote : _vide_ annals of the early caliphate, by sir w. muir, k.c.s.i., ll.d., d.c.l., page , london, .] [sidenote: the preceding objections not applicable to the koran.] . all these objections more or less apply rather to the teachings of the mohammadan common law (canon and civil), called _fiqah_ or _shara_, than to the koran, the mohammadan revealed law. our common law, which treats both ecclesiastical and the civil law, is by no means considered to be a divine or unchangeable law. this subject has been treated by me in a separate work[ ] on the legal, political and social reforms to which the reader is referred. the space allowed to me in this introduction, which has already exceeded its proper limit, does not admit a full and lengthy discussion of the objections quoted above, but i will review them here in as few words as possible. [footnote : reforms, political, social and legal, under the moslem rule, bombay education society's press, .] [sidenote: finality of the social reforms of mohammad.] . ( ) mohammad had to deal with barbarous nations around him, to be gradually reformed, and besides this the subject of social reforms was a secondary question. yet it being necessary to transform the character of the people and to reform the moral and social abuses prevailing among them, he gradually introduced his social reforms which proved immense blessings to the arabs and other nations in the seventh century. perhaps some temporary but judicious, reasonable and helpful accommodations had to be made to the weakness and immaturity of the people, as halting stages in the march of reforms only to be set aside at their adult strength, or to be abolished when they were to begin to emerge from their barbarism under its influence to a higher civilization. consequently gradual amelioration of social evils had necessarily to pass several trials during progress of reform. the intermediate stages are not to be taken as final and irrevocable standard of morality and an insuperable barrier to the regeneration of the arabian nation. our adversaries stick indiscriminately to these temporary measures or concessions only, and call them half measures and partial reforms made into an unchangeable law which exclude the highest reforms, and form a formidable obstacle to the dawn of a progressive and enlightened civilization. i have in view here the precepts of mohammad for ameliorating the degraded condition of women for restricting the unlimited polygamy and the facility of divorce, together with servile concubinage and slavery.[ ] mohammad's injunctions and precepts, intermediary and ultimate, temporary and permanent, intended for the removal of these social evils, are interwoven with each other, interspersed in different suras and not chronologically arranged, in consequence of which it is somewhat difficult for those who have no deep insight into the promiscuous literature of the koran to find out which precept was only a halting stage, and which the latest. it was only from some oversight on the part of the compilers of the common law that, in the first place, the civil precepts of a transitory nature and as a mediate step leading to a higher reform were taken as final; and in the second place, the civil precepts adapted for the dwellers of the arabian desert were pressed upon the neck of all ages and countries. a social system for barbarism ought not to be imposed on a people already possessing higher forms of civilizations. [footnote : "the cankerworm of polygamy, divorce, servile concubinage and veil lay at the root. they are bound up in the character of its existence. a reformed islam which should part with the divine ordinances on which they rest, or attempt in the smallest degree to change them by a rationalistic selection, abetment or variation would be islam no longer." annals of the early caliphate by sir w. muir, page .] [sidenote: positive precepts.] [sidenote: ceremonial law.] . ( ) in fact the koran deals with positive precepts as well as with principles, but it never teaches a precise system of precepts regulating in minute details the social relations of life and the ceremonial of worship. on the contrary, its aim has been to counteract the tendency to narrowness, formality, and severity which is the consequence of a living under a rigid system of positive precepts. mohammad had to transform the character of the arab barbarians who had no religious or moral teacher or a social reformer before his advent. it was therefore necessary to give them a few positive precepts, moulding and regulating their moral and social conduct, to make them 'new creatures' with new notions and new purposes, and to remodel the national life. ( ) but lest they should confuse virtue as identical with obedience to the outward requirements of the ceremonial law,--the formal ablutions, the sacrifices in pilgrimages, the prescribed forms of prayers, the fixed amount of alms, and the strict fasts, the voice of the koran has ever and anon been lifted up to declare that a rigid conformity to practical precepts, whether of conduct or ceremonial, would not extenuate, but rather increase in the eyes of god the guilt of an unprincipled heart and an unholy life. [sidenote: pilgrimage.] regarding the pilgrimage[ ] or the sacrifices (its chief ceremony), the koran says:-- "by no means can their flesh reach unto god, neither their blood, but piety on your part reacheth him. thus hath he subjected them to you, that ye might magnify god for his guidance: and announce glad tidings to the doers of good."--sura xxii, . [sidenote: kibla.] regarding the _kibla_ in prayers it is said in the koran:-- "the west and the east is god's: therefore whichever way ye turn there is the face of god."--sura ii, . "all have a quarter of the heavens to which they turn them; but wherever ye be, hasten emulously after good."--_ibid_, . "there is no piety in turning your faces toward the east or west, but he is pious who believeth in god and the last day, and the angels and the scripture, and the prophets; who for the love of god disburseth his wealth to his kindred; and to the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer, and those who ask, and for ransoming; who observeth the prayer, and payeth alms, and who is of those who are faithful to their engagements when they have engaged in them, and patient under ills and hardships, and in time of trouble, these are they who are just, and these are they who fear the lord."--_ibid_, . [sidenote: amount of alms.] in the place of a fixed amount of alms the koran only says to give what ye can spare. "they will ask thee also what shall they bestow in alms: "say: what ye can spare."--_ibid_, , . [sidenote: fasts.] instead of imposing a very strict fast, which in the middle of summer is extremely mortifying, the koran makes its observance optional. "and as for those who are able to keep it and yet observe it not, the expiation of this shall be the maintenance of a poor man. and he who of his own accord performeth a good work, shall derive good from it: and good shall it be for you to fast, if ye knew it."--_ibid_, . [sidenote: no prescribed forms of prayer.] the koran does not teach any prescribed forms of worship and other ritualistic prayers. no attitude is fixed, and no outward observance of posture is required. there is no scrupulosity and punctiliousness, neither the change of posture in prayer nor the displacement of a single genuflexion calls any censure on the devotee in the koran. simply reading the koran (suras lxxiii, ; xxix, ), and bearing god in mind, standing and sitting; reclining (iii, ; iv, ) or bowing down or prostrating (xxii, ) is the only form and ritual, if it may be called so, of prayer and worship taught in the koran. "recite then as much of the koran as may be easy to you."--sura lxxiii, . "recite the portions of the book which have been revealed to thee and discharge the duty of prayer; verily prayer restraineth from the filthy and the blameworthy. and assuredly the gravest duty is the remembrance of god; and god knoweth what ye do."--sura xxix, . "and when the koran is rehearsed, then listen ye to it and keep silence: haply ye may obtain mercy." "and think within thine ownself on god, with lowliness and with fear and without loud-spoken words, at even and at morn; and be not of the heedless."--sura vii, , . [sidenote: pretentious prayers and ostentatious almsgiving condemned.] the koran condemns pretentious prayers and ostentatious almsgiving. "verily the hypocrites would deceive god; but he will deceive them! when they stand up for prayer, they stand carelessly to be seen of men, and they remember god but little"--sura iv, . "woe then to those who pray," "who in their prayer are careless;" "who make a show of devotion," "but refuse help _to the needy_."--sura cvii, - . "and they fall down on their faces weeping, and it increaseth the humility."--sura xvii, . "o ye who believe! make not your alms void by reproaches and injury; like him who spendeth his substance to be seen of men, and believeth not in god and in the latter day. the likeness of such an one is that of a rock with a thin soil upon it, on which a heavy rain falleth, but leaveth it hard. no profit from their works shall they be able to gain; for god guideth not the unbelieving people."--sura ii, . "we have made ready a shameful chastisement for the unbelievers, and for those who bestow their substance in alms to be seen of men, and believe not in god and in the last day. whoever hath satan for his companion, an evil companion hath he!"--sura iv, . [sidenote: no indispensable hours or places for prayers.] there are no indispensable hours or places to be observed for prayers. in suras xi, ; and iv, , the time of prayer is set down in general terms without specifying any fixed hour. there are some more times named in suras xvii, , ; xx, ; l, , ; and lii, , , but they are special cases for mohammad himself, and "as an excess in the service." _vide_ sura xvii, . on this subject dr. marcus dods observes:-- "there are two features of the devout character which the mohammedans have the merit of exhibiting with much greater distinctness than we do. they show not the smallest hesitation or fear in confessing god, and they reduce to practice the great principle that the worship of god is not confined to temples or any special place:-- "most honour to the men of prayer, whose mosque is in them everywhere! who amid revel's wildest din, in war's severest discipline, on rolling deck, in thronged bazaar, in stranger land, however far, however different in their reach of thought, in manners, dress or speech,-- will quietly their carpet spread. to mekkeh turn the humble head, and, as if blind to all around, and deaf to each distracting sound, in ritual language god adore, in spirit to his presence soar, and in the pauses of the prayer, rest, as if rapt in glory there." "there are of course formalists and hypocrites in islam as well as in religions of which we have more experience. the uniformity and regularity of their prostrations resemble the movements of a well-drilled company of soldiers or of machines, but the koran denounces "woe upon those who pray, but in their prayers are careless, who make a show of devotion, but refuse to help the needy;" while nowhere is formalism more pungently ridiculed than in the common arabic proverb, "his head is towards the kibleh, but his heels among the weeds." we could almost excuse a touch of formalism for the sake of securing that absolute stillness and outward decorum in worship which deceives the stranger as he enters a crowded mosque into the belief that it is quite empty. persons who hold themselves excused from the duty of worship by every slight obstacle might do worse than get infected with the sublime formalism of cais, son of sad, who would not shift his head an inch from the place of his prostration, though a huge serpent lifted its fangs close to his face and finally coiled itself round his neck. and if some are formal, certainly many are very much in earnest."[ ] [sidenote: ablutions.] the ablutions have not been imposed as burdens, or as having any mysterious merit, but merely as a measure of cleanliness. "god desireth not to lay a burden upon you, but he desireth to purify you." [footnote : the institution of pilgrimage is a harmless one, and conducive to unity in religion for arabs, and gives moreover an impetus to trade at large.] [footnote : mohammed, buddha, and christ, by marcus dods, d.d., pp. - .] [sidenote: koran both abstract and concrete in morals.] . ( ) the koran seems fully aware of the danger of the precise and fixed system of positive precepts moulding and regulating every department of life. the danger is that the system of formalism in which men are tied down to the performance of certain religious functions, minutely and precisely fixed in respect to time, place and manner, so that neither less nor more is required of them, retains too tight a grip upon them, when the circumstances which justified it have changed or vanished away. the moral growth of those who live under such a system of minute and punctilious restraint is stunted and retarded. the tendency of mankind to formalism is so strong that they very commonly, though often unconsciously, fall into the error of imagining that there is a peculiar intrinsic merit and virtue in the mere discharge of those prescribed forms of duties and religious ceremonies. morality is with them not in the abstract but in the concrete, as consisting of a mass of religious observances, rather than of a certain disposition of heart towards god and man. the koran deals with vice and virtue as a whole as well as in fragmentary details. it treats of inward motives as much as of outward practice, of exhortations equally with precepts and commands. it holds up before man the hatefulness and ugliness of vice _as a whole_. it does not enclose the whole of the practical morality and piety within the narrow compass of a fixed number of precepts. it lays the foundation of that far-reaching charity which regards all men as equal in the sight of god, and recognizes no distinction of races and classes. . "and abandon the semblance of wickedness and wickedness itself. they, verily, whose _only_ acquirement is iniquity shall be repaid for what they have gained." . "say: come, i will rehearse what your lord hath made binding on you, that ye assign not aught to him as sharers of his divine honour, and that ye be good to your parents; _and_ that ye slay not your children because of poverty, for them and for you will we provide; and that ye come not near to pollutions, outward or inward; and that ye slay not anyone whom god hath forbidden you, unless for a just cause. this hath he enjoined on you: haply ye will understand."--sura vi. . "say: only hath my lord forbidden filthy actions, whether open or secret, and iniquity, and unjust violence, and to associate with god that for which he hath sent down no warranty, and to speak of god that of which ye have no knowledge."--sura vii. . "to those who avoid great crimes and scandals, but commit only lighter faults, verily, thy lord will be rich in forgiveness. he well knew you when he produced you out of the earth, and when ye were embryos in your mothers' womb. assert not then your own purity. he best knoweth who feareth him."--sura liii. . "o men! verily we have created you of a male and a female: and we have divided you into peoples and tribes that ye might take knowledge one of another. truly the most worthy of honour in the sight of god is he who feareth him most. verily god is knowing, cognizant."--sura xlix. . "and every _nation_ has a quarter _of the heavens_. it is god who turneth them _towards it_: hasten then emulously after good: wheresover ye be, god will one day bring you all together: verily god is all powerful."--sura ii. . "and to thee we have sent down the book _of the koran_ with truth, confirmatory of previous scripture and its safeguard. judge therefore between them by what god hath sent down, and follow not their desires, after the truth which hath come unto thee. to everyone of you have we given a rule and an open way." . "and if god had pleased he had surely made you all one people; but he would test you by what he hath given to each. be emulous then in good deeds. to god do ye _all_ return, and he will tell you concerning the subjects of your disputes."--sura v. "and vie in haste for pardon from your lord, and a paradise, vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the god-fearing." . "who gives alms, _alike_ in prosperity and _in_ distress, and who master their anger, and forgive others! and god loveth the doer of good." . "and who, after they have done a base deed or committed a wrong against their own souls, remember god and implore forgiveness of their sins--and who can forgive sins but god only?--and persevere not in what they have willingly done amiss."--sura iii. . "vie in hasting after pardon from your lord, and paradise--whose outspread is as the outspread of the heaven and of the earth. prepared is it for those who believed in god and his apostles. such is the bounty of god: to whom he will he giveth it: and of immense bounty is god!"--sura lii. . "ye shall assuredly be tried in your possessions and in yourselves. and many hurtful things shall ye assuredly hear from those to whom the scriptures were given before you, and from those who join other gods with god. but if ye be steadfast and fear god, then this verily is _god's_ decree for the affairs of _life_."--sura iii. . "o my son! observe prayer and enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and be patient under whatever shall betide thee: verily this is a bounden duty."--sura xxxi. . "yet let the recompense of evil be only a like evil; but he who forgiveth and maketh peace, shall find his reward for it from god; verily he loveth not those who act unjustly." . "and there shall be no way _open_ against those who, after being wronged, avenge themselves." . "only shall there be a way _open_ against those who unjustly wrong others, and act insolently on the earth in disregard of justice. these! a grievous punishment doth await them." . "and whoso beareth _wrongs_ with patience and forgiveth,--this verily is a bounden duty."--sura xlii. [sidenote: adaptability of the koran to surrounding circumstances.] . ( ) the koran keeps pace with the most fully and rapidly-developing civilization, if it is rationally interpreted, not as expounded by the ulema in the common law book and enforced by the sentiment of a nation. it is only the mohammadan common law, with all its traditions or oral sayings of the prophet,--very few of which are genuine reports, and the supposed chimerical concurrence of the learned moslem doctors and mostly their analogical reasonings (called _hadees_, _ijma_, and _kias_), passed under the name of _fiqah_ or _shariat_, that has blended together the spiritual and the secular, and has become a barrier in some respects regarding certain social and political innovations for the higher civilization and progress of the nation. but the koran is not responsible for this all. mr. stanley lane poole writes:-- "the koran does not contain, even in outline, the elaborate ritual and complicated law which now passes under the name of islam. it contains merely those decisions which happened to be called for at medina. mohammad himself knew that it did not provide for every emergency, and recommended a principle of analogical deduction to guide his followers when they were in doubt. this analogical deduction has been the ruin of islam. commentators and jurists have set their nimble wits to work to extract from the koran legal decisions which an ordinary mind could never discover there; and the whole structure of modern mohammadanism has been built upon the foundation of sand. the koran is not responsible for it."[ ] i can only differ from the above in the allegation that mohammad recommended a principle of analogical deduction. [footnote : the speeches and table-talk of the prophet mohammad, by stanley lane poole, pages lii and liii, introduction, london, .] [sidenote: suitability of the koran to all classes of humanity.] . thus the system of religious and moral teaching of the koran admirably suits the lower and the higher forms of humanity. the precepts which regulate some department of social life, moral conduct, and religious ceremonial are blessings to the barbarous; and that portion of the koran which inculcates large principles, for the due application of which much must be left to the individual conscience, suits the same people when they begin to emerge from their barbarism under its influence into a higher condition, or to those already possessing the higher forms of civilization. for instance, the command to give full measure, to weigh with just balance, to abstain from wine and gambling, and to treat persons with kindness are intended for men not reaching the high forms of civilization. the teachings of the koran regarding the graces of truth, honesty and temperance and mercy, the virtues of meekness, and the stress laid upon thoughts and inclinations are fit to instruct persons who have attained the higher forms of civilization, and have outgrown the need of positive precepts of minute detail. c. ali. hyderabad, deccan, _march _. [transcriber's note: despite the reference to a "note" on page cv in the table of contents, no such page exists in this edition of the printed book.] kahtan. | .--------------------+-------------------. | | yarab. hazaramaut. | * yoshjab. * | sadif. saba. | .-----------------------------. | | himyar. kahlan. * | * .-----------------+----------. kozaa. | | | rabia. zeid. al-hafi. * | | * .-----------------------. | hamadan. | | | abad. * .-----+-----+----------. * * | | | * ghous. aslom. amran. amr. | | * * | .------+--+-----+------. | * * .-----+-----. | | | | | zeid. | | | | murrah. muzhij. tay. ash-ar. | | .-------+. bahra. * bali. | | | | | | | * .---+---. | .--+-----. | | jarm. taghlib. mahra. | | | | | | | | adi. khaulan. | ghous. kharija. | | vabra. | | | | | | .--------------. | jadila. | | .---------. | | | | | | | | lakhm. ofeir. juzam. | | | kalb. khoshain. | | .------+------. | | | dar. kinda. | | | | | taym allat. | ans. illah. | | | sukun. | | | | .---+-------+-----. morad. | saad-ul-ashira | | | | | | | joheina. saad. nohd. .------------------. jufi. | | | | | ozra. harb. amr. | | | | .----------. nakha. | | | | raha. sada. .-----------------------. | .----------+----------. | | azd. anmar. | | .---------------+---. .------+-+-------. | | | | | mazin. shahnvah. khas-am. ghous. ghafiq. | | | | .----------+----------. .-------+-------. bajila. ahmas. | | | | | | saalba. harisa. | samala. doos. haddan. | | jafna. .--+----. | (the ghassinides). | | | aus. khazraj. | | .-----+---+----------. | | | adi. afsa. lohay. | | | bariq. aslam. khozaa. | | salaman. mustalik. moadd. * * nizar. | .-----------+---------------------------------. | | mozar (modhar). rabia. | * .------+----------------------------------. * | | | al-nás. al-yás. .-----. | * | | kays. * anaza. | | khundif. | aylan. | jadila. | .-------+-----. * .------+-----------. | | * | | tábikha. modrika. | khasafa. ghatafan. | * | * | add. * | * .----+------. | | | mansúr. | | .--------+-----. .+---. | | aasir. reis. | | | | | | .----+---. | | tamim. * mozeina. | hozeil. | | | .+-----. | * | | | suleim. hawazan. | | | * * khozeima. | | | | sad monat | | darim. | | | | .--+--. bakr. bahila. | | | | lahyán. | | | * | | saliba bin sád. | | makwan. * * movahib. | kinana. | | .+--------. | | * .+--------+------. | | .----+-----. | | | | | asha. baghiz. | | | .-----+. sakeef. saad. saasaa. | abd monat. nazar. | | | | .---+---. | | | ussya. ril. aamir. | | .---+-. malik. | | zobian. abs. | | | | .-------------+-. * * bakr. fahr or | | | * * | koreish. | rabia. hilal. | | zamra. | | | | mudlij. | ghalib. | .----------+--+-------------. | ghifar. | | | | | .-+-----+------. loway. | kilab. kaab. aamir. | | | | | * | * shahm. murra. fezára. | | * .----+-+----. * | | | | | | | .---------------------+ | rivas. kosheir. * jaada. baka. | | | | káb khozeima. | * | | | .----------------+-. .--------+-----+ muntafiq. | | | | murrah. * * abd-ul-kays. | * * .-------+-+-----. | | | | | .----+-. .-+---+----. kilab. taym. mukhzum. | | | | | | sahm. jamah. | | aus allat. .--+------. | | | | taym allah. | kossay. zohra. | | wail. .-----------+---------------. | | | | .-----+---. * abd manaf. abd-ud-dár. | | * | taghlib. bakr. | .-----+----------------------. * asad. | | * hashim. abd shams. | | | hanifa. abd-ul-muttálib. omayya. * | | * .-------+----+-----------. harab. | | | | (sakhr). .------. abbas. abdullah. abu talib. | | | | | | abu sofian. taheem * ibn abbas. mohammad. ali. | * moavia. | shaiban. * * | sadús. all the wars of mohammad were defensive. _the persecutions._ [sidenote: . the early persecutions of moslems by the people of mecca.] the severe persecution which mohammad and his early converts suffered at mecca at the hands of their fellow-citizens, the koreish, is a fact admitted by all historians. the koran, which may be regarded as a contemporary record of the ill-feeling manifested towards the prophet and his followers, bears ample testimony to the fact. not only were the early moslems persecuted for renouncing the pagan religion and obtaining converts to the monotheistic religion of mohammad, but they were also tortured and otherwise ill-treated to induce them to return to the religion which they had forsaken. the persecution seems to have been so great that mohammad was compelled to recognize those of his followers, who by force and cruelty were compelled to renounce islam and profess paganism, but were inwardly steadfast in their belief of the one true god, as true moslems. the koran says: "whoso after he hath believed in god denieth him, if he were forced to it, and if his heart remain steadfast in the faith, _shall be guiltless_; but whoso openeth his breast to infidelity, on them, in that case, shall be wrath from god, and a severe punishment awaiteth them."--sura xvi, . "the incarceration and tortures," says mr. stobart, "chiefly by thirst in the burning rays of the sun, to which these humble converts were subjected, to induce their recantation and adoration of the national idols, touched the heart of mahomet, and by divine authority, he permitted them, under certain circumstances, to deny their faith so long as their hearts were steadfast in it."[ ] [sidenote: . notices of the persecution in the koran.] the oppressions, trials, and sufferings which the early moslems underwent compelled them to fly from their homes, leaving their families and property in the hands of their oppressors. they chose this course rather than revert to paganism. they held steadfastly to the one true god whom their prophet had taught them to trust and believe. all these facts are clearly outlined in the following verses of the koran:-- "and as to those who when oppressed have fled their country for the sake of god, we will surely provide them a goodly abode in this world, but greater the reward of next life, did they but know it." "they who bear ills with patience, and put their trust in the lord!"--xvi, , . "to those also who after their trials fled their country, then did their utmost and endured with patience, verily, thy lord will afterwards be forgiving, gracious."--_ibid_, . "but they who believe, and who fly their country, and do their utmost in the cause of god, may hope for god's mercy: and god is gracious, merciful."--ii, . "and they who have fled their country and quitted their homes and suffered in my cause and have fought and fallen--i will blot out their sins from them and will bring them into gardens beneath which the streams do flow."--iii, . "and as to those who fled their country for the cause of god, and were afterwards slain, or died, surely with goodly provision will god provide for them! for verily, god is the best of providers!"--xxii, . "those believers who sit at home free from trouble, and those who toil in the cause of god with their substance and their persons, shall not be treated alike. god hath assigned to those who strive with their persons and with their substance, a rank above those who sit at home. goodly promises hath he made to all: but god hath assigned to those who make efforts a rich recompense above those who sit still at home." "the angels, when they took the souls of those who had been unjust to their own weal, demanded, 'what hath been your state?' they said, 'we were the weak ones of the earth.' they replied, 'was not god's earth broad enough for you to flee away in?' these! their home shall be hell, and evil the passage to it"-- "except the men and women and children who were not able through their weakness to find the means _of escape_, and were not guided on their way. these haply god will forgive: for god is forgiving, pardoning."--iv, , , . "god doth not forbid you to deal with kindness and fairness towards those who have not made war upon you on account of your religion, or driven you forth from your homes: verily, god loveth those who act with fairness." "only doth god forbid you to make friends of those who, on account of your religion, have warred against you, and have driven you forth from your homes, and have aided your expulsion: and whoever maketh friends of them, these therefore are evil-doers."--lx, , . [sidenote: . insults suffered by mohammad.] the prophet himself suffered insults and personal injuries from the hands of his persecutors. he was prevented from offering his prayers (xcvi, ). he allowed himself to be spat upon, to have dust thrown upon him, and to be dragged out of the kaaba by his own turban fastened to his neck. he bore all these indignities with the utmost humility, and he daily beheld his followers treated oppressively. after his uncle's death his life was attempted, but he escaped by flying to medina. "and _call to mind_ when the unbelievers plotted against thee, to detain thee prisoner or to kill thee or to banish thee: they plotted--but god plotted; and of plotters is god the best."--viii, . [sidenote: . historical summary of the persecutions.] about of the christian era, the koreish of mecca began to persecute the faith of islam. those who had no protection among the early moslems were hard pressed, as related above. a body of eleven men, some with their families, fled the country, and found refuge, notwithstanding their pursuit by the koreish, across the red sea at the court of abyssinia. this was the first hegira, or flight of the persecuted moslems. after some time, the persecution being resumed by the koreish more hotly than ever, a larger number of moslems, more than hundred, emigrated to abyssinia. this was the second flight of the moslems. the koreish had sent an embassy to the court of abyssinia to fetch back the refugees. the king denied their surrender. about two years later the koreish formed a hostile confederacy, by which all intercourse with the moslems and their supporters was suspended. the koreish forced upon the moslems, by their threats and menaces, to retire from the city. for about three years, they, together with the prophet and the hashimites and their families, had to shut themselves up in the _sheb_ of abu tálib. they remained there, cut off from communication with the outer world. the ban of separation was put rigorously in force. the terms of the social and civil ban put upon them were, that they would neither intermarry with the proscribed, nor sell to or buy from them anything, and that they would entirely cease from all intercourse with them. mohammad, in the interval of the holy months, used to go forth and mingle with the pilgrims to mecca, and preached to them the abhorrence of idolatry and the worship of the one true god. the _sheb_, or quarter of abu tálib, lies under the rocks of abu cobeis. a low gateway cut them off from the outer world, and within they had to suffer all privations of a beleaguered garrison. no one would venture forth except in the sacred months, when all hostile feelings and acts had to be laid aside. the citizens could hear the voices of the half-famished children inside the _sheb_ and this state of endurance on the one side, and persecution on the other, went on for some three years. five of the chief supporters of the adverse faction detached from the league and broke up the confederacy and released the imprisoned religionists. this was in the tenth year of mohammad's ministry. soon after mohammad and the early moslems suffered a great loss in the death of his venerable uncle and protector abu tálib. thus, mohammad and his followers became again exposed to the unchecked insults and persecutions incited by abú sofian, abu jahl, and others; and being a handful in the hostile city, were unable to cope with its rich and powerful chiefs. at this critical period, either because he found it unsafe to remain at mecca, or because he trusted his message would find more acceptance elsewhere, mohammad set off to tayef of the bani thakif,--the town was one of the great strongholds of idolatry. there was a stone image, called al-lât, adorned with costly vestments and precious stones, was an object of worship, and esteemed to be one of the daughters of god. here mohammad preached to unwilling ears, and met with nothing but opposition and scorn from the chief men, which soon spread to the populace. he was driven out of the town, maltreated, and wounded. he could not return to and enter mecca unless protected by mut-im, a chief of the blood of abd shams. at the yearly pilgrimage, a little group of worshippers from medina was attracted and won over by the preaching of islam; and the following year it increased to twelve. they met mohammad and took an oath of allegiance. a teacher was deputed by mohammad to medina, and the new faith spread there with a marvellous rapidity. again the time of pilgrimage arrived, and more than seventy disciples from medina pledged themselves to receive and defend him at the risk of their lives and property. this was all done in secret; but the koreish, having got notice of it, renewed such severities and persecutions, including, in some cases, imprisonment, as hastened the departure of the moslems to medina, their city of refuge. [sidenote: . the hegira.] mohammad, being much troubled by the intolerance of the people and the personal safety and security of himself and his followers being endangered, and mutual intercourse denied, saw that it was hopeless to expect any forbearance on the part of the koreish, who would not permit him to live and preach his religion at home, and looked for assistance and protection from a strange land. he asked the people of medina to receive and protect him. the medina converts, who had come to mecca on pilgrimage, pledged themselves to mohammad, and promised to defend him as they would defend their wives and children. the medina converts, although not acting on the offensive, became at once objects of suspicion to the koreish, who endeavoured to seize those who were in mecca. they maltreated one of the medina converts who fell into their hands, and the work of persecution was recommenced in right earnest.[ ] two months elapsed before the believers, except those detained in confinement or who were unable to escape from slavery, or women and children, could emigrate. families after families silently disappeared, and house after house was abandoned. one or two quarters of the city were entirely deserted. the koreish held a council and proscribed mohammad, who escaped together with abu bakr, leaving ali in his house, around whom, to lull the suspicions of his neighbours, he threw his own mantle, and desired him to occupy his bed. mohammad and his follower took refuge in a cave. the koreish despatched scouts in all directions to search for mohammad, but in vain. after hiding for three days in the cave, mohammad and abu bakr started for medina, where they arrived safely. the foregoing circumstances would have fully justified immediate hostilities on the part of mohammad, but he did not take up arms until compelled to do so by the attacks of the meccans. [sidenote: . the persecution of the moslems by the koreish after their flight from mecca.] notwithstanding the flight of the prophet and of all the early moslem converts who were able to effect an escape except their families, women and children, and those weak moslems who could not leave mecca, the meccans or the koreish did not forgive the fugitives and did not abstain from their aggressions against them. they maltreated the children and weak moslems left at mecca (iv, , and ), expelled the moslems from their houses, and would not allow them to come back to mecca for a pilgrimage (ii, ). the meccans several times invaded the medina territory with the avowed intention of making war upon the moslems (and actually fought the battles of bedr, ohad, khandak or ahzáb, at medina), consequently the moslems were forced to resort to arms in pure self-defence. these were sufficient grounds for the moslems to assume the offensive. they were desirous also of rescuing their families and those who had been unable to join in the flight from the tyranny and oppression of the meccans. yet they were in no instance the aggressors. driven from their homes and families they did not resort to arms until absolutely compelled to do so in self-defence. all that mohammad claimed for himself and his followers was, full liberty of conscience and actions, and permission to preach and practice his religion without being molested. this being refused, he advised his followers to leave the city and seek refuge elsewhere. they emigrated twice to abyssinia, and for the third time were expelled to medina, where he himself followed, when his own life was attempted. [footnote : islam and its founder, by j.w.h. stobart, b.a., page . but, in fact, there was no such permission. the verse quoted above says, that the wrath and punishment of god will be on those who deny god, except those who do so by being forced. the latter were not put on the same footing as the former; in short, those who denied god under compulsion were not counted unbelievers.] [footnote : "the support of the medina adherents, and the suspicion of an _intended_ emigration, irritated the koreish to severity; and this severity forced the moslems to petition mahomet for leave to emigrate. the two causes might co-exist and re-act one another; the persecution would hasten the departure of the converts, while each fresh departure would irritate the koreish to greater cruelty."--william muir's life of mahomet, vol. ii, pp. , , foot-note.] _the meccans or the koreish._ [sidenote: . a koreish chieftain commits a raid near medina.--a.h., i.] the attitude of the koreish towards the prophet and his followers after the flight rapidly became more hostile. kurz-ibn jábir, one of the marauding chieftains of the koreish, fell upon some of the camels and flocks of medina, while feeding in a plain a few miles from the city, and carried them off. [sidenote: . the koreish march to attack medina. mohammad marches forth in defence, and gains the battle at badr.--a.h., ii.] still there was no hostile response from medina, till the aggressors (the koreish) brought from medina an army of strong, mounted on camels and horses, to badr, nine stages from mecca, advancing towards medina. then the prophet set out from medina at the head of his small army of to check the advance of his aggressors. this was the first offensive and defensive war between the koreish and mohammad respectively. the aggressors lost the battle. [sidenote: . attack by abu sofian upon medína.--a.h., ii.] after this abu sofian, the head of the koreish, accompanied by mounted followers, alarmed mohammad and the people of medina by a raid upon the cornfields and palm gardens two or three miles north-east of medina. the nomad tribes of suliem and ghatafán, who were descended from a common stock with the koreish, being probably incited by them, or at least by the example of abu sofian, had twice assembled and projected a plundering attack upon medina--a task in itself congenial with their predatory habits. [sidenote: . the battle of ohad.] the koreish made great preparations for a fresh attack upon medina. one year after the battle of badr, they commenced their march,--three thousand in number, seven hundred were mailed warriors, and two hundred well mounted cavalry. reaching medina they encamped in an extensive and fertile plain to the west of ohad. mohammad met abu sofian at the head of followers and only two horsemen, but lost the battle and was wounded. [sidenote: . mohammad's prestige affected by the defeat.] mohammad's prestige being affected by the defeat at ohad, many of the bedouin tribes began to assume an hostile attitude towards him. the bani asad, a powerful tribe connected with the koreish in najd and bani lahyan in the vicinity of mecca, prepared to make a raid upon medina. the mohammadan missionaries were killed at rají and bír maúna. the marauding bands of duma also threatened a raid upon the city. bani mustalik also raised forces to join the koreish in their threatened attack upon medina. [sidenote: . abu sofian threatened the moslems with another attack next year.] abu sofian, while retiring from the field, victorious as he was, threatened the moslem with a fresh attack the next year as he said to omar: "we shall meet again, let it be after a year, at badr." medina and the moslems, however, enjoyed a long exemption from the threatened attack of the koreish. at length the time came when the forces of the koreish and the moslems were again to meet at badr. but the year was one of great draught, and the koreish were desirous that the expedition should be deferred to a more favorable season. accordingly the koreish engaged naeem, an arab of a neutral tribe, to repair to medina, and there to give forth an exaggerated account of the preparations of the koreish, in the hope that, with the field of ohad fresh in memory, it might deter the moslems from setting out to meet them. but mohammad, with a force of fifteen hundred men and only ten horses, set forth for badr. the koreish, who never appeared mortified at the triumph of mohammad, began to project another grand attack upon him. [sidenote: . the koreish again attack medina with a large army. mohammad defends the city. the enemy retire. (ditch or nations.--a.h., v.)] the winter season in the next year was chosen for the renewal of hostilities by the koreish. they joined an immense force of the bedouin tribes (the entire army was estimated at ten thousand), marched against mohammad, and besieged medina. mohammad defended the city by digging a ditch. the army of medina was posted within the trench, and that of the koreish encamped opposite them. in the meantime abu sofian succeeded in detaching the jewish tribe of koreiza from their allegiance to mohammad. the danger to medina from this defection was great. the enemy made a general attack, which was repulsed. bad weather set in, and abu sofian ordered the allied force to break up. the enemy retired, and never came again to attack the moslems. this, therefore, was the last war of aggression on the part of the koreish, and of defence on the part of mohammad. [sidenote: . mohammad, with his followers, advanced to perform the lesser pilgrimage of mecca. the koreish opposed mohammad, who returned disappointed.--a.h. vi.] six years had passed since the expulsion of mohammad and his followers from mecca. they had not since visited the holy house, nor had they joined the yearly pilgrimage, which was an essential part of their social and religious life. mohammad undertook to perform the lesser pilgrimage to mecca in the month of zalkada, in which war was unlawful throughout arabia. mohammad, with his followers, the pious and peaceful worshippers, fifteen hundred in number, set forth for mecca. the pilgrims carried no arms, but such as were allowed by custom to travellers,--_namely_, each a sheathed sword. the koreish, with their allies, the surrounding tribes, hearing of the approach of the pilgrims, took up arms. they pushed forward to obstruct the pilgrims. mohammad encamped at hodeibia, where a treaty of peace was concluded between the koreish and mohammad. the treaty was to the effect, that war should be suspended for ten years, neither party attacking the other. whosoever wished to join mohammad and enter into treaty with him, should have liberty to do so. "if any one goeth over to mohammad, without the permission of his guardian, he shall be sent back to his guardian. but if any one from amongst the followers of mohammad return to the koreish, the same shall not be sent back, provided, on the part of the koreish, that mohammad and his followers retire from us this year without entering our city. in the coming year he may visit mecca--he and his followers--for three days, when we shall retire therefrom. but they may not enter it with any weapons, save those of the travellers--_namely_, to each a sheathed sword." bani khozaá entered into the alliance of mohammad, and bani bakr adhered to the koreish. [sidenote: . violation of the treaty by the koreish, and their submission.] the peace remained unbroken until the koreish violated the treaty of hodeibia[ ] and treacherously killed several men of the bani khozaá. mohammad marched against them in the eighth year of the hegira in defence of the injured and oppressed bani khozaá, and to chastize the koreish for violation of the treaty. but the koreish submitted to the authority of mohammad before he arrived at mecca, and the city was occupied without resistance. [sidenote: . two other tribes assume the offensive.] soon after, the great and warlike tribe of hawazin and thakeef assumed the offensive. they assembled at autas, and advanced upon honain to attack mohammad. he was obliged to leave mecca and set out to disperse them, who were beaten back at honain (s. ix, - ). taif of the thakeef was besieged, but in vain. [footnote : unfortunately several missionary expeditious sent by mohammad were met with unfavorable circumstances. the party sent to bani suleim, demanding their allegiance to the faith of islam, was slain. another party sent to bani leith was surprised, and its camels plundered. a small party sent by mohammad to fadak was cut to pieces by bani murra. another party sent to zat atlah to call upon the people to embrace islam, of which only one person escaped. mohammad's messenger despatched to the ghassanide prince at bostra was murdered by the chief of muta. his army sent to avenge the treachery of the chief was defeated. all these mishaps and reverses dangerously affected the prestige of mohammad, and encouraged the meccans to violate the truce.] _the defensive character of the wars._ [sidenote: . verses from the koran in support of the defensive character of the wars.] this brief sketch of the defensive wars of mohammad with the koreish will fully show, that those who assert that mohammad was aggressive or revengeful in his wars, or that he made war to force his religion upon the people, are altogether in the wrong. i will now quote some verses of the koran, showing that all the wars of mohammad with the koreish were defensive wars. . "verily, god will ward off[ ] _mischief_ from believers: lo, god loveth not the false, the unbeliever." . "a sanction is given to those who have been fought,[ ] because they have suffered outrages, and verily, god is well able to succour them"-- . "those who have been driven forth from their homes wrongfully, only because they say, 'our lord is the god.' and if god had not repelled some men by others, cloisters and churches and oratories and mosques wherein the name of god is ever commemorated, would surely have been destroyed! and him who helpeth god will god surely help: verily, god is strong, mighty." . "they who, if we established them in _this_ land, will observe prayer and pay the alms of obligation and enjoin what is recognized _as right_--and forbid what is unlawful. and the final issue of all things is unto god."--sura, xxii. . "and fight for the cause of god against those who fight against you: but commit not the injustice of _attacking them first_: verily, god loveth not the unjust." . "and kill them wherever ye find them, and eject them from whatever place they have ejected you, for (_fitnah_)[ ] persecution is worse than slaughter: yet attack them not at the sacred mosque, until they attack you therein; but if they attack you, then slay them--such is the recompense of the infidels!"-- . "but if they desist,[ ] then verily god is gracious, merciful!" . "and do battle against them until there be no more (_fitnah_) persecution, and the worship be that of god: but if they desist, then let there be no hostility, save against wrong-doers." . "they will ask thee concerning war in the sacred month. say: the act of fighting therein is a grave crime; but the act of turning others aside from the path of god, and unbelief in him, and to prevent access to the sacred mosque, and to drive out his people, is worse in the sight of god; and persecution[ ] (_fitnah_[ ]) is worse than bloodshed. but they will not cease to war against you until they turn you from your religion, if they be able: but whoever of you shall turn from his religion, and die an infidel, their works shall be fruitless in this world and in the next: and they shall be consigned to the fire; therein to abide for aye." . "but they who believe, and who fly their country, and do their utmost in the cause of god, may hope for god's mercy: and god is gracious, merciful." . "and fight in the cause of god; and know that god is he who heareth, knoweth." . "hast thou not considered the assembly of the children of israel after _the death of_ moses, when they said to a prophet of theirs,--'raise up for us a king; we will do battle for the cause of god?' he said, 'may it not be that if to fight were ordained you, ye would not fight?' they said, 'and why should we not fight in the cause of god, since we are driven forth from our dwellings and our children?' but when fighting was commanded them they turned back, save a few of them: but god knew the offenders!" . "and by the will of god they routed them; and (dâood) david slew goliath; and god gave him the kingship and wisdom, and taught him according to his will: and were it not for the restraint of one by the means of the other imposed on men by god, verily the earth had assuredly gone to ruin, but god is bounteous to his creatures."--sura, ii. . "let those then fight in the cause of god who barter this present life for that which is to come; for whoever fighteth on god's path, whether he be slain or conquer, we will in the end give him a great reward." . "but what hath come to you that ye fight not on the path of god, and _for_ the weak among men, women and children, who say, 'o our lord! bring us forth from this city whose inhabitants are oppressors; give us a champion from thy presence; and give us from thy presence a defender?'" . "they who believe, fight on the path of god; and they who believe not, fight on the path of thâgoot: fight then against the friends of satan--verily, the craft of satan shall be powerless!" . "fight then on the path of god: lay not burdens on any but thyself; and stir up the faithful. the prowess of the infidels, god will haply restrain; for god is the stronger in prowess, and the stronger to punish." . "they desire that ye should be unbelievers as they are unbelievers, and that ye should be alike. take therefore none of them for friends, until they have fled their homes for the cause of god. if they turn back, then seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; but take none of them as friends or helpers." . "except those who seek asylum among your allies, and those who come over to you--prevented by their own hearts by making war on you, or from making war on their own people. had god pleased, he would certainly have given them power against you, and they would certainly have made war upon you! but, if they depart from you, and make not war against you and offer you peace, then god alloweth you no occasion against them." . "ye will find others who seek to gain your confidence as well as that of their own people: so oft as they return to sedition, they shall be overthrown in it: but if they leave you not, nor propose terms of peace to you, nor withhold their hands, then seize them, and slay them wherever ye find them. over these have we given you undoubted power."--sura, iv. . "_o meccans!_ if ye desired a decision, now hath the decision come to you. it will be better for you if ye give over _the struggle_ (_or attacking upon medina or the moslem_). if ye return _to it_ we will return; and your forces, though they may be many, shall by no means avail you aught, because god is with the faithful." . "say to the infidels: if they desist (_from persecuting, obstructing, and attacking the moslems_), what is now past shall be forgiven them; but if they return _to it_ (commit again the hostilities), they have already before them the doom of the ancients!" . "fight then against them till civil strife be at an end, and the religion be all of it god's; and if they desist, verily god beholdeth what they do." . "but if they turn their back, know ye that god is your protector: excellent protector! and excellent helper!" . "... and they who have believed, but have not fled their homes, shall have no rights of kindred with you at all, until they too fly their country. yet if they seek aid from you on account of the faith, your part it is to give them aid, except against a people between whom and yourselves there may be a treaty. and god beholdeth your actions." . "and the infidels have the _like_ relationships one with another. unless ye do the same (_i.e., aid the oppressed and repel the oppressor_), there will be discord in the land and great corruption."--sura, viii. (when the meccans broke the hodeibia treaty mentioned in the above paragraph, the koreish and bani bakr attacked bani khozaá, who were in alliance with mohammad. it became incumbent on him to assist bani bakr and to chastize the aggressors. the following verses were published on that occasion, but happily, before the expiration of the fixed period, the koreish submitted and mecca was taken without bloodshed, and these verses were not acted upon:--) . "an immunity from god and his apostle to those with whom ye are in league (_and they have violated the same--compare verses , and _) among the polytheist meccans." . "go ye therefore at large in the land four months (_i.e., four sacred months from shaw-wal. the treaty was violated by the koreish in ramzan, a month immediately previous to the sacred months. it is announced here that four months' time is given to the aggressors, who violated the treaty of hodeibia, to make terms. after the time is over (verse ) the moslems will commence hostilities to defend their allies, the bani khozaá_), but know that ye shall not find god feeble, and that those who believe not, god will put to shame." . "and a proclamation on the part of god and his apostle to the people on the day of the greater pilgrimage, that god is free from _any engagement with_ those who worship other gods with god, as is his apostle. if then, ye turn to god, it will be better for you; but if ye turn back, then know that ye shall not find god feeble: and to those who believe not, announce thou a grievous punishment." . "but this concerneth not those polytheists with whom ye are in league, and who have afterwards in no way failed you, and not yet aided any one against you. observe, therefore, your engagement with them through the whole time _of their treaty_. verily, god loveth those who fear him." . "and when the sacred months are passed[ ] kill those who join other gods with god[ ] wherever ye find them; and seize them, and besiege them, and lay wait for them with every kind of ambush; but if they repent and observe prayer and pay the obligatory alms, then let them go their way.[ ] verily, god is gracious, merciful." . "if any one of those who join gods with god ask an asylum of thee, grant him an asylum, in order that he hear the word of god; then let him reach his place of safety. this, for that they are people devoid of knowledge." . "how can they who add gods to god be in league with god and his apostle, save those with whom ye made a league at the sacred temple? so long as they are true to you,[ ] be ye true to them: verily, god loveth those who fear him." . "how _can they_? since if they prevail against you, they will not regard in their dealing with you, either ties of blood or good faith: with their mouths they content you, but their hearts are averse, and most of them are perverse doers." . "they sell the signs of god for a mean price, and turn others aside from his way; of a truth, evil is it that they do!" . "they respect not with a believer either ties of blood or good faith; and these are the transgressors!" . "yet if they turn to god and observe prayer, and pay the impost, then are they your brethren in religion: and we make clear the signs for men of knowledge."[ ] . "but if, after alliance made, they violate their covenant and revile your religion, then do battle with the ringleaders of infidelity--verily there is no faith in them! haply they will desist." . "will ye not do battle with a people (_the meccans_) who have broken their covenant and aimed to expel your apostle and attacked you first? will ye dread them? god truly is more worthy of your fear if ye are believers!" . "make war on them: by your hands will god chastize them and put them to shame, and give victory over them, and heal the bosom of a people who believe." . "... and attack those who join gods with god one and all, as they attack you one and all."--sura, ix. [sidenote: . what the above-quoted verses show.] i need not repeat here what these verses and the facts related above show, that the wars of mohammad with the koreish were merely defensive, and the koreish were the aggressors, and that mohammad was quite justified in taking up arms against them. "in the state of nature every man has a right to defend," writes mr. edward gibbon,[ ] "by force of arms, his person and his possessions; to repel, or even to repeat, the violence of his enemies, and to extend his hostilities to a reasonable measure of satisfaction and retaliation. in the free society of the arabs, the duties of subject and citizen imposed a feeble restraint; and mahommed, in the exercise of a peaceful and benevolent mission, had been despoiled and banished by the injustice of his countrymen." it has been fully shown in the foregoing paragraphs that the moslems in mecca enjoyed neither safety nor security. religious freedom was denied to them, though they were harmless and peaceful members of the community. besides this they were expelled from their homes, leaving their families and their property in the hands of their persecutors, and were prevented from returning to mecca, and were refused access to the sacred mosque; and, above all, they were attacked by the meccans in force at medina. [sidenote: . justification of the moslems in taking up arms against their aggressors.] the persecution of the early moslems by the koreish was on religious grounds. they would not allow the believers to renounce the religion of their forefathers and profess islam. their intolerance was so strong and harsh that they tortured some of the professors of the new faith to renounce the same and to rejoin their former idolatry. "taking away the lives, the fortune, the liberty, any of the rights of our brethren, merely for serving their maker in such manner as they are persuaded they ought, when by so doing they hurt not human society, or any member of it, materially, is evidently inconsistent with all justice and humanity: for it is punishing those who have not injured us, and who, if they mistake, deserve only pity from us."[ ] the early moslems had had every international right to resent persecution and intolerance of the meccans and to establish themselves by force of arms, to enjoy their religious liberty and to practise their religion freely. [sidenote . the first aggression after the hegira was not on the part of mohammad.] some of the european biographers of mohammad say, "that the first aggressions after the hegira were solely on the part of mahomet and his followers. it was not until several of their caravans had been waylaid and plundered, and blood had thus been shed, that the people of mecca were forced in self-defence to resort to arms."[ ] this is not correct. the aggressors, in the first instance, were the koreish, who, as already shown, followed up their persecution of the moslems by an attack upon the city in which the prophet and his followers had taken refuge. even taking it for granted that the moslems were the first aggressors after the hegira, was not the hegira, or expulsion itself (leaving aside the previous persecutions and oppressions at mecca), a sufficient reason for the commencement of hostilities by the moslems, who were anxious to secure their moral and religious freedom, and to protect themselves and their relatives from further aggressions? sir william muir admits, that "hostilities, indeed, were justified by the 'expulsion' of the believers from mecca."[ ] "it may be said," says major vans kennedy, "that, in these wars, mohammad was the aggressor by his having, soon after his flight, attempted to intercept the caravans of mecca. but the first aggression was, undoubtedly, the conspiracy of the koreish to assassinate mohammad, and when to save his life he fled from mecca, himself and his followers were thus deprived of their property, and obliged to depend for their subsistence on the hospitality of the men of medina, it could not be reasonably expected that they would allow the caravans of their enemies to pass unmolested."[ ] [sidenote: . the alleged instances examined.] there is no proof that mohammad, after the hegira, commenced hostilities against the koreish by intercepting their caravans. the alleged instances of the caravans being waylaid by the moslems at medina are not corroborated by authentic and trustworthy traditions. they have also internal evidences of their improbability. the medina people had pledged themselves only to defend the prophet from attack, and not to join him in any aggressive steps against the koreish.[ ] therefore, it seems impossible that they should have allowed mohammad to take any aggressive steps against the koreish which would have involved them in great trouble. [sidenote: . hamza and obeida expedition.] the alleged expeditions against the koreish caravans by hamza and the other by obeida in pursuit of caravans which escaped, are in themselves improbable. mohammad would not send fifty or sixty persons to waylay a caravan guarded by two or three hundred armed men. [sidenote: . the abwa, bowat, & osheira expeditions.] the alleged expeditions of abwa, bowat, and osheira, said to have been led by mohammad himself to intercept the mecca caravans, but in vain, are altogether without foundation. he might have gone, if he had gone at all, to abwa, and osheira to negotiate friendly terms with bani dhumra[ ] and bani mudlij, as his biographers say, he did. [sidenote: . the affair at nakhla.] the affair of the _nakhla_ marauding party, as related in the traditions, is full of discrepancies, and is altogether inconsistent and untrustworthy. the very verse (sura, ii, verse ) which the biographers say was revealed on the occasion, and which i have quoted above (para. ), contains a reference to the meccans' fighting against the moslems, which runs counter to the assumption of the european biographers, who make it an aggressive attack on the part of mohammad. it is probable that mohammad might have sent some six or eight scouts to bring in news of the movements and condition of the koreish, whose attitude towards mohammad had become more hostile since his flight to medina. as the koreish had a regular and uninterrupted route to syria for traffic, it was only reasonable on the part of mohammad to take precautions, and he was always on his guard. the biographers _ibn is-hak_, _ibn hisham_ (p. ), _tabri_ (vol. ii, p. ), _ibnal athir_ in _kamil_ (vol. ii, p. ), _halabi_ in _insanul oyoon_ (vol. iii, p. ), say, that mohammad had given written instructions to abdoollah-bin-jahsh, which was to the effect "bring me intelligence of their affairs." they also say that mohammad was displeased with abdoollah's affair at nakhla, and said, "i never commanded thee to fight in the sacred month." the biographers also relate that mohammad even paid blood-money for the slain. [sidenote: . at badr mohammad had come only in his defence.] some of the european biographers of mohammad allege, that the battle of badr was brought by mohammad himself. they appear to hesitate to justify mohammad in defending himself against the superior numbers of the koreish, who had advanced to attack him as far as badr, three stages from medina. it is alleged that mohammad intended to attack the caravans returning from syria, conducted by abu sofian, his arch-enemy, therefore he set out upon his march with eighty refugees and two hundred and twenty-five people of medina, and halted at safra to waylay the caravan. abu sofian, warned of mohammad's intention, sent some one to mecca for succour. the koreish, with nine hundred and fifty strong, marched forth to rescue the caravan. in the meantime, the caravan had passed unmolested, but the koreish held a council whether to return or go to war. on the one hand, the biographers say, it was argued that the object for which they had set out having been secured, the army should at once retrace its steps. others demanded that the army should advance. two tribes returned to mecca, the rest marched onwards; but it is not fair to allege that mohammad had set forth to attack the caravan. had he any such intention, the people of medina, who had pledged themselves only to defend him against personal attack, would not have accompanied him. the presence of a large number of the _ansárs_, the people of medina, more than double that of the _mohajirins_, the refugees, is a strong proof that they had come out only in their defence. mohammad, on receiving intelligence of the advancing force of the koreish, set out from medina to check the advance of the meccan force, and encountered it at badr, three days' journey from medina. the meccan army had advanced nine days' journey from mecca towards medina. the forces met at badr on the th of ramzan ( th january ), the meccans had left mecca on the th of ramzan ( th january), and mohammad started only on the th of ramzan ( th january), about four days after the meccan army had actually set out to attack him. supposing abu sofian had some reason for apprehending an attack from medina, and sent for succour from mecca, but the object of the meccan army of the koreish for which they had set out having been secured, the caravan having passed unmolested, they ought at once to have retraced their steps. the fact that mohammad left medina four days after the koreish had left mecca with a large army advancing towards medina, is strongly in his favour. [sidenote: . the first aggressions after the hegira, if from mohammad, might fairly be looked upon as retaliation.] even taking it for granted that the first aggressions after the hegira were solely on the part of the moslems, and that several of the caravans of the koreish had been waylaid and plundered, and blood had been shed, it would be unfair to condemn mohammad. such attacks, had they been made, might fairly be looked upon as a retaliation for the ill-treatment of the moslems before the flight from mecca. "public war is a state of armed hostility between sovereign nations or governments. it is a law and requisite of civilized existence that men live in political continuous societies, forming organized units called states or nations, whose constituents bear, enjoy and suffer, advance and retrograde together, in peace and in war. the citizen or native of hostile country is thus an enemy, as one of the constituents of the hostile state or nation, and as such is subjected to the hardships of war."[ ] the almost universal rule of most remote times was, and continues to be with barbarous nations, that the private individual of a hostile country is destined to suffer every privation of liberty and protection, and every description of family ties. but mohammad protected the inoffensive citizen or private individual of the hostile country. he even protected those who had actually come out of mecca to fight at badr, but were reluctant to do so. mohammad had desired quarters to be given to several persons in the koreish army at badr. abul bakhtari, zamaa, hárith ibn amir, abbás and other bani háshim were amongst those named. [footnote : or defend, '_yadafeo_' repel.] [footnote : _yokâtaloona_, or who fight _yokateloona_. the former reading is the authorized and general.] [footnote : the primary signification of _fitnah_ is burning with fire. it signifies a _trial_ or _probation_ and affliction, distress or hardship; and particularly an _affliction whereby one is tried, proved, or tested_.--_vide_ lane's arabic-english lexicon, p. .] [footnote : desist from persecuting you and preventing you to enter your native city and prohibiting access to the sacred mosque and attacking you, and from religious intolerance.] [footnote : _i.e._, the religious persecution and intolerance and hindrance to visit the sacred mosque being suppressed; you may profess, preach and practice your religion freely.] [footnote : _vide_ note in p. .] [footnote : shaw-wal, zulkada, zulhij, and moharram, the th, th, th, and st months of the arabian year. these verses were promulgated in ramzan, the th month of the year.] [footnote : and have violated the hodeibia truce. compare verses , , and .] [footnote : it is not meant that they should be forced to observe prayer or pay obligatory alms, or in other words be converted to islam; the context and general scope of the koran would not allow such a meaning. the next verse clearly enjoins toleration.] [footnote : the bani kinana and bani zamara had not violated the truce of hodeibia while the koreish and bani bakr had done so.] [footnote : this is the same as verse . it only means, if meanwhile they become converts to islam, they are to be treated as brethren in religion. but it cannot mean that it was the sole motive of making war with them to convert them. such an interpretation is quite contrary to the general style of the koran.] [footnote : the history of the decline and fall of the roman empire, by edward gibbon, vol. vi, p. .] [footnote : archbishop secker's works, iii, p. .] [footnote : sir w. muir, ii, p. .] [footnote : life of mahomet, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote : remarks on the character of mohammad (suggested by voltaire's tragedy of mahomet) by major vans kennedy. _vide_ transactions of the literary society of bombay for , vol. iii, p. , reprint bombay, .] [footnote : "mahomet did not send the medina converts on any hostile expedition against the koreish, until they had warred with him at badr, and the reason is, that they had pledged themselves to protect him only at their homes."--k. wackidi, ; muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, p. , _note_.] [footnote : "k. wackidi, - / . the provisions are noted only generally, "that neither party would levy war against the other, nor help their enemies." the version quoted by weil binding the bani dhumra to fight _for the faith_, &c., is evidently anticipatory and apocryphal. it is not given by the secretary of wackidi in his chapter of treaties."--muir's life of mahomet, iii, p. , _note_.] [footnote : contributions to political science by francis lieber, ll.d., vol. ii of his miscellaneous writings, p. , london, .] _the jews._ [sidenote: . the jews broke treaties.] mohammad, on his first arrival at medina, made a treaty of alliance with the jews, by which the free exercise of their religion and the possession of their rights and property were guaranteed. it was stipulated in the treaty that either party, if attacked, should come to the assistance of the other. medina should be sacred and inviolable for all who joined the treaty. but the jews broke their treaty and rebelled. they assisted the enemy during the siege of medina, and committed treason against the city. [sidenote: . bani kainúkaá, bani nazeer, koreiza, khyber, and ghatafán.] the bani kainúkaá were the first among the jews who broke the treaty and fought against mohammad between the battles of badr and ohad.[ ] the bani nazeer broke their compact with mohammad after his defeat at ohad. they had also made a conspiracy to kill mohammad. they were banished; some of them went over to khyber. the jewish tribe of koreiza had defected from their allegiance to mohammad, and entered into negotiations with the enemy, when medina was besieged by the koreish and bedouin tribes at the battle of the ditch. they were afterwards besieged by mohammad. they surrendered at the discretion of sád, who passed a bloody judgment against them. the jews of khyber (including those of nazeer) and bani ghatafán, who had lately besieged medina with the koreish in the battle of the ditch, made alliance against mohammad,[ ] and were making preparations for an attack on him. they had been inciting the bani fezára and other bedouin tribes in their depredations, and had combined with bani sád-ibn bakr to attack upon medina. they were subjected at khyber, and made tributaries, paying _jizya_ in return of the protection guaranteed to them. [sidenote: . notices of them in the koran.] the treachery of the bani kainúkaá, nazeer and koreiza, and khyber is noticed in the koran in the following verses:-- . "they with whom thou hadst leagued, but who ever afterwards break their league, and fear not god!" . "and if thou capture them in battle, then (_by the example of their fate_) put to flight those who are behind them--they will perhaps be warned:"-- . "or, if thou fear treachery from any people, throw back _their treaty_ to them in like manner: verily, god loveth not the treacherous." . "and think not that the infidels shall get the better of us! verily, they shall not find god to be weak." . "make ready then against them what force ye can, and squadrons of horse whereby ye may strike terror into the enemy of god and your enemy, and into others beside them whom ye know not, _but_ whom god knoweth; and all that you expend for the cause of god shall be repaid you; and ye shall not be wronged." . "but if they lean to peace, lean thou also to it; and put thy trust in god: he verily is the hearing, the knowing." . "but if they seek to betray thee, then verily god will be all-sufficient for thee. he it is who strengthened thee with his help and with the faithful and made their heart one. hadst thou spent all the riches of the earth, thou wouldst not have united their hearts; but god hath united them: he verily is mighty, wise." . "o prophet! god and such of the faithful as follow thee will be all-sufficient for thee!" . "o prophet! stir up the faithful to the fight...."--sura, viii. . "and he caused those of the people of the book (the jews) who had aided _the confederates_, to come down out of their fortresses, and cast dismay into their hearts: a part ye slew, a part ye took prisoners."--sura, xxxiii. . "make war upon such of those to whom the scriptures have been given,[ ] as believe not in god, or in the last day, and who forbid not that which god and his apostles have forbidden, and who profess not the profession of the truth, until they pay tribute out of hand, and they be humbled." . "believers! wage war against such of the unbelievers as are your neighbours, and let them assuredly find rigour in you: and know that god is with those who fear him."--sura, ix. [sidenote: . the judgment of sâd.] the bani koreiza had surrendered themselves to the judgment of _sâd_, an _awsite_ of their allies, bani aws. to this mohammad agreed. sâd decreed that the male captives should be slaughtered. mohammad, disapproving the judgment, remarked to sâd: "thou hast decided like the decision of a king," meaning thereby a despotic monarch. the best authentic tradition in bokhari (kitáb-ul-jihád) has the word '_malik_,' monarch; but in other three places of bokhari, kitabul monakib, maghazi, and istizan, the narrator has a doubt whether the word was _allah_ or _malik_. moslim, in his collection, has also '_malik_,' and in one place the sentence is not given at all. it was only to eulogize the memory of sâd after his death, that some of the narrators of the story gave out that mohammad had said that sâd had decided like the decision of a _malak_, angel; or some narrators interpreted the word _malik_, king, as meaning god; and therefore put the word _allah_ in their traditions. mohammad never said _malak_, meaning angel, or _malik_, allegorically meaning _allah_; he simply said _malik_, literally meaning a king or monarch. [sidenote: . defensive character of the expedition against the jews of khyber.] the expedition against the jews of khyber was purely defensive in its character. they had, since the jews of the tribe of nazeer and koreiza being banished from medina in consequence of their treason against the moslem commonwealth, had joined them, been guilty of inciting the surrounding tribes to attack upon medina, and had made alliance with the bani ghatafán, who had taken a prominent part among the confederates who had besieged medina at the battle of the ditch, to make a combined attack upon medina. they, especially abul hukeik, the chief of bani nazeer, had excited the bani fezára and other beduoin tribes to commit incursions on medina. they had made a combination with the bani sád-ibn bakr to make inroads on the moslims. bani sád, a branch of hawazin, were among the confederates who had besieged medina. lately, oseir ibn zárim, the chief of nazeer at khyber, maintained the same relations with bani ghatafán, as their former chief had, to make a combined attack on medina. the bani ghatafán, with their branches of bani fezára and bani murra, in league with those of khyber, were always plotting mischief in the vicinity of fadak at khyber. they (the ghatafán) had continued for a long time to alarm medina with threatened attacks. at the seventh year of the hegira timely information was received by mohammad of the combined preparation of khyber and ghatafán. he rapidly set forth in his defence, and marched to khyber at once. he took up a position at rají, between khyber and ghatafán, to cut off their mutual assistance. so it was not a sudden and unprovoked invasion, as sir w. muir calls it. he writes: "mahomet probably waited for some act of aggression on the part of the jews of kheibar (it was the fertile lands and villages of that tribe which he had destined for his followers), or on the part of their allies, the bani ghatafán, to furnish the excuse for an attack. but no such opportunity offering, he resolved, in the autumn of this year, on a sudden and unprovoked invasion of their territory."[ ] it will appear from what i have stated above, that the invasion of khyber was purely defensive in its character. [footnote : hishamee, p. . gottengen, ; or, the life of muhammad, by abd etl malik ibn hishám. london: trübner and co., .] [footnote : hishamee, p. .] [footnote : the jews of khyber, if it does not relate to tabook. sir w. muir calls this hostile declaration against jews and christians, and says,--"the exclusion and growingly intolerant position of islam is sufficiently manifested by the ban issued against the jews and christians, as unfit for the sacred rites and holy precincts of the meccan temple; and by the divine commands to war against them until, in confession of the superiority of islam, they should consent to the payment of a tribute."--life of mahomet, vol. ii, p. . the command referred to by sir w. muir refers to the treatment of those who took up arms against the mussalmans, rather than to their ordinary condition. no ban was issued against the jews and christians, as unfit for the sacred rites and holy precincts of the meccan temple. on the contrary, the christians of najran, when arrived at medina, were accommodated by the prophet in his mosque, and they used to say their prayers there.] [footnote : life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] _the christians or romans._ [sidenote: . tabúk, the last expedition.] the last expedition of mohammad was that of tabúk, and it was also purely defensive. the travellers and traders arriving from syria brought news of the gathering of a large army on the borders of syria. a year's pay, they said, had been advanced by the greek or roman emperor, who was then at hims, in order that the soldiers might be well-furnished for a long campaign; the tribes of the syrian desert, the bani lakhm, judzam, amila, and ghussan were flocking around the roman eagles, and the vanguard was already at balcâ. mohammad at once resolved to meet this danger. when he arrived in the vicinity of the syrian border at tabúk, he found no troops to oppose him. there were no signs of impending danger, and he therefore returned with his army to medina. this was in the ninth year of the hegira. [sidenote: . the conclusion.] this concludes the description of all the wars of the prophet. i hope i have shown, on good and reasonable grounds, and from the surest and most authentic sources, that the wars were not of an offensive and aggressive character; but, on the contrary, they were wars of defence and protection. the early moslems were wronged, because they believed in the faith of mohammad; they were deprived of their civil and religious rights, were driven forth from their homes and their properties, and after all were attacked first, by the koreish and their confederates, the jews and other arabian tribes. they fought neither for revenge, nor to impose the faith of mohammad by force of arms, nor for the plunder of the caravans which passed in proximity to their city. the permission to fight was only given to the believers because they were fought against or were attacked first, and had been wronged and driven from their homes without just cause. they therefore took up arms against those who first compelled them to fly from their homes, and then attacked them. this was in full accordance, therefore, with the law of nations and the sacred law of nature. the people of medina had only pledged themselves to protect mohammad from his enemies. they could not, and would not, have gone forth or allowed mohammad and his _ansárs_ to go forth to plunder the caravan of the koreish passing by medina. _the intolerance._ [sidenote: . mohammad never taught intolerance.] those people are greatly mistaken who say, that "the one common duty laid upon the faithful is to be the agents of god's vengeance on those who believe not. these are to be slaughtered until they pay tribute, when they are allowed to go to hell in their own way without further molestation."[ ] mohammad did not wage war against the koreish and the jews because they did not believe in his mission, nor because he was to be the instrument of god's vengeance on them; on the contrary, he said, "he was no more than a warner." "the truth is from your lord, let him then who will, believe; and let him who will, be an unbeliever."[ ] "let there be no compulsion in religion."[ ] "verily, they who believe, and the jews, and the sabeites, and the christians, whoever of them believeth in god and in the last day, and doth what is right, on them shall come no fear, neither shall they be put to grief."[ ] even during active hostilities, those who did not believe were allowed to come and hear the preaching, and were then conveyed to their place of safety.[ ] nor were the wars of mohammad to exact tribute from the unbelievers. the tribute was only imposed upon those who had sought his protection, and even then they were exempted from other regular taxes which the moslems paid to their commonwealth. on the contrary, as has already been shown, mohammad merely took up arms in the instances of self-preservation. had he neglected to defend himself after his settlement at medina against the continued attacks of the koreish and their allies, he with his followers would, in all probability, have been exterminated. they fought in defence of their lives as well as their moral and religious liberties. [sidenote: . in what sense the wars were religious wars.] in this sense the contest might be called a religious war, as the hostilities were commenced on religious grounds. because the koreish persecuted the moslems, and expelled them for the reason that they had forsaken the religion of their forefathers, _i.e._, idolatry, and embraced the faith of islam, the worship of one true god; but it was never a religious war in the sense of attacking the unbelievers aggressively to impose his own religion forcibly on them. how much is sir w. muir in the wrong, who says, that fighting was prescribed on religious grounds? "hostilities," he says, "indeed, were justified by the 'expulsion' of the believers from mecca. but the main and true issue of the warfare was not disguised to be the victory of islam. they were to fight '_until the religion became the lord's alone_.'"[ ] [sidenote: . the alleged verses of intolerance explained.] the verses of the koran referred to above are as follows: . "and fight for the cause of god against those who fight against you: but commit not the injustice of _attacking them first_: verily god loveth not the unjust." . "and kill them wherever ye shall find them, and eject them from whatever place they have ejected you; for (_fitnah_) persecution or civil discord is worse than slaughter but attack them not at the sacred mosque, until they attack you therein, but if they attack you, then slay them--such is the recompense of the infidel!" . "but if they desist, then verily god is gracious, merciful." . "and do battle against them until there be no more (_fitnah_) persecution or civil discord and the only worship be that of god: but if they desist, then let there be no hostility, save against wrong-doers."--sura, ii. these verses generally, and the last one especially, show that the warfare was prescribed on the ground of self-preservation, and to secure peace, safety and religious liberty, to prevent (_fitnah_) persecution. by preventing or removing the persecution (_fitnah_), the religion of the moslems was to be free and pure from intolerance and compulsion to revert to idolatry, or in other words, to be the only or wholly of god. that is, when you are free and unpersecuted in your religion, and not forced to worship idols and renounce islam, then your religion will be pure and free. you shall have no fear of being forced to join other gods with god. the same verse is repeated in chapter viii. . "say to the unbelievers: if they desist,[ ] what is now past shall be forgiven them, but if they return _to it_,[ ] they have already before them the doom of the former."[ ] . "fight then against them till _fitnah_ (civil strife or persecution) be at an end, and the religion be all of it god's, and if they desist, verily god beholdeth what they do." this shows that the fighting prescribed here against the koreish was only in the case of their not desisting, and it was only to prevent and suppress their _fitnah_, and when their intolerance and persecution was suppressed, or was no more, then the moslem religion was to become all of it god's. they were not forced to join any god with the true god. [sidenote: . sir w. muir quoted.] sir w. muir, in his last chapter on the person and character of mohammad, observes in reviewing the medina period: "intolerance quickly took the place of freedom; force, of persuasion." ... "slay the unbelievers wheresoever ye find them" was now the watchword of islam:--"fight in the ways of god until opposition be crushed, and the religion becometh the lord's alone!"[ ] here, sir w. muir plainly contradicts himself. he has already admitted at the th page of the fourth volume of his work that the course pursued by mohammad at medina was to leave the conversion of the people to be gradually accomplished without compulsion, and the same measure he intended to adopt at his triumphal entry into mecca. his words are: "this movement obliged mahomet to cut short of his stay at mecca. although the city had cheerfully accepted his supremacy, all its inhabitants had not yet embraced the new religion, or formally acknowledged his prophetic claim. perhaps, he intended to follow the course he had pursued at medina, and leave the conversion of the people to be gradually accomplished without compulsion." this was at the end of the eighth year after the hegira. mohammad died at the beginning of the eleventh year, then the question naturally comes up, when was that alleged change to intolerance, and how sir w. muir says, this change is traced from the period of mohammad's arrival at medina? in the action taken in the fifth year of the hegira against the jewish tribe of koreiza, who had treasoned against the city, sir w. muir admits that up to that period mohammad did not profess to force men to join islam, or to punish them for not embracing it. his words are: "the ostensible grounds upon which mahomet proceeded were purely political, for as yet he did not profess _to force_ men to join islam, or to punish them for not embracing it."[ ] in a foot-note he remarks: "he still continued to reiterate in his revelations the axiom used at mecca, 'i am only a public preacher,' as will be shown in the next chapter." further, sir w. muir, in his account of the first two years after mohammad's arrival at medina, admits in a foot-note (p. , vol. iii), that "as yet we have no distinct development of the intention of mahomet to impose his religion on others by force: it would have been dangerous in the present state of parties to advance this principle." [sidenote: . comment on the above quotation.] it will appear from the foregoing statements that in each of the three distinct periods of mohammad's sojourn in medina, _i.e._, the first two years, the fifth year, and the eighth year, sir w. muir has himself admitted that mohammad had no intention to impose his religion by force, and did not profess to force people to join islam, or punish them for not embracing it, and that the conversion of the people at medina was gradually accomplished without compulsion, and the same course he followed at his taking of mecca. then there is no room left for the uncalled for and self-contradictory remark of sir w. muir, that at medina "intolerance quickly took place of freedom; force, of persuasion." up to the end of the eighth year when mecca was captured, there was admittedly no persecution or constraint put in requisition to enforce religion. mohammad breathed his last early in the eleventh year. during the two years that intervened, the din of war had ceased to sound, deputations continued to reach the prophet from all quarters of arabia, and not a single instance of intolerance or compulsory adoption of faith is found on record.[ ] mohammad, neither sooner, nor later, in his stay at medina, swerved from the policy of forbearance and persuasion he himself had chalked out for the success of his mission. at medina, he always preached his liberal profession of respect for other creeds, and reiterated assurances to the people that he was merely a preacher, and expressly gave out that compulsion in religion was out of question with him. these are his revelations during the medina period. "verily, they who believe (moslems), and they who follow the jewish religion, and the christians, and the sabeites,--whoever believeth in god and the last day, and doeth that which is right, shall have their reward with their lord: and fear shall not _come_ upon them, neither shall they be grieved." _sura ii_, . "and say to those who have been given the scripture, and to the common folk, do you surrender yourselves unto god? then, if they become moslems, are they guided aright; but if they turn away, then thy duty is only preaching and god's eye is on his servants." _sura iii_, . "the apostle is only bound to preach: and god knoweth what ye bring to light, and what ye conceal." _sura v_, . "say: obey god and obey the apostle. but if ye turn back, _still_ the burden of his duty is on him only, and the burden of your duty rests on you. and if ye obey him, ye shall have guidance; but plain preaching is all that devolves upon the apostle." _sura xxiv_, . "let there be no compulsion in religion. now is the right way made distinct from error; whoever therefore denieth tâghoot,[ ] and believeth in god, hath taken hold on a strong handle that hath no flaw therein: and god is he who heareth, knoweth." _sura ii_, . "whoso obeyeth the apostle, in so doing obeyeth god and _as to those_ who turn back _from thee_, we have not sent thee to be their keeper." _sura iv_, . [sidenote: . the object of mohammad's wars.] "slay the unbelievers wherever ye find them" was never the watchword of islam. it was only said in self-preservation and war of defence, and concerned only those who had taken up arms against the moslems. the verses--suras ii, ; and viii, --have been quoted above in paras. and (pp. , , and ), and they fully show by their context and scope that they only enjoined war against the meccans, who used to come to war upon the moslems. the object of making war is precisely set forth in these verses, and appears to mean that civil feuds and persecutions be at an end. but sir w. muir wrongly translates _fitnah_ as _opposition_. he himself has translated the meaning of the word in question as _persecution_, in vol. ii, p. , foot-note; in translating the tenth verse of the sura lxxxv he writes: "verily, they who persecute the believers, male and female, and repent themselves not." the original word there is _fatanoo_,[ ] from _fitnah_. i do not know why he should put a twofold version on the same word occurring in the same book. (suras ii, ; viii, .) [footnote : islam under the arabs, by major r.d. osborne, london, , p. .] [footnote : xviii, .] [footnote : ii, .] [footnote : v, .] [footnote : ix, .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote : from attacking and persecuting you and preventing you from entering your homes and visiting the sacred mosque.] [footnote : that is, if again attack you and commit aggressions.] [footnote : meaning those who were defeated at badr.] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote : there is only one instance of intolerance, _i.e._, making converts at the point of sword, which sir w. muir, so zealous in accusing mohammad of religious persecution during the medina period, has succeeded in finding out during the ten eventful years of mohammad's sojourn in medina. i refer to the story of khalid's mission in the beginning of the tenth year a.h., to bani haris, a christian tribe at najran, whose people had entered into a covenant of peace with mohammad, and to whom an ample pledge had been guaranteed to follow their own faith. according to sir w. muir, khalid was instructed to call on the people to embrace islam, and if they declined, he was, after three days, to attack and force them to submit (muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. ). the version of the story thus given by the biographers of mohammad is too absurd to be believed; because it is a well-established fact that the bani haris, or the christians of najran, had sent a deputation to mohammad only a year ago, _i.e._, in a.h. , and obtained terms of security from him (muir's life of mahomet, vol. ii, p. ; ibn hisham, p. ). it is quite an unfounded, though a very ingenious, excuse of sir w. muir to make the bani haris consist of two sects,--one of christians, and the other of idolators,--and to say that the operations of khalid were directed against the portion of bani haris still benighted with paganism; thus reconciling the apocryphal tradition with the fact of the bani haris being at a treaty of security, toleration and freedom, with mohammad. "i conclude," he writes in a note, "the operations of khâlid were directed against the portion of bani hârith still idolaters:--at all events not against the christian portion already under treaty" (the life of mahomet, vol. iv, foot-note, p. ). see the account of the conversion of bani hárith to christianity long before islam in hishamee, pp. - . gibbon, chapter xlii, vol. v, p. , foot-note; and muir's vol. i, p. ccxxviii.] [footnote : a name applied to an idol or idols--especially allat and ozza, the ancient idols of the meccans.] [footnote : the past tense, third person plural, of the infinitive _fitnah_.] _the ninth chapter, or sura barat._ [sidenote . the opening portion of the ixth sura of the koran only relates to the koreish who had violated the truce.] [sidenote: the injunctions contained in it were not carried out owing to the compromise.] sir william muir, while relating the publication of some verses of the ninth chapter of the koran on the occasion of the great pilgrimage a.h. , and referring to the opening verses of the sura (from st to th inclusive) writes: "the passages just quoted completed the system of mahomet so far as its relations with idolatrous tribes and races were concerned. the few cases of truce excepted, uncompromising warfare was declared against them all."[ ] this is not correct. the mistake, he as well as others who follow him commit, lies in their taking the incipient verses of chapter ix, as originally published at the end of the ninth year of the hegira, after the conquest of mecca, in order to set aside every obligation or league with the idolators to wage war with them, either within or without the sacred territory, and "they were to be killed, besieged, and laid in wait for _wheresoever found_."[ ] in fact it has no such bearing of generally setting aside the treaties, and declaring _uncompromising warfare_, and was not published for the first time on the occasion stated above. the opening verses of the ninth sura of the koran, which i have quoted in full together with necessary notes in para. (pp. - ), revealed for the first time, were before the conquest of mecca, when the idolators thereof had broken the truce of hodeibia. their violation of the treaty is expressly mentioned in verses , , and , and the same verses also enjoin to respect and fulfil the treaties of those idolators who had not broken theirs. therefore only those aggressors who had been guilty of a breach of faith, and instigated others to take up arms against the moslems in the attack of bani bakr, on khozáa, were to be waged war against, besieged, and taken captives after the expiration of four months from the date of the publication of the verses in question. but fortunately abu sofian compromised before the commencement of the sacred months, and before the period of the four months had elapsed. the people of mecca submitted without bloodshed, and hence it is obvious that the injunctions contained in the commencement of the ninth chapter of the koran were never carried out. they remained as dead letter, and will, i think, so remain perpetually. almost all european writers, as far as i know, labour under the delusion that at the end of the ninth year mohammad published the opening verses of the ninth sura, commonly designated _súra barát_. but the fact is that it was published in the eighth year of the hegira before the commencement of the sacred months, probably in the month of shabán, while mohammad marched in ramzán against mecca, not with the intention of prosecuting war, for it was to take place after the lapse of zikad, zelhaj and moharram, but of taking mecca by compromise and preconcerted understanding between himself and abu sofian. if it be admitted that the preliminary verses of sura ix of the koran were revealed or published for the first time in the last month of the ninth year of the hegira, then they--the verses--become aimless, without being pregnant of any object in view. they contain injunctions for carrying hostile operations against those who had broken certain treaties, had helped others against the moslems, and themselves had also attacked them. they proclaimed war against certain tribes, whose people did not regard ties of blood and good faith, and had been the first aggressors against the moslems. not many such persons were in the whole of arabia at and after the time alleged for the promulgation of these verses, _i.e._, at the last month of the ninth and the whole tenth year. by this time, almost all arabia had tendered voluntary submission to the authority of mohammad. deputations from each tribe of the arabs continued to reach medina during the whole of this period, and were pledged protection and friendship by the founder of the islamic faith. from medina the sound of drums and the bray of clarions had now died away. hereupon we are able to speak with certainty that these verses could not be, and were not, revealed at the end of the ninth year as it has been asserted by several writers, both mohammadan and european. and for the above reasons the most suitable occasion for the revelation of these verses is the breach of the truce of hodeibia by the koreish and their allies during the eighth year of the hegira which caused the reduction of mecca by compromise. several mohammadan commentators are unanimous in their opinion as to this point. consequently the verses, ordaining the manifestation of arms against the treaty-breakers and aggressors, as well as putting them to the sword wherever they were to be found, _i.e._, within or without the harem, or the precincts of the sacred mosque, were not complied with owing to the compromise by the koreish. [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. ] [footnote : "islam and its founder," by j.w.h. stobart, b.a., p. . london, .] _the alleged interception of the koreishite caravans._ [sidenote: . the nine alleged interceptions of the koreish caravans.] it has been asserted by european biographers of mohammad that several caravans of the koreish going to and from syria were intercepted and waylaid by the moslems soon after the hegira. the alleged incursions are as follow: ( .) seven months after mohammad's arrival at medina, an expedition headed by hamza surprised a caravan under the conduct of abu jahl. ( .) a month later a party led by obeida was dispatched in the pursuit of another caravan guided by abu sofian. ( .) after the expiration of another month, a third inroad headed by sad proceeded to lie in ambush for the koreish caravan on the way it was expected to pass. ( .) nearly twelve months after the hegira, a fourth attempt was undertaken to plunder a caravan of the koreishites by mohammad himself at abwa. ( .) in the succeeding month mohammad again marched to bowat with the sole aim of despoiling a caravan composed of precious freight under the immediate escort of omeya-bin khalf. ( .) after the lapse of two or three months mohammad set out to osheira to make aggression on another rich caravan proceeding to syria led by abu sofian. all these expeditions are said to have been not attended by any success on the part of the moslems, the vigilance of the caravans in all cases eluding the pursuit made after them.[ ] ( .) in rajab a.h. , a small band composed of some six persons was ordered to march to nakhla to lie in wait there for the caravan of the koreish. the party had a scuffle at nakhla, in which a man of the convoy was killed; while two prisoners and the pilfered goods were taken to medina. hereupon mohammad was much displeased, and told abdallah-bin jahsh, "i never commanded thee to fight in the sacred month." ( .) the caravan of the koreish, which on its passage had safely escaped the chase of the moslems, as already described in no. , was on its way back to mecca. mohammad anticipated their return, and prepared an attack, which terminated in the famous battle of badr. ( .) all these predatory inroads to intercept the caravans of mecca are said to have happened during the first and the second year of the hegira, or before the battle of badr. it remains for me now to mention the only remaining instance of moslem's foray upon the koreishite caravan, which took place in the sixth year a.h. at _al-is_. the attack was completely successful. [sidenote: . the interceptions were impossible under the circumstances in which mohammad was placed.] i have already explained (from paras. - ) that these early expeditions, numbered to , are not corroborated by authentic and trustworthy traditions, and i have also given the probable nature of those marked , and . it was impossible for mohammad and his adherents, situated as they were, to make any hostile demonstrations or undertake a pillaging enterprise. the inhabitants of medina, where the prophet with his followers had sought a safe asylum, and at whose invitation he had entered their city, had solemnly bound themselves on sacred oaths to defend mohammad, so long as he was not himself the aggressor, from his enemies as they would their wives and their children.[ ] mohammad, on his own part, had entered into a holy compact with them not to plunder or commit depredations.[ ] upon these considerations it was impossible that the people of medina would have permitted or overlooked the irruptions so often committed by mohammad upon the caravans of the koreish: much less would they have joined with their prophet, had he or any of his colleagues ventured to do so. but granting that the medinites allowed mohammad to manifest enmity towards the koreish by a display of arms, or that no restraint was put by them upon him when he encroached upon the territories of the neighbouring tribes, and that the caravans were molested without any grounds of justice, was it possible, i ask, for the people of medina to avoid the troubles they would be necessarily involved in by the refuge they had given to their prophet? they had long suffered from internal feuds, and the sanguinary conflict of boás, a few years ago, which had paralyzed their country, and humiliated its citizens, was but too fresh in their memory yet. [sidenote: . the interceptions, if occurred, were justified by way of reprisals.] let us suppose that these alleged interceptions of the meccan caravans by the moslems did actually take place, as related by the biographers of mohammad, were they not all justified by the international code of the arabs, or the ancient usage and military law of nations. it has been proved beyond all dispute that the meccans were the first aggressors in persecuting the moslems, and expelling them from their dear homes at mecca with the unbearable annoyance, they caused the converts of the new faith in the peaceful prosecution of their religion; taking all these causes of offence into consideration, as well as the international law and the law of nature, the moslems might be said to have law and justice both on their sides in waging war with their harassers for the restoration of their property and homes, and even in retaliating and making reprisals until they attained the object long sought by them. when the meccans, on their own part, had first trumpeted hostility against the moslems, the right of self-defence, as well as military necessity, compelled the latter to destroy their property, and obstruct the ways and channels of communication by which their traffic was prospering; for, "from the moment one state is at war with another, it has, on general principles, a right to seize on all the enemy's property of whatsoever kind and wheresoever found, and to appropriate the property thus taken to its own use, or to that of the captors."[ ] [footnote : i have closely followed sir w. muir in these expeditions; _vide_ the life of mahomet, vol. iii, pp. - .] [footnote : "the people of medîna were pledged only to defend the prophet from attack, not to join him in any aggressive steps against the coreish." muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote : bokharee relates from obada-bin sámat with the usual chain of narrators, that "i am one of the _nakeebs_ who pledged to the prophet. we pledged that we will not join any other god with the god, and will not commit theft, and will not commit fornication, and will not commit murder, and will not plunder." saheeh of bokharee, book of campaigns, chapter on deputations from ansárs.] [footnote : wheaton's elements of international law, p. , boston, ; lieber's miscellaneous writings; political science, vol. ii, p. , philadelphia, .] _the alleged assassinations._ [sidenote: . instances of alleged assassinations cited.] there were certain executions of culprits who had perpetrated the crime of high treason against the moslem commonwealth. these executions, and certain other cases of murders not grounded on any credible evidences, are narrated by european biographers of mohammad as assassinations committed through the countenance and connivance which he lent them. they were about five or six in number, and they are styled assassinations from there being no trials of the prisoners by a judge and a jury, nor by any systematic court-martial. the punishment of death was inflicted upon the persons condemned, either from private enmity or for the unpardonable offence of high treason against the state, but it cannot be said, as i will hereafter show, that these so-called cases of assassinations had received the high sanction of mohammad, or they were brought about at his direct instigation and assent for their commission. the alleged instances are as follows:-- . asma-bint marwán. . abú afak. . káb-ibn ashraf. . sofian-ibn khalid. . abú ráfe. . oseir-ibu zárim. . the attempted assassination of abú sofian. [sidenote: . mr. poole quoted.] before reviewing the truth and falsity of evidence in each of these cases, and showing how far the prophet was privy to them, i will avail myself of a quotation from mr. stanley lane poole, who has remarked with his usual deep discernment and accurate judgment, in his introduction to mr. e.w. lane's selections from the koran: "the execution of the half-dozen marked jews is generally called assassination, because a muslim was sent secretly to kill each of the criminals. the reason is almost too obvious to need explanation. there were no police or law-courts, or even courts-martial, at medina; some one of the followers of mohammad must therefore be the executer of the sentence of death, and it was better it should be done quietly, as the executing of a man openly before his clan would have caused a brawl and more bloodshed and retaliation, till the whole city had become mixed up in the quarrel. if secret assassination is the word for such deeds, secret assassination was a necessary part of the internal government of medina. the men must be killed, and best in that way. in saying this i assume that mohammad was cognisant of the deed, and that it was not merely a case of private vengeance; but in several instances the evidence that traces these executions to mohammad's order is either entirely wanting or is too doubtful to claim our credence."[ ] .--_asma-bint marwán._ [sidenote: . asma-bint marwán.] "the first victim was a woman," writes major osborn, "asma, daughter of marwan; she had composed some satirical verses on the prophet and his followers; and muhammad, moved to anger, said publicly: 'who will rid me of this woman?' omeir, a blind man, but an ardent moslem, heard the speech, and at dead of night crept into the apartment where asma lay asleep surrounded by her little ones; he felt about in the darkness till his hand rested on the sleeping woman, and then, the next instance his sword was plunged into her breast."[ ] the story of asma's murder has been variously related by the arabian writers, and the testimonies on which it rests are contradictory and conflicting in themselves. wákidi, ibn sád, and ibn hishám relate a very strange thing about it, that she was killed by omeir the _blind_ at the dead of night. a blind person commits murder in a stranger's house during nocturnal quietness, and is not arrested by any one! doctor weil writes, that omeir was a former husband of asma, and the origin of the murder may be traced to a long-brooding and private malice. ibn asákar in his history (vide _seerat shámee_) relates that asma was a fruit-seller; some person of her tribe asked her if she had better fruits. she said 'yes,' and entered her house followed by that man. she stooped down to take something up, the person turned right and left, and seeing that nobody was near, gave a violent blow on her head, and thus dispatched her. [sidenote: . the story deserves not our belief.] the historians even relate that omeir, being offended at the verses composed by asma, had volunteered himself of his own free-will to kill her.[ ] she might have been a sacrifice to envy or hatred by the sword of her assassin, but mohammad really had no hand in her death. she had made herself an outlaw by deluding the people of medina to a breach of treaty with the moslems, whereby the rights and jurisdictions of jews and moslems were definitively settled. ibn ishak quietly leaves unnarrated any transaction with regard to asma. wakidi and ibn sád do not affirm that mohammad, being annoyed at her lampoons, said dejectedly, "who would rid me of that woman?" on the contrary, wakidi writes, that omeir had voluntarily swore to take her life. it is only ibn hisham who relates without citing his authority, that mohammad, hearing asma's verses, declared: "is there nobody for me (i.e., _to rid me_) from bint marwán?" this version of the story has no corroborative proofs from the earliest biographers, and we are not inclined to put any faith in it.[ ] .--_abú afak._ [sidenote: . abú afak.] it has been related that abú afak of bani amr had enraged the moslems by fomenting enmity and sedition against their government, when one háris was executed for his murdering treacherously his fellow-comrade in the battle of ohad during the time they were fighting together side by side. a convert from amongst the bani amr vowed to slay abú afak, and falling unawares upon him killed him with a cruel blow of his sword. from ibn ishak we learn that mohammad had said with reference to abú afak, "who would rid me of this pestilent fellow?"[ ] the biographers do not give their authorities whence they derived their information of the words attributed to mohammad which he is said to have uttered with relation to abú afak before his followers; while at the same time it is no fair justice to form a hasty opinion of the fact without a critical examination and well-balancing of evidences of men like ibn ishak and others who have forgotten to tell us the original sources of their own assertion. besides, the words quoted above are not equivalent to a peremptory order, and even granting this last condition, we are not justified in construing them to mean _assassination_. sir w. muir writes that, "the secretary of wâckidi says distinctly--'now this was by command of the prophet.'" (vol. iii, p. , _f.n._) but it is a very easy thing for the secretary or other biographers to give an ample play to their fancies, or to fabricate commands, which the prophet had never given out, on a very slender basis, or on no reasonable basis at all. the tendency of the biographers is always to exonerate the companions of the prophet at the expense of truth, and to justify their deeds by casting the whole blame upon him. .--_káb, son of ashraf._ [sidenote: . káb, son of ashraf.] káb-ibn ashraf was an influential jew connected with the tribe of bani nazeer. being very much mortified by the defeat of the meccans at the battle of badr, he soon after proceeded to mecca, where he stirred up the koreish to avenge themselves on the moslems of medina. on his return to the latter place he manifested avowed hostility towards the moslem commonwealth. he was a traitor and a turncoat, for he not only violated his allegiance to the moslems, but preached rebellion among their enemies. under such circumstances, he deserved execution by the military and international law, and was decapitated at medina accordingly. the mode of execution was a sudden violence or deception, but mohammad never fulminated any harsh commands against him either for his assassination or for his murder. he deserved capital punishment for his treachery, which was duly measured out to him in the absence of any legal tribunals for trials of criminals by jury, for in that case any man was authorized to execute the sentence of the law. even if it be taken for granted that the prophet had prayed "o lord, deliver me from the son of ashraf, in whatsoever manner seemeth good unto thee, because of his open sedition and verses;" or said, "who can ease me of the son of ashraf?"[ ] this does not amount to a fiat for murder or execution, much less for assassination. [sidenote: . mohammad could not have any share in his murder.] the biographers and narrators of the campaigns of mohammad generally relate untrustworthy and fabulous details of such events, and are by no means to be relied upon. mohammad ibn ishak, the earliest biographer, whose work exists, does not relate that mohammad the prophet ever prayed for, or said to his followers, to be got rid of káb; whereas the latest biographers and traditionalists give us to understand that the prophet sanctioned the murder of káb by his own express orders. "i am far from asserting," says sir w. muir, "that every detail in the foregoing narrative, either of instigation by mahomet or of deception by the assassins, is beyond suspicion. the actors in such scenes were not slow to magnify and embellish their own services at the expense of truth. there may also have been the desire to justify an act of perfidy, at which even the loose morality of the day was startled, by casting the burden of it on the infallible prophet. but, after allowing all due weight to both of these considerations, enough remains to prove, in this case, the worst features of assassination, and the fact that they were directly countenanced, or rather prompted, by mahomet himself."[ ] there is no substantial proof in this case which tends to establish the instigation mohammad offered for the murder of káb. the best traditions for the story of káb's assassination rest with jábir-bin abdullah,[ ] and ibn abbás through ikrama.[ ] none of them can be an authority, for they were neither eye-witnesses, nor they heard the prophet countenancing or prompting the assassination, nor they allude to their own authorities. jábir-bin abdullah was a mere boy at that time. he was not allowed to appear even at the battle of ohad, which took place after the alleged execution of káb, on account of his tender age.[ ] ibn abbás was even younger than jábir, and besides, was putting up at mecca at the period in question.[ ] ikrama was a slave of ibn abbás, and was notoriously given to the forging of fictitious traditions.[ ] .--_sofian-bin khalid._ [sidenote: . sofian-bin khalid.] after the reverse at medina, in the battle of ohad, large gatherings were organized in various quarters of arabia against the moslems. the bani lahyán, and other neighbouring tribes, rallied round the standard of their chief sofián, the son of khálid, at orna with the avowed purpose of taking this occasion by the forelock when the tables were turned at ohad. "mahomet, knowing that their movements depended solely upon sofiân, despatched abdullah ibn oneis with instructions to assassinate him."[ ] the accredited envoy volunteered himself for the service, which he accomplished by destroying sofian by surprise. neither ibn ishak, nor ibn hisham, nor ibn sád have anything to say about 'instructions' for assassination. abdullah-bin oneis may have been sent as a spy to reconnoitre the movements of sofián and his army, or to bring advices concerning him, but it cannot be affirmed that he was tutored by mohammad to assassinate sofian, even on the supposition that his mission was to kill the latter. [sidenote: . justifications of sofian's alleged murder.] among the arabs the international law of estates in their hostile relations, and the military law and usage of former times, not forgetting to mention the european international law as late as the last century, maintained the broad principle that "in war everything done against an enemy is lawful that he may be destroyed, though unarmed and defenceless; that fraud or even poison may be employed against him; that a most unlimited right is acquired to his person and property."[ ] every sort of fraud except perfidy was allowed to be practised towards an enemy in war. "i allow of any kind of deceit," writes bynkershoek, a writer on international law, the successor of puffendorf and the predecessor of wolff and vattel, "perfidy alone excepted, not because anything is unlawful against an enemy, but because when our faith had been pledged to him, so far as the promise extends, he ceases to be an enemy."[ ] in the case of sofián there was no perfidy, treachery, or violation of faith, nor was there any permission granted by mohammad for his assassination. he sent, if it be proved he did (but it is never proved), abdullah against sofián who had made every preparation of arms, and who had mustered together several bedouin tribes to attack mohammad, to fight and kill him; it was a straightforward course allowed by the usages of the military law. mohammad had distinctly and expressly interdicted _perfidy, deceit and assassination_. "do not," said he, charging his commanders and soldiers on the point of marching for a military expedition, "commit perfidy, and do not mutilate, and do not kill a child."[ ] he also laid down the golden maxim, "_belief is the restraint to assassination. no believer should commit assassination_."[ ] .--_abú rafe._ [sidenote: . abú rafe.] abú rafe, called also sallám ibn abul hokeik, was the chief of bani nazeer, who had warred with the moslems at medina, and had been banished to khyber. he had taken a prominent part in the assembling of most of the bedouin tribes at the war of the confederates when they besieged medina. subsequently, he had excited bani fezara and other bedouin tribes to carry on their depredations among the moslems. a band of the latter was dispatched to inflict condign punishment upon him, and he met with his death at their hands. but the account of his execution are full of contradictions and discrepancies. but none of these diverse stories has, that mohammad commanded the assassination of abú rafe, while ibn ishak gives no account of him at all. ibn hisham has--"that abú rafe had brought the confederate army against mohammad, and some of khazraj had asked permission to kill him, and mohammad permitted them."[ ] sir w. muir narrates that mohammad "gave them command to make away with abul huckeick,"[ ] whilst the secretary of wákidi, whom he follows, simply says, "he gave command to kill him." "_making away with a person_" creates an idea of secret murder tantamount to 'assassination,' but such is not the wording of the original. _sending a party to kill_, or _fight with an enemy_ are synonymous, and permissible by the international or military law, the arab mode of fighting mostly consisting of single combats. .--_oseir-bin zárim._[ ] [sidenote: . oseir-bin zárim.] oseir-ibn zarim, the chief of bani nazeer, had maintained a hostile animosity against the moslems of medina, to war with whom he had enrolled himself in the adverse tribe of ghatafán. preparations were briskly made by this tribe to make a havoc of medina, and oseir had been made the hero of the enterprise. hereupon mohammad delegated the mission of bringing the insurgent to medina to abdullah-bin rawáha and some others, with a promise of making him governor of khyber,[ ] and treating him with marked distinction, if he yielded to the wishes of the prophet. oseir complied, and set out with his followers to medina. on a camel were mounted abdullah-bin, oneis, and oseir. hardly they had travelled six miles when oseir repented of his determination to go to medina, and stretched forth his hand towards the sword of abdullah, who leaped from the camel and cut off his leg, oseir in the meantime wounding abdullah's head with his camel staff.[ ] now, whether oseir was assassinated or murdered perfidiously; whether he meditated treachery, and abdullah struck him in his self-defence,--whatever might be the case, certainly there is nothing in the narrative of oseir's death to show that mohammad had sent him "on a secret errand with a view of getting rid of the jewish chief" as sir w. muir explains.[ ] the story is not imparted by earliest writers like ibn ishak, and the traditions of a later date are incoherent, one-sided, and imperfect. notwithstanding these inaccuracies, no account tells us that mandates were issued for fighting with or killing oseir, much less for his assassination. .--_the alleged intended assassination of abú sofian._ [sidenote: . the intended assassination of abú sofian.] a bedouin arab was sent by abú sofian to medina to assassinate mohammad. the emissary was tracked in his evil attempt, and confessed the purpose with which he had come. this is related by ibn sád katib wakidi as the cause of mohammad's sending amr ibn omeya to assassinate abú sofian.[ ] according to hishamee, amr was commissioned by the prophet to fight with abú sofián, and to kill him in immediate revenge for the murder of khobeib and his companions captured at raji.[ ] now, ibn ishak and wákidí preserve absolute silence on this head. ibn hisham relates nothing about assassination. it is only ibn sád kátib wákidí who hands down to posterity the orders of mohammad for the assassination of abú sofian. this tradition is neither strengthened by any sterling witness, nor is it a genuine one; and for this very reason it was not accepted by ibn ishák or even by wakidi, so prone to the recital of apocryphal traditions. [sidenote: . irving and muir quoted: concluding remarks.] referring to the above attempted assassination mr. washington irving says: "during this period of his career mahomet in more than one instance narrowly escaped falling by the hand of an assassin. he himself is charged with the use of insidious means to rid himself of an enemy, for it is said that he sent amru ibn omeya on a secret errand to mecca, to assassinate abu sofian, but the plot was discovered, and the assassin only escaped by rapid flight. the charge, however, is not well substantiated, and is contrary to his general character and conduct."[ ] sir w. muir writes: "there is just a shadow of possibility that the tradition may have been fabricated by the anti-omeyad party to throw odium on the memory of abu sofiân, as having been deemed by mahomet worthy of death. but this is not to be put against the evidence of unanimous and apparently independent traditions."[ ] but, in fact, there are no unanimous and apparently independent traditions of the command of mohammad to assassinate abú sofian; there is only one and but one, by ibn sád, which is wholly unreliable, and that too from the lips of the would-be assassin himself who before the introduction of islam was a professional cutthroat, whose narration, therefore, deserves not our belief. even if it be taken for granted that mohammad did send some one to assassinate abú sofian, who had already sent some one to assassinate mohammad as related by ibn sád, it was justified in self-defence. it was a measure for retaliation, not one of mere revenge, but only a means of protective retribution, which is lawful under the military law.[ ] [footnote : selections from the kur-án by edward william lane, with an introduction by stanley lane poole. intro., p. xliv: trübner & co., london, .] [footnote : islam under the arabs, by r.d. osborn, p. , london, .] [footnote : wákidi's campaigns of mohammad, pp. & : calcutta baptist mission press; edited by a. von kremer.] [footnote : sir w. muir writes that "hishami says, that mahomet, being vexed by asma's verses, said _publicly_, 'who will rid me of this woman?'" but there is no such word in ibn hishám which may be rendered '_publicly_.'] [footnote : ibn hisham, p. . wakidi does not give this sentence. on the contrary, he says, sálim had taken a vow to kill abú afak or die himself.] [footnote : ibn sad kátib wákidí, pp. , .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, vol. iii, pp. - .] [footnote : in the collections of bokhári in the book of campaigns; and in the book of jihád by moslim.] [footnote : mohammad-bin sád kátib wakidi and mohammad-bin ishak. the latter in ibn hisham, p. .] [footnote : vide _osaba-fi tamiz issahába_; or, biographical dictionary of persons who knew mohammad, by ibn hajr-al-askalani. part i, no. , p. .] [footnote : ibn abbás was only five years old at that time, and was at mecca. his evidence is consequently inadmissible.] [footnote : yahya-bin saeed al ansaree, ali-bin abdullah-bin abbás, ibnal mosayyab, atá ibrahim-bin maisura, mohammad-bin sireen, kásim, and abdullah-bin omar say that ikrama was a liar. vide _mizánul etedal_ of zahabi, _koukabi durrári sharah_, _saheeh bokhari_, by shamsuddin kirmáni; and _márafat anwaá-ilm hadees_, by abu omar-ad-damishki.] [footnote : the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote : elements of international law, by henry wheaton, ll.d. sixth edition, by william beach lawrence, boston, ; part iv, chapter i, p. , quoting bynkershoek; in p. , quoting bynkershoek and wolff.] [footnote : _ibid_, chapter ii, p. .] [footnote : the collections of moslem _apud_ boreida, _vide_ mishkat, p. .] [footnote : the collections of abú daúd in the book of jihád, vol. ii, p. .] [footnote : the life of mohammad based on mohammad-ibn ishak, by abdel malik-ibn hisham, p. .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : or yoseir-bin razim.] [footnote : as khyber was not yet conquered, neither mohammad could make such a promise, nor the jews could have been induced to believe it; therefore the story is a false one.] [footnote : the life of mohammad, by abdel malik-bin hisham, pp. - .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. - .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv. p. .] [footnote : the life of mohammad, by abdel malik-bin hisham, pp. - . the fighting was, according to arab custom, in single combats.] [footnote : mahomet and his successors, by washington irving, p. , london, .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. , foot-note.] [footnote : compare "contributions to political science," by francis lieber, ll.d., vol. ii, p. .] _the alleged cruelties in executing the prisoners of war and others_. [sidenote: . treatment of the prisoners of war.] some of the war prisoners had received the condign punishment of execution for their crimes in conformity with the laws of war. it has been alleged by some european biographers of mohammad that their (the war prisoners') execution was cruel, and that they were accused of no crime except their scepticism and political antagonism.[ ] the persons executed were as follows:-- . nadhr-bin-harith. . okba. . abul ozza. . moavia-bin-mughira. [sidenote: the law of nations regarding the prisoners of war.] before reviewing the case of each prisoner, i must note, by way of introductory remarks, that, under the international or military law, a prisoner of war is a public enemy armed or attached to the hostile army for active aid, and who has fallen into the hands of the captor, either fighting or wounded, on the fields or in the hospitals, by individual surrender or capitulation. all soldiers, of whatever species of arms; all men who belong to the rising _en masse_ of the hostile country; all those who are attached to the army for its efficiency and promote directly the object of the war, except religious persons, officers of medical staff, hospital nurses and servants, all disabled men or officers on the field, or elsewhere, if captured, all enemies who have thrown away their arms and asked for quarters, are prisoners of war, and as such exposed to the inconveniences as well as entitled to the privileges of a prisoner of war. he is subject to no punishment for being a public enemy, nor is any revenge wreaked upon him by the international infliction of any suffering or disgrace, by cruel imprisonment, want of food, by mutilation, death, or any other barbarity. but a prisoner of war remains answerable for his crimes committed against the captor's army or people before he was captured, and for which he has not been punished by his own authorities. all prisoners of war are liable to the infliction of retaliatory measures. .--_nadhr-bin-harith_. [sidenote: . the execution of nadhr ibn harith.] nadhr (nazr), one of the prisoners of war, was executed after the battle of badr for his crime of severely tormenting the moslems at mecca. musáb had distinctly reminded him of his torturing the companions of mohammad,[ ] so there was nothing of a cruel and vindictive spirit of the prophet displayed towards his enemies in the execution of nazr as it is made out by sir w. muir.[ ] on the other hand, his execution is denied by some critics, like ibn manda and abú naeem, who say, that nazr-bin-haris was present at the battle of honain, a.h. , six years after that of badr, and was presented with one hundred camels by mohammad. sir w. muir himself puts down very quietly nadhir ibn al harith's name in a foot-note (vol. iv, page ) as a recipient of one hundred camels at honain. the same nadhr-bin-harith is shown among the earliest moslem refugees who had fled to abyssinia. these discrepancies leave no doubt that the story of nadhr's execution is not a fact. it is also related by the narrators, who assert nazr's execution at badr, that his daughter or sister came to mohammad and addressed him several verses, the hearing of which produced such a tender emotion in him, that his eyes shed tears and said, he would not have issued orders for his execution had he heard these verses before. the following are two of the verses which mohammad heard: _"má kán zarraka lao mananta va rubba mámannal fata va ho-al mughizul mohnihoo."_ thou wouldst no harm have seen to set him free, anger how high for pardon has no plea. but zobier-bin-bakár says, he heard some learned men who objected to these verses on the ground that they were all concocted; and i think that the whole story of nazr's execution is a spurious one. .--_okba-bin-mueit_. [sidenote: . the execution of okba.] another prisoner, named okba, was executed after the battle of badr for a crime similar to that of nazr. it is related that while he was going to be executed, he asked who would take care of his little girl. mohammad replied, "hell-fire!" this is altogether an apocryphal story, and owes its origin to the relation of okba to the tribe of banunnar, or the "children of fire." wackidi does not give his authorities for the story, and ibn is-hak gives only one immediately before him, which is cut short of another intervening link of authorities up to the scene of occurrence. abu daood narrates it from masrook, who gave it on the authority of abdullah-bin-mas-ood, who does not say he was present at the scene or he heard it directly or indirectly from mohammad. besides the circumstances under which masrook gave out this story are very suspicious, and show that calumny was at work. masrook was proposed by zohak to be entrusted with the administration of a certain district. ommara, the son of okba, objected to this, as masrook was one of the murderers of osman, the third khalif. masrook in reply said to ommara, on the authority of ibn masood, that "when thy father was being executed, he had asked the prophet, who will take care of his little girl." the prophet replied, "hell-fire." therefore, i am satisfied for thee with what the prophet had chosen for thy father.[ ] there is a discrepancy in the mode of okba's execution as well as about the person who executed him. ibn is-hak says, that it was asim who killed him, and ibn hisham, that it was ali. ibrahim is of opinion, that okba was executed at taimee,[ ] and mohammad-bin-khobeib hashimi,[ ] that he was crucified, from which others differ and say that he was beheaded. i have no belief in okba's execution at all. [sidenote: . free liberty granted to ozza, a prisoner of war.] abul ozza, one of the prisoners of badr, and who was one of the persecutors of the moslems at mecca, had besought mohammad to release him by way of compassion for his five daughters. mohammad granted him his life and his liberty.[ ] this directly points to the universal generosity of the prophet, and from this it will appear that the story of okba's execution runs contrary to his general character and conduct. on these grounds the execution of okba might be rejected as a fiction. .--_abul ozza._ [sidenote: . abul ozza proved a traitor and was executed.] abul ozza, one of the prisoners of badr, was allowed his freedom without any ransom, on the condition that he would never again bear up arms in any war against the prophet; but he proved a traitor. he exhorted the arabs to make war on mohammad, and joined himself the invading army of mecca. he was doomed to misfortune, he was caught at hamra, and duly executed.[ ] this was in full accordance with the laws and usages of war (_vide ante_, para. ). .--_moavia ibn mughira._ [sidenote: the execution of moavia ibn mughira.] moavia ibn mughira, also a prisoner of war, was granted three days' truce, on the condition that if he were found in medina after the appointed time, he was to be executed. the period had passed, and he was still lurking at medina. at length he was found out and killed by zeid and ammar on their return from hamra-al-assad, after five or six days. it is apparent that moavia violated his truce, and his lurking in medina might be either as a spy[ ] or scout secretly seeking information. [sidenote: . justification of mughira's execution.] sir w. muir, who calls him othmân ibn mughîra, makes out a favourable case in his behalf. he writes: he "incautiously lingered at medîna till the last day of his term of grace, when he set out for mecca."[ ] but ibn hisham distinctly writes that he "stayed at medina after the three days had passed and was found lurking there." even according to wackidi he was caught on the fourth day. but this is far from truth, for, according to his own account, mohammad was absent after the battle of ohad for five days at hamra-al-assad; then how he (ibn mughira) could have endeavoured to avoid the returning moslem force from hamra-al-assad, and lose his way, as sir w. muir gives it out, only on the fourth day? one of the enemies, who had invaded medina and attacked mohammad, was, after being captured, allowed three days' truce on explicit conditions that he was to be killed there if found after three days, and was also provided with a camel and provisions for the way, was discovered lurking thereabout on the fifth or sixth day, in consequence of which he lost his life. this is called by sir w. muir as being "perished by a too great confidence in the generosity of his enemy,"[ ]--_i.e._, mohammad. [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : wackidi campaigns of mohammad, p. , calcutta, .] [footnote : "it was at otheil that the cruel and vindictive spirit of mahomet towards his enemies first began to display itself."--muir's life of mohamet, vol. iii, p. . after this, the author narrates the execution of nazr. ibn is-hak. _vide_ ibn hisham, p. ; wackidi, p. ; abu daood, vol. ii, p. . this story is not given by ibn hisham and ibn sád.] [footnote : abu daood as before.] [footnote : zorkánee, vol. ii, p. .] [footnote : sírat halabi, vol. ii, p. .] [footnote : wackidi, . insán-ul oyoon or sírat halabí, vol. ii, p. .] [footnote : wackidi, p. ; hishami, p. ; insán-ul-oyoon or sírat halabí, vol. ii, p. .] [footnote : ibn hisham, p. ; wackidi, pp. and .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, .] _the intended execution of the prisoners of badr._ [sidenote: . the wrong version of sir w. muir.] sir w. muir writes: "it would even seem to have been contemplated at the close of the battle to kill all the prisoners. mahomet is represented by tradition as himself directing this course." in a foot-note he says, "thus mahomet said: 'tell not saîd of his brother's death'" (mábad, a prisoner, see above, page note); "but kill ye every man his prisoner."--(wâckidi, .) again: "take not any man his brother prisoner, but rather kill him" (page ). "i would not, however, lay too much stress on these traditions. i am inclined rather to view them as called into existence by the passages quoted below from the coran."[ ] the contemplated execution of the prisoners is not borne out by the traditions which sir w. muir himself looks upon as fabricated ones. the true translation of the passages in wackidi referred to above is as follows:-- _first passage._--"tell not said of his brother's killing (_i.e._, being killed), so he will kill every prisoner in your hands."--(wackidi, page .) this obviously means, that do not let saeed know that his brother wáhid, who was made prisoner and killed by omar or abu barda, was killed. if you do so, he will, being enraged, kill every prisoner now in your hands. it is very strange that sir w. muir translates the sentence to mean "kill ye every man his prisoner!" _second passage._--"no body must take his brother's prisoner, so that he may be killed," meaning none of you should seize other person's prisoner. if you do so, perhaps, the other person may kill the prisoner in the contest. sir w. muir has quite misunderstood the sentence. [sidenote: . mohammad never blamed in the koran for relieving prisoners.] there are some fictitious traditions on the subject that mohammad was reprimanded in the koran (sura, viii, , ) for releasing the prisoners of badr, meaning that he ought to have executed them. the verse is translated thus:-- "it is not for a prophet to take prisoners until (_hatta_) he hath slaughtered in the land. ye wish to have the goods of this world, but god wishes for the next, for god is mighty, wise! were it not for a book from god that had gone before, there would have touched you, for which ye took, a mighty punishment." the verse , if it is rightly translated, will mean that prisoners should not be executed. the word '_hatta_' means '_until_,' and is also used as a causative word. i prefer the latter, and translate-- "it is not for any prophet that prisoners may be brought to him _in order_ that he may make slaughter in the land," which means, that it is not proper for a prophet to take prisoners of war in order to slaughter them. this meaning is in consonance with the other passage in the koran (xlvii, ), which restricts the treatment of the prisoners of war to either free dismissal or ransom. in the first place, the verse rather reprimanded those who wished to kill the prisoners; and in the second, those who desired to exact ransom for their liberty. they ought to have set them at liberty without any pecuniary advantage, if they knew any good in their deserving free liberty. [footnote : _ibid_, p. .] _kind treatment of the prisoners of war by mohammad._ [sidenote: . the koran enjoins, the prisoners of war to be either freely liberated or ransomed, but neither executed nor enslaved.] the prisoners of war were always treated kindly by mohammad, and the ancient practice of killing and enslaving them was much discouraged and abolished by the koran. "and when ye meet those who misbelieve, then strike off heads until ye have massacred them, and bind fast the bonds!" "then either a free grant (of liberty) or a ransom until the war shall have laid down its burdens."--sura, xlvii, and . regarding the prisoners of badr sir w. muir writes: "in pursuance of mahomet's commands, the citizens of medina, and such of the refugees as possessed houses, received the prisoners and treated them with much consideration." "blessing be on the men of medina!" said these prisoners in latter days. "they made us ride, while they themselves walked; they gave us wheatened bread to eat, when there was little of it, contenting themselves with dates." it is not surprising that when, some time after, their friends came to ransom them, several of the prisoners who had been thus received declared themselves adherents of islam: and to such the prophet granted a liberty without the usual payment.[ ] the prisoners of the bani mustalik were released without paying any ransom.[ ] the bani hawazin were made prisoners of war at honain, fought in the eighth year of the hegira, but were all set free without any exaction of ransom from them. mohammad first released his prisoners, and the men of mecca and medina cheerfully followed his example.[ ] the prisoners were six thousand in number.[ ] a party of eighty, as related by moslim in his _saheeh_, or of forty or fifty koreish, as narrated by ibn hisham (p. ), went round about mohammad's camp while stationed at hodeibia in a.h. , seeking to cut off any stray followers, and having attacked the camp itself with stones and arrows, they were caught and taken prisoners to mohammad, who, with his usual generosity, pardoned and released them. khalid-ibn-waleed, in the year of his victory, a.h. , when he was sent to call the bani jazima to embrace islam, had made them prisoners and ordered their execution. some of the better-informed of the moslems of the injunctions of the koran, of releasing prisoners either freely or by exacting ransom, interposed and accused him of committing an act of the time of ignorance. mohammad, much displeased, grieved at the intelligence, and said twice, 'o god! i am innocent of what khalid hath done.'[ ] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. ii, pp. and .] [footnote : _ibid_, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote : _ibid_, vol. iv. pp. and .] [footnote : ibn hisham, p. .] [footnote : ibn hisham, pp. and .] _the execution of the bani koreiza._ [sidenote: . high treason of the bani koreiza against medina, and their execution.] the bani koreiza, a jewish tribe living in the vicinity of mecca had entered into an alliance with the moslem commonwealth to defend the city of medina from the attack of the aggressors. while medina was besieged by the ten thousand koreish and other bedouin tribes in a.h. , they (the koreiza), instead of co-operating with the moslems, defected from their allegiance and entered into negotiations with the besieging foe. after the cessation of the siege, they were besieged in their turn, and a fearful example was made of them, not by mohammad, but by an arbiter chosen and appointed by themselves. the execution of some of them was not on account of their being prisoners of war; they were war-traitors and rebels, and deserved death according to the international law. their crime was high treason against medina while it was blockaded. there had no actual fighting taken place between the bani koreiza and the moslems, after the former had thrown off their allegiance to the latter and had aided and abetted the enemies of the realm. they were besieged by the moslems to punish them for their high treason, and consequently they were not prisoners of war. even such prisoners of war suffer for high treason. "treating, in the field, the rebellious enemy according to the law and usages of war, has never prevented the legitimate government from trying the leaders of the rebellion, or chief rebels for high treason, and from treating them accordingly, unless they are included in a general amnesty."[ ] [sidenote: . the whole of the bani koreiza was never executed.] the whole tribe of the bani koreiza was not executed, nor all the male prisoners were put to the sword.[ ] the number slain was comparatively very small. that they were not executed at the commands of mohammad, nor _all_ of them were killed, nor a divine sanction was alleged for it, is shown by the following verse of the koran: "and he caused those of the people of the book (the jews) who had aided the confederates to come down of their fortresses, and cast dismay into their hearts: some ye slew; others ye took prisoners."--sura, xxxiii, . the slaying and taking of prisoners is attributed to them to whom the verse is addressed as their own act. [sidenote: . the women and children of the bani koreiza were not sold.] the rest of the bani koreiza,--male adults, women, and children,--were either liberated or got themselves ransomed. we read in oyoon-al-asar by ibn sayyad-al-nas some account of the ransom. osman-bin-affan gathered much money by the transaction. but sir w. muir quotes from hishamee, that the rest of the women and children were sent to be sold among the bedouin tribes of najd, in exchange of horse and arms.[ ] but there is no authority for this story. abul mo'tamar soleiman, in his campaigns of mohammad, gives another account which is more probable. he writes:-- "out of what was captured from bani koreiza mohammad took seventeen horses and distributed them among his people. the rest he divided into two halves. one-half he sent with sád bin obádd to syria, and the other half with ans bin quízí to the land of ghatafán, and ordered that they may be used there for breeding purposes. they did so, and got good horses."[ ] [sidenote: . the exaggerated number of the persons executed.] the number of male adults executed has been much exaggerated, though it is immaterial, when an execution duly authorized by the international law of a country takes place, to consider the smallness or greatness of the number. i cannot do better than quote moulvie ameer ali of calcutta on the subject, who has very judiciously criticised the same: "passing now to the men executed," he says, "one can at once see how it has been exaggerated. some say they were ; others have carried the number even up to . but christian historians generally give it as varying from to . i look upon this as a gross exaggeration. even would seem an exaggerated number. the traditions agree in making the warlike materials of the bani koreiza consist of cuirasses, bucklers, , sabres, &c. in order to magnify the value of the spoil, the traditions probably exaggerated these numbers.[ ] but taking them as they stand, and remembering that such arms are always kept greatly in excess of the number of fighting men, i am led to the conclusion that the warriors could not have been more than or . the mistake probably arose from confounding the whole body of prisoners who fell into the hands of the moslems with those executed."[ ] even seems to be a large number, as all of the prisoners were put up for the night in the house of bint-al-haris,[ ] which would have been insufficient for such a large number. [footnote : miscellaneous writings of francis lieber, vol. ii. contributions to political science, p. , philadelphia, .] [footnote : some of the koreizites were released, among whom we hear of zobeir ibn batá, and rifáa. they were pardoned by mohammad.] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote : _history of mohammad's campaigns_: edited by von kremer, p. .] [footnote : "compare the remarks of ibn-khaldún (prelégoménes d' ibn khaldoun, traduits par m. de slane, part i, p. )."] [footnote : a critical examination of the life and teachings of mohammed, by syed ameer ali, moulvi, m.a., ll.b., of the inner temple, barrister-at-law, p. : william and norgate, london, .] [footnote : ibn hisham, p. . others say the males were kept in the house of osman-bin-zaed, and the females and children in the house of bint-al-haris. _vide_ insan-al-oyoon, by halabi. vol. iii, p. .] _some miscellaneous objections refuted._ .--_omm kirfa._ [sidenote: . the execution of omm kirfa for brigandage.] the barbarous execution of omm kirfa, a female, who was notorious as the mistress of a nest of robbers, by tying her each leg to a separate camel and being torn asunder, is not a fact. it is only mentioned by katib wáckidi, and is not to be found in any other earliest account of wáckidi, ibn is-hak, and ibn hisham. even katib wáckidi does not say that the execution was ordered by mohammad, and it is not fair on the part of sir w. muir to hold mohammad an accomplice in the ferocious act, because he reads of no disapprobation expressed by the prophet at such an inhuman treatment.[ ] but in the first place the narration is a mere fiction; and secondly, the traditions are, as a rule, always incomplete; in one place they are given shorter, and in another longer, according to the circumstances of the occasion on which they are originally recited. ibn hisham relates, that "zaid-bin-harisa ordered kays-bin-mosahhar to execute omm kirfa, so he executed her with a violent execution." ('_katlan aneefan_,' p. .) he does not relate that mohammad was even informed of the execution after the party had returned from this terrible mission. i think the word '_aneef_' (_violent_ or _severe_), as used originally by the narrator, might have been the cause of the growth of the story of executing by tying up to two camels, by way of a gratuitous explanation or glossary, as another tradition relates that she was tied to the tails of two horses (_vide koostalanee_ in his commentary on bokharee, vol. iii, p. ). .--_urnee robbers._ [sidenote: . the alleged mutilation of the urnee robbers.] some _urnee_ robbers, lately converted, had plundered the camels of medina and barbarously handled their herdsman, for they cut off his hands and legs, and struck thorny spikes into his tongue and eyes, till he died. the bandits were pursued, captured, and executed by kurz-bin-jabir. "they had merited death," says sir w. muir, "but the mode in which he inflicted it was barbarous and inhuman. the arms and legs of eight men were cut off, and their eyes were put out. the shapeless, sightless trunks of these wretched bedouins were then impaled upon the plain of al ghâba, until life was extinct."[ ] as the robbers had mutilated the herdsman, this gave currency to their having been mutilated in retaliation. but in fact mohammad never ordered mutilation in any case. he was so averse to this practice, that several traditions from various sources emanating from him to the effect, prove that he prohibited mutilation lest he himself be mutilated by divine judgment.[ ] [sidenote: . amputation or banishment substituted temporarily in place of imprisonment for want of a well-organized system of jails.] sir w. muir continues:--"on reflection, mahomet appears to have felt that this punishment exceeded the bounds of humanity. he accordingly promulgated a revelation, in which capital punishment is limited to simple death or crucifixion. amputation of the hands and feet is, however, sanctioned as a penal measure; and amputation of the hands is even enjoined as the proper penalty for theft, whether the criminal be male or female. this barbarous custom has accordingly been perpetuated throughout the mahometan world. but the putting out of the eyes is not recognized among the legal punishments."[ ] these alternative punishments were prescribed for the heinous crimes of highway robbery, dacoity, and theft by house-breaking. they were (i) capital punishment, (ii) amputation, and (iii) banishment (sura, v, , ), according to the circumstances of the case. the last two were of a temporary nature substituted for imprisonment for want of an organized system of jails and prisons. when the commonwealth was in its infancy, the troubles of the invasions and wars of the aggressive koreish and their allies had left neither peace nor security at medina to take such administrative measures as to organize a system of building, guarding, and maintaining jails, their inmates and their establishments. as soon as jails were established in the mohammadan commonwealth, amputation and banishment gave way to imprisonment. the prisoners of war, not being criminals, used to be made over by mohammad to some citizens of medina, as in the case of the prisoners of the battle of badr, to keep them in their houses as guests, on account of the want of prisons; but as for the other criminals--the highway robbers, dacoits, and house-breakers--they could not be treated and entertained so hospitably. thus there was left no alternative for them except either to banish such criminals, or to award them corporal punishment in the shape of amputation.[ ] .--_torture of kinana._ [sidenote: . torture of kinana.] it is related by the biographers "that kinana, chief of the jews of khyber, and his cousin had kept back, in contravention of their compact, a portion of their riches. on the discovery of this attempt at imposition, kinana was subjected to cruel torture--'fire being placed upon his breast till his breath had almost departed'--in the hope that he would confess where the rest of his treasures were concealed. mahomet then gave command, and the heads of the chief and his cousin were severed from their bodies."[ ] the story of kinana's being subjected to extortion and put to death for hiding some treasure, for which he had contravened his contract, is altogether a spurious one. kinana was executed in retaliation for treacherously killing mahmud, the brother of mohammad-bin-moslama, to whom he was made over for execution. there is one tradition, without any authority, to the effect, that zobeir was producing fire on kinana's breast by the friction of flint and steel. this, if it be a fact, does not show that it was done by mohammad's direction and approval. on the contrary, there are several traditions from the prophet himself in which he has forbidden to punish any one with fire. it is related by bokharee from ibn abbás, that mohammad said, "god only can punish with fire." it is also related by abu daood from abdullah, that the prophet said, "no body ought to punish any one with fire except the lord of the fire."[ ] .--_a singing-girl executed._ [sidenote: . the alleged execution of a singing-girl.] "from general amnesty extended to the citizens of mecca, mahomet excluded ten or twelve persons. of these, however, only four were actually put to death.... the two next were renegade moslems, who having shed blood at medina had fled to mecca, and abjured islam. they were both slain, and also a singing-girl belonging to one of them, who had been in the habit of annoying the prophet by abusive verses." "their names are abdallah ibn khalal and mikyas ibn subâba. the murder committed by the former is said to have been wilful, that of the latter unintentional. abdallah had two singing-girls. both were sentenced to death, but one escaped and afterwards obtained quarter; the execution of the other appears to have been the worst act committed by mahomet on the present occasion."[ ] abdullah had committed cold-blooded murder, and most probably the singing-girl belonging to him had taken a share in his crime. her execution was owing to her being an accomplice or abettor in the foul act which was justified by law. then why should the execution be considered a worst act? mohammad felt the deepest respect for the weaker sex, and had enjoined during the warfares "not to kill women;" but the law makes no difference amongst the sexes, both sexes being liable to punishment according to their deserts. [sidenote: . the charitable spirit of mohammad towards his enemies.] the magnanimity, clemency, forbearance, and forgiveness of mohammad at the time of his victory at mecca were very remarkable. mr. stanley lane poole with his usual acumen writes:--"but the final keystone was set in the eighth year of the flight (a.d. ), when a body of the kureysh broke the truce by attacking an ally of the muslims; and mohammad forthwith marched upon mekka with ten thousand men, and the city, defence being hopeless, surrendered. now was the time for the prophet to show his bloodthirsty nature. his old persecutors are at his feet. will he not trample on them, torture them, revenge himself after his own cruel manner? now the man will come forward in his true colours: we may prepare our horror, and cry shame beforehand. "but what is this? is there no blood in the streets? where are the bodies of the thousands that have been butchered? facts are hard things; and it is a fact that the day of mohammad's greatest triumph over his enemies was also the day of his grandest victory over himself. he freely forgave the kureysh all the years of sorrow and cruel scorn they had inflicted on him: he gave an amnesty to the whole population of mekka. four criminals, whom justice condemned, made up mohammad's proscription list when he entered as a conqueror the city of his bitterest enemies. the army followed the example, and entered quietly and peaceably; no house was robbed, no woman insulted."[ ] .--_abu basír._ [sidenote: . abu basír not countenanced by the prophet in contravention of the spirit of the treaty of hodeibia.] sir w. muir says that "abu basír, the free-booter, was countenanced by the prophet in a manner scarcely consistent with the letter, and certainly opposed to the spirit, of the truce of hodeibia."[ ] it was one of the articles of the treaty of hodeibia between the koreish and mohammad, that if any one goeth over to mohammad without the permission of his guardian, he shall be sent back to him.[ ] a short time after, abu basír, a moslem imprisoned at mecca, effected his escape and appeared at medina. his guardians, azhar and akhnas, sent two servants to mohammad with a letter and instructions to bring the deserter back to his house. the obligation of surrender was at once admitted by mohammad, though abu basír pleaded the persecution which he used to suffer at mecca as the cause of refusing to return, but mohammad argued that it was not proper for him to break the terms of the peace, and abu basír was compelled to set out for mecca. but he had travelled only a few miles when he treacherously seized the sword of one of his escorts and slew him. the other servant fled back to medina, whither abu basír also followed him. on the return of the latter, he contended that the prophet had already fulfilled the treaty to its very letter in delivering him up, but the prophet replied, "alas for his mother! what a kindler of war, if he had with him any one!" when he heard this "he knew that the prophet was again going to send him back to his guardians,[ ] the koreish, so he went away to the seashore, where he, with others who had joined him after their flight from captivity at mecca, used to waylay the caravans from mecca." this story, which is also briefly narrated by ibn is-hak, and more fully by shamee, zoorkanee and ibn-al-kyyim, does not show that mohammad acted against the spirit and letter of the truce of hodeibia. he himself never countenanced abu basír; on the contrary, he delivered him up in conformity with the terms of the treaty of hodeibia, and when he had returned, abu basír had every reason to believe that mohammad would again despatch him to the quarters whence he had come. but it appears abu basír went away to the seashore, out of mohammad's jurisdiction, and it was not the duty of the prophet to effect his arrest and send him back to mecca whilst he was not with him, or rather out of his jurisdiction. had he even kept him with himself at medina after he had once made him over to the party sent forth to take charge of him, and were no other demands made for his delivery, i do not think mohammad could be fairly blamed for it according to the international law of the arabs, or even according to the terms of the treaty of hodeibia itself. .--_employment of nueim to break up the confederates who had besieged medina._ [sidenote: . nueim not employed by the prophet to circulate false reports in the enemy's camp.] when medina was besieged for several days by the koreish and their confederates, the army of medina was harassed and wearied with increasing watch and duty. nueim, an arab of a neutral tribe, represented himself as a secret believer, and offered his services to the prophet, who accepted them, and employed him to hold back the confederates from the siege, if he could, saying "war verily was a game of deception." nueim excited mutual distrust between the jews and the koreish. he told the jews not to fight against mohammad until they got hostages from the koreish as a guarantee against their being deserted. and to the koreish he said that the jews intended to ask hostages from them. "do not give them," he said, "they have promised mahomet to give up the hostages to be slain."[ ] this is one tradition, and there is another to the effect that the jews had themselves asked for the hostages, but the koreish had not replied yet, when nueim came to the jews and said, he was there with abu sofian when their messenger had come for the demand of hostages, and that abu sofian is not going to send them any.[ ] a third tradition in motamid ibn solyman's supplement to wackidi's _campaigns of mohammad_ gives no such story at all. it has altogether a different narration to the effect, that there was a spy of the koreish in the moslem camp who had overheard abdullah-bin-rawaha saying, that the jews had asked the koreish to send them seventy persons, who, on their arrival, would be killed by them. nueim went to the koreish, who were waiting for his message, and told what he had heard as already related.[ ] this contradicts the story given by ibn hisham and mr. muir. but anyhow the story does not prove that mohammad had given permission to nueim to speak falsehood or spread treacherous reports. [sidenote: . deception in way allowed by the international law.] sir w. muir is not justified in his remarks when he writes,--"we cannot, indeed, approve the employment of nueim to break up the confederacy by falsehood and deception, but this perhaps would hardly affect his character in arab estimation;"[ ] and further on he writes,--"when medîna was beleagured by the confederate army, mahomet sought the services of nueim, a traitor, and employed him to sow distrust among the enemy by false and treacherous reports: for," said he, "what else is war but a game at deception."[ ] the utmost that can be made out from the former tradition quoted by mr. muir, and contradicted by another tradition of equal force, is that mohammad allowed deception in war by quoting the proverbial saying, that "war is a game at deception." in this he had the sanction of the military law or the international law, as deception in war is a "military necessity," and allowed by the law and usages of war. a modern author on the international law says:-- "military necessity admits of all direct destruction of life or limb of _armed_ enemies, and of other persons whose destruction is incidentally _unavoidable_ in the armed contests of the war; it allows of the capturing of every armed enemy, and every enemy of importance to the hostile government, or of peculiar danger to the captor; it allows of all destruction of property, and obstruction of the ways and channels of traffic, travel, or communication, and of all withholding of sustenance or means of life from the enemy; of the appropriation of whatever an enemy's country affords necessary for the subsistence and safety of the army, and of such deception as does not involve the breaking of good faith either positively pledged, regarding agreements entered into during the war, or supposed by the modern law of war to exist."[ ] [sidenote: . lecky's standard of morality.] but supposing the modern morality does not approve of mohammad what hardly "affected his character in arab estimation," are there no diversities in moral judgments? the moral unity to be expected in different ages is not a unity of standard or of facts, but a unity of tendency. "that some savage kill their old parents, that infanticide has been practised without compunction by even civilized nations, that the best romans saw nothing wrong in the gladiatorial shows, that political or revengeful assassinations have been for centuries admitted, that slavery has been sometimes honoured and sometimes condemned, are unquestionable proofs, that the same act may be regarded in one age as innocent, and in another as criminal. now it is undoubtedly true, that in many cases an historical examination will reveal special circumstances explaining or palliating the apparent anomaly. it has been often shown that the gladiatorial shows were originally a form of human sacrifice adopted through religious motives; that the rude nomadic life of savages rendering impossible the preservation of aged and helpless members of the tribe, the murder of parents was regarded as an act of mercy both by the murderer and the victim; that before an effective administration of justice was organized, private vengeance was the sole preservation against crime, and political assassination against usurpation; that the insensibility of some savages to the criminality of theft arises from the fact that they were accustomed to have all things in common; that the spartan law legalizing theft arose partly from a desire to foster military dexterity among the people, but chiefly from a desire to discourage wealth; that slavery was introduced through motives of mercy to prevent conquerors from killing their prisoners. all this is true, but there is another and a more general answer. it is not to be expected, and it is not maintained, that men in all ages should have agreed about the application of their moral principles. all that is contended for is, that these principles are themselves the same. some of what appear to us monstrous acts of cruelty were dictated by that very feeling of humanity, the universal perception of the merit of which they are cited to disprove; and even when this is not the case, all that can be inferred is, that the standard of humanity was very low. but still humanity was recognized as a virtue, and cruelty as a vice."[ ] _the alleged permission to kill the jews._ [sidenote: . murder of ibn sanina.] it is related by some of the biographers of mohammad, eagerly recited by others of europe, that, "on the morning after the murder of káb, mahomet gave a general permission to his followers to slay any jews whom they might chance to meet,"[ ] and that the murder of ibn sanina, a jewish merchant, by muheiasa, a moslem, was the direct consequence of this order. "when huweisa upbraided muheiasa for killing his confederate the jew, and appropriating his wealth,--"by the lord!" replied muheiasa, "if he that commanded me to kill him commanded to kill thee also, i would have done it." "what!" huweisa cried, "wouldst thou have slain thine own brother at mahomet's bidding?"--"even so," answered the fanatic. "strange indeed!" huweisa responded. "hath the new religion reached to this pitch! verily it is a wonderful faith." and huweisa was converted from that very hour."[ ] ibn is-hak says this story was related to him by a freedman of the bani hárisa tribe from the daughter of muheiasa, who had heard it from her father.[ ] ( ) now there is nothing known of this mysterious person, the freedman of the tribe of háris, therefore no reliance can be put on his story. ( ) we have no knowledge of the daughter of the murderer muheiasa, or moheisa, as he is called by the biographer, ibn hisham. ( ) muheiasa himself has not that respectable character which can lend even a shadow of veracity to his narration. ( ) and lastly, the story that mohammad had given general permission to his followers to slay any jew whom they might chance to meet, and consequently muheiasa killed ibn sanina, and huweisa became a convert to islam, is contradicted by another counter-tradition in ibn hisham (pp. - ), who has related from abú obeida, who relates from abú omar-al-madaní, that, "during the execution of the bani koreiza (_vide_ para. ), one káb-bin-yahooza was made over to muheiasa for execution. when the latter executed his victim, huweisa, his brother, who was still unbelieving, upbraided muheiasa. "if he," responded muheiasa, "that commanded me to kill him had commanded me to kill thee also, i would have killed thee." huweisa was quite surprised at his brother's reply, and went away astonished. during the night he used to wake up repeatedly, and wonder at his brother's staunch devotion to his faith. in the morning, he said, "by the lord! this is a wonderful faith," and came to the prophet to embrace islam. these remarks show that the alleged permission to kill the jews, and ibn sanina's murder, and huweisa's conversion in consequence thereof, is all a mere concoction. [sidenote: . sir w. muir quoted.] even sir w. muir, though very fond of collecting all such apocryphal traditions reflecting on the character of the prophet, doubts the veracity of this one, and declares its improbability and inexpediency. he writes:-- "but the order itself is a strange one, and must, one would suppose, have been accompanied by some conditions or reservations not here apparent. it was surely not expedient for the prophet's cause at this time that the streets of medîna should have flowed with blood by the strict execution of this command. yet such is the distinct tenor of the best traditions. "the order was not an unlikely one to have issued at a time when mahomet was irritated against the jews by their treachery; and hishâmi has a tradition that it was promulgated when mahomet directed the massacre of all the males of the coreitza, which would have been the more likely version, if the other tradition had not been so strong and positive."[ ] but the tradition quoted by him is by no means the best or strongest as i have shown above. hishamee does not say that the order was promulgated at the execution of the bani koreiza. he simply narrates the story of muheiasa and huweisa to have taken place at that time. _the expulsion of the bani nazeer._ [sidenote: . the bani nazeer.] the expulsion of the bani nazeer has been censured by sir w. muir, who says: "the pretext on which the bani nadhîr were besieged and expatriated (namely, that gabriel had revealed their design against the prophet's life), was feeble and unworthy of an honest cause."[ ] a whole sura in the koran is devoted to the bani nazeer, but it does not hint at the alleged crime of their attempt on the life of the prophet or their expulsion for the same cause. the traditions on the subject are unsupported, _ex parte_, and legendary. had such a tradition been current at the time of mohammad, or what is called sadr av-val (the first or apostolic age), we should certainly have had scores of narrators on the subject.[ ] their crime was treachery,[ ] and they were a dangerous element to medina, for a combination, at any period, between the treacherous jews and the aggressive koreish, or other enemies of islam, would have proved fatal to the safety of medina. but their banishment was too mild a punishment. [sidenote: . fruit-trees not cut down.] it is said that mohammad cut down the surrounding date trees and burned the choicest of them during the siege of the bani nazeer, and justified himself by publishing the verses of the lix sura of the koran.[ ] but the date trees cut down were neither bearing fruit, nor did they supply any staple article of food to the bani nazeer, or the public in general. the _leena_ mentioned in the verse referred to above is a tree without fruit. thus no fruit trees were destroyed. (zoorkánee vol. ii, page .) trees not bearing fruits were only cut, which is also justified under the law of moses. (see deuteronomy xx, .) _females and the treaty of hodeibia._ [sidenote: . females and the treaty of hodeibia.] females were not included in the truce of hodeibia. the stipulation for the surrender of deserters referred only to the male sex. all women who were to come over to medina from mecca during the period of the peace were, by the dictates of sura lx, , to be tried, and if their profession was found sincere, they were to be retained. they were prohibited from marrying the unbelievers. the guardians of such believing females were to receive from the moslem commonwealth what they had spent upon their charges. sir w. muir understands from sura lx, verse , that the women referred to therein were the wives of the meccans, and says:--"the unbelief of their husbands dissolved the previous marriage; they now might legally contract fresh nuptials with believers, provided only that restitution were made of any sums expended by their former husbands as dower upon them."[ ] but there is nothing either to show that the women had their husbands at mecca, or to prove, that, on account of their husbands' unbelief, their marriages were annulled. as marriage with women with husbands is forbidden in sura iv, verse , and the verse lx, , under discussion, does not designate them as married women, i fairly conclude that this verse treats only of such as were not married. it is not the law of the koran that the unbelief of either party dissolves their previous marriage. it only enjoins neither to marry idolatresses, nor to wed moslem daughters with idolaters until they believe.--(sura ii, .) [sidenote: . stanley defended.] sir william muir, after quoting sura lx, - , says, "stanley on corinthians ( cor. vii, - ) quotes the above passage, and says that the rule it contains "resembles that of the apostle," vol. i, page . but there is really no analogy between them; the gospel rule differs _toto coelo_ from that of mahomet:--"if any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.--and similarly the case of a believing wife with an unbelieving husband. ( cor. vii, - .) whereas mahomet declares the marriage bond _de facto_ annulled by the unbelief of either party, which indeed was only to be expected from his loose ideas regarding the marriage contract."[ ] i think stanley is quite correct, and the gospel and the koranic rule resemble each other in this respect. because the order, "they (the believing women) are not lawful for them (unbelievers), nor are the unbelievers lawful for these (believing women)," does not relate to the women already married; and the words, "do not retain any right in the infidel woman ... if any of your wives escape from you to the infidels ..." are to the same purport as cor. vii, , "but if the unbelieving depart let them depart. a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases."[ ] [sidenote . marriage a strict bond of union.] mohammad had no loose ideas regarding the marriage tie. he had made the marriage contract more firm and irrevocable, except under very exceptional circumstances, than it was under the arab society; and called it "a strict bond of union."[ ] mohammad's own daughter, zeinab, was the wife of an unbelieving husband and had fled to her father at medina under the persecution at mecca after the hegira.[ ] her marriage with her unbelieving partner was not cancelled by mohammad, and on the conversion of the son-in-law, when he came after a period of six years after his wife had come to medina, mohammad rejoined them together under their previous marriage. theirs was neither a fresh marriage nor a fresh dowry. (_vide_ ibn abbas' tradition in the collections of ahmed, ibn abi daood, ibn maja and trimizee.) safwan-bin-omayya and ikrama-bin abi jahl had believing wives at the time of the conquest of mecca, and their marriages were not dissolved by mohammad. (_vide_ ibn shahab's tradition in _movatta_ by malik, and in the _tabakat_ of ibn sad katib wákidi.) similarly ibn sofian and hakeem-bin-hizam had their unbelieving wives retained by them after they had themselves been converted to islam, and their former connubial connection was not severed by mohammad. (_vide_ the several traditions in baihakee to the above effect.) it was only the legists and juris-consults of a later age who wrongly construed the passage in sura lx, , to mean that the unbelief of either party dissolved the marriage tie. [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv. p. .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. . in the collections of bokharee the story is traced to ans. but ans could not be a witness to mohammad's command for mutilation, as ans did not come until the expedition to khyber; and the execution of those robbers took place before that. the story from jábir in ibn mardaveih's collections to the same effect is not authentic, as jábir, who says he was sent by mohammad in pursuit of the robbers, and committed the act, was not a convert at that time. koostalanee, the author of _mooahib_, has declared the tradition of ibn jarir tabari on the subject as an apocryphal, _i.e._, "zaeef." _vide_ zoorkanee on movahib, vol. ii, p. .] [footnote : ibn hisham (p. ) relates from ibn is-hak that omar asked permission to mutilate sohail, but mohammad replied, "i would not mutilate him; if i do, god will mutilate me, though i be a prophet."] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : this subject has been fully and judiciously discussed by the honorable syed ahmed khan bahadur, c.s.i., in his "commentary of the koran;" sura. iv. pp. - .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : _vide_ mishkát book of retaliation, pp. - .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. , foot-note.] [footnote : introduction to lane's selections from the kur-án, by stanley lane poole, p. lxvii. london: trubner and co., .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : _ibid_, p. .] [footnote : _vide_ zoorkanee on _movahib_, vol. ii, page ; also _zád-ul-maád_, by ibn-al-kyyim, vol. i, page , cawnpore, a.h.; and _seerat-ul-mohammadiya_, by mohammad karámat-ul-ali of delhi, in loco. the life is compiled from _seerat halabi_ and _seerat shámee_ and was lithographed in bombay.] [footnote : hishamee, page ; muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, page .] [footnote : _seerat halabi_, or _insan-al-oyoon_, vol ii, page .] [footnote : history of _mohammad's campaigns_, by wackidi, pp. - : edited by von kremer, calcutta, .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iii, page .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iv, pages - .] [footnote : lieber's miscellaneous writings, vol. ii, page .] [footnote : history of european morals, from augustus to charlemagne. by william edward hartpole lecky, m.a., vol. i, pp. - .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, page .] [footnote : _ibid_, p. .] [footnote : ibn hisham, p. .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iii, pp. & , _foot-note_.] [footnote : the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, vol. iv, page .] [footnote : the tradition that mohammad had gone to bani nazeer asking their aid in defraying a certain price of blood, and they attempted upon his life (muir, iii, - ) as related by ibn is-hak (in ibn hisham, page ) is a _mursal_ (_vide_ zoorkánee, part ii, page ), and consequently was not current in the apostolic age.] [footnote : ibn ockba, an earliest biographer of mohammad, died , says,--the cause of the expedition against the bani nazeer was this: that they had instigated the koreish to fight against mohammad, and had reconnoitred the weak points of medina. ibn mardaveih abd-bin-hameed, and abdu razzak have related traditions to the effect that, after the event of badr, the koreish had written to the jews of medina to make war upon mohammad, and the bani nazeer had resolved to break the compact. _vide_ zoorkánee, part ii, pp, - .] [footnote : compare muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, pp. and , _foot-note_.] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. , foot-note.] [footnote : the verses of the koran are given below: . "o believers! when believing women come over to you as refugees, then make trial of them. god best knoweth their faith; but if ye have also ascertained their faith, let them not go back to the infidels; they are not lawful for them, nor are the unbelievers lawful for these women. but give them back what they have spent. no crime shall it be in you to marry them, provided you give them their dowers. do not retain a right in the infidel women, and demand back what you have spent and let them demand back what they have spent. this is the ordinance of god which he ordaineth among you: and god is knowing, wise." . "and if any of your wives escape from you to the infidels from whom you afterwards take any spoil, then give to those whose wives shall have fled away, the like of what they shall have spent; and fear god in whom ye believe."--sura lx.] [footnote : sura iv, . rodwell's translation. how mohammad discouraged divorce and took several steps in the koran to prohibit the facility of divorce prevailing in the arab society has been fully discussed by me in my book "the proposed political, legal, and social reforms under moslem rule," pp. - , bombay education society press, .] [footnote : "some of the baser sort from amongst the coreish, hearing of her departure, went in pursuit, determined to bring her back. the first that appeared was habbâr, who struck the camel with his spear, and so affrighted zeinab as to cause her a miscarriage."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, page .] _the popular jihád or crusade; according to the mohammadan common law._ [sidenote . the koran enjoined only defensive wars.] almost all the common mohammadan and european writers think that a religious war of aggression is one of the tenets of islam, and prescribed by the koran for the purpose of proselytizing or exacting tribute. but i do not find any such doctrine enjoined in the koran, or taught, or preached by mohammad. his mission was not to wage wars, or to make converts at the point of the sword, or to exact tribute or exterminate those who did not believe his religion. his sole mission was to enlighten the arabs to the true worship of the one god, to recommend virtue and denounce vice, which he truly fulfilled. that he and his followers were persecuted, that they were expelled from their houses and were invaded upon and warred against; that to repel incursions and to gain the liberty of conscience and the security of his followers' lives and the freedom of their religion, he and they waged defensive wars, encountered superior numbers, made defensive treaties, securing the main object of the war, _i.e._, the freedom of their living unmolested at mecca and medina, and of having a free intercourse to the sacred mosque, and a free exercise of their religion: all these are questions quite separate and irrelevant, and have nothing to do with the subject in hand, _i.e._, the popular _jihad_, or the crusade for the purpose of proselytizing, exacting tribute, and exterminating the idolaters, said to be one of the tenets of islam. all the defensive wars, and the verses of the koran relating to the same, were strictly temporary and transitory in their nature. they cannot be made an example of, or be construed into a tenet or injunction for aggressive wars, nor were they intended so to be. even they cannot be an example or instruction for a defensive war to be waged by the mohammadan community or commonwealth, because all the circumstances under which mohammad waged his defensive wars were local and temporary. but almost all european writers do not understand that the koran does not teach a war of aggression, but had only, under the adverse circumstances, to enjoin a war of defence, clearly setting forth the grounds in its justification and strictly prohibiting offensive measures. [sidenote . the common law and jihad.] all the fighting injunctions in the koran are, in the first place, only in self-defence, and none of them has any reference to make warfare offensively. in the second place, it is to be particularly noted that they were transitory in their nature, and are not to be considered positive injunctions for future observance or religious precepts for coming generations.[ ] they were only temporary measures to meet the emergency of the aggressive circumstances. the mohammadan common law is wrong on this point, where it allows unbelievers to be attacked without provocation. but this it places under the category of a non-positive injunction. a positive injunction is that which is incumbent on every believer. but attacking unbelievers without any provocation, or offensively, is not incumbent on every believer. the hedaya has:--"the sacred injunction concerning war is sufficiently observed when it is carried on by any one _party_ or _tribe_ of _mussulmans_; and it is then no longer of any force with respect to the rest."[ ] [sidenote . jihad when positive.] the mohammadan common law makes the fighting only a positive injunction "where there is a _general summons_, (that is, where the infidels invade a _mussulman_ territory, and the _imâm_ for the time being issues a general proclamation, requiring all persons to stand forth to fight,) for in this case war becomes a positive injunction with respect to the whole of the inhabitants,"[ ]--this is sanctioned by the law of nations and the law of nature. [sidenote: . the hedaya quoted and refuted.] the hedaya, or a commentary of the mohammadan common law by nuraddin ali of murghinan (died in , a.h.) has:-- "the destruction of the sword[ ] is incurred by the infidels, although they be not the first aggressors, as appears from the various passages in the sacred writings which are generally received to this effect."[ ] this assertion is not borne out by the sacred injunction of the koran, and, on the contrary, is in direct contradiction to the same. there are several passages in the koran already quoted in pages - , which expressly forbid the taking of offensive measures, and enjoin only defensive wars. there are some other passages which are not so expressive as the several others referred to above, or in other words, are not conditional. but the law of interpretation, the general scope and tenor of the koran, and the context of the verses and parallel passages, all show that those few verses which are not conditional should be construed as conditional in conformity with other passages more clear, expressive, and conditional, and with the general laws of scriptural interpretation. now, the author of the hedaya and other writers on the common law quote only those few passages from the koran which are absolute or unconditional, and shut their eyes against those many conditional verses, and general scope and tenor of the koran. limited, or _conditional_. |general, or _absolute_. ---------------------------------+--------------------------------------- | sura xxii, - . |sura ii, , (read together with .) sura ii, - . |sura ix, . " " . | " " . |the context, parallel passages sura iv, , , , . |and their history, show them " " , , . |to be limited and conditional, sura viii, - , - . |in conformity with the general " " , . |scope of the koran. sura ix, - . | " " , . | | _quoted in pages_ - , . | | [sidenote: . rule of interpretation.] now, there are only two verses in the koran (sura ii, v. , and sura ix, v. ) containing an absolute or non-conditional injunction for making war against the unbelievers. perhaps you may be able to detach some more sentences, or dislocate some half verses from amongst those given under the head of conditional. but these absolute, as well as those detached and dislocated parts of some other verses will not, by any rule of interpretation, show absolute injunction to wage war against the unbelievers without any provocation or limitation. there is a rule in the exegesis of the koran, as well as in other scriptural interpretations, that when two commandments, one conditional, and the other general or absolute, are found on the same subject, the conditional is to be preferred, and the absolute should be construed as conditional, because the latter is more expressive of the views of the author than the general which is considered as vague in its expression. the rule is:--where a passage which is ambiguous, or which contains any unusual expression, or in which a doctrine is slightly treated, or is in general terms, must be interpreted agreeably to what is revealed more clearly in other parts, or where a subject is more clearly discussed. a single or general passage is not to be explained in contradiction to many others restricted, conditional, and limited consistently with them, and with proper reservations. [sidenote: . the common law and its commentators.] it is not to be wondered that the mohammadan legists or the compilers of the common law are wrong in this point. because, as a rule, or as a matter of fact, they have compiled the common law from different sources irrespective of the koran, and the commentators of the common law take the trouble of vindicating its views, principles and casuistries, and justifying the moslem conquests under the khalifs by the authority of the koran. then only they commit the unpardonable blunder of citing isolated parts of solitary verses of the koran, which are neither expressive enough nor are in general terms. in doing so, they avoid the many other conditional and more explicit verses on the same subject. [sidenote: . kifaya quoted.] the author of kifaya, a commentary on the hedaya, who flourished in the seventh century of the hegira, remarks on the words of the text, "the destruction of the sword is incurred by the infidels, although they be not the first aggressors," already quoted in the nd para., and says; "fighting against the infidels who do not become converts to islam, and do not pay the capitation-tax, is incumbent, though they do not attack first." the author of the hedaya has mentioned this aggressive measure specially, because apparently the words of god, "if they attack you then slay them,"[ ] indicate that the fighting against the unbelievers is only incumbent when they fight first, but, however, such is not the case. it is incumbent to fight with them, though they be not the aggressors.[ ] [sidenote: . further quotation.] the same author writes in continuation of the above quotation, and attempts to reconcile his theory with the numerous precepts of the koran, which do not permit the war of aggression:-- "know, that in the beginning the prophet was enjoined to forgive, and withdraw from those who joined other gods with god. god said, 'wherefore dost thou forgive with kindly forgiveness, and withdraw from those who join other gods with me.'" "then he enjoined him to summon the people to the faith by kind warning and kind disputation, saying, 'summon thou to the way of thy lord with wisdom and kindly warning: dispute with them in the kindest manner.'" "then he allowed fighting, when they, the unbelievers, were the aggressors, and said:--'a sanction is given to those who have fought because they have suffered outrages;' _i.e._, they are allowed to fight in self-defence. and god said, 'if they attack you, then kill them' (ii, ); and also said, 'if they lean to peace, lean thou also to it.' (viii. )." "then he enjoined to fight aggressively during a certain period. god said, 'and when the sacred months are passed, kill them who join other gods with god, wherever ye find them, and seize them' (ix. )." "after this he enjoined for fighting absolutely, at every time and in every place. god said, 'and do battle against them until there be no more (_fitnah_) persecution' (ii. ; vii. )."[ ] [sidenote: . the kifaya refuted.] here the author of kifaya has contrived to make out by way of subterfuge and sophistry five successive periods of the policy of the koran regarding warfare against the unbelievers: | | first period |forgiveness and withdrawal | sura xv, . vi, ---------------+-------------------------------+------------------------- | | second period |summoning | sura xvi, . ---------------+-------------------------------+------------------------- | | third period |fighting in self-defence | sura xxii, . ii, . | | viii, . ---------------+-------------------------------+------------------------- | | fourth period |fighting aggressively | sura ix, . |during certain times | | | ---------------+-------------------------------+------------------------- | | fifth period |aggressive fighting absolutely.| sura ii, . viii, . | | he is wrong in history, chronology as well as in understanding the general scope of the koran and the tenor of the suras. he does not regard even the context of the verses quoted. the verses containing injunctions for turning aside, shunning, forgiving, passing over, and withdrawing are found even in the later period of the medinite suras.--(_vide_ sura ii, ; v, , ; sura iv, , ; and vii, .) they have nothing to do either with war or peace. the summoning of people to the faith of god was the chief duty of the prophetical office, and was not confined to any special period, and was alike during times of war and peace. even during the actual warfare it was incumbent on the prophet to give quarters to the enemy, if he desired, to listen to his preachings.--(_vide_ sura ix, .) [sidenote: . s. ix, v. , discussed.] the fifth verse of the ninth sura is by no means an injunction to attack first or wage an aggressive war. this verse is one of the several published at medina after the meccans had violated the treaty of hodeibia and attacked the bani khozaa, who were in alliance with mohammad. the meccans were given four months' time to submit, in default of which they were to be attacked for their violation of the treaty and for their attacking the bani khozaa. they submitted beforehand, and mecca was conquered by compromise. the verses referred to above (sura ix, - , &c.) were not acted upon. so there was no injunction to wage an aggressive war. this subject has been discussed at pages - of this work, and the reader is referred to them for fuller information. [sidenote: . s. ii, v. , discussed.] the th verse of the second sura is not at all an absolute injunction to wage a war of aggression. the verses , , and , if read together, will show that the injunction for fighting is only in defence. the verses are:-- . and fight for the cause of god against those who fight against you: but commit not the injustice _of attacking them first_; verily god loveth not the unjust. . and kill them wherever ye shall find them; and eject them from whatever place they have ejected you; for (_fitnah_) persecution is worse than slaughter; yet attack them not at the sacred mosque until they attack you therein, but if they attack you then slay them: such is the recompense of the infidels! . but if they desist, then verily god is gracious, merciful-- . and do battle, against them until there be no more (_fitnah_) persecution and the only worship be that of god: but if they desist, then let there be no hostility, save against wrong-doers. [sidenote: . s. ii, , viii, , are defensive.] besides, this verse as well as the fortieth verse of sura viii have indications in themselves of their relating to a defensive war. as the torture, aggression, in short, the persecutions suffered by the moslems from the koreish, are very clearly indicated by the word _fitnah_ in these two verses, the object of fighting or counterfighting by the moslems is plainly set forth, which is to suppress the persecutions. they have clear reference to the persecution, to stop or remove which they enjoined fighting, and this was fighting in self-defence obviously. they also show that the meccans had not desisted from persecuting and attacking the moslems, and therefore a provision was made that if they discontinue their incursions, there will be no more hostility. this is quite sufficient to show that these verses relate to the defensive wars of mohammad. [sidenote: . all injunctions local and for the time being.] lastly, supposing the koran permitted waging aggressive wars against the meccans, who were the first aggressors, this does not corroborate the theory or principle of the common law of making lawful aggressive wars in future on the authority of these verses, as all of them in the koran on the subject of war relate only to pagan arabs, who had long persevered in their hostility to the early moslems or to the jews, who, being in league with the moslems, went over to their enemies, and aided them against the moslems. these verses are not binding on other persons, who are not under the same circumstance as the moslems were under, at medina. [see para. .] [sidenote: . ainee quoted and refuted.] another commentator of the hedaya, ainee[ ] (who died in ) follows kifaya already quoted, and mentions some other verses of the koran on the war of aggression, which the author of kifaya has left uncited in his work. they are as follows:-- "... then do battle with the ringleaders of infidelity,--for no oaths are binding on them--that they may desist."--(sura ix, .) "war is prescribed to you, but from this ye are averse."--(sura ii, .) "march ye forth, the light and heavy, and contend with your substance and your persons on the way of god."--(sura ix, .) the first verse when it is complete runs thus:--"but if, after alliance made, they break their oaths and revile your religion, then do battle with the ringleaders of infidelity,--for no oaths are binding on them--that they may desist;" and fully shows by its wording that it relates to the war of defence, as the breaking of alliances, and reviling of the moslem religion were the grounds of making war with the object in view that the aggressors may desist. this verse is one of those in the beginning of the ninth sura, which have already been discussed.--(_vide_ pages - .) the second verse (ii, ) does not allow a war of aggression, as the next verse (ii, ) expressly mentions the attacks made by the aggressors on the moslems. it has been quoted at full length in page . the third verse (ix, ) was published on the occasion of the expedition of tábuk, which was certainly a defensive measure, and has been discussed in pages to . [sidenote: . sarakhsee quoted and refuted.] sarakhsee generally entitled _shums-ul-a-imma_ (the sun of the leaders), who died in a.h., as quoted by ibn abdeen in his _radd-ul-muhtár_,[ ] makes several stages in publishing the injunctions for fighting. he writes:-- "know thou, that the command for fighting has descended by degrees. first the prophet was enjoined to proclaim and withdraw, 'profess publicly then what thou hast been bidden and withdraw from those who join gods with god' (xv, ). then he was ordered to dispute kindly; 'summon thou to the way of thy lord with wisdom and with kindly warning: dispute with them in the kindest warning' (xvi, ). then they were allowed to fight, 'a sanction is given to those who are fought....' (xxii, ). then they were allowed to fight if they (the unbelievers) attacked them, 'if they attack you, then kill them' (ii, ). after this they were enjoined to fight on the condition of passing over the sacred months, 'and when the sacred months are passed, then kill the polytheists' (ix, ). after this they were enjoined to fight absolutely, 'and fight for the cause of god....' (ii, , ). and thus the matter was settled." there was no injunction for fighting absolutely or aggressively in the koran. i have already explained the th verse of the ninth sura as not allowing an offensive war. and the same is the case with the th verse of the second sura, which has in itself the condition of fighting against those only who fought against the moslems. the other verse, th, of the same sura is restricted by the verse th, (and is explained by the verse th), which refers to the defensive measures. this verse is quoted in page of this work. [sidenote: . ibn hajar quoted and refuted.] shahábudeen ahmed-bin-hajr makki writes:-- "fighting was prohibited before the hegira, as the prophet was enjoined only to preach and warn and to be patient in the persecutions of the unbelievers in order to conciliate them. after this, god gave sanction to the moslems for fighting, (after that had been prohibited in seventy and odd verses), when the unbelievers were the aggressors, and said, 'and fight for the cause of god against those who fight against you' (ii, ). and it is a genuine tradition from zohri that the first revealed verse sanctioning it was, 'a sanction is given to those who are fought, because they have suffered outrages' (xxii, ): that is a sanction was given for fighting on the ground of the word 'fought.' then the war of aggression was made lawful in other than the sacred months, 'when the sacred months are over....' (ix, ). after this, in the eighth year of the hegira, after the victory of mecca, the fighting was enjoined absolutely by the words of god; 'march ye forth, the light and the heavy' (ix, ); and 'attack those who join gods with god in all' (ix, ). and this is the very verse of the sword, and some say the preceding verse is the verse of the sword, while others think that both bear on the same subject, _i.e._, of the sword."[ ] [sidenote: . ibn hajar refuted.] i have already explained the several verses quoted by the author in preceding paras., but have only to pass remarks on the only verse, _i.e._ (ix, ), which the authors cited have not dared to mention, because it goes contrary to their assertion. perhaps it is a slip in the rapidity of ibn hajar remarks, for which he may be excused. but i will not hesitate in saying that generally the mohammadan legists, while quoting the koran in support of their theories, quote some dislocated portion from a verse without any heed to its context, and thus cause a great and irreparable mischief by misleading others, especially the european writers, as it is apparent from the testimony of mr. lane quoted in para. of this work. the verse referred to by the author mentioned in the last para., ibn hajar makki, is as follows: "attack those who join gods with god in all, as they attack you in all."--(ix, .) this speaks evidently of the defensive war, and has not the slightest or faintest idea of a war of aggression on the part of the moslems. this verse refers to the expedition of tábuk. [sidenote: . halabi quoted.] nooruddeen ali al halabi (died a.h.), the author of _insan-ul-oyoon_, a biography of the prophet, writes:-- "it is not hidden that the prophet for ten and odd years was warning and summoning people without fighting, and bearing patiently the severe persecutions of the meccan arabs and the medinite jews on himself and on his followers, because god had enjoined him to warn and to have patience to bear the injuries by withholding from them, in accordance with his words, 'withdraw from them' (v, ); and 'endure them with patience' (xvi, ; xviii, ; xxxi, ; lii, ; and lxxiii, ). he also used to promise them victory. his companions at mecca used to come to him beaten and injured, and he used to tell them, 'endure with patience, i am not commanded to fight,' because they were but a small party at mecca. after this, when he was settled at medina after the hegira and his followers became numerous who preferred him to their fathers, children, and wives, and the unbelievers persisted in their idolatry, charging him with falsehoods, then god permitted his followers to fight, but against those _only_ who used to fight against them (the moslems), and were aggressors, as he said, 'if they fight you, then kill them' (ii, ). this was in the year of safar a.h. .... then the whole arab host marched against the moslems to fight against them from every direction. the moslems passed whole nights in arms, and during the day they were in the same state, and longed to pass peaceful nights without fear from anybody except from god. then it was revealed, 'god hath promised to those of you who believe and do the things that are right, that he will cause them to succeed others in the land, as he gave succession to those who were before them, and that he will establish for them that religion which they delight in, and after their fears he will give them security in exchange' (s. xxiv, ). after this to attack first was allowed against those who had not fought, but in other than the sacred months, _viz._, _rajab_, _zulkada_, _zulhijja_, and _mohuram_, according to the precept, 'and when the sacred months are passed, kill those who join gods with god ...' (ix, ). then the order became incumbent after the victory of mecca, in the next year, to fight absolutely without any restriction, without any regard to any condition and time, by the words of god, 'attack those who join gods with god in all' at any time (ix, ). so it is known that the fighting was forbidden before the hegira up to the month of safar in its second year, as the prophet was in this period ordered to preach and warn without any fighting, which was forbidden in seventy and odd verses. then it was permitted to fight against _only_ those who fought against them. then it was allowed to fight against those who fought aggressively in other than the sacred months. after this it was enjoined absolutely to wage war against them whether they did or did not fight, at all times, whether during the sacred months, or others of the year."[ ] [sidenote: . halabi refuted.] neither the fifth verse of the ninth sura, nor the thirty-sixth of the same, allowed war of aggression. both of them were published on the occasions of defensive wars, and the party against whom they were directed were the aggressors. all the verses quoted by halabi, bearing on the subject, have been discussed and explained in the foregoing pages, from to . [sidenote: . ainee again quoted and refuted.] ainee, the author of the commentary on the hedaya, called _binayah_, in justifying the war of aggression against the unbelievers, quotes two verses from the koran,[ ] and two traditions from the prophet,[ ] and says,--"if it be objected that these absolute injunctions are restricted by the word of god, 'if they attack you, then kill them' (ii, ), which shows that the fighting is only incumbent when the unbelievers are the aggressors in fighting, as it was held by souri, the reply is that the verse was abrogated by another, 'so fight against them until there be no more persecution' (ii, ), and 'fight against those who do not believe in god.' (ix, )."[ ] but he is wrong in asserting that the verse ii, was abrogated by ii, , and ix, . there is no authority for such a gratuitous assumption. and besides, both these verses (ii, , and ix, ) relate to defensive wars as it has been already explained in paras. - . [sidenote: . continuation of the above.] the verse shows by its very wording the existence of _fitnah_ or persecution, torture, and fighting on the part of the aggressors. by suppressing the meccans' persecution, the moslems had to regain their civil and religious liberty, from which they were so unjustly deprived. and this war of the moslems to repel the force of their aggressors was the war of defence and protection enjoined in the verse. the th verse of the ninth sura appertains to the expedition of tábuk if not to that of khyber. these expeditions were of a defensive character. _vide_ pages and . [sidenote: . traditions quoted and refuted.] the jurists further quote a tradition from the compilation of abú daood that the prophet had said, "the jihád will last up to the day of the resurrection:" but in the first place, jihád does not literally and classically mean warfare or fighting in a war. it means, as used by the classical poets as well as by the koran, to do one's utmost; to labour; to toil; to exert one's-self or his power, efforts, endeavours, or ability; to employ one's-self vigorously, diligently, studiously, sedulously, earnestly, or with energy; to be diligent or studious, to take pains or extraordinary pains. _vide_ appendix a. in the second place, yezid bin abi shaiba, a link in the chain of the tradition, is a _mujhool_,[ ] _i.e._, his biography is not known, therefore his tradition can have no authority. there is also another tradition in bokháree to the effect that the prophet had said, "i have been enjoined to fight the people until they confess that there is no god but the god." this tradition goes quite contrary to the verses of the koran which enjoin to fight in defence,--that is, until the persecution or civil discord was removed.--(_vide_ sura ii, ; viii, .) thus it appears that either the whole tradition is a spurious one, or some of the narrators were wrong in interpreting the words of the prophet. [sidenote: . early moslem legists quoted against jihád.] that the koran did not allow war of aggression either when it was revealed, or in future as the early jurisconsults did infer from it, will be further shown from the opinions of the early moslems; legists of the first and second century of the hegira, like ibn (son of) omar the second khalif, sotian souri, ibn shobormah, atá and amar-bin-dinar. all these early legists held that the fighting was not religiously incumbent (_wájib_), and that it was only a voluntary act, and that only those were to be fought against who attacked the moslems.[ ] [sidenote: biographical sketches of the legists.] i will give here short biographical sketches of the legists named above-- ( .) "abû abd-ur-rahman abdullah ibn omar ibn-al khattab was one of the most eminent among the _companions_ of muhammad by his piety, his generosity, his contempt of the world, his learning and his virtues. though entitled by birth to aspire to the highest places in the empire, he never hearkened to the dictates of ambition; possessing a vast influence over the moslims by his rank, his instruction, and his holy life, he neither employed nor abused it in favour of any party, and during the civil wars which raged among the followers of islamism, he remained neutral, solely occupied with the duties of religion. for a period of thirty years persons came from all parts to consult him and learn from him the traditions.... he died at mekka a.h. (a.d. - ) aged years...."--[_tabakat al fokaha_, fol. .] ( .) atá ibn abi rabah.--"he held a high rank at mekka as a juris-consult, a _tâbî_, and a devout ascetic; and he derived (_his knowledge of the law and the traditions_) from the lips of jábir ibn abd allah al-ansárí, and abd allah ibn abbas, abd allah ibn zubair, and many others of muhammad's companions. his own authority as a traditionist was cited by amr ibn dinár, al-aamash, al-auzái, and a great number of others who had heard him teach. the office of _mufti_ at mekka devolved on him and on mujáhid, and was filled by them whilst they lived.... he died a.h. (a.d. - ); some say at the age of eighty-eight years."--[_ibn khallikan's biographical dictionary, translated from the arabic by baron macguckin de slane; vol. ii, pp. - . london, mdcccxliii._] ( .) amr ibn dinár.--"he is counted among the most eminent of the tábis and considered as a traditionist of very highest authority. he was only one of the mujatahid imáms. died a.h. , (a.d. - ), aged eighty years."--[_tab-al-fokaha_]. ( .) "abd allah ibn shuburma ibn tufail ad dubbi, a celebrated imám, and tábi was an eminent jurisconsult of kufa. he learned the traditions from ans, as-shabi, and ibn sírín, and his own authority was cited for traditions by soffian ath-thauri, sofyan ibn oyaina, and others. his veracity and his eminence as a doctor of the law was universally acknowledged. he was an abstemious, intelligent, devout, generous, of a handsome countenance, and possessing a talent for poetry. he acted under the khalif al-mamun, as kadí of the cultivated country (sawád) around kufa. born a.h. , (a.d. - ); died a.h. (a.d. - )."--[_tabal-fak. al-yáfi._] ( .) "sofyan ath-thauri (as-sauri) was native of kúfa and a master of the highest authority in the traditions and other sciences; his piety, devotion, veracity, and contempt for worldly goods were universally acknowledged, and as an imám, he is counted among the _mujtahids_.... sofyan ibn oyaina declared that he did not know a man better informed than soyfan ath-thauri respecting what was permitted and what was forbidden by the law.... sofyan was born a.h. (a.d. - ). other accounts place his birth in or . he died a.h. (a.d. - ) at basra.... it has been stated by some that sofyan died a.h. , but the first is the true date."--[_ibn khallikan's biographical dictionary, translated from the arabic by baron macguckin de slane, vol. i, pp. - . london, mdcccxliii._] [sidenote: . european writers' mistake.] that it is a mistake on the part of the european writers to assert that the koran allows wars of aggression, or in other words, to wage war against the unbelievers without any provocation, is shown by the testimony of mr. urquhart and mr. edward william lane. the latter writes: "misled by the decision of those doctors, and an opinion prevalent in europe, i represented the laws of 'holy war' as more severe than i found them to be according to the letter and spirit of the kur-án, when carefully examined, and according to the hanafee code. i am indebted to mr. urquhart for suggesting to me the necessity of revising my former statement on the subject; and must express my conviction that no precept is to be found in the kur-án, which, taken with the context, can justify unprovoked war."[ ] [sidenote: . sir william muir quoted.] i will quote several remarks of european writers, including clergymen and indian missionaries, to show how astray they go in attributing to the koran and mohammad the wars of aggressions and compulsory proselytizing. sir william muir represents the principles of islam as requiring constant prosecutions of war, and writes-- "it was essential to the permanence of islam that its aggressive course should be continuously pursued, and that its claim to an universal acceptance, or at the least to an universal supremacy, should be enforced at the point of the sword. within the limits of arabia the work appeared now to be accomplished. it remained to gain over the christian and idolatrous tribes of the syrian desert, and then in the name of the lord to throw down the gauntlet of war before the empires of rome and persia, which, having treated with contempt the summons of the prophet addressed to them in solemn warning four years ago, were now rife for chastisement."[ ] the occasion to which sir w. muir refers here was to wipe out the memory of the reverse at muta. the expedition to muta was occasioned by the murder of a messenger or envoy dispatched by mohammad to the ghassànide prince at bostra. a party was sent to punish the offending chief, sharahbil. this could, by no means, be maintained as a warlike spirit or an aggressive course for the prosecution of war, or for enforcing the claim of universal supremacy at the point of the sword. [sidenote: . islam not aggressive.] that islam as preached by mohammad was never aggressive has been fully shown in several places of the koran. during the whole time of his ministry, mohammad was persecuted, rejected, despised and at last made an outlaw by the koreish at mecca, and a fugitive seeking protection in a distant city; exiled, attacked upon, besieged, defeated, and prevented from returning to mecca or visiting the holy kaaba by the same enemies at mecca and other surrounding tribes who had joined them, and even from within medina plotted against by the jews who were not less aggressive towards him than their confederates of mecca, the koreish, whom they had instigated to make war on him and had brought an overwhelming army, had proved traitors, and, even more injurious than the koreish themselves. consequently, he was constantly in dangers and troubles, and under such circumstances it was impossible for him to be aggressive, to get time or opportunity to pursue any aggressive course, or enforce, at the point of the sword, any attempt of his for universal acceptance, or universal supremacy even if he had designed so. but it was far from his principles to have cherished the object of universal conquest. "that islam ever stepped beyond the limits of arabia and its border lands," admits sir. w. muir in his rede lecture for , just twenty years after he had written the passage i am dealing with, "was due to circumstances rather than design. the faith was meant originally for the arabs. from first to last, the call was addressed primarily to them." he writes in a footnote of the same lecture (page ): "it is true that three or four years before, mahomet had addressed dispatches to the kaiser, and the chosroes, and other neighbouring potentates, summoning them to embrace the true faith. but the step had never been followed up in any way."[ ] [sidenote: . mr. freeman quoted.] mr. freeman writes regarding mohammad:-- "mahomet had before him the example of mosaic law, which preached a far more rigorous mandate of extermination against the guilty nations of canaan. he had before him the practice of all surrounding powers, christian, jewish, and heathen; though, from the disaffection of syria and egypt to the orthodox throne of constantinople, he might have learned how easily persecution defeats its own end.... under his circumstances, it is really no very great ground to condemnation that he did appeal to the sword. he did no more than follow the precedents of his own and every surrounding nation. yet one might say that a man of such mighty genius as mahomet must have been, might have been, fairly expected to rise superior to the trammels of prejudice and precedent."[ ] mohammad never professed to have followed the footsteps of moses and joshua in waging war of extermination and proselytism. he only appealed to the sword in his and his followers' defence. never he seems to have been anxious to copy the practice of the surrounding nations, christians, jews, and egyptians. his wars of defence, as they certainly all were, were very mild, specially with regard to the treatment of children, women, and old men who were never to be attacked; and above all, in the mildness shown towards the captives of war who were either to be set free or ransomed,--but were never to be enslaved,--contrary to the practice of all the surrounding nations. this virtual abolition of slavery (_vide_ sura xlvii, , and appendix b) has been a great boon to mankind in general as a beneficial result of mohmamad's wars of defence. [sidenote: . the revd. stephens quoted.] the reverend mr. stephens writes:-- "in the koran, the mussulman is absolutely and positively commanded to make war upon all those who decline to acknowledge the prophet until they submit, or, in the case of jews and christians, purchase exemption from the conformity by the payment of tribute. the mission of the mussulman, as declared in the koran, is distinctly aggressive. we might say that mahomet bequeathed to his disciples a roving commission to propagate his faith by the employment of force where persuasion failed. 'o prophet, fight for the religion of god'--'stir up the faithful to war,' such are commands which mahomet believed to be given him by god. 'fight against them who believe not a god, nor the last day,' 'attack the idolatrous in all the months,' such are his own exhortations to his disciples."[ ] the reverend gentleman is very much mistaken in his assertions against the koran. there is no absolute or positive command in the koran for a war of aggression or compulsory proselytism. the sentences quoted by mr. stephens are but mutilated verses forcibly dislocated from their context. a disjointed portion of a verse, or a single sentence of it cannot be brought forth to prove any doctrine or theory. due regard must be made for the context, the general scope, and parallel passages. the verses referred to by mr. stephens are sura iv, , and sura ix, , . all these have been quoted in full and discussed elsewhere.[ ] they relate only to defensive wars. [sidenote: . mr. bosworth smith quoted.] mr. bosworth smith says:-- "the free toleration of the purer among the creeds around him, which the prophet had at first enjoined, gradually changes into intolerance. persecuted no longer, mohammed becomes a persecutor himself; with the koran in one hand, the scymitar in the other, he goes forth to offer to the nations the threefold alternative of conversion, tribute, death."[ ] mohammad never changed his practice of toleration nor his own teachings into intolerance; he was always persecuted at mecca and medina, but, for all we know, he himself never turned a persecutor. the three-fold alternative so much talked of, and so little proved, is nowhere to be found in the koran. this subject has been fully discussed in paras. - . [sidenote: . mr. g. sale quoted.] mr. george sale, in his celebrated preliminary discourse to the translation of the koran, writes, referring to the thirteenth year of mohammad's mission:-- "hitherto mohammed had propagated his religion by fair means, so that the whole success of his enterprise, before his flight to medina, must be attributed to persuasion only, and not to compulsion. for before this second oath of fealty or inauguration at al akaba, he had no permission to use any force at all; and in several places of the korân, which he pretended were revealed during his stay at mecca, he declares his business was only to preach and admonish; that he had no authority to compel any person to embrace his religion; and that whether people believed or not, was none of his concern, but belonged solely to god. and he was so far from allowing his followers to use force, that he exhorted them to bear patiently those injuries which were offered them on account of their faith; and when persecuted himself chose rather to quit the place of his birth and retire to medina, than to make any resistance. but this great passiveness and moderation seems entirely owing to his want of power and the great superiority of his oppressors for the first twelve years of his mission; for no sooner was he enabled by the assistance of those of medina to make head against his enemies, than he gave out, that god had allowed him and his followers to defend themselves against the infidels; and at length, as his forces increased, he pretended to have the divine leave even to attack them, and to destroy idolatry, and set up the true faith by the sword; finding by experience that his designs would otherwise proceed very slowly, if they were not utterly overthrown, and knowing on the other hand that innovators, when they depend solely on their own strength, and can compel, seldom run any risk; from whence, the politician observes, it follows, that all the armed prophets have succeeded, and the unarmed ones have failed. moses, cyrus, theseus and romulus would not have been able to establish the observance of their institutions for any length of time had they not been armed. the first passage of the korân, which gave mohammed the permission of defending himself by arms, is said to have been that in the twenty-second chapter: after which a great number to the same purpose were revealed. "that mohammed had a right to take up arms for his own defence against his unjust persecutors, may perhaps be allowed; but whether he ought afterwards to have made use of that means for the establishing of his religion, is a question which i will not here determine. how far the secular power may or ought to interpose in affairs of this nature, mankind are not agreed. the method of converting by the sword gives no very favourable idea of the faith which is so propagated, and is disallowed by every body in those of another religion, though the same persons are willing to admit of it for the advancement of their own; supposing that though a false religion ought not to be established by authority, yet a true one may; and accordingly force is as constantly employed in these cases by those who have the power in their hands as it is constantly complained of by those who suffer the violence."[ ] i do not agree with these words of mr. george sale regarding mohammad, "and at length, as his forces increased, he pretended to have the divine leave even to attack them, and to destroy idolatry, and set up the true faith by the sword;" he never attacked the koreish or others except in his own defence. the destruction of idolatry was the chief mission of mohammad, and that even was not resorted to by force of arms. there were neither compulsory conversions nor his history points to any extirpation of the idolaters at the point of sword from their native countries, as the chief objects of his mission. the persecutions and civil discord were to be removed or put a stop to, and force was used to repel force, but nothing more. conversion by the sword was not enforced on any proselyte by mohammad. [sidenote: . major osborn quoted.] major osborn has drawn a very dark picture of what he calls "the doctrine of jehad," in his _islam under the arabs_.[ ] the defensive wars of mohammad are explained by him as "means of livelihood congenial to the arab mind, and carrying with it no stain of disgrace or immorality. this was robbery. why should not the faithful eke out their scanty means by adopting this lucrative and honourable profession, which was open to everyone who had a sword and knew how to use it?... surely, to despoil these infidels and employ their property to feed the hungry and clothe the naked among the people of god, would be a work well pleasing in his sight.... and thus was the first advance made in the conversion of the religion of islam with the religion of the sword" (pages - ). after this the major writes again: "the ninth sura is that which contains the prophet's proclamation of war against the votaries of all creeds other than that of islam" (page ). then he quotes several verses, some of them half sentences, violently distorted, from the eighth and ninth suras, in a consecutive form, without giving the numbers. these are sura ix, , , , , ; sura viii, ; sura ix, , , , ; sura xlvii, ; sura ix, ; and sura viii, . lastly, the learned major concludes by saying,--"such was the character of the sacred war enjoined upon the faithful. it is muhammad's greatest achievement and his worst. when subjected himself to the pains of persecution he had learned to perceive how powerless were torments applied to the body to work a change of conviction in the mind. 'let there be no violence in religion' had then been one of the maxims he had laid down. 'unto every one of you,' he had said in former days, speaking of jews and christians, 'have we given a law, and an open path; and if god had pleased he had surely made you one people; but he hath thought fit to give you different laws, that he might try you in that which he hath given you respectively. therefore, strive to excel each other in good works; unto god shall ye all return, and then will he declare unto you that concerning which ye have disagreed.' but the intoxication of success had long ago stilled the voice of his better self. the aged prophet standing on the brink of the grave, and leaving as his last legacy a mandate of universal war, irresistibly recalls, by force of contrast, the parting words to his disciples of another religious teacher that they should go forth and preach a gospel of peace to all nations. nor less striking in their contrast is the response to either mandate;--the arab, with the koran in one hand and the sword in the other, spreading his creed amid the glare of burning cities, and the shrieks of violated homes, and the apostles of christ working in the moral darkness of the roman world with the gentle but irresistible power of light, laying anew the foundations of society, and cleansing at their source the polluted springs of domestic and national life." [sidenote: . major osborn refuted.] the learned author quoted above has either misunderstood the character of the wars of the prophet of islam, or has grossly misrepresented it. he errs in two points: first, he makes the wars as wars of conquest, compulsion, and aggression, whereas they were all undertaken in the defence of the civil and religious rights of the early moslems, who were, as i have said before, persecuted, harassed, and tormented at mecca for their religion, and after a long period of persecution with occasional fresh and vigorous measures, were condemned to severer and harder sufferings, were expelled from their homes, leaving their dear relations, and religious brethren to endure the calamities of the persecution, and while taking refuge at medina were attacked upon by superior numbers, several of the surrounding tribes of arabs and jews joining the aggressive koreish, making ruinous inroads and threatening the moslems with still greater and heavier miseries. from this statement it will appear that these wars were neither of conquest nor of compulsory conversion. the second great mistake under which major osborn seems to labour is that he takes the injunctions of war against the meccans or other aggressors as a general obligation to wage war against all unbelievers in the moslem faith. in fact, these injunctions were only against those aggressors who had actually committed great encroachments on the rights and liberties of the early moslems, and had inflicted very disastrous injuries on them. these injunctions had and have nothing to do with the future guidance of the moslem world. [sidenote: . the ixth sura of the koran.] it is a great misrepresentation on the part of major osborn to assert that "the ninth sura is that which contains the prophet's proclamation of war against the votaries of all creeds other than that of islam." no statement could be farther from truth than this of his. the ninth sura, or, more correctly, the beginning or opening verses of it, contain the prophet's proclamation of war against those of the meccan idolaters, who, in violation of the treaty of hodeibia, had attacked the moslems.--(sura ix, , , , & , _vide_ pages - .) they were allowed four months' time (ix, , ) to make terms. they submitted, and mecca was taken by compromise, in consequence of which the threatened war was never waged. those who had not broken their treaties were especially mentioned, with whom the proclamation or the period allowed for peace had no connection.--(_vide_ sura ix, , , quoted above, pages - .) thus it is quite clear that the proclamation of war was only against the violators and aggressors, and not against the votaries of all creeds other than that of islam. i have further discussed the ninth sura in para. of this work. the other verses of this sura refer to the expedition of tabúk, which was purely defensive in its nature as has been described in para. of this book. (see also para. .) [sidenote: . the reverend wherry quoted.] the reverend e.m. wherry, m.a., in his note on sale's preliminary discourse, says:-- "though muhammad undoubtedly took moses as his pattern, and supposed himself following in his footsteps when he gave the command to fight against the infidels, yet there is no comparison between them whatever so far as warring against infidels is concerned. the israelites were commanded to slay the canaanites as divinely ordained instruments of _destruction_; but muhammad inaugurated war as a means of proselytism. the israelite was not permitted to proselytize from among the canaanites, (exod. xxiii. - ), but muslims are required to proselytize by sword-power."[ ] mohammad never had said that he did follow the footsteps of moses in giving the command of fighting in self-defence, and in repelling force by force. there could be no comparison whatsoever between the wars of moses, which were merely wars of conquest, aggression, extermination, and expatriation, and those of mohammad waged only in self-defence. mohammad did not inaugurate his career by prosecuting war as a means of proselytism, and never did proselytized any one by the sheer strength of the sword. mr. t.h. horne, m.a., writes regarding the extirpation of the canaanites:-- "after the time of god's forbearance was expired, they had still the alternative, either to flee elsewhere, as in fact, many of them did, or to surrender themselves, renounce their idolatries, and serve the god of israel. compare deut. xx. - ."[ ] this was certainly compulsory conversion and proselytizing at the point of the sword. [sidenote: . example cited from the jewish history.] there is only one instance in the koran in which an example is cited for the war of defence by mohammad, from the jewish history. it is the asking of the children of israel their prophet samuel to raise up a king for them to fight in their defence against the philistines, who had very much oppressed the israelites. saul was appointed king over the israelites, and david killed goliath, called _jálut_ in the koran, which was in defence of the israelites. i have quoted the verses relating to the above subject from the koran (sura ii, and ) in page th of this work. "hast thou not considered the assembly of the children of israel after _the death_ of moses, when they said to a prophet of theirs,--'raise up for us a king; we will do battle for the cause of god?' he said, 'may it not be that when fighting is ordained you, ye would not fight?' they said, 'and why should we not fight in the cause of god, since we are driven forth from our dwellings and our children?'.... this shows that what the koran or mohammad took as an example from the history of the jews was only their defensive war. [sidenote: . mosaic injunctions.] it is very unfair of the christians to make too much of the wars of mohammad, which were purely of a defensive nature, and offer apologies for the most cruel wars of conquest and extermination by moses, joshua and other jewish worthies under the express commands of god.--(_vide_ numbers xxxi; deut. xxi, &c.) but see what mr. wherry says. he writes in his comments on the verse of the second sura of the koran. "( ). _kill them, &c._ much is made of expressions like this, by some christian apologists, to show the cruel character of the arabian prophet, and the inference is thence drawn that he was an impostor and his qurán a fraud. without denying that muhammad was cruel, we think this mode of assault to be very unsatisfactory to say the least, as it is capable of being turned against the old testament scriptures. if the claim of muhammad to have received a divine command to exterminate idolatry by the slaughter of all impenitent idolaters be admitted, i can see no objection to his practice. the question at issue is this. did god command such slaughter of idolaters, as he commanded the destruction of the canaanites or of the amalekites? taking the stand of the muslim, that god did so command muhammad and his followers, his morality in this respect may be defended on precisely the same ground that the morality of moses and joshua is defended by the christian."[ ] [sidenote: . the revd. t.p. hughes quoted.] the revd. t.p. hughes in his notes on muhammadanism writes:-- "jihád (lit. 'an effort') is a religious war against the infidels, as enjoined by muhammad in the qurán." súrat-un-nisa (vi.) "fight therefore for the religion of god." * * * * * "god hath indeed promised paradise to every one. but god hath preferred those who _fight for the faith_." (iv, .) súrat-ul-muhammad (xlvii). "those who _fight in the defence of god's true religion_, god will not suffer their works to perish." (xlvii, .)[ ] the first verse quoted by mr. hughes appertains to the war of defence. the verse in itself has express indications of its relating to the war of defence, but mr. hughes was not inclined, perhaps, to copy it in full. he merely quotes half a sentence, and shuts his eyes from other words and phrases of the same verse. the verse has been quoted in page . it is as follows:-- "fight then on the path of god: lay not burdens on any but thyself; and stir up the faithful. the powers of the infidels, god will haply restrain; for god is stronger in prowess, and stronger to punish."--(sura iv, .) the severe persecution, the intense torture and mighty aggression of the meccans and their allies is referred to in the original word _báss_, rendered _prowess_ into english and referred to in the previous verse , which shows that the war herein enjoined was to restrain the aggressions of the enemy and to repel force by force. it is very unfair on the part of the revd. t.p. hughes to twist or dislocate half a sentence from a verse and put it forth to demonstrate and prove a certain object of his. [sidenote: . meaning of jihad.] the second verse quoted by the same author is a mere mistranslation. there is no such word in the original which admits of being rendered as "fighting." the true translation of the sentence quoted above from sura iv, verse , is as follows:-- "good promises hath he made to all. but god hath assigned to the _strenuous_ a rich recompense above those who sit still at home." the word rendered "_strenuous_" is originally "mojahid" (plural "mojahidin," from jihád), which in classical arabic and throughout the koran means to do one's utmost, to make effort, to strive, to exert, to employ one's-self diligently, studiously, sedulously, earnestly, zealously, or with energy, and does not mean fighting or warfare. it was subsequently applied to religious war, but was never used in the koran in such a sense. (_vide_ appendix a.) [sidenote: . sura xlvii, v. .] the third instance quoted by mr. hughes is also a mistranslation of a sentence in verse , sura xlvii. the original word is "_kotelú_," which means "those who are _killed_," and not "those who _fight_," as explained and translated by the author. the correct rendering of the sentence is this: "and those who are killed, their work god will not suffer to miscarry." some read the word "_kátalú_," which means "those who fought," but the general and authorized reading is "_kotelú_," _i.e._, "those who are killed." even if it be taken for granted that the former is the correct reading, it will be explained by several other verses which mean fighting in defence, and not fighting aggressively, which not only has been never taught in the koran but is always prohibited (ii, ). the verse to that effect runs thus:-- "and fight for the cause of god against those who fight against you; but commit not the injustice of attacking them first. verily god loveth not the unjust."--(ii, .) this verse permitted only defensive war and prohibited every aggressive measure. all other verses mentioned in connection with fighting on the part of the moslems must be interpreted in conformity with this. [sidenote: . the rev. mr. malcolm maccoll quoted.] the rev. malcolm maccoll writes:-- "the koran divides the earth into parts: dar-ul-islam, or the house of islam; and dar-ul-harb, or the house of the enemy. all who are not of islam are thus against it, and it is accordingly the duty of the true believers to fight against the infidels till they accept islam, or are destroyed. this is called the djihad or holy war, which can only end with the conversion or death of the last infidel on earth. it is thus the sacred duty of the commander of the faithful to make war on the non-mussulman world as occasion may offer. but dar-ul-harb or the non-mussulman world, is subdivided into idolaters and ketabi, or 'people of the book,'--_i.e._, people who possess divinely inspired scriptures, namely, jews, samaritans, and christians. all the inhabitants of dar-ul-harb are infidels, and consequently outside the pale of salvation. but the ketabi are entitled to certain privileges in this world, if they submit to the conditions which islam imposes. other infidels must make their choice between one of two alternatives--islam or the sword. the ketabi are allowed a third alternative, namely, submission and the payment of tribute. but if they refuse to submit, and presume to fight against the true believers, they lapse at once into the condition of the rest of dar-ul-harb and may be summarily put to death or sold as slaves."[ ] i am very sorry the rev. gentleman is altogether wrong in his assertions against the koran. there is neither such a division of the world in the koran, nor such words as "dar-ul-islam" and "dar-ul-harb" are to be found anywhere in it. there is no injunction in the koran to the true believers to fight against the infidels till they accept islam, failing which they are to be put to death. the words "dar-ul-islam" and "dar-ul-harb" are only to be found in the mohammadan common law, and are only used in the question of jurisdiction. no moslem magistrate will pass a sentence in a criminal case against a criminal who had committed an offence in a foreign country. the same is the case in civil courts[ ]. all the inhabitants of dar-ul-harb are not necessarily infidels. mohammadans, either permanently or temporarily by obtaining permission from the sovereign of the foreign land, can be the inhabitants of a dar-ul-harb, a country out of the moslem jurisdiction, or at war with it. [sidenote: . the untenable theories of the common law and conclusion.] it is only a theory of our common law, in its military and political chapters, which allow waging unprovoked war with non-moslems, exacting tribute from "the people of the book," and other idolaters, except those of arabia, for which the hanafi code of the common law has nothing short of conversion to islam or destruction by the sword. as a rule, our canonical legists support their theories by quotations from the mohammadan revealed law, _i.e._, the koran, as well as from the sonnah, or the traditions from the prophet, however absurd and untenable may be their process of reasoning and argumentative deductions. in this theory of waging war with, and exacting tribute or the capitation-tax from, the non-moslem world, they quote the th and other suras. these verses have been copied and explained elsewhere in this book. the casuistic sophistry of the canonical legists in deducing these war theories from the koran is altogether futile. these verses relate only to the wars waged by the prophet and his followers purely in their self-defence. neither these verses had anything to do with waging unprovoked war and exacting tributes during mohammad's time, nor could they be made a law for future military conquest. these were only temporary in their operations and purely defensive in their nature. the mohammadan common law is by no means divine or superhuman. it mostly consists of uncertain traditions, arabian usages and customs, some frivolous and fortuitous analogical deductions from the koran, and a multitudinous array of casuistical sophistry of the canonical legists. it has not been held sacred or unchangeable by enlightened mohammadans of any moslem country and in any age since its compilation in the fourth century of the hejira. all the _mujtahids_, _ahl hadis_, and other non-mokallids had had no regard for the four schools of mohammadan religious jurisprudence, or the common law. [sidenote: sura xlvii, , and sura xlvii, and .] sura xlviii, , is not generally quoted by the canonical legists in support of their theory of jehád, but by some few. it is not in the shape of a command or injunction; it is in a prophetical tone:-- "say to those arabs of the desert who stayed behind, ye shall be called forth against a people of mighty valour; ye shall do battle with them, or they shall submit (_yoslemoon_)[ ]...." the verses and of sura xlvii, like all other verses on the subject, appertain to the wars of defence, and no one has ever quoted them for wars of aggression. these verses have already been quoted at page . the abolition of the future slavery as enjoined in the th verse has been treated separately in appendix b. the arabs, like other barbarous nations round them, used either to kill the prisoners of war or to enslave them; but this injunction of the koran abolished both of these barbarous practices. the prisoners henceforward were neither to be killed nor enslaved, but were to be set at liberty with or without ransom. [footnote : ata, a learned legist of mecca, who flourished at the end of the first century of the hegira, and held a high rank there as a juris-consult, (_vide_ para. ) held, that jihad was only incumbent on the companions of the prophet, and was not binding on any one else after them. see para. , and _tafsír majma-ul-bayán_ by tabrasee under sura ii. .] [footnote : the _hedaya_ or guide; or, a commentary on the mussulman laws, translated by charles hamilton; vol. ii, book ix, ch. i, page london, mdccxci.] [footnote : the _hedaya_ or guide; or, a commentary on the mussulman laws, translated by charles hamilton; vol. ii, book ix, ch. i, page .] [footnote : "arab _kattâl_; meaning war in its _operation_, such as _fighting_, _slaying_," &c.] [footnote : the _hedaya_, vol. ii, .] [footnote : sura ii, .] [footnote : the hedaya, with its commentary called kifaya, vol. ii, p. . calcutta medical press, . as a general rule the mohammadan authors do not refer to the verses of the koran by their number. they generally quote the first sentence, or even a portion of it. the no. of verses are mine. i have followed fluegel and rodwell's numbers of verses in their editions and translations of the koran.] [footnote : kifaya as before.] [footnote : _binayah_, a commentary of the _hedaya_, by ainee. vol. ii, part ii, page .] [footnote : part. iii, page .] [footnote : _tuhfatul muhtáj fi sharah-al-minhaj_, part iv, page .] [footnote : _insan-ul-oyoon_, part ii, pp. , . chapter on "campaign."] [footnote : sura ix, and . these verses have been discussed at pages - .] [footnote : "the jihád will last till the day of the resurrection." "i have been enjoined to fight the people until they confess there is no god but the god." for these traditions see the next para.] [footnote : _vide_ ainee's commentary of the _hedaya_, vol. ii, part ii, p. .] [footnote : _vide_ ainee's commentary of the _hedaya_, vol. ii, part ii, p. .] [footnote : _vide_ kázee budrudeen mahmood bin ahmed ainee's (who died in a.h.) commentary on the _hedaya_ called _binayah_, and generally known by the name of ainee, vol. ii, pp. - , "book of institute."] [footnote : the modern egyptians, by edward william lane; vol. i, p. , _note_: fifth edition, london, .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. - .] [footnote : the early caliphate and rise of islam, being the rede lecture for , delivered before the university of cambridge by sir william muir, k.c.s.i., ll.d., page , london, .] [footnote : the history and conquests of the saracens, by edward. a. freeman, d.c.l., ll.d., pp. - ; london, .] [footnote : christianity and islam; the bible and the koran; by the rev. w.r.w. stephens, london, , pp. - .] [footnote : _vide_ paras. , , .] [footnote : mohammed and mohammedanism. lectures delivered at the royal institution of great britain in february and march , by r. bosworth smith, m.a., second edition, page ; london, .] [footnote : the koran, by george sale. the "_chandos classics_." the preliminary discourse, section ii, pp. - .] [footnote : london: longmans, green & co., , pp. - .] [footnote : a comprehensive commentary on the qurán; comprising sale's translation and preliminary discourse, with additional notes and emendations, by the revd. e.m. wherry, m.a., page ; london: trübner & co., .] [footnote : an introduction to the critical study and knowledge of the holy scripture, by thomas hartwell horne, esq., m.a. vol. ii, page ; london. .] [footnote : commentary on the qurán by the revd. wherry, page .] [footnote : notes on muhammadanism; being outlines of the religious system of islam, by the revd. t.p. hughes, m.r.a.s., c.m.s., missionary to the afghans, page ; second edition, .] [footnote : the nineteenth century; london, december , page .] [footnote : this subject has been fully treated in my "the proposed political, legal, and social reforms in moslem states," pp. - : bombay education society press, .] [footnote : sir w. muir, with other european translators of the koran, translates the word "they shall profess islam" (the life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. , _footnote_). it ought to be translated "they shall submit." there is a difference of opinion among the commentators and canonical legists in this word. some translate the word _yoslemoon_ "shall profess islam," and others "shall submit." this difference in the interpretation of the same word is merely of a sectarian nature, each party wishing to serve their own purpose. those legists who held that the polytheists and idolaters may either be fought against or be submitted to the authority of islam by being tributaries, took the word in its proper sense of submission. those who held that "the people of the book" ought only to be made tributaries, while all other idolaters and polytheists should be compelled either to perish or to embrace islam, interpret the word technically to mean the religion of islam. but as the verse is not a legal command, we condemn at once the casuistic sophistry of the legists.] appendix a on the word "jihad" as occurring in the koran and wrongly translated "warfare." [sidenote: jihád or jihd does not mean war or crusade.] . the popular word _jihád_ or _jihd_, occurring in several passages of the koran, and generally construed by christians and moslems alike as meaning hostility or the waging of war against infidels, does not classically or literally signify war, warfare, hostility or fighting, and is never used in such a sense in the koran. the arabic terms for warfare or fighting are _harab_ and _kitál_. [sidenote: classical meaning of jihád, &c.] . the words _jahada_, and _jáhada_ signify that a person strove, laboured or toiled; exerted himself or his power, or efforts, or endeavours, or ability employed himself vigorously, diligently, studiously, sedulously, earnestly or with energy; was diligent or studious, took pains or extraordinary pains[ ]; for example, the term _jáhada fil-amr_ signifies that a person did his utmost or used his utmost powers, or efforts, or endeavours, or ability in prosecuting an affair.[ ] the infinitive noun _jihádan_ also means difficulty or embarrassment, distress, affliction, trouble, inconvenience, fatigue, or weariness.[ ] jauharce, a lexicologist of great repute, whose work is confined to classical terms and their significations, says in his siháh that _jáhada fi sabeelillah_ or _mojáhadatan_ and _jihádan_ and also _ajtahada_ and _tajáhada_ mean expending power and effort. fayoomee, author of _misbahel moneer_, which contains a very large collection of classical words and phrases of frequent occurrence, also says that _jáhada fi sabeelillah jihádan_ and _ajtahada fil amr_ mean he expended his utmost efforts and power in seeking to attain an object. [sidenote: post-classical or technical meaning of jihád.] . it is only a post-classical and technical meaning of _jihád_ to use the word as signifying fighting against an enemy. mr. lane says, "_jahada_ came to be used by the moslems to signify generally _he fought_, _warred_ or waged war against _unbelievers_ and _the like_." this signification is now given by those lexicologists who do not restrict themselves to the definition of classical terms or significations, like the author of kámoos. mr. lane, the celebrated author of _maddool kámoos_ an arabic-english lexicologist, clearly shows that the definition of _jihád_, as the act of waging war, is only of moslem origin and is not classical. and i will show in sequence that the moslem usage of _jihád_, as signifying the waging of war, is a post-koranic usage, and that in the koran it is used classically and literally in its natural sense. [sidenote: the classical tongue and arabian poets.] . what is called the classical language of arabia or the _loghat_, and is an authority for the genuineness of the arabic terms and their significations, is the language which was spoken throughout the whole of the peninsula previous to the appearance of mohammad. after the death of mohammad the language was rapidly corrupted by the introduction of foreign words. this was doubtless owing to the great extension of the mohammadan power at this period. the classical poets are those who died before these great conquests were effected, and are the most reliable authorities for arabic words and their significations, and they are called _jáhilí_. next to the classical poets are the post-classical, or _mokhadrams_, _islámi_ and _mowallads_. mokhadram is a poet who lived partly before and partly after mohammad, and who did not embrace islámism during the life of the prophet. the islámi poets are the mohammadan poets of the first and second centuries of the hejira, and mowallads, the poets of the fourth rank, followed the islámis. the earliest classical poets date only a century before the birth of mohammad, and the latest, about a century after his death. the period of the islámi poets is the first and second centuries,--_i.e._, those who lived after the first corruption of the arabic language, but before the corruption had become extensive. the mowallads co-existed with the general and rapid corruption of the language from the beginning or middle of the second century. [sidenote: the conjugation and declension of _jahd_ and _jihád_] . the words _jahd_ and _jihád_ and their derivations, amounting to fourteen in number, occur in the following passages in the koran:-- . "jâhada" chapter xxix, ; ix, . . "jáhadáka" do. xxxi, , xxix, . . "jáhadoo" do. ii, ; viii, , , ; ix, , , ; xlix, ; iii, ; xvi, ; xxix, . . "yojáhido" do. xxix, . . "yojáhidoona" do. v, . . "yojáhidoo" do. ix, , . . "tojáhidoona" do. lxi, . . "jihád" do. xxv, ; xxii, ; ix, ; lx, . .* "jahd" do. v, ; vi, ; xvi, ; xxiv, ; xxxv, . .* "johd" do ix, . . "jáhid" do. ix, ; lxvi, . . "jâhidhoom" do. xxv, . . "mojáhidína" do. iv, ; bis. xlvii, . . "mojáhidoona" do. iv, . . "jáhidoo" do. v, ; ix, , ; xxii, . [sidenote: the number of instances in which they occur in the koran.] . there are altogether verses in the koran containing the words noted above, in the following chapters and verses:-- chapter ii, . do. iii, . do. iv, . do. v, , , . do. vi, . do. viii, , , . do. ix, , , , , , , , , , , . do. xvi, , . do. xxii, . do. xxiv, . do. xxv, . do. xxix, , , . do. xxxi, . do. xxxv, . do. xlvii, . do. xlix, . do. xl, . do. xli, . do. xlvi, . [sidenote: in what sense they are used in the koran.] . out of the above, the verses containing the words "jahd" and "johd,"--_i.e._, v, ; vi, ; xvi, ; xxiv, ; xxxv, ; and ix, , marked *, are altogether out of dispute, as in all the former passages, except the last one, its obvious meaning is _most_ or _utmost_ solemn oaths,[ ] or most _energetic_ oaths or _strongest_ or most forcible oaths,[ ] and the latter signifies small provisions upon which a man possessing a little property can live with difficulty. the rest are of two kinds--_first_, the verses occurring in the meccan suras. as then the moslems had not resorted to arms in their defence, though suffering from persecutions, mohammadan commentators and jurists and christian writers are unanimous in construing _jihád_ in its natural sense of exertion, effort, energy, and painstaking. secondly, the verses containing the same words occurring in the medina suras, which were revealed or published when the moslems had taken arms in their defence. as regards this period, the words are considered to have an entirely new and an altogether fortuitous meaning, _viz._, a religious war of aggression. even some verses of this period are rendered by mohammadans and christians in the literal sense of the word. [sidenote: conventional significations of _jihád_.] . i fully admit that in the post-classical language of the arabs,--_i.e._, that in use subsequent to the time of mohammad, when the language was rapidly corrupted, the word "jihád" was used to signify "warfare" or fighting, but this was in a military sense. since that period the word has come to be used as meaning the waging of a war or a crusade only in military tactics, and more recently it found its way in the same sense into the mohammadan law-books and lexicons of later dates. but the subsequent corrupt or post-classical language cannot be accepted as a final or even a satisfactory authority upon the point. "it was decided by common consent," says mr. edward william lane, in his arabic-english lexicon (preface, pp. viii and ix), "that no poet, nor any other person, should be taken as an absolute and unquestionable authority with respect to the words or their significations, the grammar, or the prosody of the classical language, unless he were one who had died before the promulgation of el-islám, or who had lived partly before and partly after that event; or, as they term it, unless he were a 'jáhilee' or a 'mukhadram,' or (as some pronounce it) 'mukhadrim,' or 'muhadram' or 'muhadrim.' a poet of the class next after the mukhadrams is termed an 'islámee:' and as the corruption of the language had become considerable in his time, even among those who aimed at chasteness of speech, he is not cited as an authority absolutely and unquestionably like the two preceding classes. a poet of the next class, which is the last, is termed 'muwelled;' he is absolutely post-classical; and is cited as an unquestionable authority with respect only to the rhetorical sciences. the commencement of the period of the muwelleds is not distinctly stated: but it must have preceded the middle of the second century of the flight; for the classical age may be correctly defined as having nearly ended with the first century, when very few persons born before the establishment of el-islám through arabia were living. thus the best of the islámi poets may be regarded, and are generally regarded, as holding classical rank, though not as being absolute authorities with respect to the words and the significations, the grammar, and the prosody of the classical language." mr. thomas chenry, m.a., writes:[ ]-- "within a century of mohammad's flight from mecca, the moslem empire stretched from kashgar and mooltan to morocco and the pyrenees, and the arab man of letters was exposed to the corrupting propinquity of men of very different races. only a poet of ignorance, that is, one who died before the preaching of islam, or a mokhadram, that is, who was contemporary with it, was looked upon as of paramount and unquestionable authority. an islámi, that is, one who was born after the rise of islam, was of least consideration, and after the first century, the poets are called muwalladún and are only quoted for their literary beauties, and not as authorities for the arab tongue." [sidenote: mohammadan commentators, &c., quoted.] . all commentators, paraphrasts, and jurisconsults admit that the primary and original signification of the words "_jahad_" and "_jihád_" is power, ability, and toil, and that its use, as making wars or crusades, is conventional and figurative. ibn attiah says regarding verse , chapter xxix, that it is meccan, and was revealed before the enjoining of the _orfee_ or conventional _jihád_ (_vide_ fat-hul bayan fi maquasidil koran, vol. ii, page , by siddik hussan). khateeb koostlane, in his _irshadussari_, a paraphrase of bokhari, says that "_jihád_ is derived from _jahd_, which means toil and labour, or from _johd_, which means power. and in technical language it means fighting with infidels to assist islam" (vol. v, page ). mohammad allauddin al haskafi (died a.h.), the author of dur-ral-mukhtár, a commentary on tanviral absár, by sheikh mohammad al tamartáshi (died ), says in the chapter on _jihád_, that "in the classical language it is the infinitive noun of _jáhada fi sabil-allah_, and in the language of the law it means inviting the infidels to the true faith and fighting with him who does not accept it." and ibn Ábidin shámi, in his annotation on the above work, says: "the infinitive noun of _jáhada_ means to do one's utmost, and that it is general, and includes any person who supports all that is reasonable and forbids what is wrong." [sidenote: when the word jihád was diverted from its original signification to its figurative meaning of waging religious war?] . it is admitted by all lexicologists, commentators, and jurisconsults that _jihád_ in classical arabic means to labour, strive earnestly, and that the change of its meaning or the technical signification occurred only in the post-classical period, _i.e._, long after the publication of the koran. it is obviously improper, therefore, to apply the post-classical meaning of the word where it occurs in the koran. this fact is further admitted by all the mohammadan commentators and english translators of the koran, who render the word in its original and literal meaning in all the meccan and in the early medinite suras or chapters of the koran.[ ] it is only in a few of the latest chapters of the koran published at later dates at medina, that they (the commentators and translators) deviate from the original meaning, and prefer the subsequent unclassical and technical signification of waging war or crusade. [sidenote: all verses of the koran containing the word jihád and its derivation quoted and explained.] . i herein place in juxtaposition the several english translations of the word "_jihád_," together with its etymological derivation and several grammatical forms, to show, in the first place, that mr. george sale and the rev. j.m. rodwell and other european authors generally give the literal, original, and classical meaning; and in the second place, to show how they differ in giving various meanings, literal and technical, in some passages to the same word in the same verses. it will be observed from a perusal of the statement, that the rev. mr. rodwell, m.a., is more correct than the earliest english translator of the koran, mr. george sale, and the latest, mr. w.h. palmer. the latter is the most unsatisfactory of all in this respect, as everywhere, except in six places--xxix, ; v, , ; iv, ; and ix, , --he translates _jihád_ as meaning fighting--a circumstance which not unnaturally leads to the supposition that he had paid but slight heed to the context. |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- |serial no. | | no. of the chapter and the verse of the koran. | | | original words. ---------------------------- | | | | george sale's translation. } english | | | | | rev. rodwell's translation. } | | | | | | henry palmer's translation. } translations. |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- | | | | xxxi. | | | "jáhadáka" | | | | "strive" | | | | | "endeavour to prevail" | | | | | | "strive." | | | | xxv. | | | "jáhid," "jihádan." | | | | "oppose them herewith with strong opposition." | | | | | "by means of the koran strive against them with | | | | | a mighty strife." | | | | | | "fight strenuously; strenuous fight." | | | | xxii. | | | "jáhidoo" | | | | "fight in the defence of god's religion." | | | | | "do valiantly" | | | | | | "fight strenuously." | | | | xvi. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "have since sought _in the_ defence of the true religion." | | | | | "fought" | | | | | | "fought strenuously." | | | | xxix. | | | "jáhada" | | | | "striveth" | | | | | "maketh efforts" | | | | | | "fight strenuously; fight strenuously." | | | | xxix. | | | "jáhadáka" | | | | "endeavour" | | | | | "strive" | | | | | | "strive." |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- |serial no. | | no. of the chapter and the verse of the koran. | | | original words. ---------------------------- | | | | george sale's translation. } english | | | | | rev. rodwell's translation. } | | | | | | henry palmer's translation. } translations. |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- | | | | xxix. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "utmost endeavour" | | | | | "made efforts" | | | | | | "fight strenuously." | | | | xvi. | | | "jahd" | | | | "most solemnly" | | | | | "most sacred" | | | | | | "most strenuous." | | | | xxxv. | | | "jahd" | | | | "most solemn" | | | | | "mightiest" | | | | | | "most strenuous." | | | | ii. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "fight in god's cause" | | | | | "fight" | | | | | | "wage war." | | | | iii. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "those who fought strenuously." | | | | | "did valiantly" | | | | | | "fought well." | | | | viii. | | | "jáhadoo be-am-walhim-w-anfosa-him." | | | | "employed their substance and their persons in fight for | | | | the religion of god." | | | | | "spent their substance and themselves for the cause | | | | | of god." | | | | | | "fought strenuously with their wealth and | | | | | | person." |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- |serial no. | | no. of the chapter and the verse of the koran. | | | original words. ---------------------------- | | | | george sale's translation. } english | | | | | rev. rodwell's translation. } | | | | | | henry palmer's translation. } translations. |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- | | | | viii. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "have fought for god's true religion." | | | | | "fought" | | | | | | "fought strenuously." | | | | viii. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "have fought with you." | | | | | "fought" | | | | | | "fought strenuously." | | | | vi. | | | "jahd" | | | | "most solemn" | | | | | "most binding" | | | | | | "most strenuous" | | | | xlvii. | | | "mojáhidína" | | | | "who fight valiantly" | | | | | "valiant" | | | | | | "fought strenuously." | | | | lxi. | | | "jáhidoo" | | | | "defend god's true religion with your substance and in | | | | your person." | | | | | "do valiantly" | | | | | | "to fight strenuously." | | | | iv. | | | st. "mojáhidína" | | | | st. "those who employ their fortune and their persons | | | | for the religion of god." | | | | | . "defend god's true religion valiantly." | | | | | | . "strenuous." | | | nd. "mojáhidina." | | | | nd. "those who employ their fortune and persons." | | | | | . "contend earnestly." | | | | | | . "strenuous." | | | rd. "mojáhidina." | | | | rd. "those who fight" | | | | | . "strenuous" | | | | | | . "strenuous." |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- |serial no. | | no. of the chapter and the verse of the koran. | | | original words. ---------------------------- | | | | george sale's translation. } english | | | | | rev. rodwell's translation. } | | | | | | henry palmer's translation. } translations. |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- | | | | xxiv. | | | "jahd" | | | | "most solemn" | | | | | "most solemn" | | | | | | "most strenuous." | | | | lxvi. | | | "jáhid" | | | | "attack the hypocrites with arguments." | | | | | "make war" | | | | | | "fight strenuously." | | | | ix. | | | "jáhid" | | | | "wage war" | | | | | "contend" | | | | | | "strive strenuously." | | | | lxi. | | | "jihadan" | | | | "to fight in the defence of my religion." | | | | | "to fight" | | | | | | "fighting strenuously." | | | | xlix. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "who employ their substance and their person in the | | | | defence of god's true religion." | | | | | "contend with their substance and their person." | | | | | | "fight strenuously with their wealth and their | | | | | | persons." | | | | ix. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "those among you who sought for his religion." | | | | | "valiantly" | | | | | | "fought strenuously." |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- |serial no. | | no. of the chapter and the verse of the koran. | | | original words. ---------------------------- | | | | george sale's translation. } english | | | | | rev. rodwell's translation. } | | | | | | henry palmer's translation. } translations. |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- | | | | ix. | | | "jáhada" | | | | "fighteth" | | | | | "fighteth" | | | | | | "strenuous." | | | | ix. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "fought for his religion." | | | | | "do valiantly" | | | | | | "fought strenuously." | | | | ix. | | | "jihádan" | | | | "advancement" | | | | | "efforts" | | | | | | "fighting strenuously." | | | | ix. | | | "jáhidoo" | | | | "employ your substance and your person for the advancement | | | | of god's religion." | | | | | "contend with your substance and with your person." | | | | | | "fight strenuously with your wealth and your | | | | | | persons." | | | | ix. | | | "yojáhidoo" | | | | "employing their substance and their persons for the | | | | advancement of god's true religion." | | | | | "contending with your substance and your person." | | | | | | "fighting strenuously." | | | | ix. | | | "yojáhidoo" | | | | "employ their substance and their persons for the | | | | advancement of god's true religion." | | | | | "contending with their riches and their persons." | | | | | | "fighting strenuously with their wealth and | | | | | | their persons." |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- |serial no. | | no. of the chapter and the verse of the koran. | | | original words. ---------------------------- | | | | george sale's translation. } english | | | | | rev. rodwell's translation. } | | | | | | henry palmer's translation. } translations. |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- | | | | ix. | | | "jáhidoo" | | | | "go forth to war" | | | | | "contend" | | | | | | "fight strenuously." | | | | ix. | | | "jáhidoo" | | | | "expose their fortunes and their lives." | | | | | "contend with purse and persons." | | | | | | "strenuous with their wealth and with their | | | | | | person." | | | | v. | | | "jáhidoo" | | | | "fight for his religion." | | | | | "contend earnestly" | | | | | | "be strenuous." | | | | v. | | | "jáhd" | | | | "most firm" | | | | | "most solemn" | | | | | | "most strenuous." | | | | v. | | | "yojahidoona" | | | | "they shall fight for the religion of god." | | | | | "will they contend" | | | | | | "strenuous." |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- |serial no. | | no. of the chapter and the verse of the koran. | | | original words. ---------------------------- | | | | george sale's translation. } english | | | | | rev. rodwell's translation. } | | | | | | henry palmer's translation. } translations. |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- . the above verses quoted with remarks. i will now proceed to give a correct translation of all the verses of the koran referred to above, in the chronological order of the chapters of the koran as far as it is ascertained together with my observations and remarks on them, and quotations from mohammadan commentators when necessary. i.--the meccan suras. [sidenote: ( ) lokman, xxxi, .] . "but if they exert their utmost (jáhadáka) to make thee to join that with me of which thou hadst no knowledge, obey them not." chapter xxxi is one of the oldest of the meccan suras, having been revealed between the sixth and tenth year of the prophet's mission. the admonition relates to a man's behaviour to his parents. he is enjoined to treat them with kindness, but not to obey them if they lead him to polytheism. here "_jáhadá_" means "if they two (parents) task or toil thee, or make efforts and endeavour (that thou shouldst associate any god with god)," and none of the translators and commentators take the word to mean the making of war or hostilities or fighting. [sidenote: ( ) furkan, xxv, , .] . "moreover had we pleasured we had certainly raised up a warner in every city." "do not then obey the unbelievers, but by means of this (_jáhid_) exert with them with a (_jihadan kabirá_) strenuous exertion (or labour with great labour)." this evidently relates to the koran, or the warning mentioned in the preceding verse, and it is wrong to translate "_jihád_" as meaning to fight strenuously with them, or as inciting to strenuous fighting as translated by henry palmer (vol. ii, p. ). mr. sale and the rev. mr. rodwell do not translate it fighting, and so mohammadan commentators. fakhr-ud-din razi (died a.h.), the imam, in his great commentary says: "some say _jáhid hoom bihí jihádán kabirá_ means to make efforts in preaching, but some say it meant fighting, and others say it meant both; but the former is nearer the truth, as the chapter was revealed at mecca, and the command for fighting was issued after the flight, some time afterwards" (vol. vi, p. ). [sidenote: ( ) the pilgrimage,[ ] xxii, , .] . "believers! bow down with worship your lord and work righteousness, haply ye may prosper." "and ('_jáhidoo_') make efforts in god, as (_jihádehi_) your making efforts is his due, he hath elected you, and hath not laid on you any hardship in religion, the faith of your father abraham. he hath named you the muslims." messrs. sale and palmer translate the word here as meaning fighting, which is wrong, as it is unclassical and not literal. rodwell translates it "do valiantly," and sir william muir says it is used in the more general sense (vol. iii, p. ). this verse is a brief and concise version of the great maxim in deut. vi. ; mark xii. ; and luke x. ,-- "thou shalt love thy god with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." see also luke xiii. : "strive to enter in at the straight gate." [sidenote: ( ) the bee, xvi, , .] . "whoso after he hath believed in god denieth him if he were forced to it, and if his heart remain steadfast in the faith, shall be guiltless; but whoso openeth his heart to infidelity--on them, in that case, shall be wrath from god, and a severe punishment awaiteth them." "to those also who after their trials fled their country, then (_jáhadoo_) toiled and endured with patience. verily, thy lord will afterwards be forgiving, gracious." dr. sprenger (life of mohammad, p. ) explains this verse of the seven slaves purchased and manumitted by abu bekr. they had been tortured for professing islam, shortly after mohammad assumed the prophetic office. the flight referred to in verse th is the early abyssinian flight. these verses relate to the persecutions endured by humble and needy moslems from their townspeople of mecca. these moslems, after being persecuted and forced as far as denying god, while their remaining steadfast in the faith, had to flee elsewhere, and then suffered much in their wanderings; but they endured their labours and fatigues, losses, disadvantages both in body and mind, patiently. there is no allusion to fighting or waging war. the rev. mr. rodwell and mr. palmer are both wrong in translating '_jáhadoo_' as fighting. sale is right in not translating it as fighting, but he is too paraphrastic when he translates, "and who have since fought _in defence of the true religion_," as their "jihád" was only their great exertion and toil in suffering from persecutions. [sidenote: ( ) the spider, xxix, .] . "and whoso ('_jáhada_') labours ('_yojáhido_') toils for his own good only. verily god is independent of all the worlds." mr. palmer is wrong in making _jáhada_ and _yojáhido_ to mean fighting strenuously. mr. sale and the rev. w. rodwell are right in translating by "striveth" and "efforts" respectively, and so is sir w. muir in taking it into, what he styles, the general sense of the verse (the life of mahomet, vol. iii, p. ). [sidenote: ( ) the spider, xxix, .] . "moreover we have enjoined on man to show kindness to parents, but if they (_jáhadá_) strive with thee in order that thou join that with me of which thou hast no knowledge, then obey them not. to me do ye return, and i will tell you of your doings." none of the commentators take the word _jâhadâ_ in this passage to mean fighting or crusade, and it is difficult, therefore, to understand why the word should have been distorted from its proper literal and classical meaning in other places of the same book. [sidenote: ( ) the spider, xxix, .] . "and those who (_jâhadoo_) made efforts for us, in our path will we surely guide; for verily god is with those who do righteous deeds." mr. palmer translates the word here as meaning "fought," contrary to mr. sale, the rev. mr. rodwell, and sir william muir, who translate it "endeavour," "effort," and "strive." the conventional term jihád, meaning crusade or warfare, was not in use in the time of the revelation of the koran. [sidenote: ( ) the bee, xvi, .] . "and they swear by god with their (_jahd_) utmost oaths that 'god will never raise him who once is dead.' nay; but on him is a promise binding though most men know it not." sale renders the word "most solemnly;" rodwell, "most sacred oath;" palmer, "most strenuous oath." [sidenote: ( ) creator, xxxv, .] . "they swore by god with their (_jahd_) utmost oath that should a preacher come to them they would yield to guidance more than any people: but when the preacher came to them, it only increased in them their estrangement." sale's rendering is "most solemn oath," rodwell's, "mightiest oath," and palmer's, "most strenuous oath." ii.--the medinite suras. [sidenote: ( ) the cow or heifer, ii, .] . "but they who believe, and who fly their country, and (_jahadoo_) exert their utmost in the way of god, may hope for god's mercy, and god is gracious and merciful." mr. sale and the rev. mr. rodwell translate _jahadoo_ as those who _fight_, and mr. palmer as those who _wage war_; but there is no reason to change the proper meaning of the word. sir william muir translates the verse thus:-- "but they that believe and they who emigrate for the sake of their faith and strive earnestly in the way of god, let them hope in the mercy of god, for god is forgiving, merciful."[ ] in a footnote he says:--"the word jihâd is the same as that subsequently used for a religious war; but it had not yet probably acquired its fixed application. it was employed in its _general_ sense before the hejira, and probably up to the battle of badr."[ ] i have only to add that the word never acquired its fixed application during the lifetime of the prophet, nor is it used as such in any chapter of the koran either before or after the hejira. the connection of flight mentioned in the verse as put together with jihád, shows that it means the labour, toil, and distress which befel the fugitives in leaving their families unprotected in the hands of their persecutors on their expulsion from their country. [sidenote: ( ) a'l amràn, iii, .] . "do ye think that ye could enter paradise without god taking knowledge of those among you who (_jáhadoo_) have toiled and of those who steadfastly endured." the rev. mr. rodwell translates _jáhadoo_, "did valiantly," and does not agree with sale and palmer, who translate it, "fought strenuously," or "fought well." by the connection of enduring patiently, the word _jáhadoo_ probably means those who toiled and suffered in their exile from mecca. [sidenote: ( ) the spoils, viii, .] . "verily, they who believe and have fled their homes and (_jáhadoo_) toiled with their substance and themselves in the way of god, and they who have taken in and have helped, shall be near of kin the one to the other. and they who have believed, but have not fled their homes, shall have no rights of kindred with you at all, _until_ they too fly their country. yet if they seek aid from you, on account of the faith, your part is to give them aid, except against a people between whom and yourself there may be a treaty. and god beholdeth your actions." sale renders the word _jihád_ (or _jáhadoo_) in this passage as meaning "employed their substance and their persons in fighting." rodwell ... "spent their substance and themselves." palmer ... "fought strenuously with their wealth and person." as the word _jihád_ has been applied here to both one's-self and his substance or wealth, it cannot mean "fighting," even if taken in the technical signification. [sidenote: ( ) the spoil, viii, .] . "but as for those who have believed and fled their country and (_jáhadoo_) took pains in the way of god, and have been a refuge or help, these are the faithful, mercy is their due and a noble provision." sale ... "fought." rodwell ... "fought." palmer ... "fought strenuously." there is nothing in this passage to warrant a departure from the literal and proper signification of the word _jáhadoo_, and using it in a post-koranic sense. [sidenote: ( ) the spoil, viii, .] . "and they who have believed and have since fled their country, (_jáhadoo_) toiled with you, these also are of you. those who are united by the ties of blood are the nearest of kin to each other. this is in the book of god. verily god knoweth all things." sale ... "fought." rodwell ... "fought." palmer ... "fought strenuously." there is no valid excuse here for changing the signification of the word _jáhadoo_ into that which is never used in the koran or in the classical arabic. [sidenote: ( ) the cattle, vi, .] . "with their (_jahd_) most binding oath have they sworn by god...." sale ... "most solemn oath." rodwell ... "most binding oath." palmer ... "most strenuous oath." [sidenote: ( ) mohammad, xlvii, ] . "and we will surely test you until we know (_mojáhideena_) who did their utmost, and who were the steadfast among you; and we will test the reports." sale ... "who fight valiantly." rodwell ... "valiant." palmer ... "fought valiantly." "_mojáhid_" is not synonymous with "_mokátil_" [sidenote: ( ) battle array, lxi, .] . "believe in god and his apostle and (_jáhidoo_) do strive in the way of god with your wealth and your persons!" sale ... "who fought valiantly." rodwell ... "who fought valiantly." palmer ... "fight strenuously." devotion or worship has been divided into two kinds,--bodily, which also includes mental; and pecuniary or monetary, and the believers are exhorted here to worship god both bodily and mentally. [sidenote: ( ) women, iv, .] . "those believers who sit at home free from trouble and those who ( , _mojáhidoona_) toil in the way of god with their substance and their persons shall not be treated alike. god has assigned to those who ( , _majáhadoona_) strive with their persons and with their substance a rank above those who sit at home. goodly promises hath he made to all; but god hath assigned to those ( , _mojáhadína_) who make efforts a rich recompense above those who sit at home." sale: _ st_ ... "those who employ their fortune and their substance for the religion of god." _ nd_ ... "those who employ their fortune and their substance." _ rd_ ... "those who fight." rodwell: _ st_ ... "those who fight valiantly." _ nd_ ... "contend earnestly." _ rd_ ... "strenuous." palmer: _ st_ ... "strenuous." _ nd_ ... "strenuous." _ rd_ ... "strenuous." i have already explained the two sorts of worship or service of god--bodily and mental. the same applies here too. [sidenote: ( ) light, xxiv, .] . "and they swore by god with their utmost oath...." sale ... "most solemn oath." rodwell ... "most solemn oath." palmer ... "most strenuous oath." [sidenote: ( ) the forbidding, lxvi, .] . "o prophet, (_jáhid_) do thy utmost with the unbelievers and hypocrites, and be strict towards them." sale ... "attack the infidels with arms and the hypocrites with arguments." rodwell ... "make war." palmer ... "fight strenuously." [sidenote: ( ) the immunity, ix, .] . the same verse, word for word. sale ... "wage war." rodwell ... "contend against." palmer ... "strive strenuously." the word _jáhid_ is the same in both the passages, yet the translators differ in their interpretation of it. as there had been no war against the hypocrites, the word cannot be held to bear the construction they put on it, even if we deprived it of its proper signification. in one place sale takes _jáhid_ to mean "attacking with arms," and in another he takes it in the sense of attacking with arguments. there is no signification of "attacking" in _jihád_, but only that of "exerting," and the verse simply means, "exert thyself in preaching to, and remonstrating with, the unbelievers and hypocrites, and also be strict towards them,"--_i.e._, not to be smooth with them, nor to be beguiled by them.[ ] [sidenote: ( ) the tried, lxi.] . "o ye believers! take not my foe and your foe for friends: ye show them kindness although they believe not that truth which hath come to you: they drive forth the apostle and yourself because ye believe in god your lord! if ye have come forth[ ] (_jihádan_) labouring in my cause, and from a desire to please me, ye show them kindness in private, then i well know what ye conceal and what ye discover! and whoso of you doth this hath verily, therefore, gone astray from the even way." sale translates _jihádan_ as meaning "to fight in the defence of my religion." rodwell ... "to fight on my path." palmer ... "fighting strenuously." the translators quoted above say that hátib had informed the meccans of an intended surprise of mecca on the part of mohammad with the view of making terms for his own family, which had been left there. on this occasion the passage was revealed. this shows that the campaign of mecca is termed _jihád_. but sir william muir does not agree with them. he says in a footnote:--"the opening verses of the sixtieth sura are said to refer to hâtib; but they appear to have a general bearing against too great intimacy with the coreish during the truce and to be, therefore, of a prior date."[ ] . hátib's story. the story regarding hátib's revelation of the intended attack upon mecca by mohammad, is not supported by authentic and trustworthy traditions. the authentic tradition of bokhari[ ] only states that the occasion of the verse being revealed was in the case of hátib, but does not say that it was during the campaign of mecca, nor that the information contained anything about the intended campaign. the authentic tradition only says that the report contained information regarding some of the affairs of the prophet. besides this, it is wrong to translate _in kun tum kharajtum jihadan fi sabili_, as "if ye go forth to fight in defence of my religion," or "if ye go forth to fight on my path," or "if ye go forth fighting strenuously in my cause." it simply means, "if you have come out striving in my cause," and the sentence is a complement or correlative of the verse, meaning, if you have come out of mecca, striving, or to strive, in my cause, suffering from exile and undergoing the afflictions and distresses of living homeless, leaving your family and property unprotected, and all these pains (_jihád_) you have taken to please me, then you should not make friends with my foes and your foes, who do not believe in the truth which has come to you, and have driven out the prophet and yourselves (from mecca, your home) only for the reason that you believe in god your lord. [sidenote: ( ) the apartment, xlix, .] . "the true believers are those only who believe in god and his apostle and afterwards doubt not; and who (_jáhadoo_) strive with their substance and their persons on the path of god. these are the sincere." sale here translates _jáhadoo_ those "who employ their substance and their persons in the defence of god's true religions." rodwell ... "contend with their substance and their persons." palmer ... "fight strenuously with their wealth and persons." see my observations under no. , para. . [sidenote: ( ) the immunity, ix, .] . "think not that ye shall be forsaken and that god doth not yet know those among you who (_jáhadoo_) do their utmost and take none for their intimate friends besides god and his apostles and the faithful. but god is well apprised of your doings." sale ... "fought for his religion." rodwell ... "fought valiantly." palmer ... "fought strenuously." [sidenote: ( ) _ibid_, .] . "do ye place the giving drink to the pilgrims and the visitation of the sacred temple on the same level with him who believeth in god and the last day, and (_jáhada_) taketh pains in the way of god. they are not held equal by god, and god guideth not the unrighteous." sale ... "fighteth." rodwell ... "fighteth." palmer ... "is strenuous." [sidenote: ( ) the immunity, ix, .] . "they who have believed and fled their homes and (_jáhadoo_) toiled with their substance and with their persons on the path of god are of the highest degree with god, and these are they who shall enjoy felicity!" sale ... "employ their substance and their persons in the defence of god's true religion." rodwell ... "and striven with their substance and with their persons in the path of god." palmer ... "been strenuous in the way of god with their wealth and their persons." [sidenote: ( ) _ibid_, .] . "say, if your father and your sons and your brethren and your wives, and your kindred and wealth which ye have gained, and merchandise which ye fear may be unsold, and dwellings wherein ye may delight be dearer to you than god and his apostle and (_jihádan_) toiling in my cause, then wait until god shall himself enter on his work; god guideth not the impious." sale ... "advancement of his religion." rodwell ... "efforts on his path." palmer ... "fighting strenuously." [sidenote: ( ) _ibid_, .] . "march ye forth light and heavy and (_jáhidoo_) toil with your substance and persons on the way of god. this, if ye knew it, will be best for you." sale ... "employ your substance and your persons for the advancement of god's true religion." rodwell ... "contend with your...." palmer ... "fight strenuously with your wealth and persons." [sidenote: ( ) the immunity, ix, .] . "they who believe in god and in the last day will not ask leave to be exempt from (_yojáhadoo_) toiling with their substance and their persons. but god knoweth them that fear him." sale ... "employ their substance and their persons for the advancement of god's true religion." rodwell ... "contending with their substance and persons." palmer ... "fighting strenuously." [sidenote: ( ) _ibid_, .] . "they who were left in their homes were delighted behind god's apostle and were averse from (_yojáhidoo_) exerting with their riches and their persons for the cause of god, and said, 'march not out in the heat.' say, a fiercer heat will be the fire of hell! would that they understood this." sale ... "employ their substance and their persons for the advancement of god's true religion." rodwell ... "contending with their riches and their persons." palmer ... "fighting strenuously with their wealth and their person." [sidenote: ( ) _ibid_, .] . "moreover when a sura was sent down with 'believe in god, and (_jáhidoo_) toil in company with his apostle,' those of them who are possessed of riches demanded exemption, and said, 'allow us to be with those who sit _at home_.'" sale ... "go forth to war." rodwell ... "contend." palmer ... "fight strenuously." [sidenote: ( ) the immunity, ix, .] . "but the apostle, and those who share his faith (_jáhadoo_) exerted with their substance and their persons, and these ! good things await them and these are they who shall be happy." sale ... "expose their fortune and their lives." rodwell ... "contend with purse and person." palmer ... "are strenuous with their wealth and with their persons." [sidenote: ( ) the table, v, .] . "o ye who believe! fear god and desire union with him and (_jáhidoo_) toil on his path. it may be that you will obtain happiness." sale ... "fight." rodwell ... "contend earnestly." palmer ... "be strenuous." [sidenote: ( ) _ibid_, .] . "and the faithful will say, 'are these they who swore by god their (_jahda_) utmost oath that they were surely on your side?' vain their works; and they themselves shall come to ruin." sale ... "most firm." rodwell ... "most solemn." palmer ... "most strenuous." [sidenote: ( ) _ibid_, .] . "o ye who believe! should any of you desert his religion, god will then raise up a people whom he loveth, and who love him, lowly towards the faithful, lofty to the unbelievers (_yojáhidoona_) striving in the path of god, and not fearing the blame of the blamer. this is the grace of god; on whom he will he bestoweth it, and god is all-embracing, omniscient!" sale ... "they shall fight for the religion of god." rodwell ... "for the cause of god will they contend." palmer ... "strenuous in the way of god." [sidenote: _jihád_ does not mean the waging of war.] . these are all the verses of the koran which contain the word "_jahd_" or "_jihád_," or any derivations from them. i believe that i have clearly shown by means of a careful comparison between the translators and commentators and the original passages in the koran, that the word _jahd_ or _jihád_ in the classical arabic and as used in the koran does not mean waging war or fighting, but only to do one's utmost and to exert, labour or toil. the meaning which has come to be ascribed to the word is undoubtedly a conventional one, and is one that has been applied to it at a period much less recent than the revelation of the various chapters of the koran. [sidenote: _katal_ and _kitál_.] . i do not mean to contend that the koran does not contain injunctions to fight or wage war. there are many verses enjoining the prophet's followers to prosecute a defensive war, but not one of aggression. the words "_katal_" and "_kitál_" distinctly indicate this. [sidenote: conclusion.] . i have already analysed all the verses containing these words (_katal_ and _kitál_) in this book. what i have aimed at in the appendix is to show that those authors and translators who cite certain verses of the koran containing the word _jahd_ or _jihád_ and its derivations in support of their assertion, and that the mohammadan religion sanctions the waging of war and the shedding of blood, are altogether in the wrong. [footnote : the siháh of jouhari (who died or ), the asás of zamakhshire (born , died a.h.), lisanul-arab of ibn mokarram (born , died ), and kamoos of fyrozabadee (born , died ), _vide_ lane's arabic-english lexicon, book i, part ii, page .] [footnote : the misbáh by fayoomee (finished a.h.), _vide_ lane's arabic-english lexicon, book i, part ii, page .] [footnote : siháh, asás, ibnel atheer jezree, author of nihayeh (died ), the mughrib of almotarrazi (born , died ), the misbáh and kámoos, _vide_ lane, _ibid_, page .] [footnote : _vide_ rodwell's translation of the koran _in loco_.] [footnote : _vide_ lane's arabic-english lexicon _in loco_.] [footnote : the assemblies of al hariri, translated from the arabic by thomas chenry, m.a., vol. i, introduction, p. . william and norgate, .] [footnote : in the treaty of medina, which was made as early as the second year of the hejira, the word jihád is used, regarding which sir w. muir says:--"this word came subsequently to have exclusively the technical signification of jihád or _crusade_ or _fighting_ for the faith. if we give it this signification here, it would involve the clause in the suspicion of being a later addition; for as yet we have no distinct development of the intention of mahomet to impose his religion on others by force: it would have been dangerous, in the present state of parties, to advance this principle. the word is sometimes used in the more general sense in the coran; sura xxix, , ; xx, , and a few other places."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, p. . again he says with reference to sura ii, v. , which also contains the same word: "the word (_jihád_) is the same as that subsequently used for a religious war, but it had not yet probably acquired its fixed application. it was applied in its _general_ sense before the hejira, and probably up to the battle of badr."--_ibid_, p. , footnote.] [footnote : this sura is generally said to have been revealed at mecca, but this is probably only the case as regards verses , , , , , , , . mr. muir places it at the close of the meccan suras of the fifth period. see nold, p. ; rev. rodwell, p. .] [footnote : _vide_ muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, .] [footnote : _ibid, footnote._] [footnote : _vide_ sura lxxii, ; xvii, .] [footnote : _i.e._, from mecca when driven out of it by the meccans in your persecution.] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : _kitabul jihád_, _magházi_ and _tafseer_.] appendix b. slavery and concubine-slaves as concomitant evils of war. [sidenote: slavery and concubinage not allowed by the koran.] . it is a false accusation against the koran, that it allows enslavement of the captives of war, and sanctions female captives to the conquerors' embrace, or, in other words, female captives are made concubines on the field of battle. there is not a single sentence in the koran allowing either of the above allegations. sir w. muir, in his "life of mahomet," could neither quote any verse of the koran sanctioning the enslavement of the captives of war or servile concubinage, nor was he able to relate any instance of them during the several battles described therein. yet, in a recent work,[ ] he refers boldly, but vaguely, to the koran; and regarding the battle of walaja fought by khálid against the persians in a.h. writes, after quoting khálid's oration on gaining the victory:-- "now, also, the cunning device of the corân, with respect to the other sex, began to tell. persian ladies, both maids and matrons, 'taken captive by the right hand,' were forthwith, without stint of number, lawful to the conquerors' embrace; and, in the enjoyment of this privilege, they were nothing loth to execute upon the heathen 'the judgment written.'" i do not understand why, if such was the case, khálid did not refer the believers to the so-called "cunning device" of the koran? by referring to this imaginary device of the koran to the lawfulness of female captives "to the conquerors' embrace," he might have struck a chord, at which every bedouin heart would have leapt with joy, instead of referring, as he did, merely to the riches of the land and fair fields. in fact there is no such inducement in the koran. [sidenote: measures taken by the koran to abolish slavery.] . slaves are mentioned in the koran _defacto_, but not _dejure_. the koran took several measures to abolish future slavery. its steps for its abolition were taken in every moral, legal, religious, and political departments. the liberation of slaves was morally declared to be a work of piety and righteousness--(sura xc, ; ii, ).[ ] legally the slaves were to be emancipated on their agreeing to pay a ransom--(sura xxiv, ).[ ] they were to be set at liberty as a penalty for culpable homicide--(sura iv, );[ ] or in expiation for using an objectionable form of divorce--(sura lviii, );[ ] and also they were to be manumitted from the public funds out of the poor-taxes--(sura ix, ).[ ] they were religiously to be freed in expiation of a false oath taken in mistake--(sura v, ).[ ] these were the measures for the abolition of existing slavery. the future slavery was abolished by the koran by putting hammer deep unto its root and by annihilating its real source. the captives of war were, according to the clear injunctions of the koran contained in the th verse of the th sura, to be dismissed either by a free grant or by exacting a ransom. they were neither to be enslaved nor killed. . "when ye encounter the unbelievers strike off their heads, till ye have made a great slaughter among them, and of _the rest_ make fast the fetters." . "and afterwards let there either be free dismissals or ransoming, till the war hath laid down its burdens. thus do...." _sura_ xlvii. these verses convey very clearly the decree of the abolition of future slavery, and do not require any further remarks. moreover they were acted upon accordingly even in the lifetime of the prophet. [sidenote: none of the prisoners of war were enslaved.] . none of the prisoners of badr a.h. , of karkart-al-kadr a.h. , of katan in najd a.h. , of zat-al riqa[ ] a.h. , of bani mustalik a.h. , of koreiza a.h. , of batan makka a.h. ,[ ] or of honain (hawázin) a.h. ,[ ] was enslaved. all, without an exception, were set free either by way of free dismissal, or by exacting ransom (in cash or in exchange of moslem prisoners) in strict conformity with the dictates of sura xlvii, . there were no prisoners in the battles of ohad a.h. , ahzab a.h. , and khyber a.h. .[ ] [sidenote: bani koreiza not enslaved.] . some will contend regarding the bani koreiza that their women and children were made slaves, and as such sold in najd. sir w. muir quotes the judgment of sád in the case of the bani koreiza,--"that the female captives and the children shall be sold into slavery," and that it was approved of by mohammad. he writes further:-- "a fifth of the booty was, as usual, reserved for the prophet, and the rest divided. from the fifth mahomet made certain presents to his friends of female slaves and servants; and then sent the rest of the women and children to be sold among the bedouin tribes of najd in exchange for horses and arms."[ ] i have shown in para. of this book (pages and ) that mohammad never appreciated the judgment of sád. and i have further to add that the said judgment, according to true reports, did not contain the illegal verdict of enslaving the women and children of the bani koreiza, as this might have gone directly against the koran and the precedents of the prophet. in the collections of bokhari, book of campaigns, chapter on bani koreiza, there are two traditions cited on the subject. both of them quote the words of sád to the effect that "the women and children be imprisoned." the same is the case in bokhari's other chapters (book of _jihád_, chapter on the surrender of enemy, book of _manákib_, chapter on the merits of sád). it is not a fact that mohammad made certain presents to his friends of the female slaves out of the captives of bani koreiza. the captives were not made slaves, therefore it is wrong to confound captives with slaves. there is no proof to the effect that they were enslaved. the koran distinctly says that they were prisoners (sura xxxiii, ). in fact, the women and children were not guilty of treason, and deserved no punishment. sád's judgment must be either wrong regarding them, or applied only to those who were guilty. "one woman alone," according to sir w. muir, "was put to death; it was she who threw the millstone from the battlements" (life of mahomet, vol. iii, page ). i conclude, therefore, that all the women and children were released afterwards; some ransomed themselves, others went off with their freedom. but nobody was ever sold in slavery. the assertion of hishamee, quoted by sir w. muir, that the women and children were sent to be sold among the bedouin tribes of najd in exchange for horses and arms (vol. iii, page ), is void of all authority, and is in direct contradiction of what abul mo'tamar soleiman bin tarkhan (died a.h. and was prior to hishamee) says, and whose account seems to be more probable. his version is that the horses of bani koreiza were sent by mohammad to syria and najd for the purpose of breeding, and that they got big horses. _vide_ wákidi campaigns of mohammad, page , calcutta, . this shows that only horses, and not women and children, were sent to najd. the words of hishamee (page ) are "_sabáya min sabáya bani koreiza_." _sabáya_, plural of _sabi_, applies to both person and property, as they say _sabal adúvva vaghairohu_, he made captive, captured or took prisoner the enemy, and other than an enemy. (_vide_ lane's arabic dictionary, page , col. .) so probably hishamee had in view only the horses captured of the bani koreiza and sent to najd, but not the women and children of the captives of koreiza. [sidenote: rihána.] . rihána, a woman of the captives of koreiza, is said by sir w. muir to have been taken by mohammad "for his concubine." he always confounds prisoners with slaves, and female captives as well as slaves with concubines. there are several conflicting and contradictory traditions regarding rihána. mohammad bin sád kátib wakidi has related various traditions from omar-bin-al hakam, mohammad bin káb, and from other various sources that mohammad had married rihána. the kátib says "this tradition is held by learned men. but he has also heard some one relating that she was his concubine."[ ] but sir w. muir chooses the latter uncertain and unauthentic traditions. he writes in a footnote:-- "she is represented as saying, when he offered her marriage and the same privileges as his other wives: 'nay, o prophet! but let me remain as thy slave; this will be easier both for me and for thee.'"[ ] even if this tradition be a genuine one, he is not authorized in his remarks in the text, where he says-- "he invited her to be his wife, but she declined; and chose to remain (as indeed, having refused marriage, she had no alternative) his slave or concubine." she was neither enslaved, nor made a concubine. it is to be regretted that the writer of the "life of mahomet" most absurdly confounds slavery and concubinage. [sidenote: omar, the second khalif, liberated all the arab slaves.] . during the sovereignty of omar, the second khalif, in accordance with the injunctions of mohammad to abolish slavery, all the existing arab slaves were set free. it will appear that the wishes of mohammad to that effect were but partially carried out. in ages that succeeded the death of mohammad, they were altogether lost sight of, and even arabs were allowed to be enslaved by the later jurists. sir w. muir, in his latest work, entitled "the annals of the early caliphate," says:-- "yet great numbers of the arabs themselves were slaves, taken prisoner during the apostasy, or in the previous intertribal warfare, and held in captivity by their fellow-countrymen. omar felt the inconsistency. it was not fit that any of the noble race should remain in bondage. when, therefore, he succeeded to the caliphate, he decreed: 'the lord,' he said, 'hath given to us of arab blood the victory, and great conquests without. it is not meet that any one of us, taken in the days of ignorance,[ ] or in the wars against the apostate tribes, should be holden in slavery.' all slaves of the arab descent were accordingly ransomed, excepting only such bondmaids as had borne their masters' children. men who had lost wives or children now set out in search, if haply they might find and claim them. strange tales are told of some of the disconsolate journeys. ashàth recovered two of his wives taken captive in nojeir. but some of the women who had been carried prisoners to medîna preferred remaining with their captors."[ ] even this speech of omar shows that no one was enslaved during the wars of mohammad, as he only refers to the captives of the days of ignorance before the prophet, and those taken in wars against the apostate tribes after him having been enslaved. [sidenote: concubinage.] . the koran has never allowed concubinage with female captives. and after the abolition of future slavery enjoined in the koran, there is no good in discussing the subject of concubinage, which depends on the legality or otherwise of slavery. the koran had taken early measures for preventing the evil directly and indirectly, positively and negatively. in the first place, it recognizes marriage as the only legal condition of the union of both sexes. marriage was also enjoined with the existing female slaves. (_vide_ sura iv, , ; and xxiv, , .) the prevention of concubinage is set forth in plain terms in sura v, . the verses run thus:-- . "and if ye are apprehensive that ye shall not deal fairly with orphans, then of _other_ women who seem good in your eyes marry, _but_ two or three or four, and if ye _still_ fear that ye shall not act equitably, then (marry) one only; or (marry) the slaves whom ye have acquired. this will be more proper that ye may not have numerous families or households. and give women their dowry as a free gift; but if of their own free will they kindly give up aught thereof to you, then enjoy it as convenient _and_ profitable." . "and whoever of you is not rich enough to marry free-believing women, then let him marry such of your believing maidens as have fallen into your hands as slaves. god well knoweth your faith. ye are sprung, the one from the other. marry them then with the leave of their masters, and give them a fair dower; but let them be chaste and free from fornication, and not entertainers of lovers."--sura iv. . "and marry those among you who are single, and your good servants and your handmaidens. if they are poor, god of his bounty will enrich them. and god is all-bounteous, knowing. and let those who cannot find a match live in continence till god of his bounty shall enrich them." . "and to those of your slaves who desire a deed of _manumission_, execute it for them, if ye know good in them, and give them a portion of the wealth of god which he hath given you."--sura xxiv. "and _you are permitted to marry_ virtuous women, who are believers, and virtuous women of those who have been given the scriptures before you, when you have provided them their portions, living _chastely with them_ without fornication, and not taking concubines."--sura v. the th verse of the fourth sura does by no means sanction concubinage. it has nothing to do with it. it only treats of marriage. it, together with its preceding verse, points out whom we can marry and whom not. its next verse interdicts concubinage when it enjoins marriage with the then existing slaves. [sidenote: maria the coptic.] . i will here take the opportunity of noticing maria the coptic, who is alleged to have been a concubine-slave of mohammad, although she does not come under the category of prisoners made slaves. according to sir w. muir, the roman governor of egypt had written to mohammad:--"i send for thine acceptance two damsels, highly esteemed among the copts."[ ] the writer converts them at once into "two slave-girls," and remarks, "a strange present, however, for a christian governor to make."[ ] she was neither a captive, nor a slave, nor was she described as such in the governor's letter. i am at a loss to know why or how she has been treated by the biographers of the prophet as a slave or a concubine. ( ) i have great doubts regarding the truth of the story that mokowkas the governor had sent two maids to mohammad, and taking it for granted they were so sent, that one of them was the alleged maria; ( ) it is not a fact that she was a slave; ( ) nor a concubine-slave of the prophet; ( ) nor she as such bore a son to him; ( ) and lastly, the notorious scandal about her much talked of by european writers is a mere calumny and a false story. it will be a very tedious and irksome task to copy the various traditions bearing on the above subjects and to discuss their authenticity, and criticise their genuineness, on the principles of the technicalities peculiar to the science of traditions, as well as on the basis of scientific and rational criticism. therefore i will notice only briefly each of the above subjects. [sidenote: dispatch to mokowkas.] . ( ) that mohammad had sent a dispatch to mokowkas, the roman governor of egypt, and that in reply he had sent maria the coptic maid, together with other presents, to mohammad, is not to be found in the traditions collected by the best critics of mohammadan traditions like bokhari and muslim, who had sifted the whole incoherent mass of genuine and apocryphal traditions regarding the prophet, and had picked up but a very small portion of them which they thought to be relatively genuine. we can fairly conclude that such a tradition, which is related by other non-critics and story-tellers, who have indiscriminately narrated every tradition--whether genuine or apocryphal--like wákidi and ibn sád, was surely rejected by these imams (doctors in the science of tradition) as having not the least possibility of its genuineness. even ibn ishak (died ),[ ] hisham-bin-abdul malik (died a.h.),[ ] and abul mo'tamar soleiman (died a.h.[ ])[ ] have not inserted the portion of the tradition of maria the coptic maid being sent by the egyptian governor to mohammad. the tradition narrated by ibn sád--( ) through wákidi and abd-ul-hamíd from jáfar, ( ) and abdullah bin abdur rahmán bin abi sásáta--is undoubtedly apocryphal, wákidi and abd-ul-hamíd are of impeached integrity, or no authority at all. ibn khallikan, in his biographical dictionary, translated by slane, writes regarding wákidi:--"the traditions received from him are considered of feeble authority, and doubts have been expressed on the subject of his (_veracity_.)"[ ] ibn hajar askalání writes regarding wákidi in his _takrib_, that "he has been struck off as an authority (literally left out), notwithstanding his vast knowledge." zahabi's opinion of wákidi in mizán-al-etedal is that ahmed bin hanbal said "he was the greatest liar." bokhari and abú hátim say he is struck off (or left out as an authority). regarding abd-ul-hamíd, zahabi writes that abu hátim said he is not quoted as an authority, and sofián said he was a weak authority. jáfar and abdullah bin abdur rahmán bin abi sásáta are of the middle period in the tabaeen's class, and do not quote their authority on the subject. [sidenote: maria neither a slave;] . ( ) supposing that the governor of egypt had sent two coptic maids, with other presents, to mohammad, it does not follow necessarily that they were slave-girls. it is never stated in history that they were captives of war, or, if they were so, that they were enslaved subsequently. there is no authority for a haphazard conjecture that they were slave-girls. [sidenote: nor a concubine-slave.] . ( ) even if it be admitted that maria the coptic was a slave-girl, there is no proof that she was a concubine-slave. it is a stereotyped fabrication of traditionists, and the unpardonable blunder on the part of european writers, that they almost always confound female-slaves, and even sometimes captives, with concubine-slaves. none of the six standard collectors of traditions--imams bokhari (died a.h.), muslim (died a.h.), aboo daood (died a.h.), tirmizee (died a.h.), nasáee (died a.h.), and ibn mája (died a.h.)--has narrated that maria the coptic was a concubine-slave of the prophet. even the early biographers--ibn ishak (died a.h.) and ibn hisham (died a.h.) have not made any mention to this effect. it is only mohammad bin sád, the secretary to wákidi, who narrates the tradition,--firstly through wákidi, abd-ul-hamíd, and jáfar, and secondly through wákidi, yakoob bin mohammad, and abdullah bin abdur rahmán bin abi sásáta. these both ascriptions are apocryphal. i have already quoted my authorities against wákidi and abd-ul-hamíd. yakoob bin mohammad has been impeached by abu zaraá, a critic in the science of traditions.[ ] jáfar and abdullah both flourished after the first century. their evidence to the supposed fact about a century ago is inadmissible. in the biographical dictionaries of the contemporaries of the prophet, there are three persons named maria.[ ] one is said to have been a housemaid of the prophet; the second was a housemaid whose _kunniat_ (patronymic) is given as omm rabab (mother of rabab). the third is called maria the coptic. it appears there was only one maria; she may have been a female servant in the household of the prophet. the narrators have, by citing different circumstances regarding them, made them three different persons, and one of them a concubine-slave, as they could not think a house or family complete without a slave-girl or a concubine-slave. the biographers often commit such blunders. in giving different anecdotes of really the same persons, they make as many persons as they have anecdotes. that anyone of the marias was a concubine-slave is a mere conjecture, or a stereotyped form of traditional confusion in mixing up maidservants with slaves or concubine-slaves. [sidenote: maria had no son.] . ( ) those who have converted maria into a slave or a concubine-slave have furnished her--the creature of their own imagination--with a son. there are various traditions as to the number and names of the prophet's sons, all of whom died in infancy. some traditions give different names to one, and others give as many sons as the names are reported. there might have been a son of mohammad by the name of ibrahim, but that he was born of maria the coptic is a perfect myth. this piece of the story is the continuation of the traditions of ibn sád, which i have already criticized in paras. and . ibn sád has related another tradition through omar bin asim and katáda to the effect that mohammad's son ibrahim was born of a captive woman. asim has been condemned by abu hatim, a doctor and critic in the mohammadan traditional literature;[ ] and katáda (died a.h.) was not a contemporary witness of what he relates. thus he fails in giving any authority to his narration. there are two more traditions in ibn sád from similar authorities like katáda, namely, zohri (died a.h.) and mak-hool (died a.h.)--not contemporaries of mohammad, but of the class of tabaeen--to the effect that mohammad had said, "had ibrahim lived, the capitation-tax would have been remitted to every copt!" and that "had ibrahim lived, his maternal uncles would never have been enslaved!" they do not say who was ibrahim! another and the last tradition in ibn sád through yahia bin hammád, abu avána, soleiman-al-aamash, muslim, and bara is to the effect that ibrahim was born from a coptic maid of the prophet. the narrator soleiman-al-aamash was a _modallis_ (_takrib_ in loco), or in other words, a liar. besides the whole chain of the narration is _mo-an-an_. in none of the canonical collections of traditions like those of bokhari, muslim, and others ibrahim is said to have been born of maria. therefore any of their traditions regarding ibrahim is not against us. it is also related in some genuine traditions that an eclipse of the sun took place on the day of ibrahim's death.[ ] the historians have related only one eclipse, which occurred in the sixth year of the hejira, when mohammad was at hodeibia. this shows that ibrahim could not be maria's son. she only could come to arabia a year later, as the dispatches to several princes were sent only in the seventh year. yáfaee, in his history _mirát-uz-zamán_, has noted that the sun was eclipsed in the sixth year of the hejira. in the tenth year, he says,--"a genuine tradition has that the sun was eclipsed on the day of ibrahim's death, and it has been stated above that it was eclipsed in the sixth year. there is some difficulty. it was noted once only during the time of the prophet. if it occurred twice, there is no difficulty; and if not, one of these two events must be wrong, either the eclipse took place in the tenth year, or the prophet's son died in the sixth year." but historically the eclipse was noticed only in the sixth year. there are different dates of ibrahim's death reported by the biographers--the fourth, tenth, and fourteenth of lunar months, but in none of them can an eclipse take place. [sidenote: the story of haphsa and maria a spurious one.] . ( ) lastly, i have to notice the infamous calumny against mohammad concocted up by his enemies, that haphsa surprized the prophet in her own private room with maria. "she reproached her lord bitterly, and threatened to make the occurrence known to all his wives. afraid of the exposure and anxious to appease his offended wife, he begged of her to keep the matter quiet, and promised to forego the society of maria altogether." but he afterwards released himself from it by a special revelation--(sura lxvi, ). sir w. muir remarks:-- "as in the case of zeinab, mahomet produced a message from heaven, which disallowed his promise of separation from mary...." the passage in the koran relating to the affair is as follows:-- "o prophet! why hast thou forbidden thyself that which god hath made lawful unto thee,[ ] out of desire to please thy wives; for god is forgiving and merciful?"[ ] [sidenote: the affair not noticed in the early biographies.] . now this is perfectly a fictitious story. neither there was any such affair, nor is there anything on this head mentioned in the koran. it is very strange that sir w. muir has abruptly left aside, in this instance, all his principal authorities, the arabian biographers, ibn ishak, wákidi (his secretary), and tabari. the story is not to be found in any of these biographies, nor in the canonical collections of bokhari, muslim, and tirmizee. sir w. muir had himself laid down the rule that only these original authorities are to be depended upon, and the later authors are to be rejected. he writes:-- "to the three biographies by ibn hishám, by wackidi his secretary, and tabari, the judicious historian of mahomet will, as his original authorities, confine himself. he will also receive with a similar respect such traditions in the general collections of the earliest traditionists--bokhari, muslim, tirmizi, &c.--as may bear upon his subject. but he will reject as _evidence_ all later authors, to whose so-called traditions he will not allow any historical weight whatever."[ ] [sidenote: sir w. muir's authorities not valid.] . but in this instance, sir w. muir, being anxious to quote his fictitious story to calumniate mohammad, has ceased to be a judicious historian, and deviates from his self-imposed rule. he does not reject the story as he ought judiciously and conscientiously to have done, as it is not to be found in any of the earliest and original authorities mentioned by him; on the contrary, he compromises himself by condescending to quote from secondary and later authors. he writes in a footnote without quoting his original authority:-- "the version given in the text is accredited by jelálood-deen, yahia, beizawi, and zamakshari, &c." (vol. iii, page .) these authors were neither biographers nor historians, and are therefore no authorities at all. zamakshari and beizawi were commentators in the sixth and seventh centuries respectively. they give two stories, one regarding maria and another to the effect that the oath or promise of mohammad had been to the effect that he would not again partake of a species of strong-scented honey disliked by his wives. jelal-ud-deen mahalli was a commentator of the ninth century of the hejira. yahia is not known among the commentators. he may be one of the latest authors. the commentators are generally no authority in the matter of traditional literature. "to illustrate allusions in the coran, they are always ready with a story in point, but unfortunately there are almost always different tales, all equally opposite to the same allusion. the allusion, in fact, was often the father of the story. what was originally, perhaps, a mere conjecture of supposed events that might have given rise to an expression in the coran, or was a single surmise in explanation of some passage, by degrees assume the garb of fact. the tradition and the facts which it professes to attest thus, no doubt, often rest on no better authority than that of the verse or passage itself."[ ] [sidenote: the best commentators and traditionists refute the story.] . those commentators who are well versed in the science of traditions, as well as doctors in the traditional literature, have rejected the story of maria as the subject-matter of sura lxvi, as apocryphal. baghvi, the author of _misbah_ (the text of mishkat), says that the sura was revealed on the subject of honey, and not in the case of maria. the latter story is neither in the _sahihain_ (bokhari and muslim), nor has it been narrated in any authentic way. háfiz ishmael ibn kaseeral qarashi, as quoted by kustlánee (notes on bokhari, vol. vii, page ), says that the sura was certainly in the case of honey. imam noávee, in his notes on muslim, (vol. i, page ,) says:--"in fact it was revealed in the case of the honey, and not in the case of maria." [sidenote: the story not accredited by the koran.] . sir w. muir himself admits that the earliest biographers do not relate the story, but gives a false excuse for his not following their example. he writes:-- "the biographers pass over the scene in decent silence, and i should gladly have followed their example, if the coran itself had not accredited the facts, and stamped them with unavoidable notoriety."[ ] the allegation is absurdly false, as everybody can satisfy himself by referring to the koran, which does not contain the fictitious and spurious story. [sidenote: the story when fabricated.] . the currency of the story did neither take place during the time of mohammad, its proper age, nor during the lifetime of the companions. it was fabricated and imposed on some of the _tabaee_ of weak authority in the second century.[ ] there is no doubt that the whole story is a sheer fabrication from beginning to end. [sidenote: zeinab's case.] . in conclusion, i will offer a few remarks in passing regarding sir w. muir's reference here to zeinab's case. he writes:-- "the charms of a second zeinab were by accident discovered too fully before the prophet's admiring gaze. she was the wife of zeid, his adopted son and bosom friend; but he was unable to smother the flame she had kindled in his breast, and by _divine_ command she was taken to his bed."[ ] the story is from the beginning to end all untrue. mohammad knew zeinab from her infancy, she was his cousin; and he had himself arranged her marriage with zeid. when zeid divorced her, she was thirty-five years old, and possibly could have no charms to fascinate even a stranger. had she been charming or fair to look upon, zeid should not have separated himself from her. there is no historical authority for this, or for any other version of the story. the koran, while treating the subject, has not the slightest reference to any of the stories afterwards made out to the effect that mohammad had been to zeid's house, and, having accidentally seen the beauty of zeinab's figure through the half-opened door; or that the wind blew aside the curtain of zeinab's chamber, and disclosed her in a scanty undress, was smitten by the sight.[ ] [sidenote: the story a spurious one.] . these stories, and i believe a few more varied accounts of the same, like those of the story of maria the coptic, were originally mere conjectures of supposed events that might have given rise to an expression in the koran (sura xxxiii, verse )--if not wilful misrepresentations of story-tellers and enemies of islam--which the european writers represent in the garb of facts. the words of the koran which have been the father of the story are:-- "and when thou saidst to him unto whom god had shewn favour, and unto whom thou also hadst shewn favour, 'keep thy wife to thyself, and fear god,' and thou didst hide in thy mind what god would bring to light, and thou didst fear men; but more right it had been to fear god." this shows mohammad dissuaded zeid from divorcing his wife, notwithstanding the great facility of divorce common at that time in arabia. sir w. muir is not justified in copying these stories from tabari. they are not related by earliest biographers from any authentic and reliable source. he ought to have rejected them as spurious fabrications under historical criticism, as he rejects other traditions which are on a better footing of truth than these false and maliciously forged stories. [sidenote: sir w. muir's conjectures not justified.] . sir w. muir has exceeded the limit he himself had marked out for a judicious historian of mohammad when he abounds in his wild fancies, and observes-- "zeid went straightway to mahomet, and declared his readiness to divorce zeinab for him. this mahomet declined: 'keep thy wife to thyself,' he said, 'and fear god.' _but zeid could plainly see that these words proceeded from unwilling lips, and that the prophet had still a longing eye for zeinab._"[ ] now this is a mere libellous surmise. he goes on still with his defamatory conjectures, and writes:-- "still the passion for zeinab could not be smothered; it continued to burn within the heart of mahomet, and at last bursting forth, scattered other considerations to the wind."[ ] mohammad never professed to have received a divine command to marry zeinab. it was not necessary for him to have done so. the outcry raised by the pagan arabs was not because they suspected an intrigue on the prophet's part to secure a divorce, but because they looked upon an adopted son in the light of a true son, and considered, therefore, the marriage with zeinab, after her divorce from zeid, as falling within the prohibited degrees. this adoptive affinity was already abolished in the koran (sura xxxiii, ): "god hath not made your adopted sons as your own sons." sir w. muir gravely mistakes in his remarks when he says:-- "the marriage caused much obloquy, and to save his reputation, mahomet had the impious effrontery to sanction it by special revelation from on high, in which the almighty is represented as formally recording a divine warrant for the union."[ ] he quotes verse , sura xxxiii. but he has himself admitted (vol. iii, page footnote) "that this verse is rather in a recitative style of a past event," and not a divine command to marry zeinab. the words "we joined thee in marriage unto her" in the verse do not mean a command for marriage. they simply mean that the marriage had taken place. the phrase "we joined thee in marriage unto her" is a mere form of expression. almost all human actions are attributed to god in the koran, and whatever occurs in the world by the ordinary course of nature, and by the free agency of men, is referred in the koran to the immediate agency of god. [sidenote: a wrong translation of sir w. muir.] . in the next verse--"there is no offence chargeable to the prophet in that which god hath enjoined upon him"--he wrongly translates _faraza_ as enjoined, and thus conveys an idea of a divine command. _faraza_ means he made (a thing) lawful or allowable. [see lane's arabic dictionary, bk. i, pt. vi, page .] in giving the above meaning mr. lane quotes this very verse.[ ] such unions were made lawful not only to mohammad, but for all the moslems, and there was nothing partaking of a special prerogative for him. no special sanction is conveyed by these verses. no special revelation from on high was brought forward to secure his own object or to give him an exceptional privilege. it was merely said that no blame attached to the prophet for doing what was lawful. the word "_amr_," translated "command" and "behest," in xxxiii, and , by sir w. muir and others, in fact means here and in other similar passage (xix, ; iv, ; xi, ; and viii, , ),--god's foreknowledge of future contingencies and not a legal command. the same is the case with the word "_qadr_" in xxxiii, , as well as in xv, , and lxxiii, , which means god's prescience and not a predestinated decree. [sidenote: in zeinab's case no exceptional privilege was secured.] . in conclusion, sir w. muir remarks:-- "our only matter of wonder is that the revelations of mahomet continued after this to be regarded by his people as inspired communications from the almighty, when they were so palpably formed to secure his own objects, and pander even to his evil desires. we hear of no doubts or questionings, and we can only attribute the confiding and credulous spirit of his followers to the absolute ascendency of his powerful mind over all who came within its influence."[ ] the verses and of the thirty-third sura had not in any way "secured the objects of mohammad, much less pandered to his evil desire." as his marriage with zeinab had taken place long before they were published, they could not be said to confer any exceptional privilege upon him. [sidenote: the false story traced to mukátil.] . the story copied by commentators that mohammad had accidentally seen zeinab and admired her is traced to mukátil,[ ] a commentator of the koran in the second century, who died at basra a.h. "the doctors (_in traditions_)," writes ibn khallikan in his biographical dictionary, translated by slane, "differ in opinion respecting mukátil: some declare that, as a traditionist, he was worthy of confidence, and others accused him of falsehood." ... ahmed bin saiyár says:-- "mukátil ibn suláimán, a native of balkh, went to marw, whence he proceeded to irák. his veracity is suspected; his traditions should be left aside and declarations should be rejected. speaking of the divine attributes, he said things which it would be sinful to repeat." ibráhím ibn yákúb-al-juz-jáni called mukátil an audacious liar. abu abd ar-rahmán an nasái said:--"liars notorious for forging traditions and passing them off as coming from the prophet were four in number: ibn abi yahya, at medína; al-wákidi, at baghdad; mukátil ibn suláimán, in khorásán; and muhammad ibn saíd, surnamed _al-maslúb_, in syria." wakí ibn al-jarráh said of mukátil that he was a confirmed liar. abu bakr al-ajurri said: "i asked abú dáwúd suláimán ibn al asháth concerning mukátil, and he answered:--'all traditions given by him should be rejected.' according to omar ibn al-ghallás, mukátil ibn suláimán was a liar, and his traditions were to be rejected." "as for mukátil ibn suláimán," said al-bukhári, "pass him over in silence." in another place, he says of him: "he is just nothing at all." yahya ibn moín declared that mukátil's traditions were of no value; and ahmad ibn hanbal said: "as for mukátil ibn suláimán, the author of the commentary, i should not like to cite anything on his authority." "his traditions are to be rejected," said abú hátim ar-rázi. according to zakariya ibn yahya as-sáji, people said of mukátil ibn suláimán, the native of khorásán, "that he was a liar, and that his traditions should be rejected."[ ] [sidenote: ikrama.] ikrama (died a.h.), another liar, had only surmised before mukátil that mohammad might have admired zeinab. his words, as related by the traditionists, abd bin hamíd and ibn-al-munzar, are "as if she had fallen deep in his mind."[ ] but mukátil has converted this hazardous conjecture into a fact. abd allah ibn al-harith relates as follows:-- "i went to visit ali, the son of abd alláh ibu abbás, and i saw ikrama tied up at the door of a privy, on which i said: 'is it thus that you treat your slave?' to which he replied. 'know that that fellow has told lies of my father.'"[ ] [sidenote: mohammad bin yahya.] mohammad bin yahya bin habbán[ ] (died a.h.) has also given the tradition of mohammad's admiring zeinab at zeid's house, but does not give his authority. he was not a contemporary narrator, therefore his narration is apocryphal and technically _mursal_. [sidenote: katádá's conjectural interpretation not warranted.] . all these silly fables, wild romances, and scandalous conjectures have their origin in katáda's improper interpretation of these words, "and thou didst hide in thy mind what god would bring to light" (sura xxxiii, ). katáda (died a.h.) conjectured that the prophet concealed his desire that zeid should divorce zeinab. but all other authors[ ] have found fault with katáda in his surmise, which is not supported by any word in the text or by any contemporary evidence. this interpretation of katáda is contradicted by the very words of mohammad to zeid in the same verse: "keep thy wife to thyself and fear god." [sidenote: other conjectures.] . many have been the conjectures as to what did mohammad hide in his mind. there is one by katáda already explained. another is this, that he knew zeid would divorce her, but concealing this in his mind, he interdicted zeid from doing so. a third conjecture is this, that he concealed in his mind that if zeid, contrary to his (mohammad's) advice, were to divorce her (zeinab), he (mohammad) would marry her. these conjectures are all far-fetched and arbitrary, but it appears more probable that the social inharmony and domestic disturbances between zeid and zeinab, and their resolve of separation, were withheld from the public by mohammad, fearing the scandal it might give rise to among his enemies. this is the only secret referred to in the verse so often cited. [footnote : _annals of the early caliphate_. by sir w. muir, k.c.s.i., ll.d., d.c.l., page , london, .] [footnote : "it is to ransom the captive."--xc, . "there is no piety in turning your faces towards the east or the west, but he is pious who believeth in god and the last day, and the angels and the scriptures and the prophets; who for the love of god disburseth his wealth to his kindred and to the orphans and the needy, and the wayfarer and those who ask; and for ransoming," &c.--ii, .] [footnote : "and to those of your slaves who desire a deed of _manumission_, execute it for them, if ye know good in them, and give them a portion of the wealth of god which he hath given you. force not your female slaves into sin, in order that ye may gain he casual fruitions of this world, if they wish to preserve their modesty. yet if any one compel them, then verily, after their compulsion, will god be forgiving, merciful."--xxiv, .] [footnote : "a believer killeth not a believer but by mischance: and whoso killeth a believer by mischance shall be bound to free a believer from slavery," &c.--iv, .] [footnote : "and those who _thus_ put away their wives, and afterwards would recall their words, must free a captive before they can come together _again_," &c.--lviii, .] [footnote : "but alms are only _to be given_ to the poor and the needy, and those who collect them, and to those whose hearts are won _to islam_, and for ransoming and for debtors, and for the cause of god, and the wayfarer," &c.--ix, .] [footnote : "god will not punish you for a mistaken word in your oaths; but he will punish you in regard to an oath taken seriously. its expiation shall be to feed ten poor persons with such middling _food_ as ye feed your families with, or to clothe them; or to set free a captive: but he who cannot find the means shall fast three days. this is the expiation of your oaths when ye have sworn. keep then your oaths. thus god maketh his signs clear to you. haply ye will be thankful."--v, .] [footnote : _vide_ muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, page .] [footnote : according to hishámi, p. , a party of fifty or forty koreish went round about mohammad's camp at hodeibia, seeking to cut off any stray followers; and having attacked the camp itself with stones and arrows, they were caught and taken to mohammad, who pardoned and released them.--_vide_ muir's life of mahomet, iv, p. , _f.n._; and moslim's collection of genuine traditions _kitab-ul jihad vas-siyar_, chapter on _tanfeel_ and _ransom_.] [footnote : all the prisoners of hawázin at honain were released without taking any ransom and were not made slaves. see muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. - . that mohammad had presented three female slaves to ali, othman, and omar from the captives of bard hawázin, as stated by sir w. muir, vol. iv, p. , is void of all truth. the captives were not enslaved. they were mere prisoners, as sir w. muir himself calls them so (_ibid_, pp. - ); yet he styles these three of them "female slaves." the captives together with the captured camp were removed to the valley of jierána, pending negotiations (_ibid_, p. ). at the end of the negotiations the prisoners were released. thus there could be no distribution of prisoners to anyone.] [footnote : sir w. muir writes:--"hishámee says that from the time of kheibar _slaves_ became very plentiful among the moslems, p. . i do not find that, excepting the family of kinâna, any mention is made of slaves taken at kheibar. but money, which the victors obtained plentifully at kheibar, could purchase them cheaply in any part of arabia." (the life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. - , and _footnote_.) but the word originally used by hishamee, "_sabaya_," means captives and property captured, and not slaves, though captives, if not ransomed, were used to be made slaves under the arab international law. besides this even the family of kinána was never enslaved. kinána was taken captive and executed, because he had killed mahamúd bin muslama. _vide_ para. of this book. the story that mohammad immediately on kinána's execution sent for her and cast his mantle over her, signifying that she was to be his own, and consummated his marriage with her, and that her dower was her freedom (_vide_ muir, _ibid_, pp. - ), is not genuine and authentic. his family, by which is meant sofia and her cousin, was not enslaved, and there is no tradition, genuine or apocryphal, to corroborate it. i here take the opportunity of quoting a speech ascribed to mohammad while addressing sofia, the widow of kinána, copied by abul mo'tamar soleiman (died a.h. ) in his "campaigns of mohammad." mohammad addressed her thus:--"i give thee choice either of islam, or of judaism. if thou acceptest islam, perhaps i may keep thee for myself. but if thou preferest judaism, i may perhaps liberate thee, and join thee to thy family." _vide_ wákidi's "campaigns of mohammad," page , calcutta, . this speech shows amply that mohammad had no intention of enslaving sofia. the story of mohammad's marriage with sofia after her being given to and purchased from dihya, emanates from anas, who cannot be relied upon. anas had very recently been associated with mohammad. he entered mohammad's service only the other day when he started for the expedition of khyber, and was but a boy only a dozen-years old at that time. it is related by bokhari from anas himself, who said that the prophet had asked abu tulhah to get him a boy to serve him during the khyber expedition. so he took me to him, and i was a boy close to maturity (_bokhari-kitabul jihad_). anas has given two contradictory accounts about sofia; in one he says, "dihya asked mohammad's permission for a captive girl, and took sofia. when mohammad heard about sofia, he asked dihya to take another one; and having liberated sofia married her, and her freedom was her dower." in another tradition, anas relates that "sofia fell to the lot of dihya, and mohammad purchased her from him for seven camels." he says:--"the people did not know whether he had married her, or had made her a concubine-slave, but when she rode on a camel, and mohammad put veil round her, the people knew from this that she was his wife." both these traditions are narrated from anas by moslem in his _saheeh_ (book on marriage). the idea that mohammad married sofia under the circumstances noted above is not satisfactorily established. it was only the fancy of the people, or was a conjecture of anas. yet sir w. muir has the effrontery to remark against mohammad that: "indeed, he is not free from the suspicion of being influenced in the destruction of kinána by the desire of obtaining his wife." (the life of mahomet, vol. iv, page , _footnote_.) kinána was executed for killing mahmood bin muslama, and sofia was neither enslaved nor married by mohammad. even if it be shown that mohammad married her afterwards under some other circumstances, it (sir w. muir's presumption) is an idle guess unwarranted by any reasonable argument. the traditionists, anas and others, have probably confounded sofia, the aunt of mohammad, who was with him during the expedition of khyber (_vide_ muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, page , _footnote_), with kinána's widow of the same name, whom they fancied mohammad might have married and carried with him on the same camel. the lady for whom mohammad lowered his knee to help her to ascend the camel (_ibid_, page ) was most probably sofia, his aunt.] [footnote : vol. iii, pp. - .] [footnote : _vide_ the biographical dictionary of persons who knew mohammad, by ibn hajar. in _biblotheca indica_. a collection of oriental series, published by the asiatic society, bengal, no. , vol. iv. fasciculus , calcutta, ; art. rehana, no. .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iii, page .] [footnote : "the days of ignorance, that is, the period preceding islam."] [footnote : "two such are named by tabari, i, page ." "a light ransom was fixed for each arab slave--seven camels and six young ones. in the case of some tribes which had suffered most severely (as the beni hanifa, the beni kinda, and the people of omán discomfited at dabá) even this was remitted." annals of early caliphate. by sir w. muir, k.c.s.i., ll.d., d.c.l., london, , pp. , .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, page .] [footnote : _ibid_, page , footnote.] [footnote : _vide_ hishamee, page .] [footnote : _ibid_, page .] [footnote : _vide takrib_ by ibn hajar.] [footnote : _vide_ history of muhammad's campaigns by wákidi; edited by von kremer, calcutta, , from p. to the end.] [footnote : vol. iii, page .] [footnote : _vide_ mizán-ul-etedál by zahabí.] [footnote : _vide_ nos. , , and in the biographical dictionary of persons who knew mohammad, by ibn hajar, published by the asiatic society, bengal, calcutta, , vol. iv, pp. , , and .] [footnote : _vide_ mizán, by zahabí.] [footnote : "an eclipse of the sun occurred on the same day, and the people spoke of it as a tribute to the death of the prophet's son. a vulgar impostor would have accepted and confirmed the delusion; but mahomet rejected the idea."--"the life of mahomet" by sir w. muir, vol. iv, page .] [footnote : "meaning the company of his female slave."] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. and . taking concubine-slaves was an established and recognized institution of the arab society, until mohammad abolished it. practically the custom has prevailed up to the present time. no blame attached to such alliances in the social system of the arabs. "the caliphs of the house of abbas were all of them the children of concubines except as--saffah, al-mahdi, and al-amin" (history of caliphs. by sayúte. translated by major jarret, page , calcutta, ). if the story regarding mohammad be true, there was no fear of exposure or offending the wives.] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. i, introduction, page ciii.] [footnote : "the calcutta review," feby. , page .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iv, page .] [footnote : zeid bin aslam (in _tabrani_), who narrates the story, though he does not mention maria, is a tábaee (died a.h. ), and does not quote his authority. besides, his authority itself is impeached; _vide_ ibn adi in his kámal. masrook (in saeed bin mansoor) only came to medina long after mohammad's death; therefore his narration, even if it be genuine, is not reliable. zohak ibn muzahim (in _tabrani_), also a tábaee and of impeached authority, narrates it from ibn abbás, but he never heard any tradition from him, nor had he even seen him (_vide mzàn-ul-etedal_, by zahabi, and _ansáb_, by sam-áni). his narration must be hence considered as apocryphal. the ascription of ibn omar's (died a.h.) story, not strictly to the point, is untrustworthy. abu hurera's narration is also admitted as apocryphal; _vide dur-rul-mansoor_, by soyutí. all these traditions are noted by soyutí in his _dur-rul-mansoor_. the tradition by nasáee (died a.h.) from anas (died a.h.) regarding the affair of a slave is equally contradicted by the tradition from ayesha, the widow of the prophet, narrated by the traditionist nasáee in the same place of his collection of traditions. this is the story of the honey. _vide_ para. , _ubi supra_. ayesha's tradition is more trustworthy than that of anas. hammád bin salma, a narrator in the ascription of anas, has been impeached owing to the confusion of his memory in the later days of his life (_vide tekreeb_). sabit, another link in the same chain, was a story-teller by profession (_vide zahabi's tabakát_,) and cannot be depended upon. and nasáee himself has rejected the tradition ascribed to anas, and is reported to have said that ayesha's tradition has good ascription, while there is nothing valid in that regarding maria; _vide_ kamálain's annotations on _jelálain in loco_.] [footnote : the life of mahomet by sir w. muir, vol. iv, page .] [footnote : _ibid_, vol. iii, page , and _footnote_ at pp. and .] [footnote : the life of mahomet by sir w. muir, page . the _italics_ are mine.] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, page . the tradition quoted by sir w. muir in this page is apocryphal and technically _mursal_.] [footnote : _ibid_, p. .] [footnote : "(t.a.) _he made_ [a thing] _lawful_, or _allowable_, to him (jel in xxxiii, , and kull in page and t.a.*) relating to a case into which a man has brought himself (kull): this is said to be the meaning when the phrase occurs in the kur:" an arabic-english lexicon, by edward william lane, page .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iii, page .] [footnote : vide _seerat halabi_; or, _insan-ul-oyoon_, vol. ii, page .] [footnote : ibn khallikan's biographical dictionary, vol. iii, pp. - .] [footnote : vide _dur-rul-mansoor_, by sayútí, _in loco_.] [footnote : ibn khallikan's biographical dictionary, vol. ii, page .] [footnote : narrated by ibn sád and hákim.] [footnote : _vide_ abdur razzák. abd bin hamíd, ibn jarír, ibn-al-monzar, ibn abi hátim, and tabráni's collections of traditions.] appendix c. the references to the particular events and circumstances relating to the defensive wars mentioned in the koran, quoted and referred by me in this work, may be classified as follows:-- i.--the persecutions of the koreish at mecca (b.h. - ). sura xvi, , , . sura ii, , , . sura iii, . sura iv, , , . sura xxii, . sura lx, , . sura xlvii, . sura xlviii, . sura ix, , , . ii.--the aggressions of the koreish at medina, as well as those of the inhabitants thereof (a.h. ). sura ii, ; sura viii, ; sura ix, , , . iii. the wars of defence against the koreish and the arabs, &c., with several references to their aggressions (a.h. - ). sura xxii, - . sura ii, - , , , , , . sura iv, - , , , . sura viii, , - , - , , . sura ix, , . iv.--the various battles, &c. ( ) _the battle of badr_ (a.h. ). sura iii, , ; sura viii, - , - , - ; sura xlvii, , . ( ) _the battle of ohad_ (a.h. ). sura iii, - ; - ; - . ( ) _the second battle of badr_ (a.h. ), and _the expulsion of the bani nazeer_ (a.h. ). sura iii, ; and sura lix, - . ( ) _the battle of ahzáb_ (a.h. ). sura xxxiii, - . ( ) _the jews, bani koreiza, &c._ (a.h. ). sura viii, - ; sura xxxiii, - . ( ) _the pilgrimic expedition to hodeibia_ (a.h. ). sura xlviii, - , , , , ; sura lx. ( ) _the expedition to khyber_ (a.h. ). sura xlviii, , - . ( ) _the breach of the truce of hodeibia by the koreish_ (a.h. ). (_a_) before the conquest of mecca. sura ix, - . (_b_) after the conquest of mecca, sura ix, - . ( ) _the battle of honain_ (a.h. ). sura ix, - . ( ) _after the battle of honain_ (a.h. ). sura ix, . ( ) _the expedition to tabuk against the christians (romans) and their jewish allies_ (a.h. ). (_a_) exhortation to go to war in defence. sura ix, - , . (_b_) backwardness reproached. - , - , - . (_c_) exhortations for contribution. - , - , . (_d_) the disaffected chided. - , , , - . (_e_) the bedouins reprobated. - . (_f_) the penitents forgiven. - , . _the end._ index. a. aámir, lii. aamir bin tofeil, chief of bani aamir, xlvi. abbas, . abd-bin hamid, _f.n._, . abd bin kosayy, xxxiii. abd monat, xvii _f.n._ abd shams, xxviii, . abdel malik ibn hisham, _f.n._, _f.n._ abd-ud-dar, xxxiii. abd-ul-kays, xlvi, lii. abdul hamid, , . abdul rahman, mohammad's instruction to him, xxvii. abdullah, , . abdullah bin abdur rahaman bin abi sasta, , . abdullah bin al harith, . abdullah bin jahsh, , . abdullah bin khalal, . abdullah bin omar, _f.n._ abdullah ibn abbas, . abdullah ibn masood, , . abdullah ibn oneis, , . abdullah ibn rawáha, , . abdullah ibn shuburma, ibn tufail ad dubbi, . abdullah ibn zubair, . abdur razzak, _f.n._ abs, xxxiv, xli, xlii, xlvi. abû abd-ur-rahman abdullah ibn omar ibn-al khattab, . abu abd-ur rahman an nasai, . abu afak, , , . abu avana, . abu bakr, vi, lix, , . abu bakr al ajurri, . abu barda, . abu basir, , , . abu bera amr ibn malik, a chief of bani aamir, xlvi. abu cobeis, . abu daood, his book of jihad, _f.n._, _f.n._, , _f.n._, , , . abu hattim, , . abu hurera, . abu jahl, , . abu naeem, . abu obeida, . abu omar-ad-damishki, _f.n._ abu omar-al-madni, . abu rafe, chief of the bani nazeer, , - . abu sofian, viii, , , , , , , , , , , , ; attempted assassination of, . abu talib, ; his death, . abu yola, xxii. abu zara, . abul bakhtari, . abul hukeik, the chief of bani nazeer, . abul mo'tamar soleiman, , , , . abul ozza, , , . abwa, expedition of, , . abyssinia, the emigration of the moslems to, v, xxxiii, ; the two emigrations of, ; nadhir ibn hareth's flight to, , . age, the apostolic, . ahl hadis, . ahmas, liii. ahmed bin hanbal, . ahmed ibn abi daood, . ahmed khan, syed; his commentary of the koran, _f.n._ ahzab, vii, xxii, xxiii, , . ainee, a commentary of the hedaya, , , _f.n._ ajtahada, . ajtahada fil amr, . akhnas, . al-aamash, . al-amaran, . al-amin, _f.n._ al-auzai, . ali, , , . ali bin abdullah bin abbas, . al-is, . al-lat, . allah, . allauddin al haskafi, almotarrazi, . al-mamun, khalif, . al yafi, . amalekites, . amar, commissioned to fight with abu sofian, , , . amar-bin-dinar, , , . ameer ali, moulvie, quoted, . amr, . amr bin saasaa, xxxiv, xli. amru ibn omerga, . anaza, lii. annajmus saqib (star of piercing radiance), xxxvi. annals of the eastern caliphate quoted, , . ans, _f.n._, , - , . ans bin qizi, . ansab, . ansars, people of medina, , . apartment, the (sura), . arabs, their society, ii, ; pagan, . arafat, xlviii. arqam, mohammad sought refuge in the house of, xxxiii. asad, xii, xiii, xxxiii, xlvi, lii. asas of zamakhshire, _f.n._, . ashar, xvi. ashja, xii, xiii, xlii, xliii, xlv. ashraf, . asim, . aslam, xliii. asma bint marwán, , - . assemblies of ali hariri, translated by thomas chenry, . as sauri, . as shabi, . astromancy of the jinns, xxxvi. ata, , _f.n._, . ata ibn abi rabah, . autas, xxiii, . aws allah, xxxix. aws tribes (the), xxxix, xlii, xliv. ayesha, , . ayla, the christian chief, xix. azd, xlv, lii. azdite tribes (the), xxxix, xlv. azhar, . azruh, the jews of, xix. b. badr, vi, vii, viii, ix, x, xi, xxii, xli, xlii, ; the battle of, , , ; nadhir executed at, , _f.n._, , , . baghdad, . baghvi, . bahrein, li. baihakee, his traditions, . balca, . balkh, . bahila, lii. bahra, lii. bajila, lii. bakka, xxxiv, lii. bakr, xvii, xxviii, xli, xlii, lii, , , . bali, xlvi, liv. bariq, liv. baus, meaning of, xxi. bir mauna, xii. boas, battle of, xlii. bokharee, xxii, , , , . c. calcutta review (the) quoted, . campaigns of mohammad by wackidi, _f.n._, , , . canaan, . canaanites, . capitation-tax, , . cattle, the (sura), . caussin de perceval, xxvii. cazenove, dr., xxvii. chaldean, xxxv. chenry, thomas, quoted, . chosroes, . christians, , , , . code, the hanafee, , . commentary of the koran, . commentary on international law, xxx. concubinage not allowed by the koran, ; of rihana with the prophet not proved, ; of maria the coptic, - ; of haphsa and maria, . coppée's (henry) history of the conquest of spain by the arabs quoted, xxix. corinthians, , vii, - ; vii, , . cow, the (sura), . creator, the (sura), . cushite tribes (the), xxxv. cyrus, . d. dahis, the war of, xli. daniel, the book of, xxxv. daree, liv. dar-ul-harb, , . dar-ul-islam, , . david, . decline and fall of the roman empire, xxiv. descriptive astronomy by chambers quoted, xxxvi. deutronomy, xx, , . ditto, xx, - , . ditto, xxi, . ditto, vi, , . dhumra, . dictionary, biographical, by ibn khallikan quoted, - , , . dictionary, biographical, of persons who knew mohammad, . dihya sent by mohammad to the roman emperor, xiii, . ditch, battle of the, , . dods, dr., quoted, lx, lxxiii, lxxxiii. dous, xlv. duma, the christian chief of, xix, . dumatal jandal, xii. dur-rul-mansoor, . dur-rul-mukhtár, . dzu nowâs, xxxix. e. early caliphate and rise of islam, by sir w. muir, . egypt, ; governor of, , . exodus, xxiii, - , . extraordinary popular delusions, by charles mackay, quoted, xxxviii. f. fadak, _f.n._, . fakhr-ud-deen razi, . faraza, . farwa, liv. fasád, the war of, xliii. fayoomee, author of misbahel moneer, . females in connection with the treaty of hodeibia, - . fezara, xiii, xxxiv, xlii, xlv, xlvi, liv, , ; executed by abu rafe, . fitnah (persecutions), ii, xvii, , , , , , . fluegel, translation of the koran by, . forbidding, the (sura), . freeman, dr., quoted, , . fruit-trees, - . furkan, . fyrozabadee, _f.n._ g. ghaba, al, . ghafiq, liv. ghanim, liv. ghassan, the tribes of, xxxiv, xlii, xlvi, liv. ghassanide, prince at bostra (the), xxxix, , . ghatafan, xii, xiii, xli, , , ; tribes of, , . ghaus, xliii. ghazavat, meaning of the word, xxi. ghifar, xliii. ghussan, . gibbon quoted, xxiv, , _f.n._ green, the revd. samuel, quoted, xxiii-xxiv. h. habbar, _f.n._ hafasa, xxxiv. hafiz ishmael ibn kaseer-al-qarashi, . hakeem-bin-hizam, . halabi, ; insan-al-oyoon of, ; quoted and refuted, - . hall's (william edward) international law, xxix. hallam, lxiii, lxv. hamadan, liv. hammad bin salma, . hamra, abul ozza caught at, , . hamza, , . hanafee code (the), , . hanifa, xxxiv, xxxix, liv, lv, . haphsa, . harb (warfare), . harb-fijar, battle of, xli. haris, xxxiii, xxxiv, xlii, lv, _f.n._, , . harith of najrân, xxxix. harith ibn amir, . hashim, xxxiv, . hashimites (the), xxxiii, . hatib's story, . hawazin, xlii, xliii, xlvi, xlviii, , , , . hazaramaut, li. hedaya (the), ; quoted, , , , . hegira (the), . hilal bin amr, bin saasaa, lv. hims, . himyar, xliii, xlvi, lv. himyarite stock, xlv. hinzala tribe (the), xxxiv. hira, the kingdom of, xli. hisham, . hishami, xxxiii, , _f.n._, , , , . hisham-bin-abdul malik, . history and conquest of the saracens quoted, , . history of european morals quoted, . history of mohammadanism (the), quoted, xxviii. history of the conquest of spain by the arabs, xxix. history, the jewish, . hodeibia, truce of, xi, xiv; violation of the truce, xvi, xxvi, xliii, xlix, , , ; one of the articles of the treaty of hodeibia, ; females in connection with it, , . honain, xviii, xxii, xlvii, ; nadhir ibn harith present at the battle of, , , . horne, t.h., . hughes, the revd. t.p., quoted, . huweisa, , . i. ibn abbas; his evidence, , , , . ibn abdeen, . ibn abi yahya, . ibn adi, . ibn al athir, , _f.n._ ibn ky-yim, . ibn al mosayyib, . ibn attiah, . ibn hajr al askalani, , , ; quoted and refuted, , . ibn hisham, xv, xxii, xxxvi, xlvii, , , , _f.n._, , , , , , , , , , _f.n._, , , , _f.n._, , . ibn ishak, xxii, , , , , , , , , , _f.n._, , , _f.n._, , . ibn jarir tabari, _f.n._ ibn khaldun, . ibn khallikan's biographical dictionary quoted, _f.n._, , , . ibn maja, , . ibn manda, . ibn mardaveih, _f.n._, _f.n._ ibn mas-ood, , . ibn mokrram, _f.n._ ibn ockba, _f.n._ ibn omar, . ibn omeya, . ibn sad katib wakidi, xxii, , , , , , , , , . ibn saniua, , . ibn sayyad al nas, . ibn shahab, . ibn shobormah, . ibn sirni, . ibn sofian, . ibrahim, . ibrahim, the son of mohammad, , . ibrahim bin maisura, _f.n._ ibrahim ibn yakub al juz jani, . idolatry, mohammad's abhorence of, . ignorance, time of, , , . ikrama bin abi jahl, his lying character, , , . imam (the), ; the mujtahid, , . immunity, the (sura), , , , , . insan-ul-oyoon, , _f.n._, _f.n._, _f.n._, , , _f.n._ international law, by w.e. hall, quoted, xxix. intolerance of the koreish, ; allegation on mohammad, xxxi, , . introduction of the book, p. i. introduction of the critical study and knowledge of the holy scriptures, by t.h. horne, quoted, , . irak, . irshadussari, . irving, w., quoted, . islam, the first propagation at mecca, xxxii-xli; the impediments it received on account of internecine wars, xl. islam under the arabs, by major r.d. osborn, quoted, , . islami poets, , . israel, . israelites commanded to slay the canaanites, . istizan, . j. jaad, lv. jaafir bin kelab ibn rabia, lv. jabir, xxii. jabir ibn abdullah, , . jabra, the jews of, xix. jadila, xliii. jafar, , . jahad, , . jahada, , , , . jahada fil amr, . jahada fi sabeel allah, , . jahadaka, , . jahadoo, , , , , , , , , . jahd, , , , , . jahid, , , . jahid-hom, . jahidoo, , , , , . jahili, , . jálút (goliath), . jarret's (major) translation of history of caliphs by sayúte, . jazima, . jedda, the abode of bani ashar, xlv. jeifer bin al jalandi, lvi. jelalud-deen mahalli, . jews (the) of medina, iv, - , ; excited to take up arms by nueim, , , , , , , . jierana, the valley of, . jihad, the popular, - ; meaning defined, ; does not mean war or crusade, ; classical meaning of jihad, &c., ; post-classical or technical meaning of jihad, ; the classical tongue and arabian poets, ; the conjugation and declination of jahd and jihad, ; the number of instances in which they occur in the koran, ; in what sense they are used in the koran, ; conventional significations of, ; mohammadan commentators quoted, ; when the word 'jihad' was diverted from its original signification to its figurative meaning, of waging religious war, ; all the verses of the koran containing the word jihad and its derivatives quoted and explained, - . jihádan, , , , . jinn, tribe of, xxxiv-xxxviii. jizya, . johd, , . joheina, xlii, xliii, xlvi, lvi. jomahites (the), xxxiii. joshua, , . jouhari, _f.n._, . judzam, xiii, xlvi, . jufi, lvi. juzam, _see_ judzam. k. kaaba, viii; moslems prevented from, xlv, , ; stripped of its idols, xlix, l. kab, xxxiv, lvi. kab bin yahooza, . kab ibn ashraf, , - , . kahins, xxxv, xxxvi, xxxviii; kahinite stock (the), xlv. kahlanite stock, xxxix, xlv, xlvi. kainuka, xlii, , . kalb, xxxiv, lvi. katib wakidi, xlvi. kent's commentary on international law, xxx. khalid ibn waleed, , . khasafa, xlvi. khas-am bin ammar, lvi. khaulan, lvi. khazraj tribes, xxxix, xlii, xliv. khozaá, xii, xvi, xvii, xliii, . khozeimah, xxxiv. khushain, xlv. khyber, xiii, xviii, xxii, xxiii, _f.n._ kifaya, , . kiláb, lii. kinana, tortures of, lvi, ; bani, lii. kinda, xxxiv, xlii, lvi. kitab-ul-maghazi, xxii. kital (warfare), , , . koostlánee, his commentary of bokharee, xxii, , , . koran does not enjoin compulsory conversion, xxxi. everywhere preaches tolerance of every religion, xxxii. koreish, ii, iii, iv, v, vi, vii, ix, x, xi, xii, xiii, xxiv, xxxiii, xxxix; the heavy persecutions of, l; their embassy to the court of abyssinia, ; send scouts to search for mohammad, ; their severity to fugitives, _id._; their maltreatment of children and women, _id._; become more and more hostile, ; joined by the bani mustalik, ; their anxiety to postpone hostilities, ; besiege medina once more, ; violate the treaty of hodeibia, xvi, ; their intolerance, ; excited to take up arms by nueim, an arab, , , . koreishite persecution, xxxiv; caravans alleged to be intercepted, , , . koreiza, the jewish tribes of, xiii, xix, xxii, xlii, , ; execution of, - , - . kotelu, . koukabi durrari sharah, . kozaáite tribe (the), xliii, xlvi. kufa, ; the abode of bani shaitan, xxxiv. kulab, xlii. kunniat (patronymic), . kurz-bin-jabir, a koreish, commits a raid upon medina, xi, , . kustalani, _vide_ koostalanee. l. la-arjomonnaka (i will assuredly say of thee), xxxviii. lahyan, xii, , . lakhm, . lane, e.w., quoted, - _f.n._, - . lane's arabic-english lexicon, xxxviii, _f.n._, , , , . la-taatadú (do not attack first), xxvii. law, the common, in connection with jihad, - ; its commentators, - , . law of moses (the), , . law of scriptural interpretations; limited or conditional, general or absolute, . law of the koran with regard to unbelievers, . law, the mohammadan revealed, or the koran, . lecky, his standard of morality, - . lecture, the rede, quoted, . leena, . legists, the early moslem, against jihad, ; their biographical sketches, - . leith, _f.n._ lieber francis quoted, , , ; on military necessity, . life of mahomet, founder of the religion of islamism, by the revd. s. green, xxiv. life of mohammad by dr. sprenger quoted, xxiv. light, the (sura), . lisanul-arab of ibn mokarram, . loghat, or the classical tongue of arabia, . lokman, . luke, x, ; and xiii, , . m. maccoll, the revd. malcolm, quoted, . macna, the jews of, xix. maddool kamoos, by mr. lane, . maghazi, , (accounts of the campaigns of mohammad), xliv. mahmud, killed by kinana, . mahmud bin muslama, brother of mohammad bin muslama, , . mahrah, lvi. mak-hool, . malak, . malik, . manakib, . marafat, anwáa ilm hadees, . maria the coptic, ; sent by the roman governor to mohammad, ; neither a slave nor a concubine, - ; had no son, ; the spurious character about her story, , , . mark, xii, , p. . marr-al zahran, xlviii. marriage, a strict bond of union in the koran, . marw, . marwan, . masrook, , . mecca, xvi, xxii, . meccans, iii, ; their invasion of medina, , . medina, ; koreish march upon, vi, vii, xiii; the flight of mohammad to, . mesopotamia, xxxv, xlviii. mikyas ibn subaba, . mill's (charles) history of mohammadanism quoted, xxviii. mirat-uz-zaman, . misbah-ul-moneer of fayoomee, , . mishkat (book of retaliation), _f.n._, _f.n._ mizan-ul-etedal, , , , . moadd, xlvi. moaddite stock (the), xxxiv, xliii, xlvii. mo-an-an, . moavia ibn mughira, , - . modallis, . modern egyptians of lane, , . mohajirin (refugees), . moharib, xxxiv, lvi. moharram, _f.n._, . mojahadatan, . mojahadina, . mojahadoona, . mojahid, , . mojahiddin, . mojahidina, , , . mojahidoona, , , . moleil bin zamra, xliii. mohammad, his incapacity to undertake offensive wars against his enemies, the koreish, pp. ii, iv, v; had no intention to waylay the caravans at badr, viii-x; his singular toleration and his wars of self-defence, xiv; the number of his wars, xx, xxiii; considered a sanguinary tyrant by the revd. m. green, xxix; defence of his allegation, xxiv-xxv; a second view of the wars of mohammad, xxviii-xxx. his imprisonment, his preaching at tayif, xxxiv; his followers persecuted, ; insults offered him, ; prevented from offering his prayers, _id._; his preaching against idolatry, ; his insecurity at mecca, ; sets off to tayif, _id._; proscribed by the koreish, ; hides himself for three days in a cave, _id._; gains the battle of badr, ; defeated and wounded at ohad, ; fights the battle of the ditch, ; undertakes the lesser pilgrimage of mecca, _id._; encamps at hodeibia, ; marches to defend the bani khozaá, ; his wars purely defensive, - ; was justified in taking up arms, ; his attacks mere acts of retaliation, ; gives quarters to his enemies, and enters into a treaty with the jews, - ; his last war with the romans, ; never taught intolerance, ; the object of his wars, - ; his alleged interceptions of the koreish caravans, - ; the alleged interceptions proved impossible, ; the assassinations said to have taken place at his own instructions, - ; his alleged cruelty in executing the prisoners of war, - ; represented as directing the execution of the prisoners of badr, - ; his kind treatment of the prisoners of war, - ; had no share in the execution of a singing girl as alleged by his biographers, - ; never refused abu basir from going back to his guardian, ; his adherence to the treaty of hodeibia, ; never gave any permission for the murder of sanina, - ; his koran never teaches aggressive wars, ; freeman stephens, bosworth smith, george sale, major osborn, the revd. wherry, the revd. hughes, and the revd. maccoll, on the wars of mohammad, - . mohammad (sura), . mohammad bin ishak, . mohammad bin kobeib hashimi, . mohammad bin muslama, . mohammad bin sad kalib wakidi, , , . mohammad bin sireen, . mohammad bin yahya bin habban, . mohammad, buddha and christ, by dr. dods, quoted, lxxiv. mohammad karamat-ul ali of delhi, _f.n._ mohammad and mohammadanism, by b. smith, quoted, . mokatil, , - . mokhadrams, poets, , . mokowkas, the roman governor, . moleil-bin-zamra, xliii. mooahib of koostlanee, _f.n._ mooltan, . morad, lvi. morocco, . mosaic injunctions, . moses, the law of, , , , , , , . mosheim, dr., quoted, lxi, lxiii, lxv. moslems forced to resort to arms in pure self-defence, ; threatened by abu sofian with an attack, , . moslim, his collections, _f.n._, , , , , . movatta, by malik, . mowallads, poets, . mozar, xlvi. mozeina, xlii, xliii. muallafa qolubohum (those whose hearts are to be won over), xlviii. mudlij, lv; a tribe of kinana, iv, . mufti, . mughrib of almotarrazi (the), _f.n._ muheiasa, the murderer of ibn sanina, , . muir's (sir w.) life of mahomet quoted, i, vi, viii, ix _f.n._, xxvii, xxviii, xxxi, xxxii, xxxiv, xxxix, xliii, xlvi, xlviii, xlix, l, lxvi, lxvii, lxx, lxxii, lxxviii, lxxx, _f.n._, , _f.n._, _f.n._, , , , , _f.n._, , , , _f.n._, _f.n._, , , _f.n._, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , _f.n._, , , _f.n._, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . mujanna, xlviii. mujhool, . mujtahid, , . mukwhumites (the), xxxiii. muntafiq, lvi. muraisia, xviii. murra, xiii, xlv, xlvi, lvi, , . mursul, _f.n._ musa-bin-akba, xxii. musab, . mustalik, xii, xviii; a branch of khozaá, xxiii, ; released without ransom, , . muta, expedition to, . mut-im, . n. nadhirbin harith, , - . naeem, . najashee, xxxiii. najd, xii, ; the bedouin tribes of, xli, xlii, xliii, , , , ; celebrated for bani tamim, xlvii. najran, the christians of, xxxiii, , . nakha, lvi. nakhla, the jinns converted at, xxxv, xxxvi, , . nasaee, , , . nations, the battle of, . nazeer treasoned against medina, xii, xlii, , , ; its chief, ; the expulsion of, - . nazr, xxxiv, . nihayeh of ibn-al-atheer, _f.n._ nineteenth century (the) quoted, . nineveh, xxxv. nisibin, xxxv. noavee, . nohd, lvi. notes on muhammadanism, by revd. t.p. hughes, . nueim, his alleged employment to break up the confederates who had besieged medina, - . numbers, xxxi, . nuraddin ali-al-halabi quoted and refuted, - . o. obada-bin-samat, _f.n._ obeida, , . ohad, battle of, vii, xii, xviii, xxii, xlii, xlvii, , , , , . okaz, xlviii. okba bin mueit, , - . oman, li. omar, , , . omar bin asim, . omar ibn al ghallas, . omar ibn al hakam, . omeir, , . omeya bin khalf, . omiyyiads, xxxiii. omm kirfa, . omm rabab, . ommara, . oneis, . orfee, . orna, . osaba-fi-tamiz issahába, _f.n._ osborn, r.d., major, quoted, , ; refuted, lxviii, lxxxv, lxxxvii, lxxxviii, lxxxix, - . oseir ibn zarim, the chief of nazeer of khyber, , , - . osheira, expedition of, , . osman, the moslem envoy to mecca, xv. osman, , . osman bin affan, . osman bin zaed, _f.n._ otheil, _f.n._ oyoon-al asar, . ozra, xxxiv, lvi, lvii. p. palmer's (h.) translation of the koran quoted, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . patriarchal form of government at mecca, iii. pargod (veil), xxxviii. people of the book (kitabi), . persia, the empire of, . persecution of the early moslems, ; noticed in the koran, - ; their historical summary, ; of the medina converts, ; of the moslems by the koreish after their flight from mecca, ; of the koreish at mecca, . philistines, . pilgrimage, , . pilgrims, . poets jahili, mokhadrams, islami, and mowallads, . poole, s.l., quoted, lxxxv, , - . prisoners of war defined, . puffendorf, . punishment, forms of primitive, - . pyrenees, . q. qadr, . qalqashandi's dictionary of arab tribes, xxxiv. qarashi, . r. rabia, the bani abd-ul-kays, the descendants of, xlvii. radd-ul muhtar of ibn abdeen, . raha, lvii. rahrahan, battle of, xli. raid of a koreish chief upon medina, . of bani asad and bani lahyan, . of bani duma, . rajab, . raji, xii, , , . rajm, meaning of, xxxviii. ramzan, _f.n._, , . rawasa, lvii. red sea, . reforms, the proposed, political, social, and legal, _f.n._, _f.n._ resurrection, the day of, and jihad, . rifáa, a koreishite, _f.n._ rihana, . ril, a clan of bani aamir, xlvi. robbers, the urnee, - . rodwell's translation of the koran quoted, _f.n._, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . rojúm (conjecture), xxxviii. romans, the expedition against them, - . rome, the empire of, . romulus, . s. saad, xiii, xlii. saad hozeim, lvii. saad ibn bakr, xiii, xl, xliii, xlv. sabaya, - . sabit, . sad, ; his judgment, - , , , . sad bin obadah, . sadif, lvii. sadoos, lvii. sadr av-val (the apostolic age), . saeed, . saeed bin mansoor, . saffah-al-mahdi, . safra, . safwan bin omayya, . saheeh, . saheeh bokharee, . saheeh of moslim, . sahim, lvii. sahm, xxxiii _f.n._ sakeef, lvii. sakifites (the), xviii, xxxvi. salaba, xlvi. salámáni, lviii. sale, g., his translation of the koran, xxix; quoted, - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . saleim, xii, xiii, _f.n._ salim, _f.n._ sallam ibn abul hokeik, abu rafe, . sam-áin, _f.n._ samaritan, . samuel, . saraya, meaning of, xxi. sawad, . sayúte's history of caliphs, _f.n._, _f.n._ schedim (demons), xxxviii. secker, archbishop, quoted, . seerat halabi, _f.n._, _f.n._, _f.n._, _f.n._ seerat shamee, , _f.n._ seerat-ul-mohammadiya, . seleucas, xxxv. self-defence, right of, xxv. shaban, . shahbudeen ahmed bin hajr makki, quoted and refuted, - . shaiban, lviii. shaitain, battle of, xxviii, xlii. shamee, . shamsuddin karmani, _f.n._ sarakhsee sums-ul-aimma (the sun of leaders), - . shaw-wal, . sheb, the quarter of abu táleb, . sheb jabala, battle of, xli. sheikh mohammad al tamartashi, . sihab of jouhari, , . slane, de, baron macguckin, - . slavery and concubine-slaves as concomitant evils of war, - ; slavery and concubinage not allowed in the koran, ; sir w. muir quoted, ; measures taken by mohammad in the koran to abolish slavery, - ; none of the prisoners of war was enslaved, - ; the bani koreiza not enslaved, - ; omar the second khalif liberated all arab slaves, - . smith, bosworth, quoted, i, xxvii, . smith's (w.) dictionary of the bible, xxxvi. sodaa, lviii. soffian ath-thauri, - . sofia, , . sofian ibn khalid, , - . sofian ibn oyaina, , . sofian sowri, . sohail, _f.n._ soleiman-al-aamash, . spider, the (sura), . spoils, the (sura), , . sprenger, dr., life of mahomet quoted, xxix, xxxiii, . stanley defended, . stephens, the revd., quoted, lxxv, - . stobart quoted, lxviii, , . strabo, xxxv. suleim, xii, xiii, xlii, xlv, xlvi, . sura ii, xvi, xxvi, xxvii, , , - , _f.n._, , , , , , _f.n._, , _f.n._, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , _f.n._, _f.n._, , , . sura iii, xii, , , , , , , . sura iv, xv, xl, , , - , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , . sura v, xxvi, xxxiii, _f.n._, , , , , , , , , . sura vi, , , , , , , . sura vii, . sura viii, viii, ix, x, xv, xvi, xxvi, , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . sura ix (sura barát), xi, xvii, xix, xx, , , , , , - , _f.n._, - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , . sura xi, . sura xv, xxxvi, xxxvii, xxxviii, , , . sura xvi, , , , , , , , , , . sura xviii, xxxviii, _f.n._, . sura xix, xxxviii, . sura xx, _f.n._ sura xxii, vi, , , , , , , , , , , , . sura xxiv, iv, xviii, , , , , , , , . sura xxv, , , , , . sura xxvi, xxxvii, xxxviii. sura xxix, , , , _f.n._, , , , . sura xxxi, , , , , . sura xxxii, xxxvii, xxxviii. sura xxxiii, , , , , , , , , . sura xxxv, , , , . sura xl, . sura xli, xxxviii, . sura xlvi, xxxv, . sura xlvii, xxvii, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . sura xlviii, xv, xvi, xl, , , . sura xlix, , , , , . sura lii, . sura lviii, . sura lix, , . sura lx, , , , _f.n._, , , . sura lxi, , , , , . sura lxvi, , , , . sura lxvii, xxxvii. sura lxxii, xxxvi, xxxvii, _f.n._ sura lxxiii, , . sura lxxxv, . sura lxxxvi, xxxvi. sura xc, . sura xcvi, . suras, meccan, - . suras, medinite, - . surat-al-mohammad, . surat-un-nisa, . syed ameer ali moulvie, m.a., llb., _f.n._ syria, viii, , , , , . t. tabaeen, , - . tabakát al fokaha, - . tabakát of ibn sád kátib wakidi, . tabari , . tabi, , . tabikha, the ancestors of bani tamim, xlvii. table, the (sura), . tabuk, xix, _f.n._; the last expedition of mohammad against, . tafseer majma-ul-bayan tabarásee, _f.n._, . taghlib, lviii. taimee, okba executed at, . tajahada, . tajeeb, lviii. takreeb, , . tamim (the), xxvii, xxxiv, xli, xlvi, lviii. tanfeel, , . tanvir-al absár, . tariq (comet or night comer), xxxvi. tay, xxxix, xliii, lviii. tayif, xxii; mohammad preaches at, xxxiv; sacrilegious war at, xli. taym bin morra, xxxiii. testament, the old, . thakeef, lvii, . theseus, . tirmizee, , . tojahidoona, . tradition (a mursal), _f.n._ traditions quoted and refuted, . tried, the (sura), . tuhfat-ul-muhtaj fi sharah-al-minhaj, _f.n._ tuleiba, chief of bani asad bin khozeima, xlvii. u. urnee robbers, - . urquhart, . us tayif, xxxvi. usseya, a clan of bani aamir, xlvi. uyeina, the chief of the bani fezara, xiii, xlvi. v. vans kennedy, major, quoted, . von kemer's history of mohammad's campaigns, _f.n._, . w. wady-al-koraá, the jews of, xiii, xliii. wahid, . wajib (legal), jihad not, . waki ibn al-jarrah, . wakidi, _f.n._, , , , , _f.n._, _f.n._, _f.n._, ; campaigns of mohammad, xliii, , , , , , , , , . wars of mohammad, their defensive nature, ii. weil, dr., . wheaton's international law, _f.n._ wherry, the revd. e.m., quoted, - , _f.n._ wolff, _f.n._ woman, the (sura), . y. yafa-ee, . yahya, . yahya bin hammad, . yahya bin moin, . yahya bin saeed al ansaree, . yakoob bin mohammad, . yemama, li. yenbo, the abode of bani joheina, xliii. yemen, xxxix, li. yezid bin abi shaiba, . yojahido, , . yojahidoo, , , . yojahidoona, , , . yoseir bin razim (oseir bin zarim), _f.n._ yoslemoon, . z. zád-al-maád of ibn al kyyim, _f.n._ zahabi, . zakawán, a clan of bani aamir, xlvi. zalkada, , _f.n._, . zamaá, . zamra, iv. zamakhshire, , . zat-al-rikaa, xii, . zat atlah, _f.n._ zeid killed moavia, . zeid, the adopted son of mohammad, and his connection with zeinab, , , , , . zeid bin arqam, xxii. zeid bin aslam, . zeid bin haris, seized and plundered by the bani fezara, xiii. zeid monat, xxxiv. zeinab, , ; her story, - ; the story of mohammad's amour, a spurious one, ; sir w. muir's conjectures about her, not justified, ; in her case no exceptional privilege was secured to mohammad, ; the false story traced to mukátil, . zu towa, the koreish encamped at, xv. zil kassa, a party of moslems slain at, xiii. zobeid, lviii. zobeir, a koreishite, , . zobian, xli, xlii, xlvi. zohak, . zohak ibn muzahim, . zohra, xxxiii. zohri, , . zorkanee, _f.n._; on mooahib, , , _f.n._, _f.n._ zu-kar, battle of, xli. zulhij, _f.n._, . zul-kada, xiii, _f.n._ zul-majáz xlviii. _calcutta; december, ._ thacker, spink & co.'s law publications. _third edition in preparation._ the code of civil procedure, act xiv of , _with notes, appendices, &c._ by the hon'ble j. o'kinealy, _one of the judges of her majesty's high court of judicature, bengal._ * * * * * _third edition. royal vo., cloth. rs. ; post-free, rs. - ._ the indian penal code, and other laws and acts of parliament relating to the criminal courts of india. with notes, &c. third edition. by the hon'ble j. o'kinealy, _one of the judges of her majesty's high court of judicature, bengal._ * * * * * _second edition. just published. royal octavo, cloth. rs. ._ the code of criminal procedure, act x of , together with rulings, circular orders, notifications, etc., of all the high courts in india; and notifications and orders of the government of india and the local governments. _edited with copious notes and full index._ by william fischer agnew, esq,. _barrister-at-law_, and gilbert s. henderson, esq. m.a., _barrister-at-law,_ _author of "a treatise on the law of succession in india."_ second edition, by gilbert s. henderson "to judge from the style in which their present work is edited, the number of cases cited bearing upon the various sections, the ample notes appended where any explanation is necessary, and the full and complete indexes to the cases cited, we have little hesitation in saying that, while undoubtedly it is at present the best work on the subject, it need fear no competition in the future."--_englishman._ transcriber's note: a few typographical errors have been corrected: they are listed at the end of the text. original page numbers are shown as { }. the faith of islam: by the rev. edward sell, fellow of the university of madras. * * * * * trÜbner & co., london. addison & co., madras. . _all rights reserved._ * * * * * madras: printed by addison and co., mount road. * * * * * preface. the following pages embody a study of islám during a residence of fifteen years in india, the greater part of which time i have been in daily intercourse with musalmáns. i have given in the footnotes the authorities from which i quote. i was not able to procure in madras a copy of the arabic edition of ibn khaldoun's great work, but the french translation by baron m. de slane, to which i so frequently refer, is thoroughly reliable. the quotations from the qurán are made from rodwell's translation. the original has been consulted when necessary. a few slight and occasional errors in transliteration have occurred, such as sulát for salát, munkar for munkir, &c., but in no case is the meaning affected. in some words, such as khalíf, khalífate, and omar, i have retained the anglicised form instead of using the more correct terms, khalífa, khiláfat, 'umr. the letter q has been used to distinguish the káf-i-karashat from the káf-i-tází. e. s. madras, _december st, ._ {v} * * * * * contents. introduction. ... page ix chapter i. the foundations of islÁm. the qurán--its revelation--miraculous nature--arrangement of qurán--osmán's recension. the sunnat--the authority of sunnat--tradition--bid'at or innovation--shía'h traditions. ijmá'--ijtihád--four orthodox imáms, hanífa, málik, sháfa'í and hanbal. qíás--established by the early mujtahidín--sterility of islám ... page note to chapter i. ijtihád ... page chapter ii. exegesis of the qurÁn and the traditions. inspiration--the seven readings--work of a commentator--words and sentences of the qurán--use of the words--deductions of arguments from the qurán--divisions of the qurán--abrogation--creation of the qurán--hadís or tradition--collections of traditions--classification of traditions ... page chapter iii. the sects of islÁm. the shía'hs--the imámat--khárigites--núr-i-muhammadí--imám--ismá,ílians and imámites--ghair-i-mahdís--dá,irí--mahmúdíah--khalífate--súfíism--persian poetry--darwíshes--omar khayyám--wahhábís--their rise--spread in india--doctrines and influence ... page note to chapter iii. wahhábíism ... page {vi} chapter iv. the creed of islÁm imán--god--attributes of god--discussions on the nature of god--the rise of the mutazilites--the sifátíans--mushábihites--names of god--creation of the qurán. angels--recording angels--hárút and márút--munkir and nakír--jinn. the books--abrogation--tahríf. the prophets--rank and inspiration of prophets--nabí and rasúl--sinlessness of prophets--the anbiya-ulul-'azm--miracles of prophets--the mi'ráj. the resurrection and the last day--the trumpets--descent of the books--balances--bridge--al-a'ráf--al-barzakh--intercession of muhammad--heaven--hell. the predestination of good and evil--jabríans--qadríans--ash'aríans--free-will--apostacy ... page note to chapter iv. muslim philosophy ... page chapter v. the practical duties of islÁm. farz, wájib, sunnat, mustahab and mubáh actions--harám or unlawful acts. tashahhud. salát--wazú--ghusl--tayammum--namáz--farz, sunnat, witr and nafl rak'ats--appointed hours of prayer--friday namáz and sermon--namáz on a journey and in time of war--namáz in ramazán, during an eclipse and in time of drought--funeral service--its ritual and prayers. fasting--its time and nature. zakát--nisáb--proportion of property to be given as alms--recipients of the zakát. the hajj--farz, sunnat, wájib and mustahab duties connected with the hajj--time for the hajj--arrival of the hájí at mecca--tawáf--ceremonies of the hajj--conclusion of the hajj--formal nature of islám ... page note to chapter v. fatvá on the namáz ... page {vii} chapter vi. the feasts and fasts of islÁm. muharram--'Áshúr khána--marsiya--wáqi'a khán--'alams--ceremonies of the 'Áshúrá--fátihas for 'alí, for hasan and husain--akhir-i-chár shamba--bárá wafát--jashn-i-milád-i-sharif--Ásár-i-sharíf--shab barát--ramazán and 'Íd-ul-fitr--'itikáf--sadqa--sermon on the 'Íd-ul-fitr--baqr-'Íd or 'Íd-uz-zuhá--sermon on the 'Íd-uz-zuhá--the qurbán or sacrifice--festival of madár--festival of sálár mas'úd ghází--festival of khája khizr--feast of pír dastgír sáhib--festival of qádir walí sáhib ... page index of technical terms ... page {ix} * * * * * introduction. it is necessary to enter into some explanation as regards the contents of this work. it does not fall in with its plan to enter into an account either of the life of muhammad or of the wide and rapid spread of the system founded by him. the first has been done by able writers in england, france and germany. i could add nothing new to this portion of the subject, nor throw new light upon it. the political growth of muslim nations has also been set forth in various ways. it seems to me that the more important study at this time is that of the religious system which has grown out of the prophet's teaching, and of its effect upon the individual and the community. what the church in her missionary enterprise has to deal with, what european governments in the political world have to do with is islám as it is, and as it now influences those who rule and those who are ruled under it. i have, therefore, tried to show from authentic sources, and from a practical knowledge of it, what the faith of islám really is, and how it influences men and nations in the present day. i think that recent fatvás delivered by the 'ulamá in constantinople show how firmly a muslim state is bound in the fetters of an unchangeable law, whilst the present practice of orthodox muslims all the world {x} over is a constant carrying out of the precepts given in the qurán and the sunnat, and an illustration of the principles i have shown to belong to islám. on this subject it is not too much to say that there is, except amongst oriental scholars, much misconception. again, much that is written on islám is written either in ignorant prejudice, or from an ideal standpoint. to understand it aright, one should know its literature and live amongst its people. i have tried faithfully to prove every statement i have made; and if, now and again, i have quoted european authors, it is only by way of illustration. i rest my case entirely upon musalmán authorities themselves. still more, i have ascertained from living witnesses that the principles i have tried to show as existing in islám, are really at work now and are as potent as at any previous period. i have thus traced up from the very foundations the rise and development of the system, seeking wherever possible to link the past with the present. in order not to interfere with this unity of plan, i have had to leave many subjects untouched, such as those connected with the civil law, with slavery, divorce, jihád or religious wars, &c. a good digest of muhammadan law[ ] will give all necessary information on these points. the basis of the law which determines these questions is what i have described in my first chapter. ijtihád, for example, rules quite as effectually in a question of domestic {xi} economy or political jurisprudence as on points of dogma. it was not, therefore, necessary for me to go into details on these points. when i have drawn any conclusion from data which muhammadan literature, and the present practice of muslims have afforded me, i have striven to give what seems to me a just and right one. still, i gladly take this opportunity of stating that i have found many muslims better than their creed, men with whom it is a pleasure to associate, and whom i respect for many virtues and esteem as friends. i judge the system, not any individual in it. in india, there are a number of enlightened muhammadans, ornaments to native society, useful servants of the state, men who show a laudable zeal in all social reforms, so far as is consistent with a reputation for orthodoxy. their number is far too few, and they do not, in many cases, represent orthodox islám, nor do i believe their counterpart would be found amongst the 'ulamá of a muslim state. the fact is that the wave of scepticism which has passed over europe has not left the east untouched. hindu and muslim alike have felt its influence, but to judge of either the one system or the other from the very liberal utterances of a few men who expound their views before english audiences is to yield oneself up to delusion on the subject. islám in india has also felt the influence of contact with other races and creeds, though, theologically speaking, the imán and the dín, the faith and the practice, are unchanged, and remain as i have {xii} described them in chapters four and five. if islám in india has lost some of its original fierceness, it has also adopted many superstitious practices, such as those against which the wahhábís protest. the great mass of the musalmán people are quite as superstitious, if not more so, than their heathen neighbours. still the manliness, the suavity of manner, the deep learning, after an oriental fashion, of many indian musalmáns render them a very attractive people. it is true there is a darker side--much bigotry, pride of race, scorn of other creeds, and, speaking generally, a tendency to inertness. it is thus that in bengal, madras and perhaps in other places, they have fallen far behind the hindus in educational status, and in the number of appointments they hold in the government service. indeed, this subject is a serious one and deserves the special attention of the indian government. in bengal the proportion of musalmáns to hindus in the upper ranks of the uncovenanted civil service in was to . in the year it had declined to to . the state of affairs in madras is equally bad. yet an intelligent muslim, as a rule, makes a good official. looking at the subject from a wider stand-point, i think the church has hardly yet realised how great a barrier this system of islám is to her onward march in the east. surely special men with special training are required for such an enterprise as that of encountering islám in its own strongholds. no better pioneers of the christian {xiii} faith could be found in the east than men won from the crescent to the cross. all who are engaged in such an enterprise will perhaps find some help in this volume, and i am not without hope that it may also throw some light on the political questions of the day. { } * * * * * the faith of islÁm. chapter i. the foundations of islÁm. the creed of islám, "lá-iláha-il-lal-láhu wa muhammad-ur-rasúl-ulláh," (there is no deity but god, and muhammad is the apostle of god) is very short, but the system itself is a very dogmatic one. such statements as: "the qurán is an all-embracing and sufficient code, regulating everything," "the qurán contains the _entire_ code of islám--that is, it is not a book of religious precepts merely, but it governs all that a muslim does," "the qurán contains the whole religion of muhammad," "the qurán which contains the whole gospel of islám" are not simply misleading, they are erroneous. so far from the qurán alone being the _sole_ rule of faith and practice to muslims, there is not one single sect amongst them whose faith and practice is based on it alone. no one among them disputes its authority or casts any doubt upon its genuineness. its voice is supreme in all that it concerns, but its exegesis, the whole system of legal jurisprudence and of theological science, is largely founded on the traditions. amongst the orthodox musalmáns, the foundations of the faith are four in number, the qurán, sunnat, ijmá' and qíás. the fact that all the sects do not agree with the orthodox--the sunnís--in this matter illustrates another important fact in islám--the want of unity amongst its followers. { } . the qurÁn.--the question of the inspiration will be fully discussed, and an account of the laws of the exegesis of the qurán will be given in the next chapter. it is sufficient now to state that this book is held in the highest veneration by muslims of every sect. when being read it is kept on a stand elevated above the floor, and no one must read or touch it without first making a legal ablution.[ ] it is not translated unless there is the most urgent necessity, and even then the arabic text is printed with the translation. it is said that god chose the sacred month of ramazán in which to give all the revelations which in the form of books have been vouchsafed to mankind. thus on the first night of that month the books of abraham came down from heaven; on the sixth the books of moses; on the thirteenth the injíl, or gospel, and on the twenty-seventh the qurán. on that night, the laylut-ul-qadr, or "night of power," the whole qurán is said to have descended to the lowest of the seven heavens, from whence it was brought piecemeal to muhammad as occasion required.[ ] "verily we have caused it (the qurán) to descend on the night of power." (súra xcvii. .) that night is called the blessed night, the night better than a thousand months, the night when angels came down by the permission of their lord, the night which bringeth peace and blessings till the rosy dawn. twice on that night in the solitude of the cave of hira the voice called, twice though pressed sore "as if a fearful weight had been laid upon him," the prophet struggled { } against its influence. the third time he heard the words:-- "recite thou, in the name of thy lord who created-- created man from clots of blood." (súra xcvi. .) "when the voice had ceased to speak, telling how from minutest beginnings man had been called into existence, and lifted up by understanding and knowledge of the lord, who is most beneficent, and who by the pen had revealed that which man did not know, muhammad woke up from his trance and felt as if "a book had been written in his heart." he was much alarmed. tradition records that he went hastily to his wife and said--"o khadíja! what has happened to me!" he lay down and she watched by him. when he recovered from his paroxysm, he said "o khadíja! he of whom one would not have believed (_i.e._, himself) has become either a soothsayer (káhin) or mad." she replied, "god is my protection, o ab-ul-kásim. he will surely not let such a thing happen unto thee, for thou speakest the truth, dost not return evil for evil, keepest faith, art of a good life and art kind to thy relatives and friends, and neither art thou a talker abroad in the bazaars. what has befallen thee? hast thou seen aught terrible?" muhammad replied "yes." and he told her what he had seen. whereupon she answered and said:--"rejoice, o dear husband and be of good cheer. he in whose hands stands khadíja's life, is my witness that thou wilt be the prophet of this people."[ ] the next súra, the th, was revealed at mecca, after which there seems to have been an intermission, called the fatrah. it was during this time that the prophet gained some knowledge of the contents of the jewish and the christian scriptures. gabriel is believed to have been the medium of communication. this fact, however, is only once stated in the qurán:--"say, whoso is the enemy of gabriel--for he it is { } who by god's leave hath caused the qurán to descend on thy heart" (súra ii. .) this súra was revealed some years after the prophet's flight to madína. the other references to the revelation of the qurán are:--"verily from the lord of the worlds hath this book come down; the faithful spirit (rúh-ul-Ámín) hath come down with it" (súra xxvi. .) "the qurán is no other than a revelation revealed to him, one terrible in power (shadíd-ul-quá) taught it him." (súra liii. .) these latter passages do not state clearly that gabriel was the medium of communication, but the belief that he was is almost, if not entirely, universal, and the commentators say that the terms "rúh-ul-Ámín" and "shadíd-ul-quá" refer to no other angel or spirit. the use of the word "taught" in the last súra quoted, and the following expression in súra lxxv. . "when we have _recited it_, then follow thou the recital," show that the qurán is entirely an objective revelation and that muhammad was only a passive medium of communication. the muhammadan historian, ibn khaldoun, says on this point:--"of all the divine books the qurán is the only one of which the text, words and phrases have been communicated to a prophet by an audible voice. it is otherwise with the pentateuch, the gospel and the other divine books: the prophets received them under the form of ideas."[ ] this expresses the universal belief on this point--a belief which reveals the essentially mechanical nature of islám. the qurán thus revealed is now looked upon as the standing miracle of islám. other divine books, it is admitted, were revelations received under the form of ideas, but the qurán is far superior to them all for the actual text was revealed to the ear of the prophet. thus we read in súra lxxv. - :-- { } "move not thy tongue in haste to follow and master this revelation; for we will see to the collecting and recital of it; _but when we have recited it_, then follow thou the recital; and verily it shall be ours to make it clear to thee." the qurán is, then, believed to be a miraculous revelation of divine eloquence, as regards both _form_ and _substance_, arrangement of words, and its revelation of sacred things. it is asserted that each well-accredited prophet performed miracles in that particular department of human skill or science most flourishing in his age. thus in the days of moses magic exercised a wide influence, but all the magicians of pharaoh's court had to submit to the superior skill of the hebrew prophet. in the days of jesus the science of medicine flourished. men possessed great skill in the art of healing; but no physician could equal the skill of jesus, who not only healed the sick, but raised the dead. in the days of muhammad the special and most striking feature of the age was the wonderful power of the arabs in the art of poetry. muhammad-ud-damiri says:--"wisdom hath alighted on three things--the brain of the franks, the hands of the chinese and the tongue of the arabs." they were unrivalled for their eloquence, for the skill with which they arranged their material and gave expression to their thoughts. it is in this very particular that superior excellence is claimed for the qurán.[ ] it is to the muhammadan mind a sure evidence of its miraculous origin that it should excel in this respect. muslims say that miracles have followed the revelations given to other prophets in order to confirm the divine message. in this case the qurán is both a revelation and a miracle. { } muhammad himself said:--"each prophet has received manifest signs which carried conviction to men: but that which i have received is the revelation. so i hope to have a larger following on the day of resurrection than any other prophet has." ibn khaldoun says that "by this the prophet means that such a wonderful miracle as the qurán, which is also a revelation, should carry conviction to a very large number."[ ] to a muslim the fact is quite clear, and so to him the qurán is far superior to all the preceding books. muhammad is said to have convinced a rival, lebid, a poet-laureate, of the truth of his mission by reciting to him a portion of the now second súra. "unquestionably it is one of the very grandest specimens of koranic or arabic diction.... but even descriptions of this kind, grand as they be, are not sufficient to kindle and preserve the enthusiasm and the faith and the hope of a nation like the arabs.... the poets before him had sung of valour and generosity, of love and strife and revenge ... of early graves, upon which weeps the morning cloud, and of the fleeting nature of life which comes and goes as the waves of the desert sands, as the tents of a caravan, as a flower that shoots up and dies away. or they shoot their bitter arrows of satire right into the enemy's own soul. muhammad sang of none of these. no love-minstrelsy his, not the joys of the world, nor sword, nor camel, nor jealousy, nor human vengeance, not the glories of tribe or ancestor. he preached islám." the very fierceness with which this is done, the swearing such as arab orator, proficient though he may have been in the art, had never made, the dogmatic certainty with which the prophet proclaimed his message have tended, equally with the passionate grandeur of his utterances, to hold the muslim world spell-bound to the letter and imbued with all the narrowness of the book. so sacred is the text supposed to be that only the { } companions[ ] of the prophet are deemed worthy of being commentators on it. the work of learned divines since then has been to learn the qurán by heart and to master the traditions, with the writings of the earliest commentators thereon. the revelation itself is never made a subject of investigation or tried by the ordinary rules of criticism. if only the isnád, or chain of authorities for any interpretation, is good, that interpretation is unhesitatingly accepted as the correct one. it is a fundamental article of belief that no other book in the world can possibly approach near to it in thought or expression. it deals with positive precepts rather than with principles. its decrees are held to be binding not in the spirit merely but in the very letter on all men, at all times and under every circumstance of life. this follows as a natural consequence from the belief in its eternal nature. the various portions recited by the prophet during the twenty-three years of his prophetical career were committed to writing by some of his followers, or treasured up in their memories. as the recital of the qurán formed a part of every act of public worship, and as such recital was an act of great religious merit, every muslim tried to remember as much as he could. he who could do so best was entitled to the highest honour, and was often the recipient of a substantial reward.[ ] the arab love for poetry facilitated the exercise of this faculty. when the prophet died the revelation ceased. there was no distinct copy of the whole, nothing to show what was of transitory importance, what of permanent value. there is nothing which proves that the prophet took any special care of any portions. there seems to have been no definite order in which, when the book was { } compiled, the various súras were arranged, for the qurán, as it now exists, is utterly devoid of all historical or logical sequence. for a year after the prophet's death nothing seems to have been done; but then the battle of yemana took place in which a very large number of the best qurán reciters were slain. omar took fright at this, and addressing the khalíf abu bakr, said, "the slaughter may again wax hot amongst the repeaters of the qurán in other fields of battle, and much may be lost therefrom. now, therefore, my advice is that thou shouldest give speedy orders for the collection of the qurán." abu bakr agreed, and said to zeid who had been an amanuensis of the prophet:--"thou art a young man, and wise, against whom no one amongst us can cast an imputation; and thou wert wont to write down the inspired revelations of the prophet of the lord, wherefore now search out the qurán and bring it all together." zeid being at length pressed to undertake the task proceeded to gather the qurán together from "date leaves, and tablets of white stone, and from the hearts of men." in course of time it was all compiled in the order in which the book is now arranged. this was the authorized text for some twenty-three years after the death of muhammad. owing, however, either to different modes of recitation, or to differences of expression in the sources from which zeid's first recension was made, a variety of different readings crept into the copies in use. the faithful became alarmed and the khalíf osmán was persuaded to put a stop to such a danger. he appointed zeid with three of the leading men of the quraish as assistants to go over the whole work again. a careful recension was made of the whole book which was then assimilated to the meccan dialect, the purest in arabia. after this all other copies of the qurán were burnt by order of the khalíf, and new transcripts were made of the revised edition which was now the only authorised copy. as it is a fundamental tenet of islám that the qurán is incorruptible and absolutely free { } from error, no little difficulty has been felt in explaining the need of osmán's new and revised edition and of the circumstances under which it took place; but as usual a tradition has been handed down which makes it lawful to read the qurán in seven dialects. the book in its present form may be accepted as a genuine reproduction of abu bakr's edition with authoritative corrections. we may rest assured that we have in the qurán now in use the record of what muhammad said. it thus becomes a fundamental basis of islám. it was a common practice of the early muslims when speaking of the prophet to say:--"his character is the qurán." when people curious to know details of the life of their beloved master asked 'Áyesha, one of his widows, about him, she used to reply:--"thou hast the qurán, art thou not an arab and readest the arab tongue? why dost thou ask me, for the prophet's disposition is no other than the qurán?" whether muhammad would have arranged the qurán as we now have it is a subject on which it is impossible to form an opinion. there are traditions which seem to show that he had some doubts as to its completeness. i give the following account on the authority of m. caussin de percival. when muhammad felt his end draw near he said:--"bring ink and paper: i wish to write to you a book to preserve you always from error." but it was too late. he could not write or dictate and so he said:--"may the qurán always be your guide. perform what it commands you: avoid what it prohibits." the genuineness of the first part of this tradition is, i think, very doubtful, the latter is quite in accordance with the prophet's claim for his teaching. the letter of the book became, as muhammad intended it should become, a despotic influence in the muslim world, a barrier to freethinking on the part of all the orthodox, an obstacle to innovation in all spheres--political, social, intellectual and moral. there are many topics connected with it which can be better explained in the next chapter. all { } that has now to be here stated is that the qurán is the first foundation of islám. it is an error to suppose it is the only one: an error which more than anything else has led persons away from the only position in which they could obtain a true idea of the great system of islám. the shía'hs maintain, without good reason, that the following verses favourable to the claims of 'alí and of the shía'h faction were omitted in osmán's recension. "o believers! believe in the two lights. (muhammad and 'alí). 'alí is of the number of the pious, we shall give him his right in the day of judgment; we shall not pass over those who wish to deceive him. we have honoured him above all this family. he and his family are very patient. their enemy[ ] is the chief of sinners. we have announced to thee a race of just men, men[ ] who will not oppose our orders. my mercy and peace are on them living[ ] or dead. as to those who walk in their way, my mercy is on them; they will certainly gain the mansions of paradise." . the sunnat.--the second foundation of islám is based on the hadís (plural ahádís) or tradition. commands from god given in the qurán are called 'farz' and 'wájib.' a command given by the prophet or an example set by him is called 'sunnat,' a word meaning a rule. it is then technically applied to the basis of religious faith and practice, which is founded on traditional accounts of the sayings and acts of muhammad.[ ] it is the belief common to all musalmáns, that the prophet in all that he _did_, and in all that he _said_, was supernaturally guided, and that his words and acts are to all time and to all his followers a divine rule of faith and practice. "we should know that god almighty has given commands and prohibitions to his { } servants, either by means of the qurán, or by the mouth of his prophet."[ ] al-ghazáli, a most distinguished theologian, writes:--"neither is the faith according to his will, complete by the testimony to the unity alone, that is, by simply saying, 'there is but one god,' without the addition of the further testimony to the apostle, that is, the statement, 'muhammad is the apostle of god.'" this belief in the prophet must extend to all that he has said concerning the present and the future life, for, says the same author, "a man's faith is not accepted till he is fully persuaded of those things which the prophet hath affirmed shall be after death." it is often said that the wahhábís reject tradition. in the ordinary sense of the word tradition they may; but in muslim theology the term hadís, which we translate tradition, has a special meaning. it is applied only to the sayings of the prophet, not to those of some uninspired divine or teacher. the wahhábís reject the traditions handed down by men who lived after the time of the companions, but the hadís, embodying the sayings of the prophet, they, in common with _all_ muslim sects, hold to be an inspired revelation of god's will to men. it would be as reasonable to say that protestants reject the four gospels as to say that the wahhábís reject tradition.[ ] an orthodox muslim places the gospels in the same rank as the hadís, that is, he looks upon them as a record of what jesus said and did handed down to us by his companions. "in the same way as other prophets received their books under the form of ideas, so our prophet has in the same way received a great number of communications which are found in the collections of the { } traditions (ahádís).[ ] this shows that the sunnat must be placed on a level with the jewish and christian scriptures; whilst the qurán is a revelation superior to them all. to no sect of musalmáns is the qurán alone the rule of faith. the shía'hs, it is true, reject the sunnat, but they have in their own collection of traditions an exact equivalent. the nature of the inspiration of the sunnat and its authoritative value are questions of the first importance, whether islám is viewed from a theological or a political stand-point. "muhammad said that seventy-three sects would arise, of whom only one would be worthy of paradise. the companions inquired which sect would be so highly favoured. the prophet replied:--'the one which remains firm in my way and in that of my friends.' it is certain that this must refer to the ahl-i-sunnat wa jamá'at." (sunnís.)[ ] it is laid down as a preliminary religious duty that obedience should be rendered to the sunnat of the prophet. thus in the fourth súra of the qurán it is written: "o true believers! obey god and obey the apostle." "we have not sent any apostle but that he might be obeyed by the permission of god." from these and similar passages the following doctrine is deduced: "it is plain that the prophet (on whom and on whose descendants be the mercy and peace of god!) is free from sin in what he ordered to be done, and in what he prohibited, in all his words and acts; for were it otherwise how could obedience rendered to him be accounted as obedience paid to god?"[ ] believers are exhorted to render obedience to god by witnessing to his divinity, and to the prophet by bearing witness to his prophetship; this is a sign of love, and love is the cause of nearness to god. the prophet himself is reported to have { } said, "obey me that god may regard you as friends." from this statement the conclusion is drawn that "the love of god (to man) is conditional on obedience to the prophet." belief in and obedience to the prophet are essential elements of the true faith, and he who possesses not both of these is in error.[ ] in order to show the necessity of this obedience, god is said to have appointed muhammad as the mediator between himself and man. in a lower sense, believers are to follow the "sunnat" of the four khalífs, abu bakr, omar, osmán, and 'alí, who are true guides to men. to the muslim all that the prophet did was perfectly in accord with the will of god. moral laws have a different application when applied to him. his jealousy, his cruelty to the jewish tribes, his indulgence in licentiousness, his bold assertion of equality with god as regards his commands, his every act and word, are sinless, and a guide to men as long as the world shall last. it is easy for an apologist for muhammad to say that this is an accretion, something which engrafted itself on to a simpler system. it is no such thing. it is rather one of the essential parts of the system. let muhammad be his own witness:--"he who loves not my sunnat is not my follower." "he who revives my sunnat revives me, and will be with me in paradise." "he who in distress holds fast to the sunnat will receive the reward of a hundred martyrs." as might be expected, the setting up of his own acts and words as an infallible and unvarying rule of faith accounts more than anything else for the immobility of the muhammadan world, for it must be always remembered that in islám church and state are one. the arab proverb, "al mulk wa dín tawáminí"--country and religion are twins--is the popular form of expressing the unity of church and state. { } to the mind of the musalmán the rule of the one is the rule of the other,--a truth sometimes forgotten by politicians who look hopefully on the reform of turkey or the regeneration of the house of osmán. the sunnat as much as the qurán covers all law, whether political, social, moral, or religious. a modern writer who has an intimate acquaintance with islám says:--"if islám is to be a power for good in the future, it is imperatively necessary to cut off the social system from the religion. the difficulty lies in the close connection between the religious and social ordinances in the kurán, the two are so intermingled that it is hard to see how they can be disentangled without destroying both." i believe this to be impossible, and the case becomes still more hopeless when we remember that the same remark would apply to the sunnat. to forget this is to go astray, for ibn khaldoun distinctly speaks of "the law derived from the qurán and the sunnat," of the "maxims of musalmán law based on the text of the qurán and the teaching of the traditions."[ ] the prophet had a great dread of all innovation. the technical term for anything new is "bida't," and of it, it is said: "bida't is the changer of sunnat." in other words, if men seek after things new, if fresh forms of thought arise, and the changing condition of society demands new modes of expression for the faith, or new laws to regulate the community, if in internals or externals, any new thing (bida't) is introduced, it is to be shunned. the law as revealed in the qurán and the sunnat is perfect. everything not in accordance with the precepts therein contained is innovation, and all innovation is heresy. meanwhile some { } "bida't" is allowable, such as the teaching of etymology and syntax, the establishment of schools, guest-houses, &c., which things did not exist in the time of the prophet; but it is distinctly and clearly laid down that compliance with the least sunnat (_i.e._ the obeying the least of the orders of the prophet, however trivial) is far better than doing some new thing, however advantageous and desirable it may be. there are many stories which illustrate the importance the companions of the prophet attached to sunnat. "the khalíf omar looked towards the black stone at mecca, and said, 'by god, i know that thou art only a stone, and canst grant no benefit, canst do no harm. if i had not known that the prophet kissed thee, i would not have done so, but on account of that i do it.'" abdullah-ibn-'umr was seen riding his camel round and round a certain place. in answer to an inquiry as to his reason for so doing he said: "i know not, only i have seen the prophet do so here." ahmad-ibn-hanbal, one of the four great imáms, and the founder of the hanbalí school of interpretation, is said to have been appointed on account of the care with which he observed the sunnat. one day when sitting in an assembly he alone of all present observed some formal custom authorised by the practice of the prophet. gabriel at once appeared and informed him that now, and on account of his act, he was appointed an imám.[ ] in short, it is distinctly laid down that the best of all works is the following of the practice of muhammad. the essence of religion has been stated by a learned theologian to consist of three things: first, to follow the prophet in morals and in acts; secondly, to eat only lawful food; thirdly, to be sincere in all actions. { } the sunnat is now known to musalmáns through the collections of traditions gathered together by the men whose names they now bear. the whole are called sihah-sittah, or "six correct books." not one of these collectors flourished until the third century of the hijra, and so, as may be easily supposed, their work has not passed unchallenged. there is by no means an absolute consensus of opinion among the sunnís as to the exact value of each tradition, yet all admit that a 'genuine tradition' must be obeyed. whether the prophet spoke what in the traditions is recorded as spoken by him under the influence of the highest kind of inspiration is, as will be shown in the next chapter, a disputed point; but it matters little. whatever may have been the degree, it was according to muslim belief a real inspiration, and thus his every act and word became a law as binding upon his followers as the example of christ is upon christians. the shía'hs do not acknowledge the sihah-sittah, the six correct books of the sunnís, but it by no means follows that they reject tradition. they have five books of traditions, the earliest of which was compiled by abu ja'far muhammad a.h. , or a century later than the sahíh-i-bukhárí, the most trustworthy of the sunní set. thus all musalmán sects accept the first and second ground of the faith--the qurán and the sunnat--as the inspired will of god; the shía'hs substituting in the place of the traditions on which the sunnat is based, a collection of their own. what it is important to maintain is this, that the qurán alone is to no musalmán an all-sufficient guide. . ijmÁ'.--the third foundation of the faith is called ijmá', a word signifying to be collected or assembled. technically it means the unanimous consent of the leading theologians, or what in christian theology would be called the "unanimous consent of the fathers." practically it is a collection of the opinions of the companions, the tábi'ín and the taba-i-tábi'ín. "the law," says ibn khaldoun { } "is grounded on the general accord of the companions and their followers." the election of abu bakr to the khalifate is called ijmá'-i-ummat, the unanimous consent of the whole sect. the companions of the prophet had special knowledge of the various circumstances under which special revelations had been made; they alone knew which verses of the qurán abrogated others, and which verses were thus abrogated. the knowledge of these matters and many other details they handed on to their successors, the tábi'ín, who passed the information on to their followers, the taba-i-tábi'ín. some muslims, the wahhábís for example, accept only the ijmá' of the companions; and by all sects that is placed in the first rank as regards authority; others accept that of the 'fugitives' who dwelt at madína; and there are some amongst the orthodox who allow, as a matter of theory, that ijmá' may be collected at any time, but that practically it is not done because there are now no mujtahidín. the highest rank a muslim theologian could reach was that of a mujtahid, or one who could make an ijtihád, a word which, derived from the same root as jihád (a crescentade), means in its technical sense a logical deduction. it is defined as the "attaining to a certain degree of authority in searching into the principles of jurisprudence." the origin of ijtihád was as follows:--muhammad wished to send a man named mu'áz to yaman to receive some money collected for alms, which he was then to distribute to the poor. on appointing him he said: "o mu'áz, by what rule will you act?" he replied, "by the law of the qurán." "but if you find no direction therein?" "then i will act according to the sunnat of the prophet." "but what if that fails?" "then i will make an ijtihád and act on that." the prophet raised his hands and said, "praise be to god who guides the messenger of his prophet in what he pleases."[ ] this is considered a proof of the authority of ijtihád for the prophet clearly sanctioned it. { } when the prophet was alive men could go to him with their doubts and fears: an infallible authority was always present ready to give an inspired direction. the khalífs who succeeded the prophet had only to administer the law according to the opinions which they knew muhammad had held. they were busily engaged in carrying on the work of conquest; they neither attempted any new legislation, nor did they depart from the practice of him whom they revered. "in the first days of islám, the knowledge of the law was purely traditional. in forming their judgments they had no recourse either to speculation, to private opinion, or to arguments founded upon analogy."[ ] however, as the empire grew, new conditions of life arose, giving rise to questions, concerning which muhammad had given no explicit direction. this necessitated the use of ijtihád. during the khalifates of abu bakr, omar, osmán and 'alí--the khulafa-i-ráshidín, or the khalífs who could guide men in the right way, the custom was for the faithful to consult them as to the course of action to be pursued under some new development of circumstances; for they knew as none other did the prophet's sayings and deeds, they could recall to their memories a saying or an act from which a decision could be deduced. in this way all muslims could feel that in following their judgments and guidance they were walking in the right path. but after the death of 'alí, the fourth khalíf, civil war and hostile factions imperilled the continuance of the faith in its purity. at madína, where muhammad's career as a recognised prophet was best known, devout men commenced to learn by heart the qurán, the sunnat, and the analogical judgments (ijtihád) of the four khalífs. these men were looked up to as authorities, and their decisions were afterwards known as the 'customs of madína.' it is not difficult to see that a system, which sought to regulate all departments of life, all developments of men's ideas and energies by the sunnat and analogical deductions { } therefrom, was one which not only gave every temptation a system could give to the manufacture of tradition, but one which would soon become too cumbersome to be of practical use. hence, it was absolutely necessary to systematize all this incoherent mass of tradition, of judgments given by khalífs and mujtahidín. this gave rise to the systems of jurisprudence, founded by the four orthodox imáms, to one or other of which all muslims, except the shía'hs, belong. these imáms, abu hanífa, ibn málik, as-sháfi'i and ibn hanbal were all mujtahidín of the highest rank. after them it is the orthodox belief that there has been no mujtahid. thus in a standard theological book much used in india it is written: "ijmá' is this, that it is not lawful to follow any other than the four imáms." "in these days the qází must make no order, the muftí give no fatvá (_i.e._ a legal decision), contrary to the opinion of the four imáms." "to follow any other is not lawful." so far then as orthodoxy is concerned, change and progress are impossible. imám abu hanífa was born at basra (a.h. ), but he spent the greater part of his life at kúfa. he was the founder and teacher of the body of legists known as 'the jurists of irák.' his system differs considerably from that of the imám málik who, living at madína, confined himself chiefly to tradition as the basis of his judgments. madína was full of the memories of the sayings and acts of the prophet; kúfa, the home of hanífa, on the contrary, was not founded till after the prophet's death and so possessed none of his memories. islám there came into contact with other races of men, but from them it had nothing to learn. if these men became muslims, well and good: if not, the one law for them as for the faithful was the teaching of muhammad. various texts of the qurán are adduced to prove the correctness of this position. "for to thee have we sent down the book which cleareth up every thing." (súra xvi. ) "nothing have we passed over in the book." (súra vi. { } .) "neither is there a grain in the darkness of the earth nor a thing green or sere, but it is noted in a distinct writing." (súra vi. ). these texts were held to prove that all law was provided for by anticipation in the qurán. if a verse could not be found bearing on any given question, analogical deduction was resorted to. thus: "he it is who created _for you_ all that is on earth." (súra ii. ). according to the hanifite jurists, this is a deed of gift which annuls all other rights of property. the 'you' refers to muslims. the earth[ ] may be classified under three heads:--( ) land which never had an owner; ( ) land which had an owner and has been abandoned; ( ) the person and property of the infidels. from the last division the same legists deduce the lawfulness of slavery, piracy and constant war against the unbelievers. to return to abu hanífa. he admitted very few traditions as authoritative in his system, which claims to be a logical development from the qurán. "the merit of logical fearlessness cannot be denied to it. the wants and wishes of men, the previous history of a country--all those considerations, in fact, which are held in the west to be the governing principles of legislation, are set aside by the legists of irák as being of no account whatever. legislation is not a science inductive and experimental, but logical and deductive."[ ] imám ibn málik was born at madína (a.h. ) and his system of jurisprudence is founded, as might be expected from his connection with the sacred city, on the "customs of madína." his business was to arrange and systematize the traditions current in madína, and to form out of them and the "customs" a system of jurisprudence embracing the whole sphere of life. the treatise composed by him was called the "muwatta" or "the beaten path." the greater part of its contents are legal maxims and opinions { } delivered by the companions. his system of jurisprudence, therefore, has been described as historical and traditional. in an elegy on his death by abu muhammad ja'far it is said: "his traditions were of the greatest authority; his gravity was impressive; and when he delivered them, all his auditors were plunged in admiration."[ ] the traditions were his great delight. "i delight," said he, "in testifying my profound respect for the sayings of the prophet of god, and i never repeat one unless i feel myself in a state of perfect purity,"[ ] (_i.e._, after performing a legal ablution.) as death approached, his one fear was lest he should have exercised his private judgment in delivering any legal opinion. in his last illness a friend went to visit him, and enquiring why he wept, received the following answer: "why should i not weep, and who has more right to weep than i? by allah! i wish i had been flogged and reflogged for every question of law on which i pronounced an opinion founded on my own private judgment."[ ] imám as-sháfa'í, a member of the quraish tribe, was born a.h. . he passed his youth at mecca but finally settled in cairo where he died (a.h. ). ibn khallikan relates of him that he was unrivalled for his knowledge of the qurán, the sunnat, and the sayings of the companions. "never," said imám ibn hanbal, "have i passed a night without praying for god's mercy and blessing upon as-sháfi'í." "whosoever pretends," said abu thaur, "that he saw the like of as-sháfi'í for learning is a liar." having carefully studied the systems of the two preceding imáms he then proceeded on an eclectic system to form his own. it was a reaction against the system of abu hanífa. as-sháfi'í follows rather the traditional plan of ibn málik. the hanifite will be satisfied if, in the absence of a clear and a direct statement, he finds one { } passage in the qurán, or one tradition from which the required judgment may be deduced. the sháfi'ite in the same circumstances, if tradition is the source of his deduction, will require a considerable number of traditions from which to make it. imám ibn hanbal was the last of the four orthodox imáms. he was born at baghdád (a.h. ). his system is a distinct return to traditionalism. he lived at baghdád during the reign of the khalíf mamun, when orthodox islám seemed in danger of being lost amid the rationalistic speculations, (that is, from an orthodox muslim stand-point), and licentious practices of the court. the jurists most in favour at court were followers of abu hanífa. they carried the principle of analogical deduction to dangerous lengths in order to satisfy the latitudinarianism of the khalíf. human speculation seemed to be weakening all the essentials of the faith. ibn hanbal met the difficulty by discarding altogether the principle of analogical deduction. at the same time he saw that the máliki system, founded as it was on the "customs of madína," was ill-suited to meet the wants of a great and growing empire. it needed to be supplemented. what better, what surer ground could he go upon than the traditions. these at least were inspired, and thus formed a safer foundation on which to build a system of jurisprudence than the analogical deductions of abu hanífa did. the system of ibn hanbal has almost ceased to exist. there is now no muftí of this sect at mecca, though the other three are represented there. still his influence is felt to this day in the importance he attached to tradition. the distinction between the four imáms has been put in this way. abu hanífa exercised his own judgment. málik and hanbal preferred authority and precedent. as-sháfi'í entirely repudiated reason. they differ, too, as regards the value of certain traditions, but to each of them an authentic tradition is an incontestable authority. their { } opinion on points of doctrine and practice forms the third basis of the faith. the ijmá' of the four imáms is a binding law upon all sunnís. it might be supposed that as the growing needs of the empire led to the formation of these schools of interpretation; so now the requirements of modern, social and political life might be met by fresh imáms making new analogical deductions. this is not the case. the orthodox belief is, that since the time of the four imáms there has been no mujtahid who could do as they did. if circumstances should arise which absolutely require some decision to be arrived at, it must be given in full accordance with the 'mazhab,' or school of interpretation, to which the person framing the decision belongs.[ ] this effectually prevents all change, and by excluding innovation, whether good or bad, keeps islám stationary. legislation is now purely deductive. nothing must be done contrary to the principles contained in the jurisprudence of the four imáms. "thus, in any muhammadan state legislative reforms are simply impossible. there exists no initiative. the sultán, or khalíf can claim the allegiance of his people only so long as he remains the exact executor of the prescriptions of the law." the question then as regards the politics of the "eastern { } question" is not whether muhammad was a deceiver or self-deceived, an apostle or an impostor; whether the qurán is on the whole good or bad; whether arabia was the better or the worse for the change muhammad wrought; but what islám as a religious and political system has become and is, how it now works, what orthodox muslims believe and how they act in that belief. the essence of that belief is, that the system as taught by prophet, khalífs and imáms is absolutely perfect.[ ] innovation is worse than a mistake. it is a crime, a sin. this completeness, this finality of his system of religion and polity, is the very pride and glory of a true muslim. to look for an increase of light in the knowledge of his relation to god and the unseen world, in the laws which regulate islám on earth is to admit that muhammad's revelation was incomplete, and that admission no muslim will make. it has been stated on high authority that all that is required for the reform of turkey is that the qánúns or orders of the sultán should take the place of the sharí'at or law of islám. precisely so; if this could be done, turkey might be reformed; but islám would cease to be the religion of the state. that the law as formulated by the imám abu hanífa ill suits the conditions of modern life is more than probable; but it is the very function of the khalíf of islám, { } which the sultán claims to be, to maintain it. he is no mujtahid, for such there are not now amongst the sunnís, to which sect the turks belong. if through stress of circumstances some new law must be made, orthodoxy demands that it should be strictly in accordance with the opinions of the imáms. the shía'hs, in opposition to the sunnís, hold that there are still mujtahidín, but this opinion arises from their peculiar doctrine of the imámat, a subject we shall discuss a little later on. at first sight it would seem that if there can be mujtahidín who are now able to give authoritative opinions, there may be some hope of enlightened progress amongst shía'h people--the persians for example. there is doubtless amongst them more religious unrest, more mysticism, more heresy, but they are no further on the road of progress than their neighbours; and the apparent advantage of the presence of a mujtahid is quite nullified by the fact that all his decisions must be strictly in accordance with the qurán and the sunnat, or rather with what to the shía'h stands in the place of the sunnat. the shía'h, as well as the sunní, must base all legislation on the fossilized system of the past, not on the living needs of the present. precedent rules both with an iron sway. the wahhábís reject all ijmá' except that of the companions, but that they accept; so when they are called the puritans of islám, it must be remembered that they accept as a rule of faith not only the qurán, but the sunnat, and some ijmá'. in order to make ijmá' binding, it is necessary that the mujtahidín should have been unanimous in their opinion or in their practice. the whole subject of ijtihád is one of the most important in connection with the possibility of reforms in a muslim state. a modern muhammadan writer[ ] seeking to show that islám does possess a capacity for progress and that so far from being a hard and fast system, it is able to adapt itself to new circumstances, because the prophet ushered in { } "an age of active principles," uses the story i have already related when describing the origin of ijtihád (ante. p. ) to prove the accuracy of his statement. he makes mu'áz to say:--"i will look first to the qurán, then to precedents of the prophet, and lastly rely upon my _own judgment_." it is true that ijtihád literally means 'great effort,' it is true that the companions and mujtahidín of the first class had the power of exercising their judgment in doubtful cases, and of deciding them according to their sense of the fitness of things, provided always, that their decision contravened no law of the qurán or the sunnat; but this in no way proves that islám has any capacity for progress, or that "an age of active principles" was ushered in by muhammad, or that his "words breathe energy and force, and infuse new life into the dormant heart of humanity." for, though the term ijtihád might, in reference to the men i have mentioned, be somewhat freely translated as "one's own judgment," it can have no such meaning now. it is a purely technical term, and its use and only use now is to express the "referring of a difficult case to some analogy drawn from the qurán and the sunnat." but even were the meaning not thus restricted, even though it meant now as it sometimes meant at first, "one's own judgment;" still syed amír 'alí's position would remain to be proved for, since the days of the four imáms, the orthodox believe that there has been no mujtahid of the first class, and to none but men of this rank has such power ever been accorded. thus granting, for the sake of argument merely, that the syed's translation is grammatically and technically correct, all that results from it is that the "age of active principles" lasted only for two centuries. i do not admit that there ever was such an age in islám, and certainly neither its theological development, nor its political growth negative the opposite assertion, _viz._, that muhammad gave precepts rather than principles. the turks are included in "the dormant heart of humanity," but it is difficult to see what "energy and { } force" is breathed, what "new life is infused" into them by the "wonderful words" of the prophet, or what lasting good the "age of active principles" has produced. . qÍÁs is the fourth foundation of islám. the word literally means reasoning, comparing. it is in common use in hindustani and persian in the sense of guessing, considering, &c. technically, it means the analogical reasoning of the learned with regard to the teaching of the qurán, the sunnat and the ijmá'. for example, the qurán says:--"honour thy father and thy mother and be not a cause of displeasure to them." it is evident from this that disobedience to parents is prohibited, and prohibition implies punishment if the order is disobeyed. again, if the qurán and the sunnat hold children responsible, according to their means, for the debts of their father, does it not follow that the elder ones ought to fulfil for their parents all those obligations which for some reason or other the parents may not be able to perform, such as the pilgrimage to mecca, &c. a tradition said to come from the companions runs thus:--"one day, a woman came to the prophet and said, 'my father died without making the pilgrimage.' the prophet said, 'if thy father had left a debt what wouldest thou do,' 'i would pay the debt.' 'good, then pay this debt also.'" the qurán forbids the use of khamar, an intoxicating substance, and so it is argued that wine and opium are unlawful, though not forbidden by name. the wahhábís would extend the prohibition to the use of tobacco. from cases such as these, many jurisconsults hold that the mujtahidín of the earliest age established this fourth foundation of the faith which they call qíás. it is also called i'tibár-ul-amsál, or "imitation of an example." the idea is taken from the verse: "profit by this example, ye who are men of insight" (súra lix. ). there are strict rules laid down which regulate qíás, of which the most important is, that in all cases it must be based on the qurán, the sunnat, and the ijmá'. in fact, the fundamental idea of islám { } is that a perfect law has been given, even unto details, of social and political life. the teaching of muhammad contains the solution of every difficulty that can arise. every law not provided by the prophet must be deduced analogically. this produces uniformity after a fashion, but only because intellectual activity in higher pursuits ceases and moral stagnation follows. thus all who come within the range of this system are bound down to political servitude. whatever in feeling or conviction goes beyond the limits of an out-worn set of laws is swept away. there is a wonderful family likeness in the decay of all musalmán states, which seems to point to a common cause. all first principles are contained in the qurán and the sunnat; all that does not coincide with them must be wrong. they are above all criticism. qíás, then, affords no hope of enlightened progress, removes no fetter of the past, for in it there must be no divergence in principle from a legislation imperfect in its relation to modern life and stationary in its essence.[ ] in the niháyat-ul-murád it is written:--"we are shut up to following the four imáms." in the tafsír-i-ahmadí we read:--"to follow any other than the four imáms is unlawful." an objector may say that such respect is like the reverence the heathen pay to their ancestors. to this an answer is given in the preface to the tarjuma-i-sharh-i-waqáyah. the writer there says that it is nothing of the kind. "the mujtahidín are not the source of the orders of the law, but they are the medium by which we obtain the law. thus imám abu hanífa said: 'we select first from the qurán, then from the traditions, then from the decrees of the companions; we act on what the companions agreed upon; where they doubt, we doubt.' the commentator jelál-ud-dín mahlí says, 'the common people and others who have { } not reached the rank of a mujtahid, must follow one of the four imáms.' then when he enters one mazhab (sect) he must not change. again, it may be objected that god gave no order about the appointment of four imáms. now, it is recorded in a tradition that the prophet said, 'follow the way of the great company; whosoever departs from it will enter hell.' the followers of the imáms are a great company." it is moreover the unanimous opinion, the "ijmá'-i-ummat," that the imáms rightly occupy the position accorded to them. it is a great blessing, as we read in the tafsír-i-ahmadí: "it is of the grace of god, that we are shut up to these four imáms. god approves of this, and into this matter proofs and explanations do not enter." should any one further object that, in the days of the prophet, there were no mujtahidín, that each man acted on a "saying" as he heard it, that he did not confine his belief or conduct to the deductions made by some "appointed companion," he may be answered thus:--"for a long time after the death of the prophet many companions were alive, and consequently the traditions then current were trustworthy; but now it is not so, hence the need for the imáms and their systems." these four foundations,--the qurÁn, the sunnat, ijmÁ' and qÍÁs--form in orthodox muslim opinion and belief a perfect basis of a perfect religion and polity. they secure the permanence of the system, but they repress an intelligent growth. the bearing of all this on modern politics is very plain. take again the case of turkey. the constitution of the government is theocratic. the germs of freedom are wanting there as they have never been wanting in any other country in europe. the ruling power desires no change; originality of thought, independence of judgment is repressed. nothing good has the turk ever done for the world.[ ] this rule has been one continued display of brute { } force unrelieved by any of the reflected glory which shone for a while in cordova and in baghdád. no nation can possibly progress, the foundations of whose legal and theocratic system are what has been described in this chapter. when brought into diplomatic and commercial intercourse with states possessing the energy and vigour of a national life and liberal constitution, muslim kingdoms must, in the long run, fail and pass away. it has been well said that "spain is the only instance of a country once thoroughly infused with roman civilisation which has been actually severed from the empire; and even then the severance, though of long duration, was but partial and temporary. after a struggle of nearly eight centuries, the higher form of social organisation triumphed over the lower and the usurping power of islám was expelled." so it ought to be, and so indeed it must ever be, for despotism must give way to freedom; the life latent in the subject christian communities must sooner or later cast off the yoke of a barbarian rule, which even at its best is petrified and so is incapable of progress. however low a christian community may have fallen, there is always the possibility of its rising again. a lofty ideal is placed before it. all its most cherished beliefs point forward and upward. in islám there is no regenerative power. its golden age was in the past. when the work of conquest is done, when a muhammadan nation has to live by industry, intelligence and thrift, it always miserably fails. in this chapter which must now draw to a close, i have tried to prove from authentic and authoritative sources that { } the qurán alone is to no muslim the sole guide of life. the fetters of a dogmatic system fasten alike around the individual and the community. islám is sterile, it gives no new birth to the spirit of a man, leads him not in search of new forms of truth, and so it can give no real life, no lasting vitality to a nation.[ ] { } note to chapter i. ijtihÁd. questions connected with ijtihád are so important in islám, that i think it well to give in the form of a note a fuller and more technical account of it, than i could do in the chapter just concluded. this account which i shall now give is that of a learned musalmán, and is, therefore, of the highest value. it consists of extracts from an article in the journal asiatique, quatrième série, tome, , on "le marche et les progres de la jurisprudence parmi les sectes orthodoxes musalmanes" by mirza kázim beg, professor in the university of st. petersburg. it entirely supports all that has been said of the rigid character of muhammadan law, and of the immobility of systems founded thereon. "orthodox musalmáns admit the following propositions as axioms. . god the only legislator has shown the way of felicity to the people whom he has chosen, and in order to enable them to walk in that way he has shown to them the precepts which are found, partly in the eternal qurán, and partly in the sayings of the prophet transmitted to posterity by the companions and preserved in the sunnat. that way is called the "sharí'at." the rules thereof are called ahkám. . the qurán and the sunnat, which since their manifestation are the primitive sources of the orders of the law, form two branches of study, _viz._, ilm-i-tafsír, or the interpretation of the qurán and ilm-i-hadís, or the study of tradition. . all the orders of the law have regard either to the actions (dín), or to the belief (imán) of the mukallifs.[ ] . as the qurán and the sunnat are the principal sources from whence the precepts of the sharí'at have been drawn, so the rules recognized as the principal elements of actual jurisprudence are the subject of ilm-í-fiqh, or the science of law. fiqh in its root signifies conception, comprehension. thus muhammad prayed for ibn mas'úd: "may god make him { } comprehend (faqqihahu), and make him know the interpretation of the qurán." muhammad in his quality of judge and chief of the believers decided, without appeal or contradiction, all the affairs of the people. his sayings served as a guide to the companions. after the death of the prophet the first khalífs acted on the authority of the traditions. meanwhile the qurán and the sunnat, the principal elements of religion and legislation, became little by little the subject of controversy. it was then that men applied themselves vigorously to the task of learning by heart the qurán and the traditions, and then that jurisprudence became a separate science. no science had as yet been systematically taught, and the early musalmáns did not possess books which would serve for such teaching. a change soon, however, took place. in the year in which the great jurisconsult of syria died (a.h. ) n'imán bin sabit, surnamed abu hanífa was born. he is the most celebrated of the founders of the schools of jurisprudence, a science which ranks first in all muslim seats of learning. until that time and for thirty years later the mufassirs,[ ] the muhaddis,[ ] and the fuqihá,[ ] had all their knowledge by heart, and those who possessed good memories were highly esteemed. many of them knew by heart the whole qurán with the comments made on it by the prophet and by the companions; they also knew the traditions and their explanations, and all the commands (ahkám) which proceed from the qurán, and the sunnat. such men enjoyed the right of mujtahidín. they transmitted their knowledge to their scholars orally. it was not till towards the middle of the second century a.h. that treatises on the different branches of the law were written, after which six schools (mazhabs) of jurisprudence were formed. the founders, all imáms of the first class, were abu hanífa, the imám-i-a'zam or great imám (a.h. ),[ ] safian as-sáurí (a.h. ), málik (a.h. ), as-sháfa'í (a.h. ), hanbal (a.h. ) and imám dáúd az-zaharí (a.h. ). the two sects founded by sáurí and zaharí became extinct in the eighth century of the hijra. the other four still remain. these men venerated one another. the younger ones speak with great respect of the elder. thus sháfa'í said:--"no one in the world was so well versed in jurisprudence as abu hanífa was, and he who has read neither his works, nor those of his disciples knows nothing of jurisprudence." hanbal when sick wore a shirt which had belonged to sháfa'í, in order that he might be cured of his malady; but all this { } did not prevent them starting schools of their own, for the right of ijtihád is granted to those who are real mujtahidín. there are three degrees of ijtihád. . al-ijtihád fi'l shari': absolute independence in legislation . al-ijtihád fi'l mazhab: authority in the judicial systems founded by the mujtahidín of the first class. . al-ijtihád fi'l masáil: authority in cases which have not been decided by the authors of the four systems of jurisprudence. the first is called a complete and absolute authority, the second relative, the third special. the first degree of ijtihÁd. absolute independence in legislation is the gift of god. he to whom it is given when seeking to discover the meaning of the divine law is not bound to follow any other teacher. he can use his own judgment. this gift was bestowed on the jurisconsults of the first, and to some in the second and third centuries. the companions, however, who were closely connected with the prophet, having transmitted immediately to their posterity the treasures of legislation, are looked upon as mujtahidín of much higher authority than those of the second and third centuries. thus abu hanífa says:--"that which comes to us from the companions is on our head and eyes (_i.e._, to be received with respect): as to that which comes from the tábi'ín, they are men and we are men." since the time of the tábi'ín this degree of ijtihád has only been conferred on the six great imáms. theoretically any muslim can attain to this degree, but it is one of the principles of jurisprudence that the confirmation of this rank is dependent on many conditions, and so no one now gains the honour. these conditions are:-- . the knowledge of the qurán and all that is related to it; that is to say, a complete knowledge of arabic literature, a profound acquaintance with the orders of the qurán and all their sub-divisions, their relationship to each other and their connection with the orders of the sunnat. the candidate should know when, and why each verse of the qurán was written, he should have a perfect acquaintance with the literal meaning of the words, the speciality or generality of each clause, the abrogating and abrogated sentences. he should be able to make clear the meaning of the 'obscure' passages (mutashábih), to discriminate between the literal and the allegorical, the universal and the particular. . he must know the qurán by heart with all the traditions and explanations. { } . he must have a perfect knowledge of the traditions, or at least of three thousand of them. he must know their source, history, object and their connection with the laws of the qurán. he should know by heart the most important traditions. . a pious and austere life. . a profound knowledge of all the sciences of the law. should any one _now_ aspire to such a degree another condition would be added, _viz_:-- . a complete knowledge of the four schools of jurisprudence. the obstacles, then, are almost insurmountable. on the one hand, there is the severity of the 'ulamá, which requires from the candidate things almost impossible; on the other, there is the attachment of the 'ulamá to their own imáms, for should such a man arise no one is bound now to listen to him. imám hanbal said:--"draw your knowledge from whence the imáms drew theirs, and do not content yourself with following others for that is certainly blindness of sight". thus the schools of the four imáms remain intact after a thousand years have passed, and so the 'ulamá recognise since the time of these imáms no mujtahíd of the first degree. ibn hanbal was the last. the rights of the man who attained to this degree were very important. he was not bound to be a disciple of another, he was a mediator between the law and his followers, for whom he established a system of legislation, without any one having the right to make any objection. he had the right to explain the qurán, the sunnat and the ijmá' according as he understood them. he used the prophet's words, whilst his disciples only used his. should a disciple find some discrepancy between a decision of his own imám and the qurán or traditions, he must abide by the decision of the imám. the law does not permit him to interpret after his own fashion. when once the disciple has entered the sect of one imám he cannot leave it and join another. he loses the right of private judgment, for only a mujtahid of the first class can dispute the decision of one of the imáms. theoretically such mujtahidín may still arise; but, as we have already shown, practically they do not. the second degree of ijtihÁd. this degree has been granted to the immediate disciples of the great imáms who have elaborated the systems of their masters. they enjoyed the special consideration of the contemporary 'ulamá, and of their respective imáms who in some cases have allowed them { } to retain their own opinion.' the most famous of these men are the two disciples of abu hanífa, abu yúsuf and muhammad bin al hasan. in a secondary matter their opinion carries great weight. it is laid down as a rule that a muftí may follow the unanimous opinion of these two even when it goes against that of abu hanífa. the third degree of ijtihÁd. this is the degree of special independence. the candidates for it should have a perfect knowledge of all the branches of jurisprudence according to the four schools of the arabic language and literature. they can solve cases which come before them, giving reasons for their judgment, or decide on cases which have not been settled by previous mujtahidín; but in either case their decisions must always be in absolute accordance with the opinions of the mujtahidín of the first and second classes, and with the principles which guided them. many of these men attained great celebrity during their lifetime, but to most of them this rank is not accorded till after their death. since imám qází khán died (a.h. ), no one has been recognised by the sunnís as a mujtahid even of the third class. there are three other inferior classes of jurists, called muqallidín, or followers of the mujtahidín; but all that the highest in rank amongst them can do is to explain obscure passages in the writings of the older jurisconsults. by some of the 'ulamá they are considered to be equal to the mujtahidín of the third class. if there are several conflicting legal opinions on any point, they can select one opinion on which to base their decision. this a mere qází cannot do. in such a case he would have to refer to those men, or to their writings for guidance. they seem to have written commentaries on the legal systems without originating anything new. the author of the hidáyah, who lived at the end of the sixth century, was a muqallid. such is mirza kázim beg's account. the whole article, of which i have only given the main points, is worthy of the closest study. it shows how "the system, as a whole, rejects experience as a guide to deeper insight or wider knowledge; tramples upon the teaching of the past; pays no heed to differences of climate, character, or history; but regards itself as a body of absolute truth, one jot or tittle of which cannot be rejected without incurring the everlasting wrath of god."[ ] { } * * * * * chapter ii. exegesis of the qurÁn and the traditions. the following account of this branch of muslim theology, technically called 'ilm-i-usúl, may be introduced by a few remarks on the nature of inspiration according to islám, though that is not strictly speaking a portion of this study. there are two terms used to express different degrees of inspiration, wahí and ilhám. wahí is the term applied to the inspiration of the qurán, and implies that the very words are the words of god. it is divided into wahí záhir (external inspiration), and wahí bátin (internal inspiration). the whole book was prepared in heaven. muhammad, instructed by gabriel, is simply the medium through which the revelation of wahí záhir reaches man. the wahí qurán, _i.e._, the highest form of inspiration, always came to the ear of the prophet through the instrumentality of gabriel. in muhammadan theology, this is the special work of gabriel. thus in the traditions it is related that he appeared to adam twelve times, to enoch four, to noah fifty, to abraham forty-two, to moses four hundred, to jesus ten times, to muhammad twenty-four thousand times. ilhám means the inspiration given to a saint or to a prophet when he, though rightly guided, delivers the subject matter out of his own mind, and is not a mere machine to reproduce the messages of gabriel. there is a lower form of wahí záhir, which is called ishárat-ul-malak (literally, "sign of the angel.") this expresses what muhammad meant when he said: "the holy ghost has entered into my heart." in other words, he received the inspiration through { } gabriel, but not by word of mouth. this form of inspiration is higher than that possessed by saints, and is usually applied to the inspiration of the traditions. this is denied by some, who say that except when delivering the qurán muhammad spoke by ilhám and not by wahí. the practical belief is, however, that the traditions were wahí inspiration, and thus they come to be as authoritative as the qurán. sharastani speaks of "the signs (sayings) of the prophet which have the marks of wahí."[ ] this opinion is said by some muslim theologians to be supported by the first verse of the fifty-third súra, entitled the star. "by the star when it setteth; your companion muhammad _erreth not_, nor is he _led astray_, neither doth he _speak of his own will_. it is none other than a revelation which hath been revealed to him." in any case the inspiration of muhammad is something quite different from the christian idea of inspiration, which is to musalmáns a very imperfect mode of transmitting a revelation of god's will. that there should be a human as well as a divine side to inspiration is an idea not only foreign, but absolutely repugnant to muhammadans. the qurán is not a book of principles. it is a book of directions. the qurán describes the revelation given to moses thus:--"we wrote for him upon the tables a monition concerning every matter and said: 'receive them thyself with steadfastness, and command thy people to receive them for the observance of its most goodly precepts.'" (súra vii. ). it is such an inspiration as this the qurán claims for itself. muhammad's idea was that it should be a complete and final code of directions in every matter for all mankind. it is not the word of a prophet enlightened by god. it proceeds immediately from god, and the word 'say' or 'speak' precedes, or is understood to precede, every sentence. this to a muslim is the highest form of inspiration; this alone stamps a book as { } divine. it is acknowledged that the injíl--the gospel--was given by jesus; but as that, too, according to muslim belief, was brought down from heaven by the angel gabriel during the month of ramazán, it is now asserted that it has been lost, and that the four gospels of the new testament are simply traditions collected by the writers whose names they bear. their value is, therefore, that of the second foundation of the islámic system. the question next arises as to the exact way in which gabriel made known his message to muhammad. the mudárij-un-nabuwat, a standard theological work, gives some details on this point.[ ] though the qurán is all of god, both as to matter and form, yet it was not all made known to the prophet in one and the same manner. the following are some of the modes:-- . it is recorded on the authority of 'Áyesha, one of muhammad's wives, that a brightness like the brightness of the morning came upon the prophet. according to some commentators this brightness remained six months. in some mysterious way gabriel, through this brightness or vision, made known the will of god. . gabriel appeared in the form of dahiah, one of the companions of the prophet, renowned for his beauty and gracefulness. a learned dispute has arisen with regard to the abode of the soul of gabriel when he assumed the bodily form of dahiah. at times, the angelic nature of gabriel overcame muhammad, who was then translated to the world of angels. this always happened when the revelation was one of bad news, such as denunciations or predictions of woe. at other times, when the message brought by gabriel was one of consolation and comfort, the human nature of the prophet overcame the angelic nature of the angel, who, in such case, having assumed a human form, proceeded to deliver the message. { } . the prophet heard at times the noise of the tinkling of a bell. to him alone was known the meaning of the sound. he alone could distinguish in, and through it, the words which gabriel wished him to understand. the effect of this mode of wahí was more marvellous than that of any of the other ways. when his ear caught the sound his whole frame became agitated. on the coldest day, the perspiration, like beads of silver, would roll down his face. the glorious brightness of his countenance gave place to a ghastly hue, whilst the way in which he bent down his head showed the intensity of the emotion through which he was passing. if riding, the camel on which he sat would fall to the ground. the prophet one day, when reclining with his head in the lap of zeid, heard the well known sound: zeid, too, knew that something unusual was happening, for so heavy became the head of muhammad that it was with the greatest difficulty he could support the weight. . at the time of the mi'ráj, or night ascent into heaven, god spoke to the prophet without the intervention of an angel. it is a disputed point whether the face of the lord was veiled or not. . god sometimes appeared in a dream, and placing his hands on the prophet's shoulders made known his will. . twice, angels having each six hundred wings, appeared and brought the message from god. . gabriel, though not appearing in bodily form, so inspired the heart of the prophet that the words he uttered under its influence were the words of god. this is technically called ilká, and is by some supposed to be the degree of inspiration to which the traditions belong. above all, the prophet was not allowed to remain in any error; if, by any chance, he had made a wrong deduction from any previous revelation, another was always sent to rectify it. this idea has been worked up to a science of abrogation, according to which some verses of the qurán abrogate others. muhammad found it necessary to shift { } his stand-point more than once, and thus it became necessary to annul earlier portions of his revelation. thus in various ways was the revelation made known to muhammad. at first there seems to have been a season of doubt (ante p. ), the dread lest after all it might be a mockery. but as years rolled on confidence in himself and in his mission came. at times, too, there is a joyousness in his utterances as he swears by heaven and earth, by god and man; but more often the visions were weird and terrible. tradition says:--"he roared like a camel, the sound as of bells well-nigh rent his heart in pieces." some strange power moved him, his fear was uncontrollable. for twenty years or more the revelations came, a direction on things of heaven and of earth, to the prophet as the spiritual guide of all men,[ ] to the warrior-chief, as the founder of political unity among the arab tribes. a muhammadan student, after passing through a course of instruction in grammar, rhetoric, logic, law, and dogmatics, at length reaches the stage when he is permitted to enter upon the study of "'ilm-i-usúl," or the exegesis of the qurán, and the inspired sayings of the prophet. this done, he can henceforth read the approved commentaries in order to learn what the fathers of islám have to say. this science in one way fits him to be a commentator, for the work of a muslim divine now is, not to bring things "new and old" out of the sacred book, but to hand down to others the things old. there is no indwelling spirit in the church of islám which can reveal to the devout mind new views of truth, or lead the pious scholar on to deeper and more profound knowledge. the greatest proficient in theology is the man who can repeat the qurán by heart, who knows also and can reproduce at will what the early commentators have said, who can remember, and quote in the most apposite manner, the { } prophet's sayings preserved in the traditions handed down by the companions, their followers, and their followers' followers, who can point out a flaw in the isnád (_i.e._ chain of narrators) of a tradition quoted by an opponent, or maintain, by repeating the long list of names, the authority of the isnád of the tradition he quotes himself. a good memory, not critical acumen, is the great desideratum in a muslim theologian. the chief qualification of a háfiz, a man who can repeat the whole qurán by heart, is not that he shall understand its meaning, but that he shall be able to pronounce each word correctly. by men who are not arabs by birth, this is only to be attained after years of practice from childhood. the sunnís say that no shía'h can ever become a háfiz, from which fact they draw the conclusion that the shía'hs are heretics. in the early days of islám, the great authorities on the question of the correct pronunciation of the qurán were the khalífs abu bakr, omar, osmán, and 'alí, and ten of the companions, who learned from the prophet himself the exact way in which gabriel had spoken. the arabic of heaven was the arabic of islám. the effort, however, to preserve one uniform method of repeating the qurán failed. men of other lands could not acquire the pure intonation of mecca, and so no less than seven different ways of reading the sacred book became current. here was a great difficulty, but it proved surmountable. abu ibn káb, one of the companions, had become so famous as a reader that the prophet himself said: "read the qurán under abu ibn káb." these men remembered that abu ibn káb had stated, that one day when scandalized at man after man who entered the mosque repeating the qurán in different ways, he spoke to muhammad about it. his highness said: "o abu ibn káb! intelligence was sent to me to read the qurán in one dialect, and i was attentive to the court of god, and said: 'make easy the reading of the qurán to my sects.' these instructions were sent to me a second time saying: 'read the { } qurán in two dialects.' then i turned myself to the court of god saying: 'make easy the reading of the qurán to my sects.' then a voice was sent to me the third time saying: 'read the qurán in seven dialects.'" this removed all difficulty, and the foresight displayed by the prophet in thus obtaining a divine sanction for the various ways of reading was looked upon as a proof of his inspiration. thus arose the "haft qirá,at," or seven readings of the qurán, now recognised. in the qurán compiled by the order of the khalíf osmán there were no vowel-points, but when men of other countries embraced islám they found great difficulty in mastering arabic. khalid bin ahmad, a great grammarian, then invented the short vowels and other diacritical marks. the seven famous "readers" whose names have been given to the various modes of reading, are imám nafi of madína, imám ibn-i-kasir of mecca, imám abu 'umr of basra, imám hamza of kufa, imám ibn 'amir of syria, imám 'Ásim of kufa, imám kisáe of kufa.[ ] these learned men affixed different vowel-points in many places in the qurán, and thus slight differences of meaning arose. in india the "qirá,at--reading,--of imám 'Ásim is followed by both sunnís and shía'hs. there are three readings of lesser note allowable when reading the qurán privately, but not when reading any part in a liturgical service. during the month of ramazán the qurán is repeated every night in the mosque, it being so arranged that one-thirtieth part shall be recited each night. the imám of the mosque, or public reader, (qárí) who commences according to one of the seven recognised readings (qirá,at), must keep to the same all the month. as he has to recite without a book this involves a great exercise of the memory. a good háfiz will know the whole seven varieties. the various readings thus introduced, though { } unimportant in their nature,[ ] amount to about five hundred in number. the following are a few illustrations. in the second súra abu 'umr reads: "nor shall ye be questioned concerning that which _they_ have done;" but 'Ásim reads: "that which _ye_ have done." this is caused by putting two dots above the line instead of below it. again 'Ásim reads: "_enter ye_ the gates of hell" (súra xxxix. ), but nafi reads: "_ye will be made to enter_ hell,"--that is, by a slight change the passive is substituted for the active voice. these are fair samples of the rest. no doctrine, so far as i know, is touched, but the way in which tradition records the prophet's anticipation of the difficulty is instructive to the student of islám. at times, too, fierce disputes have arisen between the followers of the seven famous readers whose names i have given above. in the year a.h., ibn shanabud, a resident of baghdád, ventured to introduce some different readings in his recital of the qurán. the people of baghdád, not knowing these, were furious, and the khalíf was compelled to cast the offender into prison. a council of divines was called together, before whom the unhappy ibn shanabud was produced. for a while he maintained the correctness of his "readings," but after being whipped seven times he said: "i renounce my manner of reading, and in future i shall follow no other than that of the manuscript drawn up by the khalíf osmán, and that which is generally received."[ ] closely connected with this subject is the history of the rise of the science of grammar. as islám spread, it became necessary to expound the qurán to persons unacquainted with arabic. the science of grammar then became an important branch of study, and the collection of traditions a necessary duty. the faithful were for a long time in { } doubt as to the lawfulness of applying the laws of grammar to so sacred a book. there was no command in the book itself to do so, nor had the prophet given any directions on this point. it was then neither "farz" nor "sunnat," that is, neither a command based on the qurán nor one based on any saying or act of the prophet. the traditions, however, solve the difficulty. al mamun, the distinguished though heretical khalíf of baghdád, was a patron of al farra, the chief of grammarians. a distinguished pupil of his, abu'l 'abbás thalub, on his death-bed expressed his belief in the fact that the quránists, the traditionists, and others, had gained their heavenly reward, but he had been only a grammarian, and grammar after all was, in connection with the qurán, a science of doubtful legality. the friend to whom he told his doubts and fears went home and saw a vision. it is recorded that he had a vision in his sleep that very night, in which he saw the blessed prophet, who said to him: "give my greeting to abu'l 'abbás thalub, and say, 'thou art master of the superior science.'" the prophet had now spoken, and henceforth grammar became a lawful study in islám. muslims now quote the qurán as a perfect model of style; it may be well to remember that the rules have been made for it, and that, therefore, it is but natural that it should be perfect according to the present canons of arabic grammar.[ ] the question of the interpretation of the text speedily became a very important branch of the "'ilm-i-usúl." it is said that the qurán was brought from paradise by gabriel to muhammad as occasion required. the prophet was reproached for not having a complete revelation, and { } answered the reproach by the following verse, sent for the purpose. "the infidels say, 'unless the qurán be sent down to him all at once'--but in this way we establish thy heart in it, _in parcels have we parcelled it out to thee_" (súra xxv. ). the revelation thus given is entirely objective; it came to the ear of the prophet through the teaching of gabriel. "yet it is a glorious qurán, _written on the preserved table_." (súra lxxxv. ). gabriel addresses the prophet thus: "when we have _recited_ it then follow thou the _recital_." (súra lxxv. ). the external mode in which it came is referred to in the verse: "we have _sent down_ to thee an arabic qurán." (súra xx. ). the fragmentary way in which the qurán was given[ ] was not without its difficulties. some passages contradicted others, some were difficult to understand. to the prophet alone was the solution known. the knowledge he communicated to his immediate followers, the companions, as they are called, thus: "to thee have we sent down this book of monitions, that _thou mayest make clear to men_ what hath been sent down to them." (súra xvi. ). ibn khaldoun says: "the prophet unfolded the meaning, distinguished between abrogated and abrogating verses, { } and communicated this knowledge to his companions. it was from his mouth that they knew the meaning of the verses and the circumstances which led to each distinct revelation being made."[ ] the companions thus instructed became perfectly familiar with the whole revelation. this knowledge they handed down by word of mouth to their followers, the tába'ín, who in their turn passed it on to their followers the taba-i-tába'ín. the art of writing then became common, and the business of the commentator henceforth was to collect together the sayings of the companions thus handed down. criticism of a passage in the qurán was not his duty, criticism of a comment made on it by a companion was beyond his province: the first was too sacred to be touched, the second must be accepted if only the chain of narrators of the statement were perfect. thus early in the history of islám were the principles of exegesis fixed and settled. every word, every sentence, has now its place and class. the commentator has now only to reproduce what was written before,[ ] though he may in elucidation of the point, bring forth some tradition hitherto unnoticed, which would, however, be a difficult thing to do. it will thus be seen that anything like the work of a christian commentator, with all its fresh life and new ideas, is not to be had in islám. the perfection of its exegesis is its dogmatic and antique nature-- "while as the world rolls on from age to age, and realms of thought expand, the letter stands without expanse or range, stiff as a dead man's hand." the technical terms which the student must know, and { } the definitions of which he must understand, are those which relate to the nature of the words, the sentences, the use of the words of the qurán, and the deduction of arguments from passages in the book. i. the words of the qurán are divided into four classes. . _kháss_, or special words. these are sub-divided into three classes. first, words which relate to genus, _e.g._ mankind. secondly, words which relate to species, _e.g._ a man, which refers to men as distinguished from women. thirdly, words which relate to special individuality, _e.g._ zeid, which is the name of a special individual. . _'amm_, or common or collective names, such as "people." . _mushtarik_, or words which have several significations, as the arabic word "'ain," which may mean an eye, a fountain, or the sun. again, the word "sulát," if connected with god, may mean mercy, as "sulát ulláh," the mercy of god; if with man, it may mean either "namáz," a stated liturgical service, or "du'a," prayer in its ordinary sense, _e.g._ sulát-ul-istisqá (prayer in time of drought) is du'a, not namáz. . _muawwal_, words which have several significations, all of which are possible, and so a special explanation is required. for example, súra cviii. , reads thus in sale's translation. "wherefore pray unto the lord and _slay_ (the victims)." the word translated "slay" is in arabic "nahr," which has many meanings. the followers of the great legist abu hanífa render it, "sacrifice," and add the words (the "victims"). the followers of ibn sháfa'í say it means "placing the hands on the breast in prayer." this illustrates the difference between mushtarik and muawwal. in the former, only one meaning is allowable, and that meaning the context settles; in the latter both meanings are allowable and both right. these divisions of words having been well mastered and the power of defining any word in the qurán gained, the { } student passes on to consider the nature of the sentences. these are divided into two great classes,--the "obvious," and the "hidden." this division is referred to in the following passage of the qurán. "he it is who hath sent down to thee the book. some of its signs are of themselves _perspicuous_; these are the basis (literally "mother") of the book, and others are _figurative_. but they whose hearts are given to err follow its figures, craving discord, craving an interpretation; yet none know its interpretation, but god.[ ] and the stable in knowledge say: 'we believe in it, it is all from god.'" (súra iii. ). this has given rise to the division of the whole book into literal and allegorical statements. in order to explain these correctly the commentator must know ( ) the reason why, ( ) the place where, ( ) the time when, the particular passage he is expounding was revealed; he must know whether it abrogates or is abrogated, whether it is in its proper order and place or not; whether it contains its meaning within itself or needs the light which the context throws upon it; he must know all the traditions which bear upon it, and the authority for each such tradition. this effectually confines the order of commentators in the strict sense of the word to the companions, and supplies the reason why commentators since then simply reproduce their opinions.[ ] but to return from this digression. sentences are záhir--"obvious," or khafí--"hidden." obvious sentences are divided into four classes. i. ( ). _záhir_, or obvious, the meaning of which is so clear that he who hears it at once understands its meaning { } without seeking for any explanation. this kind of sentence may be abrogated. unless abrogated, action in accordance with it is to be considered as the express command of god. all penal laws and the rules regulating the substitution of one religious act for another, _e.g._ almsgiving instead of fasting, must be based on this, the clearest of the obvious sentences. ( ). _nass_, a word commonly used for a text of the qurán, but in its technical meaning here expressing what is meant by a sentence, the meaning of which is made clear by some word which occurs in it. the following sentence illustrates both záhir and nass: "take in marriage of such other women as please you, two, three, four." this sentence is záhir, because marriage is here declared lawful; it is nass, because the words "one, two, three, four," which occur in the sentence, show the unlawfulness of having more than four wives. ( ). _mufassir_, or explained. this is a sentence which needs some word in it to explain it and make it clear. thus: "and the angels prostrated themselves, all of them with one accord, save iblis (satan)." here the words "save iblis," show that he did not prostrate himself. this kind of sentence may be abrogated. ( ). _mukham_, or perspicuous. this is a sentence as to the meaning of which there can be no doubt, and which cannot be controverted, thus: "god knoweth all things." this kind of sentence cannot be abrogated. to act on such sentences without departing from the literal sense is the highest degree of obedience to god's command. the difference between these sentences is seen when there is a real or apparent contradiction between them. if such should occur, the first must give place to the second, and so on. thus mukham cannot be abrogated or changed by any of the preceding, or mufassir by nass, &c. the other great division of sentences is that of ii. ( ). _khafí_ or hidden. such are those sentences in { } which other persons or things are hidden beneath the plain meaning of a word or expression contained therein, as: "as for a thief, whether male or female, cut ye off their hands in recompense for their doings." (súra v. ). the word for thief is "sáriq," and in this passage it is understood to include highwaymen, pickpockets, plunderers of the dead, &c. these meanings are khafí or hidden under it. ( ). _muskhil_, or ambiguous, the following is given as an illustration: "and (their attendants) shall go round about them with vessels of silver and goblets. the bottles shall be bottles of silver." the difficulty here is that bottles are not made of silver, but of glass. the commentators say, however, that glass is dull in colour, though it has some lustre, whilst silver is white, and not so bright as glass. now it may be, that the bottles of paradise will be like glass bottles as regards their lustre, and like silver as regards their colour. but anyhow, it is very difficult to ascertain the meaning. ( .) _mujmal._ these are, first, sentences which may have a variety of interpretations, owing to the words in them being capable of several meanings; in that case the meaning which is given to the sentence in the traditions relating to it should be acted on and accepted. secondly, the sentence may contain some very rare word, and thus its meaning may be doubtful, as: "man truly is by creation hasty." (súra lxx. .) in this verse the word "halú'"--hasty--occurs. it is very rarely used, and had it not been for the following words, "when evil toucheth him, he is full of complaint; but when good befalleth him, he becometh niggardly," its meaning would not have been at all easy to understand. the following is an illustration of the first kind of _mujmal_ sentences: "stand for prayer (salát) and give alms," (zakát.) both salát and zakát are 'mushtarik' words. the people, therefore, did not understand this verse, so they applied to muhammad for an explanation. he explained to them that "salát" might mean the ritual of public prayer, { } standing to say the words "god is great," or standing to repeat a few verses of the qurán; or it might mean private prayer. the primitive meaning of "zakát" is growing. the prophet, however, fixed the meaning here to that of "almsgiving," and said, "give of your substance one-fortieth part." ( .) _mutashábih._ these are sentences so difficult that men cannot understand them, a fact referred to in súra iii. . (ante. p. ), nor will they do so until the day of resurrection. the prophet, however, knew their meaning. such portions are the letters a, l, m; a, l, r; y, a at the commencement of some of the súras.[ ] such expressions also as "god's hand," "the face of god," "god sitteth," &c., come under this category. the next point to be considered is the _use_ of words in the qurán, and here again the same symmetrical division into four classes is found, _viz_:-- ( .) _haqíqat_, that is, words which are used in their literal meaning, as "rukú'," a prostration, and "salát" in the sense of prayer. ( .) _majáz_, or words which are used in a figurative sense, as "salát" in the sense of "námáz" a liturgical service. ( .) _saríh_, or words the meaning of which is quite evident, as, "thou art _divorced_," "thou art _free_." ( .) _kinayáh_, or words which, being used in a metaphorical sense, require the aid of the context to make their meaning clear, as: "thou art separated," which may, as it { } stands alone, mean "thou art divorced." this class also includes all pronouns the meaning of which is only to be known from the context, _e.g._ one day the prophet not knowing who knocked at his door said, "who art thou?" the man replied, "it is i." muhammad answered, "why dost thou say i, i? say thy name that i may know who thou art." the pronoun "i" is here 'kinayáh.' the most important and most difficult branch of exegesis is "istidlál," or the science of deducing arguments from the qurán. this too is divided into four sections, as follows:-- ( .) _ibárat_, or the plain sentence. "mothers, after they are divorced, shall give suck unto their children two full years, and the father shall be obliged to maintain them and clothe them according to that which is reasonable." (súra ii. .) from this verse two deductions are made. first, from the fact that the word "them" is in the feminine plural, it must refer to the mothers and not to the children; secondly, as the duty of supporting the mother is incumbent on the father, it shows that the relationship of the child is closer with the father than with the mother. penal laws may be based on a deduction of this kind. ( .) _ishárat_, that is, a sign or hint which may be given from the order in which the words are placed. ( .) _dalálat_, or the argument which may be deduced from the use of some special word in the verse, as: "say not to your parents, "fie" (arabic "uff") (súra xvii. ). from the use of the word "uff," it is argued that children may not beat or abuse their parents. penal laws may be based on "dalálat," thus: "their aim will be to abet disorder on the earth; but god loveth not the abettors of disorder." (súra v. .) the word translated "aim" is in arabic literally yasa'úna, "they run." from this the argument is deduced that as highwaymen wander about, they are included amongst those whom "god loveth not," and that, therefore, the severest punishment may be given to { } them, for any deduction that comes under the head of "dalálat" is a sufficient basis for the formation of the severest penal laws. ( .) _iqtizá._ this is a deduction which demands certain conditions: "whosoever killeth a believer by mischance, shall be bound to free a believer from slavery." (súra iv. ). as a man has no authority to free his neighbour's slave, the condition here required, though not expressed, is that the slave should be his own property. the qurán is divided into:-- ( ). _harf_ (plural _hurúf_), letters. the numbers given by different authorities vary. in one standard book it is said that there are , letters. ( ). _kalima_ (plural _kalimát_), words, stated by some to amount to , ; by others to , . ( ). _Áyat_ (plural _Áyát_), verses. Áyat really means a sign, and was the name given by muhammad to short sections or verses of the qurán. the end of a verse is determined by the position of a small circle (.). the early qurán readers did not agree as to the position of these circles, and so five different ways of arranging them have arisen. this accounts for a variation in the number of verses in various editions. the varieties are:-- ( ). _kúfa_ verses. the readers in the city of kúfa say that they followed the custom of 'alí. their way of reckoning is generally adopted in india. they reckon , verses. ( ). _basra_ verses. the readers of basra follow 'asim bin hajjáj, a companion. they reckon , . ( ). _shámi_ verses. the readers in syria (shám) followed abd-ulláh bin 'umr, a companion. they reckon , verses. ( ). _mecca_ verses. according to this arrangement there are , verses. ( ). _madína_ verses. this way of reading contains , verses. { } in each of the above varieties the verse "bismilláh" (in the name of god) is not reckoned. it occurs times in the qurán. this diversity of punctuation does not generally affect the meaning of any important passage. the third verse of the third súra is an important exception. the position of the circle (.), the symbol denoting a full stop, in that verse is of the highest importance in connection with the rise of scholasticism ('ilm-i-kalám) in islám. most of the cases, however, are like the following:-- in súra xxvii. an account is given of the queen of sheba's receiving a letter from king solomon. addressing her nobles she said: "verily, kings, when they enter a city (by force) waste the same, and abase the most powerful of the inhabitants hereof: and so will (these) do (with us)." many readers put the full stop after the word "hereof," and say that god is the speaker of the words "and so will they do." ( ). _súra_, or chapter. the word súra means a row or series, such as a line of bricks arranged in a wall, but it is now exclusively used for chapters in the qurán. these are one hundred and fourteen in number. the súras are not numbered in the original arabic, but each one has some approximate name, (as baqr--the cow, nisá--women, &c.,) generally taken from some expression which occurs in it. they are not arranged in chronological order, but according to their length. as a general rule, the shorter súras which contain the theology of islám, belong to the meccan period of the prophet's career,[ ] and the longer ones relating chiefly to social duties and relationships, to the organisation of islám as a civil polity, to the time when he was consolidating his power at madína. the best way, therefore, to { } read the qurán, is to begin at the end. the attempt to arrange the súras in due order, is a very difficult one, and, after all, can only be approximately correct.[ ] carlyle referring to the confused mass of "endless iterations, long windedness, entanglement, most crude, incondite" says: "nothing but a sense of duty could carry any european through the qurán." when re-arranged the book becomes more intelligible. the chief tests for such re-arrangement are the style and the matter. there is a very distinct difference in both of these respects between the earlier and later súras. the references to historical events sometimes give a clue. individual súras are often very composite in their character, but, such as they are, they have been from the beginning. the recension made by zeid, in the reign of the khalíf osmán, has been handed down unaltered in its form. the only variations (qirá'at) now to be found in the text have been already noticed. they in no way affect the arrangements of the súras. . _sípára_ a thirtieth portion. this is a persian word derived from _sí_, thirty, and _pára_, a portion. the arabs call each of these divisions a _juz_. owing to this division, a pious man can recite the whole qurán in a month, taking one sípára each day. musalmáns never quote the qurán as we do by súra and Áyat, but by the sípára and rukú', a term i now proceed to explain. . _rukú'_ (plural _rukúát_). this word literally means a prostration made by a worshipper in the act of saying the prayers. the collection of verses recited from the qurán, ascriptions of praise offered to god, and various ritual acts connected with these, constitute one act of worship called a "rak'at." after reciting some verses in this form of prayer, the worshipper makes a _rukú'_, or prostration, the { } portion then recited takes the name of _rukú'_. tradition states that the khalíf osmán, when reciting the qurán during the month of ramazán, used to make twenty rak'ats each evening. in each rak'at he introduced different verses of the qurán, beginning with the first chapter and going steadily on. in this way he recited about two hundred verses each evening; that is, about ten verses in each rak'at. since then, it has been the custom to recite the qurán in this way in ramazán, and also to quote it by the rukú', _e.g._, "such a passage is in such a sípára and in such a rukú'." the following account of a rak'at will make the matter plain. when the faithful are assembled in the mosque, the imám, or leader, being in front facing the qibla, the service commences thus:--each worshipper stands and says the niyyat (literally "intention"), a form of words declaring his intention to say his prayers. he then says: "god is great." after this, looking downwards, he says: "holiness to thee, o god! and praise be to thee, great is thy name, great is thy greatness, there is no deity but thee." then follows: "i seek from god refuge from cursed satan." then the tasmiyah is repeated: "in the name of god, the compassionate and merciful." then follows the fátiha, that is, the short chapter at the commencement of the qurán. after this has been recited, the imám proceeds, on the first night of the month ramazán, with the first verse of the second chapter.[ ] after saying a few verses, he makes a rukú'; that is, he bends his head and body down, and places his hands on his knees. in this position he says: "god is great." then he repeats three times the words: "i extol the holiness of my lord, the great." he then stands up and says: "god hears him who praises him." to this the people respond: "o lord, thou art praised." again, falling on his knees, the worshipper says: "god is great." then he puts first his nose, and then his forehead on the { } ground and says three times: "i extol the holiness of my lord, the most high." then sitting on his heels, he says: "god is great;" and again repeats as before: "i extol, etc." he then rises and says: "god is great." this is one rak'at. on each night in the month of ramazán this is gone through twenty times, the only variation being that after the fátiha and before the first prostration, fresh verses of the qurán are introduced. the whole is, of course, done in arabic, in whatever country the worshippers may be. the name of the prostration (rukú') has been transferred to the portion of the qurán recited just before it is made. there are altogether rukúát. ( ). the other divisions are not important. they are, a _sumn_, _ruba'_, _nisf_, _suls_, that is one-eighth, one-fourth, one-half, one-third of a sípára respectively. in reciting the qurán the worshipper must be careful to say the "takbír," _i.e._ "god is great," after the several appointed places. such a place is after the recital of the rd súra. the custom arose in this way. the hypocrites came to the prophet and asked him to relate the story of the "seven sleepers." he said: "i will tell you to-morrow;" but he forgot to add the words "if god will." by way of warning, god allowed no inspiration to descend upon him for some days. then the hypocrites began to laugh and say: "god has left him." as it was not god's purpose to put his messenger to ridicule, the súra entitled "the brightness" (xciii) was immediately brought by the ever-ready gabriel. it begins: "by the brightness of the morning, and by the night when it groweth dark, _thy lord hath not forsaken thee_, neither doth he hate thee." in remembrance of this signal interposition of providence on his behalf, the prophet always concluded the recital of this súra with the words: "god is great." the practice thus became a "sunnat" obligation; that is, it should be done because the prophet did it. the doctrine of abrogation is a very important one in { } connection with the study of the qurán. it is referred to in the verses: "whatever verses we cancel or cause thee to forget, we give thee better in their stead, or the like thereof." (súra ii. ). this is a madína súra. "what he pleaseth will god abrogate or confirm; for with him is the source of revelation." (súra xiii. ). some verses which were cancelled in the prophet's life-time are not now extant. abdullah ibn masúd states that the prophet one day recited a verse, which he immediately wrote down. the next morning he found it had vanished from the material on which it had been written. astonished at this, he acquainted muhammad with the fact, and was informed that the verse in question had been revoked. there are, however, many verses still in the qurán, which have been abrogated. it was an exceedingly convenient doctrine, and one needed to explain the change of front which muhammad made at different periods of his career. certain rules have been laid down to regulate the practice. the verse which abrogates is called _núsikh_, and the abrogated verse _mansúkh_. _mansúkh_ verses are of three kinds:--first, where the words and the sense have both been abrogated; secondly, where the letter only is abrogated and the sense remains; thirdly, where the sense is abrogated though the letter remains. imám málik gives as an instance of the first kind the verse: "if a son of adam had two rivers of gold, he would covet yet a third; and if he had three he would covet yet a fourth. neither shall the belly of a son of adam be filled, but with dust. god will turn unto him who shall repent." the imám states that originally this verse was in the súra (ix.) called repentance. the verse, called the "verse of stoning" is an illustration of the second kind. it reads: "abhor not your parents for this would be ingratitude in you. if a man and woman of reputation commit adultery, ye shall stone them both; it is a punishment ordained by god; for god is mighty and wise." the khalíf omar says this verse was extant in muhammad's life-time but that it { } is now lost. but it is the third class which practically comes into 'ilm-i-usúl. authorities differ as to the number of verses abrogated. sale states that they have been estimated at two hundred and twenty-five. the principal ones are not many in number, and are very generally agreed upon. i give a few examples. it is a fact worthy of notice that they occur chiefly, if not almost entirely, in súras delivered at madína. there, where muhammad had to confront jews and christians, he was at first politic in his aim to win them over to his side, and then, when he found them obstinate, the doctrine of abrogation came in conveniently. this is seen plainly in the following case. at mecca muhammad and his followers did not stand facing any particular direction when at prayer, a fact to which the following passage refers:--"to god belongeth the east and west; therefore, whithersoever ye turn yourselves to pray there is the face of god." (súra ii. ). when muhammad arrived at madína, he entered into friendship with the jews and tried to win them to his side. the qibla (sanctuary) towards which the worshippers now invariably turned at prayer was jerusalem. this went on for a while, but when muhammad claimed to be not merely a prophet for the arabs, but the last and the greatest of all the prophets, when he asserted that moses had foretold his advent, and that his revelations were the same as those contained in their own scriptures, they utterly refused allegiance to him. in the first half of the second year of the hijra the breach between them was complete. it was now time to reconcile the leaders of the quraish tribe at mecca. so the verse quoted above was abrogated by: "we have seen thee turning thy face towards heaven, but we will have thee turn to a qibla, which shall please thee. turn then thy face toward the holy temple (of mecca), and wherever ye be, turn your faces toward that part." (súra ii. .) the faithful were consoled by the assurance that though they had not done so hitherto, yet god would not let their { } faith be fruitless, "for unto man is god merciful, gracious." (v. .) the doctrine of abrogation is brought in for a more personal matter in the following case: "it is not permitted to thee to take other wives hereafter, nor to change thy present wives for other women, though their beauty charm thee, except slaves, whom thy right hand shall possess." (súra xxxiii. .) this is said by beidawi, and other eminent muslim divines, to have been abrogated by a verse which though placed before it in the arrangement of verses, was really delivered after it. the verse is: "o prophet, we allow thee thy wives whom thou hast dowered, and the slaves which thy right hand possesseth out of the booty which god hath granted thee; and the daughters of thy uncle, and the daughters of thy aunts, both on thy father's side, and on thy mother's side, who have fled with thee (to madína), and any other believing woman, who hath given herself up to the prophet; if the prophet desireth to wed her, it is a peculiar privilege for thee, above the rest of the faithful." (súra xxxiii. .) the moghul emperor akbar, wishing to discredit the 'ulamá, in one of the meetings so frequently held for discussion during his long reign, propounded the question as to how many free born women a man might marry. the lawyers answered that four was the number fixed by the prophet. "of other women who seem good in your eyes marry two and two, and three and three, and four and four." (súra iv. .) the emperor said that he had not restricted himself to that number, and that shaikh 'abd-un-nabi had told him that a certain mujtahid had had nine wives. the mujtahid in question, ibn abi lailah reckoned the number allowed thus + + = . other learned men counted in this way + , + , + = . the emperor wished the meeting to decide the point. again, the second verse of súra lxxiii reads: "stand up all night, except a small portion of it, for prayer." according to a tradition handed down by 'Áyesha the last verse { } of this súra was revealed a year later. it makes the matter much easier. "god measureth the night and the day; he knoweth that ye cannot count its hours aright, and therefore turneth to you mercifully. recite _then so much of the qurán as may be easy to you_." (v. .) the following is an illustration of a verse abrogated, though there is no verse to prove its abrogation. however, according to the ijmá' it has been abrogated. "but alms are only to be given to the poor and the needy and to those who collect them, and to those whose hearts are won to islám." (súra ix. .) the clause--"to those whose hearts are won to islám"--is now cancelled.[ ] muhammad, to gain the hearts of those, who lately enemies, had now become friends, and to confirm them in the faith, gave them large presents from the spoils he took in war; but when islám spread and became strong, the 'ulamá agreed that such a procedure was not required and said that the order was "mansukh." the other verses abrogated relate to the ramazán fast, to jihád, the law of retaliation, and other matters of social interest. the doctrine of abrogation is now almost invariably applied by musalmán controversialists to the old and new testaments, which they say are abrogated by the qurán. "his (muhammad's) law is the abrogator of every other law."[ ] this is not, however, a legitimate use of the doctrine. according to the best and most ancient muslim divines, abrogation refers entirely to the qurán and the traditions, and even then is confined to commands and prohibitions. "those who imagine it to be part of the muhammadan creed that one law has totally repealed another, are utterly mistaken--we hold no such doctrine."[ ] in the tafsír-i-itifáq it is written: "abrogation affects those { } matters which god has confined to the followers of muhammad, and one of the chief advantages of it is that the way is made easy." in the tafsír-i-mazhirí we find: "abrogation refers only to commands and prohibitions, not to facts or historical statements."[ ] again, no verse of the qurán, or a tradition can be abrogated unless the abrogating verse is distinctly opposed to it in meaning. if it is a verse of the qurán, we must have the authority of muhammad himself for the abrogation; if a tradition, that of a companion. thus "the word of a commentator or a mujtahid is not sufficient unless there is a 'genuine tradition' (hadís-i-sahíh), to show the matter clearly. the question of the abrogation of any previous command depends on historical facts with regard to the abrogation, not on the mere opinion of a commentator." it cannot be shown that either muhammad or a companion ever said that the bible was abrogated. this rule, whilst it shows that the assertion of modern controversialists on this point is void of foundation, also illustrates another point to which i have often called attention, _viz._; that in islám all interpretation must be regulated by traditionalism. additions were occasionally made. thus when it was revealed that those who stay at home were not before god as those who go forth to war, abdullah and ibn um-maktum said: 'and what if they were blind.' the prophet asked for the shoulder-blade on which the verse was written. he then had a spasmodic convulsion. after his recovery he made zeid add the words, "free from trouble." so now the whole verse reads thus: "those believers who sit at home _free from trouble_ (_i.e._, bodily infirmity), and those who do valiantly in the cause of god, with their substance and their persons, shall not be treated alike." (súra iv. ). years after, zeid said: "i fancy i see the words now on the shoulder-blade near a crack." { } the question of the eternal nature of the qurán does not properly come under the head of 'ilm-i-usúl, but it is a dogma fondly cherished by many muslims. in the days of the khalíf al-mamun this question was fiercely debated. the freethinkers, whilst believing in the mission of muhammad, asserted that the qurán was created, by which statement they meant that the revelation came to him in a subjective mode, and that the language was his own. the book was thus brought within the reach of criticism. in the year , a.h. the khalíf issued a decree to the effect that all who held the qurán to be uncreated were to be declared guilty of heresy. but the khalíf himself was a notorious rationalist, and so the orthodox, though they remained quiet, remained unconvinced. the arguments used on the orthodox side are, that both the words and their pronunciation are eternal, that the attempt to draw a distinction between the word as it exists in the divine mind and as it appears in the qurán is highly dangerous. in vain do their opponents argue that, if the qurán is uncreated, two eternal beings are in existence. to this it is answered: "this is the honourable qurán, written in the preserved tablet." (súra lvi. ). a tradition is also adduced which states: "god wrote the thora (law) with his own hand, and with his own hand he created adam; and also in the qurán it is written, 'and we wrote for him upon the tables a monition concerning every matter,' in reference to the tables of the law given to moses." if god did this for former prophets and their works, how much more, it is argued, should he not have done it for the last and greatest of the prophets, and the noble qurán? it is not easy to get a correct definition of the term "the uncreated qurán," but it has been put thus: "the word as it exists in the mind of god is 'kalám-i-nafsí' (spiritual word), something unwritten and eternal. it is acknowledged by the ijmá'-i-ummat (consent of the faithful), the traditions, and by other prophets that god { } speaks. the kalám-i-nafsí then is eternal, but the actual words, style, and eloquence are created by god; so also is the arrangement and the miraculous nature of the book." this seems to be a reasonable account of the doctrine, though there are theologians who hold that the very words are eternal. the doctrine of abrogation clashes with this idea, but they meet the objection by their theory of absolute predestination. this accounts for the circumstances which necessitated the abrogation, for the circumstances, as well as the abrogated verses, were determined on from all eternity. this concludes the consideration of the exegesis of the qurán, a book difficult and uninteresting for a non-muslim to read, but one which has engaged and is still engaging the earnest thoughts of many millions of the human race. thousands of devout students in the great theological schools of cairo, stamboul, central asia and india are now plodding through this very subject of which i have here been treating; soon will they go forth as teachers of the book they so much revere. how utterly unfit that training is to make them wise men in any true sense of the word, how calculated to render them proud, conceited, and scornful of other creeds, its rigid and exclusive character shows. still, it is a marvellous book; for twelve hundred years and more it has helped to mould the faith, animate the courage, cheer the despondency of multitudes, whether dwellers in the wild uplands of central asia, in hindustan, or on the shores of the mediterranean. the turanian and the aryan, the arab and the negro, alike learn its sonorous sentences, day by day repeat its opening clauses, and pray in its words as their fathers prayed before them. next to the act of testifying to the unity of god, the qurán is the great bond of islám. no matter from what race the convert may have come, no matter what language he may speak, he must learn in arabic, and repeat by rote portions of the qurán in every act of public worship. the next subject for consideration is that of the { } traditions, or the second branch of the science of 'ilm-i-usúl. the traditions contain the record of all that muhammad did and said. it is the belief of every muslim, to whatever sect he belongs, that the prophet not only spake but also acted under a divine influence. the mode of the inspiration is different from that of the qurán. there the revelation was objective. in the prophet's sayings recorded in the traditions the inspiration is subjective, but still a true inspiration. this belief places the traditions in a place second only to the qurán; it makes them a true supplement to that book, and thus they not only throw light on its meaning, but themselves form the basis on which doctrines may be established. without going so far as to say that every tradition by itself is to be accepted as an authority in islám, it may be distinctly asserted that there can be no true conception formed of that system if the traditions are not studied and taken into account. so important a branch of muslim theology is it, that the study of the traditions is included in the 'ilm-i-usúl, or science of exegesis. some account of them, therefore, naturally forms part of this chapter. the first four khalífs were called the khulafá-i-ráshidín that is, those who could guide others aright. they had been friends and companions of the prophet, and the faithful could always appeal to them in cases of doubt. the prophet had declared that islám must be written in the hearts of men. there was therefore an unwillingness to commit his sayings to writing. they were handed down by word of mouth. as no argument was so effectual in a dispute as "a saying" of the prophet, the door was opened by which spurious traditions could be palmed off on the faithful. to prevent this, a number of strict rules were framed, at the head of which stands the prophet's saying, itself a tradition: "convey to other persons none of my words except those which ye know of a surety. verily, he who purposely represents my { } words wrongly will find a place for himself nowhere but in fire." to enforce this rule, it was laid down that the relator of a tradition must also repeat its "isnád," or chain of authorities, as: "i heard from such an one, who heard from such an one," and so on, until the chain reaches the prophet himself. each person, too, in this "isnád," must have been well known for his good character and retentive memory. this failed, however, to prevent a vast number of manifestly false traditions becoming current; so men set themselves to the work of collecting and sifting the great mass of tradition that in the second century of islám had begun to work untold evil. these men are called "muhadisín," or "collectors of tradition." the sunnís and the wahhábís recognise six such men, and their collections are known as the "sihah-sittah," or six correct books. they are the following:-- ( ). the _sahíh-i-bukhárí_, called after abu abdullah muhammad ibn-i-ismá'íl, a native of bukhárá. he was born a.h. . he was a man of middle height, spare in frame, and as a boy totally blind. the grief of his father was on this account intense; but one day in a dream he saw the patriarch abraham, who said to him: "god on account of thy grief and sorrow has granted sight to thy son." the sight being thus restored, at the age of ten he went to school, and began to learn the traditions by heart. after his education was finished, a famous muhadis named dákhlí came to bukhárá. one day the youthful bukhárí ventured to correct the famous man. it was an astounding piece of audacity, but the youth was proved to be in the right. this set him on the work of collecting and sifting the traditions. at the early age of sixteen he was able to remember fifteen thousand. in course of time he collected , traditions. the result of his examination and selection was that he approved of seven thousand two hundred and seventy-five. these are now recorded in his great work, the sahíh-i-bukhárí. it { } is said that he never sat down to examine a tradition without first performing a legal ablution, and repeating two rak'at prayers. he then said: "o lord, let me not make a mistake." for sixteen years he lived in a mosque and died much respected at the age of sixty-four. ( ). _sahíh-i-muslim._ muslim ibn-i-hajjáj was born at nishápúr, a city of khorásán. he collected about , traditions, from which he made his collection. he is said to have been a very just man, and willing to oblige all who sought his advice. in fact, this willingness to oblige was the indirect cause of his death. one day he was sitting as usual in the mosque when some people came to ask him about a tradition. as he could not discover it in the books he had with him, he went to his house to search there. the people brought him a basket of dates. he went on eating and searching, but unfortunately he ate so many dates that he died. (a.h. .) ( ). _sunan-i-abu dáúd._ abu dáúd sajistání, a native of seistán, was born a.h. . he was a great traveller, and went to all the chief places of musalmán learning. in knowledge of the traditions, in devotion, in piety, he was unrivalled. he collected about , traditions, of which he selected four thousand eight hundred for his book. ( ). _jámí'-i-tirmizí._ abu isa' muhammad tirmizí was born at tirmiz in the year a.h. . he was a disciple of bukhárí. ibn khallikan says this work is "the production of a well-informed man: its exactness is proverbial."[ ] ( ). _sunan-i-nasáí._ abu abd-ur-rahman nasáí was born at nasá, in khorásán, in the year a.h. , and died a.h. . it is recorded of him, with great approbation, that he fasted every other day, and had four wives and many slaves. this book is considered of great value. he met with his death in rather a sad way. he had compiled a book on the virtues of 'alí, and as the people of { } damascus were at that time inclined to the heresy of the khárigites, he wished to read his book in the mosque of that place. after he had read a little way, a man arose and asked him whether he knew aught of the praises of muavia, 'alí's deadly enemy. he replied that he did not. this answer enraged the people, who beat him so severely that he died soon after. ( ). _sunan-i-ibn májah._ ibn májah[ ] was born at 'irak a.h. . this work contains , traditions. the shía'hs reject these books and substitute five books[ ] of their own instead. they are of a much later date, the last one, indeed, having been compiled more than four hundred years after the hijra. the belief which underlies the question of the authority of the traditions is that before the throne of god there stands a 'preserved table,' on which all that can happen, and all that has ever entered, or will enter, the mind of man is 'noted in a distinct writing.' through the medium of gabriel, the prophet had access to this. it follows then that the words of the prophet are the words of god. of the four great "canonical legists" of islám, ahmad ibn hanbal was the greatest collector of traditions. it is said that he knew by heart no less than one million. of these he incorporated thirty thousand into his system of jurisprudence. that system is now almost obsolete. abu hanífa, who is said to have accepted only eighteen traditions as authentic, founded a system which is to this day the most powerful in islám. the hanifites, however, as well as other muslims, acknowledge the six standard collections of traditions as direct revelations of the will of { } god. they range over a vast number of subjects, and furnish a commentary on the qurán. the prophet's personal appearance, his mental and moral qualities, his actions, his opinions, are all recorded over and over again. many questions of religious belief are largely founded on the traditions, and it is to them we must go for an explanation of much of the ritual of islám. it is very difficult for any one, who has not lived in long and friendly intercourse with muslims, to realize how much their religious life and opinions, their thought and actions, are based on the traditions. having thus shown the importance of the traditions, i now proceed to enter a little into detail on the question of the rules framed concerning them. the classification adopted by different authors may vary in some subordinate points; but the following account is adopted from a standard muhammadan work. a tradition may be hadís-i-qualí, that is, an account of something the prophet said; or hadís-i-fa'lí, a record of something which he did; or hadís-i-taqrírí, a statement of some act performed by other persons in his presence, and which action he did not forbid. the traditions may be classed under two general heads:-- first.--_hadís-i-mutawátír_, that is, "an undoubted tradition," the isnád, or chain of narrators of which is perfect, and in which chain each narrator possessed all the necessary qualifications for his office.[ ] some authorities say there are only a few of these traditions extant, but most allow that the following is one: "there are no good works except with intention," for example, a man may fast, but, unless he has the intention of fasting firmly in his mind, he gains no spiritual reward by so doing. second.--_hadís-i-ahád._ the authority of this class is { } theoretically somewhat less than that of the first, but practically it is the same. this class is again sub-divided into two:-- ( ). _hadís-i-sahíh_, or a genuine tradition. it is not necessary to go into the sub-divisions of this sub-division. a tradition is sahíh if the narrators have been men of pious lives, abstemious in their habits, endowed with a good memory, free from blemish, and persons who lived at peace with their neighbours. the following also are sahíh, though their importance as authorities varies. i arrange them in the order of their value. sahíh traditions are those which are found in the collections made by bukhárí and muslim, or in the collection of either of the above, though not in both; or, if not mentioned by either of these famous collectors, if it has been retained in accordance with their canons for the rejection or retention of traditions; or lastly, if retained in accordance with the rules of any other approved collector. for each of these classes there is a distinct name. ( ). _hadís-i-hasan._ the narrators of this class are not of such good authority as those of the former with regard to one or two qualities; but these traditions should be received as of equal authority as regards any practical use.[ ] it is merely as a matter of classification that they rank second. in addition to these names, there are a number of other technical terms which have regard to the personal character of the narrators, the isnád, and other points. a few may be mentioned. ( ). _hadís-i-z'aíf_, or a weak tradition. the narrators of it have been persons whose characters were not above reproach, whose memories were bad, or who, worse still, were addicted to "bid'at," innovation, a habit now, as then, a crime in the eyes of all true muslims. all agree that a { } "weak tradition" has little force; but few rival theologians agree as to which are, and which are not, "weak traditions." ( ). _hadís-i-mua'llaq_, or a tradition in the isnád of which there is some break. if it begins with a tábi' (one in the generation after that of the companions), it is called "_mursal_" the one link in the chain, the companion, being wanting. if the first link in the chain of narrators begins in a generation still later, it has another name, and so on. ( ). traditions which have various names, according as the narrator concealed the name of his imám, or where different narrators disagree, or where the narrator has mixed some of his own words with the tradition, or has been proved to be a liar, an evil liver, or mistaken; but into an account of these it is not necessary to enter, for no tradition of this class would be considered as of itself sufficient ground on which to base any important doctrine.[ ] it is the universally accepted rule, that no authentic tradition can be contrary to the qurán. the importance attached to tradition has been shown in the preceding chapter, an importance which has demanded the formation of an elaborate system of exegesis. to an orthodox muslim the book and the sunnat, god's word direct and god's word through the mind of the prophet, are the foundation and sum of islám, a fact not always taken into account by modern panegyrists of the system. { } * * * * * chapter iii. the sects of islÁm. it is a commonly received but nevertheless an erroneous opinion, that the muhammadan religion is one remarkable for the absence of dogma and the unanimity of its professors. in this chapter i propose to show how the great sects differ in some very important principles of the faith, and their consequent divergence in practice. there is much that is common ground to all, and of that some account was given in the first chapter on the "foundations of islám." it was there shown that all muslim sects are not agreed as to the essential foundations of the faith. the sunnís recognise four foundations, the wahhábís two; whilst the shía'hs reject altogether the traditions held sacred by both sunní and wahhábí. the next chapter will contain a full account of the doctrines held by the sunnís, and so no account of this, the orthodox sect, is given in this chapter. the first breach in islám arose out of a civil war. the story has been so often told that it need not be reproduced here at any length. 'alí, the son-in-law of muhammad, was the fourth khalíf of islám. he is described as "the last and worthiest of the primitive musalmáns who imbibed his religious enthusiasm from companionship with the prophet himself, and who followed to the last the simplicity of his character." he was a man calculated by his earnest devotion to the prophet and his own natural graces to win, as he has done, the admiration of succeeding generations. a strong opposition, however, arose, and 'alí was assassinated in a mosque at kúfa. it is not easy, amid the conflicting statements of historians of the rival sects, to arrive at the truth in all the details of the events which happened then; { } but the generally received opinion is, that after the assassination of 'alí, hasan, his son, renounced his claim to the khalifate in favour of his father's rival, muavia. hasan was ultimately poisoned by his wife, who, it is said, was instigated by muavia to do the deed, in order to leave the coast clear for his son yezíd. the most tragic event has yet to come. yezíd, who succeeded his father, was a very licentious and irreligious man. the people of kúfa, being disgusted at his conduct, sent messengers to husain, the remaining son of 'alí, with the request that he would assume the khalifate. in vain the friends of husain tried to persuade him to let the people of kúfa first revolt, and thus show the reality of their wishes by their deeds. in an evil hour husain started with a small band of forty horsemen and one hundred foot-soldiers. on the plain of karbalá he found his way barred by a force of three thousand men. "we are few in number," said husain, "and the enemy is in force. i am resolved to die. but you--i release you from your oath of allegiance; let all those who wish to do so leave me." "o son of the apostle of god!" was the reply, "what excuse could we give to thy grandfather on the day of resurrection did we abandon thee to the hands of thine enemies?" one by one these brave men fell beneath the swords of the enemy, until husain and his infant son alone were left. weary and thirsty, husain sat upon the ground. the enemy drew near, but no one dared to kill the grandson of the prophet. an arrow pierced the ear of the little boy and he died. "we came from god, and we return to him," were the pathetic words of husain, as with a sorrowful heart he laid the dead body of his son on the sand. he then stooped down to drink some water from the river euphrates. seeing him thus stooping, the enemy discharged a flight of arrows, one of which wounded him in the mouth. he fought bravely for a while, but at last fell covered with many wounds. the schism between the sunní and the shía'h was now complete. { } the ceremonies celebrated during the annual fast of muharram refer to these historical facts, and help to keep alive a bitter feud; but to suppose that the only difference between the shía'h and the sunní is a mere dispute as to the proper order of the early khalífs would be a mistake. starting off with a political quarrel, the shía'hs have travelled into a very distinct religious position of their own. the fundamental tenet of the shía'h sect is the "divine right" of 'alí the chosen and his descendants. from this it follows that the chief duty of religion consists in devotion to the imám (or pontiff); from which position some curious dogmas issue. the whole question of the imámat is a very important one. the word imám comes from an arabic word meaning to aim at, to follow after. the term imám then becomes equal to the word leader or exemplar. it is applied in this sense to muhammad as the leader in all civil and religious questions, and to the khalífs, his successors. it is also, in its religious import only, applied to the founders of the four orthodox schools of jurisprudence, and in a restricted sense to the leader of a congregation at prayer in a mosque. it is with the first of these meanings that we have now to deal. it is so used in the qurán--"when his lord made trial of abraham by commands which he fulfilled, he said: 'i am about to make of thee an imám to mankind;' he said: 'of my offspring also?' 'my covenant,' said god, 'embraceth not the evil-doers.'" (súra ii. .) from this verse two doctrines are deduced. first, that the imám must be appointed by god, for if this is not the case, why did abraham say "of my offspring also?" secondly, the imám is free from sin, for god said: "my covenant embraceth not the evil-doer." the first dispute about the imámat originated with the twelve thousand who revolted from 'alí after the battle of siffin ( a.d.), because he consented to submit to arbitration the dispute between himself and muavia. some years after they were nearly all destroyed by 'alí. a few { } survivors, however, fled to various parts. two at last settled in omán, and there preached their distinctive doctrines. in course of time the people of omán adopted the doctrine that the imámat was not hereditary but elective, and that in the event of misconduct the imám might be deposed. 'abdullah-ibn-ibádh ( a.d.) was a vigorous preacher of this doctrine, and from him the sect known as the 'ibádhiyah takes its rise. the result of this teaching was the establishment of the power and jurisdiction of the imám of omán. the 'ibádhiyah seem to have always kept themselves independent of the sunní khalífs of baghdád, and, therefore, would consider themselves free from any obligation to obey the sultán of turkey. from the ordinary shía'hs they differ as regards the "divine right" of 'alí and his children. the curious in such matters will find the whole subject well treated in dr. badger's "seyyids of omán." the term khárigite (separatist) has since become the generic name for a group of sects which agree as to the need of an imám, though they differ as to the details of the dogma. in opposition to this heresy of the khárigite stands what may be termed the orthodox doctrine of the shía'h. the shía'hs hold that the imámat must continue in the family of 'alí, and that religion consists mainly in devotion to the imám. the tragic end of 'alí and his sons invested them with peculiar interest. when grieving for the sad end of their leaders, the shí'ahs found consolation in the doctrine which soon found development, _viz._, that it was god's will that the imámat should continue in the family of 'alí. thus a tradition relates that the prophet said: "he of whom i am master has 'alí also for a master." "the best judge among you is 'alí." ibn abbás, a companion says: "i heard the prophet say: 'he who blasphemes my name blasphemes the name of god; he who blasphemes the name of 'alí blasphemes my name.'" a popular persian hymn shows to what an extent this feeling deepened. { } "mysterious being! none can tell the attributes in thee that dwell; none can thine essence comprehend; to thee should every mortal bend-- for 'tis by thee that man is given to know the high behests of heaven." the general idea is, that long before the creation of the world, god took a ray of light from the splendour of his own glory and united it to the body of muhammad, to which he said: "thou art the elect, the chosen, i will make the members of thy family the guides to salvation." muhammad said: "the first thing which god created was my light, and my spirit."[ ] the body of the prophet was then in some mysterious way hidden. in due time the world was created, but not until the birth of muhammad did this ray of glory appear. it is well known to all musalmáns as the "núr-i-muhammadí"--light of muhammad. this "núr" is said to be of four kinds. from the first kind god created his throne, from the second the pen of fate, from the third paradise, and from the fourth the state, or place of spirits and all created beings. according to a statement made by 'alí, muhammad said that he was created from the light of god, whilst all other created beings were formed from the "light of muhammad."[ ] this "light" descended to 'alí, and from him passed on to the true imáms, who alone are the lawful successors of the prophet. rebellion against them is sin; devotion to them the very essence of religion. the doctrine of the imámat has given rise to endless discussion and dissension, as the numerous sub-divisions of the shía'h sect will show. they are said to be thirty-two in number. the shía'h proper is the largest and most influential of them. the following are the shí'ah tenets regarding the imám, based on one of their standard books of { } divinity.[ ] the imám is the successor of the prophet, adorned with all the qualities which he possessed. he is wiser than the most learned men of the age, holier than the most pious. he is the noblest of the sons of men and is free from all sin original or actual: hence the imám is called ma'sum (innocent.)[ ] god rules the world by wisdom, hence the sending forth of prophets was a necessity; but it was equally necessary to establish the imámat. thus the imám is equal to a prophet. 'alí said: "in me is the glory of every prophet that has ever been." the authority of the imám is the authority of god, for (i quote the hyát-un-nafís) "his word is the word of god and of the prophet, and obedience to his order is incumbent." the nature of the imám is identical with the nature of muhammad, for did not 'alí say: "i am muhammad, and muhammad is me." this probably refers to the possession by the imám of the "light of muhammad." the bodies of the imáms are so pure and delicate that they cast no shadow.[ ] they { } are the beginning and the end of all things. to know the imáms is the very essence of the knowledge which men can gain of god. "the holy god calls the imáms his word, his hands, his signs, his secret. their commands and prohibitions, their actions too, he recognises as his own." as mediums between god and man they hold a far higher position than the prophets, for "the grace of god, without their intervention, reaches to no created being." these extravagant claims for the imáms culminate in the assertion that "for them a pillar of light has been fixed between the earth and heaven, by which the actions of the faithful are made known to them." the imám is the supreme pontiff, the vicar of god on earth. the possession of an infallible book is not sufficient. the infallible guide is needed. such wisdom and discernment as such a guide would require can only be found amongst the descendants of the prophet. it is no longer, then, a matter of wonder, that in some cases, almost, if not entirely, divine honour is paid to 'alí and his descendants.[ ] the usúl, or fundamental tenets of the shía'h sect are five in number. ( ) to believe in the unity of god, ( ) to admit that he is just, ( ) to believe in the divine mission of all the prophets, and that muhammad is the chief of all, ( ) to consider 'alí the khalíf next in order after muhammad, ( ) to believe 'alí's descendants from hasan to mahdí, the twelfth imám, to be his true successors, and to consider all of them in character, position and dignity as raised far above all other muslims. this is the doctrine of the imámat. { } the first principal divisions of the shía'h sect are the ismá'ílians and the imámites. the latter believe in twelve imáms, reckoning 'alí as the first.[ ] the last of the twelve abu'l-qásim, is supposed to be alive still, though hidden in some secret place. he bears the name of al-mahdí, "the guided." it is expected that he will reappear at the second advent of christ. they say that he was born near baghdád in the year a.h. he afterwards mysteriously disappeared. when he was born the words, "say: 'truth is come and falsehood is vanished: verily falsehood is a thing that vanisheth,'" (súra xvii. ) were found written on his right arm. when he came into the world, he pointed with his fingers to heaven, sneezed, and said: 'praise be to god, the lord of the world.' a person one day visited imám hasan 'askarí (the eleventh imám) and said: 'o son of the prophet who will be khalíf and imám after thee?' he brought out a child and said: 'if thou hadst not found favour in the eyes of god, he would not have shown thee this child; his name is that of the prophet, and so is his patronymic,' (abu 'l-qásim). the sect who believe mahdí to be alive at present, say that he rules over cities in the far west, and he is even said to have children. god alone knows the truth.[ ] the other large division, the ismá'ílians, agree with the imámites in all particulars save one. they hold that after sádiq, the sixth imám, commenced what is called the succession of the "concealed imáms." they believe that there never can be a time when there shall be no imám, but that he is now in seclusion. this idea has given rise to all sorts of secret societies, and has paved the way for a mystical religion, which often lands its votaries in atheism.[ ] { } the ghair-i-mahdí (literally "without mahdí") are a small sect who believe that al-mahdí will not reappear. they say that one syed muhammad of jeypore was the real mahdí, the twelfth imám, and that he has now gone never more to return. they venerate him as highly as they do the prophet, and consider all other musalmáns to be unbelievers. on the night called lailat-ul-qadr, in the month of ramazán, they meet and repeat two rak'at prayers. after that act of devotion is over, they say: "god is almighty, muhammad is our prophet, the qurán and mahdí are just and true. imám mahdí is come and gone. whosoever disbelieves this is an infidel." they are a very fanatical sect. there is another small community of ghair-i-mahdís called the dá,irí, settled in the province of mysore, who hold peculiar views on this point. about four hundred years ago, a man named syed ahmad collected some followers in the dominions of the nizám of hyderabad. he called himself the imám mahdí, and said that he was superior to any prophet. he and his disciples, being bitterly persecuted by the orthodox musalmáns, fled to a village in the adjoining district of mysore where their descendants, fifteen hundred in number, now reside. it is said that they do not intermarry with other musalmáns. the usual friday service in the mosque is ended by the leader saying: "imám mahdí came and went away," to which the people respond: "he who does not believe this is a káfir" (infidel). there are several traditions which refer to the latter days. "when of time one day shall be left, god shall raise up a man from among my descendants, who shall fill the world with justice, just as before him the world was full of oppression." and again: "the world shall not come to an end till the king of the earth shall appear, who is a man of my family, and whose name is the same as mine." when islám entered upon the tenth century of its existence, there was throughout persia and india a millenarian movement. men { } declared that the end was drawing near, and various persons arose who claimed to be al-mahdí. i have already mentioned two. amongst others was shaikh 'aláí of agra. ( a.h.) shaikh mubarak, the father of abu'l-fazl--the emperor akbar's famous vizier, was a disciple of shaikh 'aláí and from him imbibed mahdaví ideas. this brought upon him the wrath of the 'ulamá who, however, were finally overcome by the free-thinking and heretical emperor and his vizier. there never was a better ruler in india than akbar, and never a more heretical one as far as orthodox islám is concerned. the emperor delighted in the controversies of the age. the súfís and mahdavís were in favour at court. the orthodox 'ulamá were treated with contempt. akbar fully believed that the millennium had come. he started a new era, and a new religion called the 'divine faith.' there was toleration for all except the bigoted orthodox muslims. abu'l-fazl and others like him, who professed to reflect akbar's religious views, held that all religions contained truth. thus:-- "o god, in every temple i see people that seek thee, and in every language i hear spoken, people praise thee! polytheism and islam feel after thee, each religion says, 'thou art one, without equal.' if it be a mosque, people murmur the holy prayer, and if it be a christian church, people ring the bell from love to thee, sometimes i frequent the christian cloister, and sometimes the mosque, but it is thou whom i search from temple to temple." in this reign one mír sharíf was promoted to the rank of a commander of a thousand, and to an appointment in bengal. his chief merit in akbar's eyes was that he taught the doctrine of the transmigration of souls and the close advent of the millennium. he was a disciple of mahmúd of busakhwán, the founder of the nuqtawiah sect. as this is another offshoot of the shía'hs i give a brief account of them here. mahmúd lived in the reign of timur and { } professed to be al-mahdí. he also called himself the shakhs-i-wáhíd--the individual one. he used to quote the verse, "it may be that thy lord will raise thee up to a glorious (mahmúd) station." (súra xvii. ). from this he argued that the body of man had been advancing in purity since the creation, and that on its reaching to a certain degree, one mahmúd (glorious) would arise, and that then the dispensation of muhammad would come to an end. he claimed to be the mahmúd. he also taught the doctrine of transmigration, and that the beginning of everything was the nuqtah-i-khák--earth atom. it is on this account that they are called the nuqtawiah sect. they are also known by the names mahmúdiah and wáhídiah. shah 'abbás king of persia expelled them from his dominions, but akbar received the fugitives kindly and promoted some amongst them to high offices of state. this mahdaví movement, arising as it did out of the shía'h doctrine of the imámat, is a very striking fact. that imposters should arise and claim the name and office of al-mahdí is not to be wondered at, but that large bodies of men should follow them shows the unrest which dwelt in men's hearts, and how they longed for a personal leader and guide. the whole of the shía'h doctrine on this point seems to show that there is in the human heart a natural desire for some mediator--some word of the father, who shall reveal him to his children. at first sight it would seem, as if the doctrine of the imámat might to some extent reconcile the thoughtful shía'h to the christian doctrine of the incarnation and mediation of jesus christ, to his office as the perfect revealer of god's will; and as our guide in life; but alas! it is not so. the mystic lore connected with shía'h doctrine has sapped the foundation of moral life and vigour. a system of religious reservation, too, is a fundamental part of the system in its mystical developments, whilst all shía'hs may lawfully practise "takía," or religious { } compromise in their daily lives. it thus becomes impossible to place dependence on what a shía'h may profess, as pious frauds are legalised by his system of religion. if he becomes a mystic, he looks upon the ceremonial and the moral law as restrictions imposed by an almighty power. the omission of the one is a sin almost, if not quite, as bad as a breach, of the other. the advent of mahdí is the good time when all such restrictions shall be removed, when the utmost freedom shall be allowed. thus the moral sense, in many cases, becomes deadened to an extent such as those who are not in daily contact with these people can hardly credit. the practice of "takía," religious compromise, and the legality of "muta'h" or temporary marriages, have done much to demoralise the shía'h community. the following words of a recent author descriptive of the shía'h system are in the main true, though they do not apply to each individual in that system:-- "there can be no stronger testimony of the corrupting power and the hard and hopeless bondage of the orthodox creed, than that men should escape from it into a system which established falsehood as the supreme law of conduct, and regarded the reduction of men to the level of swine as the goal of human existence."[ ] the mutazilites, or seceders, were once an influential body. they do not exist as a separate sect now. an account of them will be given in the next chapter. in the doctrine of the imámat, common to all the offshoots of the shía'h sect, is to be found the chief point of difference between the sunní and the shía'h, a difference so great that there is no danger of even a political union between these two great branches of islám. i have already described, too, how the shía'hs reject the sunnat, though they do not reject tradition. a good deal of ill-blood is still kept up by the recollection--a recollection kept alive by the annual recurrence of the muharram fast--of the sad { } fate of 'alí and his sons. the sunnís are blamed for the work of their ancestors in the faith, whilst the khalífs abu bakr, omar, and osmán are looked upon as usurpers. not to them was committed the wonderful ray of light. in the possession of that alone can any one make good a claim to be the imám, the guide of the believers. the terrible disorders of the early days of islám can only be understood when we realise to some extent the passionate longing which men felt for a spiritual head--an imám. it was thought to be impossible that muhammad, the last--the seal--of the prophets should leave the faithful without a guide, who would be the interpreter of the will of allah. we here make a slight digression to show that this feeling extends beyond the shía'h sect, and is of some importance in its bearing upon the eastern question. apart from the superhuman claims for the imám, what he is as a ruler to the shía'h, the khalíf is to the sunní--the supreme head in church and state, the successor of the prophet, the conservator of islám as made known in the qurán, the sunnat and the ijmá' of the early mujtahidín. to administer the laws, the administrator must have a divine sanction. thus when the ottoman ruler, selim the first, conquered egypt, (a.d. ) he sought and obtained, from an old descendant of the baghdád khalífs, the transfer of the title to himself, and in this way the sultáns of turkey became the khalífs of islám. whether mutawakal billál, the last titular khalíf of the house of 'abbás, was right or wrong in thus transferring the title is not my purpose now to discuss. i only adduce the fact to show how it illustrates the feeling of the need of a pontiff--a divinely appointed ruler. strictly speaking, according to muhammadan law, the sultáns are not khalífs, for it is clearly laid down in the traditions that the khalíf (or the imám) must be of the tribe of the quraish, to which the prophet himself belonged. ibn-i-umr relates that the prophet said:--"the khalífs shall be in the quraish tribe as long as there are two { } persons in it, one to rule and another to serve."[ ] "it is a necessary condition that the khalíf should be of the quraish tribe."[ ] such quotations might be multiplied, and they tend to show that it is not at all incumbent on orthodox sunnís, other than the turks, to rush to the rescue of the sultán, whilst to the shía'hs he is little better than a heretic. certainly they would never look upon him as an imám, which personage is to them in the place of a khalíf. in countries not under turkish rule, the khutbah, or prayer for the ruler, said on fridays in the mosques, is said for the "ruler of the age," or for the amír, or whatever happens to be the title of the head of the state. of late years it has become more common in india to say it for the sultán. this is not, strictly speaking, according to muhammadan law, which declares that the khutbah can only be said with the permission of the ruler, and as in india that ruler is the british government, the prayers should be said for the queen. evidently the law never contemplated large bodies of musalmáns residing anywhere but where the influence of the khalíf extended. in thus casting doubt on the legality of the claim made by turkish sultáns to the khalifate of islám, i do not deny that the law of islám requires that there should be a khalíf. unfortunately for islám, there is nothing in its history parallel to the conflict of pope and emperor, of church and state. "the action and re-action of these powerful and partially independent forces, their resistance to each other, and their ministry to each other, have been of incalculable value to the higher activity and life of christendom." in islám the khalíf is both pope and emperor. ibn khaldoun states that the difference between the khalíf and any other ruler is that the former rules according to divine, the latter according to human law. the prophet in transmitting his sacred authority to the khalífs, his successors, conveyed to { } them absolute powers. khalífs can be assassinated, murdered, banished, but so long as they reign anything like constitutional liberty is impossible. it is a fatal mistake in european politics and an evil for turkey to recognize the sultán as the khalíf of islám, for, if he be such, turkey can never take any step forward to newness of political life.[ ] this, however, is a digression from the subject of this chapter. there has been from the earliest ages of islám a movement which exists to this day. it is a kind of mysticism, known as súfíism. it has been especially prevalent among the persians. it is a re-action from the burden of a rigid law, and a wearisome ritual. it has now existed for a thousand years, and if it has the element of progress in it, if it is the salt of islám some fruit should now be seen. but what is súfíism? the term súfí is most probably derived from the arabic word súf, "wool," of which material the garments worn by eastern ascetics used to be generally made. some persons, however, derive it from the persian, súf, "pure," or the greek [greek: sophia], "wisdom." tasawwuf, or súfíism, is the abstract form of the word, and is, according to sir w. jones, and other learned orientalists, a figurative mode, borrowed mainly from the indian philosophers of the vedanta school, of expressing the fervour of devotion. the chief idea is that the souls of men differ in degree, but not { } in kind, from the divine spirit, of which they are emanations, and to which they will ultimately return. the spirit of god is in all he has made, and it in him. he alone is perfect love, beauty, etc.--hence love to him is the only _real_ thing; all else is illusion. sa'dí says: "i swear by the truth of god, that when he showed me his glory all else was illusion." this present life is one of separation from the beloved. the beauties of nature, music, and art revive in men the divine idea, and recall their affections from wandering from him to other objects. these sublime affections men must cherish, and by abstraction concentrate their thoughts on god, and so approximate to his essence, and finally reach the highest stage of bliss--absorption into the eternal. the true end and object of human life is to lose all consciousness of individual existence--to sink "in the ocean of divine life, as a breaking bubble is merged into the stream on the surface of which it has for a moment risen."[ ] súfís, who all accept islám as a divinely established religion, suppose that long before the creation of the world a contract was made by the supreme soul with the assembled world of spirits, who are parts of it. each spirit was addressed separately, thus: "art thou not with thy lord?" that is, bound to him by a solemn contract. to this they all answered with one voice, "yes." another account says that the seed of theosophy (m'arifat) was placed in the ground in the time of adam; that the plant { } came forth in the days of noah, was in flower when abraham was alive and produced fruit before moses passed away. the grapes of this noble plant were ripe in the time of jesus, but it was not till the age of muhammad that pure wine was made from them. then those intoxicated with it, having attained to the highest degree of the knowledge of god, could forget their own personality and say:--"praise to me, is there any greater than myself? i am the truth." the following verse of the qurán is quoted by súfís in support of their favourite dogma--the attaining to the knowledge of god: "when god said to the angels, 'i am about to place a viceregent on the earth,' they said: 'wilt thou place therein one who shall commit abomination and shed blood? nay; we celebrate thy praise and holiness.' god answered them, 'verily i know that ye wot not of.'" (súra ii. .) it is said that this verse proves that, though the great mass of mankind would commit abomination, some would receive the divine light and attain to a knowledge of god. a tradition states that david said: "'oh lord! why hast thou created mankind?' god replied, 'i am a hidden treasure, and i would fain become known.'" the business of the mystic is to find this treasure, to attain to the divine light and the true knowledge of god. the earlier muhammadan mystics sought to impart life to a rigid and formal ritual, and though the seeds of pantheism were planted in their system from the first, they maintained that they were orthodox. "our system of doctrine," says al-junaid, "is firmly bound up with the dogmas of the faith, the qurán and the traditions." there was a moral earnestness about many of these men which frequently restrained the arm of unrighteous power, and their sayings, often full of beauty, show that they had the power of appreciating the spiritual side of life. some of these sentences are worthy of any age. "as neither meat nor drink," says one, "profit the diseased body, so no warning avails { } to touch the heart full of the love of this world." "the work of a holy man doth not consist in this, that he eats grain, and clothes himself in wool, but in the knowledge of god and submission to his will." "thou deservest not the name of a learned man till thy heart is emptied of the love of this world." "hide thy good deeds as closely as thou wouldst hide thy sins." a famous mystic was brought into the presence of the khalíf hárún-ur-rashíd who said to him: "how great is thy abnegation?" he replied, "thine is greater." "how so?" said the khalíf. "because i make abnegation of this world, and thou makest abnegation of the next." the same man also said: "the display of devotional works to please men is hypocrisy, and acts of devotion done to please men are acts of polytheism." but towards the close of the second century of the hijra, this earlier mysticism developed into súfíism. then al-halláj taught in baghdád thus: "i am the truth. there is nought in paradise but god. i am he whom i love, and he whom i love is i; we are two souls dwelling in one body. when thou seest me, thou seest him; and when thou seest him thou seest me." this roused the opposition of the orthodox divines by whom al-halláj was condemned to be worthy of death. he was then by order of the khalíf flogged, tortured and finally beheaded. thus died one of the early martyrs of súfíism, but it grew in spite of bitter persecution. in order to understand the esoteric teaching of súfíistic poetry, it is necessary to remember that the perceptive sense is the traveller, the knowledge of god the goal, the doctrines of this ascent, or upward progress is the tarikat, or the road. the extinction of self is necessary before any progress can be made on that road. a súfí poet writes:-- "plant one foot upon the neck of self, the other in thy friend's domain; in everything his presence see, for other vision is in vain." { } sa'dí in the bustán says: "art thou a friend of god? speak not of self, for to speak of god and of self is infidelity." shaikh abu'l-faiz, a great poet and a friend of the emperor akbar, from whom he received the honourable title of málik-ush-shu'ará--master of the poets, says: "those who have not closed the door on existence and non-existence reap no advantage from the calm of this world and of the world to come." khusrau, another well-known poet says:-- "i have become thou: thou art become i, i am the body, thou the soul; let no one henceforth say that i am distinct from thee, and thou from me." the fact is, that persian poetry is almost entirely súfíistic. it is difficult for the uninitiated to arrive at the esoteric meaning of these writings. kitmán, or the art of hiding from the profane religious beliefs, often contrary to the revealed law, has always been a special quality of the east. pantheistic doctrines are largely inculcated.[ ] thus:-- "i was, ere a name had been named upon earth; ere one trace yet existed of aught that has birth; when the locks of the loved one streamed forth for a sign, and being was none, save the presence divine! named and name were alike emanations from me, ere aught that was 'i' existed, or 'we.'" the poet then describes his fruitless search for rest and peace in christianity, hinduism, and the religion of the parsee. even islám gave him no satisfaction, for-- "nor above nor beneath came the loved one to view, i toiled to the summit, wild, pathless and lone, of the globe-girding kaf[ ]:--but the 'anka[ ] had flown! { } the sev'nth heaven i traversed--the sev'nth heaven explored, but in neither discern'd i the court of the lord! i question'd the pen and the tablet of fate, but they whisper'd not where he pavilions his state; my vision i strain'd; but my god-scanning eye no trace, that to godhead belongs, could descry. my glance i bent inward; within my own breast, lo, the vainly sought elsewhere, the godhead confess'd! in the whirl of its transport my spirit was toss'd, _till each atom of separate being i lost_." these are the words of the greatest authority among the súfís, the famous maulána jelál-ud-dín rúmí, founder of the order of the mauláví darwíshes. he also relates the following story: "one knocked at the door of the beloved, and a voice from within said: 'who is there?' then he answered, '_it is i._' the voice replied, 'this house will not hold _me_ and _thee_!' so the door remained shut. the lover retired to a wilderness, and spent some time in solitude, fasting, and prayer. one year elapsed, when he again returned, and knocked at the door. 'who is there?' said the voice. the lover answered, '_it is thou._' then the door was opened." the great object of life, then, being to escape from the hindrances to pure love and to a return to the divine essence, the tálib, or seeker, attaches himself to a murshid, or teacher. if he prosecutes his studies according to súfíistic methods he now often enters one of the many orders of darwíshes. after due preparation under his murshid, he is allowed to enter on the road. he then becomes a sálik, or traveller, whose business henceforth is súlúk that is, devotion to one idea--the knowledge of god. in this road there are eight stages. ( ) service. here he must serve god and obey the law for he is still in bondage. ( ) love. it is supposed that now the divine influence has so attracted his soul that he really loves god. ( ) seclusion. love having expelled all worldly desires, he arrives at this stage, and passes his time in meditation on the deeper doctrines { } of súfíism regarding the divine nature. ( ) knowledge. the meditation in the preceding stage, and the investigation of the metaphysical theories concerning god, his nature, his attributes and the like make him an 'Árif--one who knows. ( ) ecstasy. the mental excitement caused by such continued meditation on abstruse subjects produces a kind of frenzy, which is looked upon as a mark of direct illumination of the heart from god. it is known as hál--the state; or wajd--ecstasy. arrival at this stage is highly valued, for it is the certain entrance to the next. ( ) haqiqat--the truth. now to the traveller is revealed the true nature of god, now he learns the reality of that which he has been for so long seeking. this admits him to the highest stage in his journey, as far as this life is concerned. ( ) that stage is wasl--union with god. "there was a door to which i found no key; there was a veil past which i could not see: some little talk of me and thee there seemed--and then no more of thee and me." he cannot, in this life, go beyond that, and very few reach that exalted stage. thus arose a "system of pantheism, which represents joy and sorrow, good and evil, pleasure and pain as manifestations of one changeless essence." religion, as made known by an outward revelation, is, to the few who reach this stage, a thing of the past. even its restraints are not needed. the soul that is united to god can do no evil. the poet khusrau says: "love is the object of my worship, what need have i of islám?" death ensues and with it the last stage is reached. ( ) it is faná--extinction. the seeker after all his search, the traveller after all his wearisome journey passes behind the veil and finds--nothing! as the traveller proceeds from stage to stage, the restraints of an objective revelation and of an outward system are less and less heeded. "the { } religion of the mystic consists in his immediate communication with god, and when once this has been established, the value of ecclesiastical forms, and of the historical part of religion, becomes doubtful." what law can bind the soul in union with god, what outward system impose any trammels on one who, in the "ecstasy," has received from him, who is the truth, the direct revelation of his own glorious nature? moral laws and ceremonial observances have only an allegorical signification. creeds are but fetters cunningly devised to limit the flight of the soul; all that is objective in religion is a restraint to the reason of the initiated.[ ] pantheistic in creed, and too often antinomian in practice, súfíism possesses no regenerative power in islám. "it is not a substantive religion such as shapes the life of races or of nations, it is a state of opinion." no muslim state makes a national profession of súfíism. in spite of all its dogmatic utterances, in spite of much that is sublime in its idea of the search after light and truth, súfíism ends in utter negation of all separate existence. the pantheism of the súfís, this esoteric doctrine of islám, as a moral doctrine leads to the same conclusions as materialism, "the negation of human liberty, the indifference to actions and the legitimacy of all temporal enjoyments." the result of súfíism has been the establishment of a large number of religious orders known as darwíshes.[ ] these men are looked upon with disfavour by the { } orthodox; but they flourish nevertheless, and in turkey at the present day have great influence. there are in constantinople two hundred takiahs, or monasteries. the darwíshes are not organized with such regularity, nor subject to discipline so severe as that of the christian monastic orders; but they surpass them in number. each order has its own special mysteries and practices by which its members think they can obtain a knowledge of the secrets of the invisible world. they are also called faqírs--poor men, not, however, always in the sense of being in temporal want, but as being poor in the sight of god. as a matter of fact the darwíshes of many of the orders do not beg, and many of the takiahs are richly endowed. they are divided into two great classes, the ba shara' (with the law) darwíshes; and the be shara' (without the law). the former prefer to rule their conduct according to the law of islám and are called the sálik--travellers on the path (taríqat) to heaven; the latter though they call themselves muslims do not conform to the law, and are called azád (free), or majzúb (abstracted), a term which signifies their renunciation of all worldly cares and pursuits. the sálik darwíshes are those who perform the zikrs.[ ] what little hope there is of these professedly religious men working any reform in islám will be seen from the following account of their doctrines.[ ] . god only exists,--he is in all things, and all things are in him. "verily we are _from_ god, and _to_ him shall we return." (súra ii. .) { } . all visible and invisible beings are an emanation from him, and are not really distinct from him. creation is only a pastime with god. . paradise and hell, and all the dogmas of positive religions, are only so many allegories, the spirit of which is only known to the súfí. . religions are matters of indifference; they, however, serve as a means of reaching to realities. some, for this purpose, are more advantageous than others. among which is the musalmán religion, of which the doctrine of the súfís is the philosophy. . there is not any real difference between good and evil, for all is reduced to unity, and god is the real author of the acts of mankind. . it is god who fixes the will of man. man, therefore, is not free in his actions. . the soul existed before the body, and is now confined within it as in a cage. at death the soul returns to the divinity from which it emanated. . the principal occupation of the súfí is to meditate on the unity, and so to attain to spiritual perfection--unification with god. . without the grace of god no one can attain to this unity; but god does not refuse his aid to those who are in the right path. the power of a sheikh, a spiritual leader, is very great. the following account of the admission of a novice, called tawakkul beg, into an order, and of the severe tests applied, will be of some interest.[ ] tawakkul beg says:--"having been introduced by akhúnd moollá muhammad to sheikh moolla sháh, my heart, through frequent intercourse with him, was filled with such a burning desire to arrive at a true knowledge of the mystical science that i found no sleep by night, nor rest by day. when the initiation commenced, { } i passed the whole night without sleep, and repeated innumerable times the súrat-ul-ikhlás:-- "say: he is god alone: god the eternal: he begetteth not, and he is not begotten; and there is none like unto him." (súra cxii.) whosoever repeats this súra one hundred times can accomplish all his vows. i desired that the sheikh should bestow on me his love. no sooner had i finished my task than the heart of the sheikh became full of sympathy for me. on the following night i was conducted to his presence. during the whole of that night he concentrated his thoughts on me, whilst i gave myself up to inward meditation. three nights passed in this way. on the fourth night the sheikh said:--'let moollá senghim and sálih beg, who are very susceptible to ecstatic emotions, apply their spiritual energies to tawakkul beg.' they did so, whilst i passed the whole night in meditation, with my face turned toward mecca. as the morning drew near, a little light came into my mind, but i could not distinguish form or colour. after the morning prayers, i was taken to the sheikh who bade me inform him of my mental state. i replied that i had seen a light with my inward eye. on hearing this, the sheikh became animated and said: 'thy heart is dark, but the time is come when i will show myself clearly to thee.' he then ordered me to sit down in front of him, and to impress his features on my mind. then having blindfolded me, he ordered me to concentrate all my thoughts upon him. i did so, and in an instant by the spiritual help of the sheikh my heart opened. he asked me what i saw. i said that i saw another tawakkul beg and another moollá sháh. the bandage was then removed, and i saw the sheikh in front of me. again they covered my face, and again i saw him with my inward eye. astonished, i cried; 'o master! whether i look with my bodily eye, or with my spiritual { } sight, it is always you i see.' i then saw a dazzling figure approach me. the sheikh told me to say to the apparition, 'what is your name?' in my spirit i put the question, and the figure answered to my heart: 'i am 'abd-ul-qádir jilání, i have already aided thee, thy heart is opened.' much affected, i vowed that in honour of the saint, i would repeat the whole qurán every friday night. moollá sháh then said: 'the spiritual world has been shown to thee in all its beauty.' i then rendered perfect obedience to the sheikh. the following day i saw the prophet, the chief companions, and legions of saints and angels. after three months, i entered the cheerless region in which the figures appeared no more. during the whole of this time, the sheikh continued to explain to me the mystery of the doctrine of the unity and of the knowledge of god; but as yet he did not show me the absolute reality. it was not until a year had passed that i arrived at the true conception of unity. then in words such as these i told the sheikh of my inspiration. 'i look upon the body as only dust and water, i regard neither my heart nor my soul, alas! that in separation from thee (god) so much of my life has passed. thou wert i and i knew it not.' the sheikh was delighted, and said that the truth of the union with god was now clearly revealed to me. then addressing those who were present, he said: 'tawakkul beg learnt from me the doctrine of the unity, his inward eye has been opened, the spheres of colours and of images have been shown to him. at length, he entered the colourless region. he has now attained to the unity, doubt and scepticism henceforth have no power over him. no one sees the unity with the outward eye, till the inward eye gains strength and power.'" i cannot pass from this branch of the subject without making a few remarks on omar khayyám, the great astronomer-poet of persia. he is sometimes confounded with the súfís, for there is much in his poetry which is similar { } in tone to that of the súfí writers. but his true position was that of a sceptic. he wrote little, but what he has written will live. as an astronomer he was a man of note. he died in the year a.h. there are two things which may have caused his scepticism. to a man of his intelligence the hard and fast system of islám was an intolerable burden. then, his scientific spirit had little sympathy with mysticism, the earnest enthusiasts of which were too often followed by hollow impostors. it is true, that there was much in the spirit of some of the better súfís that seemed to show a yearning for something higher than mere earthly good; above all, there was the recognition of a higher power. but with all this came spiritual pride, the world and its duties became a thing of evil, and the religious and the secular life were completely divorced, to the ruin of both. the pantheism which soon pervaded the system left no room for man's will to act, for his conscience to guide. so the moral law become a dead letter. irreligious men, to free themselves from the bondage and restraints of law, assumed the religious life. "thus a movement, animated at first by a high and lofty purpose, has degenerated into a fruitful source of ill. the stream which ought to have expanded into a fertilising river has become a vast swamp, exhaling vapours charged with disease and death." omar khayyám saw through the unreality of all this. in vain does he try, by an assumed air of gaiety, to hide from others the sadness which fills his heart, as all that is bright is seen passing away into oblivion. one moment in annihilation's waste, one moment, of the well of life to taste-- the stars are setting and the caravan starts for the dawn of nothing--oh, make haste! ah, fill the cup:--what boots it to repeat how time is slipping underneath our feet: unborn to-morrow, and dead yesterday, why fret about them if to-day be sweet. { } omar held to the earthly and the material. for him there was no spiritual world. chance seemed to rule all the affairs of men. a pitiless destiny shaped out the course of each human being. "'tis all a chequer-board of nights and days where destiny with men for pieces plays: hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays, and one by one back in the closet lays. the moving finger writes; and, having writ, moves on: nor all thy piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all thy tears wash out a word of it." neither from earth nor heaven could he find any answer to his cry. with sages and saints he discussed, and heard, "great argument, but evermore came out by the same door as in he went." he left the wise to talk, for one thing alone was certain, and all else was lies,--"the flower that once has blown for ever dies." leaving men he turned to nature, but it was all the same. "up from earth's centre through the seventh gate i rose, and on the throne of saturn sate, and many knots unravell'd by the road; but not the knot of human death and fate. and that inverted bowl we call the sky, where under crawling coop'd we live and die, lift not thy hands to it for help--for it rolls impotently on as thou or i." omar has with justice been compared to lucretius. both were materialists, both believed not in a future life. "lucretius built a system for himself in his poem ... it has a professed practical aim--to explain the world's self-acting machine to the polytheist, and to disabuse him of all spiritual ideas." omar builds up no system, he only shows forth his own doubts and difficulties, "he loves to balance antitheses of belief, and settle himself in the equipoise of the sceptic." { } the fact that there is no hereafter gives lucretius no pain, but omar who, if only his reason could let him, would believe, records his utter despair in words of passionate bitterness. he is not glad that there is no help anywhere.[ ] and though he calls for the wine-cup, and listens to the voice within the tavern cry, "awake, my little ones, and fill the cup before life's liquor in its cup be dry," yet he also looks back to the time, when he consorted with those who professed to know, and could say: "with them the seed of wisdom did i sow, and with my own hand laboured it to grow." the founder of the wahhábí sect was muhammad-ibn-abd-ul-wahháb, who was born at a village in nejd in the year a.d. the wahhábís speak of themselves as muwahhid--unitarians; but their opponents have given to them the name of the father of the founder of their sect and call them wahhábís. muhammad was a bright intelligent youth, of a strong constitution and generous spirit. after going through a course of arabic literature he studied jurisprudence under a teacher of the hanífi school. he then set out in company with his father to perform the hajj. at madína he received further instruction in the law. he spent sometime at ispahán in the society of learned men. full of { } knowledge, he returned to his native village of ayína where he assumed the position of a religious teacher. he was shocked to see how the arabs had departed from what seemed to him the strict unchanging precepts of the prophet. luxury in the form of rich dresses and silken garments, superstition in the use of omens, auguries, and the like, in the pilgrimages to shrines and tombs seemed to be altering the character of the religion as given by the apostle of god. he saw, or thought he saw, that in the veneration paid to saints and holy men, the great doctrine of the "unity" was being obscured. the reason was very plain. the qurán and the traditions of the companions had been neglected, whilst the sayings of men of lesser note, and the jurisprudence of the four great imáms had been too readily followed. here was work to do. he would reform the church of islám, and restore men to their allegiance to the book and the sunnat, as recorded by the companions. it is true, that the sunnís would rise up in opposition, for thus the authority of the four imáms, the "canonical legists" of the orthodox sect, would be set aside; but what of that? had he not been a follower of abu hanífa? now he was prepared to let aba hanífa go, for none but a companion of the prophet could give an authoritative statement with regard to the sunnat--the prophet's words and acts. he must break a lance with the glorious imám, and start a school of his own. he said: "the muslim pilgrims adore the tomb of the prophet, and the sepulchre of 'alí, and of other saints who have died in the odour of sanctity. they run there to pay the tribute of their fervent prayers. by this means they think that they can satisfy their spiritual and temporal needs, from what do they seek this benefit? from walls made of mud and stones, from corpses deposited in tombs. if you speak to them they will reply, 'we do not call these monuments god; we turn to them in prayer, and we pray the saints to intercede for us on high.' now, the true { } way of salvation is to prostrate one's self before him who is ever present, and to venerate him--the one without associate or equal." such outspoken language raised up opposition, and he had to seek the protection of muhammad-ibn-saud, a chief of some importance, who now vigorously supported the wahhábí movement. he was a stern and uncompromising man. "as soon as you seize a place," he said to his soldiers, "put the males to the sword. plunder and pillage at your pleasure, but spare the women and do not strike a blow at their modesty." on the day of battle he used to give each soldier a paper, a safe conduct to the other world. this letter was addressed to the treasurer of paradise. it was enclosed in a bag which the warrior suspended to his neck. the soldiers were persuaded that the souls of those who died in battle would go straight to heaven, without being examined by the angels munkar and nakír in the grave. the widows and orphans of all who fell were supported by the survivors. nothing could resist men who, fired with a burning zeal for what they deemed the truth, received a share of the booty, if conquerors; who went direct to paradise if they were slain. in course of time, muhammad-ibn-saud married the daughter of ibn-abd-ul-wahháb and founded the wahhábí dynasty which to this day rules at ryadh.[ ] such was the origin of this great movement, which spread, in course of time, over central and eastern arabia, and in the beginning of this century found acceptance in india. in the year a.d. both mecca and madína fell into the hands of the wahhábís. a clean sweep was made of all things, the use of which was opposed to wahhábí principles. not only rosaries and charms, but silk robes and pipes were consigned to the flames, for smoking is a { } deadly sin. on this point there is a good story told by palgrave--"'abd-ul-karím said: 'the first of the great sins is the giving divine honours to a creature.' of course i replied, 'the enormity of such a sin is beyond all doubt. but if this be the first, there must be a second; what is it?' 'drinking the shameful!' (in english idiom, 'smoking tobacco') was the unhesitating answer. 'and murder, and adultery, and false witness?' i suggested. 'god is merciful and forgiving,' rejoined my friend; that is, these are merely little sins."[ ] after holding possession of the holy cities for nine years they were driven out by the turkish forces. 'abdullah, the fourth wahhábí ruler, was captured by ibrahím pasha, and afterwards executed in the square of st. sophia ( a.d.) the political power of the wahhábís has since been confined to parts of arabia; but their religious opinions have widely spread. the leader of the wahhábí movement in india was sayyid ahmad, a reformed freebooter. he was now born at ráí bareili, in oudh, a.d. when about thirty years of age he gave up his wild way of living and settled down in delhi as a student of the law of islám. after a while, he went on pilgrimage to mecca, but his opinions, so similar to those of the noted wahhábí, attracted the attention of the orthodox theologians, through whose influence he was expelled from the sacred city. persecution deepened his religious convictions, and he returned to india a pronounced wahhábí. he soon gained a large number of disciples, and in a.d. he preached a jihád against the sikhs. this war was not a success. in the year the wahhábís were suddenly attacked by the sikhs, under sher singh, and sayyid ahmad was slain. this did not, however, prevent the spread of wahhábí principles, for he had the good fortune to leave behind him an enthusiastic disciple. this man, { } muhammad ismá'íl, was born near delhi in the year a.d. he was a youth of good abilities and soon mastered the subjects which form the curriculum of a liberal education amongst musalmáns. his first preaching was in a mosque at delhi on tauhíd (unity), and against shirk (polytheism). he now met with sayyid ahmad who soon acquired great influence over his new disciple. ismá'íl told him one evening that he could not offer up his prayers with huzúr-i-kalb, presence of heart. the sayyid took him to his room where he instructed him to repeat the first of the prayers after him, and then to conclude them alone. he did so, and was able to so abstract himself in the contemplation of god that he remained engaged in prayer till the morning. henceforward he was a devoted adherent of his spiritual teacher. in the public discussions, which now often took place, none were a match for ismá'íl. this fervent preacher of wahhábíism is now chiefly remembered by his great work, the takwiat-ul-imán, the book from which the account of wahhábí doctrine given in this chapter is taken. if i make no special reference to the quotations given, it will be known that my authority for the statements thus made is muhammad ismá'íl, the most famous of all sayyid ahmad's disciples. this book was followed by the sirát-ul-mustaqím, said to have been written by one of ismá'íl's followers. wahhábí doctrines are now spread throughout india. in the south there is not much religious excitement or inquiry, yet wahhábís are to be found there.[ ] it was and is a remarkable movement. in one sense it is a struggle against the traditionalism of later ages, but in no sense can it be said that the wahhábís reject tradition. they acknowledge as the foundation of the faith--first, the qurán; secondly, the traditions which are recorded on the authority of the companions, and also the ijmá' of the companions, that is, all things on which they were unanimous in opinion { } or in practice. thus to the wahhábí as to the sunní, muhammad is in all his _acts_ and _words_ a perfect guide. so far from wahhábíism being a move onward because it is a return to first principles, it rather binds the fetters of islám more tightly. it does not originate anything new, it offers no relaxation from a system which looks upon the qurán and the traditions as a perfect and complete law, social and political, moral and religious. the wahhábí places the doctrine of the "tauhíd," or unity, in a very prominent position. it is true that all musalmán sects put this dogma in the first rank, but wahhábís set their faces against practices common to the other sects, because they consider that they obscure this fundamental doctrine. it is this which brings them into collision with other musalmáns. the greatest of all sins is shirk (_i.e._ the ascribing of plurality to the deity). a mushrik (polytheist) is one who so offends. all musalmáns consider christians to be polytheists, and all wahhábís consider all other musalmáns also to be polytheists, because they look to the prophet for intercession, pray to saints, visit shrines, and do other unlawful acts. the takwiat-ul-imán says that "two things are necessary in religion--to know god as god, and the prophet as the prophet." the two fundamental bases of the faith are the "doctrine of the tauhíd (unity) and obedience to the sunnat." the two great errors to be avoided are shirk (polytheism) and bida't (innovation). as bida't is looked upon as evil, it is somewhat difficult to see what hope of progress can be placed upon this latest phase of muhammadan revival. shirk is defined to be of four kinds: shirk-ul-'ilm, ascribing knowledge to others than god; shirk-ut-tasarruf, ascribing power to others than god; shirk-ul-'ibádat, offering worship to created things; shirk-ul-'ádat, the performance of ceremonies which imply reliance on others than god. { } the first, shirk-ul-'ilm, is illustrated by the statement that prophets and holy men have no knowledge of secret things unless as revealed to them by god. thus some wicked persons made a charge against 'Áyesha. the prophet was troubled in mind, but knew not the truth of the matter till god made it known to him. to ascribe, then, power to soothsayers, astrologers, and saints is polytheism. "all who pretend to have a knowledge of hidden things, such as fortune-tellers, soothsayers and interpreters of dreams, as well as those who profess to be inspired are all liars." again, "should any one take the name of any saint, or invoke his aid in the time of need, instead of calling on god, or use his name in attacking an enemy, or read passages to propitiate him, or make him the object of contemplation--it is shirk-ul-'ilm." the second kind, shirk-ut-tasarruf, is to suppose that any one has power with god. he who looks up to any one as an intercessor with god commits shirk. thus: "but they who take others beside him as lords, saying, 'we only serve them that they may bring us near god,'--god will judge between them (and the faithful) concerning that wherein they are at variance." (súra xxxix. .) intercession may be of three kinds. for example, a criminal is placed before the king. the vizier intercedes. the king, having regard to the rank of the vizier, pardons the offender. this is called shafá'at-i-wajahat, or 'intercession from regard.' but to suppose that god so esteems the rank of any one as to pardon a sinner merely on account of it is shirk. again, the queen or the princes intercede for the criminal. the king, from love to them, pardons him. this is called shafá'at-i-muhabbat, or 'intercession from affection.' but to consider that god so loves any one as to pardon a criminal on his account is to give that loved one power, and this is shirk, for such power is not possible in the court of god. "god may out of his bounty confer on his favourite servants the epithets of habíb--favourite, or khalíl--friend, { } &c.; but a servant is but a servant, no one can put his foot outside the limits of servitude, or rise beyond the rank of a servant." again, the king may himself wish to pardon the offender, but he fears lest the majesty of the law should be lowered. the vizier perceives the king's wish, and intercedes. this intercession is lawful. it is called shafá'at-i-ba-izn--intercession by permission, and such power muhammad will have at the day of judgment. wahhábís hold that he has not that power now, though all other musalmáns consider that he has, and in consequence (in wahhábí opinion) commit the sin of shirk-ut-tasarruf. the wahhábís quote the following passages in support of their view. "who is he that can intercede with him but by _his own permission_." (súra ii. ) "say: intercession is wholly with god! his the kingdoms of the heavens and of the earth." (súra xxxix. ). they also say: "whenever an allusion is made in the qurán, or the traditions to the intercession of certain prophets or apostles, it is this kind of intercession and no other that is meant." the third shirk is prostration before any created beings with the idea of worshipping it. it also includes perambulating the shrines of departed saints. thus: "prostration, bowing down, standing with folded arms, spending money in the name of an individual, fasting out of respect to his memory, proceeding to a distant shrine in a pilgrim's garb and calling out the name of the saint whilst so going is shirk-ul-'ibádat." it is wrong "to cover the grave with a sheet (ghiláf), to say prayers at the shrine, to kiss any particular stone, to rub the mouth and breast against the walls of the shrine, &c." this is a stern condemnation of the very common practice of visiting the tombs of saints and of some of the special practices of the pilgrimage to mecca. all such practices as are here condemned are called ishrák fi'l 'ibádat--'association in worship.' the fourth shirk is the keeping up of superstitious customs, such as the istikhára--seeking guidance from beads { } &c., trusting to omens, good or bad, believing in lucky and unlucky days, adopting such names as 'abd-un-nabi (slave of the prophet), and so on. in fact, the denouncing of such practices and calling them shirk brings wahhábíism into daily contact with the other sects, for scarcely any people in the world are such profound believers in the virtue of charms and the power of astrologers as musalmáns. the difference between the first and fourth shirk, the shirk-ul-'ilm and the shirk-ul-'ádat, seems to be that the first is the _belief_, say in the knowledge of a soothsayer, and the second the _habit_ of consulting him. to swear by the name of the prophet, of 'alí, of the imáms, or of pírs (leaders) is to give them the honour due to god alone. it is ishrák fi'l adab--'shirk in association.' another common belief which wahhábís oppose is that musalmáns can perform the hajj (pilgrimage to mecca), say prayers, read the qurán, abide in meditation, give alms, and do other good works, the reward of which shall be credited to a person already dead.[ ] amongst other musalmáns it is a common practice to read the qurán in the belief that, if done with such an intention, the reward will pass to the deceased object of the desire. wahábís entirely object to this. the above technical exposition of wahhábí tenets shows how much stress they lay on a rigid adherence to the doctrine of the "unity." "lá-il-láha, il-lal-lá-hu" (there is no god but god) is an eternal truth. yet to the musalmán god is a being afar off. in rejecting the fatherhood of god he has accepted as the object of his worship, hardly of his affections, a being despotic in all he does, arbitrary in all his ways. he has accepted the position of a slave instead of that of a son. wahhábíism emphasizes the ideas which flow from the first article of the muslim creed. but { } on this subject we prefer to let palgrave speak. he of all men knew the wahhábí best, and he, at least, can be accused of no sectarian bias. the extract is rather long, but will repay perusal; indeed, the whole passage from which this extract is taken should be read. "'there is no god but god,' are words simply tantamount in english to the negation of any deity save one alone; and thus much they certainly mean in arabic, but they imply much more also. their full sense is, not only to deny absolutely and unreservedly all plurality whether of nature or of person in the supreme being, not only to establish the unity of the unbegetting and the unbegot, in all its simple and incommunicable oneness, but besides this, the words, in arabic and among arabs, imply that this one supreme being is the only agent, the only force, the only act existing throughout the universe, and leave to all beings else, matter or spirit, instinct or intelligence, physical or moral, nothing but pure unconditional passiveness, alike in movement or in quiescence, in action or in capacity. hence in this one sentence is summed up a system which, for want of a better name, i may be permitted to call the 'pantheism of force.' 'god is one in the totality of omnipotent and omnipresent action, which acknowledges no rule, standard, or limit, save one sole and absolute will. he communicates nothing to his creatures, for their seeming power and act ever remain his alone, and in return he receives nothing from them.' 'it is his singular satisfaction to let created beings continually feel that they are nothing else than his slaves, that they may the better acknowledge his superiority.' 'he himself, sterile in his inaccessible height, neither loving nor enjoying aught save his own and self-measured decree, without son, companion, or councillor, is no less barren for himself than for his creatures, and his own barrenness and lone egoism in himself is the cause and rule of his indifferent and unregarding despotism around.'[ ] palgrave allows that such a notion of the deity is monstrous, but maintains that it is the "truest mirror of the mind and scope of the writer of the book" (qurán), and that, as such, it is confirmed by authentic tradition and learned commentaries. at all events, palgrave possessed { } the two essential qualifications for a critic of islam--a knowledge of the literature, and intercourse with the people. so far as my experience goes i have never seen any reason to differ from palgrave's statement. men are often better than their creeds. even the prophet was not always consistent. there are some redeeming points in islám. but the root idea of the whole is as described above, and from it no system can be deduced which will grow in grace and beauty as age after age rolls by. the arab proverb states that "the worshipper models himself on what he worships."[ ] thus a return to "first principles," sometimes proclaimed as the hope of turkey, is but the "putting back the hour-hand of islám" to the place where indeed muhammad always meant it to stay, for "islám is in its essence stationary, and was framed thus to remain. sterile, like its god, lifeless like its first principle and supreme original in all that constitutes true life--for life is love, participation, and progress, and of these the quránic deity has none--it justly repudiates all change, all advance, all development."[ ] muhammad ibn 'abd-ul wahháb was a man of great intellectual power and vigour. he could pierce through the mists of a thousand years, and see with an eagle eye how one sect and another had laid accretions on the faith. he had the rare gift of intuition, and could see that change (bida't) and progress were alien to the truth. this recognition of his ability is due to him; but what a sad prostration of great gifts it was to seek to arrest, by the worship of the letter, all hope of progress, and to make "the starting-point of islám its goal." that he was a good musalmán in so doing no one can doubt, but that his work gives any hope of the rise of an enlightened form of islám no one who really has studied islám can believe. wahhábíism simply amounts to this, that while it denounces all other musalmáns as polytheists, it enforces the { } sunnat of the prophet with all its energy.[ ] it breaks down shrines, but insists on the necessity of a pilgrimage to a black stone at mecca. it forbids the use of a rosary, but attaches great merit to counting the ninety-nine names of god on the fingers. it would make life unsocial. the study of the fine arts with the exception of architecture can find no place in it. ismá'íl quotes with approval the following tradition. "'Áyesha said: 'i purchased a carpet on which were some figures. the prophet stood in the doorway and looked displeased.' i said: 'o messenger of god, i repent to god and his messenger; what fault have i committed that you do not enter?' his highness then said: 'what is this carpet?' i replied; 'i have bought it for you to sit and rest upon.' then the messenger of god replied: 'verily, the maker of pictures will be punished on the day of resurrection, when god will desire them to bring them to life. a house which contains pictures is not visited by the angels.'" in a tradition quoted by ibn 'abbás, the prophet classes artists with murderers and parricides. wahhábíism approves of all this, and thus by forbidding harmless enjoyments it would make society "an organised hypocrisy." it would spread abroad a spirit of contempt for all mankind except its own followers, and, where it had the power, it would force its convictions on others at the point of the sword. wahhábíism was reform after a fashion, in one direction; in the history of islám there have been attempts at reform in other directions; there will yet be such attempts, but so long as the qurán and the sunnat (or, in the case of the shía'h, its equivalent) are to form, as they have hitherto { } done for every sect, the sole law to regulate all conditions and states of life, enlightened and continued progress is impossible. the deadening influence of islám is the greatest obstacle the church of god has to overcome in her onward march; its immobility is the bane of many lands; connection with it is the association of the living with the dead; to speak of it, as some do, as if it were a sort of sister religion to christianity, is but to show deplorable ignorance where ignorance is inexcusable. thus it is plain that musalmáns are not all of one heart and soul.[ ] in the next chapter i hope to show that islám is a very dogmatic and complex system in spite of the simple form of its creed. { } note to chapter iii. wahhÁbÍism. in the journal asiatique, me série, tome , a curious account is given of the voyage of mirzá muhammad 'alí khán, some time persian ambassador in paris. this gentleman states that in one of his voyages from persia to india he met with a wahhábí, who had in his possession a tract written by the founder of the sect. this small pamphlet he allowed mirzá muhammad to copy. i give the substance of the pamphlet in this note. the original arabic will be found in the journal asiatique. it is of considerable interest as a protest against idolatry. it is as follows:--i know that god is merciful, that the sect of abu hanífa is orthodox and identical with the religion of abraham. after thou hast known that god has created his servants for the purpose of being served by them, know also that this service or devotion is to worship god, one and alone; just as prayer (salát) is not prayer (salát), unless it is accompanied with the legal purification. god most high has said: "it is not for the votaries of other gods with god, witnesses against themselves of infidelity, to visit the temples of god. these! vain their works: and in the fire shall they abide for ever!" (súra ix. .) those who in their prayers, address any other than god, in the hope of obtaining by them that which god alone can give--those bring unto their prayers the leaven of idolatry and make them of none effect, "and who erreth more than he who, beside god, calleth upon that which shall not answer him until the day of resurrection." (súra xlvi. ) on the contrary, when the day of resurrection comes, they will become their enemies and treat them as infidels for having served others than god. "but the gods whom ye call on beside him have no power over the husk of a date-stone! if ye cry to them they will not hear your cry; and if they heard they would not answer you, and in the day of resurrection they will disown your joining them with god." (súra xxxv. , .) he who says: "o thou prophet of god! o 'ibn 'abbás! o 'abd-ul-qádir!" &c. with the persuasion that the souls of these blessed ones can obtain from god that of which the suppliant has need, or that they can protect him, is an infidel whose blood any one may shed, and whose goods any one may appropriate with impunity unless he repent. there are four different classes of idolaters. { } first, the infidels against whom the prophet made war. these acknowledge that god is the creator of the world, that he supports all living creatures, that in wisdom he rules over all. "say: who supplieth you from the heavens and the earth? who hath power over hearing and sight? and who bringeth forth the living from the dead, and bringeth forth the dead from the living? who ruleth all things? they will surely say: 'god,' then say: 'what! will ye not therefore fear him.'" (súra x. .) it is difficult to distinguish idolatry of this kind; but under an outwardly orthodox appearance they go astray; for they have recourse to divinities of their own choosing and pray to them. secondly, there are idolaters who say that they only call upon these intermediary powers to intercede in their favour with god, and that what they desire they seek from god. the qurán furnishes a proof against them. "they worship beside god what cannot hurt or help them, and say, these are our advocates with god! say: will ye inform god of aught in the heavens and in the earth which he knoweth not?" (súra x. .) thirdly, those are idolaters who choose one idol as their patron, or rather those who, renouncing the worship of idols, become attached to one saint, as jesus or his mother, and put themselves under the protection of guardian angels. against them we cite the verse: "those whom ye call on, themselves desire union with their lord, striving which of them shall be nearest to him; they also hope for his mercy, and fear his chastisement." (súra xvii. .) we see here that the prophet drew no distinction between the worship of an idol and the worship of such and such a saint; on the contrary, he treated them all as infidels, and made war upon them in order to consolidate the religion of god upon a firm basis. fourthly, those who worship god sincerely in the time of trouble, but at other times call on other gods are idolaters. thus: "lo! when they embark on board a ship, they call upon god, vowing him sincere worship, but when he bringeth them safe to land, behold they join partners with him." (súra xxix. .) in the age in which we live, i could cite still worse heresies. the idolaters, our contemporaries, pray to and invoke the lower divinities when they are in distress. the idolaters of the prophet's time were less culpable than those of the present age are. they, at least, had recourse to god in time of great evil; these in good and evil states, seek the aid of their patrons, other than god, and pray to them. { } * * * * * chapter iv. the creed of islÁm.[ ] faith is defined by muslim theologians as: "confession with the tongue and belief with the heart."[ ] it is said to "stand midway between hope and fear." it is sub-divided into imán-í-mujmal and imán-í-mufassal. the former is an expression of the following faith: "i believe in god, his names and attributes, and accept all his commands."[ ] the latter is the acceptance of the following dogmas: "i believe in god, angels, books, prophets, the last day, the predestination by the most high god of good and evil and the resurrection after death."[ ] these form the articles of faith which every muslim must believe, to which belief, in order to render it perfect, he must add the performance of the "acts of practice," _viz._: ( ) "the recital of the kalima or creed:--'there is no deity but god, and muhammad is the apostle of god.' ( ) sulát. the five daily prayers. ( ) roza. the thirty days fast of ramazán. ( ) zakát. the legal alms. ( ) hajj, or the pilgrimage to mecca." this chapter will contain an account of the imán--the dogmas of islám. an account of the dín--the practical duties, will be given in the next chapter. { } . god.--this article of the faith includes a belief in the existence of god, his unity and attributes, and has given rise to a large number of sects. some acquaintance with the various controversies which have thus arisen is necessary to a correct knowledge of islám. i commence the consideration of this subject by giving the substance of a sunní, or orthodox treatise known as the risála-i-berkevi. the learned orientalist m. garcin de tassy, considered it to be of such authority that in his "l'islamisme d'après le coran" he has inserted a translation of the risála.[ ] muhammad al-berkevi, speaking of the divine attributes, says:-- ( ). life. (hyát). god most high is alone to be adored. he has neither associate nor equal. he is free from the imperfections of humanity. he is neither begotten nor does he beget. he is invisible. he is without figure, form, colour or parts. his existence has neither beginning nor end. he is immutable. if he so wills, he can annihilate the world in a moment of time and, if it seem good to him, recreate it in an instant. nothing is difficult to him, whether it be the creation of a fly or that of the seven heavens. he receives neither profit nor loss from whatever may happen. if all the infidels became believers and all the irreligious pious, he would gain no advantage. on the other hand, if all believers became infidels, he would suffer no loss. ( ). knowledge. ('ilm). he has knowledge of all things hidden or manifest, whether in heaven or on earth. he knows the number of the leaves of the trees, of the grains of wheat and of sand. events past and future are known to him. he knows what enters into the heart of man and what he utters with his mouth. he alone, except those to whom he has revealed them, knows the invisible things. he is free from forgetfulness, negligence and error. his knowledge is eternal: it is not posterior to his essence. ( ). power. (qudrat). he is almighty. if he wills, he can raise the dead, make stones talk, trees walk, annihilate the heavens and the earth and recreate of gold or of silver thousands similar to those destroyed. he can transport a man in a moment of time from the east to the west, or from the west to the east, or to the seventh heaven. his power is eternal à priori and à posteriori. it is not posterior to his essence. { } ( ). will (irádah). he can do what he wills, and whatever he wills comes to pass. he is not obliged to act. everything, good or evil, in this world exists by his will. he wills the faith of the believer and the piety of the religious. if he were to change his will there would be neither a true believer nor a pious man. he willeth also the unbelief of the unbeliever and the irreligion of the wicked and, without that will, there would neither be unbelief nor irreligion. all we do we do by his will: what he willeth not does not come to pass. if one should ask why god does not will that all men should believe we answer: "we have no right to enquire about what god wills and does. he is perfectly free to will and to do what he pleases." in creating unbelievers, in willing that they should remain in that state; in making serpents, scorpions and pigs: in willing, in short, all that is evil god has wise ends in view which it is not necessary that we should know. we must acknowledge that the will of god is eternal and that it is not posterior to his essence. ( ). hearing. (sama'). he hears all sounds whether low or loud. he hears without an ear for his attributes are not like those of men. ( ). seeing. (basr). he sees all things, even the steps of a black ant on a black stone in a dark night; yet he has no eye as men have. ( ). speech. (kalám). he speaks, but not with a tongue as men do. he speaks to some of his servants without the intervention of another, even as he spoke to moses, and to muhammad on the night of the ascension to heaven. he speaks to others by the instrumentality of gabriel, and this is the usual way in which he communicates his will to the prophets. it follows from this that the qurán is the word of god, and is eternal and uncreated. these are the "haft sifát," or seven attributes of god. there is unanimity of opinion as to the number of attributes, but not as regards their nature and the extent of the knowledge concerning them to which men can attain. thus some say that the knowledge of god is the first thing to acquire; but imám sháfa'í and the mutazilites say that a man must first attain to the _idea_ of the knowledge of god. the meaning of the expression "knowledge of god" is the ascertaining the truth of his existence, and of his positive and privative attributes, as far as the human understanding can enter into these matters. the unity is not a mere numerical unity but absolute, for the number one is the first of a series and implies a second, but god has not a { } second. he is "singular without anything like him, separate having no equal;" for, "had there been either in heaven or earth gods beside god, both surely had gone to ruin." (súra xxi. ). god is not a substance, for substance has accidents, but god has none: otherwise his nature would be that of "dependent existence." god is without parts, for otherwise he would not exist till all the parts were formed, and his existence would depend on the parts, that is, on something beside himself. the orthodox strictly prohibit the discussion of minute particulars, for say they, "just as the eye turning to the brightness of the sun finds darkness intervene to prevent all observation, so the understanding finds itself bewildered if it attempts to pry into the nature of god." the prophet said: "we did not know the reality of the knowledge of thee;" and to his followers he gave this advice: "think of god's gifts, not of his nature: certainly you have no power for that." the khalíf akbar is reported to have said: "to be helpless in the search of knowledge is knowledge and to enquire into the nature of god is shirk (infidelity)."[ ] a moderate acquaintance with muslim theology shows that neither the injunction of the prophet nor the warning of the khalíf has been heeded. according to the early muslims, the companions and their followers, enquiries into the nature of god and his attributes were not lawful. the prophet knowing what was good for men, had plainly revealed the way of salvation and had taught them:-- "say: he is god alone: god the eternal! he begetteth not, and he is not begotten; and there is none like unto him." (súra cxii) this was sufficient for them to know of the mystery of the godhead. god is far beyond the reach of the human { } understanding. he alone embraces all in his comprehension. men should therefore mistrust their own perceptive faculties and notions and should obey the inspired legislator muhammad, who loving them better than they love themselves, and knowing better than they do what is truly useful, has revealed both what they ought to believe and what they ought to do. it is true that men must exercise their reason, but they must not do so with regard to the divine attributes.[ ] dogma is divided into two portions, usúl and farú'--(_i.e._, roots and branches.) the former include the doctrine about god; the latter, as the name implies, consist of truths which result from the acceptance of the former. the orthodox belief is that reason has only to do with the "farú'," for the usúl being founded on the qurán and sunnat have an objective basis. differences of opinion about various branches of the "farú'," led to discussions which did not stop there but went on to the "usúl," and so paved the way for the rise of scholastic theology ('ilm-i-kalám.) i have already in the chapter on the exegesis of the qurán explained the difference in meaning between muhkam (obvious) verses and mutashábih (intricate) ones. this difference lies at the very foundation of the present subject. it is, therefore, necessary to enter a little into detail. the question turns very much on the interpretation of the th verse of the rd súra: "he it is who hath sent down to thee 'the book.' some of its signs are of themselves perspicuous (muhkam): these are the basis of the { } book--and others are figurative (mutashábih.) but they whose hearts are given to err, follow its figures, craving discord, craving an interpretation; yet none knoweth its interpretation but god. and the stable in knowledge say, 'we believe in it: it is all from our lord.' but none will bear this in mind, save men endued with understanding." here it is clearly stated ( ) that no one except god can know the interpretation of mutashábih verses, and ( ) that wise men though they know not their interpretation, yet believe them all. many learned men, however, say that the full stop should not be placed after the word "god" but after "knowledge," and so this portion of the verse would read thus: "none knoweth its interpretation but god and the stable in knowledge. they say: 'we believe, &c.'" on this slight change in punctuation, which shows that the 'stable in knowledge' can interpret the mutashábih verses, opposite schools of theology have arisen in islám. the latter reading opens the way to a fearless investigation of subjects which all the early muslims avoided as beyond their province. in the early days of islám it was held that all parts of the qurán, except the muhkam verses and the purely narrative portions, were mutashábih; that is, all verses which related to the attributes of god, to the existence of angels and genii, to the appearance of antichrist, the period and signs of the day of judgment, and generally all matters which are beyond the daily experience of mankind. it was strongly felt that not only must there be no discussion on them,[ ] but no attempt should be made to understand or act on them. ibn 'abbás, a companion, says: "one must believe the mutashábih verses, but not take them for a rule of conduct." ibn jubair was once { } asked to put the meaning of the qurán into writing. he became angry and said: "i should rather be palsied in one-half of my body than do so."[ ] 'ayesha said: "avoid those persons who dispute about the meaning of the qurán, for they are those whom god has referred to in the words, 'whose hearts are given to err.'" the first reading is the one adopted by the asháb, the tábi'ín and the taba-i-tábi'ín and the great majority of commentators. the sunnís generally, and, according to the testimony of fakr-ud-dín rází (a.h. - ), the sháfa'í sect are of the same opinion. those who take the opposite view are the commentators mujáhid (died a.h. ), rábí' bin ans and others. the scholastic theologians[ ] (mutakallimán) generally adopt the latter reading.[ ] they argued thus: how could men believe what they did not know; to which their opponents answered, that the act of belief in the unknown is the very thing here praised by god. the scholastics then enquired why, since the qurán was sent to be a guide and direction to men, were not all its verses muhkam? the answer was, that the arabs acknowledged two kinds of eloquence. one kind was to arrange words and ideas in a plain and simple style so that the meaning might be at once apparent, the other was to speak in figurative language. now, if the qurán had not contained both these styles of composition, it could not have claimed the position it does as a book absolutely perfect in form as well as in matter.[ ] bearing in mind this fundamental difference of opinion, we can now pass on to the consideration of the attributes. { } the essential attributes are life, knowledge, power, will, for without these the others could not exist. then the attributes of hearing, seeing, speech give us a further idea of perfection. these are the "sifát-i-sabútiah," or affirmative attributes, the privation of which would imply loss; there are also sifát-i-salbiah, or privative attributes, such as--god has no form, is not limited by place, has no equal, &c. the acts of sitting, rising, descending, the possession of face, hands, eyes, &c., being connected with the idea of corporeal existences imply imperfection and apparently contradict the doctrine of "exemption" (tenzih) according to which god is, in virtue of his essence, in no way like the creatures he has made. this was a difficulty, but the four great imáms all taught that it was impious to enquire into these matters for all such allusions were mutashábih. "the imám hanbal and other early divines followed in the path of the early muslims and said: 'we believe in the book and the sunnat, and do not desire explanations. we know that the high god is not to be compared to any created object: nor any creature with him.'"[ ] imám as-sháfa'í said that a man who enquired into such matters should be tied to a stake, and carried about, and that the following proclamation should be made before him: "this is the reward of him who left the qurán and the traditions for the study of scholastic theology." imám hanbal says: "whosoever moves his hand when he reads in the qurán the words, 'i have created with my hand,' ought to have his hand cut off; and whoever stretches forth his finger in repeating the saying of muhammad, 'the heart of the believer is between two fingers of the merciful,' deserves to have his finger cut off." at-tirmízí when consulted about the statement of the prophet that god had descended to the lowest of the seven heavens, said: "the descent is intelligible, the manner how is unknown; the belief therein { } is obligatory; and the asking about it is a blameable innovation." but all such attempts to restrain discussion and investigation failed. the two main points in the discussion of this question are ( ) whether the attributes of god are internal or external, whether they are part of his essence or not, and ( ) whether they are eternal or not. the two leading sects were the sifátians (or attributists) and the mutazilites. the sifátians whom the early orthodox muslims follow, taught that the attributes of god are eternally inherent in his essence without separation or change. every attribute is conjoined with him as life with knowledge, or knowledge with power. they also taught that the mutashábih verses were not to be explained, and such were those which seemed to show a resemblance between god and his creatures. so at first they did not attempt to give the meaning of the terms, "hands, eyes, face, &c.," when applied to god. they simply accepted them as they stood. in course of time, as will be seen, differences of opinion on this point led to some sub-divisions of this sect. the mutazilites were the great opponents of the sifátians. they rejected the idea of eternal attributes, saying that eternity was the formal attribute of the essence of god. "if," said they, "we admit the eternal existence of an attribute then we must recognize the multiplicity of eternal existences." they also rejected the attributes of hearing, seeing and speech, as these were accidents proper to corporeal existences. they looked upon the divine attributes as mental abstractions, and not as having a real existence in the divine essence. the mutazilites were emphatically the free thinkers of islám. the origin of the sect was as follows: al hasan, a famous divine, was one day seated in the mosque at basra when a discussion arose on the question whether a believer who committed a mortal sin became thereby an unbeliever. the khárigites (ante p. ) { } affirmed that it was so. the orthodox denied this, saying that, though guilty of sin, yet that as he believed rightly he was not an infidel.[ ] one of the scholars wásil ibn atá, (who was born at madína a.h. ), then rose up and said: "i maintain that a muslim who has committed a mortal sin should be regarded neither as a believer nor an unbeliever, but as occupying a middle station between the two." he then retired to another part of the mosque where he was joined by his friend 'umr ibn obaid and others. they resumed the discussion. a learned man, named katáda, entering the mosque, went up to them, but on finding that they were not the party in which al hasan was, said 'these are the seceders (al-mutazila).' al hasan soon expelled them from his school. wásil then founded a school of his own of which, after the death of his master, 'umr ibn obaid became the head. wásil felt that a believer, though sinful, did not merit the same degree of punishment as an infidel, and thus starting off on the question of _degrees_ of punishment, he soon opened up the whole subject of man's responsibility and the question of free-will. this soon brought him into conflict with the orthodox on the subject of predestination and that again to the subject of the inspiration, the interpretation and the eternity of the qurán, and of the divine attributes. his followers rejected the doctrine of the "divine right" of the imám, and held that the entire body of the faithful had the right to elect the most suitable person, who need not necessarily be a man of the quraish tribe, to fill that office. the principles of logic and the teaching of philosophy were brought to bear on the precepts of religion. according to shahrastání the mutazilites hold:-- "that god is eternal; and that eternity is the peculiar property of his essence; but they deny the existence of any eternal attributes (as distinct from his nature). for they say, he is omniscient as to { } his nature; living as to his nature; almighty as to his nature; but not through any knowledge, power or life existing in him as eternal attributes; for knowledge, power and life are part of his essence, otherwise, if they are to be looked upon as eternal attributes of the deity, it will give rise to a multiplicity of eternal entities." "they maintain that the knowledge of god is as much within the province of reason as that of any other entity; that he cannot be beheld with the corporeal sight; and with the exception of himself everything else is liable to change or to suffer extinction. they also maintain that justice is the animating principle of human actions: justice according to them being the dictates of reason and the concordance of the ultimate results of this conduct of man with such dictates." "again, they hold that there is no eternal law as regards human actions; that the divine ordinances which regulate the conduct of men are the results of growth and development; that god has commanded and forbidden, promised and threatened by a law which grew gradually. at the same time, say they, he who works righteousness merits rewards and he who works evil deserves punishment. they also say, that all knowledge is attained through reason, and must necessarily be so obtained. they hold that the cognition of good and evil is also within the province of reason; that nothing is known to be right or wrong until reason has enlightened us as to the distinction; and that thankfulness for the blessings of the benefactor is made obligatory by reason, even before the promulgation of any law upon the subject. they also maintain that man has perfect freedom; is the author of his actions both good and evil, and deserves reward or punishment hereafter accordingly." during the reigns of the 'abbásside khalífs mámún, mutasim and wathik ( - a.h.) at baghdád, the mutazilites were in high favour at court, under the 'abbásside dynasty[ ] the ancient arab society was revolutionized, persians filled the most important offices of state; persian doctrines took the place of arab ones. the orthodox suffered bitter persecution. the story of that persecution will be told later on. the khalíf wathik at length relented. { } an old man, heavily chained, was one day brought into his presence. the prisoner obtained permission to put a few questions to ahmad ibn abu dá,úd, a mutazilite and the president of the court of inquisition. the following dialogue took place. "ahmad," said the prisoner, "what is the dogma which you desire to have established." "that the qurán is created," replied ahmad. "this dogma, then, is without doubt an essential part of religion, insomuch that the latter cannot without it be said to be complete?" "certainly." "has the apostle of god taught this to men or has he left them free?" "he has left them free." "was the apostle of god acquainted with this dogma or not?" "he was acquainted with it." "wherefore, then, do you desire to impose a belief regarding which the apostle of god has left men free to think as they please?" ahmad remaining silent, the old man turned to wathik and said, "o prince of believers, here is my first position made good." then turning to ahmad, he said, "god has said, 'this day have i perfected religion for you, and have filled up the measures of my favours upon you; and it is my pleasure that islám be your religion.' (súra v. ). but according to you islám is not perfected unless we adopt this doctrine that the qurán is created. which now is most worthy of credence--god, when he declares islám to be complete and perfect, or you when you announce the contrary?" ahmad was still silent. "prince of believers," said the old man, "there is my second point made good." he continued, "ahmad, how do you explain the following words of god in his holy book?--'o apostle! proclaim all that hath been sent down to thee from thy lord; for if thou dost not, thou hast not proclaimed his message at all.' now this doctrine that you desire to spread among the faithful, has the apostle taught it, or has he abstained from doing so?" ahmad remained silent. the old man resumed, "prince of believers, such is my third argument." then turning to ahmad he said: "if the prophet was acquainted with the doctrine { } which you desire to impose upon us, had he the right to pass by it in silence?" "he had the right." "and did the same right appertain to abu bakr, omar, osmán and 'ali?" "it did," "prince of believers," said the prisoner, "god will, in truth, be severe on us, if he deprives us of a liberty which he accorded to the prophet and his companions." the khalíf assented, and at once restored the old man to liberty. so ended one of the fiercest persecutions the orthodox have ever had to endure, but so also ended the attempt to break through the barriers of traditionalism.[ ] the next khalíf, al mutawakhil, a ferocious and cruel man, restored the orthodox party to place and power. he issued a fatva (decree) declaring that the dogma that the qurán was created was an utter falsehood. he instituted severe measures against christians, jews, shía'hs and mutazilites. ahmad ibn abu dá,úd was one of the first to be disgraced. heresy and latitudinarianism were banished. the final blow to the mutazilites, however, came not from the khalíf but a little later on from abu hasan-al-ash'arí ( - a.h.) the mutazilites expelled from power in baghdád, still flourished at basra where one day the following incident occurred. abu 'alí al-jubbai, a mutazilite doctor, was lecturing to his students when al-ash'arí propounded the following case to his master: "there were three brothers, one of whom was a true believer, virtuous and pious; the second an infidel, a debauchee and a reprobate; and the third an infant; they all died. what became of them?" al-jubbai answered: "the virtuous brother holds a high station in paradise, the infidel is in the depths of hell, and the child is among those who have obtained salvation." { } "suppose now," said al-ash'arí, "that the child should wish to ascend to the place occupied by his virtuous brother, would he be allowed to do so?" "no," replied al-jubbai, "it would be said to him: 'thy brother arrived at this place through his numerous works of obedience to god, and thou hast no such works to set forward.'" "suppose then," said al-ash'arí, "that the child should say: 'this is not my fault, you did not let me live long enough, neither did you give me the means of proving my obedience.'" "in that case," said al-jubbai, "the almighty would say: 'i knew that if i allowed thee to live, thou wouldest have been disobedient and have incurred the punishment of hell: i acted, therefore, for thy advantage.'" "well," said al-ash'arí, "and suppose the infidel brother were here to say: 'o god of the universe! since thou knowest what awaited him, thou must have known what awaited me; why then didst thou act for his advantage and not for mine?'"[ ] al-jubbai was silent, though very angry with his pupil, who was now convinced that the mutazilite dogma of man's free-will was false, and that god elects some for mercy and some for punishment without any motive whatever. disagreeing with his teacher on this point, he soon began to find other points of difference, and soon announced his belief that the qurán was not created. this occurred on a friday in the great mosque at basra. seated in his chair he cried out in a loud voice: "they who know me know who i am; as for those who do not know me i shall tell them; i am 'alí ibn ismá'íl al-ash'arí, and i used to hold that the qurán was created, that the eyes (of men) shall not see god, and that we ourselves are the authors of our evil deeds; now, i have returned to the truth: i renounce these opinions, and i take the engagement to refute the mutazilites and expose their infamy and turpitude."[ ] he then, adopting scholastic methods, started a school of { } thought of his own, which was in the main a return to orthodoxy. the ash'arían doctrines differ slightly from the tenets of the sifátians of which sect al-ash'arí's disciples form a branch. the ash'aríans hold-- (i.) that the attributes of god are distinct from his essence, yet in such a way as to forbid any comparison being made between god and his creatures. they say they are not "_'ain_ nor _ghair_:" not of his essence, nor distinct from it: _i.e.,_ they cannot be compared with any other things. (ii.) that god has one eternal will from which proceed all things, the good and the evil, the useful and the hurtful. the destiny of man was written on the eternal table before the world was created. so far they go with the sifátians, but in order to preserve the moral responsibility of man they say that he has power to convert will into action. but this power cannot create anything new for then god's sovereignty would be impaired; so they say that god in his providence so orders matters that whenever "a man desires to do a certain thing, good or bad, the action corresponding to the desire is, there and then, created by god, and, as it were, fitted on to the desire." thus it seems as if it came naturally from the will of the man, whereas it does not. this action is called kasb (acquisition) because it is acquired by a special creative act of god. it is an act directed to the obtaining of profit, or the removing of injury: the term is, therefore, inapplicable to the deity. abu bakr-al-bakillání, a disciple of al-ash'arí, says: "the essence or substance of the action is the effect of the power of god, but its being an action of obedience, such as prayer, or an action of disobedience, such as fornication, are qualities of the action, which proceed from the power of man." the imám al-haramain ( - a.h.) held "that the actions of men were effected by the power which god has created in man." abu isháq al isfarayain says: "that which maketh impression, or hath influence on action, is a compound of the power of god and the power of man." { } (iii.) they say that the word of god is eternal, though they acknowledge that the vocal sounds used in the qurán, which is the manifestation of that word, are created. they say, in short, that the qurán contains ( ) the eternal word which existed in the essence of god before time was; and ( ) the word which consists of sounds and combinations of letters. this last they call the created word. thus al-ash'arí traversed the main positions of the mutazilites, denying that man can by the aid of his reason alone rise to the knowledge of good and evil. he must exercise no judgment but accept all that is revealed. he has no right to apply the moral laws which affect men to the actions of god. it cannot be asserted by the human reason that the good will be rewarded, or the bad punished in a future world. man must always approach god as a slave, in whom there is no light or knowledge to judge of the actions of the supreme. whether god will accept the penitent sinner or not cannot be asserted, for he is an absolute sovereign, above all law.[ ] the opinions of the more irrational sub-divisions of the sifátians need not be entered into at any length. the mushábihites (or assimilators), interpreting some of the mutashábih verses literally, held that there is a resemblance between god and his creatures; and that the deity is capable of local motion, of ascending, descending, &c. these they called "declarative attributes." the mujassimians (or corporealists) declared god to be corporeal, by which some of them meant, a self-subsisting body, whilst others declared the deity to be finite. they are acknowledged to be heretics. { } the jabríans gave great prominence to the denial of free agency in man, and thus opposed the mutazilites, who in this respect are kadríans, that is, they deny "al-kadr," god's absolute sovereignty, and recognize free will in man. these and various other sub-divisions are not now of much importance. the sunnís follow the teaching of al-ash'arí, whilst the shí'ahs incline to that of the mutazilites. connected with the subject of the attributes of god is that of the names to be used when speaking of him. all sects agree in this, that the names "the living, the wise, the powerful, the hearer, the seer, the speaker," &c., are to be applied to god; but the orthodox belief is that all such names must be "tauqífi," that is dependent on some revelation. thus it is not lawful to apply a name to god expressive of one of his attributes, unless there is some statement made, or order given by muhammad to legalize it. god is rightly called sháfí (healer), but he cannot be called tabíb which means much the same thing, for the simple reason that the word tabíb is never applied in the qurán or the traditions to god. in like manner the term 'Álim (knower) is lawful, but not so the expression 'Áqil (wise). the mutazilites say that if, in the qurán or traditions, there is any praise of an attribute, then the adjective formed from the name of that attribute can be applied to god even though the actual word does not occur in any revelation. al-ghazzálí (a.h. - ), who gave in the east the death-blow to the muslim philosophers, says: "the names of god not given in the law, if expressive of his glory, may be used of him, but only as expressive of his attributes, not of his nature." on the ground that it does not occur in the law, the persian word "khuda" has been objected to, an objection which also holds good with regard to the use of such terms as god, dieu, gott, &c. to this it is answered, that as "khuda" means "one who comes by himself" it is equivalent to the term wájib-ul-wajúd, { } "one who has necessary existence," and therefore so long as it is not considered as the "ism-i-zát (name of his nature) it may with propriety be used."[ ] the current belief now seems to be that the proper name equal to the term alláh, current in a language, can be used, provided always that such a name is not taken from the language of the infidels; so god, dieu, &c, still remain unlawful. the names of god authorised by the qurán and traditions are, exclusive of the term alláh, ninety-nine in number. they are called the asmá-i-husná[ ] (noble names); but in addition to these there are many synonyms used on the authority of ijmá'. such are hanán, equal to rahím (merciful) and manán, "one who puts another under an obligation." in the tafsír-i-bahr it is stated that there are three thousand names of god; one thousand of which are known to angels; one thousand to prophets; whilst one thousand are thus distributed, _viz._, in the pentateuch there are three hundred, in the psalms three hundred, in the gospels three hundred, in the qurán ninety-nine, and one still hidden. the following texts of the qurán are adduced to prove the nature of the divine attributes:-- ( ). life. "there is no god but he, the living, the eternal." (súra ii. ). "put thy trust in him that liveth and dieth not." (súra xxv. ). ( ). knowledge. "dost thou not see that god knoweth all that is in the heavens, and all that is in the earth." (súra lviii. ). "with him are the keys of the secret things; none knoweth them but he: he knoweth whatever is on the land and in the sea; and no leaf falleth but he knoweth it; neither is there a grain in the darknesses of the earth, nor a thing green or sere, but it is noted in a distinct writing." (súra vi. ). { } ( ). power. "if god pleased, of their ears and of their eyes would he surely deprive them. verily god is almighty." (súra ii. ). "is he not powerful enough to quicken the dead." (súra lxxv. ). "god hath power over all things." (súra iii. .) ( ). will. "god is worker of that he willeth." (súra lxxxv. ). "but if god pleased, he would surely bring them, one and all, to the guidance." (súra vi. ). "god misleadeth whom he will, and whom he will he guideth--god doeth his pleasure." (súra xiv. , ). as this attribute is closely connected with the article of the creed which refers to predestination, the different opinions regarding it will be stated under that head. there has never been any difference of opinion as to the existence of these four attributes so clearly described in the qurán: the difference is with regard to the mode of their existence and their operation. there is, first, the ancient sifátian doctrine that the attributes are eternal and of the essence of god: secondly, the mutazilite theory that they are not eternal; and, thirdly, the ash'arían dogma that they are eternal, but distinct from his essence. there is also great difference of opinion with regard to the next three attributes--hearing, sight, speech. for the existence of the two first of these the following verses are quoted, "he truly heareth and knoweth all things." (súra xliv. ). "no vision taketh in him, but he taketh in all vision." (súra vi. ). the use of the terms sitting, rising, &c., hands, face, eyes, and so on, gave rise as i have shown to several sub-divisions of the sifátians. al-ghazzálí says: "he sits upon his throne after that manner which he has himself described and in that sense which he himself means, which is a sitting far remote from any notion of contact or resting upon, or local situation." this is the ash'arían idea, but between the ash'aríans and those who fell into the error of the { } mujassimians,[ ] there was another school. the followers of imám ibn hanbal say that such words represent the attributes existing in god. the words "god sits on his throne" mean that he has the power of sitting. thus, they say, "we keep the literal meaning of the words, we allow no figurative interpretation. to do so is to introduce a dangerous principle of interpretation, for the negation of the apparent sense of a passage may tend to weaken the authority of revelation. at the same time we do not pretend to explain the act, for it is written: 'there is none like unto him.' (súra cxii.) 'nought is there like him.' (súra xlii. .) 'unworthy the estimate they form of god.'" (súra xxii. .) to prove that god occupies a place they produce the following tradition: "ibn-al-hákim wished to give liberty to a female slave saouda and consulted the prophet about it. muhammad said to her, 'where is god?' 'in heaven,' she replied. 'set her at liberty, she is a true believer.'" not, say the commentators, because she believed that god occupied a place but because she took the words in their literal signification. the shí'ahs consider it wrong to attribute to god movement, quiescence, &c, for these imply the possession of a body. they hold, too, in opposition to the orthodox that god will never be seen, for that which is seen is limited by space. the seventh attribute--speech--has been fruitful of a very long and important controversy connected with the nature of the qurán, for the word "kalám" means not mere speech, but revelation and every other mode of communicating intelligence. al-ghazzálí says:-- "he doth speak, command, forbid, promise, and threaten by an eternal ancient word, subsisting in his essence. neither is it like to the word of the creatures, nor doth it consist in a voice arising from the commotion of the air and the collision of bodies, nor letters { } which are separated by the joining together of the lips or the motion of the tongue. the qurán, the law, the gospel and the psalter are books sent down by him to his apostles, and the qurán, indeed, is read with tongues written in books, and is kept in hearts; yet, as subsisting in the essence of god, it doth not become liable to separation and division whilst it is transferred into the hearts and on to paper. thus moses also heard the word of god without voice or letter, even as the saints behold the essence of god without substance or accident." the orthodox believe that god is really a speaker: the mutazilites deny this, and say that he is only called a speaker because he is the originator of words and sounds. they also bring the following objections to bear against the doctrine of the eternity of the qurán. ( ) it is written in arabic, it descended, is read, is heard, and is written. it was the subject of a miracle. it is divided into parts and some verses are abrogated by others. ( ) events are described in the past tense, but if the qurán had been eternal the future tense would have been used. ( ) the qurán contains commands and prohibitions; if it is eternal who were commanded and who were admonished? ( ) if it has existed from eternity it must exist to eternity, and so even in the last day, and in the next world, men will be under the obligation of performing the same religious duties as they do now, and of keeping all the outward precepts of the law. ( ) if the qurán is eternal, then there are two eternals. the position thus assailed was not at first a hard and fast dogma of islám. it was more a speculative opinion than anything else, but the opposition of the mutazilites soon led all who wished to be considered orthodox to become not only stout assertors of the eternity of the qurán, but to give up their lives in defence of what they believed to be true. the mutazilites by asserting the subjective nature of the quránic inspiration brought the book itself within the reach of criticism. this was too much for orthodox islám to bear even though the khalíf mámún in the { } year a.h. issued a fatva declaring that all who asserted the eternity of the qurán were guilty of heresy. some six years after this, the imám ahmad ibn hanbal was severely beaten, and then imprisoned because he refused to assent to the truth of the decree issued by the khalíf. al buwaiti, a famous disciple of as-sháfa'í, used an ingenious argument to fortify his own mind when being punished by the order of the khalíf. he was taken all the way from cairo to baghdád and told to confess that the qurán was created. on his refusal, he was imprisoned at baghdád and there remained in chains till the day of his death. as ar-rábí ibn sulaimán says: "i saw al buwaiti mounted on a mule: round his neck was a wooden collar, on his legs were fetters, from these to the collar extended an iron chain to which was attached a clog weighing fifty pounds. whilst they led him on he continued repeating these words, 'almighty god created the world by means of the word _be!_ now, if that word was created, one created thing would have created another.'"[ ] al buwaiti here refers to the verse, "verily our speech unto a thing when we will the same, is that we only say to it, 'be,' and it is,--kun fayakúna." (súra xxxvi. ). this, in the way al buwaiti applied it, is a standing argument of the orthodox to prove the eternity of the qurán. when times changed men were put to death for holding the opposite opinion. the imám as-sháfa'í held a public disputation in baghdád with hafs, a mutazilite preacher, on this very point. sháfa'í quoted the verse, "god said _be, and it was_," and asked, "did not god create all things by the word _be?_" hafs assented. "if then the qurán was created, must not the word _be_ have been created with it?" hafs could not deny so plain a proposition. "then," said sháfa'í, "all things, according to you, were created by a created being, which is a gross inconsistency and manifest { } impiety." hafs was reduced to silence, and such an effect had sháfa'í's logic on the audience that they put hafs to death as a pestilent heretic. thus did the ash'arían opinions on the subject of the divine attributes again gain the mastery.[ ] the mutazilites failed, and the reason why is plain. they were, as a rule, influenced by no high spiritual motives; often they were mere quibblers. they sought no light in an external revelation. driven to a reaction by the rigid system they combated, they would have made reason alone their chief guide. the nobler spirits among them were impotent to regenerate the faith they professed to follow. it was, however, a great movement, and at one time, it threatened to change the whole nature of islám. this period of muslim history, famed as that in which the effort was made to cast off the fetters of the rigid system which islám was gradually tightening by the increased authority given to traditionalism, and to the refinements of the four imáms, was undoubtedly a period of, comparatively speaking, high civilization. baghdád, the capital of the khalífate, was a busy, populous, well-governed city. this it mainly owed to the influence of the persian family of the barmecides, one of whom was vizier to the khalíf hárún-ur-rashíd. hárún's fame as a good man is quite undeserved. it is true that he was a patron of learning, that his empire was extensive, that he gained many victories, that his reign was the culminating point of arab grandeur. but for all that, he was a morose despot, a cruel man, thoroughly given up to pleasures of a very questionable nature. drunkenness and debauchery were common at court. plots and intrigues were ever at work. such was the state of one of the greatest, if not the greatest, periods { } of muslim rule. this, too, was at a time most favourable for the development of any good which islám might have possessed. it should be remembered that whatever glory is rightly attached to this period is connected with an epoch when heresy was specially prevalent, when orthodoxy was weak in baghdád. the culture of the time was in spite of, not on account of, the influence of orthodox islám. . angels.--of this article of the creed muhammad al-berkevi says:-- "we must confess that god has angels who act according to his order and who do not rebel against him. they neither eat nor drink, nor is there amongst them any difference of sex. some are near the throne of god; those are his messengers. each one has his particular work. some are on earth, some in heaven, some are always standing, some always prostrate themselves and some laud and praise god. others have charge of men and record all their actions. some angels are high in stature and are possessed of great power. such an one is gabriel (jibrá,íl) who in the space of one hour can descend from heaven to earth, and who with one wing can lift up a mountain. we must believe in 'izrá,íl who receives the souls of men when they die, and in isráfíl into whose charge is committed the trumpet. this trumpet he has actually in his hand, and placed to his mouth ready to blow when god gives the order. when he receives that order he will blow such a terrible blast that all living things will die.[ ] this is the commencement of the last day. the world will remain in this state of death forty years. then god most high will revive isráfíl who will blow a second blast, at the sound of which all the dead will rise to life."[ ] this confession of faith makes no mention of míká,íl (michael), the fourth of the archangels. his special duty is to see that all created beings have what is needful for them. he has charge of the rain-fall, plants, grain and all that is required for the sustenance of men, beasts, fishes, &c. gabriel's special charge is the communication of god's will to prophets. the words "one terrible in power" (súra liii. ) { } are generally applied to him. he is honoured with the privilege of nearness to god. tradition says that on the night of the mi'ráj, the prophet saw that gabriel had six hundred wings, and that his body was so large that from one shoulder to the other the distance was so great that a swift flying bird would require five hundred years to pass over it. nine-tenths of all created beings are said to be angels who are formed of light. their rank is stationary, and each is content with the position he occupies. their one desire is to love and to know god. whatever he commands they do. "all beings in the heaven and on the earth are his: and they who are in his presence disdain not his service, neither are they wearied: they praise him day and night." (súra xxi. , .) they are free from all sin.[ ] it is true that they did not wish for the creation of adam, and this may seem like a want of confidence in god. it is said, however, that their object was not to oppose god, but to relieve their minds of the doubts they had in the matter. thus "when the lord said to the angels, 'verily, i am about to place one in my stead on earth,' they said: 'wilt thou place there one who will do ill therein, and shed blood when we celebrate thy praise and extol thy holiness.' god said: 'verily i know what ye know not.'" it is true that iblís was disobedient, but then he belonged not to the angelic order but to that of the jinn. "when we said to the angels, 'prostrate yourselves before adam,' they all prostrated themselves save iblís, who was of the jinn, and revolted from his lord's behest." (súra xviii. .) (see also súra ii. .) angels appear in human form on special occasions, but usually they are invisible. it is a common belief that animals can see angels and devils. this accounts for the saying, "if you hear a cock crow, pray for mercy, for it has seen an angel; but if you hear an ass bray, take refuge with god, for it has seen a devil." { } the angels intercede for man: "the angels celebrate the praise of their lord and ask forgiveness for the dwellers on earth." (súra xlii. .) they also act as guardian angels: "each hath a succession of angels before him and behind him who watch over him by god's behest." (súra xiii. .) "is it not enough for you that your lord aideth you with three thousand angels sent down from on high?" (súra iii. .) "supreme over his servants he sendeth forth guardians who watch over you, until when death overtaketh any one of you our messengers take his soul and fail not." (súra vi. .) in the traditions it is said that god has appointed for every man two angels to watch over him by day, and two by night. the one stands on the right hand side of the man, the other on his left. some, however, say that they reside in the teeth, and that the tongue of the man is the pen and the saliva of the mouth the ink.[ ] they protect the actions of men and record them all whether good or bad. they are called the mua'qqibát, _i.e._, those who succeed one another. they also bear the name of kirám-ul-kátibín, "the exalted writers." they are referred to in the qurán. "think they that we hear not their secrets and their private talk? yes, and our angels who are at their sides write them down." (súra xliii. ). there are eight angels who support the throne of god. "and the angels shall be on its sides, and over them on that day eight shall bear up the throne of thy lord." (súra lxix. ). nineteen have charge of hell. "over it are nineteen. none but angels have we made guardians of the fire." (súra lxxiv. ). there is a special arrangement made by providence to mitigate the evils of satanic interference. "iblís," says jábir maghrabí, "though able to assume all other forms is not permitted to appear in the semblance of the deity, or { } any of his angels, or prophets. there would otherwise be much danger to human salvation, as he might, under the appearance of one of the prophets, or of some superior being, make use of this power to seduce men to sin. to prevent this, whenever he attempts to assume such forms, fire comes down from heaven and repulses him." the story of hárút and márút is of some interest from its connection with the question of the impeccability of the angels. speaking of those who reject god's apostle the qurán says: "and they followed what the satans read in the reign of solomon; not that solomon was unbelieving, but the satans were unbelieving. sorcery did they teach to men, and what had been revealed to the two angels hárút and márút at bábel. yet no man did these two teach until they had said, 'we are only a temptation. be not thou an unbeliever.'" (súra ii. ). here it is quite clear that two angels teach sorcery, which is generally allowed to be an evil. some explanation has to be given. commentators are by no means reticent on this subject. the story goes that in the time of the prophet enoch when the angels saw the bad actions of men they said: "o lord! adam and his descendants whom thou has appointed as thy vice-regents on earth act disobediently." to which the lord replied: "if i were to send you on earth, and to give you lustful and angry dispositions, you too would sin." the angels thought otherwise; so god told them to select two of their number who should undergo this ordeal. they selected two, renowned for devotion and piety. god having implanted in them the passions of lust and anger said: "all day go to and fro on the earth, put an end to the quarrels of men, ascribe no equal to me, do not commit adultery, drink no wine, and every night repeat the ism-ul-a'zam, the exalted name (of god) and return to heaven." this they did for some time, but at length a beautiful woman named zuhra (venus) led them astray. one day she brought them a cup of wine. one said: { } "god has forbidden it;" the other, "god is merciful and forgiving." so they drank the wine, killed the husband of zuhra, to whom they revealed the "exalted name," and fell into grievous sin. immediately after, they found that the "name" had gone from their memories and so they could not return to heaven as usual. they were very much concerned at this and begged enoch to intercede for them. the prophet did so, and with such success that the angels were allowed to choose between a present or a future punishment. they elected to be punished here on earth. they were then suspended with their heads downwards in a well at bábel. some say that angels came and whipped them with rods of fire, and that a fresh spring ever flowed just beyond the reach of their parched lips. the woman was changed to a star. some assert that it was a shooting star which has now passed out of existence. others say that she is the star venus. it is only right to state that the qází 'ayáz, imám fakhr-ud-dín rází ( - a.h.), qází násir-ud-dín baidaví ( - a.h.) and most scholastic divines deny the truth of this story. they say that angels are immaculate, but it is plain that this does not meet the difficulty which the qurán itself raises in connection with hárút and márút. they want to know how beings in such a state can teach, and whether it is likely that men would have the courage to go near such a horrible scene. as to the woman, they think the whole story absurd, not only because the star venus was created before the time of adam, but also because it is inconceivable that one who was so wicked should have the honour of shining in heaven for ever. a solution, however, they are bound to give, and it is this. magic is a great art which god must allow mankind to know. the dignity of the order of prophets is so great that they cannot teach men what is confessedly hurtful. two angels were therefore sent, and so men can now distinguish between the miracles of prophets, the signs of { } saints, the wonders of magicians and others. then hárút and márút always discouraged men from learning magic. they said to those who came to them: "we are only a temptation. be not thou an unbeliever." others assert that it is a jewish allegory in which the two angels represent reason and benevolence, the woman the evil appetites. the woman's ascent to heaven represents death. to this solution of the difficulty, however, the great body of the traditionists do not agree. they declare that the story is a hadís-i-sahíh, and that the isnád is sound and good. i name only a few of the great divines who hold this view. they are imám ibn hanbal, ibn ma'súd, ibn 'umr, ibn 'abbás, háfiz 'asqallání[ ] and others. jelál-ud-din syútí in his commentary the dúrr-i-mashúr, has given all the traditions in order and, though there is some variety in the details, the general purport accords with the narrative as i have related it. the traditionists answer the objections of the scholastics thus. they say that angels are immaculate only so long as they remain in the angelic state; that, though confined, hárút and márút can teach magic, for a word or two is quite sufficient for that purpose; that some men have no fear and, if they have, it is quite conceivable that the two angels may teach through the instrumentality of devils or jinn. with regard to the woman zuhra they grant that to be changed into a bright star is of the nature of a reward; but they say the desire to learn the "exalted name" was so meritorious an act that the good she desired outweighs the evil she did. with regard to the date of the creation of the star venus, it is said that all our astronomical knowledge is based on observations made since the flood, whereas this story relates to the times of enoch who lived before the days of noah. so the dispute goes on and men of great repute for learning and knowledge believe in the story. { } munkir and nakír are two fierce-looking black angels with blue eyes who visit every man in his grave, and examine him with regard to his faith in god and in muhammad. the dead are supposed to dwell in 'Álam-i-barzakh, a state of existence intervening between the present life and the life of mankind after the resurrection.[ ] this is the meaning of the word "grave" when used in this connection. unbelievers and wicked muslims suffer trouble in that state; true believers who can give a good answer to the angels are happy. some suppose that a body of angels are appointed for this purpose and that some of them bear the name of munkir, and some that of nakír and that, just as each man has two recording angels during his lifetime, two from this class are appointed to examine him after death. there is a difference of opinion with regard to children. the general belief is that the children of believers will be questioned, but that the angels will teach them to say: "alláh is my lord, islám my religion, and muhammad my prophet." with regard to the children of unbelievers being questioned, imám abu hanífa hesitated to give an opinion. he also doubted about their punishment. some think they will be in a'ráf, a place between heaven and hell; others suppose that they will be servants to the true believers in paradise. distinct from the angels there is another order of beings made of fire called jinn (genii.) it is said that they were created thousands of years before adam came into existence. "we created man of dried clay, of dark loam moulded, and the jinn had been before created of subtle fire." (súra xv. , .) they eat, drink, propagate their species and are subject to death, though they generally live many centuries. they dwell chiefly in the koh-i-káf, a chain of mountains supposed to encompass the world:[ ] { } some are believers in islám; some are infidels, and will be punished. "i will wholly fill hell with jinn and men." (súra xi. .) the súra called súrat-ul-jinn (lxxii.) refers to their belief in islám. the passage is too long to quote. they try to hear[ ] what is going on in heaven. "we guard them (_i.e._, men) from every stoned satan, save such as steal a hearing." (súra xv. .) they were under the power of solomon and served him. (súra xxxviii. .) an 'ifrít of the jinn said, "i will bring it thee (solomon) ere thou risest from thy place: i have power for this and am trusty." (súra xxvii. .) at the last day the jinn also will be questioned. imám hanífa doubted whether the jinn who are muslims will be rewarded. the unbelieving jinn will assuredly be punished. tradition classifies them in the following order: ( ) jánn, ( ) jinn, ( ) shaitán, ( ) 'ifrít, ( ) márid. many fables have been invented concerning these beings, and though intelligent muslims may doubt these wonderful accounts, yet a belief in the order of jinn is imperative, at least, as long as there is belief in the qurán. those who wish to know more of this subject will find a very interesting chapter on it in lane's modern egyptians. . the books.--al berkevi says:-- "it is necessary to believe that the books of god have been sent through the instrumentality of gabriel, to prophets upon the earth. the books are never sent except to prophets. the qurán was sent to muhammad portion by portion during a space of years. the pentateuch came to moses, the injíl to jesus, the zabúr to david, and the other books to other prophets. the whole number of the divine books is . the qurán, the last of all, is to be followed till the day of judgment. it can neither be abrogated nor changed. some laws of the previous books have been abrogated by the qurán and ought not to be followed." the one hundred and four books were sent from heaven in the following order:--to adam, ten; to seth, fifty; to enoch (idris), thirty; to abraham, ten; to moses, the { } taurát (pentateuch); to david, the zabúr (psalms); to jesus, the injíl; to muhammad, the qurán. the one hundred to which no distinctive name is given are known as the "suhúf-ul-anbiya,"--books of the prophets. the qurán is also known as the furqán, the distinguisher; the qurán-i-sharíf, noble qurán; the quran-i-majíd, glorious qurán; the mushaf, the book. it is said to be the compendium of the taurát, zabúr and injíl[ ]; so muslims do not require to study these books.[ ] the orthodox belief is that they are entirely abrogated by the qurán,[ ] though syed ahmad denounces as ignorant and foolish those musalmáns who say so.[ ] be that as it may, their inspiration is considered to be of a lower order than that of the qurán. a large { } portion of the injíl is considered to be mere narrative. the actual words of christ only are looked upon as the revelation which descended from heaven. it is so in the case of the old testament prophets. "however, it was the rule to call a book by the name of the prophet, whether the subject-matter was pure doctrine only, or whether it was mixed up with narrative also." "it is to be observed that, in the case of our own prophet, the revelations made to him were intended to impart a special miracle of eloquence and they were written down, literally and exactly, in the form in which they were communicated without any narrative being inserted in them."[ ] the writings of the apostles are not considered to be inspired books. "we do not consider that the acts of the apostles, or the various epistles, although unquestionably very good books, are to be taken as part and parcel of the new testament itself; nevertheless we look upon the writings of the apostles in the same light as we do the writings of the companions of our own prophet; that is to say, as entitled to veneration and respect."[ ] there are many verses in the qurán which speak of previous revelations, thus: "we also caused jesus, the son of mary, to follow the footsteps of the prophets, confirming the law (taurát) which was sent before him, and we gave him the injíl with its guidance and light, confirmatory of the preceding law; a guidance and a warning to those that fear god." (súra v. ). "we believe in god, and that which hath been sent down to us, and that which hath been sent down to abraham and isaac and jacob and the tribes, and that which hath been given to moses and to jesus, and that which was given to the prophets from their lord. no difference do we make between any of them: and to god are we resigned." (súra ii. ). "in truth hath he sent down to thee the book, which confirmeth those that precede it, for he had sent down the { } law and the injíl aforetime, as man's guidance; and now hath he sent down the furqán." (súra iii. ).[ ] practically, musalmáns reject the old and new testaments. to do so is manifestly against the letter of the qurán, and, as some reason for this neglect of previous scriptures must be given, muslim divines say that the jewish and christian scriptures have been corrupted. the technical expression is "tahríf," a word signifying, to change, to turn aside anything from the truth. then tahríf may be of two kinds, tahríf-i-m'anaví, a change in the meaning of words; tahríf-i-lafzí, an actual change of the written words. most musalmáns maintain that the latter kind of corruption has taken place, and so they do not feel bound to read or study the previous revelations so frequently referred to in the qurán. the charge brought against the jews of corrupting their scriptures is based on the following verse of the qurán: "some truly are there among you who torture the scriptures with their tongues, in order that ye may suppose it to be from the scripture, yet it is not from the scripture. and they say: 'this is from god,' yet it is not from god; and they utter a lie against god, and they know they do so." (súra iii. .) all the ancient commentators assert that this only proved tahríf-i-m'anaví; that is, that the jews referred to either misinterpreted what they read, or, whilst professing to read from the scripture, used expressions not found therein. it does not mean that they altered the text of their scriptures. this, however, does not excuse musalmáns for their neglect of the previous scriptures, and so the orthodox divines of modern times maintain that the greater corruption--the tahríf-i-lafzí, has taken place. the question is fully discussed, and the opinion of the earlier commentators endorsed by syed ahmad in his commentary on the bible.[ ] { } . prophets.--muhammad al berkevi says:-- "it is necessary to confess that god has sent prophets; that adam is the first of the prophets and the father of all men; that muhammad is the last of the prophets; that between adam and muhammad there were a great number of prophets; that muhammad is the most excellent of all and that his people are the best of all peoples; that each of the preceding prophets was sent to a special people, some with books, some without, but that muhammad was sent to all men and also to the genii; that his law will remain until the end of the world, that his miracles are many in number, that by his blessed finger he made waters flow, that he divided the moon into two parts, that animals, trees, and stones said to him: 'thou art a true prophet.' we must also believe that one night he was transported from mecca to jerusalem, and from thence to heaven, where he saw both paradise and hell, conversed with the most high and returned to mecca before morning. after him no other prophet will come, for he is the seal of the prophets." the number of prophets sent by god to make known his will varies according to the tradition which records it. about two hundred thousand is the usual number stated. twenty-five are mentioned by name in the qurán, of whom six are distinguished by special titles. adam, sufi ulláh, the chosen of god; noah, nabí ulláh, the prophet of god; abraham, khalíl ulláh, the friend of god; moses, kalím ulláh, the speaker with god; jesus, rúh ulláh, the spirit of god; muhammad, rasúl ulláh, the messenger of god. these are called the anbiya-ulul-'azm (possessors of purpose) because they were the heads of their respective dispensations, and because they will be permitted by god to intercede in the day of judgment for their followers. they are the greatest and most exalted of the prophets.[ ] there are degrees of rank amongst the prophets, for "some of the apostles have we endowed more highly than others. those to whom god hath spoken, he hath raised to the loftiest grade, and to jesus, the son of mary we gave { } manifest signs, and we strengthened him with the holy spirit." (súra ii. ). the anbiya-ulul-'azm are ranked in the following order: noah, jesus, moses, abraham and as the chief of all, muhammad, of whom it is said: "he is the apostle of god and the seal of the prophets." (súra xxxiii. ). a tradition, as usual, supports his position. "i am the chief of the sons of men." "adam and all beside him will be ranged under my flag in the judgment day."[ ] it is said that the law given by moses was harsh and severe; that by christ was mild and gracious; but that the law given by muhammad is perfect, for it combines both the quality of strictness and that of graciousness; according to the tradition: "i always laugh and by laughing kill."[ ] each prophet is said to have been sent to his own tribe, but muhammad was sent for all men. a tradition is adduced to support this statement: "i was raised up for all men whether white or black, other prophets were not except for their own tribe." the qurán also states: "we have sent thee (muhammad) for all men." there is some difference of opinion as to whether the prophets are superior to the angels. the hanífites hold that the prophets amongst men are superior to the prophets amongst angels, who in their turn are superior to the ordinary run of men, to whom again the angels, other than prophets, are inferior. the mutazilites say that the angels are superior to the prophets. the shía'hs assert that the twelve imáms are superior to prophets. the way in which muhammad received inspiration has been shown in a previous chapter; but ibn khaldoun gives such an interesting account of prophetic inspiration that i give the substance of his remarks here. he speaks somewhat as follows.[ ] if we contemplate the world and the creatures it contains we shall recognize a perfect order, a regular { } system, a sequence of cause and effect, a connexion between different categories of existence, and a transformation of beings from one category of existence to another. then the phenomena of the visible world indicate to us the existence of an agent whose nature is different from that of the body, who is in fact a spiritual existence. this agent, which is the soul, must on the one hand be in contact with the existences of this world and, on the other, with the existences in the next category of superiority, and one whose essential qualities are pure perception and clear intelligence. such are the angels. it follows, then, that the human soul has a tendency towards the angelic world. all this is quite in accordance with the idea that, according to a regular order, all the categories of existences in the universe are in mutual contact by means of their faculties and on account of their nature. the souls of men may be divided into three classes. the first kind of soul is too feeble by nature to attain to a perception of the spiritual: it has to content itself with moving in the region of sense and imagination. thus it can understand concepts and affirmations. it can raise itself high in its own category but cannot pass its limit. the souls of the second class are carried by a reflective movement and a natural disposition towards a spiritual intelligence. they can enter into a state of contemplation which results in ecstasy. this is the intuition of the saints (auliya)[ ] to whom god has given this divine knowledge. the souls of the third class are created with the power of disengaging themselves altogether from their human bodies in order that they may rise to the angelic state where they become like angels. in a moment of time such { } a soul perceives the sublime company (of angels) in the sphere which contains them. it, there and then, hears the speech of the soul and the divine voice. such are the souls of the prophets. god has given to these souls the power of leaving the human body. whilst thus separate from it god gives to them his revelation. the prophets are endowed by god with such a purity of disposition, such an instinct of uprightness, that they are naturally inclined to the spiritual world. they are animated by an ardour quite peculiar to their order. when they return from the angelic state they deliver to men the revelations they have received. sometimes the revelation comes to the prophet as the humming of confused discourse. he grasps the ideas and, as soon as the humming ceases, he comprehends the message; sometimes an angel in human form communicates the revelation, and what he says the prophet learns by heart. the journey to, the return from the angelic state, and the comprehension of the revelation received there occupy less time than the twinkling of an eye. so rapidly do the souls of prophets move. so instantaneously do they receive and understand god's revelations. this is why inspiration is called wahí, a word which, according to ibn khaldoun, means to make haste. the first way of delivering a message is adopted when he who receives it is only a nabí (prophet), and not a rasúl (apostle or messenger.) the second mode is employed towards a rasúl who, on the principle that the greater contains the less, is also a nabí. a hadís records that muhammad said: "revelation came to me sometimes like the ticking of a clock and fatigued me much. when it stopped i learnt the meaning of what had been delivered to me. sometimes an angel in human form spoke to me and, whilst he was speaking, i learnt what was said." that a prophet should feel oppressed on such occasions is hinted at in "with measured tone intone the qurán, for we shall devolve on thee mighty words." (súra lxxiii. .) { } a nabí, (who must be a wise and a free man, that is, one who is not a slave of another, and one also who is free from imperfection either of body or mind), receives wahí but has not necessarily to deliver to men the orders of god. a rasúl who must possess the same qualifications as a nabí, is one who is commanded to deliver god's message to men, though he does not necessarily abrogate what preceding rasúls have delivered. neither is it necessary that he should bring a book or even a new law. some rasúls do so, but the distinguishing mark of the rasúl is that he delivers to men commands direct from god, and is specially commissioned so to do. thus every rasúl is a nabí, whilst every nabí is not a rasúl. the question of the sinlessness of the prophets is one to which considerable attention has been paid by muslim theologians. the orthodox belief is that they are free from sin. some think that their freedom from sin is because the grace of god being ever in them in the richest fulness they are kept in the right path. the ash'aríans believe that the power of sinning is not created in them.[ ] the mutazilites deny this, but admit the existence of some quality which keeps them from evil. these theories do not agree with actual facts. prophets like other men commit faults, but here comes in the muslim distinction of sins into gunáh-i-kabíra "great sins," and gunáh-i-saghíra "little sins." the gunáh-i-kabíra are, murder, adultery, disobedience to god and to parents, robbing of orphans, to accuse of adultery, to avoid fighting against infidels, drunkenness, to give or to take usury, to neglect the friday prayers and the ramazán fast, tyranny, backbiting, untrustworthiness, forgetting the qurán after reading it, to avoid giving true or to give false witness, lying without sufficient reason,[ ] to swear falsely or to swear by any other than god, flattery of tyrants, false judgments, giving short weight or measure, { } magic, gambling, approval of the ceremonies of infidels, boasting of one's piety, calling on the names of deceased persons and beating the breast at such times,[ ] dancing, music, neglect when opportunity offers of warning other persons with regard to the "commands and prohibitions" of god, disrespect to a háfiz, to shave the beard, to omit saying the "darúd" (_i.e._ on whom and on whose family be the peace and mercy of god) whenever the name of muhammad is mentioned.[ ] these are all "great sins" and can only be forgiven after due repentance: the "little sins" are forgiven if some good actions are done. "observe prayer at early morning, at the close of day, and at the approach of night; for the _good deeds drive away the evil deeds_." (súra xi. ). men may commit sin wittingly or unwittingly. it is the universal belief that a prophet never commits the greater sins in either way; but there is a difference of opinion with regard to the lesser sins. some hold that they can do them unwittingly, though even then it is not in any thing connected with their office. others again limit even this frailty to the period before "wahí" (inspiration) comes upon them. the general opinion, however, is that they are free from all sin, whether great or small. the frailties which they show are merely reckoned as faults and slight imperfections not amounting to sin. this, to the muslim mind at once disposes of a difficulty the qurán itself raises on this point. with the exception of jesus christ, the anbiya-ulul-'azm are spoken of as doing what every one except an orthodox muslim would call sin. adam's transgression[ ] is referred to in súra ii. - and { } in súra vii. - . i quote only one verse: "they said, 'o our lord! with ourselves have we dealt unjustly; if thou forgive us not and have not pity on us, we shall surely be of those that perish.'" the sin of noah is not specified in the qurán, yet it is plainly hinted at. "to thee verily, o my lord, do i repair lest i ask that of thee wherein i have no knowledge: unless thou forgive me and be merciful to me i shall be one of the lost." (súra xi. ). there is also a similar request in súra lxxi. . abraham is represented as saying to his people: "they whom ye worship, ye and your fathers of early days, are my foes; but not so the lord of the worlds, who hath created me, and guideth me, who giveth me food and drink; and when i am sick, he healeth me, and who will cause me to die and again quicken me, and who, i hope, will forgive me my sins in the day of reckoning." (súra xxvi. - ). moses is described as having done "a work of satan" in killing a man, and as saying: "'o my lord, i have sinned to my own hurt; forgive me.' so god forgave him; for he is the forgiving, the merciful. he said: 'lord, because thou hast showed me this grace, i will never again be the helper of the wicked.'" (súra xxviii. , ). the following passages refer to muhammad. "be thou steadfast and patient; for true is the promise of god; and seek pardon for thy fault."[ ] (súra xl. ). "ask pardon for thy sin, and for believers, both men and women." (súra xlvii. ). the scandal caused by the prophet's conduct with the wife of zeid, and with the egyptian slave mary, necessitated a pretended revelation of god's will in reference to these events. the circumstances will be found fully detailed in súra xxxiii. - and in súra lxvi. - . one of the most important verses is: "verily, we have won for thee an undoubted victory, in token that god forgiveth thy earlier and later fault." (súra xlviii. - ). { } it is not quite clear what victory is here referred to. according to the tafsír-i-husainí, some commentators say that it is the taking of mecca, the past tense being prophetically used for the future. the following explanations are given of the expression "earlier and later fault." ( ) god has forgiven thy sin committed before and after the descent of wahí, ( ) before and after the taking of mecca, or ( ) before the descent of this súra. ( ) the commentator salmí says: "the earlier sin refers to the sin of adam committed when muhammad was in the loins of his great ancestor and thus connected with him; the later sin refers to the followers of the prophet, and in that way is connected with him, just as the sin of adam was the predecessor and the cause of their sin." ( ) imám abu'l-lais says: "the words refer to the sin of adam, and to those of the followers of the prophet. both are connected with muhammad, because the former is forgiven by the blessing, and the latter by the intercession of muhammad."[ ] from these extracts from the qurán it appears that sin is imputed to prophets, though muslims evade the charge by the casuistry i have already referred to. be that as it may, it is a striking fact that the one sinless member of the anbiya-ulul-'azm, the one sinless prophet of islám, is none other than jesus christ. there is no passage in the qurán which hints at sin, even in the modified form in which muslims attribute it to other prophets, being committed by him: no passage which speaks of his seeking for pardon. it is the universal belief that prophets work miracles, (mu'jizát). a miracle is defined to be "kharq-i-'ádat," that is, something contrary to the usual course of nature. the object for which a miracle is performed must be a moral one, and chiefly to attest the truth of the statements made by the prophet. although muhammad makes, in the { } qurán, no distinct claim to the power of working miracles,[ ] his followers maintain that in this, as in all other respects he was equal to all and superior to some prophets, and produce various passages of the qurán in support of their view. thus, according to shaikh jelál-ud-dín syutí, if to adam was given the power of naming every thing, muhammad also possessed the same power. enoch was exalted on high, but muhammad was taken to the 'baqáb-i-qausain,' the 'two bows' length,' where gabriel, "one mighty in power," appeared to him. (súra liii. - ). ishmael was ready to be sacrificed, but muhammad endured the splitting of his chest;[ ] joseph was to some extent handsome, but muhammad was the very perfection of beauty; moses brought water from the rock, but muhammad produced it from his fingers. the sun was stayed on its course by joshua and so it was by muhammad. solomon had a great kingdom, muhammad a greater, for he possessed the keys of the treasuries of the earth. wisdom was given to john the baptist whilst yet a child, so also were wisdom and understanding granted to muhammad at an early period of his life. jesus could raise the dead, so also could muhammad. in addition to all these, the special miracles of the prophet are the splitting of the moon asunder, the mi'ráj, the coming of a tree into his presence, and above all the wonderful miracle of the qurán.[ ] the splitting of the moon in sunder is referred to in, { } "the hour of judgment approacheth; and the moon hath been split in sunder." (súra liv. ). imám záhid says that abu jahl and a jew visited the prophet, and demanded a sign from him on pain of death. the prophet made a sign with his little finger, and at once the moon separated into two parts: one of which remained in the sky, the other went off to a long distance. the jew believed in islám forthwith. abu jahl ascribed the affair to magic, but on making enquiry from various travellers ascertained that they, on this very night, distinctly saw the moon in two parts.[ ] some, however, refer the passage to the future, as they consider the splitting of the moon to be one of the signs of the last day. the mi'ráj, or night ascent, is mentioned in, "glory be to him who carried his servant by night from the sacred temple (of mecca) to the temple that is more remote, whose precinct we have blessed, that we might show him of our signs." (súra xvii. ). muslim writers, who are fond of the marvellous, narrate at length the wonderful things the prophet saw and did on this eventful night;[ ] but some maintain that it was only a vision, and quote the words: "we ordained the vision which we showed thee," in proof of this assertion.[ ] be that as it may, all orthodox muslims maintain the superiority of muhammad, as a worker of miracles, over all other prophets. . the resurrection and the last day.--these two articles of the faith may be considered together. the { } following is a summary of the remarks of muhammad al berkevi on this point. it is necessary to acknowledge:-- . that the torments of the tomb are real and certain and that munkir and nakír (ante p. ) will come and interrogate the dead person concerning his god, his prophet, his faith and his qibla. the faithful will reply: "our god is god; our prophet is muhammad; our religion, islám; our qibla, the ki-'ádataba. . that all the signs of the last day mentioned by the prophet will come to pass; such as, the appearance of dajjál, or antichrist; the descent of jesus from heaven; the appearance of imám mahdí and of gog and magog; the rising of the sun from the west, &c. . that all living things will die; that the mountains will fly in the air like birds; that the heavens will melt away; that after some time has thus passed god most high will set the earth in order and raise the dead; that prophets, saints, doctors of the law, and the faithful will find near them the robes and the horses of paradise. they will put on the robes, and mount the horses and go into the shade of the throne of god. other men, hungry, thirsty, and naked will go on foot. the faithful will go to the right, the infidels to the left. . that there will be a balance, in which the good and bad actions of men will be weighed. those whose good deeds outweigh the bad will go to paradise; if the bad predominate, they will go into the fire, unless god has mercy on them, or the prophets or saints intercede for them. if, however, they were not muslims there will be no intercession for them, nor will they come out from the fire. the muslims who enter the fire will, after having purged their crimes, enter paradise. . that the bridge sirát, which is sharper than a sword, is raised above the fire; that all men must pass over this. some will pass over with the speed of lightning, some like a horse that runs, some, their backs laden with their sins, will go very slowly over; others will fall and certainly enter into the fire. . that each prophet has a pool where he, with his people, will quench their thirst before entering paradise; that the pool of muhammad is the largest of all, for it is a month's march from one side thereof to the other. its water is sweeter than honey, whiter than milk. . that paradise and hell actually exist; that the chosen remain for ever in the former; they neither die, nor grow aged. they experience no kind of change. the houris and the females are exempted { } from the infirmities of their sex. they will no longer bear children. the elect will find there the meat and the drink they require, without taking upon themselves any trouble. the ground of paradise is of musk; the bricks of its edifices are of gold and of silver. the unbelievers and the demons will remain for ever in hell, tormented by serpents as thick as the neck of a camel, by scorpions as large as mules, by fire and by scalding water. their bodies will burn, till they become reduced to a coal, when god will revive them so that they may endure fresh torments. this will last for ever." the following additional remarks are based on the sharh-i-'aqáíd-i-jámí. they fall under four heads. ( ). the sounding of the trumpets. (nafkhatain-i-súr). this will not take place until wickedness spreads over all the earth. the prophet said: "the resurrection will not come to pass, till some of the sects among my followers mix up with the mushriks (those who associate others with god) and till others commence to worship monuments." again, "the last hour will not be till no one is found who calls on god." then "there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and all who are in the heavens and all who are in the earth shall expire, save those whom god shall vouchsafe to live. there shall be another blast on it, and lo! arising they shall gaze around them." (súra xxxix. ). abu huraira, a companion, relates that the prophet speaking of the trumpet stated as follows: "after the creation of the heavens and the earth god created the trumpet and gave it to isráfíl who, with his mouth placed to it, is ever looking up and waiting for the order to blow it. he will blow three times.[ ] the first time, the blast of consternation, to terrify; the second, the blast of examination, to slay; the third, the blast of resurrection, to quicken the dead." most persons believe that everything, save god and his attributes, will perish. the karamians and some other sects deny this. { } the resurrection of the body is clearly proved by the qurán. thus, "they say, 'who will bring us back?' say: 'he who created you at first.'" (súra xvii. ). "'who shall give life to bones when they are rotten?' say: 'he shall give life to them who gave them being at first, for in all creation is he skilled.'" (súra xxxvi. ). "man saith: 'what! after i am dead, shall i in the end be brought forth alive?' doth not man bear in mind that we made him at first, when he was nought?" (súra xix. ). "the infidels will say, 'shall we indeed be restored as at first? what! when we have become rotten bones?' 'this then,' say they, 'will be a return to loss.' verily, it will be but a single blast, and lo! they are on the surface of the earth." (súra lxxix. - ). "is he not powerful enough to quicken the dead?" (súra lxxv. ). this resurrection will be to judgment. "'never,' say the unbelievers, 'will the hour come upon us.' say: 'yea, by my lord who knoweth the unseen, it will surely come upon you, ... to the intent that god may reward those who have believed, ... but as for those who aim to invalidate our signs, a chastisement of painful torment awaiteth them.'" (súra xxxiv. , ). "a terrible chastisement doth await them _on the day_ when faces shall turn white, and faces shall turn black. 'what! after your belief have ye become infidels? taste, then, the chastisement for that ye have been unbelievers.' and as to those whose faces shall have become white, they shall be within the mercy of god." (súra iii, ). the prophet knew not the time when all this would take place. "they will ask thee of the 'hour,' when will be its fixed time? but what knowledge hast thou of it? its period is known only to thy lord; and thou art charged with the warning of those who fear it." (súra lxxix. - .) these and similar texts show the certainty of the resurrection. according to the ijmá' of the faithful, he who has any doubts on this article of the faith is an infidel. the { } mutazilites show from reason that a resurrection of the body is necessary in order that rewards and punishment may be bestowed. the orthodox agree with the conclusion, but hesitate to base it on reason.[ ] the karamians hold that the different parts of the body will not cease to be, but that at the last god will gather them together. "thinketh man that we shall not re-unite his bones? aye! his very finger tips we are able evenly to replace." (súra lxxv. , .) the orthodox, however, hold that this verse does not disprove the fact of previous annihilation, a belief supported by the prophet's saying, "all the sons of men will be annihilated." it will be a re-creation though the body will return to its former state. the learned are not agreed as to the state of the soul during this period of the death of the body, and therefore disagree with regard to its revival. some assert that it is wrong to speak of a resurrection of the soul, for it exists in the body as "fire in coal," hence its revival is included in the resurrection of the body; others maintain that as it is a distinct entity, it is not annihilated with the body. the scholastics favour the first idea. practically the result seems the same in both cases. the resurrection body has a soul. wise and foolish, devils and beasts, insects and birds--all will rise at the last day. muhammad will come first in order and be the first to enter paradise. ( ). the descent of the books (tatáír-i-sahá,íf). after the resurrection, men will wander about for forty years, during which time the "books of actions" will be given to them. these books contain the record kept by the kirám-ul-kátibín, (ante p. ). traditions recorded by abu huraira state: "men will rise up naked, and confused; some will walk about, some stand for forty years. all will be constantly looking up toward the heavens (_i.e._ expecting the books.) they will perspire profusely through { } excess of sorrow.[ ] then god will say to abraham, 'put on clothes.' he will put on a robe of paradise. then he will call muhammad for whose benefit a fountain will flow forth not far from mecca. the people, too, shall thirst no more." the prophet said: "i will also put on a dress and will stand near the throne, where no one else will be allowed to stand and god will say: 'ask and it shall be granted to thee; intercede, thy intercession shall be accepted.'" each book flies from the treasury under the throne of god and is given to its proper owner. "every man's fate have we fastened about his neck; and on the day of resurrection will we bring forth to him (every man) a book which shall be proffered to him wide open: 'read thy book, there needeth none but thyself to make out an account against thee this day.'" (súra xvii. ). "he into whose _right_ hand his book shall be given, shall be reckoned, with an easy reckoning, and shall turn, rejoicing, to his kindred. but he whose book shall be given behind his back (_i.e._ into his _left_ hand) shall invoke destruction." (súra lxxxiv. - .) "he, who shall have his book given into his _left_ hand will say: 'o that my book had never been given me! and that i had not known my reckoning.'" (súra lxix. ). it is always said that wicked musalmáns will be seized by the _right_ hand before they are cast into the fire, which is a proof that they are not always to remain there. some hold that the expression "read thy book" implies a literal reading; others that it is a metaphorical expression which simply means that all the past actions will be known. those who believe in a literal reading say that each believer will read the account of his faults only, and that other persons will read that of his good deeds. the face of the believer as he reads will shine resplendently, but black will be the face of the infidel. { } ( ). the balances (mízán). this belief is based on the authority of the qurán, sunnat and the ijmá'; no muslim, therefore, can have any doubt about it. thus: "they whose balances shall be heavy, shall be the blest; but they whose balances shall be light,--these are they who shall lose their souls, abiding in hell for ever." (súra xxiii. ). "as to him whose balances are heavy, his shall be a life that shall please him well: and as to him whose balances are light, his dwelling-place shall be the pit. and who shall teach thee what the pit (al-háwía) is? a raging fire!" (súra ci. - ). the traditions on this point are very numerous. the ijmá' is also strong on the reality, the objective existence, of a balance with scales, &c., complete. they also state that the "books of actions" (sahá,íf-i-a'mál) will be weighed. in the sahíh-i-bukhárí it is said that the believers will not be weighed in the balances, for "god will say, 'o muhammad make those of thy people, from whom no account is taken, enter into paradise.'" prophets and angels will also be exempt. such a test also is not required for the unbelievers, for their state is very evident; "by their tokens shall the sinners be known, and they shall be seized by their forelocks and their feet." (súra lv. ). thus it is evident that, with regard to true believers and unbelievers, the works of such only as god may choose need be weighed. some, however, maintain that no unbeliever will have this test applied to his case and quote: "vain therefore, are their works; and no weight will we allow them on the day of resurrection." (súra xviii. ). to this it is answered, that all that is here denied is the fact of "a weighing in _their favour_." the place where the weighing will take place is situated midway between heaven and hell. gabriel standing by watches the movement of the scales and michael guards the balance. the orthodox are not agreed as to whether there will be a separate balance for each tribe of men, and also for each of the 'good works' { } of the believers. those who hold that there will be a balance for prayer, another for fasting and so on, adduce the use of the plural form, balances (muwázín) in proof of their statement. there is also a difference of opinion as to whether the "works" themselves, or the books (sahá,íf) will be weighed. the latter opinion is supported by a tradition recorded by tirmízí. "the prophet said: 'ninety-nine registers will be distributed. each register will extend as far as the eye can reach. god will say: 'what! dost thou deny this, or have the recording angels treated thee unjustly?' each will say: 'no! o lord.' 'hast thou then any excuse?' 'no! o lord.' then god will display a cloth on which the kalima is written. this will be put into one scale, and god will say: 'to thee will be no evil if thou hast a register in this scale, and this cloth in the other, for the first scale will be light.'" this is considered conclusive testimony with regard to the weighing of the sahá,íf. the mutazilites objected to statements such as these, for said they: "actions are accidents, and the qualities of lightness and heaviness cannot be attributed to accidents." they explained the verses of the qurán and the statements of the traditions on this point, as being a figurative way of saying that perfect justice will be done to all in the day of judgment. ( ). the bridge (sirát). the meaning of the word sirát is a road, a way. it is so used in the qurán. in connection with the day of judgment it is said: "if we pleased we would surely put out their eyes: yet even then would they speed on with rivalry in their path (sirát)." (súra xxxvi. ). "gather together those who have acted unjustly, and their consorts (demons), and the gods whom they have adored beside god; and guide them to the road (sirát) for hell." (súra xxxvii. ). it is nowhere in the qurán called a bridge, but tradition is very clear on this point. the prophet said: "there will be a bridge sharper than the edge of a sword, finer than a hair, suspended over { } hell. iron spikes on it will pierce those whom god wills. some will pass over it in the twinkling of an eye, some like a flash of lightning, others with the speed of a swift horse. the angels will call out, 'o lord! save and protect.' some muslims will be saved, some will fall headlong into hell." bukhárí relates a similar tradition. the infidels will all fall into hell and there remain for ever. muslims will be released after a while. the mutazilites deny the existence of such a bridge. "if we admit it," say they, "it would be a trouble for the believers, and such there is not for them in the day of judgment." to this the orthodox reply that the believers pass over it to show how they are saved from fire, and that thus they may be delighted with paradise, and also that the infidels may feel chagrin at those who were with them on the bridge being now safe for ever. al a'ráf is situated between heaven and hell. it is described thus: "on (the wall) al a'ráf shall be men who know all, by their tokens,[ ] and they shall cry to the inhabitants of paradise, 'peace be on you!' but they shall not yet enter it, although they long to do so. and when their eyes are turned towards the inmates of the fire, they shall say, 'o our lord! place us not with offending people &c.'" (súra vii. , ). sale's summary of the opinions regarding al a'ráf in his preliminary discourse is exceedingly good. it is as follows:-- "they call it al orf, and more frequently in the plural, al aráf, a word derived from the verb _arafa_, which signifies to distinguish between things, or to part them; though some commentators give another reason for the imposition of this name, because, say they, those who stand on this partition will _know_ and _distinguish_ the blessed from the damned, by their respective marks or characteristics: and others way the word properly intends anything that is _high raised_ or _elevated_, as such a wall of separation must be supposed to { } be. some imagine it to be a sort of _limbo_ for the patriarchs and prophets, or for the martyrs and those who have been most eminent for sanctity. others place here such whose good and evil works are so equal that they exactly counterpoise each other, and therefore deserve neither reward nor punishment; and these, say they, will on the last day be admitted into paradise, after they shall have performed an act of adoration, which will be imputed to them as a merit, and will make the scale of their good works to overbalance. others suppose this intermediate space will be a receptacle for those who have gone to war, without their parents' leave, and therein suffered martyrdom; being excluded from paradise for their disobedience, and escaping hell because they are martyrs." there is also an interval, between the death of the body in this world and the last day, called al-barzakh. "behind them shall be a barrier (barzakh), until the day when they shall be raised again." (súra xxiii. ). when death takes place, the soul is separated from the body by the angel of death; in the case of the good with ease, in that of the wicked with violence. it then enters into al-barzakh.[ ] it is a doctrine founded on ijmá', that god will not pardon shirk, that is, the ascribing plurality to the divine being. the mushrik, one who does so, will remain in hell for ever, for as kufr, infidelity, is an eternal crime, its punishment must also be eternal. "the unbelievers among the people of the book, and among the polytheists shall go into the fire of gehenna to abide therein for aye. of all creatures are they the worst?" (súra xcviii. ). "cast into hell every infidel, every hardened one, the hinderer of the good, the transgressor, the doubter who set up other gods with god. cast ye him into the fierce torment." (súra . - .) muslims who commit great (kabíra) sins, though they die unrepentant, will not remain in hell for ever, for, "whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of good shall { } behold it." (súra xcix. ). it is asserted that the fact of believing in islám is a good work and merits a reward: this cannot be given before the man enters hell to be punished for his sins, and therefore he must be, after a while, released from punishment. "perfect faith (imán-i-kámil) consists in believing with sincerity of heart and acting in accordance thereto, but the actions are not the faith itself. great sins, therefore, prevent a man from having "perfect faith," but do not destroy faith (imán), nor make the muslim an infidel, but only a sinner."[ ] the mutazilites teach that the muslim who enters hell will remain there for ever. they maintain that the person who, having committed great sins, dies unrepentant, though not an infidel, ceases to be a believer and hence suffers as the infidels do. the orthodox belief is that muhammad is now an intercessor and will be so at the last day. the intercession then is of several kinds. there is the 'great intercession' to which the words, "it may be that thy lord will raise thee to a _glorious station_," (súra xvii. ) are supposed to refer. the maqám-i-mahmúd, (glorious station), is said to be the place of intercession in which all persons will praise the prophet.[ ] in the zád-ul-masír it is said that the maqám-i-mahmúd refers to the fact that god will place the prophet on his throne. others say that it is a place in which a standard will be given to the prophet, around whom all the other prophets will then gather to do him honour. the first interpretation is, however, the ordinary one. the people will be in great fear. muhammad will say: "o my people! i am appointed for intercession." their fear will then pass away. the second intercession is made so that they may enter into paradise without rendering an account. the authorities differ with regard to this. the third intercession is on behalf of those muslims who { } ought to go to hell. the fourth for those who are already there. no one but the prophet can make these intercessions. the fifth intercession is for an increase of rank to those who are in paradise. the mutazilites maintained that there would be no intercession for muslims guilty of great sins, and adduced in favour of their opinion the verse: "fear ye the day when soul shall not satisfy for soul at all, nor shall any intercession be accepted from them, nor shall any ransom be taken, neither shall they be helped." (súra ii. ). the orthodox bring in reply this hadís-i-sahíh: "the prophet said: 'my intercession is for the men of my following who have committed great sins.'" if this tradition is disputed, they then say that the verse in the qurán just quoted does not refer to muslims at all, but to the infidels.[ ] according to a tradition related by anas the prophet said: "in the day of resurrection musalmáns will not be able to move, and they will be greatly distressed and say: 'would to god that we had asked him to create some one to intercede for us, that we might be taken from this place, and be delivered from tribulation and sorrow.'" the tradition goes on to state how they sought help from adam and the prophets of the old dispensation, who, one and all, excused themselves on account of their own sinfulness. at length moses told them to go to jesus, the apostle of god, the spirit of god and the word of god. they did so and jesus said: "go to muhammad who is a servant, whose sins god has forgiven both first and last." the prophet continued, according to the tradition, "then the musalmáns will come to me, and i will ask permission to go into god's presence and intercede for them."[ ] the second advent of christ is a sign of the last day. "jesus is no more than a servant whom we favoured ... { } and he shall be a sign of the last hour." (súra xliii. ). he will not, according to the qurán, come as a judge, but like other prophets to be judged. "we formed with them (_i.e._ prophets) a strict covenant, that god may question the men of truth as to their truth, (_i.e._ how they have discharged their prophetic functions)." (súra xxxiii. , ). he will come to bear witness against the jews who reject him: "in the day of resurrection, he will be a witness against them." (súra iv. ). it is necessary to believe in the pond of the prophet called kausar. this faith is founded on the verse "truly we have given thee an _abundance_." (súra cviii. ). bukhárí says: "the meaning of kausar is the 'abundance of good' which god gives to the prophet. abu básh said to one sa'íd, 'the people think that kausar is a river of paradise.' sa'íd replied, 'kausar is a river in which there is abundance of good.'" according to the same authority muhammad said: "my pond is square, its water is whiter than milk, its perfume better than that of musk, whosoever drinks thereof will thirst no more." there are many degrees of felicity in heaven to which the believers are admitted. the prophet, according to tirmízí, said there were one hundred. some of these may possibly be meant by the eight names they give to paradise. ( .) jannat-ul-khuld. "say: is this, or the _garden of eternity_ which was promised to the god-fearing, best?" (súra xxv. .) ( .) jannat-us-salám. "for them is a _dwelling of peace_ with their lord." (súra vi. .) ( .) dár-ul-qarár. "the life to come is the _mansion which abideth_." (súra xl. .) ( .) jannat-ul-'adan. "to the faithful, both men and women, god promiseth gardens and goodly mansions in the _garden of eden_." (súra ix. .) ( .) jannat-ul-mawá. "near which is the _garden of repose_." (súra liii. .) ( ) jannat-un-na'ím. "amid _delights_ shall the righteous dwell." (súra lxxxii. .) ( ) jannat-ul-illiyún. "the register of the righteous is { } in _illiyún_." (súra lxxxiii. ,) ( .) jannat-ul-firdaus. "those who believe and do the things that are right, they shall have the _gardens of paradise_ for their abode." (súra xviii. .) hell is said to have seven divisions. the qurán, though it mentions the names of these divisions, does not state what classes of persons will be sent to each; but muslim commentators have supplied the needed information. they classify them thus:--( .) jahannam, for sinners who die without repentance. ( .) lazwá, for the infidels (_i.e._, christians.) ( .) hutama, a fire for jews, and according to some for christians. ( .) sa'ir, for devils, the descendants of iblís. ( .) saqar, for the magians: also for those who neglect prayer. ( .) jahím, a boiling caldron for idolaters: also for gog and magog. ( .) háwía, a bottomless pit for hypocrites. it is said that heaven has one division more than hell to show that god's mercy exceeds his justice. the muhammadan writers give very full and minute accounts of the events connected with the resurrection, judgment and future state of those who are lost, and of those who are saved. sale gives such an excellent summary of these opinions, that it is not necessary to enter into details here. the orthodox belief is that the statements in the qurán and the traditions regarding the pleasures of paradise are to be taken literally.[ ] . the predestination of good and evil.--i have already in the section in which the attribute "will" is described (p. ) given some account of the dogmatic statements concerning the doctrine of predestination; but as it always forms a distinct chapter in musalmán books, i treat it separately here. having, however, in the passage referred { } to, given al berkevi's words on the attribute "will," it is only necessary to make a short extract from his dogmatic statement concerning predestination. he says:-- "it is necessary to confess that good and evil take place by the predestination and predetermination of god, that all that has been and all that will be was decreed in eternity, and written on the _preserved table_;[ ] that the faith of the believer, the piety of the pious and good actions are foreseen, willed, predestinated, decreed by the writing on the _preserved table_, produced and approved by god; that the unbelief of the unbeliever, the impiety of the impious and bad actions come to pass with the fore-knowledge, will, predestination and decree of god, but not with his satisfaction and approval. should any ask why god willeth and produceth evil, we can only reply that he may have wise ends in view which we cannot comprehend." another confession of faith has:-- "whoever shall say, that god is not delighted with virtue and faith, and is not wroth with vice and infidelity, or that god has decreed good and evil with equal complacency is an infidel." there are three well-defined schools of thought on the subject:-- first.--the jabríans, so called from the word "_jabr_" compulsion, deny all free agency in man and say that man is necessarily constrained by the force of god's eternal and immutable decree to act as he does.[ ] they hold that as { } god is the absolute lord, he can, if he so wills, admit all men into paradise, or cast all into hell. this sect is one of the branches of the ash'aríans with whom on most points they agree. secondly.--the qadríans, who deny _al-qadr_, or god's absolute decree, say that evil and injustice ought not to be attributed to god but to man, who is altogether a free agent. god has given him the power to do or not to do an act. this sect is generally considered to be a branch of the mutazilite body, though in reality it existed before wásil quitted the school of his master hasan (ante. p. ). as wásil, however, followed the opinions of mábad-al-johní, the leading kadrían divine, the mutazilites and qadríans are practically one and the same. thirdly.--the ash'aríans, of whom i have already given some account, maintain that god has one eternal will which is applied to whatsoever he willeth, both of his own actions and those of men; that he willeth that which he knoweth and what is written on the _preserved table_; that he willeth both good and evil. so far they agree with the jabríans; but then they seem to allow some power to man, a tenet i have already explained when describing their idea of "kasb" (ante. p. ). the orthodox, or sunní belief is theoretically ash'arían, but practically the sunnís are confirmed jabríans. the mutazilite doctrines are looked upon as quite heretical. no subject has been more warmly discussed in islám than that of predestination. the following abstract of some lengthy discussions will present the points of difference. the ash'aríans, who in this matter represent in the main orthodox views, formulate their objections to the mutazilite system thus:-- (i). if man is the causer of an action by the force of his own will, then he should also have the power of controlling the result of that action. (ii). if it be granted that man has the power to _originate_ { } an act it is necessary that he should know all acts, because a creator should be independent in act and choice. intention must be conditioned by knowledge. to this the mutazilites well reply that a man need not know the length of a road before he walks, or the structure of the throat before he talks. (iii). suppose a man wills to move his body and god at the same time wills it to be steady, then if both intentions come to pass there will be a collection of opposites; if neither, a removal of opposites; if the exaltation of the first, an unreasonable preference. (iv). if man can create an act, some of his works will be better than some of the works of god, _e.g._ a man determines to have faith: now faith is a better thing than reptiles, which are created by god. (v). if man is free to act, why can he not make at once a human body; why does he need to thank god for grace and faith? (vi). but better far than all argument, the orthodox say, is the testimony of the book. "all things have we created under a fixed decree." (súra liv. ). "when god created you and _that ye make_." (súra xxxvii. ). "some of them there were whom god guided and there were others decreed to err." (súra xvi. ). as god decrees faith and obedience he must be the causer of it, for "on the hearts of these hath god graven the faith." (súra lviii. ). "it is he who causeth you to laugh and weep, to die and make alive." (súra liii. ). "if god pleased he would surely bring them, one and all, to the guidance." (súra vi. ). "had god pleased, he had guided you all aright." (súra vi. ). "had the lord pleased, he would have made mankind of one religion." (súra xi. ). "god will mislead whom he pleaseth, and whom he pleaseth he will place upon the straight path." (súra vi. .) tradition records that the prophet said: "god is the maker of all makers and of their actions."[ ] { } the mutazilites took up the opposite side of this great question and said:-- (i). if man has no power to will or to do, then what is the difference between praising god and sinning against him; between faith and infidelity; good and evil; what is the use of commands and prohibitions; rewards and punishments; promises and threats; what is the use of prophets, books, &c. (ii). some acts of men are bad, such as tyranny and polytheism. if these are created by god, it follows that to tyrannise and to ascribe plurality to the deity is to render obedience. to this the ash'aríans reply that orders are of two kinds, immediate and mediate. the former which they call "amr-i-takwíti," is the order, "be and it was." this comprehends all existences, and according to it whatever is ordered must come to pass. the latter they call "amr-i-tashri'í," an order given in the law. this comes to men through prophets and thus is to be obeyed. true obedience is to act according to that which is revealed, not according to the secret intentions of god, for that we know not. (iii). if god decrees the acts of men, he should bear the name of that which he decrees. thus the causer of infidelity is an infidel; of tyranny a tyrant, and so on; but to speak thus of god is blasphemy. (iv). if infidelity is decreed by god he must wish it; but a prophet desires faith and obedience and so is opposed to god. to this the orthodox reply, that god knows by his eternal knowledge that such a man will die an infidel. { } if a prophet intends by bringing the message of salvation to such an one to make god's knowledge become ignorance, he would be doing wrong; but as he does not know the secret decrees of god, his duty is to deliver his message according to the hadís: "a prophet has only to deliver the clear message." (v). the mutazilites claimed as on their side all verses of the qurán, in which the words to do, to construct, to renew, to create, &c., are applied to men. such are the verses: "whatever is in the heavens and in the earth is god's that he may reward those who _do_ evil according to their deeds: and those who _do_ good will he reward with good things." (súra liii. ). "whoso shall have _wrought_ evil shall not be recompensed but with its like: but whoso shall have _done_ the things that are right, whether male or female and is a believer, these shall enter paradise." (súra xl. ). say: "the truth is from the lord; let him then who will believe; and let him who will, be an infidel." (súra xviii. ).[ ] "those who add gods to god will say: 'if god had pleased neither we nor our fathers had given him companions.' say: 'verily ye follow only a conceit, ye utter lies.'" (súra vi. ). the hadís is also very plain. "all good is in thy hands and evil is not to thee." (al-khair kuluhu fí yadaika wash-sharru laisa 'alaika.) the ash'aríans have one famous text which they bring to bear against all this reasoning and evidence. it is: "this truly is a warning; and whoso willeth, taketh the way of his lord; but _will it ye shall not_, unless god will it, for god is knowing, wise." (súra lxxvi. , ). to the hadís they reply ( ) that there is a difference between acquiescence in evil and decreeing it. thus the expression "god willeth not tyranny for his servants," does not mean { } that god hath not decreed it, but that tyranny is not one of his attributes: so "evil is not to thee" means it is not an attribute of god; and ( ) the hadís must be explained in accordance with the teaching of the qurán. the muslim philosophers tried to find a way out of the difficulty. averhoes says: "we are free to act in this way or that, but our will is always determined by some exterior cause. for example, we see something which pleases us, we are drawn to it in spite of ourselves. our will is thus bound by exterior causes. these causes exist according to a certain order of things which is founded on the general laws of nature. god alone knows before hand the necessary connection which to us is a mystery. the connection of our will with exterior causes is determined by the laws of nature. it is this which in theology we call, 'decrees and predestination.'"[ ] i have already shown how, as islám grew into a system, the muslims fell into a cabbalism, and a superstitious reverence for the mere letters and words of the qurán. with this declension came a still more distorted view of the character of god. the quotations made from the qurán in the last few pages will have shown that whilst some passages seem to attribute freedom to man and speak of his consequent responsibility, others teach a clear and distinct fatalism. the great strength of islám lay in the energy with which muhammad preached the doctrine that god was a divine ruler, one who would deal righteous judgment, who "taught man that which he knew not." as the system became more complex and dogmatic--a very necessary result of its first principles--men lost the sense of the nearness of god. he became an unapproachable being. a harsh unfeeling fate took the place of the omnipotent ruler. it is this dark fatalism which, whatever the qurán may teach on the subject, is the ruling principle in all muslim { } communities. it is this which makes all muhammadan nations decay. careless of self-improvement,[ ] heedless of the need of progress, the muslim nations, still independent, are in all that relates to the higher aspects of intellectual and civilized life far behind the nations of the west. the subject of _'ilm-i-aqáíd_, or the science of dogma properly ends here, but most muslim treatises include in this branch of the subject a few practical remarks. i therefore add a summary of them here. the believer who commits murder, fornication, &c., does not cease to be a muslim provided that he does not say that these are allowed: should he die unrepentant, god can punish him for a while in hell, or forgive him without punishment. the hadd, a punishment based on a záhir, or obvious sentence of the qurán requires that a muslim who apostatizes shall be put to death.[ ] in the case of an apostate woman, imám abu hanífa ruled that she should be imprisoned and beaten every day. the other three imáms, málik, sháfa'í and hanbal said that she should be put to death in accordance with the tradition which says: "he who changes his religion, kill." the arabic word "man," usually translated "he who" is of common gender, and so these imáms include women in the list of those who, after apostasy, are to be killed.[ ] god does not pardon polytheism and infidelity; but he can, if he willeth, pardon all other crimes. if any one is asked, "dost thou believe?" he should reply, "i am truly a believer," and not say: "if god { } willeth."[ ] if any one says to him: "wilt thou die in the faith?" he should reply: "i do not know, god knows." except when speaking of prophets, or of those of whom the prophets have spoken, such as abu bakr, omar, osmán and 'alí, it must not be said of any one, "he is gone to paradise," for god only knows his state. prayer should be made for a deceased muslim whether he was a good or bad man. to give alms, to read the qurán, to perform other good works, and to apply the merit thus gained to the souls of the dead is a pious and beneficial act. { } note to chapter iv. muslim philosophy. i have shown in the preceding chapter how the earlier scholastics, or the mutazilites, as they are called, were finally crushed by the orthodox party. the later scholastics, or the philosophers, form the subject of this note. the khalíf mámún ( - a.d.), a notorious free-thinker, was the first to give an impulse to philosophic researches. it was then that greek philosophical works were translated into arabic. the greek author most patronized was aristotle, partly, because his empirical method accorded with the positive tendencies of the arab mind better than the pure idealism of plato; and, partly, because his system of logic was considered an useful auxiliary in the daily quarrels between the rival theological schools. it was quite natural that aristotle should be thus followed. "the musalmán mind was trained in habits of absolute obedience to the authority of fixed dogmas. the muslims did not so much wish to discover truth as to cultivate their own intellect. for that purpose, a sharp and subtle systematist like aristotle was the very man they required."[ ] some idea of the range of subjects then discussed may be gained from an account given by the arab historian, masoudi, of a meeting held under the presidentship of yahya, one of the famous barmecide family.[ ] yahya thus addressed the meeting: "you have discussed at length the theory of concealment (al-kumún) and manifestation (al-zahúr), of pre-existence and creation, of duration and stability, of movement and quiescence, of the union and separation (of the divine substance), of existence and non-existence, of bodies and accidents, of the approval and the refutation (of the isnáds of the traditions), of the absence or the existence of attributes in god, of potential and active force, of substance, quantity, modality and relation, of life and annihilation. you have examined the question as to whether the imám rules by divine right, or by popular election; you have had an exhaustive discussion on metaphysical subjects, in their principles and corollaries. occupy yourselves to-day with the subject of love," &c. the translation of the works of aristotle, as indeed of all the greek authors, was made by syrian and chaldean christians, and { } especially by the nestorians who, as physicians, were in high favour with the liberal khalífs of the 'abbásside dynasty. in some cases the translation into arabic was made from syriac versions, for in the time of the emperor justinian many greek works had been translated into the latter language. the most celebrated translator was the historian physician honein-ibn-ishak (died a.d.), a man profoundly acquainted with the syriac, greek and arabic languages. he was at the head of a school of interpreters in baghdád, to which his son ishak-ben-honein and his nephew hobeisch-al-asam also belonged. in the tenth century (a.d.) yahya-ben-adi and isa-ben-zara'a translated some works and corrected earlier translations of others. it is to these men that the arabs owe their chief acquaintance with plato. the study of aristotle spread rapidly amongst the muslim people, especially amongst the heretical sects. the orthodox looked with grave suspicion on the movement, but could not for a while stay the impulse. the historian makrizi says: "the doctrine of the philosophers has worked amongst the muslims evils most fatal. it serves only to augment the errors of the heretics and to increase their impiety."[ ] it came into contact with muslim dogmas in such subjects as the creation of the world, the special providence of god and the nature of the divine attributes. to a certain extent the mutazilites were supported by the philosophical theories they embraced, but this did not diminish the disfavour with which the orthodox looked upon the study of philosophy. still it grew, and men in self defence had to adopt philosophic methods. thus arose a later system of scholasticism. the earlier system was confined mainly to matters of religion; the later school occupied itself with the whole range of philosophic investigation, and thus went farther and farther away from orthodox islám. the muslims themselves did not write books on philosophy in the earlier period. men of liberal tendencies imbibed its teaching, but orthodoxy finally gained the day over the earlier scholastics, and in the form known as that of the ash'arían school became again supreme.[ ] the great intellectual movement of the philosophers proper, the later scholastics (mutakallimán), lasted longer, but by the end of the twelfth century (a.d.) the whole muhammadan world had again become orthodox. saláh-ud-dín (saladin) and his successors in egypt were strong supporters of the ash'aríans. { } the period now under review was one prolific of authors on grammar, rhetoric, logic, exegesis, traditions and the various branches of philosophy; but the men who stand out most prominently as philosophers were then, and are now, considered heretics.[ ] al-kendi, was born at basra, on the persian gulf. he died about a.d. he was a very scientific man, but a thorough rationalist in theology. he composed commentaries on the logic of aristotle. in his great work on the unity of god he has strayed far away from muslim dogmas. al farabi, another philosopher patronized by the 'abbássides, seems to have denied not only the rigid and formal islámic view of inspiration, but any objective revelation at all. he held that intuition was a true inspiration, and that all who had acquired intuitive knowledge were real prophets. this is the only revelation he admits. he received his philosophical training at baghdád, where for a while he taught; but finally he went to damascus, where he died a.d. ibn sina, better known as avicenna, a man of persian origin, was a philosopher of great note, but of him it is said that in spite of the concessions he made to the religious ideas of his age, he could not find favour for his opinions, which ill accord with the principles of islám. he was born near bukhárá, in the year a.d. for a while he taught medicine and philosophy in ispahán. ibn badja, (avempace) was one of the most celebrated muslim philosophers of spain. he was born at saragossa towards the end of the eleventh century. he is distinguished for having opposed the mystical tendencies of the teaching of al-ghazzálí, and for maintaining that speculative science alone was capable of leading man to a true conception of his own proper nature. he was violently attacked by the orthodox divines who declared that all philosophical teaching was "a calamity for religion and an affliction to those who were in the good way." al-ghazzálí was born a.d. in khorásán. he was a famous muslim divine. he adopted scholastic methods. for a while he was president of the nizámiah college at baghdád. he travelled much, and wrote many books to prove the superiority of islám over all other religions and over philosophy. the first result of his wide and extensive study of the writings of the philosophers, and of the heretics was that he fell into a state of scepticism with regard to religion and philosophy. from this he emerged into súfíism, in { } which his restless spirit found satisfaction. on súfíism, however, he exercised no very notable influence; but the scepticism which he still retained as regards philosophy rendered him a very formidable opponent to those who were trying to bring islám into accord with philosophic theories. his works, "tendency of philosophers," and "destruction of the philosophers" had an immense influence. in the preface to the latter book, he speaks of "those who arrogate to themselves a superior intelligence, and who, in their pride, mistaking the precepts of religion, take as a guide the authority of certain great men, instead of revealed religion." it is, however, and with some show of reason supposed that al-ghazzálí did not really object to all that he condemned, but that to gain the orthodox he wrote what he did. indeed, moses of narbonne states that ghazzálí later on in life wrote a book, circulated only amongst a few select friends, in which he withdrew many of the objections he had raised in the "destruction of philosophers." be that as it may, it is acknowledged that he dealt a blow to philosophy from which in the east it has never recovered; that is, as far as the muslim world is concerned. his course marks a reaction of the exclusively religious principle of islám against philosophical speculation, which in spite of all accommodation never made itself orthodox. in spain philosophy still found an ardent defender in ibn rashíd, better known as averhoes. this celebrated man was born at cordova in the year a.d., or about of the muhammadan era. he came of a noble and learned family, whilst he himself must ever occupy a distinguished place amongst the muslim philosophers. "without dispute he was one of the most learned men of the muslim world, and one of the profoundest commentators of aristotle. he knew all the sciences then accessible to the muslims and was a most prolific writer."[ ] one of his most famous works was the "refutation of the destruction of philosophers." notwithstanding his philosophical opinions averhoes claimed to pass for a good muslim. he held that the philosophic truths are the highest object of research; but that only a few men could by speculation arrive at them, and that, therefore, a divine revelation through the medium of prophets was necessary for spreading amongst men the eternal verities which are proclaimed alike by philosophy and religion. he held, it is true, that the orthodox had paid too much attention to the letter, and too little to the spirit, and that false interpretations had educed principles not really to be found in religion. this { } profession and a rigid adherence to outward forms of worship, however, did not save him from suspicion. he was accused of preaching philosophy and the ancient sciences to the detriment of religion. he was deprived of his honours and banished by the khalíf al-mansúr to lucena, near cordova. in his disgrace he had to suffer many insults from the orthodox. one day on entering the mosque with his son he was forcibly expelled by the people. he died at morocco in a.d. thus passed away in disgrace the last of the muslim philosophers worthy of the name.[ ] in spain a strict prohibition was issued against the study of greek philosophy, and many valuable works were committed to the flames. soon after the rule of the moors in spain began to decline. the study of philosophy came to an end, and liberal culture sank under the pressure of the hard and fast dogmatic system of islám. in spain,[ ] as in baghdád, orthodoxy gained the day. there was much of doubtful value in the speculations of the muslim philosophers, but they were muslims, and if they went too far in their efforts to rationalize islám, they also tried to cast off what to them seemed accretions, added on by the traditionalists and the canonical legists. they failed because like the earlier scholastics they had no gospel to proclaim to men, no tidings to give of a new life which could enable wearied humanity to bear the ills to which it was subject. another strong reason was that the orthodoxy against which they strove was a logical development of the foundations of islám, and these foundations are too strongly laid for any power other than a spiritual one to uproot. they were men of good position in life, voluminous writers, profound admirers of aristotle, and "more or less devoted to science, especially to medicine." yet they did not advance philosophy, and science they left much as they found it. they preserved something of what grecian thought had achieved, and so far their labour is not lost. thus islám has, as a religion, no right to claim any of the glory which muslim philosophers are supposed to have shed around it. { } the founders of islám, the arabs, produced but one philosopher of note.[ ] the first impetus to the study was given by heretical khalífs employing christians at baghdád to translate greek books; whilst in spain, where philosophy most flourished, it was due largely to the contact of intelligent muslims with learned jews. even there, the philosophers were, as a rule, the objects of bitter persecution. now and again, a liberal minded khalíf arose, but a system such as islám survives the liberal tendencies of a generation. from the close of the twelfth century (a.d.) downwards it would be difficult to point to any muslim philosopher, much more to an arab one, whose work is of any real value to the human race. for four hundred years the contest raged, a contest such as islám has never since seen. this great effort to bring it into accordance with the main stream of human thought, to introduce into it some element of progress utterly failed. the lesson is plain. any project of reform in islám which admits in any degree its fundamental principles must fail. revolution, not reform, is the only hope for the permanence of an independent muslim state when it enters into the circle of civilized nations. { } * * * * * chapter v. the practical duties of islÁm. the portion of the creed considered in the last chapter was connected with imán (faith); the remaining portion is connected with dín (practical religion). the five principal acts are called irkán-i-dín, pillars of religion. they are: ( ) the recital of the kalima, or short confession of faith; ( ) sulát, the five stated periods of prayer; ( ) roza, the thirty days' fast of ramazán; ( ) zakát, legal alms; ( ) hajj, the pilgrimage to mecca. these are all _farz_ duties, being based on a nass-i-záhir, or "obvious," sentence of the qurán, a proof derived from which is called dalíl-i-qata'í. this is the strongest of all kinds of proofs. the authorities, however, specify other religious duties which good muslims should perform. such are the seven duties which are _wájib_, or duties based on the more obscure texts of the qurán, called khafi, or "hidden" sentences, a proof derived from which is called dalíl-i-zaní. these duties are: ( ) to make the 'umra, or pilgrimage to mecca in addition to the hajj; ( ) obedience to parents; ( ) the obedience of a wife to her husband; ( ) the giving of alms after a fast; ( ) the offering of sacrifice; ( ) the saying of namáz-i-witr, a term which will be explained later on; ( ) the support of relatives. the duties numbered as ( ) and ( ) are _wájib_ orders to the rich; but only _mustahab_ to the poor: that is, it is meritorious if they perform them, but not sinful if they leave them undone. the duties next in order as regards authority are the _sunnat_ ones. they are three in number and are based either on the practice of the prophet, or are _fitrat_, that is practices of previous prophets, the continuance of which { } muhammad did not forbid. they are ( ) circumcision; ( ) shaving off the hair from the head and the body; ( ) the paring of the nails. in addition to these there are actions which are _mustahab_. they are those which muhammad sometimes did and sometimes omitted. there is a still lower class of action which are _mubáh_. these are works of supererogation. if omitted there is no fear of punishment. it may be mentioned in passing that unlawful actions and things are ( ) _harám_, actions and food forbidden either in the qurán or the traditions; ( ) _mahrúh_, actions the unlawfulness of which is not absolutely certain, but which are generally considered wrong; ( ) _mufsid_, actions corrupting or pernicious. it is necessary to bear these terms in mind as they will now frequently occur. . tashahhud.--this is the recital of a confession of faith. there are several forms of this. a common one is: "i testify that there is no deity but god, i testify to his unity and that he has no partner; i testify that muhammad is his servant and his messenger." the shorter form is: "there is no deity but god and muhammad is the apostle of god." the power contained in this latter confession is extraordinary. it embodies the very spirit of islám. "it has led everywhere the march of its armies, it has rung for twelve centuries in the morning air from its minarets, it has been passed from lip to lip, as no other word has ever been passed, by thousands of millions of the human race." the power of islám, its proclamation of the unity, is here seen in the closest contact with what is to muslim theologians the equally fundamental truth--the apostleship of muhammad, a dogma which retards the healthy development, explains the narrowness, and causes the prostration of islám, as the world around grows luminant with the light of science and truth, of faith and reason. . sulÁt.[ ]--all the books on fiqh (law) which treat of { } these irkán-i-dín, give in connection with sulát the rules regarding the necessary purifications. it will be convenient to follow the same order. tahárat or legal purification is of three kinds: ( ) wazú, the lesser lustration; ( ) ghusl, the greater lustration; ( ) tayammum, or purification by sand. ( ). wazú is an ablution made before saying the appointed prayers. those which are 'farz' are four in number, viz:--to wash ( ) the face from the top of the forehead to the chin, and as far as each ear; and ( ) the hands and arms up to the elbow; ( ) to rub (masah) with the wet hand a fourth part of the head; also ( ) the feet to the ankles. the authority for these actions is the text: "o believers! when ye address yourselves to prayer, wash your hands up to the elbow, and wipe your heads, and your feet to the ankles" (súra v. ). the sunnís wash the feet: the shía'hs are apparently more correct, for they only wipe, or rather rub, (masah) them. in these ablutions, if the least portion of the specified part is left untouched, the whole act becomes useless and the prayer which follows is vain. the act of making wazú, however, has not been allowed to remain in this simple form. the sunnat regulations regarding it are fourteen in number. they are, ( ) to make the intention of wazú, thus: i make this wazú for the purpose of putting away impurity; ( ) to wash the hand up to the wrist, but care must be taken not to put the hands entirely into the water, until each has been rubbed three times with water poured on it; ( ) to say one of the names of god at the commencement of the wazú[ ] thus: "in the name of the great god," or "thanks be to god for the religion of islám;" ( ) to clean the teeth; ( ) to rinse the mouth three times; ( ) to put water into the { } nostrils three times; ( ) to do all the above in proper order; ( ) to do all without any delay between the various acts; ( ) each part is to be purified three times; ( ) the space between the fingers of one hand must be rubbed with the wet fingers of the other; ( ) the beard must be combed with the fingers; ( ) the whole head must be rubbed once; ( ) the ears must be washed with the water remaining on the fingers after the last operation; ( ) to rub under and between the toes with the little finger of the left hand, drawing it from the little toe of the right foot and between each toe in succession. imám sháfa'í holds that ( ) and ( ) are farz duties and that ( ) should be done three times. imám málik considers ( ) to be farz. the actions may be done in silence, or prayer may be repeated. such a recital is a mustahab, not a sunnat or farz order. it is not obligatory. a specimen of these prayers is given in a note.[ ] ( ). ghusl is an ablution of the whole body after certain legal defilements, and should be made as follows. the person should put on clean clothes and perform the wazú, then he should say: "i make ghusl to put away impurity." all being ready he should wash himself in the following order. he must pour water over the right shoulder three times, then over the left three times and, lastly, on his head { } also the same number of times. the three farz conditions are that ( ) the mouth must be rinsed, ( ) water be put into the nostrils, and ( ) the whole body be washed. if one hair even is left dry the whole act is rendered vain and useless. all other particulars are sunnat or mustahab. there are obvious reasons why an explanation of the causes which vitiate a purification, or of the cases in which ghusl is required, cannot be given here. every standard muslim work on fikh, or law, deals fully with the subject. nothing is more calculated to show the student of islám how much the sunnat rules in the practical life of muslims. the traditions have raised the most trivial ceremonial observances into duties of the greatest importance. that there may be spiritually minded men in islám is not to be denied; but a system of religion which declares that the virtue of prayer depends practically on an ablution, and that that ablution is useless unless done in the order prescribed, is one well calculated to make men formalists and nothing more. it comes to this, that, if a man when making wazú washes his left hand before his right, or his nose before his teeth, he cannot lawfully say the daily namáz enjoined on all muslims. none but those who have studied muslim treatises on the subject can conceive of the puerile discussions which have taken place on points apparently trivial, but which from their connection with the sunnat are deemed by learned muslims of great importance. ( ). tayammum, or purification by sand, is allowable under the following circumstances. ( ) when water cannot be procured except at a distance of one kos (about miles); ( ) in case of sickness when the use of water might be injurious; ( ) when water cannot be obtained without incurring danger from an enemy, a beast or a reptile; and ( ) when on the occasion of the namáz of a feast day or the namáz at a funeral, the worshipper is late and has no time to perform the wazú. on ordinary days this substitution of tayammum for wazú is not allowable. { } the ceremony is performed as follows. the person says: "i make tayammum to put away impurity;" then, "i seek refuge near god from cursed satan. i commence in the name of god, most merciful and most high, whose praises are in the religion of islám." he then strikes the sand with open hands, rubs his mouth and, at last, the arms to the elbows. not one hair must be left untouched or the whole ceremony is useless. the farz acts are to make the intention of tayammum, to rub the mouth and the hands. "if ye are sick, or on a journey, or if one of you come from the place of retirement, or if ye have touched women, and ye find no water, then take clean sand and rub your faces and your hands with it." (súra v. .) minute regulations are laid down with regard to the water which may be used for purification. the following kinds of water are lawful:--rain, sea, river, fountain, well, snow and ice-water. ice is not lawful. the first kind is authorized by the qurán. "he sent you down water from heaven that he might thereby cleanse you, and cause the pollution of satan to pass from you." (súra viii. .) the use of the others is sanctioned by the traditions. i give one illustration. a man one day came to the prophet and said: "i am going on a voyage and shall only have a small supply of fresh water; if i use it for ablutions i shall have none wherewith to quench my thirst, may i use sea water?" the prophet replied: "the water of the sea is pure." tirmízí states that this is a hadís-i-sahíh. great difference of opinion exists with regard to what constitutes impurity in water, and so renders it unfit for ablutions. it would be wearisome to the reader to enter into all details, but i may briefly say that, amongst the orthodox, it is generally held that if a dead body or any unclean thing falls into flowing water, or into a reservoir more than feet square it can be used, provided always that the colour, smell and taste are not changed. it is for this reason that the pool near a mosque is never less than ten cubits square. if of { } that size, it is called a _dah dar dah_, (literally x ). it may be, and commonly is, larger than this. it should be about one foot deep. the necessary ablutions having been made, the worshipper can commence the namáz. ( ). salát or namáz. the namáz can be said either in private or in public. all that is required is that the clothes and person of the worshipper should be clean, the place free from all impurity, and that the face be turned towards mecca. whether the namáz is said in public or in private, it must be preceded by wazú, except when tayammum is allowed. if the namáz[ ] is said in a mosque which is considered to be more meritorious than repeating it in private, it must be preceded by the azán, or call to prayers, and the iqámat. minute particulars regarding the exact attitude in which the musallí, one who says the salát, must stand and the words he is to say are given in muslim books. the following account will give some idea of a namáz, or service.[ ] the mu,azzin[ ] calls out loudly in arabic:-- "alláhu akbar! alláhu akbar! alláhu akbar! alláhu akbar[ ]!" all who hear it respond:-- "alláhu akbar! alláhu akbar! alláhu akbar! alláhu akbar!" the mu,azzin says:-- "i confess there is no god but god, i confess there is no god but god." each of his auditors replies:-- "i confess there is no god but god, i confess there is no god but god." { } mu,azzin:--"i confess muhammad is the apostle of god." auditor:--"i confess muhammad is the apostle of god." mu,azzin:--"come to prayer." auditor:--"i have no power or strength but from god most high and great." mu,azzin:--"come to do good." auditor:--"what god wills will be; what he wills not will not be." if it is the time of morning prayer, the mu,azzin adds the words: "prayer is better than sleep," to which the response is given: "thou hast spoken well." "alláhu akbar," and "there is no god but god" are then repeated twice and so the azán ends. the iqámat (literally, "causing to stand") is a repetition of the azán, but after the words, "come to do good," the statement "prayer has commenced" is made. these preliminaries being now over, the namáz can commence. it is as follows: the musallí, or worshipper, stands with his hands close to his side and says in a low voice the niyyat (intention):-- "i have purposed to offer up to god only, with a sincere heart this morning (or as the case may be), with my face qibla-wards, two (or as the case may be) rak'at prayers, farz (or sunnat or nafl, as the case may be)." then follows the takbír-i-tahrímah, said with the thumbs touching the lobes of the ears. the palms of the hands are placed towards the qibla. the fingers are slightly separated from each other. in this position the musallí says:--"alláhu akbar!" the qíám, or standing position. the palm of the right hand being placed on the back of the left, the thumb and little finger of the former seize the wrist of the latter. both hands are then placed below the navel,[ ] the eyes are { } directed towards the spot where the head of the worshipper will touch the ground in prostration, and the saná is said. it is:-- "holiness to thee o god! and praise be to thee! great is thy name! great is thy greatness! there is no god but thee!" the ta'awwuz is then said:-- "i seek refuge near god from cursed satan." then follows the tasmíyah:-- "in the name of god, the compassionate, the merciful." then follows the fátiha,[ ] or first chapter of the qurán:-- "praise be to god, lord of the worlds! the compassionate, the merciful! king on the day of reckoning! thee only do we worship, and to thee do we cry for help. guide thou us on the straight path: the path of those to whom thou hast been gracious: with whom thou art not angry, and who go not astray." after this the worshipper can repeat as many chapters of the qurán as he likes.[ ] some verses he must repeat. the súrat-ul-ikhlás (súra ) is generally said:-- "say: he is god alone: god the eternal, he begetteth not, and is not begotten; and there is none like unto him." the takbír-i-rukú'--alláhu akbar!--is said whilst the musallí makes an inclination of the head and body, and separating the fingers a little, places his hands upon his knees. the tasbíh-i-rukú' is said in the same position. it is:-- "i extol the holiness of my lord, the great! i extol the holiness of my lord, the great! i extol the holiness of my lord, the great!" the tasmía' is then said with the body erect, but with the hands placed on either side. thus:-- { } "god hears him who praises him: o lord, thou art praised[ ]." the takbír-i-sijdar--alláhu akbar!--is said as the worshipper drops on his knees. the musallí then kneeling down, places his hands, with the fingers close to each other, upon the ground. he must rest upon his toes, not on the side of the feet which must be kept straight behind him. the elbow must not touch the side, nor the stomach the thigh, nor the thigh the calf of the leg. the eyes must be kept bent downwards. then he touches the ground first with his nose, and then with his forehead, taking care that the thumbs just touch the lobe of the ears.[ ] all this being carefully attended to, the musallí can say the tasbíh-i-sijda thus:-- "i extol the holiness of my lord, the most high! i extol the holiness of my lord, the most high! i extol the holiness of my lord, the most high!" he then raises his head and body, sinks backwards upon his heels, places his hands a little above his knees, and whilst doing so says the takbír-i-jalsa[ ]--"alláhu akbar!" after a slight pause, a second prostration, or sijda is made and the takbír-i-sijda and the tasbíh-i-sijda are repeated as before. then when in the act of rising up the musallí says the takbír-i-qíám--"alláhu akbar!" this concludes one rak'at. the second rak'at begins with the fátiha, so that after saying the takbír-i-qíám a musallí would have to begin again at that place (p. ) and repeat all that he had just finished; the only change being that after the fátiha, he recites different verses of the qurán to those he said in the first rak'at. after two rak'ats have been said, and after the last, though it be an odd number, the { } musallí, unless he is a shía'h, places his left foot under him and sits upon it. he then places his hands above his knees, as for the takbír-i-jalsa, and with his eyes directed towards his lap says the attahíyát:-- "the adorations of the tongue are for god, and also the adorations of the body, and almsgiving! peace be on thee o prophet! with the mercy of god and his blessing. peace be on us and upon god's righteous servants!" then raising the first finger of the right hand he says the tashahhud[ ]:-- "i testify that there is no deity but god; and i testify that muhammad is the servant of god and the messenger of god." then at the end of all the rak'ats the musallí, whilst in the same posture, says the darúd:-- "o god! have mercy on muhammad and his descendants[ ]; as thou didst have mercy on abraham and his descendants, thou art to be praised and thou art great. o god! bless muhammad and his descendants, as thou didst bless abraham and his descendants. thou art to be praised and thou art great." then comes the du'á, which may be in the worshipper's own words though he usually says[ ]:-- "o god our lord, give us the blessings of this life, and also the blessings of life everlasting. save us from the torments of hell." then turning the head to the right the musallí repeats the salám:-- "the peace and mercy of god be with you." then turning the head to the left he says:-- "the peace and mercy of god be with you." at the close of the whole ceremony, the worshipper raises { } his hands as high as his shoulders, with the palm towards heaven, or towards his own face, and offers up a munáját, or supplication, either in arabic or in the vernacular. the hands are then drawn over the face, as if to convey the blessing received from above to every part of the body. the appointed periods of prayer are five in number, in proof of which the following text is quoted: "glorify god when ye reach the evening (masá), and when ye rise at morn (subh); and to him be praise in the heavens and in the earth,--and at twilight ('ashí) and when ye rest at noon (zuhr)." (súra xxx. ). the commentators say that masá includes both sunset and the period after sunset; that is both the salát-ul-maghrib and the salát-ul-'ishá. there is also a reference to a stated period of prayer in the following verse: "observe prayer at early morning, at the close of the day, and at the approach of night." (súra xi. ). these daily namáz are farz, sunnat, witr and nafl prayers. farz are those distinctly ordained by god, such as the five stated periods of prayer. sunnat, a certain number of rak'ats which are added, because it is said the prophet repeated them. witr rak'ats are an odd number of rak'ats, , or , which may be said after the last prayer at night, and before the dawn of day. usually they are added to the salát-ul-'ishá. imám abu hanífa says they are wájib, that is ordered by god. they are not authorised by any text in the qurán, but by traditions each of which is generally received as a hadís-i-sahíh, and so witr rak'ats are regarded as being of divine authority. imám sháfa'í, however, considers them to be sunnat only, a term already explained. the traditions referred to are: "god has added to your namáz one namáz more: know that it is witr, say it between the salát-ul-'ishá and dawn." on the authority of buzár, a traditionist, it is recorded that the prophet { } said: "witr is wájib upon muslims," and in order to enforce the practice he added: "witr is right, he who does not observe it is not my follower." the prophet, the companions, the tába'ín and the taba-i-tába'ín all observed it. the word witr literally means "odd number." a tradition says: "god is odd, he loves the odd." (alláhu witrun yuhibbu'l-witra). musalmáns pay the greatest respect to an odd number. it is considered unlucky to begin any work, or to commence a journey on a day, the date of which is an even number. the number of lines in a page of a book is nearly always an odd number. nafl are voluntary prayers the performance of which is considered mustahab, or meritorious, but they are not of divine obligation. it must be understood that all these prayers are precisely the same in form. they simply consist in the repetition of a number of rak'ats, of which i have already given a single illustration in full. a muslim who says the five daily prayers with the full number of rak'ats will repeat the service i have described fifty times in one day. if in addition to these he observes the three voluntary periods of prayers, he must add twenty-five more rak'ats, making a grand total of seventy-five. it is, however, usual to omit some of the sunnat rak'ats; still there is a vast amount of repetition, and as the whole must be said in arabic it becomes very mechanical. a muslim who ventured to say that a namáz might be recited in hindustani was publicly excommunicated in the principal mosque at madras on friday, february th, .[ ] the table on the next page will make the matter clear.[ ] the optional sunnat rak'ats are called { } 'sunnat-i-ghair-i-maukadda'; the sunnat rak'ats before the farz are 'sun-nat-i-maukadda' and should be said. ---+------------------+-----------------------------------+---------------- no.| time. | the names of the time of prayer. | the number of | | | rak'ats said. | +-----------+-----------------------+---------------- | | | witr | | |--------------------------------------+ | | | nafl| | | |-----------------------------------+ | | | | sunnat after farz| | | | |--------------------------------+ | | | | | farz| | | | | |-----------------------------+ | | | | | | sunnat-i-mau-kadda'| | | | | | |--------------------------+ | | | | | | | sunnat-i-ghair-maukadda'| | | | | | | |-----------+-----------+ | | | | | | | arabic | persian | urdu | | | | | | ---+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+--+--+--+--+--+- | from dawn to | salát-ul- | namáz-i- | fajr kí | | | | | | | sunrise. | fajr. | subh. | namáz. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | when the sun | salát-uz- | namáz-i- | zuhr kí | | | | | | | has begun to | zuhr. | peshín. | namáz. | | | | | | | decline. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | midway between | salát-ul- | namáz-i- | 'asr kí | | | | | | | no. and . | 'asr. | dígar. | namáz. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | a few minutes | salát-ul- | namáz-i- | maghrib | | | | | | | after sunset. | maghrib. | shám. | kí namáz. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | when the night | salát-ul- | namáz-i- | 'ishá kí | | | | | | | has closed in. | 'ishá. | khuftan. | namáz. | | | | [ ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | when the sun | salát-ul- | namúz-i- | ishráq kí | | | | | | | has well risen. | ishráq. | ishráq. | namáz. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | about o'clock | salát-uz- | namáz-i- | zuhá kí | | | | | | | a.m. | zuhá. | chast. | namáz. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | after mid-night. | salát-ut- | namáz-i- | tahajjud | | | | | | | | tahajjud.| tahajjud.| kí namáz. | | | | | | ---+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+--+--+--+--+--+- in addition to these there are several kinds of namáz which have to be said at different times, or under special circumstances. (i). salát-ul-juma'--the friday namáz. this is a farz duty. it has the threefold authority of the qurán, the sunnat, and the ijmá'. thus: "o ye who believe! when ye are summoned to prayer on the _day of the assembly_ (friday), haste ye to the commemoration of god, and quit your traffic." (súra lxii. .) the prophet also said: "juma' is farz," and, "god will make a mark on the heart of him who misses the salát-ul-juma'[ ]." there are, however, eight kind of persons on whom it is not incumbent, _viz_: a traveller, a sick person, a slave, a woman, a young child, a mad { } person, a blind or a lame person. the conditions which make this namáz obligatory are:-- ( ). that the place in which it is said be a town in which a qází (judge) dwells. ( ). there must be in the town a ruler or his deputy. ( ). it must take the place of the salát-uz-zuhr, with which it agrees, except that two farz rak'ats instead of four are recited. the nafl rak'ats are omitted. the four sunnat rak'ats which precede, and the two which follow the farz ones are said. ( ). one, or according to the followers of imám sháfa'í two khutbas, or sermons are preached. these are delivered by the imám after the four sunnat rak'ats are recited, and before the two farz ones. the khutba should consist of the praise of god, prayer and injunctions to piety. ( ). there must be a congregation of three persons besides the imám. the sháfa'ítes say there should be at least forty worshippers. ( ). the azán, or call to prayers, must be made to all without distinction of rank. any person who is qualified to act as imám at the other prayers can conduct this namáz. the imám and khatíb (preacher) is usually, but not necessarily, one and the same person. the khutbas should not be long, for muhammad said that long sermons and short prayers would be a sign of the degeneracy of the latter days. when two khutbas are said, the imám sits down to rest before the delivery of the second. the worshippers may then offer up a du'á, or private prayer. some, however, say that this practice is bid'at, (innovation) and consider it a very bad act. according to the traditionists, bukhárí, abu dáúd and tirmízí, it is a mustahab act to wear clean clothes on friday. the preacher standing on the second step of the mimbar, or pulpit, with a large club or staff in his hand, delivers his sermon.[ ] { } the following is a specimen of the khutbas. sermon on the excellence of friday. in the name of god, the compassionate, the merciful. praise be to god, the king, the holy, the great, the knower. he has opened our hearts through the blessing of islám. he has made friday the best of days. we testify that there is no god but god, the one, without partner. this confession saves those who make it from danger and from darkness. we testify that our lord muhammad is his servant and his apostle sent to all mankind. may the mercy and peace of god be on him, his descendants and on his companions. o men! o believers of god! i advise you and my own soul thus: "obey god!" know, o servants of god! that when friday commences the angels assemble in the fourth heaven, and gabriel, (on whom be peace) is the mu,azzin, míká,íl the khatíb, isráfíl the imám and 'izrá,íl the mukabbir[ ] and all the angels join in the namáz. when it is over gabriel says: "i give the reward due to me as mu,azzin to the mu,azzins of the sect of islám;" míká,íl: "i give mine to the khatíbs;" isráfíl: "i give mine to the imáms;" 'izrá,íl: "i give mine to the mukabbirs." the angels say: "we give ours to the company of the muslims." the prophet said: "the night and day of friday last twenty-four hours, and each hour god releases a thousand souls from hell. whosoever makes 'ghusl' on friday, god will give him for every hair on his body the reward of ten good deeds. whosoever dies on a friday meets with the reward of a martyr." certainly the best and most eloquent speech is the holy qurán, the word of god,--the king, the great, the knower. his word is true and righteous. when thou readest the qurán say: "o god! protect me from cursed satan." in the name of god the compassionate, the merciful. "when ye are summoned to prayer on the day of the assembly, haste to the commemoration of god and quit your traffic. this, if ye knew it, will be best for you. and when the prayer is ended, then disperse yourselves abroad and go in quest of the bounties of god; and that it may be well with you, oft remember god. but when they get a sight of merchandize or sport, they disperse after, and leave thee standing alone. say: 'god hath in reserve what is better than sport or wares. god is the best provider.'" (súra lxii. - .) god { } by means of the holy qurán will bless us and you. and by its verses and teaching will reward us and you. god is almighty, generous, merciful, eternal, holy, clement. here ends the first sermon; after a short pause the preacher commences the second. in the name of god the compassionate, the merciful. praise be to god, the creator of the earth and heavens, the maker of light and darkness. i testify that there is no god but god. he is one. he has no partner. know, o believers! that this confession will save you from trouble and calamity. i testify that muhammad, who wipes out error and infidelity, is the servant and apostle of god. the mercy of god be on our lord muhammad, the lord of creation; and on his descendants; and on his companions be grace and honour. o servants of god! i advise you and my own soul thus: obey god! fear god, who created life and death and who scrutinizes our good actions. o god! be pleased with abu bakr, the righteous, the sáhib-ul-ghár,[ ] and with omar ibn-ul-khattáb, the chief of the holy men; and with osmán the possessor of two lights, who was martyred when reading the holy qurán, and upon 'alí murtuzá, the destroyer of infidels and sinners. o god! be pleased with the great imáms hasan and husain. be pleased with their mother fatimat-uz-zuhra, the chief of women, and with hamza and 'abbás, the uncles of the prophet. also be pleased with all the asháb (companions). o god! help those who help the religion of muhammad, and make us of their number. make those wretched who corrupt it, and keep us aloof from all such. o believers! truly god orders you to do justice and to show kindness to your kindred. he orders you to abstain from infidelity and from the greater and the lesser sins. god warns you. god is the most high, the most glorious. god is great!" the collection of khutbas from which the above have been translated contains a considerable number on a variety of subjects, such as prayer, the resurrection, worldliness, the various feast and fast days, &c. the form in all is very similar. the exordium and the conclusion are practically the same. a few sentences in the middle refer to the special subject of the sermon. the second of the two { } sermons is always the same; it is practically an invocation of blessings on certain persons. both are said in arabic. what would answer to our idea of a sermon, such as an explanation of some doctrine, or an exposition of some passages in the qurán, is not part of the public worship in the mosque, but would be done in an ordinary assembly, in any convenient place, by a moollá, or any learned man who could collect an audience. (ii). salát-ul-musáfir.--prayers said by a traveller. a person who makes a journey which lasts three days or three nights is, for this purpose, considered a traveller.[ ] the length of a day's journey is estimated at the distance a camel can march in that period of time. if a traveller intends to stay in a certain place fifteen days, he must repeat the usual namáz; if less than fifteen days, or when actually on the journey, he can shorten it. he is then permitted to say only two farz rak'ats. he may omit the sunnat and nafl rak'ats if he chooses; but the three witr rak'ats he must recite at the salát-ul-'ishá. if a traveller passing through a place is, for the time being, the most suitable person to act as imám, he being a traveller will only recite two rak'ats. the rest of the worshippers then complete the namáz. in the case where a permanent resident of the place is the imám and the traveller only a worshipper, the imám is bound to recite the whole number of rak'ats and the traveller must also repeat the whole after him. the principle on which this is based is that the worshippers must not recite less than the imám.[ ] (iii). salát-ul-khauf.--prayers of fear. this is a namáz said during the time of war. when there is imminent danger from the approach of an enemy the imám should divide the army into two bodies; one of which should be placed in a position towards the enemy, the other should recite, if they are on the march, one rak'at; if stationary { } in a place, two rak'ats. this division will then march towards the enemy and the first division will recite as many rak'ats as may be required to complete the namáz. the salám (ante. p. ) will be recited by the imám alone. the first division of troops will not say the qir,at, _i.e._ the fátiha and the other verses of the qurán recited after it (ante. p. ); but the second division will supply the omission. if the enemy are so near that the cavalry dare not dismount, then each man will recite a rak'at or rak'ats for himself, and make the rukú' and sijda by means of signs. if he cannot turn towards the qibla, he is, under the circumstances, allowed to face any direction most convenient. during the recital of the namáz he must not fight, or allow his horse to move, lest the prayer should be rendered void. "when ye go forth to war in the land, it shall be no crime in you to cut short your prayers, if ye fear lest the infidels come upon you. verily, the infidels are your undoubted enemies! and when thou, o apostle! shalt be among them, and shalt pray with them, then let a party of them rise up with thee, but let them take their arms; and when they shall have made their prostrations, let them retire to your rear: then let another party that hath not prayed come forward, and let them pray with you." (súra iv. , ). (iv). salát-ut-taráwíh.--this is a special set of twenty rak'ats recited every night during the month of ramazán. they must be said after the farz and sunnat, and before the witr rak'ats at the time of the salát-ul-'ishá. the salát-ut-taráwíh is considered of sunnat obligation. the practice dates from the time of the khalíf omar. abd-ur-rahmán, a traditionist, states that one night in ramazán he went with omar to the mosque. they saw some persons saying the namáz alone and some reciting it in groups. omar said: "if i gather them all together, so that they may recite it after one imám it will be good." he did so, and the next night the people of their own accord came in great numbers and united together. then said omar: "this { } bid'at is good." this is good authority for the institution, for the prophet said: "follow my sunnat and that of the khulafá-i-rashídín." there is also a hadís-i-sahíh to the effect that "god has made the fast of ramazán farz, and its qíám[ ] sunnat." (kutiba 'alaikum síámu ramazána wa sunna qíámuhu). the prophet was anxious lest the tiráwíh namáz should become farz and, therefore, after going to the mosque on two successive nights in ramazán, he stayed away on the third, giving as his reason for so doing that he feared that, if he went every night, it might be considered a farz and not a sunnat duty.[ ] the number of rak'ats is fixed at twenty, as that was the number recited by muhammad and by the khalíf omar. the shía'hs do not say these prayers or even enter the mosque on such occasions, as after every four rak'ats an eulogium is repeated on the four khalífs--the first three of whom they hate. (v). salát-ul-kusúf and salát-ul-khusúf--prayer said when an eclipse of the sun, or of the moon takes place. in the former case, the imám recites with the congregation in the mosque two rak'ats. the azán and the iqámat are both omitted. no khutba is said. in each rak'at one rukú' is read. the sháfa'ítes read two. after the rak'ats are completed those present remain in prayer (du'á) until the eclipse is at an end. the namáz during an eclipse of the moon is the same as that during an eclipse of the sun, with this exception that the rak'ats need not be recited in a congregation. each muslim can say the namáz privately in his own house. the practice is founded on the prophet's saying: "when you see an eclipse then remember god, pray (du'á) and recite the namáz until it becomes light again." (vi). salát-ul-istisqá.--prayer in time of drought. when { } there is a scarcity of water each person should, with face qibla-wards, offer up prayer to god. they can be said at home and in private. care must be taken that no zimmí[ ] is present. the reason given is that this is a prayer for a blessing; but god sends no blessing on a company in which a zimmí is present. these prayers are simple du'á and not a namáz. there is no well-authenticated tradition to the effect that the prophet ever said namáz on such an occasion; whilst there are many which show that he made du'á. this is a very good example of the use of the term salát as a _mushtarik_ word, _i.e._ one which has several significations. its ordinary meaning is namáz; here it means du'á. (vii). salát-ul-janáza.--prayers at a funeral. when a person is about to die, the attendants should place him on his right side with his face qibla-wards. in that position he should repeat the "kalima-i-shahádat," the creed of testimony: "i confess that god is one, without a partner; that truly muhammad is his servant and his apostle." after death has taken place, the corpse is laid out, incense is burnt, and the shroud is perfumed an _odd_ number of times. a tradition states that an odd number is fixed upon, because the number one which represents the unity of god is odd and not even. the lesser lustration (wazú) is then made. the head and beard are washed with a decoction made of some flowers, after which the greater lustration (ghusl) is made. the members of the body used when making sijda (prostration) _i.e._, forehead, nose, hands, knees, feet, are then rubbed with camphor. to recite the salát-ul-janáza is a duty called farz-i-kifáya, that is, if some few persons in the assembly say it, all need not do so; whilst if no one repeats it all will be guilty of sin. to prove that this namáz is farz the following verse is quoted: "take alms of their substance, that thou mayest { } cleanse and purify them thereby, and pray for them; for thy prayers shall assure their minds: and god heareth, knoweth." (súra ix. .) the proof that it is not farz-i-'ain (_i.e._, incumbent on all), but farz-i-kifáya is drawn from an account given in a hadís, to the effect that the prophet one day did not recite the namáz over one of his deceased followers. now, if the namáz had been farz-i-'ain even the prophet could not have omitted it. his sunnat, or practice, has decided the nature of the farz command contained in the verse of the qurán just quoted. the namáz can only be said when the corpse is present. it is recited in the open space in front of the mosque, or in some neighbouring spot: never in the graveyard. when all are assembled the imám or leader says: "here begins the namáz for the dead." the company present then stand up in rows with faces turned in the direction of mecca. the imám stands a little in front, near the head or waist of the corpse according as it is that of a male or female. then all assume the qíám, or standing position, and recite the niyyat as follows:-- "i recite namáz for the sake of god, and offer prayers (du'á) for this deceased person, and i follow the imám (who is about to officiate.)" then all at the first[ ] takbír put the hands to the lobe of the ears and say: "god is great!" then they say the saná (ante, p. .):-- "holiness to thee o god! and to thee be praise! great is thy name! great is thy greatness! great is thy praise! there is no god but thee!" then follows the second takbír: "god is great!" then all say the darud-i-ibráhím:-- "o god! have mercy on muhammad and upon his descendants, as thou didst bestow mercy, and peace, and blessing, and compassion, and great kindness upon { } abraham and upon his descendants." "thou art praised, and thou art great!" "o god, bless muhammad and his descendants as thou didst bless, and didst have compassion and great kindness upon abraham and upon his descendants." then follows the third takbír: "god is great!" the du'á is then repeated:-- "o god, forgive our living and our dead, and those o£ us who are present, and those who are absent, and our children and our full grown persons, our men and our women. o god, those whom thou dost keep alive amongst us, keep alive in islám, and those whom thou causest to die, let them die in the faith."[ ] then follows the fourth takbír: "god is great!" then all say:-- "o god, give us good in this world and in the next, and save us by thy mercy from the troubles of the grave and of hell." then each one in a low voice says the salám, as in an ordinary namáz. (ante, p. .)[ ] the namáz is now over and the people make another du'á thus:-- "'o our lord! suffer not our hearts to go astray after that thou hast once guided us; and give us mercy from before thee; for verily thou art he who giveth.' (súra iii. .) o god, thou art his[ ] master, and thou createdst him, and thou didst nourish him, and didst guide him toward islám, and thou hast taken his life, and thou knowest well his inner and outer life. provide intercessors for us. forgive him, for thou art the forgiver, the most merciful." { } then going towards the head of the corpse, they say:-- "no doubt is there about this book (qurán.) it is a guidance to the god-fearing, who believe in the unseen,[ ] who observe prayer (salát), and out of what we have bestowed on them, expend (for god), and who believe in that which hath been sent down to thee (muhammad), and in what hath been sent down before thee; and full faith have they in the life to come: these are guided by their lord; and with these it shall be well." (súra ii. - ). then coming towards the feet of the corpse, they say:-- "the apostle believeth in that which hath been sent down from his lord, as do the faithful also. each believeth in god, and his angels, and his books and his apostles: we make no distinction between any of his apostles.[ ] and they say: 'we have heard and we obey. (we implore) thy mercy, lord; for unto thee must we return.' god will not burden any soul beyond its power. it shall enjoy the good which it hath acquired, and shall bear the evil for the acquirement of which it laboured. o our lord! punish us not if we forget, or fall into sin; o our lord! and lay not on us a load like that which thou hast laid on those who have been before us[ ]; o our lord! and lay not on us that for which we have no strength: but blot out our sins and forgive us, and have pity on us. thou art our protector; give us victory therefore over the infidel nations." (súra ii. , ). { } the chief mourner then gives the izn-i-'Ámm, that is, he says:-- "all have permission to depart." some then proceed homewards, others go with the corpse to the graveyard. when the bier is lifted up, or when it is placed down near the grave, the people say:-- "we commit thee to earth in the name of god and in the religion of the prophet." if the ground is very hard, a recess (lahad) is dug out in the side of the grave. this must be high enough to allow the corpse to sit up when munkir and nakír come to interrogate it. if the ground is soft a small grave is excavated at the bottom of the larger one. the corpse is then placed in the lower one. the idea in both cases is that the corpse must be in such a position that it can have free movement. the body is placed with the face towards mecca. when the bands of the shroud have been loosened the people say:-- "o god deprive us not of the heavenly reward of the deceased, place us not in trouble." each person then takes seven clods of earth, and over each clod says; "bismilláh" (in the name of god), and the súrat-ul-iklás (súra cxii) and then places each clod by the head of the corpse. unburnt bricks, bamboos or boards having then been placed over the smaller grave, the persons present with both hands throw clods of earth three times into the grave. the first time they say: "from it (earth) we created you"; the second time, "and into it will we return you;" the third time, "and out of it will we bring you a second time." (súra xx. ). then they say this du'á: "o god i beseech thee for the sake of muhammad not to trouble the deceased." when the attendants are filling up the grave they say:-- "o god, defend the deceased from shaitan (devil) and from the torments of the grave." when the grave is completely filled up, one man pours { } water three, or five, or seven times over it and then plants a green branch on it.[ ] one of the mourners then draws near the middle of the grave and recites the talqín (instruction):-- "o servant of god, and child of a female servant of god. o son of (such an one),[ ] remember the faith you professed on earth to the very last; that is, your witness that there is no god but god, and that certainly muhammad is his apostle, and that paradise and hell and the resurrection from the dead are real; that there will be a day of judgment, and say: 'i confess that god is my lord, islám my religion, muhammad (on whom be the mercy and peace of god) my prophet, the qurán my guide, the k'aba my qibla, and that muslims are my brethren.' o god, keep him (the deceased) firm in this faith, and widen his grave, and make his examination (by munkir and nakír) easy, and exalt him and have mercy on him, o thou most merciful." the other persons present then offer a fátiha.[ ] after this, they may, if they like to do so, read the súrat-ul-yá sín (xxxvi) and the súrat-ul-mulk (lxvii.) it is not common to do so. then retiring forty paces from the grave they again offer a fátiha, for by this time the examination of the deceased has commenced. the first night is one of great trouble to the deceased, so alms should be given liberally that night in his name. in order to relieve him as much as possible, two nafl rak'ats of a namáz should be said. after the fátiha in each rak'at the worshipper should repeat the Áyat-ul-kursí { } (throne-verse)[ ] three times; then the súrat-ut-takísur ( ) eleven times; then the súrat-ul-iklás ( ) three times. after the salám and the darúd the worshipper lifts up both hands, and with great humility prays that the reward of the service just concluded may be bestowed on the deceased. (viii). salát-ul-istikhára.--this is a namáz said before undertaking any special work. the person recites two rak'at prayers. after each rak'at he says the following du'á: "o god, make me know what is best for me, and keep me from evil, and bestow good upon me, for i have no power to know what is best for me." he then goes to sleep, during which period be expects to receive a special inspiration (ilhám) which will give him the needed directions and guide him aright as to the matter in hand. (ix). salát-ut-taráwih.--this consists of twenty rak'ats recited each evening during the month of ramazán. an account of these will be given in the next chapter when the ceremonies connected with the ramazán fast are described. . roza, the thirty days' fast of ramazÁn.--fasting is defined to be abstinence from food, drink and cohabitation from sunrise to sunset. there must also be in the mind the intention of keeping a fast. the person should say: "o lord, i intend to fast to-morrow for thy sake. forgive my past and future sin." when the fast is ended he says: "o god i fasted for thy sake and had faith in thee, and confided in thee and now i break (iftár) the fast with the food thou givest. accept this act." it is a farz duty to keep the fast during the thirty days of the month ramazán. this is laid down in the words: "o believers! a fast is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you." "as to the month ramazán, in which the qurán was sent down to be man's guidance, and an explanation of that guidance, and of that { } illumination, as soon as any one of you observeth the moon, let him set about the fast." (súra ii. - ). the ijmá' is also unanimous on this point. young children and idiots are excused. sick persons and travellers may postpone the fast to another time. "he who is sick, or upon a journey, shall fast a like number of other days. god wisheth you ease, but wisheth not your discomfort, and that you fulfil the number of days." (súra ii. ). this is called a qazá fast, that is, a fast kept at another time in lieu of one which has been omitted. if a person makes a vow that, if god grants a certain request, he will fast (roza-i-nazr), or if he fasts by way of atonement for some sin committed (roza-i-kafára), in both cases it is a wájib duty to keep the fast. some hold that the former is a farz duty and base their assertion on the verse: "let them bring the neglect of their persons to a close, and let them pay their vows." (súra xxii. ). all other kinds of fasts are nafl, a term already explained (p. ). such are the fasts kept on the th day of muharram, on the aiyám-i-bíz (bright days)--the th, th and th day of any month, on the th of sh'abán, that is, the day following the night called shab-barát, and on the th of each month in which there are thirty days. a nafl fast may be broken if the person who intended to keep it receives an invitation to a feast. according to bukhárí, a woman may not make a nafl fast without the consent of her husband. the reverse is not the case, for "men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which god hath gifted the one above the other, and on account of the outlay they make from their substance for them." (súra iv. ). it is said that one day a woman came to the prophet and said that her husband had slapped her. the prophet wished to punish him for doing so improper an act, but he was prevented by the descent from heaven of the verse just quoted, which is held to be conclusive evidence of the inferiority of women. the verse also contains the words "chide those { } (wives) for whose refractoriness ye have cause to fear; remove them into beds apart, and scourge them." it is mustahab to fast some days in the month shawwál, for muhammad is reported to have said: "whosoever keeps the fast of ramazán and some seven days in the preceding month of shawwál, it is as if his whole life were a fast." if on account of dull weather, or of dust storms the new moon is not visible, it is sufficient to act on the testimony of a trustworthy person who declares that ramazán has commenced. imám sháfa'í requires two, but the following tradition is quoted against him: "an arab came to the prophet and said: 'i have seen the new moon.' his excellency said: 'dost thou believe that there is no god but god? dost thou confess that muhammad is his apostle?' 'yes,' replied the man. the prophet calling billál, the mu,azzin, said: 'tell the people to commence the fast.'" this proves that the evidence of one good muslim is sufficient testimony in the matter. the fast is destroyed in the following cases:--if when cleansing the teeth a little water should pass into the throat, if food is eaten under compulsion, if an enema is used, if medicine is put into the ears, nose or a wound in the head, if a meal has been taken on the supposition that it was night when it was really day, if the niyyat (intention) in the ramazán fast was not properly made, if after a meal taken during the night a portion of food larger than a grain of corn remains between the teeth or in a cavity of a tooth, lastly, if food is vomited. in each of these cases a qazá fast must be kept in lieu of the one thus broken. in the case where the fast is deliberately broken, the person must atone for his sin by setting a slave at liberty; if from any cause that cannot be done, he must fast every day for two months; if that cannot be done, he must give sixty persons two full meals each, or give one man such meals daily for sixty days. the fast is not broken by merely tasting anything, by { } applying antimony to the eyes, and oil to the beard, by cleansing the teeth, or by kissing a person; but it is considered better not to do these things during the day-time. the imám as-sháfa'í declared that it was very wrong indeed to do either of these actions after noon. he used to repeat the following tradition handed down by tabrání. "the prophet said: 'when you fast, cleanse the teeth in the early morning, because when the lips of him who fasts become dry and parched, they will be for him a light in the day of judgment.'" if a person through the infirmity of old age is not able to keep the fast, he must perform sadqa, that is, he must feed a poor person. this opinion is based on a sentence in the qurán, which has caused a good deal of dispute: "as for those who are able (_to keep it and yet break it_), the expiation of this shall be the maintenance of a poor man." (súra ii. ). this seems to make fasting a matter of personal option, and some commentators admit that at first it was so, but they say that the words have been abrogated[ ] by the following sentence which occurs in the next verse: "as soon as any one of you observeth the moon, let him set about the fast." others say that the negative particle "not" must be understood before "able," in which case the words in italics must be omitted. others explain the expression "those who are able" as equivalent to "those who have great difficulty therein," such as aged and infirm persons. this seems to be the best interpretation and is the one which practically is acted on. in the case of women with child, mothers giving suck to their children, sick persons whom fasting at this particular time might injure, it is sufficient if they keep it at another time; that is, they must when convenient make a qazá fast. { } in these cases the sadqa or feeding of the poor is not required. thus abu dáúd says: "the prophet said, 'god allows travellers to shorten the namáz and to postpone the fast. women also are allowed to fast another time.'" the qurán is also clear on the point: "he who is sick or upon a journey, shall fast a like number of other days." (súra ii. ). there are five days in the year in which it is unlawful to fast. these are, 'Íd-ul-fitr, baqr-'íd and the three following days, _viz_: the th, th and th of zu'l-hajja. if during the month of ramazán, a person arrives at maturity, or an infidel becomes a muslim, each must keep the fast during the remaining days of the month. to take the sahra, or meal taken just before sunrise in the month of ramazán, is a sunnat act. the great traditionists, bukhárí, muslim and tirmízí, all agree that the prophet said: "eat sahra because there is a blessing in it. the difference between our fast and that of the men of the book (christians) is the partaking of sahra." the meal eaten immediately after sunset is called iftár, or the breaking of the fast. in india it is the custom to eat a date first, or if that fruit is not procurable to drink a little water. in turkey an olive is chosen as the fruit with which the fast should be broken. the distinctive feature of a muhammadan fast is, that it is a fast during the day only. the rich classes by turning day into night avoid much of its rigour. they, however, frequently break the fast, though any such action must be done in secret, for popular opinion all over the musalmán world is strongly against a man who does not outwardly, at least, observe the fast of ramazán. in this matter it may be said "pecher en secret, n'est pas pecher, ce n'est que l'éclat qui fait le crime." those who have to work for their living find the observance of the fast very difficult, for however laborious may be their occupation they must not swallow any liquid; yet as { } a rule the lower classes observe it strictly.[ ] in hot climates this is often exceedingly distressing. in such circumstances the evening twilight is anxiously looked for, as then the iftár can be commenced. the month of ramazán brings with it other duties than that of fasting. these will be described in the next chapter. . zakÁt.--there are two terms in use to express almsgiving. the first is zakát (literally, "purification") or the legal alms due, with certain exceptions, from every muslim. the second is sadqa, or offerings on the feast day known as 'Íd-ul-fitr, or alms in general.[ ] it is the first of these that has now to be considered. on the authority of the qurán and the ijmá'-i-ummat it is declared to be a farz duty for every muslim of full age, after the expiration of a year, to give the zakát on account of his property; provided that, he has sufficient for his subsistence and is a sáhib-i-nisáb, or one who possesses an income equivalent to about £ per annum. the qurán says: "observe prayer (salát) and the legal impost (zakát)." (súra ii. ). the khalíf 'umr ibn 'abd-ul-'azíz used to say: "prayer carries us half way to god, fasting brings us to the door of his palace, and alms procure us admission." the three conditions without which zakát would not be compulsory are islám, hurriat (freedom) and nisáb (stock). the reason for this is, that zakát is said to be a fundamental part of 'ibádat (worship), and that, as the infidels cannot perform acceptable worship, they have nothing to do with zakát. freedom is necessary, for slaves hold no { } property. nisáb is required, for so the prophet has decreed. when the nisáb is required for daily use the zakát is not taken from it; such as a slave retained for personal service, grain for food, weapons, tools, books, household furniture, wearing apparel, horses for riding, &c., for one tradition records that the prophet specially exempted all these, whilst another given on the authority of bukhárí states that for slaves employed in domestic service only the sadqa-i-fitr[ ] should be given. if a person owes a debt, the amount necessary for its liquidation must be deducted from his property and the zakát given on the balance. if it is a debt due to god, such as an offering due on a vow or to be given in atonement for the neglect of some religious duty, it must not be so deducted from the property on which zakát is due. the amount of gold which constitutes a nisáb is miskats, or of silver dirhems (=£ s.). whether these metals are in coin or not, one-fortieth part is due. some say that gold and silver ornaments are exempt, but imám sháfa'í does not admit this, and quotes from abu dáúd the following tradition: "a woman with a child, on whose arms were heavy golden bracelets, came to the prophet. he enquired if the zakát had been given for them. on receiving a reply in the negative he said: 'it is easy for god in the day of judgment to make thee wear bracelets of fire.' the girl then took them off and said: 'these are for the service of god and of his prophet.'" on all treasure known as rikáz, that is, buried treasure found by any one, and on valuable metals extracted from mines, one-fifth of the value must be paid, whether the land be khárijí, rented at its proper market value; or 'usharí possessed by the payment of a tithe. if the rikáz is found in dar-ul-harb, a country under a non-muslim government, the whole belongs to the finder, if it is on his own land, or if on unclaimed { } land he must pay the one-fifth. if the coins found bear the mint stamp of a musalmán government, the finder must, if he can, find the owner and return them to him; if they were coined in a mint belonging to the infidels, after having given one-fifth as zakát, he may retain four-fifths for himself. pearls, amber and turquoise are not subject to any deduction, for the prophet said: "there is no zakát for stones." as regards cattle the following rules have been laid down. for sheep and goats nothing is given when the number is under forty. the owner must give one for one hundred and twenty, two for the next eighty and one for every hundred after. the scale for buffaloes is the same as that for sheep. for camels the rule is as follows: from to in number, one sheep or goat must be given; from to , one yearling female camel (bint-i-mukház); from to , one two-year old female camel (bint-i-labún); from to , one three-year old female camel (hiqqah); from to , one four-year old female camel (jaz'ah); from to , two bint-i-labún; from to , two hiqqah; and from upwards, either a bint-i-labún for every forty or a hiqqah for every fifty. horses follow this scale, or two and a half per cent on the value may be given instead. for cows a one-year old female calf (tabi'a) must be given; for , a two-year old female calf (musinna), and after that one calf for every ten cows. donkeys and mules are exempt, for the prophet said: "no order has come down (from heaven) to me about them." if a stock of merchandize exceeds the nisáb (£ s.), zakát must be given on it and on the profits at the rate of one in forty, or two-and-a-half per cent. the hanífites do not count a fraction of the forty. the sháfa'ítes count such a fractional part as forty and require the full zakát to be paid on it. honey, fruit, grain, &c., although less than five camel { } loads,[ ] must according to imám abu hanífa pay one-tenth; but the sáhibain and imám sháfa'í say that if there is less than the five camel loads no zakát is required. the prophet said: "if produced on land naturally watered one-tenth is due, if on land artificially irrigated one-twentieth." as he said nothing about the quantity, the hanífites adduce the fact of the omission as a proof on their side. the zakát should be given to the classes of person mentioned in the following verse. "alms are to be given to the poor and the needy, and to those who collect them, _and to those whose hearts are won to islám_, and for ransoms, and for debtors, and for the cause of god, and for the wayfarer." (súra ix. ). the words italicised, according to the tafsír-i-husainí, are now cancelled (mansúkh). the reference is to the arab chiefs who were beaten by the prophet at the battle of honein (a.h. ). this victory is referred to in the th verse of this súra. "god hath helped you in many battle fields, and on the day of honein." abu bakr abolished this giving of zakát to converts, and the khalíf omar said to these or similar persons: "this zakát was given to incline your hearts toward islám. now god has prospered islám. if you be converted it is well; if not, a sword is between us." no companion has denied this statement, and so the authority for the cancelling of this clause is that of the ijmá'-i-ummat (unanimous consent). it is well that an appeal to unworthy motives should be abolished, but no commentator so far as i know makes that a reason for the cancelling of this order. it is always placed on the ground of the triumphant nature of islám which now needs no such support. contemptuous indifference, not any high moral motive was the cause of the change. in addition to the persons mentioned in the verse just quoted, zakát may be given to assist a mukátib, or slave { } who is working in order to purchase his freedom. persons who are too poor to go on a jihád or to make the hajj must be assisted. the zakát must not be given for building mosques,[ ] for funeral expenses, liquidating the debts of a deceased person, or to purchase a slave in order to set him free. it is not lawful to give the zakát to parents or grand-parents, children or grandchildren; or for a husband to give it to his wife, or a wife to her husband; or a master to his slave. the sáhibain[ ] maintain that a wife can apply the zakát to her husband's wants and quote this tradition: "a woman asked the prophet if she could give the zakát to her husband. he answered 'give; such an act has two rewards, one for the giving of charity and one for the fulfilment of the duties of relationship.'" it should not be given to a rich man, nor to his son, nor to his slave. the descendants of hásham and the descendants of the prophet should not be the recipients of the zakát. the prophet said: "o ahl-i-beit (men of the house), it is not lawful for you to receive zakát, for you get the one-fifth share of my fifth portion of the booty." so some say that syeds are excluded; but they demur and reply that they do not now get a portion of the spoil of the infidels. zakát must not be given to a zimmí (a non-muslim subject). in muhammadan countries there are officers whose duty it is to collect the zakát; in india the payment is left to each person's conscience. whilst there is not much regularity in the payment, due credit must be given for the care which musalmáns take of their poor. the sadqa (charitable offerings) form a different branch of this subject. a full account of it will be given in the section of the next chapter which treats of the 'Íd-ul-fitr. { } . the hajj.--the hajj, or pilgrimage to mecca, is a farz duty, and he who denies this fact is considered to be an infidel. "the pilgrimage to the temple is a service due to god from those who are able to journey thither: and as to him who believeth not--verily god can afford to dispense with all creatures." (súra iii. , .) on the authority of ibn 'abbás the following tradition has been handed down. "the prophet said: 'god has made the hajj farz.' then aqra' bin hábis, standing up, said: 'o prophet is it to be made every year?' his excellency said: 'if i say--yes, it will be a wájib duty to do it annually; but that ye are not able to bear, so the hajj is necessary only once; whatever pilgrimage may be made to mecca in addition is nafl.'" the hajj must be made by every free muslim, who is sound in body, and of full age, when he has sufficient means to pay his expenses, after duly providing for the support of his household till his return. if a slave, or a child should make the hajj, the former on attaining freedom, and the latter on coming of age must again go on pilgrimage. if a woman, whose residence is at a distance of more than three days' journey from mecca, goes on pilgrimage, she must be accompanied by her husband or by a near relative. imám as sháfa'í denies the necessity of such attendance, stating that the verse already quoted makes no such restriction. his objection is, however, met as usual by a tradition. "a certain man came to the prophet and said: 'my wife is about to make the hajj, but i am called to go on a warlike expedition.' the prophet said: 'turn away from the war and accompany thy wife in the hajj.'" imám abu yúsuf considered that a man who possessed the means should go to mecca, and held that if he delayed more than a year in making the hajj he was a sinner. imám muhammad, and most others think that a person may postpone the hajj for some years, but if death should overtake the man before he has made { } the pilgrimage, he will be accounted a sinner. so practically all agree that delay is dangerous. connected with the hajj there are three actions which are farz, and five which are wájib; all the rest are sunnat or mustahab. the farz requisites are: ( ) to wear no other garment except the ihrám,[ ] two seamless wrappers, one of which is worn round the loins, the other thrown over the shoulder; ( ) to stand in 'arfát; ( ) to make the tawáf, that is to go round the k'aba seven times. the wájib duties are: ( ) to stay in muzdalífah; ( ) to run between mount safá and mount marwah; ( ) to perform the ramí-ul-jamár, or the casting of the pebbles; ( ) if the pilgrims are non-meccans they must make an extra tawáf; ( ) to shave the head after the pilgrimage is over. the hajj must be made at the appointed season. "let the pilgrimage (hajj) be made in the months already known." (súra ii. ). these months are shawwál, zu'l-q'ada, and the first ten days of zu'l-hajja. the actual hajj must be in the month zu'l-hajja, but the preparations for, and the niyyat, or intention of the hajj can be made in the two preceding months. the 'umrah, or ordinary pilgrimage, can be done at any time of the year except on the ninth, and four succeeding days of zu'l-hajja. on each of the various roads leading to mecca, there are at a distance of about five or six miles from the city stages called míqát. the following are the names. on the madína road, the stage (manzil) is called zu'l-halifah; on the 'iráq road, zát-i-'arq; on the syrian road, hujfah; on the najd road, qarn; on the yaman road, yalamlam.[ ] { } the hájís from all parts of the muslim world at length arrive weary and worn at one of these stages. they then divest themselves of their ordinary clothing, and after a legal ablution, and after saying a namáz of two nafl rak'ats they put on the ihrám. the hájí, having now really entered upon the hajj, faces mecca and makes the niyyat (intention), and says: "o god, i purpose to make the hajj; make this service easy to me and accept it from me." he then says the talbíyah[ ]: "here i am! o alláh! here i am! here i am! there is no god but thee! truly, praise and bounty, and the kingdom are to thee! no partner hast thou! here am i!" the persons who reside permanently in any of these míqát can assume the pilgrim's garb in a place called hal, near to mecca, or in the city itself; whilst the inhabitants of mecca can put on the ihrám in the precincts of the temple. the hájí having assumed the ihrám must now abstain from worldly affairs, and devote himself entirely to the duties of the hajj. he is not allowed to hunt, though he may catch fish if he can. "o believers, kill no game while ye are on pilgrimage." (súra v. ). the prophet also said: "he who shows the place where game is to be found is equally as bad as the man who kills it." the hájí must not scratch himself, lest vermin be destroyed, or a hair be uprooted. should he feel uncomfortable, he must rub himself with the open palm of his hand.[ ] the face and head must be left uncovered, the hair on the head and beard unwashed and uncut. "shave not your heads until the { } offering reach the place of sacrifice." (súra ii, ). on arriving at an elevated place, on descending a valley, on meeting any one, on entering the city of mecca or the musjid-ul-harám[ ] the hájí should continually repeat the word "labbaik, labbaik." as soon as he sees the k'aba[ ] he must say the takbír and the tahlíl. the traditionist 'atá says that at this stage the prophet used to lift up his hands and pray. on entering the enclosure, the hájí says the labbaik, takbír and the tahlíl, then a du'á. a namáz of two rak'ats is then said at the station of one of the four great imáms. on arriving near the hajr-ul-aswad (black stone) the hájí again says the takbír and the tahlíl, after which he kisses the stone. if, on account of the crowd, he cannot get near enough to do this, he must touch it with his hand or with a stick, and kiss that with which he has thus touched the stone. at the same time he says: "o alláh, (i do this) in thy belief, and in verification of thy book, and in pursuance of thy prophet's example--may alláh bless and preserve him. o accept thou my supplication, diminish my obstacles, pity my humiliation and graciously grant me thy pardon." then he again repeats the takbír and the { } tahlíl, the darúd and the tahríf (prayer for, and praise of muhammad). he then encompasses the k'aba seven times, in accordance with the niyyat he had made, thus: "in the name of alláh, and alláh is omnipotent! i purpose to make the circuit seven times."[ ] this is called the tawáf. the hájí runs round three times at a rapid pace (tarammul), and four times he proceeds slowly (taammul). a permanent resident in mecca will not perform the tawáf. the hájí then presses his stomach, chest and right cheek against the portion of the k'aba wall, called al-multazim, and raising up his arms on high says: "o alláh, lord of the ancient house, free my neck from hell-fire, and preserve me from every evil deed; make me contented with that daily bread which thou hast given to me, and bless me in all thou hast granted!" he then says the istigfár--"i beg pardon of alláh, the most high, the living, the eternal, and to him i repent." the hájí next proceeds to the maqám-i-ibráhím[ ] (place of abraham) and then recites two rak'ats[ ] called sunnat-ut-tawáf. some water from the sacred well zemzem is then drunk, after which the hájí returns to the hajr-ul-aswad, and again kisses it. hájí burton thus describes one shaut or circuit:-- "we began the prayer 'o alláh (i do this) in thy belief and in verification of thy book, and in faithfulness to thy covenant and after the example of thy prophet muhammad. may alláh bless and preserve him!' till we reached the place al-multazim, between the corner of the black stone and the k'aba door. here we ejaculated, 'o alláh, thou hast rights, so pardon my transgressing them.' opposite the door we repeated, 'o alláh, verily the house is thy house, and the sanctuary thy sanctuary, and the safeguard thy { } safeguard, and this is the place of him who flees to thee from (hell) fire.' at the building called maqám-i-ibráhím, we said: 'o alláh, verily this is the place of abraham, who took refuge with, and fled to thee from the fire! o deny my flesh and blood, my skin and bones to the (eternal) flames.' as we paced slowly round the north or irák corner of the k'aba we exclaimed, 'o alláh, verily i take refuge with thee from polytheism, and disobedience, and hypocrisy, and evil conversation, and evil thoughts concerning family, and property and progeny.' when we passed from the mízáb, or spout, we repeated the words, 'o alláh, verily i beg of thee faith which shall not decline, and a certainty which shall not perish, and the good aid of thy prophet muhammad--may alláh bless and preserve him! o alláh, shadow me in thy shadow, on the day when there is no shadow by thy shadow; and cause me to drink from the cup of thy prophet muhammad--may alláh bless and preserve him--that pleasant draught, after which is no thirst to all eternity, o lord of honour and glory.' turning to the west corner, or the rukn el shámí, we exclaimed: 'o alláh, make it an acceptable pilgrimage, and a forgiveness of sins, and a laudable endeavour, and a pleasant action (in thy sight), and a store which perisheth not, o thou glorious, o thou pardoner!' this was repeated thrice, till we arrived at the yemaní, or southern corner, where the crowd being less importunate, we touched the wall with the right hand, after the example of the prophet, and kissed the finger-tips. between the south angle and that of the black stone, where our circuit would be completed, we said: 'o alláh, verily i take refuge with thee from infidelity, and i take refuge with thee from want, and from the tortures of the tomb, and from the troubles of life and death. and i fly to thee from ignominy in this world and the next, and implore thy pardon for the present and the future. o lord, grant to me in this life prosperity, and in the next life prosperity, and save me from the punishment of fire.'" the next important step is the running between the mounts safá and marwah. starting from the former, the hájí runs seven times between the two summits. he runs, moving the shoulders, and with head erect, like soldiers charging in battle. the reason for this is, that the infidel meccans mocked the companions of the prophet, and said that the climate of madína had made them weak. this bold way of running was adopted to disprove the { } calumny and so has become a sunnat practice. the prayer to be said during the s'ai (running) is: "o my lord, pardon and pity, and pass over that (sin) which thou knowest. verily thou knowest what is not known, and verily thou art the most glorious, the most generous. o, our lord, grant us in both worlds prosperity, and save us from fire." the hájí should also quote passages from the qurán. this s'ai must be done after an important tawáf, either the first, or a later one. on the seventh day the imám must preach in mecca, and instruct the pilgrims in the ritual of the hajj. he preaches again on the ninth and eleventh days. on the eighth day, (rúz-i-tarwiáh), the hájí goes to miná, a place three miles distant from mecca, where with all the other hájís he says the usual namáz, and there spends the night.[ ] this is a sunnat observance. on the morning of the ninth day, starting after the salát-ul-fajr, the hájí goes to 'arifát.[ ] on arriving there he says: "o god, i turn to thee, i put my trust on thee, i desire thee, pardon my sin, accept my hajj, show mercy to me, supply my need in 'arifát, thou art powerful over all." he then says labbaik, the takbír and the tahlíl. the noontide, and the afternoon namáz are said together there: they are thus shortened.[ ] this done he should stand upon the mountain, if possible at or near the place the prophet { } is said to have occupied. this is called the wukúf or (standing), a necessary part of the hajj. he must also listen to the sermon delivered by the imám, explaining what still remains of the ritual of the hajj, _i.e._, how the hájís are to stand in muzdalífah, to throw the stones in miná, to make the sacrifice, &c. all the time the hájí should constantly shout out the talbíyah, and the tahlíl, and weep bitterly. the hájí then proceeds to muzdalífah, a place situated about half-way between miná and 'arifát, where he should pass a portion of the night. after a visit to the mosque mashar al harám, he should collect seven pebbles and proceed to miná. when the morning of the tenth day, the 'Íd-ul-azhá arrives, he again goes to miná, where there are three different pillars, called respectively the jamrat-ul-akabah, commonly known as the shaitan-ul-kabír[ ] (great devil), the wusta, or middle pillar, and the al ula, or first one. holding the jamár, or pebble, between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, the hájí throws it a distance of not less than fifteen feet and says: "in the name of alláh, and alláh is almighty, (i do this) in hatred of the fiend and to his shame." the remaining six stones are thrown in like manner. the object is to confound the devils who are supposed to be there. the stones are small lest the pilgrims should be hurt. before each stone is thrown the takbír must be said. this ceremony is called ramí-ul-jamár, the throwing of stones. it is also known as hasal khazaf. it is said that this ceremony has been performed since the time of abraham, and that the stones are miraculously removed. ibn 'abbás, a companion, says that if the pilgrimage of a hájí is approved of by god, the stones are secretly removed. mujáhid, a well known traditionist, { } says that he put a mark on his stones and afterwards searched, but found them not. the pilgrim then returns to miná, and there offers the usual sacrifice of the 'Íd-ul-azhá. an account of this will be given in the next chapter. this act strictly speaking, concludes the hajj. the hájí can now shave his head, pare his nails and remove the ihrám. the remaining three days, the th, th and th of zu'l-hajja are called the aiyám-ut-tashríq "days of drying flesh" because now the pilgrims prepare provisions for the return journey, by cutting slices from the victims offered in sacrifice and drying them in the sun. the hájí should spend this time at miná, and each day throw seven pebbles at each of the pillars. this ceremony duly over, he returns to mecca and makes the tawáf-ul-widá' (circuit of farewell). he should also drink some water from the well of zemzem. tradition says that when ishmael was thirsty gabriel stamped with his foot and a spring gushed forth. this is now the far-famed well zemzem. finally, the hájí kisses the threshold, and then, with hands uplifted laying hold of the covering of the k'aba, and weeping bitterly, he prays most humbly, and expresses regret that he will soon have to depart from a place so dear as the sacred k'aba. retiring backwards, he makes his exit and the hajj is complete.[ ] the umráh or little pilgrimage can be made at any time except the eighth, ninth and tenth of zu'l-hajja. it is usually done before pilgrims start homewards. its ceremonies differ but slightly from the hajj. the ihrám must { } be put on, and the obligations of abstinence which it entails must be observed. the usual course is then to make the ziárat, or visit to the tomb of the prophet at madína. henceforth the pilgrim assumes the honorable title of hájí and so is, ever after, a person of some consequence among the community in which he dwells. the hajj cannot be performed by proxy, though it is esteemed a 'good work,' if someone who can afford it, sends a pilgrim who otherwise could not go. this account of the irkán-i-dín, or five pillars of religion, must now draw to a close. they illustrate well the fixed and formal nature of islám, whilst the constant reference to the prophet's sayings and practice, as an authority for many of the details, shows how largely islám is based on the sunnat. with regard to the differences of opinion which the great imáms hold on some of the details, it is most difficult to decide which side holds the correct view. such opinions are always based on some tradition, the value of which it is impossible to determine. the opponent says it is a weak (z'aif) tradition--a statement it would puzzle any one to prove or to disprove. it is sometimes said in praise of musalmáns that they are not priest-ridden; but no people in the world are so tradition-ridden, if one may use such an expression. until this chain of superstition is broken there can be no progress and no enlightenment; but when it is so broken islám will cease to be islám, for this foundation of the faith and the edifice erected on it are so welded together that the undermining of the one will be the fall of the other. { } note to chapter v. _the following fatvá was publicly given in the great mosque, triplicane, madras, february th, ._ in the name of god, the compassionate, the merciful. question. "o 'ulamá of the religion, and muftís of the enlightened law, what is your opinion in this matter? a person having translated a juz (one-thirtieth part) of the noble qurán into the hindustani language has printed it. the translation is defective: moreover the arabic text is not given. in order to give the translation the same authority as the original, he has retained the usual signs and marks of the arabic editions; such as--toí, qif, jím, lá, mím, and (.).[ ] at the end of the juz he has added a translation of the tashshahud, qanúd, saná, ta'awwuz, tasmí, tashibát, rukú' and sujúd, and has said that all these must be read in hindustani. he further states that in the translation he has retained the rhythm of the original, and that in eloquence and style it is equal to the arabic. he has also added rubrical directions as to the ritual of the namáz, and has stated that to those who do not know arabic, it is a wájib and a farz duty to recite the translation; otherwise they commit sin and the namáz is vain. as regards the past, he considers that the ignorant are forgiven, but he maintains that the 'ulamá of these days must answer for the neglect they show in not telling the people to use translations of the qurán. further, in support of his views he adduces a hadís-i-sahíh, according to which the prophet said to a companion, salmán-i-farsí: "read a translation of the qurán in the namáz." he claims, as on his side, the four great imáms. he himself understands arabic, yet he says his namáz in hindustani and influences others to do likewise. he has been spoken to, but he takes no heed and strives to spread his sect all over india. now, what is the order of the noble law with regard to such a person, and what is the decree in the case of those who follow { } him, or who circulate his opinions, or who consider him a religious man and a guide, or who consider the translation to which reference has been made to be the holy qurán, or who teach it to their children? o learned men, state the law in this matter and merit a good reward." the answer. "after praising god, and after imploring his mercy and peace on muhammad, be it known that the person referred to is an infidel, an atheist and a wanderer from the truth. he also causes others to wander. his assertion that his opinions are in accordance with those of the four imáms is utterly false, because according to imám sháfa'í, imám málik, and imám hanbal it is illegal to use a translation of the qurán when saying the namáz, whether the worshipper is ignorant of arabic or not. thus imám navarí, a disciple of sháfa'í says: "it is unlawful in any case to use persian[ ] in the namáz." faqí 'alí, a disciple of málik says: "persian is unlawful." to these opinions káfí, a disciple of hanbal adds his testimony: "to recite in the namáz from a translation of the qurán is unlawful." moreover from the qurán itself, the recital of it in arabic is proved to be a divine command (farz). the term qurán, too, means an arabic qurán, for god speaks of it as a revelation in arabic. the words "recite so much of the qurán as may be easy to you" prove the duty of reciting it; whilst the words "an arabic qurán have we sent it down" show that the qurán to be used is an arabic one. imám abu hanífa and his disciples, the sáhibain (imám muhammad and imám abu yúsuf), consider that, if a person can recite only a short verse in arabic, it is not lawful for such an one to use a translation. if he cannot read the arabic character, he must learn by heart such a sentence as "praise be to god, lord of the people." until he learns this he may use a translation.[ ] in the tanwír-ul-absár it is written: "it is a farz duty to read one verse, and to learn it by heart is farz-i-'ain" (_i.e._, incumbent on all). in the masíh-ul-azhar it is written: "if a person says the namáz in a language other than arabic, he is a madman or an atheist." with regard to the statement made by imám abu hanífa that a person might use for a { } time a translation, it is well known that he afterwards recalled that opinion. the statement made by the person complained of regarding sulmán-i-farsí is not correct. in the niháyáh (commentary on the hidáyah) it is written that some persians wrote to sulmán, and requested him to send them a persian translation of súrat-ul-fátiha. he complied with their request and they used it in the namáz, _until they could pronounce arabic properly_. the prophet on hearing of this circumstance made no remark. this account, however, is not trustworthy; but granting that it is true, all that it proves is that, until some arabic words can be remembered, a translation may be used. no imám has ever allowed that to read a translation is farz or wájib. so if the person referred to says that it is farz to read his own translation, then it follows that to read the original arabic will not be farz, but will be unlawful. now such an opinion is infidelity. the person is a káfir, for he tries to make out that the 'ulamá of all preceding ages who have instructed the people, from the days of the prophet till now, to read arabic in the namáz are sinners. further, he rejects the statement made by learned canonists and listens now to no advice. he reads his translation in the namáz and causes others to read it. he boasts that his translation is equal in style to the original. he has translated the du'á-i-qunút, saná, and the tasbíhát of the rukú' and sujúd, and has said that these translations should be used in the namáz. thus, it is plain that he wants to abolish the use of arabic in the prayers. the result of such a course would be that soon a number of different translations would be circulated, and the text like that of the taurait, and the injíl would be corrupted. in the fatáwá-i-'Álamgírí it is written: "whosoever considers that the unlawful is lawful or _vice versâ_ is a káfir." "if any one without apparent cause has enmity with one of the 'ulamá, his orthodoxy is doubtful." "a man who after committing a fault declines to repent, though requested to do so, is an infidel." in the tahqíq-i-sharh-i-husainí it is written; "to translate the qurán into persian and to read that is unlawful." in the fatáwá-i-matlúb-ul-múminín it is said: "whosoever intends to write the qurán in persian must be strictly forbidden." in the itqán it is written: "according to ijmá', it is wrong to speak of the qurán as having rhymes."[ ] in the fatáwá-i-tátár khánía it is said: "to translate the arabic into persian is an act of infidelity." our decision then is that the usual salutations should not be made to this person. if he dies he must not be buried in a musalmán { } cemetery. his marriages are void and his wives are at liberty, according to the rule laid down in the miftáh-us-s'ádat. to doubt of the infidelity of such a person is itself infidelity. as by the proofs of the law here adduced, the 'ulamá have declared such a person to be an infidel, it follows that all those who assist him or who consider his claim just, or who circulate his opinions, or who consider him to be a religious person and a fit guide for men, are also infidels. to send children to be taught by him, to purchase newspapers which advocate his views, and to continue to read his translation is unlawful. in the fatáwá-i-'Álamgírí in the chapter entitled murtád it is written: "whosoever has doubts of the present infidelity and of the future punishment of such an one is an infidel." god says in the qurán: "be helpful to one another according to goodness and piety, but be not helpful for evil and malice; and fear ye god." (súra v. ). in another place god says: "whosoever acts not according to god's order is an infidel." now, what greater disobedience can there be than this, that a person should say that the recital of the arabic qurán in the namáz is not lawful, and that the recital of his own hindustani translation of it is incumbent (farz). "our duty is to give information to musalmáns, and god is the best knower." this was written by a learned moulvie, and signed by twenty-four other leading moulvies of the city of madras. this fatvá, an authentic copy of which is in my possession, is of very considerable importance as showing how unyielding the law of islám is to the varied circumstances of the countries in which it exists. the law enjoining the arabic language as a medium of worship was suited for the arab people, and the principle involved would seem to be that the vernacular language of a country should be used by the muslims of that country for the purposes of devotion; but, as i have repeatedly shown, precepts, not principles are the ruling power in islám. it further demonstrates that all such matters must be regulated, not by the needs of the age or country, but by an antiquated law which, to say the least, is an anachronism in the world's history. the authority paid to the statements made by the four chief imáms, and the fact that the fatvá is based on their decisions, and on previous fatvás in which their authority has been adduced, show how even to the present day they are regarded as the mujtahidín of islám. the fatvá is thus manifestly orthodox, and corroborates most fully all i have said in the first chapter on the "foundations of islám." { } * * * * * chapter vi. the feasts and fasts of islÁm. . muharram.--muharram, the name of the first month of the muhammadan year, has now become the name by which are known the days of mourning spent by the shía'hs in commemoration of the martyrdoms of 'alí and of his two sons hasan and husain. the historical events thus referred to have been already described in the third chapter, so that it is only necessary now to give an account of the ceremonies connected with the muharram. they differ in different countries. the following is a description of an indian muharram. some days previous to the feast, the 'Áshúr khána (literally, ten-day house) is prepared. as soon as the new moon appears, the people gather together in the various 'Áshúr khánas, and offer a fátiha over some sherbet or some sugar in the name of husain. the fátiha concludes thus: "o god, grant the reward of this to the soul of husain." the sherbet and sugar are then given to the poor. then they mark a spot for the alláwa, or hole for the bonfire which is to be lit. every night during the festival these fires are kindled, and the people, both old and young, fence across the fire with swords or sticks, and jump about calling out: "'alí! noble husain! noble husain! dulha! dulha! bridegroom! bridegroom! friend! &c." these words they repeat hundreds of times. in some parts of the country they erect an imám bára (imám-house). this is often a substantial building, frequently used afterwards as a mausoleum for the founder and his family. in south india the 'Áshúr khána only is known. this is generally a temporary structure, or { } some large hall fitted up for the occasion. sometimes the walls are draped with black cloth, bordered with texts of the qurán written in a large and elegant style. the place is brilliantly illuminated. on one side stands the tázíahs or tábúts--structures made of bamboos covered with tinsel and profusely ornamented. they are intended to represent the mausoleum erected on the plains of karbalá over the remains of husain. sometimes the tázíah is constructed to represent the prophet's tomb at madína. large sums of money are spent on these tázíahs, which when lighted up have a very elegant appearance. at the back of the tázíahs are laid the several articles similar to those supposed to have been used by husain at karbalá,--a turban of gold, a rich sword, a shield, a bow and arrow. the mimbar, or pulpit is so placed that the speaker can face mecca. the 'alams, or standards, which are commonly made of copper and brass, though occasionally of gold or of silver, are placed against the walls. the usual standard is that of a hand placed on a pole. this is emblematic of the five members who compose the family of the prophet, and is the special standard of the shía'hs. these standards have many different names, such as--the standard of the palm of 'alí, the lady fátima's standard, the standard of the horse-shoe, to represent the shoe of husain's swift horse, and others too numerous to mention. mirrors, chandeliers and coloured lanterns add lustre to the scene. every evening large crowds of people assemble in these 'Áshúr khánas. in the centre, on a slightly raised platform a band of singers chant the marsiya, an elegiac poem in honour of the martyred husain. it is a monotonous performance lasting about an hour; but it has a wonderful effect on the audience, who, seated on the ground, listen patiently and attentively. at each pause the hearers beat their breasts, and say husain! husain! real or stimulated grief often finds expression in groans and tears, though the more violent expression of the anguish felt is reserved for a later ceremony. { } this over, the wáqi'a khán (literally, narrator of events) ascends the mimbar, or pulpit, and seats himself on the top, or on a lower step. he proceeds to relate the historical facts, adding many curious stories gathered from the vast heap of traditions which have cast such a halo of glory around the martyr. sometimes he becomes very excited, and the audience is stirred up to great enthusiasm. the following account is that of an eye-witness who passed an evening in an 'Áshúr khána. "the first wáqi'a khán was a persian who delivered a very eloquent oration in his own tongue. it was calm but effective. he was succeeded by an eloquent old gentleman who spoke rapidly in hindustani at the top of his voice, then rose up, ran down the steps, and casting off his turban rushed in and out amongst the audience, vociferating vigorously all the while. the effect was marvellous, old and venerable men wept like little children, whilst from the adjoining zanána was heard the bitter weeping of the women who, though not exposed to view, could hear all that was said. after a while, the assembly rose and formed two lines facing each other. a boy then chanted a few words and the whole assembly began, slowly at first, to sway their bodies to and fro, calling out 'alí! 'alí! husain! husain! each one then began to beat his breast vigorously. the excitement at last became intense and the men in the rows looked like so many wild creatures." in some cases blood has been known to flow from the breast, so severe is the self-inflicted beating. this continues till they are well-nigh exhausted, when the whole company goes away to repeat the performance over again in some other 'Áshúr khána. a devout person will visit several each evening. during the day some pious shía'hs recite the qurán. during this season women who can read, visit the zanánas and chant marsiyas to the ladies of the harem, by whom this season of muharram is celebrated with great earnestness. for the first six days, nothing else takes place, but on the { } seventh day the 'alam-i-qásím is taken out in public procession. this is to represent the marriage of qásím, the son of hasan, to the favourite daughter of husain, just before the death of the latter. the event is now commemorated by the bearing of qásím's standard in procession. it is usually borne by a man on horseback. if it is carried by a man on foot, he reels about like a drunken man to show his grief. the crowd shout out: bridegroom! bridegroom! after perambulating the principal thoroughfares, the people bring the standard back to its own 'Áshúr khána. as the standard which represents qásím is supposed to be a martyr, it is then laid down, covered over, and treated as a corpse. lamentation is made over it as for one dead. sherbet is then produced, and a fátiha is said, after which the standard is again set up in its own place. the neza, a lance or spear, with a lime on the top, to recall to remembrance the fact that yezíd caused husain's head to be thus carried about, is taken in procession from one place to another. the na'l sáhib (literally, mr. horse-shoe) is the representation of a horse shoe, and is meant to remind the people of the swift horse of husain. vows are frequently made to this standard. thus a woman may say to it: "should i through your favour be blessed with offspring, i shall make it run in your procession." if she attains her wish, the child when seven or eight years old has a small parasol placed in its hand and is made to run after the na'l sáhib. if two 'alams, or standards, meet, they embrace each other, that is they are made to touch. fátiha is then said and the respective processions pass on their way. the buráq, supposed to be a fac-simile of the horse sent by gabriel for muhammad to make the night ascent to heaven (ante. p. ) is also taken out. on the evening before the tenth day, which according to the muslim mode of computing time is the tenth night, the whole of the tázías and the 'alams are taken out in { } procession. it is a scene of great confusion, for men and boys disguised in all sorts of quaint devices run about. it is the carnival of the musalmán year. on the following day, the 'Áshúrá, they kindle the fires in the alláwas, and say a fátiha in each 'Áshúr khána. after this the 'alams and the tázías are taken away to a large open spot near water, which represents the plain of karbalá. another fátiha is said, the ornaments and decorations are taken off the tázías, the frameworks of which are then cast into the water.[ ] sometimes they are reserved for use the following year. the water reminds the people of the parching thirst which husain felt before his death. only the 'alams, not the buráqs nor the na'l sáhibs, are immersed. the people then burn incense, recite the marsiyas, return home and say fátiha over the 'alams, buráqs, &c. on the evening of the th, they sit up all night reading the qurán, reciting marsiyas and verses in the praise of husain. on the th day, a quantity of food is cooked which, when a fátiha has been said over it, is distributed to the poor. some very pious shía'hs celebrate the fortieth day after the first of muharram. it is on this day, according to some accounts, that the head and body of husain were reunited. it is known as the 'Íd-i-sar wa tan (head and body feast). the sunnís do not, except as spectators, take any part in the muharram ceremonies. indeed, where the ruling power is not strong, there is often much ill-feeling aroused by the enthusiasm excited for all that concerns 'alí and his family. the three first khalífs are often well abused, and that no sunní can bear with patience. the breach between the sunní and the shía'h is very wide, and the annual recurrence of the muharram feast tends to keep alive the distinction. { } the tenth day--the 'Áshúrá is, however, a sunnat feast and, as such, is observed by all sunnís. it is considered to be a most excellent day, for on it god is said to have created adam and eve, his throne, heaven, hell, the seat of judgment, the tablet of decree, the pen, fate, life and death. the sunnís about three o'clock in the afternoon of this day prepare sherbet and khichrí--a dish composed of boiled rice and pulse mixed with clarified butter and spices. a fátiha in the name of husain and of those who were martyred with him is then said. the food is disposed of as usual in such cases. a namáz of some nafl rak'ats is said and sometimes a du'á is added. on this day also they go to the burial grounds and place flowers on, and say fátiha over the graves of their friends. indian musalmáns have copied in their feast many hindu ceremonies. the procession of the tázías, and the casting of them into the water is very similar to the procession at the hindu feast of the durga puja,[ ] when on the tenth day the hindus cast the idol durga, the wife of siva, into the ganges. the oblations offered at different shrines are similar to those offered by the hindus, such as rice, clarified butter and flowers. the muhammadan form of worship was too simple for a country, in which an allegorical and idolatrous religion predominated, addressing itself to the senses and the imaginations rather than to the understanding and the heart; consequently the musalmán festivals have borrowed from it a variety of pagan rites, and a pompous and splendid ceremonial. while this has done much to add to the superstition of the musalmáns in india, it has no doubt softened their intolerant spirit. though the sunnís consider the shía'h observances as impious, they look on with the contempt of indifference. the fact that the british government punishes all who break { } the peace may have something to do with this. still the sunní and the shía'h in india live on much better terms, and have more respect for each other than the turk has for the persian, or the persian for the turk. some musalmán poets, indeed, are both sunnís and shía'hs. thus wálí, begins his poem with a brief encomium on the four first khalífs, and then bestows an eulogy on 'alí and his sons hasan and husain whom he calls "imáms of the world." the following is a prayer used in a fátiha for 'alí:-- i pray, "that god may deign for the sake of that pure soul, the ornament of the book of nature, the first of mortals after the prophet, the star of mortals, the most precious jewel of the jewel-box of virtue, the lord of the high and the low, he who occupies a distinguished place on the bridge of eternity, the mihráb[ ] of the faith, he who sits upon the throne of the palace of the law, the ship of the sea of religion, the sun of the firmament of glory, the power of the arm of the prophet, he who has merited access to the tabernacle of the divine unity, the most profound of all religious people, the resplendent brightness of the marvels of god, the father of victory, the imám of the gate of heaven, the cup-bearer of the water of kausar, he who has merited the praise of muhammad, he who is the best of men, the holy martyr, the chief of believers, the imám of the faithful, 'alí, son of abu tálib, 'alí the victorious lion of the most high. i pray that god for the sake of this holy khalíf may favourably hear the vows which i offer to him." the following prayer occurs in a fátiha said for hasan and husain:-- i pray, "that the eternal god may deign to accept the vows which i make for the repose of the glorious souls of the two brave imáms, the martyrs well-beloved by god, the innocent victims of wickedness, the blessed abu muhammad al-hasan and abu 'abd-alláh al-husain, and for the twelve imáms, and the fourteen[ ] pure ones, and for the seventy-two martyrs of the plain of karbalá." { } . akhir-i-chÁr shamba.--this feast is held on the last wednesday of the month safar. it is kept in commemoration of the fact, that, as on this day, the prophet experienced some mitigation of the disorder which in the next month terminated his life. sweet cakes are prepared, and fátihas in the name of the prophet are said over them; but the most extraordinary custom is the drinking of the seven saláms. a plantain, or a mango tree leaf, or a piece of paper is taken to a mullá, or a religious teacher, who writes seven short sentences from the qurán upon it. the writing whilst still wet is washed off, and the mixture drunk by the person for whom it was written. peace and happiness are thus ensured for the future. the seven saláms are: ( ) "peace! shall be the word on the part of a merciful lord." (súra xxxvi. ). ( ) "peace be on noah throughout the worlds." (súra xxxvii. ). ( ) "peace be on abraham." (súra xxxvii. ). ( ) "peace be on moses and aaron." (súra xxxvii. ). ( ) "peace be on elias." (súra xxxvii. ). ( ) "peace be on you, ye have been good; enter into paradise." (súra xxxix. ). ( ) "it is peace till the breaking of the morn." (súra xcvii. ). the shía'hs consider this an unlucky day. they call it "chár shamba-i-súrí."--the "wednesday of the trumpet;" that is, of the trumpet of the last day. the sunnís, on the other hand, rejoice in the day, and esteem it an excellent and auspicious season. . bÁrÁ wafÁt.--this feast is held on the twelfth day of the month rabí'-ul-awwal. the name is derived from bárá, twelve and wafát, death, because many suppose that on this day the prophet died. according to a well-known muslim writer "the terrific intelligence, circulating throughout the world, produced universal consternation, and all hastened to offer to god their vows and prayers for the repose of the prophet's soul." others, however, maintain that he died on the second of the month and, as there is some doubt on the subject, many persons make a fátiha { } every day, from the first to the twelfth of the month inclusive. those who keep the feast as bárá wafát observe the ceremony called sandal on the previous evening, and the 'urs, that is, the prayers and the oblations, on the twelfth. the sandal consists in making a perfumed embrocation from sandal wood. this is then placed into a vessel and carried in procession to the 'Íd-gáh,[ ] or to the place where fátiha will be said. it is then distributed to the people. it is a sort of public notice on the eve of a feast day, or of a saint's day, that on the morrow the usual prayers and offerings will be made in such and such a place. on the morning of the twelfth, the qurán is read in the mosque, or in private houses: then food is cooked and fátihas are said. some persons possess a qadam-i-rasúl, or footstep of the prophet. this is a stone with the impression of a footstep on it. it is a sacred thing and on this day the place in which it is kept is elegantly decorated. when a company has assembled, some persons appointed for the purpose, repeat the story of the birth, miracles and death of the prophet. portions of the qurán are read and the darúd is said.[ ] in madras, and in some other parts, it is more customary to keep this day, not as the anniversary of the death of the prophet, but as the "'jashn-i-milád-i-sharíf," the "feast of the noble birth." the practical duties are the same. instead of the qadam-i-rasúl, the Ásár-i-sharíf is exhibited. this is supposed to be a real portion of the hair of the prophet's beard and moustache. it is said to possess { } the miraculous property of growing again when a portion is broken off. on this day it is put into rose water which those present then drink and rub on their eyes. great virtue is attached to this proceeding. in the Ásár khána, or house in which this hair is kept fátihas, darúds, &c., are repeated. the observance of this festival is neither wájib nor sunnat, but mustahab. it is generally kept, and it is a very rare thing to meet a person who does not believe in the miraculous growth of the Ásár-i-sharíf. . shab barÁt.--this feast, the name of which signifies the "night of the record," is held on the fourteenth day of the month sh'abán. the 'arfa, or vigil is kept on the preceding day.[ ] it is commonly but erroneously called shab-i-barát. the word barát signifies a book or record. it is said that god on this night registers in the barát all the actions men are to perform during the ensuing year. on the thirteenth day food is prepared for the poor and a fátiha for the benefit of deceased ancestors and relatives is said over it. when all in the house are assembled, the súrat-ul-fátiha is read once, the súrat-ul-iklás ( ) three times, the Áyat-ul-kursí once, and then the darúd. after this a prayer is offered, in which god is asked to transfer the reward of this service, and of the charity shown in the gift of food to the poor, to the souls of deceased relatives and friends of this family. this petition is offered in the name of the prophet. the men then go to the mosque and after the namáz-i-'ishá they repeat a number of nafl rak'ats. this over, the súrat-ul-yá sín is read three times. it must be done with the niyyat, intention. the first time, the intention is that the worshipper may have a long life; the second time, that his means of subsistence may be increased; the third time, that he may be protected from evil. { } the súra-i-dukhán ( ) is then read with the same intentions. any other portions may then be read. after this those present rise, and go to the various cemeteries. on the way they purchase flowers which are afterwards strewn on the graves. a fátiha is then said. if the worshipper has no relatives or friends buried there, prayer is offered for the benefit of the arwáh-i-qubúr, the souls of those there buried. the very pious spend the whole night in going from one cemetery to another. these observances are neither farz, nor sunnat, but nawáfil, (sing. nafl), works of supererogation. still though they are bid'at, yet they are esteemed good and so are called bid'at-i-hasana, or "excellent innovation." the general merry-making of the fourteenth day has no religious signification. the night of the fifteenth is the guy fawkes night of islám. large sums of money are spent on fireworks, of which more are let off on this feast than at any other. the following prayer occurs in the fátiha: "o our god, by the merits of the apostleship of muhammad, grant that the lamps which are lit up on this holy night may be for the dead a pledge of the light eternal, which we pray thee to shed on them. o god, admit them, we beseech thee, unto the abode of eternal felicity." . ramazÁn and 'Íd-ul-fitr--it is one of the five pillars of the practical religious duties to fast during the thirty days of the month ramazán. the subject of fasting has been fully treated of in the preceding chapter; and so it is only necessary now to describe the other ceremonies connected with the religious observance of this month. from the earliest days of islám this month has been held in the greatest esteem by muslims, for it was in this month that muhammad used to retire for meditation, year after year, to the cave of hira, situated on a low hill some few miles distant from mecca. in the second year of the hijra, or flight from mecca, it was ordained that the month of ramazán should be kept as a fast. "as to the month { } ramazán, in which the qurán was sent down to be man's guidance, and an explanation of that guidance, and of that illumination, as soon as any one of you observeth the moon, let him set about the fast." (súra ii. ). the muslims had hitherto observed as the principal fast the 'ashúrá, the tenth of muharram. this fast was probably connected with the jewish fast on the tenth day of the seventh month. "also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, &c." (leviticus xxiii. ). now, when muhammad first went to madína he had great hopes of winning over the jews to his side; but when he failed he took every opportunity of making islám differ as much as possible from judaism. this was the reason why the qibla was changed (ante. p. ), and that in the second year of his residence at madína the fast of ramazán was appointed. the reasons assigned by learned muslims for the selection of this month, are that in ramazán god gave to the previous prophets the revelations connected with their names, and that in this month the qurán was sent down from the secret tablet in the seventh heaven to the first or lowest, and that on the laylut-ul-qadr, or 'night of power' the first revelation was made to muhammad. "verily we have caused it (qurán) to descend on the 'night of power.' and who shall teach thee what the night of power is? the night of power excelleth a thousand nights." (súra xcvii. - ). to illustrate the sacredness of this month the prophet used to say that in it "the gates of paradise are open, and the gates of hell are shut, and the devils are chained by the leg." "only those who observe it will be allowed to enter by the gate of heaven called rayyán." those who keep the fast "will be pardoned all their past venial sins."[ ] in making the fast one for the day, and none for the night, { } muhammad doubtless had reference to the verse: "god wisheth you ease, but wisheth not your discomfort." (súra ii. ). the special ceremonies connected with the ramazán are the taráwíh namáz and 'itikáf (retirement). the taráwíh prayers have been described already (p. ). each night in ramazán one-thirtieth part (sípára) of the qurán is recited in the mosque. the duty of performing the 'itikáf is a sunnat-ul-maukadda, a very strict duty. the mu'takif, one who makes 'itikáf, must remain apart in a mosque used for public services, and there meditate. bukhárí says that the prophet made 'itikáf the last ten days of each ramazán, and that the practice was continued by his wives after his death. usually a man should thus sit and meditate one of the days between the twentieth and the thirtieth of ramazán. if his meditation is disturbed by any illegal interruption, another day should be devoted to it; but imám muhammad says: "the least legal time is one hour." some theologians hold that 'itikáf is farz-i-kifáya, that is, if one person of a community does it the obligation does not rest on the others. if, however, a person makes a vow in ramazán, then 'itikáf is considered wájib. 'itikáf can be performed at any time other than the last ten days of ramazán, but then it is only mustahab, a work of supererogation. all the sects except the sháfa'ítes hold that the mu'takif must fast. he should also make the nizzat, or intention, of performing what he is about to do. the mu'takif must not go out of the mosque except for obviously necessary purposes, and for making the legal wazú and ghusl (purifications). at night he may eat, drink and sleep in the mosque: acts quite unlawful at other times. he may speak with others on religious matters, and if a man of business, he may give orders with regard to the purchase and sale of merchandize, but on no account must any goods be brought to him. it is highly meritorious for him to read the qurán in an audible voice. by such an act he becomes { } a man of penetration, whose words are as powerful as a sharp sword.[ ] when the thirty days have passed the fast is broken. this act is called iftár, and the first day on which food is taken is called the 'Íd-ul-fitr--the 'feast of the breaking of the fast.' on that day the sadqa, or alms are given before the namáz is said in the mosque. the sadqa of the 'Íd-ul-fitr is confined to muslims: no other persons receive it. if any one neglects to give these alms before the namáz is said, he will not merit so great a reward as he otherwise would. the reason assigned for this is that, unless they are given early in the day, the poor cannot refresh themselves before coming to the mosque for the namáz. the sadqa are given for the good of one's own soul, for that of young children, slaves male and female--muslim or infidel; but not for the spiritual benefit of one's wife or elder children. in south india, the sadqa consists of a gift of sufficient rice to feed one person. when this has been done the people go to the mosque saying, 'god is great! god is great!' the namáz is like that of a friday, except that only two rak'ats are said, and the khutba which is said after the namáz is sunnat; whereas the friday khutba is said before the farz rak'ats, and is itself of farz obligation. after hearing the sermon, the people disperse, visit each other and thoroughly enjoy themselves. a very usual form of the khutba of the 'Íd-ul-fitr which is preached in arabic is as follows:-- sermon on the 'Íd-ul-fitr. in the name of god, the compassionate, the merciful. "holy is god who has opened the door of mercy for those who fast, and in mercy and kindness has granted them the right of entrance into heaven. god is greater than all. there is no god save him. god is great! god is great! and worthy of praise. it { } is of his grace and favour that he rewards those who keep the fast. he has said: 'i will give in the future world houses and palaces, and many excellent blessings to those who fast. god is great! god is great! holy is he who certainly sent the qurán to our prophet in the month of ramazán, and who sends angels to grant peace to all true believers. god is great! and worthy of all praise. we praise and thank him for the 'Íd-ul-fitr, that great blessing; and we testify that beside him there is no god. he is alone. he has no partner. this witness which we give to his unity will be a cause of our safety here, and finally gain us an entrance to paradise. muhammad (on whom be the mercy and peace of god) and all famous prophets are his slaves. he is the lord of genii and of men. from him comes mercy and peace upon muhammad and his family, so long as the world shall last. god is greater than all. there is none beside him. god is great! god is great! and worthy of all praise. o company of believers, o congregation of muslims, the mercy of the true one is on you. he says that this feast day is a blessing to you, and a curse to the unbelievers. your fasting will not be rewarded, and your prayers will be stayed in their flight to heaven until you have given the sadqa.[ ] o congregation of believers, to give alms is to you a wájib duty. give to the poor some measures of grain or its money equivalent. your duty in ramazán was to say the taráwíh prayers, to make supplication to god, to sit and meditate ('itikáf) and to read the qurán. the religious duties of the first ten days of ramazán gain the mercy of god, those of the second ten merit his pardon; whilst those of the last ten save those who do them from the punishment of hell. god has declared that ramazán is a noble month, for is not one of its nights, the laylut-ul-qadr, better than a thousand months? on that night gabriel and the angels descended from heaven: till the morning breaks it is full of blessing. its eloquent interpreter, and its clearest proof is the qurán, the word of god, most gracious. holy is god who says in the qurán: "this word of god comes down in the month of ramazán." this is a guide for men, a distinguisher between right and wrong. o believers, in such a month be present, obey the order of your god and fast; but let the sick and the travellers substitute some other days on which to fast so that no days be lost, and say: "god is great!" and praise him. god has made the fast easy for you. o believers, god will bless you and us by the grace of the holy qurán. every verse of it is a benefit to us and fills us with wisdom. god is the bestower, the { } holy king, the munificent, the kind, the nourisher, the merciful, the clement."[ ] "the assemblies of the ladies on this 'Íd are marked by all the amusements and indulgences they can possibly invent or enjoy in their secluded state. some receiving, others paying visits in covered conveyances; all doing honour to the day by wearing their best jewellery and splendid dress. the zanána rings with festive songs and loud music, the cheerful meeting of friends, the distribution of presents to dependents, and remembrances to the poor; all is life and joy, cheerful bustle and amusement, on this happy day of 'Íd, when the good lady of the mansion sits in state to receive presents from inferiors and to grant proofs of her favour to others."[ ] . the baqr-'Íd.--this is the most important feast in the whole year. it is also known as the 'Íd-i-qurbán, and as the 'Íd-ul-azhá, commonly called the Íd-uz-zuhá, the feast of sacrifice. in turkey and in egypt it is called bairám. its origin was as follows: a few months after the hijra, or flight from mecca, muhammad, dwelling in madína, observed that the jews kept, on the tenth day of the seventh month, the great fast of the atonement. a tradition records that the prophet asked them why they kept this fast. he was informed that it was a memorial of the deliverance of moses and the children of israel from the hands of pharaoh. "we have a greater right in moses than they," said muhammad, so he fasted with the jews and commanded his followers to fast also. this was at the period of his mission when muhammad was friendly with the jews of madína, who occasionally came to hear him preach. the prophet also occasionally attended the synagogue. then came the change of the qibla from jerusalem to mecca, for the jews were not so ready to change their { } creed as muhammad had at first hoped. in the second year of the hijra, muhammad and his followers did not participate in the jewish fast, for the prophet now instituted the feast of the baqr-'Íd. the idolatrous arabs had been in the habit of making an annual pilgrimage to mecca at this season of the year. the offering of animals in sacrifice formed a part of the concluding ceremony of that pilgrimage. that portion--the sacrifice of animals--muhammad adopted in the feast which now, at madína, he substituted for the jewish fast. this was well calculated to attract the attention of the meccans and to gain the goodwill of the arabs. muhammad could not then make the pilgrimage to mecca, for as yet there was a hostile feeling between the inhabitants of the two cities; but on the tenth day of the month zu'l-hajja, at the very time when the arabs at mecca were engaged in sacrificing victims, muhammad went forth from his house at madína, and assembling his followers instituted the Íd-uz-zuhá or baqr-'Íd. two young kids were brought before him. one he sacrificed and said: "o lord! i sacrifice this for my whole people, all those who bear witness to thy unity and to my mission. o lord! this is for muhammad and for the family of muhammad." great merit is obtained by all who keep this feast. 'Áyesha relates how the prophet once said: "man hath not done anything on the 'Íd-ul-azhá more pleasing to god than spilling blood; for verily the animal sacrificed will come on the day of resurrection with its horns, hair and hoofs, and will make the scale of his good actions very heavy. verily its blood reached the acceptance of god before it falleth upon the ground, therefore be joyful in it." musalmáns say that the patriarch abraham was ordered to sacrifice ishmael, and that he made several ineffectual attempts to cut the throat of his son. ishmael then said to his father: "it is through pity and compassion for me that you allow the knife to miss: blindfold yourself and then sacrifice me." abraham acted upon this advice, { } blindfolded himself, drew his knife, repeated the bismilláh, and, as he thought, cut the throat of his son; but, behold, in the meantime gabriel had substituted a sheep for the lad. this event is commemorated in this feast. on the day before the feast, the arfa, or vigil, is kept. food of various kinds is prepared, over which a fátiha is offered, first, in the name of the prophet; secondly, in the names of deceased relatives, and of others for whom a blessing is desired, or from whom some favor is expected. the food is then sent as a present to friends. on the morning of the feast day, the devout muslims proceed to the 'Íd-gáh or, if there is no 'Íd-gáh, to the principal mosque, repeating on the way the takbír "god is great!" and "there is no other god save the one true god, god is great, praise be to god." at the time of making wazú, the worshipper should say: "o god, make this (_i.e._ the sacrifice i shall offer to-day) an atonement for my sin, and purify my religion and take evil away from me." the service at the 'Íd-gáh, or in the mosque consists of two farz rak'ats, as in the salát-ul-juma (p. ), after the khutba is delivered. it will, however, be seen from the following sermon that it is mustahab to say four more rak'ats. sermon on the 'Íd-uz-zuhÁ. in the name of god, the compassionate, the merciful. alláhu akbar! god is great. there is no god but god. god is great! god is great and worthy of all praise. he is holy. day and night we should praise him. he is without partner, without equal. all praise be to him. holy is he, who makes the rich generous, who provides the sacrifice for the wise. he is great, without an equal. all praise be to him. listen! i testify that there is no god but god. he is alone, without partner. this testimony is as bright as the early dawn, as brilliant as the glorious feast day. muhammad is his servant who delivered his message. on muhammad, and on his family, and on his companions may the peace of god rest. on you who are present, o congregation of muslimín, may the { } mercy of god for ever rest. o servants of god! our first duty is to fear god and to be kind. god has said: "i will be with those who fear me and are kind." know o servants of god! that to rejoice on the feast day is the sign and mark of the pure and good. exalted will be the rank of such in paradise (dár-ul-qarár), especially on the day of resurrection will they obtain dignity and honour. do not on this day foolish acts. it is no time for amusements and negligence. this is the day on which to utter the praises of god. (tasbíh.) read the kalíma, the takbír and the tamhíd. this is a high festival season and the feast of sacrifice. read now the takbír-ut-tashríq. god is great! god is great! there is no god but god! god is great! god is great! all praise be to him! from the morning of the 'arfa, after every farz rak'at it is good (mustahab) for a person to repeat the takbír-ut-tashríq. the woman before whom is a man as imám, and the traveller whose imám is a permanent resident (muqím) should also repeat this takbír. it should be said at each namáz until the salát-ul-'asr of the feast day ( th). some, however, say that it should be recited every day till the afternoon ('asr) of the thirteenth day, as these are the days of the tashríq (p. ).[ ] if the imám forgets to recite, let not the worshipper forget. know, o believers, that every free man who is a sáhib-i-nisáb (_i.e._ worth rs. ) should offer sacrifice on this day, provided that this sum is exclusive of his horse, his clothes, his tools, and his household goods and slaves. it is wájib for every one to offer sacrifice for himself, but it is not a wájib order that he should do it for his children.[ ] a goat, a ram or a cow should be offered in sacrifice for every seven persons. the victim must not be one-eyed, blind, lame or very thin. if you sacrifice a fat animal it will serve you well, and carry you across the sirát. o believers, thus said the prophet, on whom be the mercy and peace of god, "sacrifice the victim with your own hands, this was the sunnat of ibráhím, on whom be peace." in the kitáb-uz-zád-ut-taqwá, it is said that on the 'Íd-ul-fitr and the 'Íd-uz-zuhá, four nafl rak'ats should be said after the farz namáz { } of the 'Íd. in the first rak'at after the súrat-ul-fátiha recite the súrat-ul-a'lá (súra lxxvii); in the second, the súrat-ush-shams (súra xci); in the third, the súrat-uz-zuhá (súra xciii); in the fourth, the súrat-ul-ikhlás (cxii). o believers, if ye do so, god will pardon the sins of fifty years which are past and of fifty years to come. the reading of these súras are equal as an act of merit to the reading of all the books god has sent by his prophets. may god include us amongst those who are accepted by him, who act according to the law, whose desire will be granted at the last day. to all such there will be no fear in the day of resurrection; no sorrow in the examination at the day of judgment. the best of all books is the qurán. o believers! may god give to us, and to you a blessing for ever by the grace of the noble qurán. may its verses be our guide, and may its wise mention of god direct us aright. i desire that god may pardon all believers, male and female, the muslimín and the muslimát. o believers, also seek for pardon. truly god is the forgiver, the merciful, the eternal king, the compassionate, the clement. o believers, the khutba is over. let all desire that on muhammad mustafá the mercy and peace of god may rest. the worshippers then return to their respective homes and offer up the sacrifice,[ ] for it is a wájib order that every muslim should keep this feast, and sacrifice an animal for himself. he need not fear though he has to incur debt for the purchase of an animal, for it is said that god will in some way help him to pay the debt. if a camel is sacrificed, it should be one not less than five years of age, if a cow or sheep it should at least be in its second year, though the third year is better; if a goat it must not be less than six months old. all of these animals must be without a blemish, or defect of any kind. it is a sunnat order that the head of the household should himself slay the victim. if, however, from any cause, he cannot do so, he may call in a butcher; but in that case he must place his hand upon that of the butcher when the operation is performed. if the { } victim is a camel, it must be placed with the head towards mecca. its front legs being bandaged together the sacrificer must stand on the right hand side of the victim, and plunge the knife into its throat with such force that the animal may fall at once. any other mode of slaying it is unlawful. other animals must be slain in the same way. just before slaying the victim the following verse of the qurán should be repeated: "say! my prayers, and my worship, and my life and my death are unto god, the lord of the worlds. he hath no associate. this am i commanded, and i am the first of the muslims." (súra vi. ). the operator also adds: "o god, from thee, and to thee (i do this), in the name of god, god is great!" then having slain the victim he says: "o god accept this for me." the first meal taken should be prepared from the flesh of the animal just slaughtered, after which the members of the family, the neighbours, and the poor should receive some portions. it is considered highly meritorious to sacrifice one animal for each member of the family; but as that would involve an expenditure few could bear, it is allowable to sacrifice one victim for the household. in extreme cases men may combine together and make one sacrifice do for the whole, but the number of persons so combining must not exceed seventy. some authorities limit the number to seven. this feast is strictly observed by all muslims wherever they may be. the baqr-'Íd and the 'Íd-ul-fitr constitute the 'Ídain, the two great feasts of islám. a country in which musalmáns could not observe them both would at once become dár-ul-harb, or house of enmity, in which it would be the bounden duty of every muslim to join in a jíhád, against the infidel rulers of the land. this completes the principal feasts of the muslim year. among other practices borrowed from the hindus must be placed the pilgrimage made by indian musalmáns to the { } shrines of saints, the ceremonies connected with them and the festivals instituted in their honour. properly speaking, the sunnís have but two festivals--the baqr-'Íd and the 'Íd-ul-fitr, but many others are now observed. of these i have described several. it only remains to notice a few of the festival days which are peculiar to india. the title of pír given to a musalmán devotee is equivalent to the term guru amongst the hindus. a man who seeks to be a 'religious' takes a pír as a spiritual guide. "follow," says the poet walí, "the footsteps of thy pír, like a shadow." after death these pírs are venerated as walís or saints. the pírs when alive, are frequently resorted to for a ta'wíz, or charm, and the aid of their prayers is often invoked. the sepulchre of a walí is called a dargáh, shrine; mazár, place of pilgrimage; rauza, garden. the professional reciter of the qurán, and the namáz at such places is called a rauza khán. as a rule, processions are made to the shrines, and flowers, sweetmeats and food over which a fátiha has been said are offered. usually the fátiha is _for_ the saint, not _to_ the saint. it is considered a very meritorious act to give land for the erection of such shrines and to endow them. an account of many of these saints is given in the bara masa by jawán and the Áráyish-i-mahfil by afsos. the following selection will give an idea of the customs prevalent:-- . festival of madÁr.--sayyid badr-ud-dín kutb-ul-madár is said to have descended from the imám husain. he was born at aleppo about a.d. , and received from muhammad permission to "hold his breath" (habs-i-dam). thus he was able to live to a good old age. he is said to have had , sons, and to have died when upwards of years old. more rational people explain the number of his sons by saying they were his spiritual children. the length of his life is explained by saying that as each man has to make a certain number of inspirations, the less frequently he does it the longer he will live. jawán in his account of { } the festival states: "the tomb of madár is at makanpúr, a place about forty miles from cawnpore." on the seventeenth of the month jamádí-ul-awwal an immense crowd fills the village which is illuminated at night. fires are lighted, around which fakírs dance, and through which they leap calling out "dam madár, dam madár," (breath of madár.) an order of fakírs, called madária, look to this saint as their patron. in distant places where this feast is kept they set up an alam, or standard in honour of the saint, and perform ceremonies common to such days. the nights are spent in celebrating his praises, &c. . festival of mu'Ín-ud-dÍn chistÍ.[ ]--the tomb of this saint is in ajmír. he was a syed descended from husain, the son of 'alí, and was born in sajistán about the year a.h. his father died when he was about fifteen years old. soon after this he fell in with a famous fakír, ibráhím qandúzí, through whose influence he began to seek the taríqat, or mystical road to the knowledge of god. when he was twenty years of age he received further instruction from the famous 'abd-ul-qádir jílání. after the conquest of hindustan by shaháb-ud-dín ghorí, mu'ín-ud-dín retired to ajmír, where he died in the odour of sanctity a.h. pilgrimages to this tomb have been and are very popular. emperors and people vied with each other in doing honour to the memory of this saint. even akbar, sceptic though he was as regards orthodox islám, made a pilgrimage to this shrine, and offered vows that he might have a son who would live to manhood. hindus also visit this tomb and presents from rich men of this class are not unusual. . festival of sÁlÁr mas'Úd ghÁzÍ.--there is some doubt as to the nationality of this saint. some say he was a husainí syed, others that he was a pathán, and a martyr. his tomb is situated in oude. afsos thus describes the { } pilgrimage. "once a year great crowds of people gather from all parts. they carry red lances, and beat thousands of tambourines. the 'urs is held on the first sunday of the month jíth (may-june). the people believe that this was his wedding day, because it is said that he had on wedding garments when he was killed. this belief once led a certain oilman, a resident of radúlí, to send a bedstead, chair, and other marriage presents to the shrine at this time. the custom is still kept up by the descendants of the oilman. the common people fasten ropes to the branches of the trees in the neighbourhood, and swing, some by the hands and some by the heels, and assume various disguises. they thus hope to obtain what they desire." the hindus venerate this saint very highly. the musalmáns look upon him as a most sacred person, for he slew many idolatrous hindus, and so earned the title of ghází, the warrior: the hindus consider that it was only by the power of god that he could do so many acts of prowess. . festival of the bÍra or of khÁja khizr.--of this saint, m. garcin de tassy says: "khája khizr is a personage respecting whom the opinions of orientals vary. many consider him the same as phineas, the grandson of aaron; others that he is the prophet elias; and lastly, the turks confound him with st. george. in order to reconcile these conflicting opinions, some allege that the same soul has animated three different persons. whatever be the fact, khizr, according to the musalmáns, discovered the source of the water of life of which he is the guardian. he is believed to be very clever in divination, and to be the patron of waters. as such a festival is held in his honour." jawán describes it thus: "in the month of bhádún (august-september) all whose wishes have been fulfilled, make it a point of duty to set afloat the boat (náú) in honour of khája khizr, and to make according to their means offerings of milk and bruised grain to the holy personage. on every friday, and in some places on every thursday, in the month { } in question, the devotees having prepared the bíra carry it at night to the bank of the river, with many ceremonies. there great and small, having lighted lamps and tapers, make their respective oblations, whilst a number of swimmers together jointly push the bíra into the middle of the river." sometimes a number of small bíras, made of clay, are also launched, and as each carries a lamp the general effect is striking. it is said that the musalmán natives of the maldive islands annually launch a small vessel laden with perfumes, gum, and odoriferous flowers, and leave it to the mercy of the winds and waves as an offering to the god of the sea. there can be no doubt that this god of the sea is khizr, the patron of the waters. the following prayer is recited in the fátiha of khizr: "to obtain purity of heart, and the benediction of him who hears the vows of mortals, and who alone can keep from them all evils, i rest upon the merits of khája khizr, the great prophet elias." . the feast of pÍr dastgÍr sÁhib.--this is held on the eleventh day of the month of rabí'-us-sání. the sunnis hold this saint in great reverence. he has no less than ninety-nine names. his tomb is at baghdád. on the tenth of the month the ceremony called sandal (p. ) is performed, followed on the next day by the 'urs, when the maulad, or the account of the circumstances connected with the birth of the saint is read; qasá,id, or elegiac poems are recited; the darúd is repeated and fátihas are said. the qurán is also read through. vows are frequently made to this saint and in time of any special visitation, such as cholera, a flag is carried about in honour of this pír by some of his devotees to whom presents of food, &c, are offered. fátiha is then said over them. he is said to appear to his followers during their sleep and to give them directions. ja'far sharíf, the compiler of the qánún-i-islám speaking, on this point relates his own experience thus: "the author speaks from personal experience, for at the time of need, when he { } was oppressed in mind concerning things which he desired, he used to repeat constantly the ninety-nine names of the pír and vow before the holy god, imploring his assistance by the soul of dastgír; and through the mercy of the almighty, his excellency ghaus-ul-a'zam (dastgír) presented himself in his sleep, and relieved him of his perplexities and vouchsafed his behests." syed ahmad kabír rafáí, the founder of the rafái darwíshes was a nephew of this saint. . festival of qÁdir walÍ sÁhib.--this is the great saint of southern india. the 'urs is celebrated on the tenth day of jamádí-us-sání. the shrine is at nagore, a town situated four miles north of negapatam. the sandal and other ceremonies are similar to those described already. he is the patron saint of sailors, who in times of difficulty vow that, if they reach the shore in safety, they will offer a fátiha in the name of qádir walí. the common people have a profound faith in the power of the saint to work miracles. the story of the following one is frequently related: "a vessel springing a leak was about to founder, when the captain made a vow that should qádir walí stop the leak, he would offer in his name the value of the cargo. at that time the saint was being shaved, but being miraculously acquainted with the perilous position of the captain he cast away the looking-glass which he held in his hand. this glass attached itself to the hole in the bottom of the ship which then came safely to land. the captain, in due course, presented his offering to the saint who requested him to return the glass to the barber. the captain was astonished at this request and enquired what glass was meant. he was then directed to look at the bottom of his ship. he did so, and discovered how the saint had saved the ship." the festival affords a curious illustration of the way in which hindu influences have acted on islám, and how even hindus pay regard to muslim saints. qádir walí is said to { } have been a fakír who lived on the charity of both hindus and musalmáns. indeed both parties claim him as belonging to their respective religions, which may be accounted for by the fact that in his preaching to mixed audiences he suited his addresses to both classes of his hearers. after his death a small mosque was erected on or near his tomb. the fame of the walí gradually grew, and a hindu rajah made a vow that if he were blessed with the birth of a son, he would enlarge and beautify the mosque. his wish was fulfilled, and the present elegant structure is the result. so famous has the shrine of the saint now become that the musalmáns there say: "first mecca, then nagore." the same reason which induced the hindu rajah to make a votive offering years ago, still influences large numbers of people. on thursday evenings, the commencement of the muhammadan sabbath, many hindu women resort to the shrine of the saint. on the closing night of the annual feast, tábúts are taken in procession from negapatam, and rich presents are sent from the tanjore palace to the nagore mosque. thus is the hindu connection still kept up with the festival of this musalmán saint. there are many other walís and pírs to whose tombs pilgrimages are made, and in memory of whom many superstitious observances are still kept up; but all such pilgrimages to a dargáh (shrine) are no necessary part of islám. in all parts of the country there are the shrines of saints who have a local reputation and whose annual festivals are more or less observed. still it is not necessary for me to give a further account of these. this brings me to the close of my subject. in the preceding chapters, i have endeavoured to set forth the main features of the faith of islám, and the religious duties it enjoins. i might now go on to show its relation to judaism and christianity, the elements it has drawn from them, and the distortions it has made in the borrowing, as well as the protest it raised against much that was { } corrupt in the christianity with which it came in contact. i might also enlarge upon its moral and social effects, and the character it produces in the individual and the state. but these subjects would lead me far beyond my present scope. i prefer to content myself with giving a representation of the faith of islám from its own authorities, and with leaving my readers to make comparisons and draw inferences for themselves. the end. { } * * * * * index of technical terms. a. aiyám-i-bíz, aiyám-ut-tashríq, 'alam, al-a'ráf, al-barzakh, al-mahdí, akhir-chár shambah, 'amm, amr-i-takwíti, anbiya-ulul-'azm, Ásár-i-sharíf, asháb, 'Áshúrá, 'Áshúr khána, asmá-i-husná, attahíyát, auliya, Áyat, Áyat-ul-kursí, azád, azán, b. bárá wafát, baqáb-i-qausain, baqr-'íd, bid'at, buráq, d. dá,írí, dalálat, dalíl-i-qata'í, dalíl-i-zani, darwíshes, dargáh, du'á, f. faná, farú', farz, farz-í-'ain, farz-i-kifáya, fatrah, fitrat, fuqihá, g. ghair-i-mahdí, ghusl, gunáh-i-kabíra, gunáh-i-saghíra, { } h. hadís-i-ahád, hadís-i-hasan, hadís-i-mua'llaq, hadís-i-mursal, hadís-i-mutawátír, hadís-i-sahíh, hadís-i-z'aíf, hadd, háfiz, haft sifát, hajj, hajr-ul-aswad, hál, haqíqat, , harám, hárút, hasal khazaf, i. ibádhiyah, ibárat, iblís, 'Íd-gáh, 'Íd-ul-fitr, iftár, ihlál, ihrám, ijmá', ijmá'-i-ummat, ijtihád, , , ijtihád fi'l-masá,íl, ijtihád fi'l-mazhab, ijtihád fi'l-sharí', ilhám, ilká, 'ilm-i-usúl, imám, imám abu hanífa, imám ibn málik, imám as-sháfa'í, imám ibn hanbal, imámat, imám bára, imán-i-mufassal, imán-i-mujmal, istidlál, ishárat, ishrák fi'l-'ibádat, ishrák fi'l-adab, isnád, 'itikáf, iqámat, iqtizá, i'tibár-ul-amsál, j. jabríans, jahannum, jámí'-i-tirmizí, jamrat-ul-akahah, jannat, jashn-i-milád-i-sharíf, jinn, juz, k. k'aba, kalám, { } kalima, , karámians, kasb, kausar, kináyah, kirám-ul-kátibín, kitmán, khafí, khárigites, kháss, kharq-i-'ádat, khulafá-i-ráshidín, khutba, l. labbaik, lahad, lailat-ul-qadr, m. mahmúdiah, majáz, majzúb, maukadda', makrúh, mansúkh, maqám-i-mahmúd, marsiya, márút, mihráb, mimbar, míqát, mízán, mua'qqibát, muawwal, mu,azzin, mubáh, mufassir, , mufsid, muhaddis, mujassimians, mu'jizát, mujmal, mujtahid, mukham, munkir, murshid, mutashábih, musallí, mushábihites, mus-haf, muharram, muskhil, mustahab, mu'takif, mustarik, muta'h, mutazilites, n. nabí, nafkhatain-i-súr, nafl, nakír, namáz, nass, násikh, nisáb, niyyat, núr-i-muhammadí, { } q. qadam-i-rasúl, qadríans, qazá, qíám, qíás, , qirá,at, qárí, r. rak'at, ramazán, ramí-ul-jamár, rasúl, rauza khán, roza, roza-i-nazr, roza-i-kafára, rúh-ul-Ámín, rukú', rúz-i-tarwiáh, s. sadqa, sahá,íf-i-a'mál, sahíh-i-bukhárí, sahíh-i-muslim, s'ai, salát, salát-ul-'asr, salát-ul-fajr, salát-ul-'ishá, salát-ul-ishráq, salát-ul-istisqá, salát-ul-istikhára, salát-ul-janáza, salát-ul-juma', salát-ul-khauf, salát-ul-khusúf, salát-ul-kusúf, salát-ul-maghrib, salát-ul-musáfir, salát-ut-taráwíh, salát-ul-tahajjud, salát-uz-zuhá, salát-uz-zuhr, sálik, saríh, shafá'at-i-ba-izn, shafá'at-i-muhabbat, shafá'at-i-wajahat, shirk, shirk-ul-'Ádat, shirk-ul-ibádat, shirk-ul-'ilm, shirk-ut-tasarruf, sifát-i-salbiah, sifát-i-sabútiah, sihah-sittah, sípára, sirát, sufíism, - sunan-i-abu dáúd, sunan-i-nasáí, sunan-i-májah, sunnat, súra, t. ta'awwuz, { } taba-i-tábi'ín, tábi'ín, tábút, tahárat, tahríf, takbír, takía, talbíyah, talqín, tasbíh, tashahhud, tasmía', tasmíyah, tatáír-i-sahá,íf, tauhíd, tauqífi, tawáf, tawáf-ul-widá', tayammum, tázíah, u. usúl, 'umráh, w. wahhábís, wahí, wajd, wájib, wájib-ul-wajúd, wáqi'a khán, wazú, witr, z. zakát, - záhir, ziárat, * * * * * notes [ ] there is an excellent one by neil b. e. baillie. the question of jihád is fully discussed in dr. hunter's _our indian musalmáns_. [ ] "let none touch it but the purified." (súra lvi. .) [ ] "it was certainly an admirable and politic contrivance of his to bring down the whole korán at once to the lowest heaven only, and not to the earth, as a bungling prophet would have done; for if the whole had been published at once, innumerable objections might have been made, which it would have been very hard, if not impossible for him to solve; but as he pretended to receive it by parcels, as god saw proper that they should be published for the conversion and instruction of the people, he had a sure way to answer all emergencies, and to extricate himself with honour from any difficulty which might occur." (sale's preliminary discourse, section iii.) [ ] literary remains of emmanuel deutsch, p. . [ ] prolégomènes d'ibn khaldoun, vol. i. p. . [ ] "the grandeur of the qurán consists, its contents apart, in its diction. we cannot explain the peculiarly dignified, impressive, sonorous nature of semitic sound and parlance; its sesquipedalia verba with their crowd of affixes and prefixes, each of them affirming its own position, whilst consciously bearing upon and influencing the central root--which they envelope like a garment of many folds, or as chosen courtiers move around the anointed person of the king." literary remains of emmanuel deutsch, p. . [ ] prolégomènes d'ibn khaldoun vol. i. p. . [ ] those who were in constant intercourse with the prophet are called asháb (companions); their disciples are named tábi'ín (followers); their disciples are known as taba-i-tábi'ín (followers of the followers)." [ ] "thus, after the usual distribution of the spoils taken on the field of cadesia (a.h. ) the residue was divided among those who knew most of the corán." muir, vol. i. p. . [ ] muavia. [ ] the twelve imáms. [ ] al-mahdí is still supposed to be alive. [ ] these are called ( ) sunnat-i-fi'lí; that which muhammad himself did. ( ) sunnat-i-qaulí, that which he said should be practised. ( ) sunnat-i-taqrírí, that which was done in his presence and which he did not forbid. [ ] risála-i-berkeví. [ ] the great wahhábí preacher muhammad ismá'íl, of whom some account will be given later on, says in the takwiat-ul-imán:--"the best of all ways is to have for principles the words (holy writings) of god and _of his apostle_; to hold them alone as precedents, and not to allow our own opinion to be exercised." [ ] prolégomènes d'ibn khaldoun vol. i. p. . [ ] takmíl-ul-imán, p. . [ ] mudárij-un-nabuwat, p. . [ ] "les docteurs de la loi sont unaniment d'accord sur l'obligation de conformer ses actions à ce qui est indiqué dans les traditions attribuées au prophète," ibn khaldoun, vol. ii. p. . [ ] in june , a.d., sultán mahmud issued a manifesto protesting against interference in the affairs of the ottomán empire, "the affairs of which are conducted upon the principles of _sacred legislation_, and all the regulations of which are strictly connected with the principles of religion." these principles still remain in force, for the famous fatvá given by the council of the 'ulamá, in july , anent khair-ud-dín's proposed reforms, speaks of "the unalterable principles of the sheri," or law. [ ] "the respect which modern muslims pay to their prophet is almost idolatrous. the imám ibn hanbal would not even eat water-melons because although he knew the prophet ate them, he could not learn whether he ate them with or without the rind, or whether he broke, bit or cut them: and he forbade a woman, who questioned him as to the propriety of the act, to spin by the light of torches passing in the streets by night, because the prophet had not mentioned that it was lawful to do so." lane's modern egyptians, vol. i. p. . [ ] mudárij-un-nabuwat, p. . [ ] prolégomènes d'ibn khaldoun, vol. ii. p. . [ ] journal asiatique me série, tom. xii. [ ] osborn's islám under the khalífs, p. . [ ] ibn khallikan's biographical dictionary, vol. ii. p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] ibid., vol. ii. p. . [ ] in south india, the muhammadan money-changer resorts to a curious piece of casuistry to reconcile the practice of his profession with the faith he holds. it is wrong to gain money by money as a direct agency. suppose, then, for example, that the charge for changing a shilling is one farthing. it is unlawful for the money-changer to give four three-penny pieces for one shilling plus one farthing, for then he will have sinned against the laws anent usury by gaining money (one farthing) by money; but if he gives three three-penny pieces plus two pence three farthings in copper the transaction will be lawful, as his profit of one farthing is then gained by selling as merchandize certain pieces of silver and copper for one shilling, and not by exactly changing the shilling. again, pictures or representations of living creatures are unlawful; and so, when british rupees were first circulated in india, good muslims doubted whether they could use them, but after a long consultation the 'ulamá declared that, as the eye of his majesty was so small as not to be clearly visible, the use of such coins was legal. this kind of casuistry is very common and very demoralizing; but it shows how rigid the law is. [ ] "authority becomes sacred because sanctioned by heaven. despotism, being the first form of consolidated political authority, is thus rendered unchangeable and identical in fact with government at large." "supreme government has four stages: ( ) where the absolute prince (muhammad) is among them concentrating in his own person the four cardinal virtues, and this we call the reign of wisdom; ( ) where the prince appears no longer, neither do these virtues centre in any single person: but are found in four (abu bakr, omar, osmán and 'alí), who govern in concert with each other, as if they were one, and this we call the reign of the pious; ( ) where none of these is to be found any longer, but a chief (khalíf) arises with a knowledge of the rules propounded by the previous ones, and with judgment enough to apply and explain them, and this we call the reign of the sunnat; ( ) where these latter qualities, again, are not to be met with in a single person, but only in a variety who govern in concert; and this we call the reign of the sunnat-followers.--akhlák-i-jalálí, pp. . . [ ] life of muhammad, by syed amír 'alí, p. . [ ] the muslim 'ulamá are certainly much fettered by their religion in the pursuit of some of the paths of learning; and superstition sometimes decides a point which has been controverted for centuries. lane's modern egyptians, vol. i. p. . [ ] the goth might ravage italy, but the goth came forth purified from the flames which he himself had kindled. the saxon swept britain, but the music of the celtic heart softened his rough nature, and wooed him into less churlish habits. visigoth and frank, heruli and vandal, blotted out their ferocity in the very light of the civilisation they had striven to extinguish. even the hun, wildest tartar from the scythian waste, was touched and softened in his wicker encampment amid pannonian plains; but the turk--wherever his scymitar reached--degraded, defiled, and defamed; blasting into eternal decay greek, roman and latin civilisation, until, when all had gone, he sat down, satiated with savagery, to doze for two hundred years into hopeless decrepitude. lieut.-col. w. f. butler, c.b., in _good words_ for september . [ ] "the muslim everywhere, after a brilliant passage of prosperity, seems to stagnate and wither, because there is nothing in his system or his belief which lifts him above the level of a servant, and on that level man's life in the long run must not only stagnate but decay. the christian, on the other hand, seems everywhere in the last extremity to bid disorganization and decay defiance, and to find, antæus-like, in the earth which he touches, the spring of a new and fruitful progress. for there is that in his belief, his traditions, and in the silent influences which pervade the very atmosphere around him, which is ever moving him, often in ways that he knows not, to rise to the dignity and to clothe himself with the power which the gospel proposes as the prize of his christian calling. the submissive servant of allah is the highest type of moslem perfection; the christian ideal is the christ-like son."--_british quarterly, no._ cxxx. [ ] a mukallif is one who is subject to the law. a ghair-i-mukallif is one not so subject, such as a minor, an idiot, &c. the term mukallif is thus equivalent to a consistent muslim, one who takes trouble (taklíf) in his religious duties. [ ] commentators on the qurán. [ ] the traditionists. [ ] plural of faqíh, a theologian. [ ] i have given the dates of their death. [ ] osborn's islám under the khalífs p. . [ ] dabistán, p. . [ ] pp. - . [ ] "it (the qurán) is simply an instruction for all mankind" (súra xii. ). [ ] zawábit-al-qurán, pp. , . [ ] the opinion of von hammer, quoted by sir w. muir, in his life of muhammad (vol. i. page ) seems to be correct, "we may hold the qurán to be as surely muhammad's words as the muhammadans hold it to be the word of god." [ ] ibn khallikan's biographical dictionary, vol. iii. p. . [ ] "were we to examine the qurán by the rules of rhetoric and criticism as they are taught in muslim schools, we should be obliged to acknowledge that it is the perfection of thought and expression; an inevitable result as the muslims drew their principles of rhetoric from that very book."--baron m. de slane, in the introduction to ibu khallikan's biographical dictionary. [ ] there are many traditions which refer to this fact. omar ibn al khattáb said; "i accorded with my cherisher (_i.e._, god) in three things. one is that i said, 'o messenger of god! if we were to say our prayers in abraham's place it would be better.' then a revelation came down 'take the place of abraham for a place of prayer.' the second is, that i said, 'o messenger of god! good and bad people come to your house; and i do not see that it is fitting; therefore, if you order your women to be shut up it will be better.' then the revelation for doing so came down. the third is, that his majesty's wives were all agreed in a story about his drinking honey; and he had vowed never to drink it more. then i said to his majesty's wives, 'should the prophet divorce you, god will give him better in exchange.' then a revelation, came down agreeing with what i said." 'Áyesha said:--"i was reflecting on those women who had given themselves to the prophet, and said 'what! does a woman give herself away?' then the revelation descended:, 'thou mayest decline for the present whom thou wilt of them, and thou mayest take to thy bed her whom thou wilt, and whomsoever thou shalt long for of those thou shalt have before neglected: and this shall be no crime in thee.' (súra xxxiii. ). i said; 'i see nothing in which your god doth not hasten to please you: whatsoever you wish he doeth.'" [ ] les prolégomènes d'ibn khaldoun, vol. ii. p. . [ ] this includes even the orthography, for:--"la génération suivante, je veux dire les tábis (tába'ín), adopta l'orthographe des compagnons du prophète et se fit un mérite de ne point s'écarter des formes adoptées par ceux qui, après mahommed, étaient les plus excellent des hommes et qui avaient recu de lui les révélations célestes, soit par écrit, soit de vive voix." ibn khaldoun, vol. ii. p. . [ ] this interpretation god made known to the prophet, who communicated it to the companions, hence all orthodox opinion must be in strict accordance with theirs. they were the sole depositaries of the inspired commentary given by muhammad. there is now no room for, as there is no need of, any other. [ ] speaking on this very subject ibn khaldoun says:--"rien de tout cela n'a pu se connaître que par des indications provenant des compagnons et de leurs disciples." vol. ii. p. . [ ] ibn khaldoun says that zamakchori, (a theologian of good repute for learning in the sixth century a.h.), remarked on these letters as follows:--they indicate that the style of the qurán is carried to such a degree of excellence, that it defies every attempt to imitate it; for this book which has been sent down to us from heaven is composed of letters. all men know them all alike, but this power disappears when, in order to express their ideas, they want to use these same letters combined." on this curious passage baron de slane remarks that the author is not very clear, and that the turkish translator of ibn khaldoun gives the sense of the passage as:--"god has placed these letters in several súras as a sort of defiance; as if he had said:--'voilà les éléments dont se compose le coran; prenez-les et faites-eu un livre qui l'égale par le style.'" ibn khaldoun, vol. iii. p. . [ ] the last verse revealed at mecca was, "this day have i perfected your religion for you, and have filled up the measure of my favours upon you; and it is my pleasure that islám be your religion; but whoso without wilful leanings to wrong shall be forced by hunger to transgress, to him, verily, will god be indulgent, merciful." (súra v. ). ibn khaldoun vol. i. p. . [ ] the arrangement made by professor th. nöldeke in his "geschichte des quráns" is considered by stanley lane poole to be the best. rodwell's english version of the qurán is, with some exceptions, an example of this order. [ ] on ordinary occasions any verses may be chosen. the th súra is the one generally repeated. [ ] tafsír-i-husainí, p. . [ ] sharh-i-'aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . [ ] commentary on the holy bible by syed ahmad, c.s.i., vol. i. p. . see note on this in chapter . section 'prophets.' [ ] niáz namáh, by maulavi safdar 'ali, p. . [ ] biographical dictionary, vol. ii, p. . [ ] "he ranked as a high authority in the traditions and was well versed in all the sciences connected with them." ibn khallikan, vol. ii. p. . [ ] the káfi, by abu ja'far muhammad, a.h. . the man-lá-yastah-zirah-al-faqíh, by shaikh 'alí, a.h. . the tahzíb and the istibsár by shaikh abu ja'far muhammad, a.h. . the nahaj-ul-balághat by sayyud razí a.h. . [ ] if the isnád is good, internal improbability carries with it little weight against the genuineness of a tradition. there is a saying current to this effect:--"a relation made by sháfa'í on the authority of málik, and by him on the authority of nafi, and by him on the authority of ibn omar, is really the golden chain." [ ] núr-ul-hidáyah, p. . [ ] a full account of these will be found in the preface to the núr-ul-hidáyah, the urdu translation of the sharh-i-waqáyah. [ ] sharh-i-'aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . [ ] kisas-ul-anbiya,--"lives of the prophets." [ ] hyát-un-nafís. [ ] the shía'hs in claiming freedom from sin for the infallible imáms are more logical than the romanists, thus:-- "if we are to believe in the inerrability of a person, or a body of persons, because it is, forsooth, necessary for the full preservation of the truth, we must then also believe in all besides that can be shown to be needful for the perfect attainment of that end. now, the conservation of all spiritual truth is not a mere operation of the intellect. it requires the faultless action of the perceiving power of the spirit. that is to say, it requires the exclusion of sin; and the man or body that is to be infallible, must also be a sinless organ. it is necessary that the tainting, blinding, distorting power of sin should be shut out from the spiritual eye of the infallible judge." gladstone's _gleanings_, vol. iii. p. . [ ] it is a common musalmán belief that the body of a prophet casts no shadow. a similar idea regarding necromancers was widely spread over northern europe. it is alluded to by scott in the "lay of the last minstrel," where speaking of the father of the ladye, who in padua, "had learned the art that none might name," he says:-- "his form no darkening shadow traced upon the sunny wall." it is said that at a certain stage of initiation candidates for magical honours were in danger of being caught by the devil. now if the devil could only catch the shadow, and the man escaped, though so nearly captured, he became a great magician. this is evidently a legend to explain a previous belief. muhammadan ideas in the middle ages were prevalent in the universities of southern europe, and salamanca and padua were the universities, in which it was supposed that the greatest proficiency in magic was obtained. the superstition has evidently some connection with the musalmán belief regarding the shadows of prophets. [ ] the sunnís esteem and respect the imáms, as ahl-i-beit--men of the house, (of the prophet); but do not give them precedence over the duly appointed khalífs. [ ] the names are 'alí, hasan, husain, zain-ul-'abid-dín, muhammad báqr, ja'far sádiq, musa kázim, 'alí músa razá, muhammad taqí, muhammad naqí, hasan 'askarí, abu 'l-qásim (or imám mahdí). [ ] rauzat-ul-aimmah by sayyid 'izzat 'alí. [ ] for a good account of this movement see, osborn's islám under the arabs, pp. - . [ ] islám under the khalífs, p. . [ ] miskát-ul-musábih. [ ] hujjat-ullah-ul-balaghah. [ ] nothing shows this more plainly than the fatvá pronounced by the council of the 'ulamá in july anent khaír-ud-din's proposed reform, which would have placed the sultán in the position of a constitutional sovereign. this was declared to be directly contrary to the law. thus:-- "the law of the sheri does not authorize the khalíf to place beside him a power superior to his own. the khalíf ought to reign alone and govern as master. the vakils (ministers) should never possess any authority beyond that of representatives, always dependent and submissive. it would consequently be a transgression of the unalterable principles of the sheri, which should be the guide of _all_ the actions of the khalíf, to transfer the supreme power of the khalíf to one vakil." this, the latest and most important decision of the jurists of islám, is quite in accordance with all that has been said about muhammadan law. it proves as clearly as possible that so long as the sultán rules as khalíf, he must oppose any attempt to set up a constitutional government. there is absolutely no hope of reform. [ ] it is instructive to compare the words of the christian poet with the súfí idea of absorption into the divine being. "that each who seems a separate whole should move his rounds, and fusing all the skirts of self again, should fall remerging in the general soul, is faith as vague as all unsweet: eternal form shall still divide the eternal soul from all beside; and i shall know him when we meet." tennyson's "in memoriam." [ ] "le spiritualisme des sofis, quoiqu'il soit le contraire du matérialisme, lui est en réalité identique. mais si leur doctrine n'est pas plus raisonnable, elle est du moins plus élevee et plus poétique." poésie philosophique et religieuse chez les persans, par m. garcin de tassy, p. . [ ] kaf--a chain of mountains supposed to encircle the earth. [ ] 'anka--the phoenix. [ ] "ils pensent que la bible et le coran ont été seulement écrits pour l'homme qui se contente de l'apparence des choses, qui s'occupe de l'extérieur, pour le _záhir parast_, comme ils le nomment, et non pour le sofi qui sonde le fond des choses." la poésie philosophique et religieuse chez les persans, par m. garcin de tassy, p. . [ ] the word darvísh, or darwísh, is of persian origin. it is derived from 'dar,' a door, and 'wíz' the root of the verb 'awíkhtan,' to hang; hence the idea of hanging about doors, or begging. the 'z' is changed into 'sh' and the word becomes 'darwísh.' some musalmáns, however, do not like this idea of holy men being called by a name which implies the habit of begging, and so they propose another derivation. they derive it from "dur," a pearl, and "wísh," like; and so a durwísh is one 'like a pearl.' the wísh is from wásh, a lengthened form of wash, an affix of common use to express similitude; or the long vowel in wásh may by a figure of speech, called imála, be changed into the í of wísh. i think the first derivation the more probable. a good persian dictionary, the ghíás-ul-lugbát, gives both derivations. [ ] for a very interesting account of this religious ceremony, see hughes' notes on muhammadanism, chapter . [ ] la poésie philosophique et religieuse chez les persans, par m. garcin de tassy, p. . [ ] súfí doctrines of the moollá sháh by tawakkul beg. journal asiatique me série, tom. . [ ] "that omar in his impiety was false to his better nature we may readily admit, while, at the same time, we may find some excuse for his errors, if we remember the state of the world at that time. his clear strong sense revolted from the prevailing mysticism where all the earnest spirits of his age found their refuge, and his honest independence was equally shocked by the hypocrites who aped their fervour and enthusiasm; and at that dark hour of man's history whither, out of islám, was the thoughtful muhammadan to repair? no missionary's step, bringing good tidings, had appeared on the mountains of persia; the few christians who might cross his path in his native land, would only seem to him idolaters." speaking, too, of sa'di's life the reviewer says: "almost the only point of contact with christendom is his slavery under the crusaders at tripoli. the same isolation runs through all the golden period of persian literature"--_calcutta review_, no. lix. [ ] the following are the names of the wahhábí chiefs:--muhammad-ibn-saud, died a.d. ; 'abd-ul-azíz, assassinated, ; saud-ibn-'abd-ul-azíz, died ; 'abd-ulláh-ibn-saud, beheaded ; turki, assassinated ; fayzul, died ; 'abd-ulláh, still living. hughes notes, p. . [ ] palgrave's arabia, vol. ii. p. . [ ] according to the latest census report there are , in the madras presidency, where the total musalmán population is about , , . [ ] mudárij-un-nabuwat, p. . [ ] palgrave's arabia vol. i. p. . [ ] palgrave's arabia, vol. i. p. . [ ] ibid, p. . [ ] muhammad ismá'íl concludes his great work, the takwiat-ul-imán, with the prayer--"o lord teach us by thy grace, the meaning of the terms bid'at and sunnat, and the law of the prophet. make us pure sunnís and strictly submissive to the sunnat." this is a clear and distinct proof that wahhábís do not reject tradition as a basis of the faith. it also shows their horror of innovation, and reveals the little hope there is of any real progress through their influence. [ ] "mr. finlay, the clever but partial author of "the byzantine empire," has declared in a sweeping way 'that there is no greater delusion than to speak of the unity of the christian church.' however this may be, i can affirm the perfect applicability of this sentence to islám in the east. in no part of the world is there more of secret division, aversion, misbelief (taking muhammadanism as our standard), and unbelief than in those very lands which to a superficial survey, seem absolutely identified in the one common creed of the qurán and its author."--palgrave's arabia, vol. i. p. . [ ] strictly speaking, this chapter should be entitled the 'faith of islám,' as the subject of it is technically called imán, or faith. the kalima, or creed is, in the strict sense, the expression of belief in one god, and in muhammad as his apostle. i here use the word creed in the usual sense of a body of dogmas. [ ] iqrárun bil-lisáni wa tasdíqun bil janáni. [ ] amantu billáhi kama hua bismáíhi wa sifátíhi wa qabiltu jamí'a ahkámihi. [ ] amantu billáhi wa maláíkatihi wa kutubihi wa rusulihi wal-youm-íl-ákhiri wal-qadri khairihi wa sharrihi min alláhi ta'álá wal-ba'si ba'd al-mouti. [ ] he speaks of it thus: "l'ouvrage élémentaire de la religion musulmane le plus estimé et le plus répandu en turquie," p. . [ ] sharh-i-'aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . [ ] the above statements form the substance of several pages in the "prolégomènes d'ibn khaldoun," in which also occurs the following: "cela n'est pas toutefois un motif pour déprécier notre intelligence et nos facultés perceptives: l'intelligence est une balance parfaitement juste: elle nous fournit des résultats certains sans nous tromper. mais on ne doit pas employer cette balance pour peser les choses qui se rattachent à l'unité de dieu, à la vie future, à la nature du prophétisme, au véritable caractère des attributs divine et à tout ce qui est au delà de sa porteé. vouloir le faire, ce serait une absurdité." vol. iii. p. . [ ] "telle fut la règle suivie par les anciens musulmans à l'égard des verses motachabeh; ils l'appliquaient aussi aux expressions du même genre qui se présentent dans la sonna, parce qu'elles proviennent de la même source que celles du coran." ibn khaldoun, vol. iii. p. . this passage is of some interest as maintaining the common source and origin of the qurán and the sunnat. [ ] ibn khallikan, vol. i. p. . [ ] "the musulmán authors distinguish between the earlier and later mutakallimán. the former (of whom we here treat) were occupied with purely religious questions; the latter, who arose after the introduction of the greek philosophy amongst muslims, embraced many philosophic notions, though they tried to make them fit in with their religious opinions." mélanges de philosophie juive et arabe, p. . [ ] tafsír-i-faiz-ul-karím, p. . [ ] tafsír-i-faiz-ul-karím, p. . [ ] dabistán, p. . [ ] ibn khallikan, vol. iii, p. . [ ] "c'etait l'époque de la plus grande splendeur extérieure de l'empire des arabes, où leur pouvoir, et en même temps leur culture intellectuelle et littáraire, atteignirent leur point culminant." journal asiatique me série, tome xii. p. . [ ] to understand the bearing of all the discussions that then took place, the reader should have some acquaintance with the history of the khalífs, and of the rise and progress of muslim philosophy. the former can be found in osborn's "khalífs of baghdád." a short review of the latter will be found in a note at the end of this chapter. [ ] ibn khallikan, vol. ii p. . [ ] ibid, p. . [ ] ibn khaldoun says: "l'établissement des preuves (fondées sur la raison) fut adopté par les (premiers) scolastiques pour le sujet de leur traités, mais il ne fut pas, comme chez les philosophes, une tentative pour arriver à la découverte de la vérité et pour obtenir, au moyen de la démonstration, la connaissance de ce qui était ignoré jusqu' alors. les scolastiques recherchaient des preuves intellectuelles dans le but de confirmer la vérité des dogmes, de justifier les opinions des premiers musalmans et de repousser les doctrines trompeuses que les novateurs avaient émises." prolégomènes d'ibn khaldoun, vol. iii. p. . [ ] sharh-i-aqáíd-i-jámí, p. [ ] "most excellent titles has god: by these call ye on him and stand aloof from those who pervert his titles." (súra vii. .) [ ] "the mujassimians, or corporealists not only admitted a resemblance between god and created beings, but declared god to be corporeal." sale's preliminary discourse, section viii. para. . [ ] ibn khallikan, vol. iv. p. . [ ] "the freethinkers (mutazilites) left no traces of themselves except in the controversial treatises which they had written. these were destroyed, and with their destruction the last vestiges of the conflict between free-thought and the spirit of islám were obliterated." osborn's khalífs of baghdád, p. . [ ] súra xxxix, , . [ ] l'islamisme d'après le coran, p. . [ ] sharh-i-'aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . [ ] sharh-i-'aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . [ ] tafsír-i-faiz-ul-karím, p. . [ ] takmíl-ul-imán, p. . [ ] "from the beginning of history the caucasus is to civilized nations, both greek and oriental, the boundary of geographical knowledge--indeed, the boundary of the world itself."--bryce's transcaucasia and ararat, p. . [ ] see also súra xxxviii. . [ ] sharh-aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . [ ] thus the famous persian poet sa'dí says in the bustán, "yetímí kih nákardah qurán darust, kutub khána-i-chand millat bashust."--"the perfect one who, ere the whole of gabriel's book he reads, has blotted out the library of all the peoples' creeds." [ ] sharh-aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . mansukh shud tiláwatan wa kitábatan, _i.e._ abrogated both as regards reading and writing--entirely abrogated. also takmíl-ul-imán, p. . dín-i-wai násikh-i-jami'-i-adián ast.--"his religion abrogates all religions." [ ] commentary on the holy bible by syed ahmad, c.s.i., vol. i. p. . this commentary is written in urdu, but the author has made a translation for the benefit of the english reader. the passage referred to reads thus in english: "those who imagine it to be part of the muhammadan creed that one law has totally repealed another are utterly mistaken, and we do not believe that the zuboor (book of psalms) abrogated the taureit (pentateuch); that the taureit in turn gave way to the injeel (new testament) and that the new testament was suppressed by the holy korán. we hold no such doctrine, and if any ignorant muhammadan should assert to the contrary, he simply knows nothing whatever about the doctrines and articles of his faith." the learned syed here assumes the rôle of a liberal musalmán, but the english translation is different from his urdu text which, literally translated, is as follows:--"now it should be considered that those who imagine it to be part of the creed of muslims that the taurát by the coming of the zabúr, and the zabúr by the coming of the injíl, and the injíl by the coming of the qurán are abrogated _on account of the idea that there is any defect in them_ are utterly mistaken, &c." the clause which i have italicised is entirely omitted in the english text; but it alters the import of the whole passage. to his co-religionists the syed says in effect: "the books _are abrogated_ but not because they were imperfect." now, as no muslim would believe that a divine book was defective, the syed is simply asserting the fact of the abrogation of the previous scriptures and to the orthodox is orthodox. the leader of an apparently liberal section of indian musalmáns is, in this instance, at least, as conservative as the most bigoted. [ ] syed ahmad's commentary on the holy bible, vol. i. p. . [ ] ibid, p. . [ ] there are many other such passages. they are given in detail, with the interpretation of approved commentators, in a small s. p. c. k. publication--the korán--by sir w. muir. [ ] commentary on the holy bible, by syed ahmad, c.s.i., vol. i. pp. - . [ ] takmíl-ul-imán, p. . [ ] takmíl-ul-imán, p. . [ ] takmíl-ul-imán, p. . [ ] prolégomènes d'ibn khaldoun, vol. i. pp. - . [ ] "that the "auliya" are distinguished above ordinary mortals is maintained on the authority of:--"are not the friends (auliya) of god, those on whom no fear shall come, nor shall they be put to grief." (súra x. .) [ ] sharh-i-aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . [ ] sirát-ul-islám, p. . [ ] this is an orthodox blow at the shía'h practices in the month of muharram. shía'hs consider this a good act. [ ] takmíl-ul-imán, p. . [ ] it is said adam's sin was a mere slip but it brought good to the world. had he remained in paradise the world would not have been peopled; and the word of god "i have not created men and jinns, except for worship," would not have been fulfilled. [ ] that is, according to the commentator beidawí,--"thy remissness in propagating islám." [ ] tafsír-i-husainí, p. . [ ] on the contrary, he seems to disclaim such a power. thus the quraish said: "by no means will we believe on thee till thou cause a fountain to gush forth for us from the earth; or, till thou have a garden of palm-trees and grapes, and thou cause forth-gushing rivers to gush forth in its midst; or thou make the heaven to fall on us, as thou hast given out, in pieces; or thou bring god and the angels to vouch for thee, &c. say: am i more than a man, an apostle?" (súra xvii. - ). former prophets, muhammad used to say, were sent to their own sect, but he was sent for all. their miracles were confined to their own times. the qurán the great miracle of islám, was for all ages. he needed no other sign than this. [ ] "have we not opened thine heart for thee." (súra xciv. ). tradition relates that when young, two angels cut open his breast, and took out a black drop; many other marvels are also connected with this event. [ ] sharh-i-aqáíd-i-jámí. [ ] tafsír-i-husainí. p. [ ] for a graphic account of these events see "literary remains of emmanuel deutsch," pp. - . [ ] "all that muhammadans must believe respecting the mi'ráj is that the prophet saw himself, in a vision, transported from mecca to jerusalem, and that in such a vision he really beheld some of the greatest signs of his lord." essays by syed ahmad, essay vi. p. . this, though a legitimate, is not, however, an orthodox opinion; which is, that he who denies an actual bodily migration from mecca to jerusalem is a káfir, (infidel) as he denies the statement of a 'nass' or plain text of the qurán. he who denies the ascension to heaven, and the wonderful account of the night's proceedings preserved in the traditions is a "fásiq," (sinner), though he remains a muslim. [ ] some commentators make no distinction between the first and second blast, as only two are distinctly mentioned in the qurán. [ ] sharh-i-'aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . [ ] according to búkhárí and to muslim, this perspiration will flow to a distance of seventy yards from, and reach up to the lobe of the ears of those who perspire. [ ] "that is, they will know the inhabitants of paradise by their whiteness, and the people of hell by the blackness of their faces." [ ] for some curious opinions with regard to the state of the soul there see sale's preliminary discourse, section iv., p. . [ ] takmíl-ul-imán, p. . [ ] tafsír-i-husainí, vol. i. p. . [ ] tafsír-i-faiz-ul-karím, p. . [ ] miskát-ul-musábíh, book xxiii. ch. . [ ] "although some muhammadans, whose understandings are too refined to admit such gross conceptions, look on their prophet's description as parabolical, and are willing to receive them in an allegorical or spiritual acceptation, yet the general and orthodox doctrine is, that the whole is to be strictly believed in the obvious and literal acceptance." sale's preliminary discourse, section iv. p. . [ ] this, the lauh-ul-mahfúz, is referred to in súra lxxxv. , as that on which the qurán is written. in súra xxxvi. , the actions of men are said to be written in "the clear book of our decrees." this is called the imám-ul-mubín, the clear prototype. [ ] "the prophet of god said that adam and moses (in the world of spirits) maintained a debate before god, and adam got the better of moses, who said, "thou art that adam, whom god created and breathed into thee his own spirit, and made the angels bow down before thee, and placed thee in paradise; after which, thou threwest man upon the earth, from the fault which thou didst commit.' adam replied, 'thou art that moses, whom god selected for his prophecy and to converse with, and he gave thee twelve tables, in which are explained everything, and he made thee his confidant and the bearer of his secrets; then how long was the bible written before i was created?' moses said, 'forty years.' then said adam, 'didst thou see in the bible that adam disobeyed god?' 'yes.' 'dost thou reproach me on a matter, which god wrote in the bible forty years before creating me?'" [ ] ibn kah, commenting on the verse, "when thy lord brought forth their descendants from the reins of the sons of adam and took them to witness against themselves, 'am i not,' said he, 'your lord,' they said: 'yes, we witness it.'" (súra vii. ), goes on to say: "god formed all the prophets and saints into one class, and the martyrs into another. the pious men, also, were separated into one, and the wicked into another. one class was formed of the obedient servants, while the unbelievers, _viz_., the jews, the christians, the majians, the hindus, &c., were likewise divided into several parties; next, they were shaped into forms, that is, into the shape in which he was to appear in the world was predestined for each one." this passage is quoted with approval by the wahhábí author of the takwiyat-ul-imán. [ ] the orthodox commentator 'abbás says: "this verse refers to the decree, _e.g._ 'he whom god wills to believe certainly will do so, and whom he wills to be an infidel will be one,' and not at all to man's free will." tafsír-hisainí, vol. ii. page . [ ] mélanges de philosophe juive et arabe par s. munk. p. . [ ] thus the poet faizí says: "before thou and i were thought of, our free will was taken from our hands; be without cares, for the maker of both worlds settled our affairs long before we were made." [ ] the punishment of death is sometimes decreed for lesser offences. in the latter part of the year , one of the turkish 'ulamá, named ahmad, was condemned to death for having assisted dr. koelle, an english clergyman residing in constantinople, in the translation of the book of common prayer, and a tract on 'christ the word of god.' owing to the urgent representations of the british ambassador the khojah's life was spared, but he was banished to the island of chio. the porte promised to maintain his family whilst he was absent. it need scarcely be said that nothing of the kind has been done. [ ] journal asiatique me série, tome , p. [ ] this is the sháfa'íte form which the hanifites consider wrong. [ ] kingsley's alexandria and her schools, p. . [ ] les prairies d'or, tome sixième, p. . [ ] mélanges de philosophie juive et arabe, par s. munk, p. . [ ] for a statement of the ash'arían doctrines see pp. - . [ ] strictly speaking, one should not speak of arab but of muslim philosophy, for curiously enough only one famous philosopher, al-kendi, was an arab. [ ] mélanges de philosophie juive et arabe, par s. munk, p. . [ ] "aprés lui, nous ne trouvons plus chez les arabes aucun philosophe véritablement digne de ce nom." mélanges de philosophie juive et arabe, par s. munk, p. . [ ] muslim rule in spain is often referred to as an instance of the height of culture and the liberality of sentiment which may exist in a muhammadan state. i have shown that the culture was not due to the teaching of the arab prophet and his companions, and with regard to the liberality it is well to remember the words of g. h. lewes. he says: "the arabs, though they conquered spain, were too weak in numbers to hold that country in subjection otherwise than by politic concessions to the opinion and customs of the people." history of philosophy, vol. i. p. . [ ] "there never was any arabian science, strictly speaking. in the first place, all the philosophy and science of the muhammadans was greek, jewish, and persian.... it really designates a reaction against islámism, which arose in the distant parts of the empire, in samarcand, bokhara, morocco, and cordova. the arabian language having become the language of the empire, this philosophy is written in that language; but the ideas are not arabian; the spirit is not arabian." history of philosophy, by g. h. lewes, vol. ii. p. . [ ] the persian term for this is namáz, a word in commoner use in india than sulát. both terms will henceforth be employed. [ ] there is a tradition to the effect that "the whole body of him who says the name of god when making wazú will be clean; whereas, if he says it not, only the part washed will be pure." [ ] before commencing the wazú, say: "i am going to purify myself from all bodily uncleanness preparatory to commencing prayer, that holy act of duty, which will draw my soul near to the throne of the most high. in the name of god, the great and mighty. praise be to god who has given us grace to be muslims. islám is a truth and infidelity a falsehood." when cleaning the teeth say: "vouchsafe o god, as i clean my teeth, to purify me from my faults and accept my homage. o lord, may the purity of my teeth be for me a pledge of the whiteness of my face at the day of judgment." when washing the nostrils say: "o my god, if i am pleasing in thy sight, perfume me with the odours of paradise." when washing the right hand say: "o my god, on the day of judgment, place the book of my actions in my right hand, and examine my account with favour." when washing the left hand, say: "o my god, place not at the resurrection the book of my actions in my left hand." similar prayers are said at each act. [ ] from the account which follows it will be seen that the term namáz expresses what we term a 'service.' the word for prayer in the ordinary sense is 'du'á.' [ ] it is taken from the sirát-un-naját, pp. - . [ ] as the use of bells is unlawful a man is employed to call the people to prayers. [ ] "god is great." [ ] the followers of imám as-sháfa'í and the women of all sects place the hands upon the breast. the feet should be about four inches apart; women stand with the feet close together. [ ] the second rak'at begins here: all that precedes is only repeated at the first rak'at. [ ] a fixed portion is said in each rak'at during the nights of ramazán, which portion is then called a rukú'. (ante. p. .) [ ] in a mosque the imám says the first sentences alone; the people the second. [ ] women in the sijda keep all the limbs of the body close together, and put both feet at right angles to the body. if their face is qibla-wards it is sufficient. [ ] here the shía'hs say:--"i rise and sit by the power of god." [ ] this is said at the close of every two rak'ats. [ ] the shía'hs stop here and omit the rest. [ ] the shía'hs omit the du'á and say: "peace be on thee, o prophet, with the mercy of god and his blessing. peace be on us and on god's righteous servants." [ ] the fatvá, or decree, will be found in a note at the end of this chapter. [ ] i am indebted to hughes' notes on muhammadanism for this excellent table. [ ] the musallí may say five or three witr rak'ats instead of seven. [ ] núr-ul-hidáayat, p. . [ ] in countries under muslim rule he holds a wooden sword reversed. [ ] one who says, "alláhu akbar--god is great." [ ] a reference to his presence with muhammad in the cave (ghár) when they fled from mecca to madína. see súra ix. . [ ] núr-ul-hidáyat, p. . [ ] sirát-un-naját, p. . [ ] qíám is one of the positions in a namáz and is here used by synecdoche for it. in mecca the salát-ut-taráwíh is called with reference to this tradition the salát-ul-qíámíah. [ ] núr-ul-hidáyat, p. . [ ] that is, a non-muslim who is allowed to reside in a musalmán state on payment of a special tax. [ ] the sháfa'ítes raise the hands at the recital of each of the four takbírs; the other sects do so only at the first. [ ] if the deceased was a child or a mad person, they say:-- "o god, make him (or her, as the case may be) a guide for us, and make him a cause of our gaining a future reward. o god, save him and make him an intercessor for us." [ ] the imám makes the niyyat in his mind that the salám may be on his guardian angels, and on the worshippers who are behind him; each worshipper makes the niyyat that the salám may be on his guardian angels, on his fellow worshippers and on the imám. [ ] _i.e._, the deceased's. [ ] death, resurrection, judgment; &c. [ ] this contradicts verse of this súra. muslims explain it thus. we accept all prophets and as regards _faith_ in them make no difference, though as regards _dignity_ we recognize the distinction indicated in the th verse. [ ] that is, the jews and christians, on whom, it is said by the muslim commentators, many strict ceremonial observances were incumbent. the word often used to express the idea of the burdensome nature of ceremonial observance is taklilíf, trouble. practically, muslims are not free from these "loads," a fact which finds expression in the word used for a pious man--a mukhallif, one who has to take trouble in the way of performing religious duties. [ ] in madras, a branch of the pomegranate tree is usually stuck in. [ ] the name of the mother is here inserted. the mother's name is chosen in preference to that of the father, as there can be no doubt as to the maternity of the child. for the same reason it is said that at the last day each man will be summoned as such an one, son of such a mother. this simple fact reveals a sad state of morals, or, at least, a disbelief in the virtue of women. [ ] the idea is that the reward of this act is transferred to the person on whose behalf it is made. [ ] súra ii. . [ ] there are others who maintain that this is a _mukham_ statement and cannot therefore be abrogated. they hold that it must be restricted to the aged and to persons who have chronic diseases. tafsír-i-husainí, p. . tafsír-i-faiz-ul-karím, p. . [ ] burton says that, when in the disguise of a musalmán doctor he was in cairo making preparations for the hajj, he had but one patient who would break his fast to save his life. all the others refused though death should be the consequence. [ ] "the former are called zakát, either because they increase a man's store by drawing down a blessing on him and produce in his soul the virtue of liberality, or because they purify the remaining part of one's substance from pollution and the soul from the filth of avarice; the latter are called sadqa because they are a proof of a man's sincerity in the worship of god." sale's preliminary discourse, section iv. [ ] that is food or money sufficient to provide one meal for a poor person. [ ] the technical term is wasq. a wasq is equal to sá', and a sá' is equal to ratal. a ratal is equal to lb; so a wasq, a load for one camel, is about lb. [ ] mosques are usually endowed. the property thus set apart is called waqf. this supports the various officials connected with a mosque. [ ] the two famous disciples of imám abu hanífa, abu yúsuf and muhammad. [ ] this ceremony is called al-ihrám (_i.e._, making unlawful), because now various actions and pursuits must be abstained from. the ceremony of doffing the pilgrim's garb is called al-ihlál (_i.e._, making lawful), for now the pilgrim returns to the ordinary pursuits and joys of a life in the world. [ ] this statement of names is taken from the núr-ul-hidáyat p. , and that of the distance from hughes' notes on islám; but burton speaks of al zaribah, a place miles distant from mecca as a míqát. it was there that he assumed the ihrám. the explanation probably is that a hájí must not approach nearer to mecca without the ihrám than the places named in the text. the farther from mecca it is assumed, provided that it be during one of the two months preceding zu'l-hajja, the more meritorious is the act. [ ] talbíyah means the repetition of "labbaik," a phrase equivalent to "i am here." the talbíyah can be said in any language, though arabic is preferred. it usually is as follows: "labbaik, alláhumma, labbaik! lá sharíka laka, labbaik! inna-l-hamda wa-n-ní'amata laka, w'-al-mulk! lá sharíka laka, labbaik! [ ] "the object of these minute details is that the "truce of god" may be kept." the five noxious creatures, however, may be slain, _viz._, a crow, a kite, a scorpion, a rat and a biting dog." (burton). [ ] the musjid-ul-harám is the large mosque in mecca. the k'aba (cube) is a square stone building in the centre. this is also called the qibla. the hajr-ul-aswad is the black stone fixed in the corner of the k'aba. [ ] it is said to have been rebuilt ten times. a full description will be found in burton's pilgrimage to madína and mecca, vol. iii. ch. . it is far too long to quote, and it cannot be condensed. the following extract is of some interest, as it states why the 'ulama consider the k'aba so sacred a place. they quote the verse: 'verily the first house built for mankind (to worship in) is that in beccah (mecca)--blessed and a salvation to human beings. therein are manifest signs, even the standing-place of abraham, and he who entereth is safe.' (súra iii. ). the word 'therein' is said to mean mecca, and the "manifest signs" the k'aba, which contains such marvels as the footprints on abraham's platform, and is the spiritual safeguard of all who enter it. in addition, other "signs" are the preservation of the black stone, the miracles put forth to defend the house, the terrible death of the sacrilegious, and the fact that in the flood the big fish did not eat the little fish in the harám. invalids recover their health by rubbing themselves against the kiswat (the covering of the k'aba), and the black stone. one hundred thousand mercies descend on it every day, &c. portions of the kiswat are highly valued as markers for the qurán. waistcoats made of it are supposed to render the combatant invulnerable in battle. [ ] the whole seven are one usbú'. [ ] the maqám-i-ibráhím is a small building, supported, by six pillars about eight feet high, four of which are surrounded from top to bottom by a fine iron railing, while the space between the two hinder pillars is left open; within the railing is a frame about five feet square, said to contain the sacred stone on which abraham sat when he built the k'aba. [ ] in the first rak'at, the chapter usually recited is súra cix; in the second, súra cxii. [ ] "many find this inconvenient and so pass on to 'arifát during the afternoon of the eighth day" (burton). [ ] the following legend is current about 'arifát. "when our parents forfeited heaven by eating wheat, which deprived them of their primeval purity, they were cast down upon earth. the serpent descended at ispahán, the peacock at cabul, satan at bilbays, eve upon 'arifát and adam at ceylon. the latter determining to seek his wife, began a journey, to which the earth owes its present mottled appearance. wherever he placed his foot--which was large--a town arose; between the strides will always be country. wandering for many years he came to the mountain of mercy, where our common mother was continually calling upon his name, and their recognition gave the place the name of 'arifát. they lived here till death took place." (burton). [ ] the sháfa'í rules allow a traveller any time when on a journey of a night and day to reduce the five namáz to three by joining some. the hanafí code allows the shortened form only on this day. [ ] "the shaitan-ul-kabír is a dwarf buttress of rude masonry about eight feet high, by two and a half broad, placed against a rough wall of stones." (burton). [ ] most of the ceremonies connected with the hajj, the ihrám, the shaving of the head, the going to safá and marwah, the throwing of the stones, the circuit of the k'aba, the kissing of the black stone, and the sacrifice were all pagan ceremonies performed by the idolatrous arabs. muhammad by his time-serving policy, adopted to gain the meccans to his side, has confirmed an idolatrous practice which otherwise would probably have been extinct long ago. safá and marwah were hills held in superstitious reverence by the meccans. the early muslims had some doubt about retaining them as sacred places: then came the revelation to the prophet, "safá and marwah are among the monuments of god, whosoever then maketh a pilgrimage to the temple or visiteth it, shall not be to blame if he go round about them both." (súra ii. ). [ ] these are the letters contained in words which direct the reader when to pause. thus toí stands for mutlaq (slight pause), qif (pause), jím for já,íz (freedom to pause, or not to pause), lá for no (no pause), mím for la'zim (necessary to pause), (.) is a full stop. [ ] persian was the foreign language with which the early muslims were brought most into contact; but the objection applies equally to any other language. [ ] a concession of no practical value, as any one with the power of speech could learn these words in a very short time. [ ] this is because by so doing it would seem to ascribe to it similarity to human compositions. [ ] during the first ten days they are supposed to contain the bodies of the martyrs, but now being empty the tázías become mere ordinary frames and can be destroyed, qánún-i-islám, p. . [ ] this feast is known in south india as the dassara. the idol is thrown into a tank. [ ] the mihráb is a niche in a wall which indicates the position of mecca. the face is always turned to it when prayers are said; so that the expression in the prayer means that 'alí is to be the object toward which the faithful look. [ ] the twelve imáms, muhammad and fátima. [ ] the 'Íd-gáh is usually built outside of the town, and consists of a long wall of masonry with two minarets and a large raised open court. there is a mihráb in the wall: but no proper mimbar or pulpit, three raised steps doing duty for it. sometimes, however, a mosque is used as an 'Íd-gáh. [ ] tradition records that the prophet, after the battle of ohud, was one day ascending a hill in a rage. the heat of his passion was such that the mountain softened into the consistence of wax and retained, some say eighteen; others, forty impressions of his feet. when rebuked by gabriel for his anger the prophet enquired the cause of his rebuke. gabriel told him to look around. the prophet seeing these impressions of his feet on the stones was astonished. his anger instantly ceased. qánún-i-islám, p. . [ ] the baqr-'Íd is the only other feast that has an 'arfa. [ ] mishkát-ul-musábih, book vii. ch. . [ ] that is, his blessing or his curse takes effect. qánún-i-islám p. . [ ] this is a warning to those who may have omitted this duty. [ ] khutbahá-i-muhtarjam, p. . [ ] "observations on the musalmáns of india." mrs. mír husan 'alí, p. ." [ ] the opinion of the various traditionists on this point is given in the núr-ul-hidáyah, vol. iv. p. . [ ] still it is mustahab, or a meritorious act so to do. it is also said that, if a minor is possessed of property, his father or his guardian may purchase at his expense an animal and sacrifice it. the child may then eat as much as it can. the remainder of the meat must be exchanged for something which the child can use, such as clothes, shoes, &c. núr-ul-hidáyah, vol. iv. p. . [ ] according to the imáms sháfa'í and málik no one must offer up the sacrifice until the imám who has officiated at the previous namáz has slain his victim. núr-ul-hidáyah, vol. iv. p. . [ ] Áráyish-i-mahfil p. . * * * * * corrections made to printed original. page "it is moreover the unanimous opinion" - 'moveover' in original. page "the imám-i-a'zam or great imám" - imám-í-'azam in original, corrected by errata. page "this is technically called ilká" - ilka in original, corrected by errata. page "sa'dí in the bustán says" - bustun in original, corrected by errata. page "the famous maulána jelál-ud-dín rúmí" - maolána in original, corrected by errata. page "it is faná--extinction." - fana in original, corrected by errata. page "a still lower class of action which are mubáh." - mubah in original, corrected by errata. page "( ) the whole head must be rubbed once" - '( )' in original. page "a man one day came to the prophet" - 'come' in original. page "islám, hurriat (freedom) and nisáb (stock)." - húrriat in original, corrected by errata. note "also takmíl-ul-imán, p. ." - tamíl-ul-imán in original, corrected by errata. history of the moors of spain translated from the french original of m. florian. to which is added, a brief notice of islamism new york harper & brothers, publishers, & pearl street, franklin square [transcriber's note: page numbers in this book are indicated by numbers enclosed in curly braces, e.g. { }. they have been located where page breaks occurred in the original book, in accordance with project gutenberg's faq-v- .] [transcriber's note: this book contains a number of variations in the spelling of some words/names, e.g. haccham/hacchem, gengis/zengis (khan), etc.] entered according to act of congress, in the year by harper & brothers, in the clerk's office of the southern district of new york {v} publishers' advertisement. we are accustomed to look upon the followers of the arabian prophet as little better than barbarians, remarkable chiefly for ignorance, cruelty, and a blind and persecuting spirit of fanaticism. as it regards the character of the mohammedans at the present day, and, indeed, their moral and intellectual condition for the last two centuries, there is no great error in this opinion. but they are a degenerated race. there has been a period of great brilliancy in their history, when they were distinguished for their love of knowledge, and the successful cultivation of science and the arts; nor is it too much to say, that to them christian europe is indebted for the generous impulse which led to the revival of learning in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. of the various nations of the great moslem family, none were more {vi} renowned in arts, as well as arms, than the moorish conquerors of spain, whose history is contained in the following pages. the french original of this work has long enjoyed a deservedly high reputation; and the translation here offered is by an american lady, whose literary taste and acquirements well qualified her for the task. a sketch of mohammedan history, &c., from rev. s. greene's life of mohammed, has been appended at the close of the volume, to present to the reader a comprehensive view of that very remarkable people, of whom the moors of spain formed so distinguished a branch. h. & b. new york, october, . {vii} contents first epoch page the origin of the moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the arabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the birth of mohammed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . religion of mohammed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the progress of islamism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . victories of the mussulmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . new conquests of the mohammedans . . . . . . . . . . . . . the moors become mussulmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . condition of spain under the goths . . . . . . . . . . . . conquest of spain by the moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the viceroys of spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . insurrection of prince pelagius . . . . . . . . . . . . . abderamus attempts the conquest of france . . . . . . . . he penetrates as far as the loire . . . . . . . . . . . . the battle of tours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . civil wars distract spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . second epoch. the kings of cordova become the caliphs of the west . . . the asiatic mussulmans divide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the dynasty of the ommiades lose the caliphate . . . . . . horrible massacre of the ommiades . . . . . . . . . . . . an ommiade prince repairs to spain . . . . . . . . . . . . abderamus, the first caliph of the west . . . . . . . . . {viii} reign of abderamus i. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . religion and fêtes of the moors of spain . . . . . . . . . civil wars arise among the moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . the reigns of hacchem i. and of abdelazis . . . . . . . . reign of abderamus ii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . condition of the fine arts at cordova . . . . . . . . . . anecdote of abderamus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . reigns of mohammed, almouzir, and abdalla . . . . . . . . reign of abderamus iii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . embassy from a greek emperor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . magnificence and gallantry of the moors . . . . . . . . . description of the city and palace of zahra . . . . . . . wealth of the caliphs of cordova . . . . . . . . . . . . . the fine arts cultivated at cordova . . . . . . . . . . . reign of el hacchem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . laws of the moors, and their mode of administering justice authority possessed by fathers and old men . . . . . . . . an illustration of the magnanimity of el hakkam . . . . . reign of hacchem iii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . successful rule of mohammed almonzir as hadjeb under the imbecile hacchem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . disorders at cordova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . end of the caliphate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . third epoch. the principal kingdoms erected from the ruins of the caliphate of the west . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . condition of christian spain at this juncture . . . . . . the kingdom of toledo; its termination . . . . . . . . , success of the christians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the cid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the kingdom of seville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the dynasty of the almoravides hold supremacy in africa . {ix} conquests of the almoravides in spain . . . . . . . . . . french princes repair to spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . extinction of the kingdom of saragossa . . . . . . . . . . foundation of the kingdom of portugal . . . . . . . . . . state of the fine arts among the moors at this period . . abenzoar and averroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dissensions between the moors and christians . . . . . . . the africans, under mohammed _the green_, land in spain . battle of toloza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - tactics of the moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the discomfited mohammed returns to africa . . . . . . . . extent of the territories still retained by the moors in spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . st. ferdinand and jaques i. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . valencia is attacked by the aragonians . . . . . . . . . . siege of cordova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . surrender of valencia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . fourth epoch. the kings of grenada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the condition of the moors; their despondency . . . . . . mohammed alhamar; his character and influence with his countrymen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . he founds the kingdom of grenada . . . . . . . . . . . . . description of the city of grenada and its _vega_ . . . . extent and resources of this kingdom . . . . . . . . . . . reign of mohammed alhamar i. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the moorish sovereign becomes the vassal of the king of castile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ferdinand iii. besieges seville . . . . . . . . . . . . . the taking of seville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . revenues of the kings of grenada . . . . . . . . . . . . . military forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cavalry of the moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {x} disturbances in castile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . reign of mohammed ii. el fakik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . he forms a league with the king of morocco . . . . . . . . misfortunes of alphonso of castile . . . . . . . . . . . . interview between alphonso and the sovereign of morocco . state of learning and the fine arts under mohammed al mumenim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . description of the alhambra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the court of lions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the generalif . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . mohammed iii. el hama, or _the blind_, ascends the throne of grenada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . troubles in grenada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . reign of mohammed iv. abenazar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . reign of ismael . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . reign of mohammed v. and of joseph i. . . . . . . . . . . the battle of salado . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . successive reigns of mohammed vi. and mohammed vii. . . . horrible crime of peter the cruel of castile . . . . . . . condition of spain--of europe in general . . . . . . , mohammed vi. reassumes the crown . . . . . . . . . . . . . reign of mohammed viii. abouhadjad . . . . . . . . . . . . favourite literary and scientific pursuits of the moors under the munificent rule of abouhadjad . . . . . . . . universal prevalence of a taste for fiction among the arabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . music and gallantry of the moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . the mixture of refinement and ferocity in the character of the moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . description of the women of grenada . . . . . . . . . . . the national costume of both sexes . . . . . . . . . . . . moorish customs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . folly of the grand-master of alcantara . . . . . . . . . . the result of his expedition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dreadful death of joseph ii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . mohammed ix. usurps the throne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . singular escape of a condemned prince . . . . . . . . . . {xi} generous disposition of joseph iii. . . . . . . . . . . . disturbed condition of the kingdom after his death . . . . a rapid succession of rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . , reign of ismael ii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the miseries of war most severely felt by the cultivator of the soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . mulei-hassem succeeds ismael ii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . marriage of ferdinand and isabella . . . . . . . . . . . . the respective characters of these sovereigns . . . . . . they declare war against the grenadians . . . . . . . . . statesmen and soldiers of the spanish court . . . . . . . stern reply of the grenadian king . . . . . . . . . . . . alhama is surprised . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . civil war is kindled in grenada by the feuds of the royal family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . boabdil is proclaimed king . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cause of the ambitious hopes of zagal . . . . . . . . . . boabdil is taken prisoner by the spaniards . . . . . . . . the politic spanish rulers restore boabdil to liberty . . the moors become their own destroyers . . . . . . . . . . death of mulei-hassem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . boabdil and his uncle divide the relics of grenada between them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . baseness of zagal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . boabdil reigns alone at grenada . . . . . . . . . . . . . ferdinand lays siege to the city of grenada . . . . . . . condition of the city . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the spanish camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . isabella repairs to the camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . she builds a city . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . surrender of grenada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . departure of boabdil from the city . . . . . . . . . . . . the entrance of the spanish conquerors into the city . . . summary of the causes of the ruin of the moors . . . . . . characteristics of the moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {xii} anecdote illustrative of their observance of the laws of hospitality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . christian persecution of the moors . . . . . . . . . . . . revolts of the moors, and their results . . . . . . . . . final expulsion of the moors from spain . . . . . . . . . notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a brief account of the rise and decline of the mohammedan empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . chapter i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . chapter ii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . chapter iii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {xiii} introduction. the name of the moors of spain recalls recollections of gallantry and refinement, and of the triumphs of arts and arms. but, though thus celebrated, not much is generally known of the history of that remarkable people. the fragments of their annals, scattered among the writings of the spanish and arabian authors, furnish little else than accounts of murdered kings, national dissensions, civil wars, and unceasing contests with their neighbours. yet, mingled with these melancholy recitals, individual instances of goodness, justice, and magnanimity occasionally present themselves. these traits, too, strike us more forcibly than those of a similar description with which we meet in perusing the histories of other nations; perhaps in {xiv} consequence of the peculiar colouring of originality lent them by their oriental characteristics; or perhaps because, in contrast with numerous examples of barbarity, a noble action, an eloquent discourse, or a touching expression, acquire an unusual charm. it is not my intention to write the history of the moors in minute detail, but merely to retrace their principal revolutions, and attempt a faithful sketch of their national character and manners. the spanish historians, whom i have carefully consulted in aid of this design, have been of but little assistance to me in my efforts. careful to give a very prominent place in their extremely complicated narratives to the various sovereigns of asturia, navarre, aragon, and castile, they advert to the moors only when their wars with the christians inseparably mingle the interests of the two nations; but they never allude to the government, customs, or laws of the enemies of their faith. {xv} the translations from the arabian writers to which i have had recourse, throw little more light upon the subject of my researches than the productions of spanish authors. blinded by fanaticism and national pride, they expatiate with complacency on the warlike achievements of their countrymen, without even adverting to the reverses that attended their arms, and pass over whole dynasties without the slightest notice or comment. some of our _savans_ have, in several very estimable works, united the information to be collected from these spanish and arabian histories, with such additional particulars as they were able to derive from their own personal observations. i have drawn materials from all these sources, and have, in addition, sought for descriptions of the manners of the moors in the spanish and ancient castilian romances, and in manuscripts and memoirs obtained from madrid. it is after these long and laborious researches {xvi} that i venture to offer a brief history of a people who bore so little resemblance to any other; who had their national vices and virtues, as well as their characteristic physiognomy; and who so long united the bravery, generosity, and chivalry of the europeans, with the excitable temperament and strong passions of the orientals. to render the order of time more intelligible, and the more clearly to elucidate facts, this historical sketch will be divided in four principal epochs. the _first_ will extend from the commencement of the conquests of the arabs to the establishment of the dynasty of the ommiade princes at cordova: the _second_ will include the reigns of the caliphs of the west: in the _third_ will be related all that can now be ascertained concerning the various small kingdoms erected from the ruins of the caliphate of cordova: and the _fourth_ will comprehend a narration of the prominent events in the lives of the successive sovereigns of the kingdom of grenada, until the {xvii} period of the final expulsion of the mussulmans from that country. care has been taken to compare the dates according to the mohammedan method of computing time, with the periods fixed by the ordinary mode of arrangement. some of the spanish historians, garabai for instance, do not agree with the arabian chronologists in relation to the years of the hegira. i have thought proper to follow the arabian authorities, and have adopted, with occasional corrections, the chronological arrangements of m. cardonne, whose personal assurance i possess, that he attaches high importance to his calculations on this subject. i have thus reason to hope that this little work will serve to elucidate many points hitherto doubtful in relation to this matter. the proper names of the moors vary even more in the different authorities than their statements respecting the date of events, either in consequence of the difficulty of pronouncing them, or from ignorance of their proper {xviii} orthography. in instances of this character i have always given the preference to such as appeared to be most generally adopted, and were, at the same time, most harmonious in sound. { } a history of the moors of spain. first epoch. the conquests of the arabs or moors. _extending from the end of the sixth century to the middle of the eighth._ the primitive moors were the inhabitants of the vast portion of africa bounded on the east by egypt, on the north by the mediterranean, on the west by the atlantic, and on the south by the deserts of barbary. the origin of the moors, or mauritanians, is, like that of most other ancient nations, obscure, and the information we possess concerning their early history confusedly mingled with fables. the fact, however, appears to be established, that asiatic emigrations were, from the earliest times, made into africa. in addition to this, the { } historians of remote ages speak of a certain meleck yarfrick, king of arabia felix, who conducted a people called _sabaei_[ ] into libya, made himself master of that country, established his followers there, and gave it the name of africa. it is from these sabians or _sabaei_ that the principal moorish tribes pretend to trace their descent. the derivation of the name moors[ ] is also supposed, in some degree, to confirm the impression that they came originally from asia. but, without enlarging upon these ancient statements, let it suffice to say, that nearly certain ground exists for the belief that the original moors were arabians. in confirmation of this impression, we find that, during every period of the existence of their race, the descendants of the primitive inhabitants of mauritania have, like the arabs, been divided into distinct tribes, and, like them, have pursued a wild and wandering mode of existence. the moors of africa are known in ancient { } history under the name of nomades, numidae or numidians, getulae, and massyli. they were by turns the subjects, the enemies, or the allies of the carthaginians, and with them they fell under the dominion of the romans. after several unsuccessful revolts, to which they were instigated by their fiery, restless, and inconstant temper, the moors were at length subjugated by the vandals, a.d. . a century afterward these people were conquered by belisarius: but the greeks were in their turn subdued by the arabs, who then proceeded to achieve the conquest of mauritania. as, from the period when that event occurred, the mauritanians or moors, who were thus suddenly converted to mohammedanism, have frequently been confounded with the _native arabians_, it will be proper to say a few words concerning that extraordinary people: a people who, after occupying for so many centuries an insignificant place among the nations of the earth, rapidly rendered themselves masters of the greater part of the known world. the arabs are, beyond question, one of the most ancient races of men in existence;[ ] and { } have, of all others, perhaps, best preserved their national independence, and their distinctive character and manners. divided from the most remote times into tribes that either wandered in the desert or were collected together in cities, and obedient to chiefs who in the same person united the warrior and the magistrate, they have never been subjected to foreign domination. the persians, the romans, and the macedonians vainly attempted to subdue them: they only shattered their weapons in fragments against the rocks of the nabatheans.[ ] proud of an origin which he traced back even to the patriarchs of olden time, exulting in his successful defence of his liberty and his rights, the arab, from the midst of his deserts, regarded the rest of mankind as consisting of mere bands of slaves, changing masters as chance or { } convenience directed. brave, temperate, and indefatigable, inured from infancy to the severest toil, fearing neither thirst, hunger, nor death itself--these were a people by whose assistance a leader suitably endowed could render himself master of the world. mohammed appeared:[ ] to him nature had accorded the requisite qualifications for executing such a design. courageous, sagacious, eloquent, polished, possessed in an eminent degree of the powers which both awe and delight mankind, mohammed would have been a great man had he belonged to the most enlightened age--among an ignorant and fanatical people he became a prophet. until mohammed arose among them, the arab tribes, surrounded by jews, christians, and idolaters, had entertained a superstitious faith, compounded of the religious belief of their various neighbours and that of the ancient sabaei. they fully credited the existence of genii, demons, and witchcraft, adored the stars, and offered idolatrous sacrifices. but mohammed--after having devoted many years to profound and solitary meditation upon the new dogmas he designed to establish; after having either convinced { } or won to his interests the principal individuals of his own family,[ ] possessing pre-eminent consequence among their countrymen--suddenly began to preach a new religion, opposed to all those with which the arabs were hitherto familiar, and whose principles were well-adapted to inflame the ardent temper of that excitable people. children of ishmael, said the prophet to them, i bring you the faith that was professed by your father abraham, by noah, and by all the patriarchs. there is but one god, the sovereign ruler of all worlds: he is called the merciful; worship him alone. be beneficent towards orphans, slaves, captives, and the poor: be just to all men--justice is the sister of piety. pray and bestow alms. you will be rewarded in heaven, by being permitted to dwell perpetually in delicious gardens, where limpid waters will for ever flow, and where each one of you will eternally enjoy the companionship of women who will be ever beautiful, ever youthful, ever devoted to you alone. courageously combat both the unbelieving and the impious. oppose them until they { } embrace islamism[ ] or render you tribute. every soldier who dies in battle will share the treasures of god; nor can the coward prolong his life; for the moment when he is destined to be smitten by the angel of death is written in the book of the eternal. such precepts, announced in majestic and highly figurative language, embellished with the charms of verse, and presented by a warrior, prophet, poet, and legislator, professing to be the representative of an angel, to the most susceptible people in the world--to a people possessing a passion alike for the marvellous and the voluptuous, for heroism and for poetry--could scarcely fail to find disciples. converts rapidly crowded around mohammed, and their numbers were soon augmented by persecution. his enemies obliged the prophet to fly from his native mecca and take refuge in medina. this flight was the epoch of his glory and of the hegira of the mussulmans. it occurred a.d. . from this moment islamism spread like a torrent over the arabias and ethiopia. in vain did the jewish and idolatrous tribes attempt to maintain their ancient faith; in vain did mecca { } arm her soldiers against the destroyers of her gods; mohammed, sword in hand, dispersed their armies, seized upon their cities, and won the affections of the people whom he subdued, by his clemency, his genius, and his fascinating address. a legislator, a pontiff, the chief of all the arab tribes, the commander of an invincible army, respected by the asiatic sovereigns, adored by a powerful nation, and surrounded by captains who had become heroes in serving under him, mohammed was on the point of marching against heraclius, when his designs were for ever interrupted by the termination of his existence. this event took place at medina, a.d. , hegira , and was the effect of poison, which had, some time before, been administered to this extraordinary man by a jewess of rhaibar. the death of the prophet arrested neither the progress of his religion nor the triumphs of the moslem arms. abubeker, the father-in-law of mohammed, became his successor, and assumed the title of _caliph_, which simply signifies _vicar_. during his reign the saracens penetrated into syria, dispersed the armies of heraclius, and took the { } city of damascus, the siege of which will be for ever celebrated in consequence of the almost superhuman exploits of the famous kaled, surnamed the _sword of god_.[ ] notwithstanding these successive victories, and the enormous amount of booty thus taken from the enemy and committed to his keeping, abubeker appropriated to his own particular use a sum scarcely equivalent to forty cents a day. omar, the successor of abubeker, commanded kaled to march against jerusalem. that city soon became the prize of the arabs; syria and palestine were subdued; the turks and the persians demanded peace; heraclius fled from antioch; and all asia trembled before omar and the terrible mussulmans. modest, in spite of the triumphs that everywhere attended them, and attributing their success to god alone, these moslems preserved unaltered their austere manners, their frugality, their severe discipline, and their reverence for poverty, though surrounded by the most corrupt of the nations of the earth, and exposed to the seductive influences of the delicious climates and the luxurious pleasures of some of the richest and most { } beautiful countries in the world. during the sacking of a city, the most eager and impetuous soldier would be instantly arrested in the work of pillage by the word of his chief, and would, with the strictest fidelity, deliver up the booty he had obtained, that it might be deposited in the general treasury. even the most independent and magnificent of the heroic chiefs would hasten, in accordance with the directions of the caliph, to take the command of an army, and would become successively generals, private soldiers, or ambassadors, in obedience to his slightest wish. in fine, omar himself--omar, the richest, the greatest, the most puissant of the monarchs of asia, set forward upon a journey to jerusalem; mounted upon a red camel, which bore a sack of barley, one of rice, a well-filled water-skin, and a wooden vase. thus equipped, the caliph travelled through the midst of conquered nations, who crowded around his path at every step, entreating his blessing and praying him to adjudge their quarrels. at last he joined his army, and, inculcating precepts of simplicity, valour, and humility upon the soldiers, he made his entrance into the holy city, liberated such of its former christian possessors as had become { } the captives of his people, and commanded the preservation of the churches. then remounting his camel, the representative of the prophet returned to medina, to perform the duties of the high-priest of his religion. the mussulmans now advanced towards egypt. that country was soon subdued. alexandrea was taken by amrou, one of the most distinguished generals of omar. it was then that the famous library was destroyed, whose loss still excites the profound regrets of the learned. the arabians, though such enthusiastic admirers of their national poetry, despised the literature of all the rest of the world. amrou caused the library of the ptolemies to be burned, yet this same amrou was nevertheless celebrated for his poetical effusions. he entertained the sincerest affection and respect for the celebrated john the grammarian, to whom, but for the opposing order of the caliph, he would have given this valuable collection of books. it was amrou, too, who caused the execution of a design worthy of the best age of rome, that of connecting the red sea with the mediterranean by means of a navigable canal, at a point where the waters of the nile might be diverted from { } their course for its supply. this canal, so useful to egypt, and so important to the commerce of both europe and asia, was accomplished in a few months. the turks, in more modern times, have suffered it to be destroyed. amrou continued to advance into africa, while the other arabian commanders passed the euphrates and conquered the persians. but omar was already no more, and othman occupied his place. it was during the reign of this caliph that the saracens, banishing for ever its enfeebled greek masters, conquered mauritania, or the country of the moors of africa, a.d. , heg. . the invaders met with serious resistance only from the warlike tribes of the bereberes.[ ] that bold and pastoral people, the descendants of the ancient inhabitants of numidia, and preserving, even to this day, a species of independence, intrenched as they are in the atlas mountains, long and successfully resisted the conquerors of the moors. a moslem general named akba finally succeeded in subjugating them, and in compelling them to adopt the laws and faith of his country. { } after that achievement akba carried his arms to the extreme western point of africa, the ocean alone resisting him in his progress. there, inspired by courage and devotion with feelings of the highest enthusiasm, he forced his horse into the waves, and, drawing his sabre, cried, "god of mohammed, thou beholdest that, but for the element which arrests me, i would have proceeded in search of unknown nations, whom i would have forced to adore thy name!" until this epoch, the moors, under the successive dominion of the carthaginians, the romans, the vandals, and the greeks, had taken but little interest in the affairs of their different masters. wandering in the deserts, they occupied themselves chiefly with the care of their flocks; paid the arbitrary imposts levied upon them, sometimes passively enduring the oppression of their rulers, and sometimes essaying to break their chains; taking refuge, after each defeat of their efforts, in the atlas mountains, or in the interior of their country. their religion was a mixture of christianity and idolatry; their manners those of the enslaved nomades: rude, ignorant, and wretched, { } their condition was the prototype of what it now is under the tyrants of morocco. but the presence of the arabs rapidly produced a great change among these people. a common origin with that of their new masters, together with similarity of language and temperament, contributed to bind the conquered to their conquerors. the announcement of a religion which had been preached by a descendant of ishmael, whom the moors regarded as their father; the rapid conquests of the mussulmans, who were already masters of half of asia and a large portion of africa, and who threatened to enslave the world, aroused the excitable imaginations of the moors, and restored to their national character all its passionate energy. they embraced the dogmas of mohammed with transport; they united with the arabs, volunteered to serve under the moslem banners, and suddenly became simultaneously enamoured with islamism and with glory. this reunion, which doubled the military strength of the two united nations, was disturbed for some time by the revolt of the bereberes, who never yielded their liberty under any circumstances. { } the reigning caliph, valid the first, despatched into egypt moussa-ben-nazir, a judicious and valiant commander, at the head of a hundred thousand men, a.d. , heg. . moussa defeated the bereberes, restored quiet in mauritania, and seized upon tangier, which belonged to the goths of spain. master of an immense region of country, of a redoubtable army, and of a people who considered his supremacy as essential to their well-being, the saracen general from this period contemplated carrying his arms into spain. that beautiful kingdom, after having been successively under the yoke of the carthaginians and the romans, had finally become the prey of the barbarians. the alains, the suevi, and the vandals had divided its provinces among them; but euric, one of the visigoths, who entered the country from the south of gaul, had, towards the end of the fifth century, gained possession of the whole of spain, and transmitted it to his descendants. the softness of the climate, together with the effects of wealth and luxury, gradually enfeebled these conquerors, creating vices from which they had been previously free, and depriving { } them of the warlike qualities to which alone they had been indebted for their success. of the kings who succeeded euric, some were arians and others catholics, who abandoned their authority to the control of bishops, and occupied a throne shaken to its centre by internal disturbances. roderick, the last of these gothic sovereigns, polluted the throne by his vices; and both history and tradition accuse him of the basest crimes. indeed, in the instance of nearly all these tyrants, their vices either directly occasioned, or were made the pretext of their final ruin. the fact is well established, that count julian and his brother oppas, archbishop of toledo, both of them distinguished and influential men, favoured the irruption of the moors into spain. tarik, one of the most renowned captains of his time,[ ] was sent into spain by moussa. he had at first but few troops; but he was not by this prevented from defeating the large army that, by command of roderick, the last gothic king, opposed his course. subsequently, having received re-enforcements { } from africa, tarik vanquished roderick himself at the battle of xeres, where that unfortunate monarch perished during the general flight in which the conflict terminated, a.d. , heg. . after this battle, the mohammedan general, profiting by his victory, penetrated into estremadura, andalusia, and the two castiles, and took possession of the city of toledo. being soon after joined by moussa, whose jealousy of the glory his lieutenant was so rapidly acquiring prompted him to hasten to his side, these two remarkable commanders, dividing their troops into several corps, achieved, in a few months, the conquest of the whole of spain. it should be observed, that these moors, whom several historians have represented as bloodthirsty barbarians, did not deprive the people whom they had subjugated either of their faith, their churches, or the administrators of their laws. they exacted from the spaniards only the tribute they had been accustomed to pay their kings. one cannot but question the existence of the ferocity that is ascribed to them, when it is remembered that the greater part of the spanish cities submitted to the invaders { } without making the least attempt at resistance; that the christians readily united themselves with the moors; that the inhabitants of toledo desired to assume the name of _musarabs_; and that queen egilona, the widow of roderick, the last of the gothic sovereigns, publicly espoused, with the united consent of the two nations, abdelazis the son of moussa. moussa, whom the success of tarik had greatly exasperated, wishing to remove a lieutenant whose achievements eclipsed his own, preferred an accusation against him to the caliph. valid recalled them both, but refused to adjudge their difference, and suffered them to die at court from chagrin at seeing themselves forgotten. abdelazis, the husband of egilona, became governor of spain a.d. , heg. , but did not long survive his elevation. alahor, who succeeded him, carried his arms into gaul, subdued the warbonnais, and was preparing to push his conquests still farther, when he learned that pelagius, a prince of the blood-royal of the visigoths, had taken refuge in the mountains of asturia with a handful of devoted followers; that with them he dared to brave the conquerors of spain, and had formed the bold design of { } attempting to rid himself of their yoke. alahor sent some troops against him. pelagius, intrenched with his little army in the mountain gorges, twice gave battle to the mussulmans, seized upon several castles, and, reanimating the spirits of the christians, whose courage had been almost extinguished by so long a succession of reverses, taught the astonished spaniards that the moors were not invincible. the insurrection of pelagius occasioned the recall of alahor by the caliph omar ii. elzemah, his successor, was of opinion that the most certain means of repressing revolts among a people is to render them prosperous and contented. he therefore devoted himself to the wise and humane government of spain; to the regulation of imposts, until then quite arbitrary; and to quieting the discontents of the soldiery, and establishing their pay at a fixed rate. a lover of the fine arts, which the arabs began from that time to cultivate, elzemah embellished cordova, which was his capital, and attracted thither the _savans_ of the age. he was himself the author of a book containing a description of the cities, rivers, provinces, and ports of spain, of the metals, mines, and quarries it { } possesses; and, in short, of almost every object of interest either in science or government. but little disturbed by the insurrectionary movements of pelagius, whose power was confined to the possession of some inaccessible mountain fortresses, elzemah did not attempt to force him from his strongholds, but, impelled by the ardent desire of extending the moorish conquests into france, with which the governors of spain were ever inflamed, he passed the pyrenees, and perished in a battle fought against eudes, duke of aquitania, a.d. , heg. . during the remainder of the caliphate of yezid ii.,[ ] several governors followed each other in rapid succession after the death of elzemah.[ ] none of their actions merit recital, but, during this period, the brave pelagius aggrandized his petty state, advancing into the mountains of leon, and, in addition, making himself master of several towns. this hero, whose invincible daring roused the asturians and cantabrians to struggle for liberty, laid the foundations of that powerful monarchy { } whose warriors afterward pursued the moors even to the rocks of the atlas. the moslems, who dreamed only of new conquests, made no considerable efforts against pelagius: they were confident of checking his rebellion with the utmost ease when they should have accomplished the subjugation of the french dominions; and that desire alone fired the ardent soul of the new governor abdalrahman, or, as he is commonly called, abderamus. his love of glory, his valour, his genius, and, above all, his immeasurable ambition, made the mussulman governor regard this conquest as one that could be easily effected; but he himself was destined to be the vanquished. charles martel, the son of pepin d'heristel, and the grandfather of charlemagne, whose exploits effaced the recollection of those of his father, and whose fame was not eclipsed by that of his grandson, was at this time mayor of the palace, under the last princes of the first race; or, rather, charles was the real monarch of the french and german nations. eudes, duke of aquitania, the possessor of gascony and guienne, had long maintained a quarrel with the french hero. unable longer, { } without assistance, to resist his foe, he sought an alliance with a moor named munuza, who was the governor of catalonia and the secret enemy of abderamus. these two powerful vassals, both discontented with their respective sovereigns, and inspired as much by fear as dislike, united themselves in the closest bonds, in despite of the difference in their religious faith. the christian duke did not hesitate to give his daughter in marriage to his mohammedan ally, and the princess numerance espoused the moorish munuza, as queen egilona had espoused the moorish abdelazis. abderamus, when informed of this alliance, immediately divined the motives which had induced it. he soon assembled an army, penetrated with rapidity into catalonia, and attacked munuza, who was wounded in a fruitless endeavour to fly, and afterward perished by his own hand. his captive wife was conducted into the presence of the victorious governor abderamus, struck with her beauty, sent the fair numerance as a present to the caliph haccham, whose regard she elicited; and thus, by a singular chance, a princess of gascony became an inmate of the seraglio of a sovereign of damascus. { } not content with having so signally punished munuza, abderamus crossed the pyrenees, traversed navarre, entered guienne, and besieged and took the city of bordeaux. eudes attempted, at the head of an army, to arrest his progress, but was repelled in a decisive engagement. everything yielded to the mussulman arms: abderamus pursued his route, ravaged perigord, saintonge, and poitou, appeared in triumph in touraine, and paused only when within view of the streaming ensigns of charles martel. charles came to this rencounter followed by the forces of france, asturia, and bourgogne, and attended by the veteran warriors whom he was accustomed to lead to victory. the duke of aquitania was also in the camp. charles forgot his private injuries in the contemplation of the common danger: this danger was pressing: the fate of france and germany--indeed, of the whole of christendom, depended on the event of the approaching conflict. abderamus was a rival worthy of the son of pepin. flushed, like him, with the proud recollection of numerous victories; at the head of an innumerable army; surrounded by experienced captains, who had been the frequent { } witnesses of his martial triumphs; and long inspired with the warmest hopes of finally adding to the dominion of islamism the only country belonging to the ancient roman empire that still remained unsubdued by the saracens, the moorish leader met his brave foe, upon equal terms, on the battle-field of tours, a.d. , heg. . the action was long and bloody. abderamus was slain; and this dispiriting loss, without doubt, decided the defeat of his army.[ ] historians assert that more than three hundred thousand men perished. this statement is probably exaggerated; but it is certainly true, that the moors, who had thus penetrated into the midst of france, were relentlessly pursued after their defeat, and were many of them unable to escape from the army of the victors and the vengeance of the people. this memorable battle, of which we possess no details, saved france from the yoke of the arabs, and effectually arrested their spreading dominion. once again, subsequent to this reverse, the moors attempted to penetrate into france, and { } succeeded in seizing upon avignon; but charles martel defeated them anew, retook the captured city, drove them from narbonne, and deprived them forever of the hope with which they had so often flattered themselves. after the death of abderamus, spain was torn by dissensions between the two governors[ ] named successively by the caliph. a third pretender arrived from africa. a fourth added himself to the list;[ ] factions multiplied; the different parties often had recourse to arms; chiefs were assassinated, cities taken, and provinces ravaged. the details of these events are variously related by different historians, but possess little interest in the narrations of any. these civil wars lasted nearly twenty years. the christians, who had retired into asturia, profited by them to the utmost. alphonso i., the son-in-law and successor of pelagius, imitated the career of that hero. he seized upon a part of galicia and leon, repulsed the mussulman troops who were sent to oppose him, and rendered himself master of several towns. the moors, occupied by their domestic { } quarrels, neglected to arrest the progress of alphonso, and from that time the growth of a miniature kingdom commenced, whose interests were inimical to those of the saracens in spain. after many crimes and combats, a certain _joseph_ had succeeded in triumphing over his different rivals, and was at last reigning supreme in cordova, when there occurred a memorable event in the east, which was destined greatly to affect the condition of spain. from that period, a.d. , heg. , commences the second epoch of the empire of the moors of spain, which makes it necessary to revert briefly to the history of the eastern caliphs. [ ] the _sabaei_, according to the best ancient authorities, were the inhabitants of the extensive arabian kingdom of _saba_.--_translator_. [ ] the term moors, according to bochart, comes from a hebrew word, _mahuran_, which signifies western. [ ] it is scarcely necessary to remind the reader that these _children of the desert_ are supposed to be the lineal descendants of ishmael, the wandering, outcast son of the patriarch abraham and the much-abused hagar.--_translator_. [ ] the primitive name of the arabs, from _nabathaea_, an appellation for their country which is probably derived from _nabath_, the son of ishmael. the capital city of nabathaea was that _petra_, of whose present appearance and condition our eminent countryman, stephens, has given his readers so graphic a sketch in his "travels," &c.--_translator_. [ ] a.d. . [ ] the coheshirites, the guardians of the temple of the caaba at mecca. [ ] see note a, page . [ ] see note b, page . [ ] see note c, page . [ ] see note d, page . [ ] see note e, page . [ ] ambeza, azra, jahiah, osman, hazifa, hacchem, and mohammed. [ ] it was in this battle that charles acquired the title of _martel_, or the _hammer_. [ ] abdoulmelek and akbe. [ ] aboulattar and tevaba. { } second epoch. the kings of cordova become the caliphs of the west. _extending from the middle of the eighth to the commencement of the eleventh century._ we have seen that, under their first three caliphs, abubeker, omar, and othman, the arabian conquerors of syria, persia, and africa preserved their ancient manners, their simplicity of character, their obedience to the successors of the prophet, and their contempt for luxury and wealth: but what people could continue to withstand the influence of such an accumulation of prosperity? these resistless conquerors turned their weapons against each other: they forgot the virtues which had rendered them invincible, and assisted by their dissensions in dismembering the empire that their valour had created. the disastrous effects of the baneful spirit that had thus insidiously supplanted the original principles of union, moderation, and prudence, by which, as a nation, the moslems had been { } actuated, were first manifested in the assassination of the caliph othman. ali, the friend, companion, and adopted son of the prophet, whose courage, achievements, and relationship to mohammed, as the husband of his only daughter, had rendered him so dear to the mussulmans, was announced as the successor of othman. but moavias, the governor of syria, refused to recognise the authority of ali, and, under the guidance of the sagacious amrou, the conqueror of egypt, caused himself to be proclaimed caliph of damascus. upon this, the arabians divided: those of medina sustaining ali, and those of syria moavias. the first took the name of _alides_, the others styled themselves _ommiades_, deriving their denomination from the grandfather of moavias. such was the origin of the famous schism which still separates the turks and persians. though ali succeeded in vanquishing moavias in the field, he did not avail himself judiciously of the advantage afforded him by his victory. he was soon after assassinated,[ ] and the spirit and courage of his party vanished with the { } occurrence of that event. the sons of ali made efforts to reanimate the ardour of his partisans, but in vain. thus, in the midst of broils, revolts, and civil wars, the ommiades still remained in possession of the caliphate of damascus.[ ] it was during the reign of one of these princes, valid the first, that the arabian conquests extended in the east to the banks of the ganges, and in the west to the shores of the atlantic. the ommiades, however, were for the most part feeble, but they were sustained by able commanders, and the { } ancient valour of the moslem soldiers was not yet degenerated. after the ommiades had maintained their empire for the space of ninety-three years, mervan ii.,[ ] the last caliph of the race, was deprived of his throne and his life[ ] through the instrumentality of abdalla, a chief of the tribe of the abbassides, who were, like the ommiades, near relatives of mohammed. aboul-abbas, the nephew of abdalla, supplanted the former caliph. with him commenced the dynasty of the abbassides, so celebrated in the east for their love of science and their connexion with the names of haroun al raschid, almamon, and the bermasides.[ ] the abbassides retained the caliphate during five successive centuries.[ ] at the termination of { } that period, they were despoiled of their power by the tartar posterity of gengis khan, after { } having witnessed the establishment of a race of egyptian caliphs named _fatimites_, the pretended descendants of fatima, the daughter of mohammed. thus was the eastern empire of the arabs eventually destroyed: the descendants of ishmael returned to the country from which they had originally sprung, and gradually reverted to nearly the same condition as that in which they existed when the prophet arose among them. { } these events, from the founding of the dynasty of the abbassides, have been anticipated in point of time in the relation, because henceforth the history of spain is no longer intermingled with that of the east. after having dwelt briefly upon an event intimately connected as well with the establishment of the abbassides upon the moslem throne as with the history of spain, we will enter continuously upon the main subject of our work. to return, then, for a moment, to the downfall of the ommiade caliphs. when the cruel abdalla had placed his nephew, aboul-abbas, on the throne of the caliphs of damascus, he formed the horrible design of exterminating the ommiades. these princes were very numerous. with the arabs, among whom polygamy is permitted, and where numerous offspring are regarded as the peculiar gift of heaven, it is not unusual to find several thousand individuals belonging to the same family. abdalla, despairing of effecting the destruction of the race of his enemies, dispersed as they were by terror, published a general amnesty to all the ommiades who should present themselves before him on a certain day. those ill-fated { } people, confiding in the fulfilment of his solemn promises, hastened to seek safety at the feet of abdalla. the monster, when they were all assembled, caused his soldiers to surround them, and then commanded them all to be butchered in his presence. after this frightful massacre, abdalla ordered the bloody bodies to be ranged side by side in close order, and then to be covered with boards spread with persian carpets. upon this horrible table he caused a magnificent feast to be served to his officers. one shudders at the perusal of such details, but they serve to portray the character of this oriental conqueror. a solitary ommiade escaped the miserable fate of his brethren; a prince named abderamus. a fugitive wanderer, he reached egypt, and concealed himself in the solitary recesses of its inhospitable deserts. the moors of spain, faithful to the ommiades, though their governor joseph had recognised the authority of the abbassides, had no sooner learned that there existed in egypt a scion of the illustrious family to which they still retained their attachment, than they secretly sent deputies to offer him their crown. abderamus foresaw the { } obstacles with which he would be compelled to struggle, but, guided by the impulses of a soul whose native greatness had been strengthened and purified by adversity, he did not hesitate to accept the proposal of the moors. the ommiade prince arrived in the peninsula a.d. , heg. . he speedily gained the hearts of his new subjects, assembled an army, took possession of seville, and, soon after, marched towards cordova, the capital of mussulman spain. joseph, in the name of the abbassides, vainly attempted to oppose his progress. the governor was vanquished and cordova taken, together with several other cities. abderamus was now not only the acknowledged king of spain, but was proclaimed _caliph of the west_ a.d. , heg. . during the supremacy of the ommiades in the empire of the east, spain had continued to be ruled by governors sent thither from asia by those sovereigns; but it was now permanently separated from the great arabian empire, and elevated into a powerful and independent state, acknowledging no farther allegiance to the asiatic caliphs either in civil or religious matters. thus was the control hitherto exercised over the { } affairs of spain by the oriental caliphs forever wrested from them by the last surviving individual of that royal race whom abdalla had endeavoured to exterminate. abderamus the first established the seat of his new greatness at cordova. he was not long allowed peacefully to enjoy it, however. revolts instigated by the abbassides, incursions into catalonia by the french, and wars with the kings of leon,[ ] incessantly demanded his attention; but his courage and activity gained the ascendency even over such numerous enemies. he maintained his throne with honour, and merited his beautiful surname of _the just_. abderamus cultivated and cherished the fine arts, even in the midst of the difficulties and dangers by which he was surrounded. it was he who first established schools at cordova for the study of astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and grammar. he was also a poet, and was considered the most eloquent man of his age. this first caliph of the west adorned and fortified his capital, erected a superb palace, which he surrounded by beautiful gardens, and commenced the construction of a grand mosque, the { } remains of which continue even at this day to excite the admiration of the traveller. this monument of magnificence was completed during the reign of hacchem, the son and successor of abderamus. it is thought that the spaniards have not preserved more than one half of the original structure, yet it is now six hundred feet long and two hundred wide, and is supported by more than three hundred columns of alabaster, jasper, and marble. formerly there were twenty-four doors of entrance, composed of bronze covered with sculptures of gold; and nearly five thousand lamps nightly served to illuminate this magnificent edifice. in this mosque the caliphs of cordova each friday conducted the worship of the people, that being the day consecrated to religion by the precepts of mohammed. thither all the mussulmans of spain made pilgrimages, as those of the east resorted to the temple at mecca. there they celebrated, with great solemnity, the fête of the great and the lesser beiram, which corresponds with the passover of the jews; that of the newyear, and that of miloud, or the anniversary of the birth of mohammed. each of these festivals lasted for eight days. during that time { } all labour ceased, the people sent presents to each other, exchanged visits, and offered sacrifices. disunited families, forgetting their differences, pledged themselves to future concord, and consummated their renewed amity by delivering themselves up to the enjoyment of every pleasure permitted by the laws of the koran. at night the city was illuminated, the streets were festooned with flowers, and the promenades and public places resounded with the melody of various musical instruments. the more worthily to celebrate the occasion, alms were lavishly distributed by the wealthy, and the benedictions of the poor mingled with the songs of rejoicing that everywhere ascended around them. abderamus, having imbibed with his oriental education a fondness for these splendid fêtes, first introduced a taste for them into spain. uniting, in his character of caliph, the civil and the sacerdotal authority in his own person, he regulated the religious ceremonies on such occasions, and caused them to be celebrated with all the pomp and magnificence displayed under similar circumstances by the sovereigns of damascus. though the caliph of cordova was the enemy { } of the christians, and numbered many of them among his subjects, he refrained from persecuting them, but deprived the bishoprics of their religious heads and the churches of their priests, and encouraged marriages between the moors and spaniards. by these means the sagacious moslem inflicted more injury upon the true religion than could have been effected by the most rigorous severity. under the reign of abderamus, the successors of pelagius, still retaining possession of asturia, though weakened by the internal dissensions that already began to prevail among them, were forced to submit to the payment of the humiliating tribute of a hundred young females, abderamus refusing to grant them peace except at this price. master of entire spain, from catalonia to the two seas, the first caliph died a.d. , heg. , after a glorious reign of thirty years, leaving the crown to his son hacchem, the third of his eleven sons. after the death of abderamus the empire was disturbed by revolts, and by wars between the new caliph and his brothers, his uncles, or other princes of the royal blood. these civil wars { } were inevitable under a despotic government, where not even the order of succession to the throne was regulated by law. to be an aspirant to the supreme authority of the state, it was sufficient to belong to the royal race; and as each of the caliphs, almost without exception, left numerous sons, all these princes became the head of a faction, every one of them established himself in some city, and, declaring himself its sovereign, took up arms in opposition to the authority of the caliph. from this arose the innumerable petty states that were created, annihilated, and raised again with each change of sovereigns. thus also originated the many instances of conquered, deposed, or murdered kings, that make the history of the moors of spain so difficult of methodical arrangement and so monotonous in the perusal. hacchem, and, after him, his son abdelazis-el-hacchem retained possession of the caliphate notwithstanding these unceasing dissensions. the former finished the beautiful mosque commenced by his father, and carried his arms into france, in which kingdom his generals penetrated as far as narbonne. the latter, abdelazis-el-hacchem less fortunate than his predecessor, did not { } succeed in opposing the spaniards and his refractory subjects with unvarying success. his existence terminated in the midst of national difficulties, and his son abderamus became his successor. abderamus ii. was a great monarch, notwithstanding the fact that, during his reign, the power of the christians began to balance that of the moors. the christians had taken advantage of the continual divisions which prevailed among their former conquerors. alphonso the chaste, king of asturia, a valiant and politic monarch, had extended his dominions and refused to pay the tribute of the hundred young maidens. ramir, the successor of alphonso, maintained this independence, and several times defeated the mussulmans. navarre became a kingdom, and aragon had its independent sovereigns, and was so fortunate as to possess a government that properly respected the rights of the people.[ ] the governors of catalonia, until then subjected to the kings of france, took advantage of the feebleness of louis le debonnaire to render themselves independent. in fine, all the north of spain declared itself in opposition to the moors, { } and the south became a prey to the irruptions of the normans. abderamus defended himself against all these adversaries, and obtained, by his warlike talents, the surname of _elmonzaffer_, which signifies _the victorious_. and, though constantly occupied by the cares of government and of successive wars, this monarch afforded encouragement to the fine arts, embellished his capital by a new mosque, and caused to be erected a superb aqueduct, from which water was carried in leaden pipes throughout the city in the utmost abundance. abderamus possessed a soul capable of enjoying the most refined and elevated pleasures. he attracted to his court poets and philosophers, with whose society he frequently delighted himself; thus cultivating in his own person the talents he encouraged in others. he invited from the east the famous musician ali-zeriab, who established himself in spain through the beneficence of the caliph, and originated the celebrated school[ ] whose pupils afterward afforded such delight to the oriental world. the natural ferocity of the moslems yielded to the influence of the chivalrous example of { } the caliph, and cordova became, under the dominion of abderamus, the home of taste and pleasure, as well as the chosen abode of science and the arts. a single anecdote will serve to illustrate the tenderness and generosity that so strongly characterized this illustrious descendant of the ommiades. one day a favourite female slave left her master's presence in high displeasure, and, retiring to her apartment, vowed that, sooner than open the door for the admittance of abderamus, she would suffer it to be walled up. the chief eunuch, alarmed at this discourse, which he regarded as almost blasphemous, hastened to prostrate himself before the prince of believers, and to communicate to him the horrible purpose of the rebellious slave. abderamus smiled at the resolution of the offended beauty, and commanded the eunuch to cause a wall composed of pieces of coin to be erected before the door of her retreat, and avowed his intention not to pass this barrier until the fair slave should have voluntarily demolished it, by possessing herself of the materials of which it was formed. the { } historian[ ] adds, that the same evening the caliph entered the apartments of the appeased favourite without opposition. this prince left forty-five sons and nearly as many daughters. mohammed, the eldest of his sons, succeeded him, a.d. , heg. . the reigns of mohammed and his successors, almanzor and abdalla, offer to the historian nothing for a period of fifty years but details of an uninterrupted continuation of troubles, civil wars, and revolts, by which the governors of the principal cities sought to render themselves independent. alphonso the great, king of asturia, profited by these dissensions the more effectually to confirm his own power. the normans, from another side, ravaged andalusia anew. toledo, frequently punished, but ever rebellious, often possessed local sovereigns. saragossa imitated the example of toledo. the authority of the caliphs was weakened, and their empire, convulsed in every part, seemed on the point of dissolution, when abderamus iii., the nephew of abdalla, ascended the throne of cordova, and restored for some time its pristine splendour and power, a.d. , heg. . { } this monarch, whose name, so dear to the moslems, seemed to be an auspicious omen, took the title of _emir-al-mumenin_, which signifies _prince of true believers_. victory attended the commencement of his reign; the rebels, whom his predecessors had been unable to reduce to submission, were defeated; factions were dissipated, and peace and order re-established. being attacked by the christians soon after he had assumed the crown, abderamus applied for assistance to the moors of africa. he maintained long wars against the kings of leon and the counts of castile, who wrested madrid, then a place of comparative insignificance, from him, a.d. , heg. . often attacked and sometimes overcome, but always great and redoubtable notwithstanding occasional reverses, abderamus knew how to repair his losses, and avail himself to the utmost of his good fortune. a profound statesman, and a brave and skilful commander, he fomented divisions among the spanish princes, carried his arms frequently into the very centre of their states, and, having established a navy, seized, in addition, upon ceuta and seldjemessa on the african coast. { } notwithstanding the incessant wars which occupied him during the whole of his reign, the enormous expense to which he was subjected by the maintenance of his armies and his naval force, and the purchase of military assistance from africa, emir-al-mumenim supported a luxury and splendour at his court, the details of which would seem to be the mere creations of the imagination, were they not attested by every historian of the time. the contemporary greek emperor, constantine xi., wishing to oppose an enemy capable of resisting their power, to the abbassides of bagdad, sent ambassadors to cordova to form an alliance with abderamus. the caliph of the west, flattered that christians should come from so distant a part of the world to request his support, signalized the occasion by the display of a gorgeous pomp which rivalled that of the most splendid asiatic courts. he sent a suit of attendants to receive the ambassadors at jean. numerous corps of cavalry, magnificently mounted and attired, awaited their approach to cordova, and a still more brilliant display of infantry lined the avenues to the palace. the courts were covered with the most { } superb persian and egyptian carpets, and the walls hung with cloth of gold. the caliph, blazing with brilliants, and seated on a dazzling throne, surrounded by his family, his viziers, and a numerous train of courtiers, received the greek envoys in a hall in which all his treasures were displayed. the _hadjeb_, a dignitary whose office among the moors corresponded to that of the ancient french _mayors of the palace_, introduced the ambassadors. they prostrated themselves before abderamus in amazement at the splendour of this array, and presented to the moorish sovereign the letter of constantine, written on blue parchment and enclosed in a box of gold. the caliph signed the treaty, loaded the imperial messengers with presents, and ordered that a numerous suite should accompany them even to the walls of constantinople. abderamus iii., though unceasingly occupied either by war or politics, was all his life enamoured of one of his wives named zahra.[ ] he built a city for her two miles distant from cordova, which he named zahra. this place is now destroyed. it was situated { } at the base of a high mountain, from which flowed numerous perpetual streams, whose waters ran in all directions through the streets of the city, diffusing health and coolness in their course, and forming ever-flowing fountains in the centre of the public places. the houses, each built after the same model, were surmounted by terraces and surrounded by gardens adorned with groves of orange, laurel, and lime, and in which the myrtle, the rose, and the jasmine mingled in pleasing confusion with all the varied productions of that sunny and delicious clime. the statue of the beautiful zahra[ ] was conspicuously placed over the principal gate of this city of love. but the attractions of the city were totally eclipsed by those of the fairy-like palace of the favourite. abderamus, as the ally of their imperial master, demanded the assistance of the most accomplished of the greek architects; and the sovereign of constantinople, which was at that time the chosen home of the fine arts, eagerly complied with his desires, and sent the caliph, in addition, forty columns of granite of the rarest and most beautiful workmanship. independent { } of these magnificent columns, there were employed in the construction of this palace more than twelve hundred others, formed of spanish and italian marble. the walls of the apartment named the _saloon of the caliphate_, were covered with ornaments of gold; and from the mouths of several animals, composed of the same metal, gushed jets of water that fell into an alabaster fountain, above which was suspended the famous pearl that the emperor leo had presented to the caliph as a treasure of inestimable value. in the pavilion where the mistress of this enchanting abode usually passed the evening with the royal moor, the ceiling was composed of gold and burnished steel, incrusted with precious stones. and in the resplendent light reflected from these brilliant ornaments by a hundred crystal lustres, flashed the waters of a fountain, formed like a sheaf of grain, from polished silver, whose delicate spray was received again by the alabaster basin from whose centre it sprung. the reader might hesitate to believe these recitals; might suppose himself perusing oriental tales, or that the author was indebted for his history to the _thousand and one nights_, were { } not the facts here detailed attested by the arabian writers, and corroborated by foreign authors of unquestionable veracity. it is true that the architectural magnificence, the splendid pageantry, the pomp of power that characterized the reign of this illustrious saracenic king, resembled nothing with which we are now familiar; but the incredulous questioners of their former existence might be asked whether, had the pyramids of egypt been destroyed by an earthquake, they would now credit historians who should give us the exact dimensions of those stupendous structures? the writers from whom are derived the details that have been given concerning the court of the spanish mussulmans, mention also the sums expended in the erection of the palace and city of zahra. the cost amounted annually to three hundred thousand dinars of gold,[ ] and twenty-five years hardly sufficed for the completion of this princely monument of chivalrous devotion. { } to these enormous expenditures should be added the maintenance of a seraglio, in which the women, the slaves, and the black and white eunuchs amounted to the number of six thousand persons. the officers of the court, and the horses destined for their use, were in equally lavish proportion. the royal guard alone was composed of twelve thousand cavaliers. when it is remembered, that, from being continually at war with the spanish princes, abderamus was obliged to keep numerous armies incessantly on foot, to support a naval force, frequently to hire stipendiaries from africa, and to fortify and preserve in a state of defence the ever-endangered fortresses on his frontiers, it is hardly possible to comprehend how his revenues sufficed for the supply of such immense and varied demands. but his resources were equally immense and varied; and the sovereign of cordova was perhaps the richest and most powerful monarch then in europe.[ ] he held possession of portugal, andalusia, the kingdom of grenada, mercia, valencia, and the greater part of new-castile, the most beautiful and fertile countries of spain. { } these provinces were at that time extremely populous, and the moors had attained the highest perfection in agriculture. historians assure us, that there existed on the shores of the guadalquiver twelve thousand villages; and that a traveller could not proceed through the country without encountering some hamlet every quarter of an hour. there existed in the dominions of the caliph eighty great cities, three hundred of the second order, and an infinite number of smaller towns. cordova, the capital of the kingdom, enclosed within its walls two hundred thousand houses and nine hundred public baths. all this prosperity was reversed by the expulsion of the moors from the peninsula. the reason is apparent: the moorish conquerors of spain did not persecute their vanquished foes; the spaniards, when they had subdued the moors, oppressed and banished them. the revenues of the caliphs of cordova are represented to have amounted annually to twelve millions and forty-five thousand dinars of gold.[ ] independent of this income in money, many imposts were paid in the products of the soil; and among an industrious agricultural { } population, possessed of the most fertile country in the world, this rural wealth was incalculable. the gold and silver mines, known in spain from the earliest times, were another source of wealth. commerce, too, enriched alike the sovereign and the people. the commerce of the moors was carried on in many articles: silks, oils, sugar, cochineal, iron, wool (which was at that time extremely valuable), ambergris, yellow amber, loadstone, antimony, isinglass, rock-crystal, sulphur, saffron, ginger, the product of the coral-beds on the coast of andalusia, of the pearl fisheries on that of catalonia, and rubies, of which they had discovered two localities, one at malaga and another at beja. these valuable articles were, either before or after being wrought, transported to egypt or other parts of africa, and to the east. the emperors of constantinople, always allied from necessity to the caliphs of cordova, favoured these commercial enterprises, and, by their countenance, assisted in enlarging, to a vast extent, the field of their operations; while the neighbourhood of africa, italy, and france contributed also to their prosperity. the arts, which are the children of commerce, and support the existence of their parent, added { } a new splendour to the brilliant reign of abderamus. the superb palaces he erected, the delicious gardens he created, and the magnificent fêtes he instituted, drew to his court from all parts architects and artists of every description. cordova was the home of industry and the asylum of the sciences. celebrated schools of geometry, astronomy, chymistry, and medicine were established there--schools which, a century afterward, produced such men as averroes and abenzoar. so distinguished were the learned moorish poets, philosophers, and physicians, that alphonso the great, king of asturia, wishing to confide the care of his son ordogno to teachers capable of conducting the education of a prince, appointed him two arabian preceptors, notwithstanding the difference of religious faith, and the hatred entertained by the christians towards the mussulmans. and one of the successors of alphonso, sancho the great, king of leon, being attacked by a disease which it was supposed would prove fatal in its effects, went unhesitatingly to cordova, claimed the hospitality of his national enemy, and placed himself under the care of the mohammedan physicians, who eventually succeeded in curing the malady of the christian king. { } this singular fact does as much honour to the skill of the learned saracens as to the magnanimity of the caliph and the trusting confidence of sancho. such was the condition of the caliphate of cordova under the dominion of abderamus iii. he occupied the throne fifty years, and we have seen with what degree of honour to himself and benefit to his people. perhaps nothing will better illustrate the superiority of this prince to monarchs generally than the following fragment, which was found, traced by his own hand, among his papers after his death. "fifty years have passed away since i became caliph. riches, honours, pleasures, i have enjoyed them all: i am satiated with them all. rival kings respect me, fear, and envy me. all that the heart of man can desire. heaven has lavishly bestowed on me. in this long period of seeming felicity i have estimated the number of days during which i have enjoyed _perfect happiness_: they amount to _fourteen_! mortals, learn to appreciate greatness, the world, and human life!" the successor of this monarch was his eldest { } son, aboul-abbas el hakkam, who assumed, like his father, the title of _emir-al-mumenim_. the coronation of el hakkam was celebrated with great pomp in the city of zahra. the new caliph there received the oath of fidelity from the chiefs of the scythe guard, a numerous and redoubtable corps, composed of strangers, which abderamus iii. had formed. the brothers and relations of el hakkam, the viziers and their chief, the _hadjeb_, the white and black eunuchs, the archers and cuirassiers of the guard, all swore obedience to the monarch. these ceremonies were followed by the funeral honours of abderamus, whose body was carried to cordova, and there deposited in the tomb of his ancestors. aboul-abbas el hakkam, equally wise with his father, but less warlike than he, enjoyed greater tranquillity during his reign. his was the dominion of justice and peace. the success and vigilance of abderamus had extinguished, for a time, the spirit of revolt, and prepared the way for the continued possession of these great national blessings. divided among themselves, the christian kings entertained no designs of disturbing their infidel neighbours. { } the truce that existed between the mussulmans and castile and leon was broken but once during the life of el hacchem. the caliph then commanded his army in person, and completed a glorious campaign, taking several cities from the spaniards, and convincing them, by his achievements, of the policy of future adherence to the terms of their treaty with their saracen opponents. during the remainder of his reign the moorish sovereign applied himself wholly to promoting the happiness of his subjects, to the cultivation of science, to the collection of an extensive library, and, above all, to enforcing a strict observance of the laws. the laws of the moors were few and simple. it does not appear that there existed among them any civil laws apart from those incorporated with their religious code. jurisprudence was reduced to the application of the principles contained in the koran. the caliph, as the supreme head of their religion, possessed the power of interpreting these principles; but even he would not have ventured to violate them. at least as often as once a week, he publicly gave audience to his subjects, listened to their { } complaints, examined the guilty, and, without quitting the tribunal, caused punishment to be immediately inflicted. the governors placed by the sovereign over the different cities and provinces, commanded the military force belonging to each, collected the public revenues, superintended the administration of the police, and adjudged the offences committed within their respective governments. public officers well versed in the laws discharged the functions of notaries, and gave a juridical form to records relating to the possession of property. when any lawsuits arose, magistrates called _cadis_, whose authority was respected both by the king and the people, could alone decide them. these suits were speedily determined; lawyers and attorneys were unknown, and there was no expense nor chicanery connected with them. each party pleaded his cause in person, and the decrees of the cadi were immediately executed. criminal jurisprudence was scarcely more complicated. the moors almost invariably resorted to the _punishment of retaliation_ prescribed by the founder of their religion. in truth, the wealthy were permitted to exonerate themselves from the charge of bloodshed by the aid { } of money; but it was necessary that the relations of the deceased should consent to this: the caliph himself would not have ventured to withhold the head of one of his own sons who had been guilty of homicide, if its delivery had been inexorably insisted upon. this simple code would not have sufficed had not the unlimited authority exercised by fathers over their children, and husbands over their wives, supplied the deficiencies of the laws. with regard to this implicit obedience on the part of a family to the will of its chief, the moors preserved the ancient patriarchal customs of their ancestors. every father possessed, under his own roof, rights nearly equal to those of the caliph. he decided, without appeal, the quarrels of his wives and those of his sons: he punished with severity the slightest faults, and even possessed the power of punishing certain crimes with death. age alone conferred this supremacy. an old man was always an object of reverence. his presence arrested disorders: the most haughty young man cast down his eyes at meeting him, and listened patiently to his reproofs. in short, the possessor of a white beard { } was everywhere invested with the authority of a magistrate. this authority, which was more powerful among the moors than that of their laws, long subsisted unimpaired at cordova. that the wise hacchem did nothing to enfeeble it, may be judged from the following illustration. a poor woman of zahra possessed a small field contiguous to the gardens of the caliph. el hacchem, wishing to erect a pavilion there, directed that the owner should be requested to dispose of it to him. but the woman refused every remuneration that was offered her, and declared that she would never sell the heritage of her ancestry. the king was, doubtless, not informed of the obstinacy of this woman; but the superintendent of the palace gardens, a minister worthy of a despotic sovereign, forcibly seized upon the field, and the pavilion was built. the poor woman hastened in despair to cordova, to relate the story of her misfortune to the cadi bechir, and to consult him respecting the course she should pursue. the cadi thought that the prince of true believers had no more right than any other man to possess himself by violence of the property of another; and he endeavoured to { } discover some means of recalling to his recollection a truth which the best of rulers will sometimes forget. one day, as the moorish sovereign was surrounded by his court in the beautiful pavilion built on the ground belonging to the poor woman, the cadi bechir presented himself before him, seated on an ass, and carrying in his hand a large sack. the astonished caliph demanded his errand. "prince of the faithful!" replied bechir, "i come to ask permission of thee to fill this sack with the earth upon which thou standest." the caliph cheerfully consented to this desire, and the cadi filled his sack with the earth. he then left it standing, and, approaching his sovereign, entreated him to crown his goodness by aiding him in loading his ass with its burden. el hacchem, amused by the request, yielded to it, and attempted to raise the sack. scarcely able to move it, he let it fall again, and, laughing, complained of its enormous weight. "prince of believers!" said bechir then, with impressive gravity, "this sack, which thou findest so heavy, contains, nevertheless, but a small portion of the field thou hast usurped from one of thy subjects; how wilt thou sustain the weight { } of this entire field when thou shalt appear in the presence of the great judge charged with this iniquity?" the caliph, struck with this address, embraced the cadi, thanked him, acknowledged his fault, and immediately restored to the poor woman the field of which she had been despoiled, together with the pavilion and everything it contained. the praise due to a despotic sovereign capable of such an action, is inferior only to that which should be accorded to the cadi who induced him to perform it. after reigning twelve years, el hakkam died, a.d. , heg. . his son hacchem succeeded him. this prince was an infant when he ascended the throne, and his intellectual immaturity continued through life. during and after his minority, a celebrated moor named mohammed almanzor, being invested with the important office of _hadjeb_, governed the state with wisdom and success. almanzor united to the talents of a statesman the genius of a great commander. he was the most formidable and fatal enemy with whom the christians had yet been obliged to contend. he { } ruled the moorish empire twenty-six years under the name of the indolent hacchem. more than fifty different times he carried the terrors of war into castile or asturia: he took and sacked the cities of barcelona and leon, and advanced even to compostella, destroying its famous church and carrying the spoils to cordova. the genius and influence of mohammed temporarily restored the moors to their ancient strength and energy, and forced the whole peninsula to respect the rights of his feeble master, who, like another sardanapalus, dreamed away his life in the enjoyment of effeminate and debasing pleasures.[ ] but this was the last ray of unclouded splendour that shone upon the empire of the ommiades in spain. the kings of leon and navarre, and the count of castile, united their forces for the purpose of opposing the redoubtable almanzor. the opposing armies met near medina-celi. the conflict was long and sanguinary, and the victory doubtful. the moors, after the termination of the combat, took to flight, terrified by the fearful loss they had sustained; and { } almanzor, whom fifty years of uninterrupted military success had persuaded that he was invincible, died of grief at this first mortifying reverse. with this great man expired the good fortune of the saracens of spain. from the period of his death, the spaniards continued to increase their own prosperity by the gradual ruin of the moors. the sons of the hadjeb almanzor successively replaced their illustrious father; but, in inheriting his power, they did not inherit his talents. factions were again created. one of the relations of the caliph took up arms against him, and possessed himself of the person of the monarch, a.d. , heg. ; and, though the rebellious prince dared not sacrifice the life of hacchem, he imprisoned him, and spread a report of his death. this news reaching africa, an ommiade prince hastened thence to spain with an army, under pretext of avenging the death of hacchem. the count of castile formed an alliance with this stranger, and civil war was kindled in cordova. it soon spread throughout spain, and the christian princes availed themselves of its disastrous effects to repossess themselves of the cities of { } which they had been deprived during the supremacy of almanzor. the imbecile hacchem, negotiating and trifling alike with all parties, was finally replaced on the throne, but was soon after forced again to renounce it to save his life. after this event a multitude of conspirators[ ] were in turn proclaimed caliph, and in turn deposed, poisoned, or otherwise murdered. almundir, the last lingering branch of the race of the ommiades, was bold enough to claim the restoration of the rights of his family, even amid the tumult of conflicting parties. his friends represented to him the dangers he was about to encounter. "should i reign but one day," replied lie, "and expire on the next, i would not murmur at my fate!" but the desire of the prince, even to this extent, was not gratified; he was assassinated without obtaining possession of the caliphate. usurpers of momentary authority followed. jalmar-ben-mohammed was the last in order. his death terminated the empire of the caliphs { } of the west, which had been possessed by the dynasty of the ommiades for the period of three centuries, a.d. , heg. . with the extinction of this line of princes vanished the power and the glory of cordova. the governors of the different cities, who had hitherto been the vassals of the court of cordova, profiting by the anarchy that prevailed, erected themselves into independent sovereigns--that city was therefore no longer the capital of a kingdom, though it still retained the religious supremacy which it derived from its mosque. enfeebled by divisions and subjected to such diversity of rule, the mussulmans were no longer able successfully to resist the encroachments of the spaniards. the third epoch of their history, therefore, will present nothing but a narrative of their rapid decline. [ ] see note a, page . [ ] the dynasty of the ommiades, whose capital, as m. florian informs us, was damascus, is most familiarly known in history as that of the _caliphs of syria_; and the abbassides, who succeeded them upon the throne of islam, are usually designated as the _caliphs of bagdad_, which city they built, and there established the seat of their regal power and magnificence. it may be observed, in connexion with this subject, that though the authority of the caliphs of damascus continued to be disputed and resisted after the death of ali, yet with that event terminated the temporary division of the civil and sacerdotal power which had been at first occasioned by their usurpation of sovereignty. the political supremacy of the party of ali ceased with his existence, and the authority that had belonged to the immediate successors of mohammed long continued to centre in the family of the ommiade princes.--_trans_. [ ] see note b, page . [ ] a.d. , heg. . [ ] see note c, page . [ ] it was under the government of the abbassides that the empire of the east possessed that superiority in wealth, magnificence, and learning for which it was once so celebrated. under the sway of the caliphs of bagdad, the mohammedans became as much renowned for their attainments in the higher branches of science as in the elegant and useful arts. to them the civilized world is indebted for the revival of the exact and physical sciences, and the discovery or restoration of most of the arts that afterward lent such beneficial aid to the progress of european literature and refinement. the far-famed capital of the abbassides was adorned with every attraction that the most unbounded wealth could secure, or the most consummate art perfect. there taste and power had combined exquisite luxury with unparalleled splendour, and there all that imagination could suggest to fascinate the senses or enrapture the mind, was realized. these princes of islam, by their unbounded liberality, attracted the learning and genius of other countries to their brilliant court, several of them were the ardent lovers of science as well as the munificent patrons of its devotees. thus bagdad became the favoured and genial home of letters and the arts; and luxury and the pursuit of pleasure were ennobled by a graceful union with the more elevated enjoyments of cultivated intellect and refined taste. nor were these beneficent influences confined to the mohammedan court, or to the period of time when they were so powerfully exercised. the moslem sovereigns gave laws to a wide realm in arts as well as arms; and if the whole of europe did not acknowledge their political superiority, in the world of science their supremacy was everywhere undisputed. that, like the gradually enlarging circles made by a pebble thrown into calm water, continued to spread farther and farther, until it reached the most distant shores, and communicated a generous impulse to nations long sunk in intellectual night. * * * * * * * * such was the celebrated empire of the abbassides in its halcyon days of undiminished power--such the beautiful city of peace, the favoured home of imperial magnificence, ere the despoiling tartar had profaned its loveliness and destroyed its grandeur. yet, when we look beneath the brilliant exterior of these oriental scenes and characters, we discover, under the splendour and elegance by which the eyes of the world were so long dazzled, the corruption and licentiousness of a government containing within itself the seeds of its own insecurity and ultimate destruction. we behold the absence of all fixed principles of legislation; we frequently find absolute monarchs guided solely by passion or caprice in the administration of arbitrary laws, and swaying the destinies of a people who, as a whole, were far from deriving any substantial advantage from the wealth and greatness of their despotic rulers. we are thus led to observe the evils that necessarily result from a want of those principles of vital religion, without which mere human learning is so inadequate to discipline the passions or direct the reason, and of those just and equal laws, the supremacy of which can alone secure the happiness of a people or the permanency of political institutions.--_trans_. [ ] see note d, page . [ ] see note e, page . [ ] see note f, page . [ ] cardonne, in his history of spain. [ ] this word signifies, in the arabic, _flower_, or _ornament of the world_. [ ] see note g, page . [ ] the _dinar_ is estimated by m. florian to be equal to at least _ten livres_. according to that computation, the aggregate cost of the palace and city of zahra would amount to considerably more than $ , , . _trans_. [ ] see note h, page . [ ] about $ , , . [ ] see note i, page . [ ] mahadi, suleiman, ali, abderamus iv., casim, jahiah, hacchem iii., mohammed, abderamus v., jahiah ii., hacchem iv., and jalmar-ben-mohammed. { } third epoch. containing an account of the principal kingdoms that sprang from the ruins of the caliphate. _extending from the commencement of the eleventh to the middle of the thirteenth century._ at the commencement of the eleventh century, when the throne of cordova was daily stained by the blood of some new usurper, the governors of the different cities, as has been already remarked, had assumed the title of kings. toledo, saragossa, seville, valencia, lisbon, huesca, and several other places of inferior importance, each possessed independent sovereigns. the history of these numerous kingdoms would be nearly as fatiguing to the reader as to the writer. it presents, for the space of two hundred years, nothing but accounts of repeated massacres, of fortresses taken and retaken, of pillages and seditions, of occasional instances of heroic conduct, but far more numerous crimes. passing rapidly over two centuries of { } misfortunes, let it suffice to contemplate the termination of these petty moorish sovereignties. christian spain, in the mean time, presented nearly the same picture as that exhibited by the portion of the peninsula still in possession of the mohammedans. the kings of leon, navarre, castile, and aragon were almost always relatives, and sometimes brothers; but they were not, for that reason, the less sanguinary in their designs towards each other. difference of religion did not prevent them from uniting with the moors, the more effectually to oppress other christians, or other moors with whom they chanced to be at enmity. thus, in a battle which occurred a.d. between two mussulman leaders, there were found among the slain a count of urgel and three bishops of catalonia.[ ] and the king of leon, alphonso v., gave his sister theresa in marriage to abdalla, the moorish king of toledo, to convert him into an ally against castile. among the christians, as among the moors, crimes were multiplied; civil wars of both a local and general nature at the same time distracted spain, and the unhappy people expiated with { } their property and their lives the iniquities of their rulers. while thus regarding a long succession of melancholy events, it is agreeable to find a king of toledo called almamon, and benabad, the mussulman king of seville, affording an asylum at their courts, the one to alphonso, the young king of leon, and the other to the unfortunate garcias, king of galicia, both of whom had been driven from their kingdoms by their brother sancho, of castile, a.d. heg. . sancho pursued his brothers as though they had been his most implacable enemies; and the moorish monarchs, the natural enemies of all the christians, received these two fugitive princes as brothers. almamon, especially, lavished the most affectionate attention upon the unfortunate alphonso: he endeavoured to entertain him at toledo with such varied pleasures as should banish regret for the loss of a throne: he gave him an income, and, in short, treated the prince as though he had been a near and beloved relative. when the death of the cruel sancho (a.d. , heg. ) had rendered alphonso king of leon and castile, the generous almamon, who now had the person of the king of his enemies in his { } power, accompanied the prince to the frontiers of his kingdom, loaded him with presents and caresses, and, at parting, offered the free use of his troops and treasures to his late guest. while almamon lived, alphonso iv. never forgot his obligations to his benefactor. he maintained peace with him, aided him in his campaigns against the king of seville, and even entered into a treaty with hacchem, the son and successor of his ally. but, after a brief reign, hacchem left the throne of toledo to his youthful brother jahiah. that prince oppressed the christians, who were very numerous in his city; and they secretly implored alphonso to make war upon jahiah. the memory of almamon long caused the spanish monarch to hesitate in relation to this subject. gratitude impelled him not to listen to the suggestions of ambition and the prayers of his countrymen; but the arguments of gratitude proved the least strong, and alphonso encamped before toledo. after a long and celebrated siege, to which several french and other foreign warriors eagerly hastened, toledo finally capitulated, a.d. , heg. . the conqueror allowed the sons of almamon { } to go and reign at valencia, and engaged by an oath to preserve the mosques from destruction. he could not, however, prevent the christians from speedily violating this promise. such was the end of the moorish kingdom of toledo. this ancient capital of the goths had belonged to the arabs three hundred and eighty-two years. several other less important cities now submitted to the christian yoke. the kings of aragon and navarre, and the count of barcelona, incessantly harassed and besieged the petty mussulman princes who still remained in the north of spain. the attacks of the kings of castile and leon afforded sufficient occupation for those of the south, effectually to prevent their rendering any assistance to their brethren. above all, the cid, the famous cid, flew from one part of spain to another, at the head of the invincible band with whom his fame had surrounded him, everywhere achieving victories for the christians, and even lending the aid of his arms to the moors when they were internally divided, but always securing success to the party he favoured. this hero, one of the most truly admirable of those whom history has celebrated, since in his { } character were united the most exalted virtue and the highest qualities of the soldier; this simple castilian cavalier, upon whom his reputation alone bestowed the control of armies, became master of several cities, assisted the king of aragon to seize upon huesca, and conquered the kingdom of valencia without any other assistance than that of his men-at-arms. equal in power with his sovereign, of whose treatment he frequently had reason to complain, and envied and persecuted by the jealous courtiers, the cid never forgot for a moment that he was the subject of the king of castile. banished from court, and even exiled from his estates, he hastened, with his brave companions, to attack and conquer the moors, and to send those of them whom he vanquished to render homage to the king who had deprived him of his rights. being soon recalled to the presence of alphonso, in consequence of the king's needing his military aid, the cid left the scenes of his martial triumphs, and, without demanding reparation for the injuries he had sustained, returned to defend his persecutors; ever ready, while in disgrace, to forget everything in the performance of his duty to his king, and equally ready, when enjoying { } the favour of the sovereign, to displease him, if it should be necessary to do so, by advocating the cause of truth and justice.[ ] while the prowess of the cid maintained the contest, the christians had the advantage; but a few years after his death, which occurred in the year and the d of the hegira, the moors of andalusia changed masters, and became, for a time, more formidable than ever to their spanish foes. after the fall of toledo, seville had increased in power. the sovereigns of that city were also masters of ancient cordova, and possessed, in addition, estremadura and a part of portugal. benabad, king of seville, one of the most estimable princes of his age, was now the only one of its enemies capable of disturbing the safety of castile. alphonso iv., desirous of allying himself with this powerful moor, demanded his daughter in marriage. his proposal was acceded to, and the castilian monarch received several towns as the dowry of the moorish princess; but this extraordinary union, which seemed to ensure peace between the two nations, nevertheless soon became either the cause or the pretext of renewed contests. { } africa, after having been separated from the vast empire of the caliphs of the east by the fatimite caliphs, and being, during three centuries of civil war, the prey of a succession of conquerors more ferocious and sanguinary than the lions of their deserts,[ ] was now subjected to the family of the _almoravides_, a powerful tribe of egyptian origin. joseph-ben-tessefin, the second prince of this dynasty, founded the kingdom and city of morocco. endowed with some warlike talents, proud of his power, and burning to augment it, joseph regarded with a covetous eye the beautiful european provinces which had formerly been conquered by the mussulmans of africa. some historians assert that the king of castile, alphonso iv., and his father-in-law benabad, king of seville, having formed the project of dividing spain between them, committed the capital error of summoning the moors of africa to their assistance in this grand design. but others, founding their assertions upon more plausible reasoning, say that the petty mussulman kings, who were the neighbours or tributaries of benabad, justly alarmed at his alliance with a { } christian king, solicited the support of the almoravide. but, be that as it may, the ambitious joseph eagerly availed himself of the fortunate pretext presented by the invitation he had received, and crossed the mediterranean at the head of an army. he hastened to attack alphonso, and succeeded in overcoming him in a battle that took place between them, a.d. , heg. . then turning his arms against benabad, joseph took cordova, besieged seville, and was preparing for the assault of that city, when the virtuous benabad, sacrificing his crown and even his liberty to save his subjects from the horrors that threatened them, delivered himself up, together with his family of a hundred children, to the disposal of the almoravide. the barbarous african, dreading the influence of a monarch whose virtues had rendered him so justly dear to his people, sent him to end his days in an african prison, where his daughters were obliged to support their father and brothers by the labour of their hands. the unfortunate benabad lived six years after the commencement of his imprisonment, regretting his lost throne only for the sake of his { } people, and beguiling the period of his protracted leisure by the composition of several poems which are still in existence. in them he attempts to console his daughters under their heavy afflictions, recalls the remembrance of his vanished greatness, and offers himself as a warning and example to kings who shall presume to trust too confidently to the unchanging continuance of the favours of fortune. joseph-ben-tessefin, after he had thus become master of seville and cordova, soon succeeded in subjugating the other petty mussulman states; and the moors, united under a single monarch as powerful as joseph, threatened again to occupy the important position they had sustained during the supremacy of their caliphs. the spanish princes, alarmed at this prospect, suspended their individual quarrels, and joined alphonso in resisting the africans. at this particular juncture, a fanatical love of religion and glory induced many european warriors to take up arms against the infidels. raymond of bourgogne, and his kinsman henry, both french princes of the blood, raymond of saint-gilles, count of toulouse, with some other cavaliers from among their vassals, crossed the { } pyrenees with their retainers, and fought under the banners of the king of castile. thus assisted, that sovereign put the egyptian commander to flight, and compelled him, soon afterward, to recross the mediterranean. the grateful alphonso gave his daughters as a recompense to the distinguished frenchmen who had lent him the aid of their arms. the eldest, urraca, espoused raymond of bourgogne, and their son afterward inherited the kingdom of castile. theresa became the wife of henry, and brought him as a dowry all the land he had thus far conquered or should hereafter conquer in portugal: from thence originated that kingdom. elvira was given to raymond, count of toulouse, who carried her with him to the holy land, where he gained some possessions by his valour. excited by these illustrious examples, other french cavaliers resorted soon after to the standard of the king of _aragon_, alphonso i., who made himself master of saragossa, and for ever destroyed that ancient kingdom of the moors, a.d. , heg. . the son of henry of bourgogne, alphonso i. king of portugal, a prince renowned for his { } bravery, availed himself of the presence of a combined fleet of english, flemings, and germans, who had anchored in the harbour of that city on their way to the holy land, to lay siege to lisbon. he carried that place by assault, in spite of its great strength, and made it the capital of his kingdom, a.d. , heg. . during this period the kings of castile and navarre were extending their conquests in andalusia. the moors were attacked on all sides, and their cities were everywhere compelled to surrender, now that they were no longer materially aided by the almoravides. those african princes were at this time sufficiently occupied at home in opposing some new sectaries, the principal of whom, under pretext of reinitiating the people in a knowledge of the pure doctrines of mohammed, opened for themselves a path to the throne, and, after many struggles, ended by effectually driving the family of the almoravides from its possession. the new conquerors, becoming by these means masters of morocco and fez, destroyed, according to the african custom, every individual of the supplanted race, and founded a new dynasty, which is known under { } the name of the _almohades_, a.d. , heg. . in the midst of these divisions, these wars and combats, the fine arts still continued to be cultivated at cordova. and though they were no longer in the flourishing condition in which they were maintained during the reigns of the several caliphs who bore the cherished name of abderamus, yet the schools of philosophy, poetry, and medicine had continued to exist. these schools produced, in the twelfth century, several distinguished men, among the most celebrated of whom were the learned abenzoar and the famous averroes. the former, equally profound in medicine, pharmacy, and surgery, lived, it is said, to the age of one hundred and thirty-five years. some estimable works which he produced are still extant. averroes was also a physician, but he was more of a philosopher, poet, lawyer, and commentator. he acquired a reputation so profound, that passing centuries have only served more firmly to establish it. the disposition made by this remarkable man of his time during the different periods of his existence, will illustrate his mental character. in his youth he was the passionate votary of { } pleasure and poetry: in more mature age he burned the verses he had previously composed, studied the principles of legislation, and discharged the duties of a judicial officer: having advanced still farther in life, he abandoned these occupations for the pursuit of medicine, in which he attained very great eminence: at last philosophy alone supplied the place of every earlier taste, and wholly engrossed his attention for the remainder of his life. it was averroes who first created among the moors a taste for greek literature. he translated the works of aristotle into arabic, and wrote commentaries upon them. he also published several other works upon philosophy and medicine, and possessed the united glory of having both enlightened and benefited mankind.[ ] as africa, distracted by the long war of the almoravides and the almohades, was unable to offer any opposition to the progress of the christians in spain, these last, availing themselves of this condition of affairs, continued to extend their conquests in andalusia. if the spanish princes had been less disunited, and had acted in concert against the infidels, they would have been able { } at this period to deprive the mussulmans of their entire dominions in the peninsula. but these ever-contending princes had no sooner taken a moorish city than they began to dispute among themselves about its possession. the newly-created kingdom of portugal, established by the military powers of alphonso, was soon at war with that of leon.[ ] aragon and castile, after many bloody quarrels, united in a league against navarre. sancho viii., the sovereign of that little state, was forced to resort to africa for assistance, and implore the aid of the almohades. but they, being but recently established on the throne of morocco, were still employed in exterminating the dismembered fragments of the party of the almoravides, and could not, in spite of their eager desire to do so, establish any claim to their assumed rights in spain. nevertheless, two kings of the race of the almohades, both named joseph, passed the mediterranean more than once with numerous armies. the one was successfully opposed by the portuguese, and did not survive his final defeat; the other was more fortunate, and succeeded in vanquishing the castilians, but { } was soon after obliged to accept a truce and return in haste to morocco, to which new disturbances recalled him, a.d. , heg. . but these useless victories, these ill-sustained efforts, did not permanently disable either the mussulmans or the christians. on both sides, the vanquished parties soon re-entered the field, in utter neglect of the treaties into which they might ever so recently have entered. the sovereigns of morocco, though regarded as the kings of andalusia, nevertheless possessed only a precarious authority in that country, which was always disputed when they were absent, and acknowledged only when necessity forced the mussulman inhabitants to have recourse to their protection. at last mohammed _el nazir_, the fourth prince of the dynasty of the almohades, to whom the spaniards gave the name of the green, from the colour of his turban, finding himself in quiet possession of the moorish empire of africa, resolved to assemble all his forces, to lead them into spain, and to renew in that country the ancient conquests of tarik and moussa. a holy war was proclaimed, a.d. , heg. , and an innumerable army { } crowded around the ensigns of mohammed, left the shores of africa under the guidance of that monarch, and safely arrived in andalusia. there their numbers were nearly doubled by the spanish moors, whom hatred to the very name of christian, arising from the vivid remembrance of accumulated injuries, induced to join the bands of el nazir. the sanguine mohammed promised an easy triumph to his followers, together with the certainty of rendering themselves masters of all that their ancestors had formerly possessed; and, burning to commence the contest, he immediately advanced towards castile at the head of his formidable army, which, according to the reports of historians, amounted to more than six hundred thousand men. the king of castile, alphonso the noble, informed of the warlike preparations of the king of morocco, implored the assistance of the christian princes of europe. pope innocent iii. proclaimed a crusade and granted indulgences most lavishly. rodrique, archbishop of toledo, made in person a voyage to rome, to solicit the aid of the sovereign pontiff; and, returning homeward through france, preached to the people { } on his route, and induced many cavaliers to proceed at the head of bands of recruits to spain, and join the opponents of the mussulmans. the general rendezvous was at toledo, at which point there were soon collected more than sixty thousand crusaders from italy and france, who united themselves with the soldiers of castile. the king of aragon, peter ii., the same who afterward perished in the war of the albigense, led his valiant army to the place of meeting, and sancho viii., king of navarre, was not backward in presenting himself at the head of his brave subjects. the portuguese had recently lost their king, but they despatched their best warriors to toledo. in short, all spain flew to arms. there was general union for the promotion of mutual safety; for never, since the time of king rodrique, had the christians been placed in such imminent danger. it was at the foot of the sierra morena, at a place named _las navas de toloza_, that the three spanish princes encountered the moors, a.d. , heg. . mohammed el nazir had taken possession of the mountain gorges through which it had been the intention of the christians to approach { } his camp. the adroit african thus designed, either to force his opponents to turn back, which would expose them to the danger of a failure of provisions, or to overwhelm them in the pass if they should attempt to enter it. upon discovering this circumstance, a council was called by the embarrassed christian leaders. alphonso was desirous of attempting the passage, but the kings of navarre and aragon advised a retreat. in the midst of this dilemma, a shepherd presented himself before them, and offered to conduct them through a defile of the mountain, with which he was familiar. this proposal, which was the salvation of their army, was eagerly accepted, and the shepherd guided the catholic sovereigns through difficult paths and across rocks and torrents, until, with their followers, they finally succeeded in attaining the summit of the mountain. there, suddenly presenting themselves before the eyes of the astonished moors, they were engaged for the space of two days in preparing themselves for the conflict, by prayer, confession, and the solemn reception of the holy sacrament their leaders set an example to the soldiers in this zealous devotion; and the prelates and { } ecclesiastics, of whom there were a great number in the camp, after having absolved these devout warriors, prepared to accompany them into the midst of the conflict. upon the third day, the sixteenth of july, in the year twelve hundred and twelve, the christian army was drawn up in battle array. the troops were formed into three divisions, each commanded by a king. alphonso was in the centre, at the head of his castilians and the chevaliers of the newly-instituted orders of saint james and calatrava; rodrique, archbishop of toledo, the eyewitness and historian of this great battle, advanced by the side of alphonso, preceded by a large cross, the principal ensign of the army; sancho and his navarrois formed the right, while peter and his subjects occupied the left. the french crusaders, now reduced to a small number by the desertion of many of their companions, who had been unable to endure the scorching heat of the climate, marched in the van of the other troops, under the command of arnault, archbishop of narbonne. thus disposed, the christians descended towards the valley which separated them from their enemies. { } the moors, according to their ancient custom, everywhere displayed their innumerable soldiers, without order or arrangement. an admirable cavalry, to the number of a hundred thousand men, composed their principal strength: the rest of their army was made up of a crowd of ill-armed and imperfectly trained foot-soldiers. mohammed, stationed on a height, from which he could command a view of his whole army, was encompassed by a defence made of chains of iron, guarded by the choicest of his cavaliers on foot. standing in the midst of this enclosure, with the koran in one hand and an unsheathed sabre in the other, the saracen commander was visible to all his troops, of whom the bravest squadrons occupied the four sides of the hill. the castilians directed their first efforts towards this elevation. at first they drove back the moors, but, repulsed in their turn, they recoiled in disorder and began to retreat. alphonso flew here and there, attempting to rally their broken ranks, "archbishop," said he to the prelate who everywhere accompanied him, preceded by the grand standard of the cross, "archbishop, here are we destined to die!" "not { } so, sire," replied the ecclesiastic; "we are destined here to live and conquer!" at that moment the brave canon who carried the chief ensign threw himself with it into the midst of the infidels; the prelate and the king followed him, and the castilian soldiers rushed forward to protect their sovereign and their sacred standard. the already victorious kings of aragon and navarre now advanced at the head of their wings to unite in the attack upon the height. the moors were assaulted at all points: they bravely resisted their opponents; but the christians crowded upon them--the aragonais, the navarrois, and the castilians endeavouring mutually to surpass each other in courage and daring. the brave king of navarre, making a path for himself through the midst of its defenders, reached the enclosure, and struck and broke the chains by which the moorish commander was surrounded.[ ] mohammed took to flight on beholding this catastrophe; and his soldiers, no longer beholding their king, lost both hope and courage. they gave way in all directions, and fled before the christians. thousands of the mussulmans fell beneath the { } weapons of their pursuers, while the archbishop of toledo, with the other ecclesiastics, surrounding the victorious sovereigns, chanted a _te deum_ on the field of battle. thus was gained the famous battle of toloza, of which some details have been given in consequence of its great importance, and in illustration of the military tactics of the moors. with them the arts of war consisted solely in mingling with the enemy, and fighting, each one for himself, until either the strongest or the bravest of the two parties remained masters of the field. the spaniards possessed but little more military skill than their moslem neighbours; but their infantry, at least, could attack and resist in mass, while the discipline of that of the saracens amounted to scarcely anything. on the other hand, again, the cavalry of the moors was admirably trained. the cavaliers who composed it belonged to the principal families in the kingdom, and possessed excellent horses, in the art of managing which they had been trained from childhood. their mode of combat was to rush forward with the rapidity of light, strike with the sabre or the lance, fly away as quickly, and then wheel suddenly and return again to the { } encounter. thus they often succeeded in recalling victory to their standard when she seemed just about to desert them. the christians, covered as they were with iron, had in some respects the advantage of these knights, whose persons were protected only by a breastplate and headpiece of steel. the moorish foot-soldiers were nearly naked, and armed only with a wretched pike. it is easy to perceive that, when involved in the _mêlée_, and, above all, during a route, vast numbers of them must have perished. this, too, renders less incredible the seemingly extravagant accounts given by historians of their losses in the field. they assert, for example, that, at the battle of toloza, the christians killed two hundred thousand moors, while they lost themselves but fifteen hundred soldiers. even when these assertions are estimated at their true value, it remains certain that the infidels sustained an immense loss; and this important defeat, which is still celebrated yearly at toledo by a solemn fête, long deprived the kings of morocco of all hope of subjugating the spaniards. the victory of toloza was followed by more fatal consequences to the unfortunate mohammed than to the moors of andalusia; for the { } latter retired to their cities, defended them by means of the remains of the african army, and successfully resisted the spanish princes, who succeeded in taking but few of their strong places, and, speedily dissolving their league, separated for their respective kingdoms. but mohammed, despised by his subjects after his defeat, and assailed by the treachery of his nearest relations, lost all authority in spain, and beheld the principal moors, whom he had now no power to control, again forming little states, the independence of which they were prepared to assert by force of arms.[ ] the discomfited el nazir consequently returned to africa, where he soon after died of chagrin. with mohammed the green vanished the good fortune of the almohades. the princes of that house, who followed el nazir in rapid succession, purchased their royal prerogatives at the expense of continual unhappiness and danger, and were finally driven from the throne. the empire of morocco was then divided, and three new dynasties were established; that of fez, of tunis, and of tremecen. these three powerful and rival sovereignties greatly multiplied the { } conflicts, crimes, and atrocities, the narration of which alone constitutes the history of africa. about this period some dissensions arose in castile, which, together with the part assumed by the king of aragon in the war of the albigense in france, allowed the moors time to breathe. the moslems were still masters of the kingdoms of valencia, murcia, grenada, and andalusia, with part of algarva and the balearic isles, which last, until that time, had continued to be but little known to the christians of the continent. these states were divided between several sovereigns, the principal of whom was benhoud, a descendant of the ancient kings of saragossa, a sagacious monarch and a great commander, who by his genius and courage had obtained dominion over all the southeastern part of spain. next to benhoud in rank, the most important of these mohammedan princes were the kings of seville and valentia. the barbarian who reigned at majorca was a mere piratical chief, whose enmity was formidable only to the inhabitants of the neighbouring coast of catalonia. such was the condition of moorish spain, { } when two young heroes seated themselves, nearly at the same time, on the thrones of the two principal christian states; and, after having allayed the commotions created during the period of their minority, directed their concentrated efforts against the mussulmans, a.d. , heg. . these princes, who were mutually desirous to emulate each other in fame, but were never rivals in interest, both consecrated their lives to the extirpation of the inflexible enemies of their native land. one of these sovereigns was jacques i., king of aragon (a son of the peter of aragon who distinguished himself on the field of toloza), who united to the courage, grace, and energy of his father, a greater degree of genius and success than fell to the lot of that sovereign. the other was ferdinand iii., king of castile and leon, a discerning, courageous, and enterprising monarch, whom the romish church has numbered with its saints, and history ranks among its great men. this prince was the nephew of blanche of castile, queen of france, and cousin-german of st. lewis,[ ] whom he nearly resembled in his { } piety, his bravery, and the wise laws he framed for the benefit of his subjects. ferdinand carried his arms first into andalusia. when he entered the territories of the infidels, he received the homage of several moorish princes, who came to acknowledge themselves his vassals. as he proceeded, he seized upon a great number of places, and, among others, the town of alhambra, whose frightened inhabitants retired to grenada, and established themselves in a portion of that city, which thus obtained the name by which it was afterward so much celebrated. jacques of aragon, on his part, set sail with an army for the balearic isles. though impeded in his progress by contrary winds, he succeeded at last in reaching majorca, on the shore of which island he defeated the moorish force that attempted to oppose his landing, and then marched towards their capital and laid siege to it. the chivalrous jacques, who, when danger was to be encountered, always took precedence of even his bravest officers and most daring soldiers, was, as usual, the first to mount the walls in the assault upon this city. it was carried, { } notwithstanding its great strength, the mussulman king driven from the throne, and this new crown permanently incorporated with that of aragon, a.d. , heg. . jacques had long been meditating a most important conquest. valencia, after the death of the cid, had again fallen into the hands of the moors. this beautiful and fertile province, where nature seemed to delight herself by covering anew with fruit and flowers the soil that man had so often deluged with blood, was now under the dominion of zeith, a brother of mohammed el nazir, the african king who was vanquished at toloza by the christians. a powerful faction, inimical to the power of zeith, wished to place upon the throne a prince named zean. the two competitors appealed to arms to decide their respective claims. the king of aragon espoused the cause of zeith, and, under pretext of marching to his assistance, advanced into the kingdom of valencia, several times defeated zean, seized upon his strong places, and, with the active intrepidity that rendered him so formidable a foe, invested the capital of his enemy, a.d. , heg. . thus pressed by the sovereign of aragon, { } zean implored the aid of benhoud, the most puissant of the kings of andalusia. but benhoud was at this time occupied in resisting the encroachments of ferdinand. the castilians, under the conduct of that valiant prince, had made new progress against the moors. after possessing themselves of a great number of other cities, they had now laid siege to ancient cordova. benhoud had been often vanquished, but always retained the affections of a people who regarded him as their last support. he had again collected an army, and, though possessed with an equally earnest desire to relieve both cordova and valencia, was about to march towards the latter, from a belief that he was most likely to be there successful, when his life was treacherously terminated by one of his lieutenants. the catholic kings were by this means delivered from the opposition of the only man who was capable of impeding the accomplishment of their wishes. the death of benhoud deprived the inhabitants of cordova of all courage and hope. until then they had defended themselves with { } equal courage and constancy; but they offered to capitulate upon receiving intelligence of this disastrous event.[ ] the christians made the most rigorous use of their victory, granting only life and liberty of departure to the unfortunate disciples of the prophet. an innumerable host of these wretched people came forth from their former homes, weeping, and despoiled of all their possessions. slowly they left the superb city which had been for more than five hundred and twenty years the principal seat of their national greatness, their luxurious magnificence, their cherished religion, and their favourite literature and fine arts. often did these desolate exiles pause on their way, and turn their despairing eyes once again towards the towering palaces, the splendid temples, the beautiful gardens, that five centuries of lavish expense and toilsome effort had served to adorn and perfect, only to become the spoil of the enemies of their faith and their race. the catholic soldiers who were now the occupants of these enchanting abodes, were so far from appreciating their loveliness and value, { } that they preferred rather to destroy than inhabit them; and ferdinand soon found himself the possessor of a deserted city. he was therefore compelled to attract inhabitants to cordova from other parts of his dominions, by the offer of extraordinary immunities. but, notwithstanding the privileges thus accorded them, the spaniards murmured at leaving their arid rocks and barren fields, to dwell in the palaces of caliphs and amid nature's most luxuriant scenes. the grand mosque of abderamus was converted into a cathedral, and cordova became the residence of a bishop and canons, but it was never restored to the faintest shadow of its former splendour. not long after the fall of cordova, valencia also submitted to the christian yoke. zean, besides being assailed externally by the force of the intrepid jacques, had, in addition, to oppose within his walls the faction of zeith, whom he had dethroned. the king of tunis, too, had been unsuccessful in an attempt to send a fleet to the relief of valencia: it at once took to flight on the appearance of the vessels of jacques. abandoned by the whole world, disheartened by the fate of cordova, and betrayed { } by the party of his competitor, zean offered to become the vassal of the crown of aragon, and to pay a tribute in acknowledgment of his vassalage; but the christian monarch was inflexible, and would accede to no terms that did not include a stipulation to surrender the city. fifty thousand moors, bearing their treasures with them, accompanied the departure of their sovereign from valencia. jacques had pledged his royal word to protect the rich booty which they so highly valued from the cupidity of his soldiers, and he faithfully performed his promise. after the destruction of the two powerful kingdoms of andalusia and valencia, there seemed to exist no moorish power capable of arresting the progress of the spanish arms. that of seville, which alone remained, was already menaced by the victorious ferdinand. but, just at this period, a new state rose suddenly into importance, which maintained a high degree of celebrity for two hundred years, and long prevented the final ruin of the moors. [ ] see note a, page . [ ] see note b, page . [ ] see note c, page . [ ] see note d, page . [ ] a.d. . [ ] see note e, page . [ ] a.d. , heg. . [ ] see note f, page . [ ] a.d. , heg. . { } fourth epoch. the kings of grenada. _extending from the middle of the thirteenth century to the period of the total expulsion of the moors from spain, a.d. ._ the unprecedented success of the spaniards, and, above all, the loss of cordova, spread consternation among the moors. that ardent and superstitious people, who were ever equally ready to cherish delusive hopes, and to yield to despondency when those anticipations were disappointed, looked upon their empire as ruined the moment the christian cross surmounted the pinnacle of their grand mosque, and the banner of castile waved over the walls of their ancient capital--those walls on which the standards of the caliphs of the west and of their prophet had for centuries floated in triumph. notwithstanding this national dejection, however, seville, grenada, murcia, and the kingdom of algarva still belonged to the mussulmans. they possessed all the seaports, and the { } whole maritime coast of the south of spain. their enormous population, and great national wealth and industry, also secured to them immense resources; but cordova, the holy city, the rival of mecca in the west--cordova was in the possession of the christians, and the moors believed that all was lost. but the hopes of these despairing followers of islam were rekindled by the almost magical influence of a single individual, a scion of the tribe of the _alhamars_, named mohammed aboussaid, who came originally from the celebrated arabian city of couffa. several historians, who speak of mohammed under the title of _mohammed alhamar_, assure us that he commenced his career as a simple shepherd, and that, having afterward borne arms, he aspired to the attainment of royal power in consequence of his martial exploits. such an incident is not extraordinary among the arabs, where all who are not descended either from the family of the prophet or from the royal race, possessing none of the privileges of birth, are esteemed solely according to their personal merits. but, be that as it may, mohammed aboussaid { } possessed sufficient intellectual powers to reanimate the expiring courage of the vanquished moslems. he assembled an army in the city of arjona, and, well knowing the peculiar character of the nation that he wished to control, proceeded to gain over to his interests a _santon_, a species of religious character highly venerated among the moors. this oracular individual publicly predicted to the people of algarva that mohammed alhamar was destined speedily to become their king. accordingly, he was soon proclaimed by the inhabitants, and several other cities followed the example thus set them. mohammed now filled the place of benhoud, to whom he possessed similar talents for government; and, feeling the necessity of selecting a city to replace cordova in the affections of the moors, to become the sacred asylum of their religion, and the centring point for their military strength, he founded a new kingdom, and made the city of grenada its capital, a.d. , heg. . this city, powerful from the remotest times, and supposed to be the ancient illiberis of the romans, was built upon two hills, not far distant from the sierra nevada, a chain of { } mountains whose summits are covered with perpetual snow. the town was traversed by the river darra, and the waters of the xenil bathed its walls. each of the two hills was crowned by a fortress: on the one was that of the alhambra, and on the other that of the albayzin. these strongholds were either of them sufficient in extent to accommodate forty thousand men within their walls. the fugitives from the city of alhambra, as has already been stated, had given the name of their former home to the new quarter that they peopled; and the moors who had been driven from baeca when ferdinand iii. became master of that place, had established themselves, in a similar manner, in the quarter of the albayzin. this city had also received many exiles from valencia, cordova, and other places which the mussulmans had deserted. with a population whose numbers were daily augmented, grenada, at the period of which we now speak, was more than three leagues in circuit, surrounded by impregnable ramparts; defended by many strong towers, and by a brave and numerous people, whose military prowess seemed to ensure their safety and independence. { } various were the advantages that combined in giving to grenada the supremacy she had assumed. her location was one of the most agreeable and beautiful in the world, and rendered her mistress of a country on which nature had lavished her choicest gifts. the famous _vega_, or plain, by which the city was surrounded, was thirty leagues in length and eight in breadth. it was terminated on the north by the mountains of elvira and the sierra nevada, and enclosed on the remaining sides by hills clothed with the verdure of the olive, the mulberry, the lemon, and the vine. this enchanting plain was watered by five small rivers[ ] and an infinite number of gushing springs, whose streams wandered in graceful meanderings through meadows of perpetual verdure, through forests of oak and plantations of grain, flax, and sugar-cane, or burst forth in the midst of gardens, and orchards, and orange-groves. all the rich, and beautiful, and varied productions of the soil required but little attention in their culture. the earth was continually { } covered with vegetation, in myriads of changing forms, and never knew the repose of winter. during the heat of summer, the mountain breezes spread a refreshing coolness through the air of this lovely vega, and preserved the early brilliancy and beauty of the flowers, that were ever mingled in delightful confusion with the varied fruits of a tropical region. on this celebrated plain, whose charms no description can embellish; on this enchanting vega, where nature seemed to have exhausted her efforts in lavishing all that the heart of man could desire or his imagination conceive, more blood has been shed than on any other spot in the world. there--where, during two centuries of unceasing warfare, whose baleful effects extended from generation to generation, from city to city, and from man to man--there does not exist a single isolated portion of earth where the trees have not been wantonly destroyed, the villages reduced to ashes, and the desolated fields strewn with the mingled corses of slaughtered moors and christians. independent of this _vega_, which was of such inestimable value to grenada, fourteen great cities and more than one hundred of smaller { } size, together with a prodigious number of towns, were embraced within the boundaries of this fine kingdom. the extent of grenada, from gibraltar (which was not taken by the christians until long after this period) to the city of lorca, was more than eighty leagues. it was thirty leagues in breadth from cambril to the mediterranean. the mountain, by which the kingdom of grenada was intersected, produced gold, silver, granite, amethysts, and various kinds of marble. among these mountains, those of the alpuxaries alone formed a province, and yielded the monarch of grenada more precious treasures than their mines could furnish--active and athletic men, who became either hardy and industrious husbandmen, or faithful and indefatigable soldiers. in addition to all this, the ports of almeria, malaga, and algeziras received into their harbours the vessels of both europe and africa, and became places of deposite for the commerce of the mediterranean and the atlantic. such, at its birth, was the kingdom of grenada, and such it long continued. mohammed alhamar, from the period of its establishment, { } made useless efforts to unite all the remaining dominions of the mussulmans of spain under one sceptre, as the only means of successfully resisting the encroachments of the christians. but the little kingdom of murcia and that of algarva were each governed by separate princes, who persisted in maintaining their independence. this was the cause of their ruin, for they thus became more readily the prey of the spaniards. alhamar signalized the commencement of his reign by military achievements. in the year , heg. , he gained some important advantages over the troops of ferdinand. but repeated revolts in the capital and disturbances in other parts of his new empire, eventually compelled mohammed to conclude a dishonourable peace with the king of castile. he agreed to do homage for his crown to the castilian sovereign, to put the strong place of jaen into his hands, to pay him a tribute, and to furnish him with auxiliary troops for any wars in which he should engage. on these conditions ferdinand acknowledged him king of grenada, and even aided him in subduing his rebellious subjects. the sagacious ferdinand thus established a { } truce with grenada, that he might the more effectually concentrate his forces against seville, which he had long entertained hopes of conquering. the important city of seville was no longer under the dominion of a king, but formed a kind of republic, governed by military magistrates. its situation at no great distance from the mouth of the guadalquivir, its commerce, its population, the mildness of the climate, and the fertility of the environs, rendered seville one of the most flourishing cities of spain. ferdinand, foreseeing a long resistance, commenced the campaign by seizing upon all the neighbouring towns. finally, he laid siege to seville itself, and his fleet, stationed at the mouth of the guadalquivir, closed the door to any assistance which might be sent from africa in aid of the beleaguered city. the siege was long and bloody. the sevillians were numerous and well skilled in the arts of war, and their ally, the king of algarva, harassed the besiegers unceasingly. notwithstanding the extreme bravery displayed by the christians in their assaults, and the scarcity of { } provisions which began to be felt within the walls, the city, after an investment of a whole year, still refused to surrender. ferdinand then summoned the king of grenada to come, in accordance with their treaty, and serve under his banners. alhamar was forced to obey, and soon presented himself in the christian camp at the head of a brilliant army. the inhabitants of seville lost all hope after this occurrence, and surrendered to the castilian monarch. the king of grenada returned to his own dominions with the humiliating glory of having contributed, by his assistance, to the ruin of his countrymen. ferdinand, with more piety than policy, banished the infidels from seville. one hundred thousand of that unfortunate people left the city, to seek an exile's home in africa or in the provinces of grenada. the kingdom of grenada now became the sole and last asylum of the spanish moslems. the little kingdom of algarva was soon obliged to receive the yoke of portugal, and murcia, in consequence of its separation from grenada, became the prey of the castilians. { } during the life of ferdinand iii., nothing occurred to interrupt the good understanding that existed between that monarch and mohammed alhamar. the king of grenada wisely took advantage of this peaceful period more effectually to confirm himself in the possession of his crown, and to make preparations for a renewal of hostilities against the christians, who would not, he foresaw, long remain his friends. mohammed, by this means, ultimately found himself in a condition that would enable him long to defend his power and dominions. he was master of a country of great extent, and he possessed considerable revenues, the amount of which it is now difficult correctly to estimate, in consequence of the ignorance which prevails on the subject of the peculiar financial system of the moors, and the different sources from which the public treasury was supplied. every husbandman, for example, paid the seventh part of the produce of his fields to his sovereign; his flocks even were not exempted from this exaction. the royal domain comprised numerous valuable farms; and, as agriculture was carried to the highest degree of perfection, the revenues from { } these, in so luxuriant a country, must have amounted to a very large sum. the annual income of the sovereign was augmented by various taxes levied on the sale, marking, and passage from one point to another of all kinds of cattle. the laws bestowed on the king the inheritance of such of his subjects as died childless, and gave him, in addition, a portion in the estates of other deceased persons. he also possessed, as has been already shown, mines of gold, silver, and precious stones; and though the moors were but little skilled in the art of mining, still there was no country in europe in which gold and silver were more common than among them. the commerce carried on in their beautiful silks, and in a great variety of other productions; their contiguity to the mediterranean and atlantic; their activity, industry, and astonishing population; their superior knowledge of the science of agriculture; the sobriety natural to all the inhabitants of spain; and that peculiar property of a southern climate, by which much is produced from the soil, while very little suffices for the maintenance of its possessor; all these, united with their other national { } advantages, will furnish some idea of the great power and resources of this singular people. their standing military force--it can scarcely be said in times of peace, for they rarely knew the blessings of that state--amounted to nearly a hundred thousand men; and this army, in case of necessity, could easily be increased to double that number. the single city of grenada could furnish fifty thousand soldiers. indeed, every moor would readily become a soldier to oppose the christians. the difference of faith rendered these wars sacred in their eyes; and the mutual hatred entertained by these two almost equally superstitious nations never failed to arm, when necessary, every individual of both sides, even from children to old men. independent of the numerous and brave, but ill-disciplined troops, who would assemble for a campaign, and afterward return to their homes without occasioning any expense to the state, the moorish monarch maintained a considerable corps of cavaliers, who were dispersed along the frontiers, particularly in the directions of murcia and jaen, those parts of the country being most exposed to the repeated incursions of the spaniards. upon each of these cavaliers the king { } bestowed for life a small habitation, with sufficient adjoining ground for his own maintenance, and that of his family and horse. this method of keeping soldiers in service, while it occasioned no expense to the public treasury, served to attach them more firmly to their country, by identifying their interests with hers; and it held out to them the strongest motives faithfully to defend their charge, inasmuch as their patrimony was always first exposed to the ravages of the enemy. at a time when the art of war had not reached the perfection it has now attained, and when large bodies of troops were not kept continually assembled and exercised, the system of stationing this peculiar guard along the frontiers was of admirable effect. the knights who composed this unrivalled cavalry were mounted on african or andalusian chargers, whose merits in the field are so well-known, and were accustomed from infancy to their management; treating them with the tenderest care, and regarding them as their inseparable companions: by these means they acquired that remarkable superiority for which the moorish cavalry is still so celebrated. { } these redoubtable squadrons, whose velocity of movement was unequalled; who would, almost at the same moment, charge in mass, break into detached troops, scatter, rally, fly off, and again form in line; these cavaliers, whose voice, whose slightest gesture, whose very thoughts, so to speak, were intelligible to their docile and sagacious steeds, and who were able to recover a lance or sabre that had fallen to the earth while in full gallop, constituted the principal military force of the moors. their infantry was of little value; and their ill-fortified towns, surrounded only by walls and moats, and defended by this worthless infantry, could offer but an imperfect resistance to that of the spaniards, which began already to deserve the reputation it afterward so well sustained in italy, under gonzalvo, the great captain. after the death of st. ferdinand, his son alphonso the sage[ ] mounted the throne, a.d. , heg. . the first care of mohammed alhamar after this event was to go in person to toledo, followed by a brilliant retinue, to renew the treaty of alliance, or, rather, of dependance, by which he was united to ferdinand. { } the new king of castile remitted on this occasion a part of the tribute to which the moors had been subjected. but this peace was not of long continuance; and the two contending nations now recommenced the war with nearly equal advantages. an incident is related as having occurred during this war, which reflects equal honour on the humanity of the moors and the courage of the spaniards. it refers to garcias gomes, governor of the city of xeres. he was besieged by the grenadians, and his garrison nearly destroyed, but still he refused to surrender; and, standing on the ramparts covered with blood, and literally bristling with arrows, he sustained alone the onset of the assailants. the moors, on seeing him in this situation, agreed, with one accord, to spare the life of so brave a man. garcias then threw himself from the walls upon some iron hooks; but he was rescued alive in spite of his efforts to prevent it, treated with respect by his captors, and, after his wounds were healed, dismissed with presents. alhamar could not prevent alphonso from adding the kingdom of murcia to his dominions; and the fortunes of war compelled him to obtain { } peace by submitting anew to the payment of tribute to the catholic sovereign, a.d. , heg. . but some dissensions which soon after arose between the castilian monarch and some of the grandees of his kingdom, inspired the grenadian king with the hope of repairing the loss he had sustained. the brother of alphonso, together with several noblemen belonging to the principal castilian families, retired to grenada in open defiance of the authority of the spanish monarch, and materially aided mohammed alhamar in repressing the insurrectionary movements of two of his rebellious subjects, who were countenanced in their attempts by the christians. but, just at this juncture, the wise and politic king of grenada died, leaving the throne that he had acquired and preserved by his talents to his son mohammed ii., el fakik, a.d. , heg. . the new mussulman king, who took the title of _emir al mumenim_, adopted in all respects the policy of his father. he took every advantage in his power of the discord which reigned at the castilian court, and of the ineffectual voyages undertaken by alphonso in the hope of { } being elected emperor.[ ] finally, during the absence of his enemy, mohammed formed an offensive league with jacob, the king of morocco, a prince of the race of the _merines_, the conquerors and successors of the almohades. the grenadian sovereign ceded to his african ally the two important places of tariffe and algeziras, on condition of his crossing the mediterranean to the peninsula. jacob, in accordance with this agreement, arrived in spain, at the head of an army, in the year (the th of the hegira); and the two moorish leaders, by acting in concert, gained some important advantages. but the criminal revolt of sancho, the infant of castile, against his father alphonso the sage, soon afterward divided these mussulman monarchs. the king of grenada took the part of the rebellious son, while alphonso, reduced to extremity by the abandonment of his subjects, implored the assistance of the king of morocco. jacob recrossed the sea with his troops, and met alphonso at zara. at that celebrated interview, the unfortunate castilian wished to concede the place of honour to the king, who was there as { } his defender. "it belongs to you," said jacob to him, "because you are unfortunate! i came here to avenge a cause which should be that of every father. i came here to aid you in punishing an ingrate, who, though he received life from you, would still deprive you of your crown. when i shall have fulfilled this duty, and you are again prosperous and happy, i will once more become your enemy, and contest every point of precedence with you." the soul of the christian prince was not sufficiently noble, however, to prompt him to confide himself to the monarch who had uttered these sentiments, and he escaped from the camp. alphonso died soon after this event, disinheriting his guilty son before he expired, a.d. , heg. . sancho[ ] reigned in his father's stead, however, notwithstanding this prohibition, and international troubles convulsed castile anew. mohammed seized this moment to enter andalusia. he gained several battles, and took some important places in that kingdom, and thus victoriously terminated a long and glorious reign, a.d. , heg. . { } this mohammed _emir al mumenim_, the principal political events of whose life have now been briefly narrated, was a munificent patron of the fine arts. he added their charms to the attractions of a court which poets, philosophers, and astronomers alike contributed to render celebrated. as an illustration of the scientific superiority that the moors still maintained over the spaniards, the fact may be mentioned that alphonso the sage, king of castile, availed himself, in the arrangement of his astronomical tables (still known as the _alphonsine tables_), of the assistance of some contemporary moslem _savans_. grenada began by this time to replace cordova. architecture, above all, made great advances. it was during the reign of mohammed ii. that the famous palace of the alhambra was commenced, a part of which still remains to astonish travellers, whom its name alone suffices to attract to grenada. to prove to what a height of perfection the moors had succeeded in carrying the art, then so little known to europeans, of uniting the magnificent and the luxurious, a few details may perhaps be pardoned concerning this { } singular edifice, and as an illustration, also, of the particular manners and customs of the moors. the alhambra, as has been said, was at first only a vast fortress, standing upon one of the two hills enclosed within the city of grenada. this hill, though environed on every side by the waters either of the darra or the xenil, was defended, in addition, by a double enclosure of walls. it was on the summit of this elevation, which overlooked the whole city, and from which one might behold the most beautiful prospect in the world, in the midst of an esplanade covered with trees and fountains, that mohammed selected the site of his palace. nothing with which we are familiar in architecture can give us a correct idea of that of the moors. they piled up buildings without order, symmetry, or any attention to the external appearance they would present. all their cares were bestowed upon the interior of their structures. there they exhausted all the resources of taste and magnificence, to combine in their apartments the requisites for luxurious indulgence with the charms of nature in her most enchanting forms. there, in saloons adorned with the most beautiful marble, and paved with a { } brilliant imitation of porcelain, couches, covered with stuffs of gold or silver, were arranged near _jets d'eau_, whose waters glanced upward towards the vaulted roof, and spread a delicious coolness through an atmosphere embalmed by the delicate odours arising from exquisite vases of precious perfumes, mingled with the fragrant breath of the myrtle, jasmine, orange, and other sweet-scented flowers that adorned the apartments. the beautiful palace of the alhambra, as it now exists at grenada,[ ] presents no _façade_. it is approached through a charming avenue, which is constantly intersected by rivulets, whose streams wander in graceful curves amid groups of trees. the entrance is through a large square tower, which formerly bore the name of the _hall of judgment_. a religious inscription announces that it was there that the king administered justice after the ancient manner of the hebrew and other oriental nations. several buildings, { } which once adjoined this tower were destroyed in more recent times, to give place to a magnificent palace erected by charles v., a description of which is not necessary to our subject. upon penetrating on the northern side into the ancient palace of the moorish kings, one feels as if suddenly transported to the regions of fairyland. the first court is an oblong square, surrounded on each side by a gallery in the form of an arcade, the walls and ceiling of which are covered with mosaic work, festoons, arabesque paintings, gilding, and carving in stucco, of the most admirable workmanship. all the plain spaces between these various ornaments are filled with passages transcribed from the alkoran, or by inscriptions of a similar character to the following, which will suffice to create some idea of the figurative style of moorish composition. "oh nazir! thou wert born the master of a throne, and, like the star that announces the approach of day, thou art refulgent with a brilliancy that belongs to thee alone! thine arm is the rampart of a nation; thy justice an all-pervading luminary. thou canst, by thy valour, subdue those who have given companions to { } god! thy numerous people are thy children, and thou renderest them all happy by thy goodness. the bright stars of the firmament shine lovingly upon thee, and the glorious light of the sun beams upon thee with affection. the stately cedar, the proud monarch of the forest, bows his lofty head at thy approach, and is again uplifted by thy puissant hand!" in the midst of this court, which is paved with white marble, is a long basin always filled with running water of sufficient depth for bathing. it is bordered on each side by beds of flowers, and surrounded by walks lined with orange-trees. the place was called the _mesuar_, and served as the common bathing-place of those who were attached to the service of the palace. from thence one passes into the celebrated _court of lions_. it is a hundred feet in length and fifty in breadth. a colonnade of white marble supports the gallery that runs around the whole. these columns, standing sometimes two and sometimes three together, are of slender proportions and fantastic design; but their lightness and grace afford pleasure to the eye of the wondering beholder. the walls, and, above all, the ceiling of the circular gallery, are covered { } with embellishments of gold, azure, and stucco, wrought into arabesques, with an exquisite delicacy of execution that the most skilful modern workmen would find it difficult to rival. in the midst of these ornaments of ever-changing variety and beauty are inscribed passages from the koran, such as the following, which all good mussulmans are required frequently to repeat: _god is great: god alone is supreme: there is no god but god: celestial enjoyment, gratifications of the heart, delights of the soul to all those who believe_. at either extremity of the court of lions are placed, within the interior space enclosed by the gallery, and, like it, supported by marble columns, two elegant cupolas of fifteen or sixteen feet in circumference. these graceful domes form a covering for beautiful _jets d'eau_. in the centre of the lengthened square, a superb alabaster vase, six feet in diameter, is supported in an elevated position in the midst of a vast basin by the forms of twelve lions sculptured from white marble. this vessel, which is believed to have been modelled after the design of the "molten sea" of the temple of solomon, is again surmounted by a smaller vase, from which shoot { } forth innumerable tiny cascades, which together present the form of a great sheaf; and, falling again from one vase into another, and from these into the large basin beneath, create a perpetual flow, whose volume is increased by the floods of limpid water which gush in a continual stream from the mouth of each of the marble lions. this fountain, like each of the others, is adorned with inscriptions; for the moors ever took pleasure in mingling the eloquence of poetry with the graces of sculpture. to us their conceptions appear singular and their expressions exaggerated; but our manners are so opposite to theirs; the period of their existence as a nation is so far removed, and we know so little of the genius of their language, that we have, perhaps, no right to judge the literature of the moors by the severe rules of modern criticism. and, indeed, the specimens we possess of the french and spanish poetry of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries are, many of them, little superior to the verses engraven on the fountain of lions, of which the following, is a translation.[ ] { } "oh thou who beholdest these lions! dost thou not perceive that they need only to breathe to possess the perfection of nature! oh mohammed! oh potent sovereign! god originated and prolonged thy existence, that thou mightest be inspired with the genius to conceive and accomplish these novel and beautiful embellishments! thy soul is adorned by the most ennobling qualities of humanity. this enchanting spot pictures thy admirable virtues. like the lion, thou art terrible in combat; and nothing can be more justly compared to the bountiful and unceasing profusion of the limpid waters which gush from the bosom of this fountain, and fill the air with glittering and brilliant particles, than the liberal hand of mohammed." we will not attempt a description in detail of such other portions of the palace of the alhambra as still exist. some of these served as halls of audience or of justice; others enclosed the baths of the king, the queen, and their children. sleeping apartments still remain, where the couches were disposed either in alcoves, or upon platforms covered with the peculiar pavement { } already alluded to; but always near a fountain, the unceasing murmur of whose dreamy voice might sooth the occupants to repose. in the music saloon of this once luxurious royal abode are four elevated galleries, which, ere the glory of the alhambra had passed away, were often filled by moorish musicians, the delightful strains of whose varied instruments enchanted the court of grenada. then the fair and the brave reclined in graceful groups in the centre of the apartment, upon rich oriental carpets, surrounding the alabaster fountain, whose balmy breath diffused refreshing coolness, and whose softly gurgling sounds mingled with the gentle music which was ever the accompaniment of repose and enjoyment. in an apartment which was at the same time the oratory and dressing-room of the queen of this magnificent residence, there still exists a slab of marble, pierced with an infinite number of small apertures, to admit the exhalations of the perfumes that were incessantly burning beneath the lofty ceiling. from this part of the palace, too, the views are exquisitely beautiful. the windows and doors opening from it are so arranged, that the most agreeable prospects, the { } mellowest and most pleasing effects of light, perpetually fall upon the delighted eyes of those within, while balmy breezes constantly renew the delicious coolness of the air that breathes through this enchanting retreat. upon leaving the marble halls and lofty towers of the alhambra, one discerns, on the side of a neighbouring mountain, the famous garden of the _generalif_, which signifies, in the moorish tongue, the _home of love_. in this garden was the palace to which the kings of grenada repaired to pass the season of spring. it was built in a style similar to that of the alhambra: the same gorgeous splendour, the same costly magnificence reigned there. the edifice is now destroyed; but the picturesque situation, the ever-varied and ever-charming landscape, the limpid fountains, the sparkling _jets d'eau_, and tumbling waterfalls of the _generalif_, are still left to excite admiration. the terraces of this garden are in the form of an amphitheatre, and the lingering remains of their once beautiful mosaic pavements are still to be seen. the walks are now darkly umbrageous, from the interwoven branches of gigantic cypresses and aged myrtles, beneath whose { } grateful shades the kings and queens of grenada have so often wandered. then blooming groves and forests of fruit-trees were agreeably intermingled with graceful domes and marble pavilions: then the sweet perfume of the countless flowers that mingled their varied dyes in delightful confusion, floated in the soft air. then the delicate tendrils of the vine clasped the supporting branches of the orange, and both together hung the mingled gold and purple of their clustering fruits over the bright waters that from marble founts "gushed up to sun and air!" then valour and beauty strayed side by side, beneath embowering branches, the fire of the one attempered to gentleness by the softer graces of the other, and the souls of both elevated and purified by nature's holy and resistless influences. but now the luxuriant vine lies prostrate, its climbing trunk and clinging tendrils rudely torn from their once firm support: even the voice of the fountain no longer warbles in the same gladsome tone as of yore; the mouldering fragments of the polished column and sculptured dome are now strewed on the earth; the sighing of the gentle breeze no longer awake: is the soft breath { } of responding flowers; the loveliness and the glory of the _home of love_ are vanished away for ever; and the crumbling stones of the tesselated pavements echo naught but the lingering footfall of the solitary stranger, who wanders thither to enjoy those mournful charms of which the destroyer cannot divest a spot that must ever appeal so strongly to the vision and the heart, to the memory and the imagination. it is painful to quit the alhambra and the generalif, to return to the ravages, incursions, and sanguinary quarrels of the moors and christians. it was the fate of mohammed iii. (surnamed the blind) to be obliged at the same time to repress the rebellious movements of his own subjects and repel the invasions of his catholic neighbours. compelled by the infirmity from which he derived his appellation to choose a prime minister, he bestowed that important post upon farady, the husband of his sister, a judicious statesman and a brave soldier, who for some time prosperously continued the war against the castilians, and finally concluded it by an honourable peace. but the courtiers, jealous of the glory and { } envious of the good-fortune of the favourite, formed a conspiracy against his master, and instigated revolts among the people. to complete his calamities, foreign war again broke forth; the king of castile, ferdinand iv., surnamed _the summoned_,[ ] united with the king of aragon in attacking the grenadians.[ ] gibraltar was taken by the castilians, and the conqueror expelled its moorish inhabitants from its walls. among the unfortunate exiles who departed from the city was an old man, who, perceiving ferdinand, approached him, leaning on his staff: "king of castile," he said to him, "what injury have i done to thee or thine? thy great-grandfather ferdinand drove me from my native seville: i sought an asylum at xeres; thy grandfather alphonso banished me from thence: retiring within the walls of tariffe,[ ] thy father sancho exiled me from that city. at last i came to find a grave at the extremity of spain, on the shore of gibraltar; but thy hatred hath pursued me even here: tell me now of one place on earth where i can die unmolested by the christians!" { } "cross the sea!" replied the spanish prince; and he caused the aged petitioner to be conveyed to africa. vanquished by the aragonians, harassed by the castilians, and alarmed by the seditious proceedings which the grandees of his court were encouraging among his own subjects, the king of grenada and his prime minister were forced to conclude a shameful peace. the intestine storm, whose gathering had long disturbed the domestic security of the kingdom, soon after burst forth. mohammed abenazar, brother to mohammed the blind, and the head of the conspiracy, seized the unfortunate monarch, put him to death, and assumed his place, a.d. , heg. . but the usurper himself was soon driven from his throne by farady, the ancient minister, who, not daring to appropriate the crown to himself, placed it on the head of his son ismael, the nephew of mohammed the blind, through his mother, the sister of that monarch. this event took place a.d. , heg. . from that period the royal family of grenada was divided into two branches, which were ever after at enmity with each other; the one, called { } the _alhamar_, included the descendants of the first king through the males of the line, and the other, named _farady_, was that of such of his offspring as were the children of the female branches of the royal race. the castilians, whose interests were always promoted by cherishing dissensions among their moorish neighbours, lent their countenance to abenazar, who had taken refuge in the city of grenada. the infant don pedro, uncle to the youthful king of castile, alphonso _the avenger_, as he was surnamed, took the field against ismael, and several times gave battle to the followers of the crescent. then joining his forces to those of another infant named don juan, the two friends carried fire and sword to the very ramparts of grenada. the infidel warriors did not venture to sally from their walls to repel the invaders; but when, loaded with booty, the christians had commenced their return to castile; ismael followed on their route with his army, and, soon overtaking his ruthless foes, fell suddenly upon their rear. it was now the th of june,[ ] and the time chosen by the mussulmans for the attack was the hottest hour of a { } burning day. the two spanish princes made such violent efforts to reorganize their scattered bands and to recover their lost authority, that, exhausted at last by thirst and fatigue, they both fell dead without having received a wound. the dismayed and exhausted spaniards could now no longer offer any resistance to their furious enemies. they betook themselves to flight, leaving their baggage, with the bodies of the two unfortunate infants, on the field of battle. ismael caused the remains of these princes to be conveyed to grenada and deposited in coffins covered with cloth of gold: he then restored them to the castilians, after having bestowed on them the most distinguished funeral honours.[ ] this victory was rapidly followed by the conquest of several cities and the establishment of an honourable truce. but ismael did not live to enjoy the fruits of his success: being enamoured of a young spanish captive, who had fallen, in the division of the spoils, to the share of one of his officers, the king so far forgot the laws of justice and honour as to possess himself { } by force of the beautiful slave. such an insult among the followers of islam can only be expiated by blood: the monarch was assassinated by his exasperated officer. his son mohammed v. mounted the throne in his stead, a.d. , heg. . the reign of mohammed v. and that of his successor joseph i., both of whom perished in the same manner (being murdered in their palace), present nothing during thirty years but an unbroken series of ravages, seditions, and combats. at the request of the grenadians, abil-hassan, king of morocco, of the dynasty of the _merinis_, landed in spain at the head of innumerable troops, with whom he joined the army of joseph. the kings of castile and portugal unitedly gave battle to this immense army on the shores of salado, not far from the city of tariffe. this encounter, equally celebrated with the victory of toloza in the history of spain, terminated in the defeat of the moors. abil-hassan returned hastily to morocco, to conceal within his own dominions his chagrin at its unexpected and disastrous issue. the strong place of algeziras, the bulwark of { } grenada, and the magazine in which was deposited the necessary supplies received by that kingdom from africa, was besieged by the castilians a.d. , heg. . several french, english, and navarrois cavaliers resorted on this occasion to the camp of the beleaguering army. the mussulmans availed themselves of the use of cannon in the defence of their city; and this is the first time that the employment of that description of ordnance is spoken of in history. we are told that it was used at the battle of cressy by the english; but that event did not take place until four years after the date of the present siege. it is, then, to the spanish moors that we owe, not the discovery of gunpowder (for that is attributed by some to the chinese, by others to a german monk named schwartz, and by others again to roger bacon, an englishman), but the terrible invention of artillery. it is at least certain, that the moors planted the first cannon of which we have any account. but, in spite of the advantages it thus possessed, algeziras was taken by the christians, a.d. , heg. . about ten years after this event, the unfortunate joseph, who had been so often attacked by { } foreign enemies, met his death from the hands of his own subjects. it may have been remarked by the reader, that no established law regulated the regal succession among the moors. yet, notwithstanding the perpetual conspiracies and intrigues which rendered the possession of the crown so insecure and of such uncertain duration, a prince of the royal race always occupied the throne. we have seen grenada divided, since the violent termination of the reign of ismael, between the factions of the _alhamar_ and the _farady_, and the former deposed by the latter, who always regarded the alhamars as usurpers. this unhappy contest was the source of numberless disorders, conspiracies, and assassinations. the monarch next in order to joseph i. on the throne of grenada was his uncle, a farady prince named mohammed vi., and called _the old_, in consequence of his succeeding at a somewhat advanced period of life. mohammed the red, a scion of the alhamar race, drove his cousin, mohammed the old, from the throne, a.d. , heg. , and retained it for some years, through the protection of the king of aragon. { } peter the cruel, then king of castile, espoused the cause of the banished farady, supported his claims by warlike arguments, and so closely pressed mohammed the alhamar, that he adopted the resolution of repairing to seville, and abandoning himself to the magnanimity of his royal foe. mohammed arrived at the court of seville accompanied by a suite composed of his most faithful friends, and bearing with him vast treasures. he presented himself with noble confidence in the presence of the monarch. "king of castile!" said he to peter, "the blood alike of christian and moor has too long flowed in my contest with the farady. you protect my rival; yet it is you whom i select to adjudge our quarrel. examine my claims and those of my enemy, and pronounce who shall be the sovereign of grenada. if you decide in favour of the farady, i demand only to be conducted to africa; if you accord the preference to me, receive the homage that i have come to render you for my crown!" the astonished peter lavished honours upon the mussulman king, and caused him to be seated at his side during the magnificent feast by { } which he signalized the occasion. but, when the alhamar retired from the entertainment, he was seized and thrown into prison. from thence he was afterward conducted through the streets of the city, seated, half naked, upon an ass, and led to a field termed the _tablada_, where thirty-seven of his devoted followers were deprived of their heads in his presence. the execrable peter, envying the executioner the pleasure of shedding his blood, then thrust through the unfortunate king of grenada with his own lance. the dying sovereign uttered only these words as he expired, "oh peter, peter, what a deed for a cavalier!" by a very extraordinary fatality, every throne in spain was at this period occupied by princes whose characters were blackened by the most atrocious crimes. peter the cruel, the nero of castile, assassinated the kings who confided themselves to his protection, put to death his wife blanche of bourbon, and, in short, daily imbrued his hands in the blood of his relatives or friends. peter iv. of aragon, less violent than the castilian, but equally unfeeling and even more perfidious, despoiled one of his brothers of his kingdom, commanded another to be { } put to death, and delivered his ancient preceptor to the executioners. peter i., king of portugal, the lover of the celebrated inez de castro,[ ] whose ferocity was doubtless excited and increased by the cruelty that had been exercised against his mistress, tore out the hearts of the murderers of inez, and poisoned a sister with whom he was displeased. finally, the contemporary king of navarre was that charles the bad, whose name alone is sufficient still to cause a shudder. all spain groaned beneath the iron rule of these monsters of cruelty, and was inundated by the blood of their victims. if it be remembered that, at the same time, france had become a prey to the horrors which followed the imprisonment of king john; that england witnessed the commencement of the troubled reign of richard ii.; that italy was delivered up to the contentions of the rival factions of the guelfs and ghibelines, and beheld two occupants at the same time upon the papal throne; that two emperors disputed the right to the imperial crown of germany; and that timurlane ravaged asia from the territories of the usheks to the borders of india, it will not be disputed { } that the history of the world records the annals of no more unhappy epoch in its affairs. grenada was at last tranquil after the crime of peter the cruel. mohammed the old, or the farady, being now freed from the rival claims of his competitor, remounted the throne without opposition. mohammed was the only ally of the king of castile who remained faithful to that inhuman monster up to the period of his death. peter was at last the victim of a crime similar to those of which he had so often himself been guilty: his illegitimate brother, henry de transtamare, deprived him of his crown and his life, a.d. , heg. . the king of grenada made peace with the new sovereign of castile, maintained it for several years, and finally left his kingdom in a flourishing condition to his son mohammed viii., abouhadjad, called by the spanish historians mohammed gaudix. this prince commenced his reign a.d. , heg. . he was the best and wisest of the spanish mohammedan kings. intent only upon promoting the happiness of his people, he was desirous of securing to them the enjoyment of { } that foreign and domestic peace to which they had so long been almost utter strangers. the more effectually to ensure this, abouhadjad commenced his reign with fortifying his towns, raising a strong army, and allying himself with the king of tunis, whose daughter cadiga he espoused. when well prepared for war, the moorish sovereign sent ambassadors to the king of castile, to solicit his friendship. don juan, the son and successor of henry de transtamare, being sufficiently occupied by his quarrels with portugal and england, readily signed a treaty with the royal follower of the crescent; and abouhadjad, on his part, kept it unbroken. secured from the inroads of the christians, this wise monarch now occupied himself in promoting the increase of agriculture and commerce: he likewise diminished the rates of imposts, and soon found his income increased in consequence of this judicious measure. beloved by a people whom he rendered happy, respected by foreign neighbours whom he had no reason to fear, and possessed of an amiable wife, who alone engaged his affections, this excellent mussulman prince spent the wealth and leisure that he could with propriety devote to such objects, in { } adorning his capital, in cherishing the fine arts, and in cultivating architecture and poetry. several monuments of his munificence existed at grenada, and at gaudix, a city in favour of which he entertained strong predilections. his court was the favoured abode of genius and elegance. the moors of spain still possessed poets, physicians, painters, sculptors, academies, and universities. and these were all liberally encouraged and endowed by mohammed gaudix. most of the productions of the grenadian authors of this period perished at the final conquest of their country;[ ] but some of them have been preserved, and still exist in the library of the escurial. they chiefly treat of grammar, astrology (then greatly esteemed), and, above all, of theology, a study in which the moors excelled. that people, naturally gifted with discriminating minds and ardent imaginations, produced many distinguished theologians, who may easily be supposed to have introduced into europe the unfortunate scholastic taste for subtle questions and disputes, which once rendered so celebrated, men whose names and achievements have since sunk for ever into oblivion. the { } pretended secrets of the cabal, of alchymy, of judicial astronomy, of the divining rod, and all the accounts, formerly so common, of sorcerers, magicians, and enchanters, are derived from these descendants of the arabs. they were a superstitious race from the remotest times; and it is probable that to their residence in spain, and their long intercourse with the spaniards, is owing that love for the marvellous, and that well-deserved reputation for superstitious credulity, with which philosophy still reproaches a sprightly and intellectual nation, upon whom nature has bestowed the germes of the best qualities that adorn humanity. a kind of literature which was common among these saracens, and for which the spaniards were indebted to them, was that of novels or romances. the arabs were ever, as they still are, passionate lovers of story-telling. as well in the tents of the wild bedouin as in the palaces of the east, alike under the gilded domes and peasant roofs of grenada, this taste prevailed. everywhere they assembled nightly to listen to romantic narratives of love and valour. everywhere they listened in silent attention, or wept from sympathetic interest in the fate { } of those whose adventures formed the subject of the tale. the grenadians joined with this passion for exciting incident, a taste for music and singing. their poets imbodied in verse these favourite recitals of love and war. musicians were employed in composing suitable airs for them, and they were thus sung by the youthful moors with all the enthusiasm that passion, poetry, and dulcet harmony can unitedly inspire. from this national custom are derived the multitude of spanish romances, translated or imitated from the arabic, which, in a simple and sometimes touching style, recount the fierce combats of the moors and christians, the fatal quarrels of jealous and haughty rivals, or the tender conversation of lovers. they describe with great exactness everything relating to the peculiar manners and amusements of this interesting and extinguished nation: their fêtes, their games of the ring and of canes, and their bull-fights, the latter of which they adopted from the spaniards, are all portrayed. thus we learn that their war-like equipments consisted of a large cimeter, a slender lance, a short coat of mail, and a light leathern buckler. we have descriptions of superb horses, with their richly-jewelled and { } embroidered housings sweeping the earth in ample folds, and of the devises emblazoned on the arms of the graceful moorish cavaliers. these last consisted frequently of a heart pierced by an arrow, or perhaps of a star guiding a vessel, or of the first letter of the name of the fair recipients of their vows of love. we learn, too, that their colours each bore a peculiar signification: yellow and black expressed grief; green, hope; blue, jealousy; violet and flame colour, passionate love. the following abridged translation of one of these little compositions will produce a more correct idea of them in the mind of the reader than any description could convey.[ ] gonzulo and zelinda. a moorish romance. in a transport of jealousy and pride, zelinda spurned her lover from her side! { } his cruel doom gonzulo heard with bosom wrung; and disappeared! but the fair maid soon deeply felt the torturing wound herself had dealt; as glides the snow from mountain crest, so fled resentment from her breast. they tell her that the moor's proud heart is pierced by grief's most poisoned dart, and that he'd doffed, when flying from her side, the tender colours that were once his pride; that green, of hope the cherished emblem gay, to sorrow's mournful hues had given way. a badge of crape his lance's point now wears, a blackened crown his shield as emblem bears! { } to proffer gifts with different meaning fraught, zelinda now her errant lover sought: the blue of jealousy she had united with all the hues most dear to lovers plighted; a violet gem, entwined with gold, gleamed mid a broidered turban's fold, and every silken riband that she bore, of lovely innocence the symbol wore. zelinda reached the soft retreat where gonzulo his fate must meet! o'erwhelmed with doubt, the dark-eyed maid reclined beneath a myrtle shade, and sent a faithful page to guide her banished lover to her side. gonzulo scarce the message would receive, for wo had taught his heart to disbelieve! { } but soon he flew, on wing of love, to seek zelinda's chosen grove. then tearful glances of regret by words of tenderness were met; and ne'er did guardian nymphs record more ardent vows than there were poured! 'twas thus triumphant love repaired the cruel wrongs that each had shared! the delicate and peculiar gallantry, which rendered the moors of grenada famous throughout europe, formed a singular contrast to the ferocity that is so natural to all nations of african origin. these islamites, whose chief glory it was dexterously to deprive their enemies of their heads, attach them to their saddle-bows, and afterward display them as trophies on the { } battlements of their towers or at the entrance of their palaces; these restless and ungovernable warriors, who were ever ready to revolt against their rulers, to depose or to murder them, were the most tender, the most devoted, the most ardent of lovers. their wives, though their domestic position was little superior to that of slaves, became, when they were beloved, the absolute sovereigns, the supreme divinities of those whose hearts they possessed. it was to please these idolized beings that the moorish cavaliers sought distinction in the field; it was to shine in their eyes that they lavished their treasures and their lives--that they mutually endeavoured to eclipse each other in deeds of arms, in the splendour of their warlike exploits, and the oriental magnificence of their fêtes. it cannot now be determined whether the moors derived this extraordinary union of softness and cruelty, of delicacy and barbarity--this generous rivalry in courage and in constancy from the spaniards, or whether the spaniards acquired these characteristics from the moors. but when it is remembered that they do not belong to the asiatic arabs, from whom these gallant knights originally sprang; that they are { } found, even in a less degree, if possible, among these followers of mohammed in that portion of africa where their conquests have naturalized them; and, that after their departure from spain, the grenadians lost every trace of the peculiarly interesting and chivalrous qualities by which they had previously been so remarkably distinguished, there is some ground for the opinion that it was to the spaniards that their moslem neighbours were indebted for the existence of these national attributes. in truth, before the invasion of spain by the arabs, the courts of the gothic kings had already offered knightly examples of a similar spirit. and after that event we find the cavaliers of leon, navarre, and castile equally renowned for their achievements in war and their romantic devotion to the fair sex. the mere name of _the cid_ awakens in the mind recollections alike of tenderness and bravery. it should be remembered, too, that, long after the expulsion of the moors from the peninsula, the spaniards maintained a reputation for gallantry far superior to that of the french, some portion of the spirit of which, though extinct among every other european nation, still lingers in spain. { } but, be this point decided as it may, it is not to be disputed that the daughters of grenada merited the devotion which they inspired: they were perhaps the most fascinating women in the world. we find in the narrative of a moorish historian, who wrote at grenada during the reign of mohammed the old, the following description of his countrywomen: "their beauty is remarkable; but the loveliness which strikes the beholder at first sight afterward receives its principal charm from the grace and gentleness of their manners. in stature they are above the middle height, and of delicate and slender proportions. their long black hair descends to the earth. their teeth embellish with the whiteness of alabaster, vermillion lips, which perpetually smile with a bewitching air. the constant use which they make of the most exquisite perfumes, gives a freshness and brilliancy to their complexions possessed by no other mohammedan women. their walking, their dancing, their every movement, is distinguished by a graceful softness, an ease, a lightness, which surpasses all their other charms. their conversation is lively and sensible, and their fine intellects are { } constantly displayed in brilliant wit or judicious sentiments." the dress of these elegant females was composed, as that of the turkish women still is, of a long tunic of linen confined by a cincture, of a _doliman_ or turkish dress with close sleeves, of wide trousers and morocco slippers. the materials of their clothing were of the finest fabric, and were usually woven in stripes: they were embroidered with gold and silver, and profusely spangled with jewels. their waving tresses floated over their shoulders; and a small cap, adorned with the richest gems, supported an embroidered veil, which fell nearly to the feet. the men were clothed in a similar manner: with them were carried in the girdle the purse, the handkerchief, and the poniard: a white, and sometimes a coloured, turban covered the head; and over the turkish doliman they wore in summer a wide and flowing white robe, and in winter the _albornos_ or african mantle. the only change made in their dress by the moorish cavaliers when preparing for battle was the addition of a coat of mail, and an iron lining within their turbans. it was the custom of the grenadians to repair { } every year, during the autumn, to the charming villas by which the city was surrounded. there they yielded themselves up to the pursuit of pleasure. the chase and the dance, music and feasting, occupied every hour. the manners of those who participated in these national dances were in a high degree unreserved, as was the language of the songs and ballads in which they joined. were it not for the contradictions in the human character, one might be surprised at this want of delicacy in a people who were capable of so much refinement of feeling. but, in general, nations of oriental origin possess but little reserve in their manners: they have more of passion than sentiment, more of jealousy than delicacy in their haughty and excitable natures. in giving these details, we have perhaps trespassed too long on the period of calm repose enjoyed by the kingdom of grenada during the reign of abouhadjad. that excellent sovereign, after having filled the throne for thirteen years, left his flourishing dominions to his son joseph, who succeeded him without opposition, a.d. , heg. . joseph ii. was desirous, in imitation of the { } course pursued by his father, of maintaining the truce with the christians. it was, however, soon disturbed by a fanatical hermit, who persuaded the grand-master of alcantara, martin de barbuda, a portuguese, that he had been selected by heaven as the chosen instrument for expelling the infidels from spain. he promised the credulous martin, in the name of god, that he should succeed in conquering the enemies of the cross, and in carrying the city of grenada by assault, without the loss of a single soldier. the infatuated grand-master, convinced of the certainty of the fulfilment of this promise, immediately sent ambassadors to joseph, with orders to declare to that sovereign, in his name, that, since the religion of mohammed was false and detestable, and that of jesus christ the only true and saving faith, he, martin de barbuda, defied the king of grenada to a combat of two hundred mussulmans against one hundred christians, upon condition that the vanquished nation should instantly adopt the faith of the conquerors. the reception these ambassadors met with may be easily imagined. joseph could scarcely restrain the indignation of his people. the { } envoys, driven contemptuously away, returned to the presence of the grand-master, who, surprised at receiving no response to his proposal, soon assembled a thousand foot-soldiers and three hundred cavaliers, and hastened to the conquest of grenada under the guidance of the prophetic hermit. the king of castile, henry iii., who desired to preserve peace with the followers of the prophet at the commencement of a reign during which his own dominions were but ill at rest, was no sooner informed of the enterprise of barbuda, than he sent him positive orders not to cross the frontiers; but that dignitary replying that he ought to obey the commands of jehovah rather than those of any earthly master, proceeded on his way. the governors of the different cities through which he passed on his route endeavoured, though vainly, to arrest his progress; but the people overwhelmed him with homage, and everywhere added to the number of his forces. the army of the grand-master amounted to six thousand men, when, in a.d. , heg. , he entered the country which his folly taught him to regard as already in his possession. in attacking the first castle at which he { } arrived, three soldiers were killed and their fanatical commander himself wounded. surprised beyond measure at beholding his own blood flow and three soldiers fall, he summoned the anchorite into his presence, and sedately demanded what this meant, after his express promise that not a single champion of the true faith should perish. the fanatic replied, that the word he had pledged extended only to regular battles. barbuda complained no more, and presently perceived the approach of a moorish army composed of fifty thousand men. the conflict soon commenced: the grand-master and his three hundred mounted followers perished in the field, after having performed prodigies of valour. the remainder of the spanish army were either taken prisoners or put to flight; and the silence of historians respecting the hermit, leads to the opinion that he was not among the last to seek safety at a distance from the scene of action. this foolish enterprise did not interrupt the good understanding subsisting between the two nations. the king of castile disavowed all approval of the conduct of martin de barbuda, and joseph long continued to reign with honour and tranquillity. but he was at last poisoned, { } it is said, by a magnificent robe which he received from his secret enemy, the king of fez through the ambassadors of that sovereign. historians assert that this garment was impregnated with a terrible poison, which caused the death of the unfortunate joseph by the most horrible torments. the peculiar effects it produced was that of detaching the flesh from the bones, the misery of the wretched sufferer enduring for the protracted period of thirty days. mohammed ix., the second son of this hapless monarch, who, even during the lifetime of his father, had excited commotions in the realm, usurped the crown that of right belonged to his elder brother joseph, whom he caused to be confined in prison. mohammed was courageous, and possessed some talents for war. allied with the king of tunis, who joined his fleet with that of grenada, he broke the truce maintained with castile during the two preceding reigns, and at first gained some advantages over his adversaries, but the infant don ferdinand, the uncle and tutor of the young king john ii., was not long in avenging the cause of spain. mohammed ix. died in the year , { } heg. . when the expiring monarch became conscious that his end was rapidly approaching, desirous of securing the crown to his son, he sent one of his principal officers to the prison of his brother joseph, with orders to cut off the head of the royal occupant. the officer found joseph engaged in a game of chess with an iman:[ ] he sorrowfully announced the mournful commission with which he was charged. the prince, without manifesting any emotion at the communication, only demanded time to conclude his game; and the officer could not refuse this slight favour. while the philosophical mussulman continued to play, a second messenger arrived, bearing the news of the death of the usurper, and of the proclamation of joseph as his successor to the throne. the people of grenada were happy under the rule of the good king joseph iii. so far was he from avenging himself upon those who had aided his brother in depriving him of his rights, that he lavished favours and offices on them, and educated the son of mohammed in the same manner as his own children. when his councillors blamed him for a degree of indulgence { } which they regarded as hazardous, "allow me," replied the sovereign, "to deprive my enemies of all excuse for having preferred my younger brother to me!" this excellent prince was often obliged to take arms against the christians. he was so unfortunate as to lose some cities, but he preserved the respect and affection of his subjects, and died lamented by the whole kingdom, after a reign of fifteen years, a.d. , heg. . after the death of joseph the state was distracted by civil wars. mohammed x. abenazar, or the _left-handed_, the son and successor of that benevolent king, was banished from the throne by mohammed xi. _el zugair_, or the little, who preserved his ill-gotten power but two years. the abencerrages, a powerful tribe[ ] at grenada, re-established mohammed the left-handed in his former place, and his competitor perished on the scaffold. about four years after the death of joseph, the spaniards renewed their inroads into grenada, and carried fire and sword to the very gates of the capital. all the neighbouring fields were devastated; the crops were burned and the { } villages destroyed. john ii., who then reigned in castile, wishing to add to the miseries he had already occasioned these unhappy people the still greater misfortune of civil war, instigated the proclamation at grenada of a certain joseph alliamar, a grandson of that mohammed the red so basely assassinated at seville by peter the cruel. all the discontented spirits in the kingdom joined the faction of joseph alhamar; and the zegris, a powerful tribe, who were at enmity with the abencerrages, lent their aid to the usurper. mohammed abenazar was again driven from the capital, a.d. , heg. , and joseph iv. alhamar possessed his dominions six months. at the termination of that time he expired. mohammed the left-handed once more resumed his royal seat; but, after thirteen years of misfortune, this unhappy prince was again deposed for the third time, and imprisoned by one of his nephews, named mohammed xii. the osmin, who was himself afterward dethroned[ ] by his own brother ismael, and ended his days { } in the same dungeon in which his uncle mohammed abenazar had languished. all these revolutions did not prevent the christian and moorish governors who commanded on their respective frontiers from making incessant irruptions into the enemy's country. sometimes a little troop of cavalry or infantry surprised a village, massacred the inhabitants, pillaged their houses, and carried away their flocks. sometimes an army suddenly appeared in a fertile plain, devastated the fields, uprooted the vines, felled the trees, besieged and took some town or fortress, and retired with their booty. this kind of warfare was ruinous, most of all, to the unfortunate cultivator of the soil. the grenadian dominions suffered so much during the reign of ismael ii., that the king was compelled to cause immense forests to be cleared for the support of his capital, which then drew scarcely any supplies from the vast and fertile _vega_ which had been so often desolated by the spaniards. ismael ii. left the crown to his son mulei-hassem, a young and highly courageous prince, who, profiting by the disastrous condition of castile under the deplorable reign of henry iv. the { } impotent, carried his arms into the centre of andalusia. the success that marked the commencement of the reign of this sovereign, together with his talents and warlike ardour, tempted the moors to believe that they might yet recover their former greatness. but the occurrence at this juncture of a great and unlooked-for event, arrested the victorious progress of mulei-hassam, and prepared the way for the total ruin of his kingdom. isabella of castile, the sister of henry the impotent, notwithstanding the opposition of her brother and the intervention of almost insurmountable obstacles, espoused ferdinand the catholic, the king of sicily, and heir presumptive of the kingdom of aragon.[ ] this marriage, by uniting the two most powerful monarchs of spain, gave a fatal blow to the prosperity of the moors, which they had been able to maintain, even in the degree in which it now existed, only through the divisions which had hitherto perpetually prevailed among their christian opponents. either of the two enemies, now unitedly arrayed against them, had been singly sufficient { } to overwhelm the mussulmans. ferdinand was alike politic, able, and adroit. he was pliant, and, at the same time, firm; cautious to a degree sometimes amounting to pusillanimity; cunning even to falsehood, and endowed in an extraordinary degree with the power of discerning at a single glance all the various means of attaining a particular end. isabella was of a prouder and more noble nature; endowed with heroic courage and the most unyielding constancy of purpose, she was admirably qualified for the pursuit and accomplishment of any enterprise to which she might direct the energies of her powerful mind. the exalted endowments of one of these royal personages have been employed to ennoble the character of the other. ferdinand often played the part of a weak, perfidious woman, negotiating only to deceive; whereas isabella was always the high-souled sovereign, advancing openly to her purposes, and marching directly to honourable conflict and generous triumph. no sooner had these distinguished individuals secured possession of their respective kingdoms, suppressed all domestic disturbances, and effected peaceful arrangements with foreign powers, { } than they mutually resolved to concentrate all their efforts for the annihilation of the mohammedan dominion in spain. this century seemed destined to be marked by the glory of the spaniards. in addition to the immense advantages afforded them by the union of their forces, ferdinand and isabella were surrounded by the wisest and most experienced advisers. the celebrated cardinal ximenes, at one time a simple monk, was now at the head of their councils; and that able minister "_led_," as he himself averred, "_all spain by his girdle!_" the civil wars with which the peninsula had been so long disturbed, had created among the christian powers a host of brave soldiers and excellent commanders. among the latter were particularly distinguished the count de cabra, the marquis of cadiz, and the famous gonzalvo of cordova, whose just claim to the surname of _the great captain_, given him by his countrymen, the lapse of time has only served to confirm. the public treasury, which had been exhausted by the lavish prodigality of henry, was soon replenished by the rigid economy of isabella, aided by a bull from the pope, permitting the royal appropriation of the { } ecclesiastical revenues. the troops were numerous and admirably disciplined, and the emulation which existed between the castilians and aragonians redoubled the valour of both. everything, in short, prognosticated the downfall of the last remaining throne of the moors. its royal champion, mulei-hassem, was not dismayed, however, even by such an accumulation of danger. he was the first to break the truce, by taking forcible possession of the city of zahra, a.d. , heg. . ferdinand despatched ambassadors to the moslem court to complain of this breach of faith; with orders, at the same time, to demand the ancient tribute which had been paid by the kings of grenada to the sovereigns of castile. "i know," replied mulei-hassem, when the envoys of the spanish prince had delivered their message, "i know that some of my predecessors rendered you tribute in pieces of gold; but _this_ is the only metal now coined in the national mint of grenada!" and, as he spoke, the stern and haughty monarch presented the head of his lance to the spanish ambassadors. the army of ferdinand first marched upon alhamar, a very strong fortress in the { } neighbourhood of grenada, and particularly famous for the magnificent baths with which it had been embellished by the moorish kings. the place was taken by surprise, and thus a war was lighted up that was destined to be extinguished only with the last expiring sigh of grenada. victory seemed at first to be equally poised between the two contending powers. the king of grenada possessed ample resources in troops, artillery, and treasure. he might have long maintained the contest, but for an act of imprudence which precipitated him into an abyss of misfortune from which he was never afterward able to extricate himself. the wife of mulei-hassem, named aixa, belonged, before her marriage with the king, to one of the most important of the grenadian tribes. the offspring of this marriage was a son named boabdil, whose right it was to succeed to his father's throne. but the reckless mulei repudiated his wife at the instance of a christian slave, of whom he became enamoured, and who governed the doting monarch at will. this act of cruelty and injustice was the signal for civil war. the injured aixa, in concert with her son, excited her relatives and friends, { } and a large number of the inhabitants of the capital, to throw off their allegiance to their sovereign. mulei-hassem was eventually driven from the city, and boabdil assumed the title of king. thus father and son were involved in a contest for the possession of a crown, of which ferdinand was seeking to deprive them both. to add to the misfortunes which were already fast crushing this distracted and miserable country beneath their weight, another aspirant to the throne presented himself, in the person of a brother of mulei-hassem named zagel. this prince, at the head of a band of moorish adventurers, had succeeded in obtaining some important advantages over the spaniards in the defiles of malaga, a.d. , heg. . his achievements having won for him the hearts of his countrymen, zagel now conceived the design of dethroning his brother and nephew, and of appropriating the dominions of both to himself. thus a third faction arose to increase the dissensions of the state. boabdil still held insecure possession of the capital; and, desirous of attempting some action, the brilliancy of which would reanimate the { } hopes and confidence of a party that was ready to abandon him, he sallied forth at the head of a small force, with the intention of surprising lucena, a city belonging to the castilians. but the ill-fated boabdil was made a prisoner in this expedition. he was the first moorish king who had ever been a captive to the spaniards. ferdinand lavished on him the attentions due to misfortune, and caused him to be conducted to cordova, attended by an escort. the old king, mulei-hassem, seized this opportunity to repossess himself of the crown of which his rebellious son had deprived him, and, in spite of the party of zagel, he again became master of his capital. but the restored monarch could oppose but a feeble resistance to the progress of the spaniards, who were rapidly reducing his cities and advancing nearer to his devoted capital. within the walls of that city the wretched inhabitants were madly warring against one another, as if unconscious of the destruction that was fast approaching them from without. to increase the sanguinary feuds which already so surely presaged their destruction, the catholic sovereigns had become the { } allies of the captive boabdil, engaging to assist him in his efforts against his father on condition that he should pay them a tribute of twelve thousand crowns of gold, acknowledge himself their vassal, and deliver certain strong places into their hands. the base boabdil acceded to everything; and, aided by the politic spanish princes, hastened again to take arms against his father. the kingdom of grenada was now converted into one wide field of carnage, where mulei-hassem, boabdil, and zagel were furiously contending for the mournful relics of their country. the spaniards, in the mean time, marched rapidly from one conquest to another, sometimes under pretext of sustaining their ally boabdil, and often in open defiance of the treaty they had formed with that prince; but always carefully feeding the fire of discord, while they were despoiling each of the three rival parties, and leaving to the vanquished inhabitants their laws, their customs, and the free exercise of their religion. in the midst of these frightful scenes of calamity and crime, old mulei-hassem died, either worn out by grief and misfortune, or through { } the agency of his ambitious brother. this event occurred a.d. , heg. . ferdinand had now rendered himself master of all the western part of the kingdom of grenada, and boabdil agreed to divide with zagel the remnant of this desolated state. the city of grenada was retained by boabdil, while gaudix and almeria fell to the share of zagel. the war was not the less vigorously prosecuted in consequence of this arrangement; and the unprincipled zagel, doubting his ability long to retain the cities in his possession, sold them to king ferdinand in consideration of an annual pension. by virtue of this treaty, the catholic sovereigns took possession of the purchased cities; and the traitor zagel even lent the aid of his arms to the christian army, the more speedily to overthrow the royal power of his nephew, and thereby terminate the existence of his expiring country. all that now remained to the mussulmans was the single city of grenada. there boabdil still reigned; and, exasperated by misfortune, he vented his rage and despair in acts of barbarous cruelty towards its wretched inhabitants. { } ferdinand and isabella, disregarding the conditions of their pretended alliance with this now powerless prince, summoned him to surrender his capital, in compliance, as they said, with the terms of a secret treaty, which they affirmed had been concluded between them. boabdil protested against this perfidious conduct. but there was no time allowed for complaint: he must successfully defend himself, or cease to reign. the moorish prince adopted, therefore, to say the least, the most heroic alternative; and resolved to defend to the last what remained to him of his once beautiful and flourishing country. the spanish sovereign, at the head of an army of sixty thousand men, the flower and chivalry of the united kingdoms of castile and aragon, laid siege to grenada on the th of may, , and in the th year of the hegira. this great city, as has been already mentioned, was defended by strong ramparts, flanked by a multitude of towers, and by numerous other fortifications, built one above the other. notwithstanding the civil wars which had inundated it with blood, grenada still enclosed within its walls more than two hundred thousand { } inhabitants. every brave moorish cavalier who still remained true to his country, its religion, and its laws, had here taken refuge. despair redoubled their strength in this last desperate struggle; and had these fierce and intrepid warriors been guided by a more worthy chief than boabdil, their noble constancy might still have saved them; but this weak and ferocious monarch hesitated not, on the slightest suspicion, to consign his most faithful defenders to the axe of the executioner. thus he became daily more and more an object of hatred and contempt to the grenadians, by whom he was surnamed _zogoybi_; that is to say, _the little king_. the different tribes now grew dissatisfied and dispirited, especially the numerous and powerful tribe of the abencerrages. the alfaquis and the imans, also, loudly predicted the approaching downfall of the moorish empire; and nothing upheld the sinking courage of the people against the pressure of a foreign foe and the tyranny of their own rulers but their unconquerable horror of the spanish yoke. the catholic soldiers, on the other hand, elated by their past success, regarded themselves as invincible, and never for a moment doubted the { } certainty of their triumph. they were commanded, also, by leaders to whom they were devotedly attached: ponce de leon, marquis of cadiz, henry de guzman, duke of medina, mendoza, aguillar, villena, and gonzalvo of cordova, together with many other famous captains, accompanied their victorious king. isabella, too, whose virtues excited the highest respect, and whose affability and grace won for her the affectionate regard of all, had repaired to the camp of her husband with the infant and the infantas, and attended by the most brilliant court in europe. this politic princess, though naturally grave and serious, wisely accommodated herself to the existing circumstances. she mingled fêtes and amusements with warlike toil: jousts and tournaments delighted at intervals the war-worn soldiery; and dances, games, and illuminations filled up the delicious summer evenings. queen isabella was the animating genius that directed everything; a gracious word from her was a sufficient recompense for the most gallant achievement; and her look alone had power to transform the meanest soldier into a hero. abundance reigned in the christian camp; { } while joy and hope animated every heart. but within the beleaguered city, mutual distrust, universal consternation, and the prospect of inevitable destruction, had damped the courage and almost annihilated the hopes of the wretched inhabitants. the siege, nevertheless, lasted for nine months. the cautious commander of the christian army did not attempt to carry by assault a place so admirably fortified. after having laid waste the environs, therefore, he waited patiently until famine should deliver the city into his hands. satisfied with battering the ramparts and repelling the frequent sorties of the moors, he never engaged in any decisive action, but daily hemmed in more closely the chafed lion that could not now escape his toils. accident one night set fire to the pavilion of isabella, and the spreading conflagration consumed every tent in the camp. but boabdil derived no advantage from this disaster. the queen directed that a city should supply the place of the ruined camp, to convince the enemies of the cross that the siege would never be raised until grenada should come into possession of the conquering spaniards. this great and { } extraordinary design, so worthy the genius of isabella, was executed in eighty days. the christian camp thus became a walled city; and santa fe still exists as a monument of the piety and perseverance of the heroic queen of castile. at last, oppressed by famine, less frequently successful than at first in the partial engagements that were constantly taking place under the walls, and abandoned by africa, from which there were no attempts made to relieve them, the moors now felt the necessity of a surrender. gonzalvo of cordova was empowered by the conquerors to arrange the articles of capitulation. these provided that the people of grenada should recognise ferdinand and isabella, and their royal successors, as their rightful sovereigns; that all their christian captives should be released without ransom; that the moors should continue to be governed by their own laws; should retain their national customs, their judges, half the number of their mosques, and the free exercise of their faith; that they should be permitted either to keep or sell their property, and to retire to africa, or to any other country they might choose, while, at the same time, they should not be compelled to leave their { } native land. it was also agreed that boabdil should have assigned to him a rich and ample domain in the alpuxares, of which he should possess the entire command. such were the terms of capitulation, and but ill were they observed by the spaniards. boabdil fulfilled his part of the stipulations some days before the time specified, in consequence of being informed that his people, roused by the representations of the imans, wished to break off the negotiations, and to bury themselves beneath the ruins of the city rather than suffer their desolate and deserted homes to be profaned by the intruding foot of the spoiler. the wretched moslem prince hastened therefore to deliver the keys of the city, and of the fortresses of the albazin and the alhambra, into the hands of ferdinand. entering no more, after this mournful ceremony, within the walls where he no longer retained any authority, boabdil took his melancholy journey, accompanied by his family and a small number of followers, to the petty dominions which were now all that remained to him of the once powerful and extensive empire of his ancestors. { } when the cavalcade reached an eminence from which the towers of grenada might still be discerned, the wretched exile turned his last sad regards upon the distant city, amid ill-suppressed tears and groans. "_you do well_," said aixa, his mother, "_to weep like a woman for the throne you could not defend like a man!_" but the now powerless boabdil could not long endure existence as a subject in a country where he had reigned as a sovereign: he crossed the mediterranean to africa, and there he ended his days on the battle-field. ferdinand and isabella made their public entrance into grenada on the st of january, , through double ranks of soldiers, and amid the thunder of artillery. the city seemed deserted; the inhabitants fled from the presence of the conquerors, and concealed their tears and their despair within the innermost recesses of their habitations. the royal victors repaired first to the grand mosque, which was consecrated as a christian church, and where they rendered thanks to god for the brilliant success that had crowned their arms. while the sovereigns fulfilled this pious duty, the count de tendilla, the new governor { } of grenada, elevated the triumphant cross, and the standards of castile and st. james, on the highest towers of the alhambra. thus fell this famous city, and thus perished the power of the moors of spain, after an existence of seven hundred and eighty-two years from the first conquest of the country by tarik. it may now be proper briefly to remark upon the principal causes of the extinction of the national independence of the kingdom of grenada. the first of these arose from the peculiar character of the moors: from that spirit of inconstancy, that love of novelty, and that unceasing inquietude, which prompted them to such frequent change of their rulers; which multiplied factions among them, and constantly convulsed the empire with internal discords, expending its strength and power in dissensions at home, and thus leaving it defenceless against foreign enemies. the moors may also be reproached with an extravagant fondness for architectural magnificence, splendid fêtes, and other expensive entertainments, which aided in exhausting the national treasury at times when protracted warfare scarcely ever permitted this most fertile region of the earth to reproduce the { } crops the spaniards had destroyed. but, more than all, they were a people without an established code of laws, that only permanent basis of the prosperity of nations. and then, too, a despotic form of government, which deprives men of patriotism, induced each individual to regard his virtues and attainments merely as affording the means of personal consideration, and not, as they should be considered, the property of his country. these grave defects in the national character of the moors were redeemed by many excellent qualities, which even the spaniards admitted them to possess. in battle they were no less brave and prudent than their christian antagonists, though inferior in skill and discipline. they excelled them, however, in the art of attack. adversity never long overwhelmed them; they saw in misfortune the will of heaven, and without a murmur submitted to it. their favourite dogma of fatalism doubtless contributed to this result. fervently devoted to the laws of mohammed, they obeyed with great exactness his humane injunctions respecting almsgiving:[ ] they bestowed on the poor not only food and { } money, but a portion of their grain, fruit, and flocks, and of every kind of merchandise. in the towns and throughout the country, the indigent sick were collected, attended, and nursed with the most assiduous care. hospitality, so sacred from the remotest time among the arabs, was not less carefully observed among the people of grenada, who seemed to take peculiar pleasure in its exercise. the following touching anecdote is told in illustration of the powerful influence of this principle. a stranger, bathed in blood, sought refuge from the officers of justice under the roof of an aged moor. the old man concealed him in his house. but he had scarcely done so before a guard arrived to demand possession of the murderer, and, at the same time, to deliver to the horror-stricken mussulman the dead body of his son, whom the stranger had just assassinated. still the aged father would not give up his guest. when the guard, however, were gone, he entreated the assassin to leave him. "_depart from me_," he cried, "_that i may be at liberty to pursue thee!_" these moslems were but little known to the historians by whom they have been so often calumniated. polished, enthusiastic, hospitable, { } brave, and chivalrous, but haughty, passionate, inconstant, and vindictive, their unfortunate fate entitles them, at least, to compassion and sympathy, while their virtues may well excite respect and interest. after their final defeat, many of the followers of the prophet retired to africa. those who remained in grenada suffered greatly from the persecution and oppression to which they were subjected by their new masters. the article in their last treaty with the spaniards, which formally ensured their religious freedom, was grossly violated by the catholics, who compelled the mussulmans to abjure their national faith by force, terror, and every other unworthy means. at last, outraged beyond endurance by this want of good faith, and wrought to desperation by the cruelties they were compelled to endure, in the year the moors attempted to revolt against their oppressors. their efforts were, however, unavailing: ferdinand marched in person against them, repressed by force of arms the struggles of a people whom he designated as rebels, and, sword in hand, administered the rite of baptism to more than fifty thousand captive moslems. { } the successors of ferdinand, charles v. and especially philip ii., continued to harass the moors.[ ] the inquisition was established in the city of grenada, and all the terrors of that dreaded institution were added to gentler means for the conversion of the infidels to christianity. their children were taken from them to be educated in accordance with the precepts of that religion whose adorable founder enjoined peace, mercy, and forbearance upon his followers, and forbade the practice of injustice and cruelty in every form. yielding to the promptings of despair, this crushed and wretched remnant of a once powerful and glorious nation again flew to arms in the year , and executed the most terrible vengeance upon the catholic priesthood. mohammed-ben-ommah, the new king whom they chose to direct their destinies, and who was { } said to have sprung from the cherished race of the ommiades, several times gave battle to his opponents in the mountains of the alpuxares, where he sustained the cause of his injured countrymen for the space of two years. at the end of that time he was assassinated by his own people. his successor shared the same fate, and the mussulmans were again compelled to submit to a yoke their revolt had rendered even more intolerable than before. finally, king philip iii. totally banished the moors from spain. the depopulation thus produced inflicted a wound upon that kingdom, from the effects of which it has never since recovered. more than one hundred and fifty thousand of this persecuted race took refuge in france, where henry iv. received them with great humanity. a small number also concealed themselves in the recesses of the alpuxares; but the greatest part of the expatriated islamites sought a home in africa. there their descendants still drag out a miserable existence under the despotic rule of the sovereigns of morocco, and unceasingly pray that they may be restored to their beloved grenada. [ ] the darra, xenil, dilar, vagro, and monachil. [ ] see note a, page . [ ] see note b, page . [ ] see note c, page . [ ] it should be borne in mind, that the description given by m. florian of the remains of the once gorgeous splendours of this palace was written nearly half a century ago; and that time, and the yet more ruthless destroyer man, may have wrought great changes since that period amid the ruins of the alhambra.--_trans._ [ ] the translator has adopted the literal french version of this inscription, given in a note by m. florian, from the impression that the spirit of the original would thus be better preserved than by attempting to render into rhyme his poetical interpretation. [ ] see note d, page . [ ] see note e, page . [ ] a.d. , heg. . [ ] a.d. , heg. . [ ] the mountains of grenada, in the neighbourhood of which this action took place, have, ever since that event, borne the name of la sierra de los infantes. [ ] see note f, page . [ ] see note g, page . [ ] the translator ventures to offer an imitation of m. florian's french version of this moorish ballad, and appends the spanish original with which he presents his readers. ganzul y zelinda. romance moro. en el tiempo que zelinda cerro ayrada la ventana a la disculpa a los zelos que el moro ganzul le daya, confusa y arrepentida de averse fingido ayrada, for verle y desagravialle, el corazon se le abraza; que en el villano de amor es mui cierta la mudanza, etc. y como supo que el moro rompio furioso la lanca, etc. y que la librea verde avia trocado en leonada; saco luego una marlota de tufetan roxo y plata, un bizarro capellar de tela de oro morada, etc. con une bonete cubierto de zaphires y esparaldas, que publican zelos muertos, y vivas las esperancos, con una nevada toça; que el color de la veleta tambien publica bononça informandose primero. a donde ganzul estava, a una caza de plazer aquella tarde le llama y diziendole a ganzul. que zelinda le aguardava, al page le pregunto tres vezes si so burlava; que son malaas de creer las nuevas mui desseadas, etc. hollola en un jardin, entre mosquetta y jasmine, etc. viendose moro con ella, a penas los ojos alça; zelinda le asio la mano, un poco roxa y turbada; y al fin de infinitas guexas que en tales passes se passan, vistio se las ricas presas con las manos de su dama, etc. [ ] mohammedan priest. [ ] see note h, page . [ ] a.d. , heg. . [ ] a.d. , heg. . [ ] see note i, page . [ ] the edicts of charles v., which were renewed and rendered more severe by philip ii., directed an entire change in the peculiar domestic habits and manners of the moors, prescribed their adoption of the spanish costume and language, forbade their women to wear veils, interdicted the use of the oath and the celebration of their national dances, and ordered that all their children from the age of five to fifteen should be registered, that they might be sent to catholic schools. { } notes. first epoch. a, page . _until they embrace islamism, &c._ the word _islamism_ is derived from _islam_, which signifies _consecration to god_. the brief synopsis given in the text of the principles of the mohammedan religion, is literally rendered by the author from several different chapters of the koran. these precepts are there to be found almost lost amid a mass of absurdities, repetitions, and incoherent rhapsodies. yet, throughout the entire work, there are occasionally bright gleams of fervid eloquence or pure morality. mohammed never speaks on his own authority; he pretends always to be prompted by the angel gabriel, who repeats to him the commands of the most high: the prophet does but listen and repeat them. the angelic messenger has taken care to enter into a multitude of details, not only in relation to religion, but also to legislation and government. and thus it happens that the koran is regarded by the mussulmans as their standard, no less for civil than for moral law. one half of this book is written in verse, and the remainder in poetical prose. mohammed possessed great poetical talent; an endowment so highly esteemed by his countrymen, that they were in the habit of assembling at mecca to pronounce judgment on the different poems affixed { } by their respective authors to the walls of the temple of tie caaba; and the individual in whose favour the popular voice decided was crowned with great solemnity. when the second chapter of the koran, _labia ebn rabia_, appeared on the walls, the most famous poet of the time, who had previously posted up a rival production of his own, tore it down, and acknowledged himself conquered by the prophet. mohammed was not altogether the monster of cruelty so many authors represent him to have been. he often displayed much humanity towards offenders who were in his power, and even forgave personal injuries. one of the most unrelenting of his enemies, named caab, on whose head a price had been set, had the audacity suddenly to appear in the mosque at medina while mohammed was preaching to the multitude. caab recited some verses which he had composed in honour of the prophet. mohammed listened to them with pleasure, embraced the poet, and invested him with his own mantle. this precious garment was afterward bought by one of the caliphs of the east, from the family of caab, for the sum of twenty thousand drachms, and became the pride of those asiatic sovereigns, who wore it only on the occasion of some solemn festival. the last moments of mohammed would seem to prove that he was far from possessing an ignoble mind. feeling his end approaching, he repaired to the mosque, supported by his friend ali. mounting the tribune, he made a prayer, and then, turning to the assembly, uttered these words: "mussulmans, i am about to die. no one, therefore, need any longer fear me; if i have struck any one among you, here is my breast, let him strike me in return: if i have wrongfully taken the property of any one, here is my purse, let him remunerate himself: if i have humbled any one, let him now { } spurn me: i surrender myself to the justice of my countrymen!" the people sobbed aloud: one individual alone demanded three drachms of the dying prophet, who instantly discharged the debt with interest. after this he took an affectionate leave of the brave medinians who had so faithfully defended him, gave liberty to his slaves, and ordered the arrangements for his funeral. his last interview with his wife and daughter, and omar and ali, his friends and disciples, was marked by much tenderness. sorrow and lamentation were universal throughout arabia on this occasion; and his daughter fatima died of grief for his loss. the respect and veneration entertained by his followers for mohammed is almost inconceivable. their doctors have gravely asserted in their writings that the world was created for him; that the first thing made was light, and that that light became the substance of the soul of mohammed, etc. some of them have maintained that the alcoran was uncreated, while others have adopted a contrary opinion; and out of these discordant views have arisen numerous sects, and even wars that have deluged asia with blood. the life of mohammed was terminated by poison, which had been administered to him some years before by a jewess named zainab, whose brother had been slain by ali. this woman, to avenge the death of her brother, poisoned some roasted lamb which she served up for the prophet. scarcely had he put a morsel of it into his mouth, when, instantly rejecting it, he exclaimed that the meat was poisoned. notwithstanding the prompt use of antidotes, the injurious consequences were so severe, that he suffered from them during the remainder of his life, and died four years after, in the sixty-third year of his age. { } b, page . _kaled, surnamed the sword of god, &c._ the feats of arms ascribed by historians to kaled resemble those of a hero of romance. he was at first the enemy of the great arabian leader, and vanquished that commander in the conflict of _aheh_, the only battle which mohammed ever lost. having afterward become a zealous mussulman, he subjugated such parts of the mohammedan dominions as had revolted after the death of the prophet, opposed the armies of heraclius, conquered syria, palestine, and a part of persia, and came off victor in numerous single combats in which he was at different times engaged: always challenging to an encounter of this kind the general of the hostile army. the following anecdote will illustrate his character. kaled besieged the city of bostra. the greek governor, named romain, under pretence of making a sortie, passed the walls with his troops, and arranged them in order of battle in front of the mussulman army. at the moment when he should have given the signal for the onset, the valiant greek demanded an interview with kaled. the two commanders, therefore, advanced into the centre of the space which separated the opposing armies. romain declared to the saracen general that he had determined not only to deliver the city to him, but to embrace the religion of the crescent; he at the same time expressed a fear that his soldiers, among whom he was by no means popular, intended to take his life, and intreated kaled to protect him against their vengeance. "the best thing you can do," replied the moslem leader, "is immediately to accept a challenge to a single combat with me. such an exhibition of courage will gain for you the respect of your troops, and we can treat together afterward!" { } at these words, without waiting for a reply from the governor, the champion of islamism drew his cimeter and attacked the unfortunate romain, who defended himself with a trembling hand. at each blow inflicted by the redoubtable follower of the prophet, remain cried out, "do you then wish to kill me?" "no," replied the mussulman; "my only object is, to load you with honour; the more you are beaten, the more esteem you will acquire!" at last, when he had nearly deprived the poor greek of life, kaled gave up the contest, and shortly after took possession of the city: when he next saw the pusillanimous governor, he politely inquired after his health. c, page . _the warlike tribes of the bereberes, &c._ the name of the portion of africa called _barbary_ is derived from the bereberes. this people regarded themselves, with much appearance of truth, as the descendants of those arabs who originally came into the country with malek yarfric, and who are often confounded with the ancient numidians. their language, which differs from that of every other people, is, in the opinion of some authors, a corruption of the punic or carthaginian. divided into tribes and wandering among the mountains, this peculiar race still exists in the kingdom of morocco. the bereberes were never allied with the moors, for whom they always entertained a feeling of enmity. though at present under the dominion of the kings of morocco as their religious head, they brave his displeasure and authority at will. they are formidable in consequence of their numbers, courage, and indomitable spirit of independence; and still preserve unimpaired the peculiar simplicity of their ancient manners and habits. { } d, page . _tarik, one of the most renowned captains of his time, &c._ tarik landed at the dot of the calpe mountain, and took the city of herculia, to which the arabs gave the name of _djebel tarik_, of which we have made gibraltar. e, page . _during the remainder of the caliphate of yezid ii., &c._ this caliph, the ninth of the ommiades, ended his existence in a manner that at least merits pity. he was amusing himself one day with throwing grapes at his favourite female slave, who caught them in her mouth. this fruit, it must be remembered, is much larger in syria than in europe. unfortunately, one of the grapes passed into the throat of the slave and instantly suffocated her. the despairing yezid would not permit the interment of this dearest object of his affections, and watched incessantly beside the corpse for eight successive days. being compelled at last, by the condition of the body, to separate himself from it, he died of grief, entreating, as he expired, that his remains might be interred in the same tomb with his beloved hubabah. second epoch. a, page . _he was soon after assassinated, &c._ three karagites (a name applied to a pre-eminently fanatical sect of mussulmans), beholding the disorders created in the arabian empire by the contentions of ali, moavias, and { } amrou, believed that they should perform a service that would be acceptable to god, and restore peace to their country, by simultaneously assassinating the three rivals. one of them repaired to damascus, and wounded the usurper moavias in the back; but the wound did not prove mortal. the confederate charged with the murder of amrou, stabbed, by mistake, one of the friends of that rebel. the third, who had undertaken to despatch ali, struck him as he was about to enter the mosque, and the virtuous caliph was the only one who fell a victim to the design of the assassins. b, page . _mervan ii., the last caliph of the race, &c._ this ommiade was surnamed _alhemar_, that is to say, _the ass_: an appellation which, in the east, is considered highly honourable, from the singular regard there entertained for that patient and indefatigable animal. ariosto derived his touching episode of isabella of gallicia from the history of this prince. mervan, being at one time in egypt, became enamoured of a religious recluse whom he chanced to see there, and endeavoured to persuade her to break her monastic vows. effectually to relieve herself from his persecutions, the young devotee promised him an ointment which would render him invulnerable, and volunteered to prove its efficacy on her own person. after having anointed her neck with the mixture, she requested the caliph to test the keenness of his cimeter on it, which the barbarian did; and the result may be easily imagined. c, page . _the names of haroun al raschid, &c._ haroun al raschid (which signifies haroun the just) was { } greatly renowned in the east. he undoubtedly, in part, owed his fame, as well as his surname, to the protection he afforded to men of letters. his military exploits and his love of science prove this caliph to have been no ordinary man; but then the glory of his achievements was tarnished by his cruelty to the barmacides. these were a distinguished tribe or family, descended from the ancient kings of persia. they had rendered the most signal services to the successive caliphs, and won the respect and affection of the whole empire. giaffar barmacide, who was considered the most virtuous of mussulmans and the most eminent author of the age, was the vizier of haroun. he entertained a passionate regard for abassa, the beautiful and accomplished sister of the caliph, and the princess reciprocated his affection; but the sovereign made the most unreasonable opposition to the celebration of their nuptials. this they effected, however, without his knowledge; and for some time haroun remained ignorant of the union of the lovers. but, at the end of some years, the caliph made a pilgrimage to mecca, to which city, the more effectually to secure the inviolability of his secret, the bermacide had sent his infant son to be reared. there the representative of the prophet, through the instrumentality of a perfidious slave, became acquainted with all the circumstances of the deception that had been practised on him. it would be difficult to believe the account of what followed, but that the facts were so well authenticated throughout asia. haroun caused his sister to be thrown into a well, commanded that giaffar should lose his head, and ordered every relative of the unfortunate bermacide to be put to death. the father of the vizier, a venerable old man, respected throughout the empire, which he had long governed, met his fate with the most heroic firmness. before he expired, he wrote these { } words to the sanguinary despot: "_the accused departs first; the accuser will shortly follow. both will appear in the presence of a judge whom no arguments can deceive!_" the implacable haroun carried his vengeance so far as to forbid that any one should mention the names of his hapless victims. one of his subjects, named mundir, had the courage to brave this edict, and publicly to pronounce the eulogy of the beloved bermacides. the tyrant commanded that the offending mussulman should appear before him, and threatened him with punishment for what he had done. "you can silence me only by inflicting death upon me!" replied mundir: "that you have the power of doing; but you cannot extinguish the gratitude entertained by the whole empire for those virtuous ministers: even the ruins you have made of the monuments which they erected, speak of their fame in spite of you!" it is said that the monarch was touched by the words of this fearless defender of the dead, and that he commanded a golden plate to be presented to him. such was the famous caliph who bore the name of _the just_. almamon, his son, received no surname; but he deserved to be ranked with the wisest and the most virtuous of men. some idea of his character may be formed from the following anecdote. it is recorded of him, that his viziers urged him to punish with death one of his relations who had taken arms against him, and caused himself to be proclaimed caliph. almamon, however, rejected this sanguinary counsel, saying at the same time, "alas! if they who have injured me, knew how much pleasure i experience in forgiving my enemies, they would hasten to appear before me to confess their faults!" this excellent prince was the munificent { } patron of science and the arts, and his reign formed the most brilliant epoch of the glorious days of the arabs. d, page . _wars with the kings of leon, and incursions into catalonia, &c._ historians do not agree concerning the precise period when charlemagne entered spain. it would appear, however, that it was during the reign of abderamus that the emperor crossed the pyrenees, took pampeluna and saragossa, and was attacked, during his retreat, in the defiles of roncevaux, a place rendered famous in romantic literature by the death of roland. e, page . _a government that properly respected the rights of the people, &c._ the ancient laws of aragon, known under the name of _fore de sobarbe_, limited the power of the sovereign by creating a balance for it in that of the _ricos hombres_, and of a magistrate who bore the name of justice. f, page . _the celebrated school, &c._ the musical school, founded at cordova by ali-zeriab, produced the famous moussali, who was regarded by the orientals as the greatest musician of his time. the music of the moors did not consist, like ours, in the concord of different instruments, but simply in soft and tender airs, which the musicians sung to the accompaniment of the lute. sometimes several voices and lutes executed the same air in unison. this simple style of music satisfied a people who were { } such passionate lovers of poetry, that their first desire, when listening to a singer, was to hear the words he uttered. moussali, who was the pupil of ali-zeriab at cordova, became afterward, in consequence of his musical talents, the favourite of haroun al raschid, the celebrated caliph of the east. it is related that this prince, in consequence of a misunderstanding with one of his favourite wives, fell into such a slate of melancholy that fears were entertained for his life. giaffar, the bermacide, at that time the principal vizier of the caliph, entreated the poet abbas-ben-ahnaf to compose some verses on the subject of this quarrel. he did so, and they were sung in the presence of the prince by moussali; and the royal lover was so softened by the sentiments of the poet and the melody of the musician, that he immediately flew to the feet of his fair enslaver, and a reconciliation took place between the disconsolate monarch and the offended beauty. the grateful slave sent twenty thousand drachms of gold to the poet and moussali, and haroun added forty thousand more to her gift. g, page . _the statue of the beautiful zahra, &c._ mohammed, to discourage idolatry, forbade his followers, in the koran, to make images in any form; but this injunction was very imperfectly observed. the oriental caliphs adopted the custom of stamping their coins with an impression of their own features, as is proved by specimens still existing in the collections of the curious. on one side of these was represented the head of the reigning caliph, and on the other appeared his name, with some passages from the alcoran. in the palaces of bagdad, cordova and grenada, figures of animals, and sculpture of various kinds, both in gold and marble, abounded. { } h, page . _the richest and most powerful, &c._ some conception of the opulence of the caliphs of the west, during the palmy days of their prosperity, may be formed from the value of the gifts presented to abderamus iii. by one of his subjects, abdoumalek-ben-chien, on the occasion of his being appointed to the dignity of chief vizier. the articles composing this present are thus enumerated: four hundred pounds of virgin gold; four hundred and twenty thousand sequins, in the form of ingots of silver; four hundred and twenty pounds of the wood of aloes; five hundred ounces of ambergris; three hundred ounces of camphor; thirty pieces of silk and cloth of gold; ten robes of the sable fur of korassan; one hundred others, of less valuable fur; forty-eight flowing housings for steeds; a thousand bucklers; a hundred thousand arrows; gold tissues, from bagdad; four thousand pounds of silk; thirty persian carpets; eight hundred suits of armour for war horses; fifteen arabian coursers for the caliph; a hundred for the use of his officers; twenty mules, saddled and caparisoned; forty youths and twenty young maidens, of rare beauty. i, page . about this time occurred the famous adventure of the seven sons of lara, so celebrated in spanish history and romance, and of which, as in some degree connected with moorish history, we may briefly narrate the particulars. these young warriors were brothers, the sons of gonzalvo gustos, a near relative of the first counts of castile, and lords of salas de lara. ruy velasquez, brother-in-law of gonzalvo gustos, instigated by his wife, who pretended to { } have some cause of offence against the youngest of the seven brothers, meditated the execution of a horrible scheme for their destruction. ho commenced by sending their father gonzalvo on an embassy to the court of cordova, making him, at the same time, the bearer of letters, in which he prayed the caliph to put the envoy to death, as the enemy of the crescent and its followers. the mussulman sovereign, being unwilling to commit so barbarous an act, contented himself with retaining gonzalvo as a prisoner. in the mean time, the perfidious velasquez, under pretence of conducting an attack against the moors, led his nephews into the midst of an ambuscade, where, overpowered by numbers, they all perished, after a most heroic defence, accompanied by circumstances which render their end truly affecting. the barbarous uncle sent the gory heads of the murdered youths to the royal palace of cordova, and caused them to be presented to the unhappy father, in a golden dish covered with a veil. no sooner did gonzalvo behold the ghastly contents of the dish, than he fell to the earth, deprived of sense. the caliph of the west, filled with indignation at the demoniac cruelty of velasquez, restored his captive to liberty. but the foe of his race was too powerful to permit the childless gonzalvo to avenge the murder of his offspring. he attempted, indeed, to do so; but old age had deprived him of his former strength and vigour. with his wife, therefore, he mourned in solitude over the untimely fate of his sons, and entreated heaven to permit him to follow them to the tomb: but a champion of his cause unexpectedly arose in the person of an illegitimate son of gonzalvo's at the moorish court. when this boy had attained the age of twelve years, he was informed of his parentage by his mother, who was the sister of the sovereign of cordova, and of the wrongs which his father had suffered. { } the heroic youth, who bore the name of _mendarra gonzalvo_, resolved to become the avenger of his brothers. hastening to execute his purpose, he left cordova, challenged valasquez, and slew him. cutting off the head of his father's foe, he sought with his burden the presence of the old man, demanded to be acknowledged as his son, and admitted into the christian church. the wife of gonzalvo joyfully consented to receive the brave mendarra as her son, and he was solemnly adopted by the venerable pair. the wife of velasquez, who, it will be remembered, had instigated the ferocious uncle to his murderous deed, was stoned to death and afterward burned. it is from this valiant mendarra gonzalvo that the mauriques de lara, one of the most important spanish families, seek to trace their descent. third epoch. a, page . _three bishops of catalonia, &c._ these three bishops of catalonia, who died fighting for the mussulmans at the battle of albakara, which took place in the year , were arnaulpha, bishop of vic; accia, bishop of barcelona; and othon, bishop of girona. b, page . _and equally ready, when enjoying the favour of the sovereign, to displease him, if it should be necessary to do so, &c._ rodrigue dias de bivar, surnamed _the cid_, so well known by his affection for chimena and his duel with the count gormas, has been the subject of many poems, novels { } and romances in the spanish tongue. without crediting all the extraordinary adventures ascribed to this hero by his countrymen, it is proved by the testimony of reputable historians, that the cid was not only the bravest and most dreaded warrior of his time, but one of the most virtuous and generous of men. de bivar was already famed for his exploits while castile was still under the dominion of ferdinand i. when the successor of that monarch, sancho ii., endeavoured to despoil his sister uraque of the city of zamora, this champion of the oppressed, with noble firmness, represented to the king that he was about being guilty of an act of injustice, by which he would violate, at the same time, the laws of honour and the ties of blood. the offended sancho exiled the cid, but was soon after obliged by necessity to recall him. when the treacherous assassination of sancho, while encamped before zamora, entitled his brother alphonso to the throne, the castilians were anxious that their new sovereign should disavow, by a solemn oath, having had any agency in the murder of his brother. no one dared demand of the king to take this oath except the cid, who constrained him to pronounce it aloud at the same altar where his coronation was celebrated; adding, at the same time, the most fearful maledictions against perjury. alphonso never forgave the liberty thus taken with him, and soon after banished the spanish hero from court, under pretence of his having trespassed on the territories of an ally of castile, the king of toledo, into whose dominions the cid had inadvertently pursued some fugitives from justice. the period of his exile became the most glorious epoch in the history of the chevalier de bivar: it was then that he achieved so many triumphs over the moors, aided solely by the brave companions in arms whom his reputation drew to his standard. after a time alphonso recalled the cid, and { } received him into apparent favour; but rodrigo was too candid long to enjoy the royal smiles. banished from court anew, he hastened to accomplish the conquest of valencia; and master of that strong city, with many others, and of a territory of great extent, to make the cid a monarch it was only necessary that he himself should desire it. but the noble spaniard never for a moment indulged the wish, and ever continued the faithful subject of the ungrateful and often-offending alphonso. this celebrated hero died at valencia a.d. , crowned with years and honours. he had but one son, and of him he was early deprived by death. the two daughters of the cid espoused princes of the house of navarre; and, through a long succession of alliances, formed at length the root whence is derived the present royal race of bourbons. c, page . _more ferocious and sanguinary than the lions of their deserts, &c._ the history of africa, during the period referred to in the text, is but a narrative of one continued succession of the most atrocious murders. were we to judge of humanity by these sanguinary annals, we should be tempted to believe, that, of all ferocious animals, man is the most bloodthirsty and cruel. amid the multitude of these african tyrants, there was one, of the race of the _aglhebites_, named _abon ishak_, who was particularly distinguished for the demoniac barbarity of his character. having butchered eight of his brothers, he next indulged his horrid thirst for blood in the sacrifice of his own offspring. the mother of this monster succeeded with difficulty in preserving from his fury a part of his family. one { } day, while dining with ishak, upon his expressing some feeling of momentary regret that he had no more children, his mother tremblingly ventured to confess that she had preserved the lives of six of his daughters. the sanguinary wretch appeared softened, and expressed a desire to see them. when they were summoned to his presence, their youth and loveliness touched the ferocious father; and while ishak lavished caresses upon his innocent children, his mother retired, with tears of joy, to render thanks to heaven for this apparent change in the temper of her son. an hour afterward, a eunuch brought her, by order of the emperor, the heads of the young princesses. it would be easy to cite other parallel deeds, attested by historians, which were perpetrated by this execrable monster. suffice it to say, he escaped the violent death due to such a life, and long maintained his hateful rule. time has not softened the sanguinary ferocity, which seems like an inherent vice produced by the climate of africa. mulei-abdalla, the father of sidi mohammed, the recent king of morocco, renewed these scenes of horror. one day, while crossing a river, he was on the point of drowning, when one of his negroes succeeded in rescuing him from the waves. the slave expressed his delight at having had the good fortune to serve his master. his words were heard by abdalla, who, drawing his cimeter, and crying, "behold an infidel, who supposes that god required his assistance in preserving the life of an emperor," instantly struck off the head of his preserver. this same monarch had a confidential domestic who had been long in his service, and for whom the savage abdalla appeared to entertain some affection. in a moment of good-nature he entreated this aged servant to accept two thousand ducats at his hand and leave his service, lest he should be { } seized with an irrepressible desire to kill him, as he had so many others. the old man clung to the feet of the king, refused the two thousand ducats, and assured him that he preferred perishing by his hand rather than abandon so beloved a master. mulei, with some hesitation, consented to retain his aged servant. some days afterward, impelled by that thirst for blood whose impulses were sometimes uncontrollable, and without the slightest provocation to the deed, the fiendish despot struck the unfortunate man dead at his feet, saying, at the same moment, that he had been a fool not to accept his permission to leave him. it is painful to relate these shocking details; but they present a true picture of the character of these african sovereigns, while they inspire us with a horror of tyranny, and a veneration for the restraints of civilization and law, so indispensable to the well-being of every community. d, page . _and possessed the united glory of having both enlightened, &c._ averroes belonged to one of the first families in cordova. his version of the writings of aristotle was translated into latin, and was for a long time the only translation of the works of that author. the other productions of averroes are still esteemed by the learned. he is justly regarded as the chief of the arabic philosophers: a class of men not numerous in a nation abounding in prophets and conquerors. the principles he entertained exposed him to much persecution. his indifference to the religious creed of his countrymen excited the enmity of the imans or priests against him, and afforded a pretext for the animosity of all whom his genius inspired with envy. he was accused of heresy before the { } emperor of morocco; and the punishment decreed against him was, that he should do homage at the door of the mosque, while every true mussulman who came thither to pray for his conversion should spit in his face. he submitted patiently to the humiliating infliction, merely repeating the words _moriatur anima mea morte philosophorum_ (_let me die the death of a philosopher_). e, page . _and broke the chains, &c._ this king of navarre was sancho viii., surnamed _the strong_. it was in commemoration of the chains broken by him at the battle of toloza that sancho added the chains of gold to the arms of navarre, which are still to be seen on the field of gules. f, page . _cousin-german of st. lewis, &c._ blanche, the mother of st. lewis, was the daughter of alphonso the noble of castile. she had a sister named beringira, who became the wife of the king of leon, and the mother of ferdinand iii. several historians, among others mariana and garibai, maintain that blanche was older than beringira. if it were so, st. lewis was the rightful heir to the throne of castile. france long asserted the pretensions thus created. it is surprising that historians have not settled this disputed point. one thing, however, is certain: the claims of ferdinand, sustained as they were by the partiality of the castilians, prevailed over those of his cousin. { } fourth epoch. a, page . _alphonso the sage, &c._ alphonso the sage was a great astronomer: his _alphonsine tables_ prove that the happiness of his people occupied his attention as much, at least, as his literary pursuits. it is in this collection that this remarkable sentence occurs--remarkable when it is considered that it expresses the sentiments of a monarch of the thirteenth century: "_the despot uproots the tree: the wise sovereign prunes it._" b, page . _in the hope of being elected emperor, &c._ alphonso the sage was elected emperor of germany in the year twelve hundred and fifty-seven: but he was at too great a distance from that country, and too much occupied at home, to be able to support his claims to the imperial throne. sixteen years afterward, however, he made a voyage to lyons, where pope gregory x. then was, to advocate his rights before that dignitary. but the sovereign pontiff decided in favour of rodolph of hapsburg, a scion of the house of austria. c, page . _sancho reigned in his father's stead, &c._ this sancho, surnamed _the brave_, who took up arms against his father and afterward obtained his throne, was the second son of alphonso the sage. his elder brother, ferdinand de la cerda, a mild and virtuous prince, died in the { } flower of his age, leaving two infant sons, the offspring of his marriage with blanche, the daughter of st. lewis of france. it was to deprive these children of their reversionary right to the crown of castile that the ambitious sancho made war upon his father. he succeeded in his criminal designs; but the princes of la cerda, protected by france and aragon, rallied around them all the malecontents of castile, and the claims they were thus enabled to support long formed a pretext or occasion for the most bloody dissensions. d, page . _ferdinand iv., surnamed the summoned, &c._ ferdinand iv., the son and successor of sancho the brave, was still in his infancy when he succeeded to the throne. his minority was overshadowed by impending clouds; but the power and influence of queen mary, his mother, enabled her eventually to dissipate the dangers which threatened the safety of her son. this prince obtained his appellation of _the summoned_ from the following circumstance. actuated by feelings of strong indignation, ferdinand commanded that two brothers, named carvajal, who had been accused, but not convicted, of the crime of assassination, should be precipitated from a rocky precipice. both the supposed criminals, in their last moments, asserted their innocence of the crime alleged against them, appealed to heaven and the laws to verify the truth of their protestations, and summoned the passionate ferdinand to appear before the great judge of all men at the end of thirty days. at the precise time thus indicated, the castilian king, who was marching against the moors, retired for repose after dinner, and was found dead upon his couch. the spaniards attributed this sudden death to the effects of divine justice. it had been well if the { } monarchs who succeeded ferdinand, peter the cruel in particular, had been convinced of the truth of this sentiment. e, page . _retiring within the walls of tariffe, &c._ after sancho the brave became master of tariffe, it was besieged by the africans. it was during this siege that alphonso de guzman, the spanish governor of the city, exhibited an example of invincible firmness and self-command, of which none but parents can form a just estimate. the son of de guzman was taken prisoner during a sortie. the africans conducted their captive to the walls, and threatened the governor with his immolation unless the city should be immediately surrendered. the undaunted spaniard replied only by hurling a poniard at his enemies, and retired from the battlements. in a moment loud cries burst from the garrison. hastily demanding the cause of this alarm, the unhappy father was told that the africans had put to death his son. "god be praised," said he, "i thought that the city had been taken!" f, page . _the celebrated inez de castro, &c._ the passion of peter the cruel for inez de castro was carried to such excess as, perhaps, in some degree, to account for the atrocity of his revenge upon her murderers. these were three distinguished portuguese lords, who themselves stabbed the unfortunate inez in the arms of her women. peter, who, at the time this barbarous deed was committed, had not yet attained regal power, seemed from that period to lose all command of himself: from being gentle and virtuous, he became ferocious and almost insane. he openly rebelled against his father, carried fire and sword into those { } parts of the kingdom in which the domains of the assassins of inez were situated, and, when he afterward came into possession of the crown, insisted that the king of castile should deliver up gonzales and coello, two of the guilty noblemen, who had taken refuge at his court. thus master of the persons of two of his victims (the third had fled into france, where he died), peter subjected them to the most dreadful tortures. he caused their hearts to be torn out while they were yet living, and assisted himself at this horrible sacrifice. after thus glutting his vengeance, the inconsolable lover exhumed the body of his murdered mistress, clothed it in magnificent habiliments, and, placing his crown upon the livid and revolting brow, proclaimed inez de castro queen of portugal; compelling, at the same time, the grandees of his court to do homage to the insensible remains which he had invested with the attributes of royalty. g, page . _most of the productions of the grenadian authors, &c._ after the surrender of grenada, cardinal ximenes caused every copy of the koran of which he could obtain possession to be burned. the ignorant and superstitious soldiery mistook for that work everything written in the arabic language, and committed to the flames a multitude of compositions both in prose and verse. h, page . _the abencerrages, &c._ the inhabitants of grenada, and, indeed, the whole moorish people, were divided into tribes, composed of the different branches of the same family. some of these tribes were more numerous and important than others: but two distinct { } races were never united together, nor was one of them ever divided. at the head of each of these tribes was a chief who was descended in a direct male line from the original founder of the family. in the city of grenada there existed thirty-two considerable tribes. the most important of these were the abencerrages, the zegris, the alcenabez, the almorades, the vanegas, the gomeles, the abidbars, the gauzuls, the abenamars, the aliatars, the reduans, the aldoradins, etc. these separate races were, many of them, at enmity with each other; and their animosity being perpetuated from one generation to another, gave rise to the frequent civil wars which were attended with such disastrous consequences to the nation at large. i, page _his humane injunctions respecting almsgiving, &c._ almsgiving is one of the leading principles of the mohammedan religion. it was enjoined upon the followers of the prophet by a variety of allegories, among which is the following: "the sovereign judge shall, at the last great day, entwine him who has not bestowed alms with a frightful serpent, whose envenomed sting shall for ever pierce the avaricious hand that never opened for the relief of the unfortunate!" { } a brief account of the rise and decline of the mohammedan empire; the literature, science, and religion of the arabs; and the present condition of mohammedanism { } a brief account of the mohammedan empire. chapter i. extent of the arabian empire.--causes which led to that extent.--continuance of mohammedanism.--decay of the empire.--what led to it.--spain revolts and sets up a separate caliph.--africa.--egypt.--bagdad.--fall of the house of the abbassides. the first battle in which the arabs tried their power against the disciplined forces of the roman empire was the battle of muta. though on that occasion they were successful, the most sanguine could not have ventured to predict that, before the close of a century, their empire would become more extensive than any that had ever before existed. yet such was the fact. it overthrew the power of the romans, and rendered the successors of the prophet the mightiest and most absolute sovereigns on earth. under the last monarch of the ommiade race, { } the arabian empire, excepting only an obscure part of africa, of little account, embraced a compact territory equal to six months' march of a caravan in length and four in breadth, with innumerable tributary and dependant states. in the exercise of their power, the caliphs were fettered neither by popular rights, the votes of a senate, nor constitutional laws: the koran was, indeed, their professed rule of action; but, inasmuch as they alone were its interpreters, their will was in all cases law. the loss of spain to the empire was more than made up by conquests in india, tartary, and european turkey. samarcand and timbuctoo studied with equal devotion the language and religion of the koran, and at the temple of mecca the moor and the indian met as brother pilgrims. throughout the countries west of the tigris, the language of arabia became the vehicle of popular intercourse; and, although in persia, tartary, and hindostan the native dialects continued in common use, the arabic was also there the sacred tongue. we will advert to some of the causes which led to this astonishing success. the leading article of the mohammedan faith, the unity of god, harmonized with what jews and christians universally believed. mohammed propounded this doctrine, by excluding the deity of jesus christ, so as { } to fall in with the views of the greater number of the christian sectaries. he moreover enjoined practices which, in the then corrupt state of religion, were beginning widely to prevail. to the untutored mind of the desert wanderer, his doctrine would thus possess all the attractiveness he might have heard ascribed to christianity, while his being of the same country would secure for him the greater attention. systems in which truth and error have been combined are by no means unwillingly received, especially by those who are already superstitious and fanatical, and such was pre-eminently the character of the arabians. mohammed's religious, moral, and juridical system was in general accordance with asiatic opinions; it provided a paradise exactly suited to the imagination and taste of the orientals; and, as the superstitious are always more powerfully influenced by that which awakens apprehension and appeals to fear than by what enkindles hope, his hell contributed even more than his heaven to multiply disciples. still, had no resort been had to arms, the mohammedan faith would in all probability have been confined to the deserts of arabia. the whole of asia was at that time in a state of unprecedented military inactivity, and opportunity was thus afforded for the success of his enterprise. empires { } were tottering and powerless; political wisdom had almost disappeared; and to military talents and courage the arabs alone could make any pretensions. previous contentions between the persian and byzantine empires had entirely destroyed what little remains of internal vigour those governments might otherwise have possessed. civil revolts, tyranny, extortion, sensuality, and sloth, had annihilated the ambition of universal rule which the greek and roman governments had once cherished; and their provinces, neglected or oppressed, became an easy prey to the moslem power. the nations were the more rapidly subdued, since to the indomitable ferocity of the desert wanderer the saracens added those other features which complete a warlike character. they despised death, and were self-denying and energetic to a degree far beyond the soldiers of civilized countries, while they were scarcely less familiar with the military art. the lieutenants of the caliphs soon vied with the roman generals in skill; and it is by no means difficult to explain their almost uniform superiority, when we bear in mind the character of the armies they respectively commanded. terror, moreover, is epidemic; and a force already successful commonly finds its victorious progress greatly aided by the prevailing notion of its prowess. thus we have witnessed, { } in the wars of more disciplined troops, the tremendous effect of a name alone. it may be added, also, that the saracen success is greatly attributable to that ardent and impetuous spirit of religious enthusiasm with which they fought. they deemed their cause the cause of god; heaven, they were persuaded, was engaged in their behalf; every one who fell in their wars was a martyr; and cowardice was tantamount to apostacy. the religious ardour of the crusaders, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, to exterminate mohammedanism, did not exceed, if it even equalled, that of the arab soldiers by whom that system had been originally propagated. whatever secular principles and ambition influenced them, they took credit for fighting in the support of truth and virtue. the sword and the koran were equally the companions and the instruments of their wars. "the circumstance," says paley, in his admirable exhibition of the evidences of christianity,[ ] "that mohammed's conquests should carry his religion along with them, will excite little surprise when we know the conditions which he proposed to the vanquished: death or conversion was the only choice offered to idolaters. to the jews and christians was left the somewhat milder { } alternative of subjection and tribute if they persisted in their own religion, or of an equal participation of the rights and liberties, the honours and privileges of the faithful if they embraced the religion of their conquerors." literature, in the days of mohammed, was as little regarded as was pure and practical christianity. his followers everywhere met with an ignorant and easily deluded people. both the monuments of science and the means of freedom had been abolished by the barbarians of the north. philosophy and the liberal arts found no patrons among indolent and luxurious emperors and nobles. superstition, therefore, naturally took possession of the minds of men, and, as neither fears nor hopes were moderated by knowledge, idle, preposterous, and unnecessary ceremonies easily obtained currency. mohammed merely changed one set of ceremonies for another; and in this there was little difficulty, since, in the almost universal darkness of mankind, terror and credulity everywhere prevailed. the continuance of the religion of mohammed in countries after the arab dominion over them had ceased, may be also easily accounted for. "everything in asia is a matter of regulation; and freedom of opinion being but little permitted or encouraged in the despotic governments of the { } east, mohammedanism, when once received, became stationary. the human code is mingled with the divine, and the ideas of change and profanation are inseparable. as the unsettling of the political and social fabric might ensue from a change of modes of faith, all classes of men are interested in preserving the national religion." [ ] besides this, in their own nature religious doctrines are more permanent in their hold than forms of civil government: it may be questioned, for in stance, whether, whatever civil changes scotland might undergo, presbyterianism would ever cease to be the prevalent faith of its inhabitants. a people may, with the overthrow of usurped civil power, return to their ancient religion, whatever it is: but when once a religion has become, so to speak, indigenous, it is likely to be permanent. such is the religion of the koran both in asia and africa. the elements of political weakness and decay soon began to be developed in the chief seat of the saracen empire. in the earliest days of the caliphate, after the accession of the ommiade dynasty, the princes of damascus were regarded as the heads of the moslem faith; while the governors of arabia successively obtained, as to civil rule, their independence. to this the widely-extended wars in which the caliphs were engaged no doubt { } contributed. other provinces followed the example; and, as the empire enlarged, the remoteness and degeneracy of the syrian court encouraged the governors to assume to themselves everything except the name of king, and to render their dignities hereditary. all the provinces were nominally connected with the empire by the payment of tribute; but means were easily devised to withhold this, under pretence of prosecuting the wars of the caliph, though really to strengthen his rebellious deputies against him. if in this we discover a want of efficiency in the government, we need not be surprised: the systems of the macedonian hero and of the roman conquerors were equally defective; and perhaps we should attribute such deficiency to a wise and beneficent arrangement of providence, which, that oppression may never become permanent and universal, permits not any empire for a very long time to hold dominion over countries dissimilar in their habits and character and independent of each other. to the establishment of these separate states, the luxury and effeminacy of the court at damascus in no small degree contributed. in the early periods of the caliphate, simplicity and charity chiefly distinguished their rulers; but, as the wealth and power of the saracens increased, they imitated the splendour and magnificence of the monarchs of persia { } and greece. abulfeda says of the court in the year : "the caliph moctadi's whole army, both horse and foot, were under arms, which together made a body of one hundred and sixty thousand men. his state officers stood near him in the most splendid apparel, their belts shining with gold and gems. near them were seven thousand black and white eunuchs. the porters or doorkeepers were in number seven hundred. barges and boats, with the most superb decorations, were swimming on the tigris. nor was the palace itself less splendid, in which were hung thirty-eight thousand pieces of tapestry, twelve thousand five hundred of which were of silk embroidered with gold. the carpets on the floor were twenty-two thousand. a hundred lions were brought out, with a keeper to each lion. among the other spectacles of rare and stupendous luxury was a tree of gold and silver, which opened itself into eighteen larger branches, upon which and the other smaller branches sat birds of every sort, made also of gold and silver. the tree glittered with leaves of the same metals; and while its branches, through machinery, appeared to move of themselves, the several birds upon them warbled their natural notes." when, moreover, decline had once commenced, its progress was accelerated by the means taken { } to arrest it. after the regular troops had been corrupted by faction, the caliphs, for the defence of their person and government, formed a militia; but the soldiers composing this force, not unfrequently foreigners, soon governed with a military despotism similar to that of the janizaries of turkey, the mamelukes of egypt, or the praetorian guards of rome; and, in addition to these causes of decay, a furious spirit of sectarianism tore asunder the very strength and heart of the empire. the colossal power of the successors of mohammed, suddenly towering to its awful height, almost as suddenly fell, as if to yield more perfect confirmation of the truth, that all earthly things are destined to pass away, while the word of the living god abideth for ever. spain, as has been seen, was the first distant province of the arabian empire which succeeded in separating itself and setting up an independent caliph. as this country had been brought under the moslem yoke by means chiefly furnished from the northern states of africa, its independence was likely to produce a corresponding effect upon those states. they were governed in the name of the bagdad caliphs; but for nearly a century they had been growing into independence, under rulers usually known, from the name of their progenitor, as the aglabite dynasty. early in the ninth century, { } the throne of mauritania, massilia, and carthage was seized by obeidollah, whose successors assumed the title of mihidi, or directors of the faithful. the districts of fez and tangiers, which had been already wrested from the princes of bagdad by the real or pretended posterity of ali, were soon brought under his dominion; and, before the end of the tenth century, all acknowledgment of the abbassidan rule was obliterated by the suppression of public prayers for the princes of that race. a succession of changes distracted the country for some five centuries afterward; but, about the year , the descendants of mohammed were raised to the throne of morocco, which has been transmitted, without interruption, in the same line, to its present possessors. moez, the last of the african princes of the house of obeidollah, who seems to have depended for his dominion more on his prowess than on his supposed descent from mohammed,[ ] transferred his court to grand cairo, a city which he had built in egypt after his conquest of that country. africa was to be held as a fief of this new empire. large tracts of syria and the whole of palestine acknowledged the { } supremacy of his descendants, commonly known as fatimites, from their supposed relationship to ali, and to fatima, the prophet's daughter. they possessed also the sovereignty of the holy land; against them, therefore, the crusades of europe were chiefly directed. during these formidable wars the caliphs of egypt sought assistance from those of bagdad; and noureddin, a prince of that empire, protected them against their western assailants. the weakness of egypt, however, came thus to be known to the crafty and powerful caliphs of bagdad, and in a short time its asiatic dominions were seized upon by noureddin and saladin. as adhed, the last caliph of egypt, was dying in the mosque of cairo, these generals proclaimed morthadi, the thirty-third caliph of bagdad, as his successor. saladin, whose name, from his activity, courage, and success against the crusaders, is better known to the readers of european history than that of almost any other mohammedan prince, soon made himself master of egypt; but his successors could not maintain the power he had acquired. the country is now governed by the celebrated mohammed ali, nominally as viceroy of the turkish emperor, though he is in reality a sovereign and independent prince. the caliphs of the house of abbas, having built the city of bagdad soon after their accession to the { } throne, transferred thither their court and the seat of power. for five centuries they reigned there with various degrees of authority; but foreign wars and domestic revolts gradually dissolved the empire, and their dominion at length passed away. badhi, the twentieth caliph of the race, was "the last," says abulfeda, "who harangued the people from the pulpit; who passed the cheerful hour of leisure with men of learning and taste; whose expenses, resources, and treasures, whose table and magnificence, had any resemblance to those of the ancient caliphs." "during the next three centuries," says a modern historian of the arabian empire, "the successors of mohammed swayed a feeble sceptre. sometimes their state was so degraded that they were confined in their palaces like prisoners, and occasionally were almost reduced to the want of corporeal subsistence. the tragic scenes of fallen royalty at length were closed; for, towards the middle of the seventh century of the hegira, the metropolis of islamism fell into the hands of houlagou khan, the grandson of zenghis khan, and emperor of the moguls and tartars, who reigned at that period with absolute and unmixed despotism over every nation of the east. the caliph mostasem, the thirty-seventh of his house, was murdered under circumstances of peculiar barbarity, and the caliphate of bagdad { } expired. though the dignity and sovereignty of the caliphs were lost by this fatal event, and the soul which animated the form had fled, yet the name existed for three centuries longer in the eighteen descendants of mostanser billah, a son, or pretended son, of daker, the last but one of this race of princes. "mostanser billah and his successors, to the number of eighteen, were called the second dynasty of the abbassides, and were spiritual chiefs of the mohammedan religion, but without the slightest vestige of temporal authority. when selim, emperor of the turks, conquered egypt and destroyed the power of the mamelukes, he carried the caliph, whom he found there a prisoner, to constantinople, and accepted from him a renunciation of his ecclesiastical supremacy. on the death of the caliph, the family of the abbassides, once so illustrious, and which had borne the title of caliph for almost eight hundred years, sunk with him from obscurity into oblivion." [ ] [ ] vol. ii., section . [ ] mills, p. . [ ] when it was demanded of moez from what branch of mohammed's family he drew his title, "this," said he, showing his cimeter, "is my pedigree; and these," throwing gold among his soldiers, "are my children." [ ] mill's history, . { } chapter ii. literature and science of the arabs.--their facilities for literary and scientific pursuits.--patronage of literature by the princes of the house of abbas.--almamoun.--arabian schools.--eloquence.--poetry.--the arabian tales.--history.--geography.--speculative sciences.--astrology.--mathematical knowledge of the arabs.--astronomy.--architecture.--the fine arts.--agriculture.--medicine.--chymistry.--our obligations to arab literature. the early followers of the arabian prophet were only enthusiastic military adventurers, subduing in their wide and rapid progress most of the nations of the then known world. the lust of power, and successful military enterprise, are commonly unfavourable to the cultivation of the liberal arts, so that a conquering people usually exhibit but little taste for science or literature. the goths and the huns, for instance, were among the most implacable foes of knowledge. nor did the early arabs regard it with more favour. mohammed found his countrymen sunk in the deepest barbarism: he was incapable of any direct effort to raise them; and, from the ruthless destruction of the alexandrean library by omar, one of his earliest successors, they appear not to have been in a much { } better condition after the close than at the commencement of his eventful career. their settlement in the countries they had subdued, the unlimited resources which their wide-spread conquests placed within their reach, and probably the leisure which their almost universal dominion afforded, speedily led to a change in their character in relation to literary pursuits, of which the more enlightened nations of the west are still reaping the advantage. it was about the middle of the seventh century that omar committed the famous library of alexandrea to the flames: before the end of the eighth, literature began to enjoy the munificent patronage of the caliphs of the abbassidan race, who superinduced upon the stern fanaticism of the followers of the prophet the softening influences of learning; and, by an anomaly in the history of mankind, the most valuable lessons in science and the arts have been received from a people who pursued with relentless hostility the religion and liberties of every other nation. the greeks were the most distinguished patrons of literature and science. among them philosophy found its earliest home, and the arts are commonly supposed to have sprung up chiefly under their fostering care, though modern researches have shown that much of their knowledge was derived from still more ancient sources. their { } philosophy, though greatly improved by them, was borrowed from the mysteries of the egyptian priests and the persian magi. their system of the universe, which made the nearest approach to the more correct discoveries of modern times, was previously known to the learned hindus; and it may admit of question whether their whole mythology, allowing for the additions which a chastened and vivid imagination would make to it, had not its prototype in some asiatic religio-philosophical system. a learned writer on the erudition of the asiatics says, that the whole of the theology of the greeks, and part of the philosophy of modern scientific research, may be found in the hindu vedas. he adds, "that most subtile spirit which newton suspected to pervade natural bodies, and to lie concealed in them so as to cause attraction and repulsion, the emission, reflection, and refraction of light, electricity, calefaction, sensation, and muscular motion, is described by the hindus as a fifth element, endued with those very powers; and the vedas abound with allusions to a force universally attractive, which they chiefly attribute to the sun." the extension, therefore, of the arabian victories over the eastern world, and their entire command, after the overthrow of the greek empire, of the resources possessed by that people, { } gave them access to all the literary stores then in existence. it has been said, and probably not without good reason, that mohammed himself saw and felt the importance of literary distinction. among the sayings attributed to him, the following has been considered as evincing his sense of the value of learning: "a mind without erudition is like a body without a soul. glory consists not in wealth, but in knowledge;" and, as the koran affords abundant proof, he was by no means unmindful of that mental cultivation, of which the means were within his reach. his immediate followers, occupied only with the ideas of conquest and conversion, despised equally the religion and learning of the nations they subdued; but when the age of rapine and violence yielded at length to comparative security and quiet, and the fair and splendid city of the oriental caliphs arose, the muses were courted from their ancient temples, and by the milder and more graceful achievements of literature and science, efforts were made to expiate the guilt of former conquest, and to shed a purer lustre over the mohammedan name. almansor, the second of the dynasty of the abbassides, whose reign commenced a.d. , and lasted twenty-one years, was among the first of the arab princes to foster learning and the arts. { } jurisprudence and astronomy were the principal subjects of his study, which, however, through the instruction of a greek physician in his court, he extended to the art of healing, and probably to those kindred arts with which, in all ages and countries, medical science has been connected. what progress was made by himself or his subjects, we cannot now ascertain. his two immediate successors seem not to have trodden in his steps, though it is probable they did not undo what he had done; for the next caliph, haroun al raschid, is renowned as one of the most munificent patrons that literature ever enjoyed. he was fond of poetry and music: he is said to have constantly surrounded himself with a great number of learned men; and to him the arabs were deeply indebted for the progress in knowledge which they were enabled to make. every mosque in his dominions had a school attached to it by his order; and, as if his love of learning were superior even to his hereditary faith, he readily tolerated men of science who refused to yield to the bold pretensions of the prophet. a nestorian christian presided over his schools, and directed the academical studies of his subjects. his successor imitated his wise and generous course; and thus knowledge extended from the capital to the most distant extremities of the empire. { } but it was during the reign of almamoun, the seventh of the abbassidan princes, a.d. - , that literature flourished most among the arabs. learned men, professors of the christian faith, had multiplied at bagdad under the tolerant reigns of his predecessors, and they were now liberally encouraged to unfold their ample stores of knowledge. the copious language of arabia was employed to communicate whatever that of the greeks had hitherto concealed, though, with a barbarism for which it is difficult to account, many of the original works were destroyed as soon as translations of them were made. almamoun in his youth had associated with the most eminent scholars of greece, persia, and chaldea; and he now invited them to his court. bagdad was resorted to by poets, philosophers, and mathematicians, from every country and of every creed. armenia, syria, and egypt were explored by his agents for literary treasures, which were amassed with infinite care, and presented at the foot of the throne as the richest and most acceptable tribute that conquered provinces could render. camels, hitherto employed exclusively in traffic, were seen entering the royal city laden with hebrew, persian, and grecian manuscripts. the court assumed the appearance rather of an academy than of a council guiding the affairs of a luxurious and warlike { } government, and all classes were encouraged to apply themselves to the acquisition of knowledge with a zeal commensurate to the advantages thus afforded. "i chose," said almamoun, when remonstrated with for appointing a learned christian to an office of no small influence over the intellectual pursuits of his people, "i chose this learned man, not to be my guide in religious affairs, but to be my teacher of science; and it is well known that the wisest men are to be found among the jews and christians." [ ] under such favourable auspices, it is not to be wondered at that the saracens became a literary people. the caliphs of the west and of africa imitated their brethren of the east. "at one period, six thousand professors and pupils cultivated liberal studies in the college of bagdad. twenty schools made grand cairo a chief seat of letters; and the talents of the students were exercised in the perusal of the royal library, which consisted of one hundred thousand manuscripts. the african writers dwell with pride and satisfaction on the literary institutions which adorned the towns on the northern coast of their sandy plain. the sun of science arose even in africa, and the manners of the moorish savage were softened by philosophy. { } their brethren in europe amassed numerous and magnificent collections; two hundred and eighty thousand volumes were in cordova, and more than seventy libraries were open to public curiosity in the kingdom of andalusia." we know but little of the internal government of the arabian schools, or of the studies actually pursued. aristotle, no doubt, was the great master to whom, in philosophy, all deference was paid. the prophet had prescribed their religion. their schools were of two kinds, or rather classes; the one comprehending the inferior institutions, in which elementary branches of instruction, such as reading, writing, and religious doctrine were chiefly attended to; the other, called _madras_, mostly connected with the mosques, as were all the schools of the former class, included those institutions in which the higher departments of knowledge were explored. here grammar, logic, theology, and jurisprudence were studied. the management of each school was confided to a principal of known ability, and not always, a mohammedan. the professors lectured on the several sciences; and the pupils, if not in every department, of which there is some doubt, certainly in that of medicine, were publicly examined, and diplomas were given under the hand of the chief physician. of elegant composition, the koran was { } universally esteemed the model. hence it was studied with the most diligent care by all who sought to distinguish themselves in the art of eloquence, one of the leading acquirements of arab scholars. subordinate to this pre-eminent composition, their schools of oratory boasted of models scarcely inferior to the celebrated orators of antiquity. malek and sharaif, the one for pathos, the other for brilliancy, are the chief of these. horaiai was esteemed as the compeer of demosthenes and cicero. bedreddin, of grenada, was their "torch of eloquence;" and sekaki obtained the honourable designation of the arabian quinctilian. the ancient arabs were much inclined to poetry. the wild, romantic scenery of the land they inhabited, the sacred recollections of their earliest history, the life they led, everything around them, contributed to poetic inspiration. after the revival of letters, this art was cultivated with enthusiasm. the heroic measures of ferdousi, the didactic verses of sadi, and the lyric strains of hafiz, even through the medium of imperfect translations, discover animated descriptions, bold metaphors, and striking expressions, that at once delight and surprise us. in splendour, if not in strength, the poets of the courts of haroun and almamoun, or those of the ommiades of spain, have, perhaps, in no age been excelled. in this art, as among other { } people, so among the arabs, the fair sex have distinguished themselves. valadata, aysha, labana, safia, and others, have obtained the highest encomiums. so great is the number of arabian poets, that abul abbas, a son of motassem, who wrote an abridgment of their lives in the ninth century, numbers one hundred and thirty. other authors have occupied twenty-four, thirty, and one no less than fifty volumes, in recording their history. the arabs, however, are entirely without epic poetry, so important a department of the art; nor have they anything that may be properly ranked as dramatic composition. sophocles, euripides, terence, and seneca, the classic models of greece and rome, they despised as timid, constrained, and cold; and under whatever obligation to these ancient nations the arabs may have been in other departments of literature, they owe them nothing, or next to nothing, in this. their poetry was original and local; their figures and comparisons were strictly their own. to understand and properly appreciate them, we must have a knowledge of the productions of their country, and of the character, institutions, and manners of its inhabitants. the muse delights in illustrations and figures borrowed from pastoral life; that of judea revels among the roses of sharon, the verdant slopes of { } carmel, and the glory of lebanon; while the arab muse selects for her ornaments the pearls of omar, the musk of hadramaut, the groves and nightingales of aden, and the spicy odours of yemen. if these appear to us fantastic, it must be remembered they are borrowed from objects and scenes to which we are almost utter strangers. who is not familiar with the alif lita wa lilin, or the thousand and one tales, commonly known as the arabian nights' entertainment? some have questioned whether they are an original work, or a translation from the indian or persian, made in the augustan age of arab literature: a doubt certainly not warranted by any want of exactness in their description of arabian life and manners. they seem to have been originally the legends of itinerant story-tellers, a class of persons still very numerous in every part of the mohammedan world. the scenes they unfold, true to nature; the simplicity displayed in their characters, their beauty and their moral instruction, appeal irresistibly to the hearts of all; while the learned concede to them the merit of more perfectly describing the manners of the singular people from whom they sprung, than the works of any traveller, however accomplished and indefatigable. of history the ancient arabs were strangely negligent; but, by the more modern, this { } department of knowledge has been cultivated with greater care and success. annals, chronicles, and memoirs, almost numberless, are extant among them: kingdoms, provinces, and towns are described, and their history is narrated in volumes, a bare catalogue of which would extend to a wearisome length. they abound, however, more in the fanciful than in the substantial and correct. of this, the titles of some of the most approved works of this kind may be taken as specimens: a chronology of the caliphs of spain and africa is denominated "a silken vest, embroidered with the needle;" a history of grenada, "a specimen of the full moon;" ibu abbas and abu bakri are authors of historical collections, entitled respectively, "mines of silver," and "pearls and picked-up flowers." yet some of their writers, as ibn katibi, are chiefly remarkable for the extent and accuracy of their historical knowledge; and some of their works are exceedingly voluminous. a full history of spain occupied six authors in succession, and cost the labour of one hundred and fifteen years to complete. their biography was not confined to men. ibn zaid and abul mondar wrote a genealogical history of distinguished horses; and alasucco and abdolmalec performed the same service for camels worthy of being had in remembrance. encyclopaedias and gazetteers, { } with dictionaries of the sciences and other similar works, occupied arabian pens long before they came into vogue among more modern literati. every species of composition, indeed, and almost every subject, in one age or another, have engaged the attention of learned mohammedans. geography they did not so well understand, their means of acquiring knowledge on this subject being exceedingly limited. yet their public libraries could boast of globes, voyages, and itineraries, the productions of men who travelled to acquire geographical information. with statistics and political economy they had but an imperfect acquaintance; yet so early as the reign of omar ii. we find a work devoted to these subjects, giving an account of the provinces and cities of spain, with its rivers, ports, and harbours; of the climate, soil, mountains, plants, and minerals of that country; with its imports, and the manner in which its several productions, natural and artificial, might be manufactured and applied to the best advantage. money, weights, and measures, with whatever else political economy may be understood to include, were also subjects which employed their ingenious speculations, and, in some cases, their laborious research. the speculative sciences, scarcely less than polite literature, flourished among the arabs. { } indeed, what superstitious, enthusiastic people has ever neglected these? their ardour in the more dignified of these pursuits was badly regulated; subtleties were preferred to important practical truths; and, frequently, the more ingenious the sophism, constructed after the rules of aristotle, the more welcome was it to men who rendered to that philosopher a homage almost idolatrous. the later arabs, and the turks of the present day, pay no little attention to astrology, though it is strongly prohibited by their prophet. this science was universally employed by the idolaters, against whom his denunciations are scarcely less inveterate than are those of the inspired volume; and doubtless he apprehended that its prevalence would hazard the integrity, if not the very existence, of his own system of religion. for many ages, therefore, it was discountenanced; but, at length, the habit of consulting the stars on important public occasions became frequent, and was attended with as much anxiety and as many absurd ceremonies as disgraced the nations of antiquity. among the modern mohammedans, no dignity of state is conferred; no public edifice is founded, except at a time recommended by astrologers. these pretenders to knowledge are supported by persons of rank; and in vain do the more enlightened part of the community exclaim that astrology is a false { } science. "do not think," said a prime minister, who had been consulting a soothsayer as to the time of putting on a new dress, "that i am such a fool as to put faith in all this nonsense; but i must not make my family unhappy by refusing to comply with forms which some of them deem of consequence." after these references to the polite literature of the arabs, it will be expected that they should have paid attention to the natural sciences. they were not, indeed, discoverers and inventors, but they considerably improved upon what they acquired in their extensive intercourse with other nations; and, as forming the link which unites ancient and modern letters, they are entitled to our respect and gratitude. we derive our mathematics from them; and to them, also, we owe much of our astronomical knowledge. almamoun, by a liberal reward, sought to engage in his service a famous mathematician of constantinople; and ibn korrah enriched the stores of his country in this department with translations of archimedes and the conics of apollonius. some have said that, on the revival of european literature in the fifteenth century, mathematical science was found nearly in the state in which it had been left by euclid; and the justly celebrated brucker contends, that the arabs made no progress whatever in this { } most important branch of knowledge; later writers, however, and particularly montucia, the author of the histoire des mathematiques, have done ample justice to their researches. numerical characters, without which our study of the exact sciences were almost in vain, beyond all doubt came to us from the arabs: not that they invented them--it is probable they were originally words, perhaps hindu words, expressing the quantities they respectively represent, but abbreviated and brought to their present convenient form by the followers of the prophet. trigonometry and algebra are both indebted to their genius. the sines of the one of these sciences instead of the more ancient chord, and the representatives of quantities in the other, descend through the arabs to us, if they did not at first invent them. original works on spherical trigonometry are among the productions of ibn musa and geber, the former of whom is accounted the inventor of the solution of equations of the second degree. the university of leyden still retains a manuscript treatise on the algebra of cubic equations, by omar ibn ibrahim; and casiri, who, preserved and classed manuscripts, even after a fire had destroyed the magnificent collection or the escurial, informs us, that the principles and praises of algebraic science were sung in an elaborate poem by alcassem, a native of grenada. { } these departments of knowledge were studied by the arabs as early as the eighth and ninth centuries. astronomy, the science of a pastoral people, and eminently so in regions with an almost cloudless sky, like the east, was studied with great eagerness by arabian philosophers. almamoun, who has been before mentioned, was ardently devoted to it: at his cost the necessary instruments of observation were provided, and a complete digest of the science was made. the land where, many ages before, this science had been successfully studied by the chaldeans, was in his power, and upon its ample plains a degree of the earth's circle was repeatedly measured, so as to determine the whole circumference of the globe to be twenty-four thousand miles. the obliquity of the ecliptic they settled at twenty-three degrees and a half: the annual movement of the equinoxes and the duration of the tropical year were brought to within a very little of the exact observations of modern times, the slight error they admitted resulting from the preference they gave to the system of ptolemy. albathani, or, as his name has been latinized, albatenius, in the ninth century, after continuing his observations for forty years, drew up tables, known as the sabean tables, which, though not now in very high repute because of more accurate calculations, { } were for a long time justly esteemed. other arabian astronomers have rendered considerable service to this science. mohammedanism did not, like ancient paganism, adore the stars; but its disciples studied them with a diligence, without which, perhaps, newton, flamstead, and halley had observed and calculated almost in vain. architecture was an art in which the arabs greatly excelled; their wide extension gave them command of whatever was worthy of observation, and their vast revenues afforded the most abundant means of indulging a taste thus called into exercise. the history of arabian architecture comprises a period of about eight centuries, including its rise, progress, and decay: their building materials were mostly obtained from the ruined structures and cities that fell into their hands; and if no one particular style was followed by them, it was because they successfully studied most of the styles then known. on their buildings but little external art was bestowed; all their pains were exhausted on the interior, where no expense wag spared that could promote luxurious ease and personal comfort. their walls and ceilings were highly embellished, and the light was mostly admitted in such manner as, by excluding all external objects, to confine the admiration of the spectator to the beauties produced within. with the art { } of preserving their structures from decay they must have had an adequate acquaintance. their stucco composition may still be found as hard as stone, without a crack or flaw: the floors and ceilings of the alhambra, the ancient palace of grenada, have been comparatively uninjured by the neglect and dilapidation of nearly seven centuries; while their paint retains its colour so bright and rich as to be occasionally mistaken for mother-of-pearl. sir christopher wren derives the gothic architecture from the mohammedans; and the crescent arch, a symbol of one of the deities anciently worshipped throughout the heathen world, was first adopted by the arabs of syria, and invariably used in all the edifices erected during the supremacy of the ommiades. the succeeding dynasty declined following this model; but, during the reign of the house of moawiyah, in spain, it was imitated from the atlantic to the pyrenees. the fine arts, painting, and sculpture, were not so much cultivated among the early mohammedans: they were thought to involve a breach of the divine law. in this particular they agreed with the jews. subsequently, however, these scruples were, by degrees, overcome; that style of embellishment denominated arabesque, which rejects figures of men and animals, being first adopted, and afterward sculpture, more nearly resembling { } that of modern times. the alhambra, or palace of that suburb, had its lions, its ornamented tiles, and its paintings. abdalrahman iii. placed a statue of his favourite mistress over the palace he erected for her abode. music was ardently cultivated. at first, in the desert, its strains were rude and simple; subsequently, the professors of the art were as much cherished, honoured, and rewarded, as were the poets in the courts of the arab sovereigns. many were celebrated for their skill in this art, especially isaac almouseli. al farabi has been denominated the arabian orpheus: by his astonishing command of the lute, he could produce laughter, or tears, or sleep in his auditors at pleasure. he wrote a considerable work on music, which is preserved in the escurial. abul faragi is also a famous writer among the mohammedans on this subject. to them we are indebted for the invention of the lute, which they accounted more perfect than any other instrument; the use, also, of many of our modern instruments, as the organ, flute, harp, tabor, and mandoline, was common among them. some say that the national instrument of the scottish highlander is taken from them. in many of the useful arts of modern days the arabs were proficients; as agriculture, gardening, metallurgy, and the preparing of leather. the { } names morocco and cordovan are still applied, in this latter art, to leather prepared after the arabian method. they manufactured and dyed silk and cotton, made paper, were acquainted with the use of gunpowder, and have claims to the honour of inventing the mariner's compass. but perhaps there is no art in which their knowledge is so much a subject of curious inquiry as medicine. their country was salubrious, their habits simple, and their indulgences few; so that large opportunities of practically studying the art, at least among the arabs of earlier date, would not occur. anatomy, except that of the brute creation, was shut up from their study by the prejudices of their creed; yet they excelled in medical skill. hareth ibn kaldar, an eminent practitioner settled at mecca, was honoured with the conversation and applause of mohammed. honain was an eminent arab physician in the middle of the sixth century; messue, the celebrated preceptor of almamoun, belonged to this profession; and a host of others adorn the early annals of the saracens. al rhagi, or ullages, as commonly called, and abdallah ibn sina, or avicenna, are names to which, for centuries, deference was paid by professors of the healing art throughout europe, though it would not be difficult to show that their doctrines and practice must have been beyond measure absurd. they { } administered gold, and silver, and precious stones to purify the blood. of chymistry, so far as it relates to medicine, the arabs may be considered as the inventors; and botany, in the same connexion, they cultivated with great success. geber, in the eighth century, is known as their principal chymical writer; he is said to have composed five hundred volumes, almost every one of which is lost. the early nomenclature of the science indicates how much it owes to this people. alcohol, alembic, alkali, aludel, and other similar terms, are evidently of arabic origin; nor should it be forgotten that the characters used for drugs, essences, extracts, and medicines, the import of which is now almost entirely unknown (and which are consequently invested, in vulgar estimation, with occult powers), are all to be traced to the same source. it may be impossible now to estimate accurately the extent of our obligations to arabian literature. an empire so widely spread, by the encouragement it gave to letters, must have had a beneficial influence on almost every country. europeans, whether subject to its sway or only contemplating it from a distance, copied or emulated the example. gerbert, who subsequently occupied the papal chair as silvester ii., acquired the arabic method of computation during his travels in spain, { } previously to his elevation. leonardo, a pisan merchant, obtained a knowledge of the same art in his intercourse with the mohammedans on the coast of africa; and by him it was introduced into his own native republic, from whence it was soon communicated to the western world. in the city of salernum, a port of italy, mussulmans and christians so intermixed as to communicate insensibly the literature of the saracens to the italians, and in the schools of that city students were collected from every quarter of europe. arabic books, by command of charlemagne, were translated into latin for the use of learned men throughout his vast empire; and, without exaggerating the merits of the followers of the prophet, it may be admitted that we are indebted to them for the revival of the exact and physical sciences, and for many of those useful arts and inventions that have totally changed the aspect of european literature, and are still contributing to the civilization, freedom, and best interests of man. [ ] abulferage, p. . { } chapter iii. the present condition of mohammedanism.--in turkey.--the doctrines believed there.--their forms of devotion.--lustrations.--prayer.--mohammedan sabbath.--fast of ramadan.--meccan pilgrimage.--proselytism.--mohammedan hierarchy.--islamism in tartary.--in hindustan.--in china.--in persia.--in africa.--in the indian archipelago.--the sooffees.--the wahabees. the present condition of the mohammedan faith, with some account of the standing it maintains in the world, will not be deemed an inappropriate subject for the closing pages of this volume. its votaries have long ceased to spread alarm through the nations by their victorious and devastating progress; the fire of its fanaticism is almost extinct; nevertheless, its doctrines prevail over a larger number of mankind than any other system of false religion: they are professed in nations and countries remote from each other, and having no other mutual resemblance than that involved in their common superstition. in spain, indeed, christianity has triumphed over islamism; and in the inhospitable regions of siberia, a part of the ancient tartary, its advance has been somewhat checked; but in middle and lower asia, and in africa, the { } number of mohammed's followers has increased. we cannot state with accuracy the number either of mohammedan or of nominal christians; but, looking at religion geographically, while christianity has almost entire dominion in europe, in asia islamism is the dominant faith: in america the cross is rapidly becoming the symbol of faith throughout both its vast continents; but in africa the crescent waves to the almost entire exclusion of every other emblem. it is in turkey that mohammedanism exists at the present day in its most perfect form. to this country, therefore, our attention shall be first directed. constantinople, anciently called byzantium, and the countries over which the greek emperors residing in that city reigned, were subdued by the powerful caliphs of bagdad, while those of spain and the west were endeavouring to push their conquests over the fairest portions of europe. the situation of constantinople and the surrounding empire lay especially open to the eastern mohammedans, whose warlike incursions were incessant. tartars from asia overran the empire. othman, in the early part of the thirteenth century, laid the foundation of turkish greatness. orchan, amurathi and bajazet, his successors, amid both foreign and domestic wars, greatly contributed to its { } establishment and increase. the children of the last of these conquerors threw the empire into a frightful state of distraction by their unnatural quarrels, till, at last, the youngest of them, named after the prophet, restored its integrity, and established something like domestic tranquillity. under a grandson of his, mohammed ii., whom bayle describes as one of the greatest men recorded in history, the morea was subjugated, and the greek empire, so long shaken by internal dissensions, and tottering to dissolution by its luxury, was trampled in the dust by the moslem conquerors. constantinople at last yielded to their power, and a palace for the victor was erected on the very spot which constantine had chosen for his magnificent abode. from this time to that of solyman the magnificent, to whom the turks owe their laws and police, the empire continued to prosper, but immediately afterward its decline commenced. letters and science have made but little progress among that people, and their sultans have possessed none of the martial enterprise and energy of their early predecessors; still the faith of mohammed has maintained, and down to this day continues to maintain, a hold which it enjoys in almost no other country. the turks generally repose the most implicit faith in the two leading articles of the mohammedan { } creed, that there is but one god, and that mohammed is his prophet; and since, in the opinion of the moslems, a simple assent to these doctrines comprises all that is valuable in religion, and will be surely followed by the possession of heaven, either immediately or remotely, it is readily conceivable that infidelity will be exceedingly rare. in religious matters, the heart opposes not so much what is to be believed as what is to be done. minor points of their theology have been from time to time disputed, but these may be regarded as generally settled. predestination is one of the chief dogmas on which the faith of the turk is as firmly fixed as on the most momentous article in his creed. fatalism was the great engine employed by mohammed in establishing his religion; and among the turks this doctrine is received as regulating their destiny, controlling all events, and determining the results of every individual's actions; thus unnerving the soul for generous and manly enterprise, and casting a lethargy on the whole nation. in everything the operations of reason are checked, and even made to wait for the imagined manifestations of deity. according to the creed of the turks, not only is everything foreknown to god, but everything is predetermined, and brought about by his direct and immediate agency. { } the turk is keen and wise in his ordinary transactions: in promoting his own interests, he knows how to exercise the powers of his mind, but, when difficulty or doubt overtakes him, he makes no effort. the thick cloud of his misfortunes is suffered to remain; his troubles are yielded to with sullen indifference; he considers it impious to oppose the determinations of the most high. to all improvement, such a doctrine is a decided and invincible foe; in some circumstances, however, it appears to have its advantages. does a mohammedan suffer by calamity? is he plundered or ruined? he does not fruitlessly bewail his lot. his answer to all murmuring suggestions is, "it was written;" and to the most unexpected transition from opulence to poverty, he submits without a sigh. the approach of death does not disturb his tranquillity; he makes his ablution, repeats his prayers, professes his belief in god and his prophet, and in a last appeal to the aid of affection, he says to his child, "turn my head towards mecca," and calmly expires. a people's religion is traced in their established and common forms of devotion, and none are more attentive to these than the turks. to neglect any ceremony which their religion prescribes, is deemed a mark either of inferior understanding or of depraved character. public decorum is { } everywhere observed; and though both moral and religious precepts are violated with impunity and without remorse, they are always spoken of with great respect. a mohammedan is never ashamed to defend his faith; and of his sincerity and firmness, the earnestness of his vindication may be taken as sufficient proof: he not unfrequently interrupts the progress of conversation by repeating his religious formula. in the turkish towns, travellers are incessantly met with the cry of allah ackbar; and by mussulmans, who would be esteemed pious, the divine name is as frequently repeated as if reverent and devout thoughts were habitually uppermost in their minds. purifications are constantly, and with great strictness, performed by the mussulmans of every country, but especially by those of turkey. their professed object is to render the body fit for the decorous performance of religious duties; no act being praiseworthy or acceptable, in their estimation, unless the person of the performer be in a condition of purity. some have thought, but without sufficient grounds, that these external purifications are believed to supersede an inward cleansing of the heart. fountains placed round their mosques, and numerous baths in every city, enable the devout to perform their five prayers daily, during which, if they chance to receive pollution { } from anything accidentally coming in contact with them, their devotions are suspended till the offensive inconvenience is removed by water or other means. at the appointed hour, the maazeens or criers, with their faces towards mecca, their eyes closed, and their hands upraised, pace the little galleries of the minarets or towers of the mosques, and proclaim in arabic, the moslem language of devotion, that the season of prayer has arrived. instantly, every one, whatever may be his rank or employment, gives himself up to it. ministers of state suspend the most important affairs, and prostrate themselves on the floor; the tradesman forgets his dealings, and transforms his shop into a place of devotion; and the student lays aside his books, to go through his accustomed supplications. "never to fail in his prayers" is the highest commendation a turk can receive; and so prejudicial is the suspicion of irreligion, that even libertines dare not disregard the notices of the maazeen. the mosques, like chapels in catholic countries, are always open, and two or three times every day prayers are offered within their walls. it has often been remarked, that the devotions of christians might acquire something valuable from the gravity, the decorum, and the apparently intense occupation of mind in turkish worship. the jews trod { } their holy place barefoot: the turks, on the contrary, keep on their boots and shoes. christians uncover their heads in prayer; the moslems seldom lay aside their turbans; but for hours they will remain prostrate, or standing in one position, as if absorbed in the most intense abstraction. they have neither altars, pictures, nor statues in their places of worship. verses of the koran, the names and personal descriptions of their prophet, of ali and his two sons, hassan and hosein, with other moslem saints, are sometimes inscribed in letters of gold on their walls. all distinctions of rank and profession are forgotten when they pray. persons of every class, on the first sound of the accustomed cry, cast themselves on the ground, and thus declare their belief in the equality of mankind, in the sight of the great father of all. the mohammedans of turkey have a sabbath, for which the jewish or christian may be supposed to have furnished the model. friday is their day of rest, which commences on the preceding evening, when the illuminated minarets and colonnades of the mosques give to their cities the appearance of a festival. at noon, on friday, all business is suspended, the mosques are filled, and prayers are read by the appointed officers, accompanied by the prostrations of the people. discourses are likewise frequently delivered on { } practical points in their theology; and sometimes, in the ardour of excitement, political corruption and courtly depravity are fiercely assailed. a voluptuous sultan has been known, under the effect of these discourses, to tear himself from the soft indulgences of his harem and court, to lead his martial subjects to war and victory on the plains of their enemies. as soon as the public religious services are concluded, all return to their ordinary pursuits; the day, however, is strictly observed by all classes in the manner prescribed by law, it being a received maxim that he who, without legitimate cause, absents himself from public devotion on three successive fridays, abjures his religion. it is worthy of observation, that the prayers of the turks consist chiefly of adoration, of confessions of the divine attributes and the nothingness of man, and of homage and gratitude to the supreme being. a turk must not pray for the frail and perishable blessings of this life; the health of the sultan, the prosperity of his country, and divisions and wars among the christians alone excepted. the legitimate object of prayer they hold to be spiritual gifts, and happiness in a future state of being. no one of their religious institutions is more strictly observed by the turks than the fast of ramadan. he who violates it is reckoned either { } an infidel or an apostate; and if two witnesses establish his offence, he is deemed to have incurred the severest penalty of the law. abstinence from food, and even from the use of perfumes, from sunrise to sunset, is enjoined. the rich pass the hours in meditation and prayer, the grandees sleep away their time, but the labouring man, pursuing his daily toil, most heavily feels its rigour. "when the month of ramadan happens in the extremities of the seasons, the prescribed abstinence is almost intolerable, and is more severe than the practice of any moral duty, even to the most vicious and depraved of mankind." during the day all traffic is suspended; but in the evening, and till late at night, it is actively carried on in the streets, shops, and bazars, most splendidly illuminated. from sunset to sunrise, revelry and excess are indulged in. every night there is a feast among the great officers of the court: the reserve of the turkish character is laid aside, and friends and relations cement their union by mutual intercourse. sumptuous banquets and convivial hilarity are universal; and, were not women everywhere excluded from the tables of the men, the pleasure of the festivals would amply compensate the rigorous self-denial of their fasts. the pilgrimage to mecca is with the turks more a matter of form than of reality. its { } importance as a part of the moslem ritual is admitted, and apparently felt, but the number of pilgrims annually decreases. the sultan, having dominion over the country through which the pilgrims must pass, preserves the public ways leading to the venerated city; the best soldiers of his empire are charged with the protection of the caravans, which are sometimes numerous; but of his own subjects, properly so called, few comparatively accompany them; they are made up of devotees from a greater distance. the sultan, no doubt, encourages the pilgrimage as much on commercial as on religious grounds. the koran has determined it to be very proper to intermingle commerce and religion: "it shall be no crime in you," it says, "if ye seek an increase from your lord by trading during the pilgrimage." accordingly, articles of easy carriage and ready sale are brought by the pilgrims from every country. the productions and manufactures of india thus find their way into other parts of asia and throughout africa. the muslins and chintses of bengal and the deccan, the shawls of cashmere, the pepper of malabar, the diamonds of golconda, the pearls of kilkau, the cinnamon of ceylon, and the spices of the moluccas, are made to yield advantage to the ottoman empire, and the luxury of its subjects is sustained by contributions from the most distant nations. { } mohammedans of the present day, at least those of turkey, are less anxious to make proselytes than were those of a former age. those of india and africa may, to some extent, still retain the sentiment, that to convert infidels is an ordinance of god, and must be observed by the faithful in all ages; but in turkey little desire of this kind is felt, chiefly because, by a refinement of uncharitableness, the conversion of the world is deemed unworthy of their endeavours. now and then a devout moslem, instigated by zeal or personal attachment, may offer up this prayer for a jew or a christian: "great god, enlighten this infidel, and graciously dispose his heart to embrace thy holy religion;" and perhaps to a youth, esteemed for his talents or knowledge, the language of persuasion may occasionally be addressed with an air of gentleness and urbanity; but the zeal of the missionary is in such cases commonly subject to what are conceived to be the rules of good breeding, and a vague reply or silence is regarded as an indication that the subject is disagreeable, and should not be continued. a mussulman may pray for the conversion of infidels, but, till they are converted, no blessing may be supplicated in their behalf. "their death is eternal, why pray for them?" is the language of the mohammedan creed: do not { } "defile your feet by passing over the graves of men who are enemies of god and of his prophet." of the mohammedan hierarchy, some idea may be obtained from the form it assumes in turkey. the koran is considered the treasure of all laws, divine and human, and the caliphs as the depositaries of this treasure; so that they are at once the pontiffs, legislators, and judges of the people, and their office combines all authority, whether sacerdotal, regal, or judicial. to the grand sultan titles are given, styling him the vicar, or the shadow of god. the several powers which pertain to him in this august capacity are delegated to a body of learned men, called the oulema. in this body three descriptions of officers are included: the ministers of religion, called the imams; the expounders of the law, called the muftis; and the ministers of justice, called the cadis. the ministers of religion are divided into chief and inferior, the former of whom only belong to the oulema. both classes are made up of sheiks, or ordinary preachers; the khatibs, readers or deacons; the imams, a title comprising those who perform the service of the mosque on ordinary days, and those to whom pertain the ceremonies of circumcision, marriage, and burial; the maazeens, or criers, who announce the hours of prayer; and the cayuns, or common attendants of the mosque. the { } idea of this classification was, perhaps, taken from the mosaic priesthood; the khatib being the aaron, and the next four the several orders of the levites, with their servants or helpers. the imperial temples have one sheik, one khatib, from two to four imams, twelve maazeens, and twenty cayuns, among whom, except in a few of the chief mosques of constantinople, the khatibs have the pre-eminence. all these ministers are subject to the civil magistrate, who is looked upon as a sort of diocesan, and who may perform at any time all the sacerdotal functions. the ministers of religion are not distinguishable from other people; they mix in the same society, engage in similar pursuits, and affect no greater austerity than marks the behaviour of mussulmans generally. their influence depends entirely on their reputation for learning and talents, for gravity and correct moral conduct; their employment is, for the most part, very simple, as chanting aloud the public service, and performing such offices as every master of a family may discharge. as mohammedanism acknowledges no sacrifices, it appoints no priests; the duties performed by the ministers of religion being seemingly devolved on them more as a matter of convenience than on account of any sacredness attaching to their order. the vast country to which the general name of { } tartary has been given, is that from whence mohammedanism has gone forth to the east, the west, and the south. in thibet, the grand lama and various national idols hold divided empire with the prophet; and in the inhospitable regions of siberia, the churches of greece and russia have successfully promulgated the christian doctrines; while the circassians, with some other tartar races, are almost without religion. in the crimea, the people are mussulmans, as rigid and devoted as the turks; and over the vast tract called by modern geographers independent tartary, the crescent triumphantly waves. from these regions sprung, in the earlier ages of mohammedan conquest, those vast empires which, in the east, comprise so large a number of the professors of the faith of islam. the first sovereign of this country, to whom the title of sultan was awarded early in the tenth century, conducted several expeditions into hindustan, and secured the homage of many of the cities. the ancient indian superstition was in a great measure overturned by his victorious arms. long and fierce contests ensued: the princes of the subdued provinces, often throwing off their forced allegiance, endeavoured to regain their independence and re-establish their ancient faith, till, at length, the great timurlane, having overrun the country with his legions, received at agra the title { } of emperor of hindustan. scarcely, however, had two centuries and a half rolled away, when his successors fell in their turn under the persian power; and the empire he established was weakened, and ultimately destroyed. as the result of these conquests, mohammedanism prevailed to a great extent, but rather nominally than really, among the millions of india: it was the religion of the court and government; but, either from indifference or timidity in the moslem conquerors, the ancient idols still held extensive influence, and were at length gradually restored. in the twelfth century, benares, the ancient seat of brahminical learning and of hindu idolatry, fell into the hands of the conqueror, who destroyed its numerous objects of popular adoration. yet, soon afterward, the religious character of the place was restored, and the demolished idols were replaced by others, that were as eagerly resorted to as had been their predecessors. to this consecrated metropolis, a pilgrimage was regarded by the millions of india as imperatively commanded, and as necessary as was a visit to mecca by the mohammedans; and the weakness or the policy of its moslem conquerors did not long withhold from them this valued privilege; the government of the city was committed to the hindus, and their conquerors, in the plenitude of their bigotry, pride, and power, never { } thought of suffering their own magistrates to exercise authority within its walls. thus mohammedanism is the religion, not of the ancient inhabitants of india, but of the descendants of the millions of tartars, persians, and arabians who, at various periods, have left their native seats to participate in the riches of these far-famed plains. the north and northwestern parts are filled with them, and from thence they have wandered over the whole of that vast country. perhaps their numbers may now amount to nearly twenty millions, among whom, however, though they are mostly of foreign extraction, are many converts from hinduism. they form separate communities, amalgamating in some parts of the country, and living as sociably with hindus as the differences in their respective faiths will permit. hindu princes have at times paid their devotions at mohammedan shrines, and observed their feasts; while mohammedans have relaxed somewhat the strictness of their observances, and manifested an inclination to conform, as far as possible, to their hindu neighbours. some five centuries ago, the borahs, a people who once occupied the kingdom of guzerat, were converted _en masse_ to islamism. the arab traders to the coasts of malabar have always been exceedingly earnest in their endeavours to convert the natives, in which they have { } been greatly aided by the facility with which they have been allowed to purchase the children of the poorer classes, to educate them in the principles of their faith, and also by the frequency with which the inhabitants of those districts lose caste. this badge of the hindu faith is often forfeited by the people mixing with those of other countries, and when it is lost they easily become moslems. it has been maintained that the native inhabitants of india are absolutely unchangeable in their sacred, domestic, and political institutions, and, at first sight, there would appear to be much to warrant such an opinion; but the history of many of them, and especially of the sikhs, who inhabit the provinces of the panjab, between the rivers jumna and indus, may be alleged as proofs to the contrary. still, in the religion of the sikhs, mohammedan fable and hindu absurdity are mixed; its founder wishing to unite both these prevalent systems in one. he had been educated in a part of the country where these two religions appeared to touch each other, if not commingle, and he was no stranger to the violent animosity existing between their respective professors; he sought, therefore, to blend the jarring elements of both in peaceful union. the hindu was required to abandon his idols, and to worship the one supreme deity whom his religion acknowledged; while the mohammedan { } was to abstain from such practices (especially the killing of cows) as were offensive to the superstition of the hindus. this plan so far prevailed, that, without acknowledging the prophet, the sikhs became more mohammedans than hindus; and though the institutions of brahma are not admitted among them, they insult and persecute true moslems more fiercely and cruelly than any other people. they compel them to eat that which is forbidden by their law; animals which they account unclean are frequently thrown into their places of public assembly, and they are prohibited from proclaiming the hour of prayer to the faithful. china is one of those countries to which mohammedanism was carried by the hordes of tartary. from the scrupulous jealousy with which this vast empire is guarded from observation, it is difficult to say to what extent the mohammedan faith, or, indeed, any other, prevails among its numberless inhabitants; but, beyond question, it is tolerated. the irruption of the saracens into china under walid can scarcely be termed a conquest. subsequently, the successors of zenghis khan seated themselves on the throne of pekin, and opened the country to an intercourse with all nations. the commercial arabs had visited the ports and cities in the south of china; and, now that access to the { } capital was unrestrained, multitudes of them repaired thither. they acquired the language, and adopted the dress and manners of the people, to whom also they rendered valuable aid in adjusting their chronology, and making the necessary calculations for their calendar. intercourse with the chinese made the mohammedans desirous of effecting their conversion, the means adopted for which were both wise and humane. deserted children were taken under their protection, and educated in islamism; while in other ways they sought to commend themselves to confidence, and their religion to respect, by alleviating the wretchedness induced by a cruel superstition. the mohammedans of china seem to partake of the mild and quiet character of the inhabitants generally, and are therefore tolerated; though there have been some exceptions to this encomium. about sixty years ago they were instrumental in promoting an unsuccessful rebellion, and the emperor kien long, after suppressing it, ordered one hundred thousand of them to be put to death. persia, from an early period, has been almost entirely a mohammedan country. on its conquest by the saracens, the religion of zoroaster, which had till then prevailed, was nearly abolished. those who persevered in retaining it were obliged to flee to the mountains or to the western parts { } of india, where their old forms of worship still linger. in the disputes which ensued on the death of mohammed concerning the caliphate, the persians espoused the cause of ali, the prophet's son-in-law, and to his memory they are still attached. "may this arrow go to the heart of omar," is a frequent expression among them in drawing a bow; and not long since, when mr. malcolm, during his travels in persia, was praising omar, the antagonist of ali, as the greatest of the caliphs, a persian, overcome by the justice of his observations, yet still adhering to his rooted prejudices, replied, "this is all very true, but he was a dog after all." here mohammedanism exists in a less rigorous form than in turkey. its ceremonies are observed by those who are little disposed to practice its moral code: they say their prayers at the appointed season, and make a show of devotion to prevent their being suspected of irreligion; but the people generally are little concerned about the pilgrimage to mecca, and other matters on which, in the koran, much stress is laid. they choose rather to resort to the tomb of ali, and to that of his son hosein, whose name is reverenced among them with a feeling approaching to adoration. in africa, mohammedanism has very widely prevailed. algiers, tunis, tripoli, all the northern parts of this continent, acknowledge its sway. { } from arabia and egypt it spread west and south nearly to the great rivers. it is the established religion of morocco; and in western barbary and several kingdoms of the interior the arabic language is spoken, the koran believed, and the prophet almost worshipped. the senegal, up to the small moorish state of gedumah, is the line of division between the mohammedans and the negroes: from thence the line passes eastward of north, through nigritia and nubia to the nile. as yet, however, it is but indistinctly marked, it being doubtful whether timbuctoo is a mohammedan or negro town. the courts of bornou and cassina are mohammedan, but a majority of their subjects are pagans. islamism in these vast territories is in an exceedingly degenerate state when compared with either its first development in the arabian desert, or with what now obtains in turkey. it is said that but little more than its exclusive persecuting spirit remains: the oriental lustrations are almost unknown, mohammedan temperance is neglected, and the great doctrine of the unity of god is confounded with, or supplanted by, the polytheism of the native inhabitants. the mussulman is more depraved than the pagan; so that, while travellers frequently mention the hospitality they received from the latter, by the former they were constantly insulted and annoyed on account of { } their religion. in no quarter of the world does the faith of the prophet wear so frightful an aspect as in africa. the region from which mohammedanism first sprung has not remained in all respects faithful to the precepts of the prophet. in mecca and medina, indeed, his name and system are held in the profoundest veneration; and no wonder, since both these cities are mainly supported by the superstitious observances enjoined in the koran; but the bedouins are as licentious in their religion as in their policy and habits. on the turkish frontiers they keep up an appearance of respect for the name of the prophet and his doctrines; but, in answer to all reproaches for their unfaithfulness, they say in words worthy a better taught and more civilized race, "the religion of mohammed could never have been intended for us. we have no water in the desert. how, then, can we make the prescribed ablutions? we have no money. how, then, can we give alms? the fast of ramadan is a useless command to persons who fast all the year round; and, if god be everywhere, why should we go to mecca to adore him?" from the southernmost part of hindustan, mohammedanism made its way to the malayan peninsula; to sumatra, java, borneo, the manillas, and the celebes: goram, one of the spice islands, is { } its eastern boundary. in the interior of these islands it prevails less than on the shores. to these remote regions islamism has been carried more by the commercial than the military enterprise of its votaries. what is its present condition there, it is difficult, perhaps impossible, accurately to ascertain. in java it was the established religion; but, when the dutch settled that island early in the seventeenth century, many of the natives were converted. little respect is paid by the javans of the present day either to their ancient paganism, or to mohammedanism which took its place; though some of the forms of the latter are still in force, and its institutions are said to be gaining ground. the reader of mohammedan history will meet with the terms sooffee and wahabee, as designating certain divisions of the disciples of the religion of the prophet. it will not, therefore, be inappropriate to close with a brief account of these respective sects. sooffee is a term originating in persia, meaning enthusiasts or mystics, or persons distinguished by extraordinary sanctity. the object of the sooffee is to attain a divine beatitude, which he describes as consisting in absorption into the essence of deity. the soul, according to his doctrine, is an emanation from god, partaking of his nature; just { } as the rays of light are emanations from the sun, and of the same nature with the source, from whence they are derived. the creature and the creator are of one substance. no one can become a sooffee without strictly conforming to the established religion, and practising every social virtue; and when, by this means, he has gained a habit of devotion, he may exchange what they style practical for spiritual worship, and abandon the observance of all religious forms and ceremonies. he at length becomes inspired, arrives at truth, drops his corporeal veil, and mixes again with that glorious essence from which he has been partially and for a time separated. the life of the sooffees of persia, though generally austere, is not rendered miserable, like that of the visionary devotees of hinduism, by the practice of dreadful severities, their most celebrated teachers have been famed for knowledge and devotion. the persians are a poetic people, and the very genius of sooffeeism is poetry. its raptures are the raptures of inspiration; its hopes are those of a highly sensitive and excited imagination; its writers in the sweetest strains celebrate the divine love, which pervades all nature: everything, from the very highest to the lowest, seeking and tending towards union with deity as its object of supreme desire. they inculcate forbearance, abstemiousness, and { } universal benevolence. they are unqualified predestinarians. the emanating principle, or the soul, proceeding from god, can do nothing, they say, without his will, nor refuse to do anything which he instigates. some of them, consequently, deny the existence of evil; and the doctrine of rewards and punishments is superseded by their idea of re-absorption into the divine essence. the free opinions of this class of enthusiasts subvert the doctrines of islamism, yet they pay an outward respect to them; they unsettle the existing belief, without providing an intelligible substitute; they admit the divine mission of the prophet, but explain away the dogmas he uttered; and while they affect to yield him honour as a person raised up by god, to induce moral order in the world, they boast their own direct and familiar intercourse with deity, and claim, on that account, unqualified obedience in all that relates to spiritual interests. the similarity of sooffeeism to the ancient pythagorean and platonic doctrines will occur to every one at all acquainted with the religion and philosophy of antiquity. it as closely resembles some of the distinguishing tenets of the brahminical faith. in fact, it seems as if designed, in conjunction with the refined theology of ancient, and the sublime visions of modern idolaters, to teach us that, without divine guidance, the loftiest human { } conceptions on subjects connected with god and religion invariably err; the ignorant and the instructed are equally wrong; "the world by wisdom knows not god." the wahabees are a modern sect of mohammedan reformers, whose efforts have considerably changed the aspect of the religion of the prophet. perhaps to them may be owing much of that rigid adherence to mohammedan doctrine and practice which prevails in those parts where their influence has been felt. they are the followers of abdol wahab, who commenced his career in the region where, during the lifetime of the prophet, moseilama had threatened a considerable division among his followers. wahab was an ambitious fanatic, who aimed, nevertheless, at reforming the national religion. he was aided by powerful princes of the province of nejed; and, within a short time, the tenets he maintained spread throughout the peninsula. his fundamental principle, like that of mohammed, was the unity of god. the koran he regarded as divine, rejecting all the glosses which ignorance and infatuation had put upon it, and holding in utter contempt all the traditions and tales concerning its author, which the devout of every generation had eagerly received. the reverence, approaching to adoration, which the arabs were wont to pay to the name of mohammed, all visits to his tomb, and all { } regard to the tombs and relics of arab saints, he denounced; and the costly ornaments with which a mistaken piety had enriched these sacred spots, he thought might be appropriated to ordinary purposes. wahab would not suffer the common oath of, by mohammed, or by ali, to be used among his followers, on the very rational ground that an oath is an appeal to a witness of our secret thoughts, and who can know these but god? the title of lord, generally given to the prophet by his followers, wahab rejected as impious. he was commonly mentioned by this zealous reformer and his adherents by his simple name, without the addition of "our lord, the prophet of god." all who deviated in any degree from the plain sense of the koran, either in belief or practice, were infidels in their esteem; upon whom, therefore, according to its directions, war might be made. thus was the martial spirit of the early saracens again called into exercise; and with the ardour that characterized the days of the immediate successors of the prophet, they were prepared at once to assail the consciences and the property of men not exactly of their own faith. at the call of their leader, they assembled first in the plain of draaiya, some miles east of medina, armed and provided at their own expense for war. bagdad and mecca in vain attempted to { } suppress them; the seraglio itself was filled with their formidable war-cry; the sultan trembled on his throne; and the caravans from syria suspended their usual journeys. the imperial city suffered from their ravages in its usual supplies of coffee; and the terror of their name was widely spreading among devout mohammedans of every country, for they had violated the shrines of saints, and levelled to the ground the chapels at mecca, which devotion had consecrated to the memory of the prophet and his family. at the commencement of the present century, however, mecca was recovered from them by the turkish arms, and the plague, with the smallpox, breaking out just at this time among the followers of wahab, probably saved the mighty fabric of islamism. these reverses did not quench, however, the ardour of the wahabees. their leader had been assassinated, but his son, already distinguished for his prudence and valour, succeeded him in the command. medina fell beneath his power, and from thence to the persian gulf he seemed likely to reign lord paramount. in he was able to impose a heavy tax on the caravan of pilgrims from damascus to the holy city, and declared that thenceforth it should consist of pilgrims alone, without the pride and pomp of a religious procession. soon afterward they again entered mecca, and immediately threatened with destruction every { } sacred relic; but they did not put their threats into execution. various conflicts between them and the orthodox mohammedans have since ensued, the general result of which has been to break the martial and fanatical spirit of the wahabees, and to re-establish the power of the grand sultan in cities and districts where it had been placed in jeopardy. they are still, indeed, dreaded as plunderers, but no great national convulsion has resulted from their efforts. some writers regret the suppression of this once powerful sect of mohammedans, believing that, if continued, they would have been instrumental in overthrowing the moslem faith, and making way for a purer religion; but for ourselves, we see little occasion for these regrets. the wahabees must not be supposed more favourable to a pure faith than are those by whom they have been overthrown. if they must be regarded as reformers, they only attempted to correct a few absurd and scandalous practices: the impious and abominable dogmas of the koran they left untouched; or, if they touched them, it was only to enforce their observance with greater rigour. their creed was even more sanguinary and intolerant than that of the ancient mohammedans, and probably the continuance of their power would have been nothing more than the continuance of injustice, cruelty, and { } persecution. we do not look for the overthrow of mohammedanism by such means. one system of error may sometimes destroy another, but the pure faith, which blesses a miserable world by directing men in the path of safety, knowledge, and happiness, will extend only as the sacred volume is diffused, and as that holy influence from god accompanies it by which the understanding is illuminated and the heart renewed. fanaticism is no auxiliary of the religion of the bible; it neither prepares its way nor accelerates its progress. violence and war are utterly rejected by this divine system, as alien from its spirit and character. "my kingdom," says its founder, "is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight; but now is my kingdom not from hence." the end. transcriber's note: the footnotes marked with lower-case letters were originally sidenotes which referred to sentences within the paragraph. i placed them at the end of chapters to avoid confusion with the footnotes marked with numbers, which were footnotes in the original and are at the end of the text. two old faiths essays on the religions of the hindus and the mohammedans by j. murray mitchell, m.a., ll.d. and sir william muir, ll.d., d.c.l. new york chautauqua press c.l.s.c. department, fifth avenue the required books of the c.l.s.c. are recommended by a council of six. it must, however, be understood that recommendation does not involve an approval by the council, or by any member of it, of every principle or doctrine contained in the book recommended. * * * * * these essays have been selected from the admirable series of _present day tracts_, published by the religious tract society, london, and are reprinted with permission. contents. the hindu religion. page outline of the essay introduction the vedas philosophy, and ritualism reconstruction--modern hinduism contrast with christianity hinduism in contact with christianity the rise and decline of islam. outline of the essay introduction the rapid spread of islam why the spread of islam was stayed low position of islam in the scale of civilization the hindu religion. outline of the essay. the place of hinduism--which is professed by about a hundred and ninety millions in india--among the religions of the world, and its great antiquity, are pointed out. the comparative simplicity of the system contained in the vedas, the oldest sacred books of the hindus, its almost entire freedom from the use of images, its gradual deterioration in the later hymns, its gradual multiplication of gods, the advance of sacerdotalism, and the increasing complexity of its religious rites are set forth. the philosophical speculation that was carried on, the different philosophical schools, the buddhist reaction, its conflict with brahmanism, its final defeat, and its influence on the victorious system are discussed. the religious reconstruction represented by the puranas, their theological character, the modern ritual, the introduction and rise of caste, and the treatment of women are then considered. a contrast is drawn between the leading characteristics of hinduism and those of christianity, and the effect of christian ideas on modern hinduism is exhibited. the history of the brahmo somaj under keshub chunder sen is given at some length. the hindu religion. introduction. [sidenote: hinduism deserving of study. its antiquity.] the system of religious belief which is generally called hinduism is, on many accounts, eminently deserving of study. if we desire to trace the history of the ancient religions of the widely extended aryan or indo-european race, to which we ourselves belong, we shall find in the earlier writings of the hindus an exhibition of it decidedly more archaic even than that which is presented in the homeric poems. then, the growth--the historical development--of hinduism is not less worthy of attention than its earlier phases. it has endured for upward of three thousand years, no doubt undergoing very important changes, yet in many things retaining its original spirit. the progress of the system has not been lawless; and it is exceedingly instructive to note the development, and, if possible, explain it. we are, then, to endeavor to study hinduism chronologically. unless he does so almost every man who tries to comprehend it is, at first, overwhelmed with a feeling of utter confusion and bewilderment. hinduism spreads out before him as a vast river, or even what seems at first "a dark illimitable ocean, without bound, without dimension, where length, breadth, and height, and time, and place are lost." [sidenote: the discussion chronological.] but matters begin to clear up when he begins at the beginning, and notes how one thing succeeded another. it may not be possible as yet to trace all the windings of the stream or to show at what precise points in its long course it was joined by such and such a tributary; yet much is known regarding the mighty river which every intelligent man will find it profitable to note and understand. [sidenote: the christian's duty in relation to the subject.] the christian ought not to rest satisfied with the vague general idea that hinduism is a form of heathenism with which he has nothing to do, save to help in destroying it. let him try to realize the ideas of the hindu regarding god, and the soul, and sin, and salvation, and heaven, and hell, and the many sore trials of this mortal life. he will then certainly have a much more vivid perception of the divine origin and transcendent importance of his own religion. farther, he will then extend a helping hand to his eastern brother with far more of sensibility and tenderness; and in proportion to the measure of his loving sympathy will doubtless be the measure of his success. a yearning heart will accomplish more than the most cogent argument. [sidenote: the purpose of the tract.] in this tract we confine ourselves to the laying down of great leading facts and principles; but these will be dwelt upon at sufficient length to give the reader, we trust, an accurate conception of the general character and history of hinduism. we shall also briefly contrast the system with christianity. the history of hinduism may be divided into three great periods, each embracing, in round numbers, about a thousand years. i. the vedas. [sidenote: the most ancient writings of india.] regarding the earliest form of hinduism we must draw our conceptions from the veda, or, to speak more accurately, the four vedas. the most important of these is the rig veda; and internal evidence proves it to be the most ancient. it contains above a thousand hymns; the earliest of which may date from about the year b.c. the hindus, or, as they call themselves, the aryas, had by that time entered india, and were dwelling in the north-western portion, the panjab. the hymns, we may say, are racy of the soil. there is no reference to the life led by the people before they crossed the himalaya mountains or entered by some of the passes of afghanistan. it would be very interesting if we could discover the pre-vedic form of the religion. inferentially this may, to some extent, be done by comparing the teachings of the vedas with those contained in the books of other branches of the great aryan family--such as the greeks, the romans, and, above all, the iranians (ancient persians). the ancient hindus were a highly gifted, energetic race; civilized to a considerable extent; not nomadic; chiefly shepherds and herdsmen, but also acquainted with agriculture. commerce was not unknown; the river indus formed a highway to the indian ocean, and at least the phenicians availed themselves of it from perhaps the seventeenth century b.c., or even earlier. [sidenote: the hymns are strongly religious. they are a selection. pre-eminently sacerdotal. present the religious thought of the ancient hindus.] as soon as we begin to study the hymns of the veda we are struck by their strongly religious character. tacitly assuming that the book contains the whole of the early literature of india, many writers have expressed themselves in strong terms regarding the primitive hindus as religious above all other races. but as we read on we become convinced that these poems are a selection, rather than a collection, of the literature; and the conviction grows that the selection has been made by priestly hands for priestly purposes. an acute critic has affirmed that the vedic poems are "pre-eminently sacerdotal, and in no sense popular."[ ] we can thus explain a pervading characteristic of the book which has taken most readers by surprise. there is a want of simplicity in the veda. it is often most elaborate, artificial, overrefined--one might even say, affected. how could these be the thoughts, or those the expressions, of the imperfectly civilized shepherds of the panjab? but if it be only a hymn-book, with its materials arranged for liturgical purposes, the difficulty vanishes.[ ] we shall accordingly take it for granted that the veda presents only the religious thought of the ancient hindus--and not the whole of the religious thought, but only that of a very influential portion of the race. with all the qualifications now stated, the veda must retain a position of high importance for all who study indian thought and life. the religious stamp which the compilers of the veda impressed so widely and so deeply has not been obliterated in the course of thirty centuries. [sidenote: their religion is nature-worship.] the prevailing aspect of the religion presented in the vedic hymns may be broadly designated as nature-worship. [sidenote: physical phenomena in india. their effect on the religion.] all physical phenomena in india are invested with a grandeur which they do not possess in northern or even southern europe. sunlight, moonlight, starlight, the clouds purpled with the beam of morning or flaming in the west like fiery chariots of heaven; to behold these things in their full magnificence one ought to see them in the east. even so the sterner phenomena of nature--whirlwind and tempest, lightning and thunder, flood and storm-wave, plague, pestilence, and famine; all of these oftentimes assume in the east a character of awful majesty before which man cowers in helplessness and despair. the conceptions and feelings hence arising have from the beginning powerfully affected the religion of the hindus. every-where we can trace the impress of the grander manifestations of nature--the impress of their beneficence, their beauty, their might, their mystery, or their terribleness. [sidenote: the deities are "the bright ones," according to the language of the sacred books of india.] the sanskrit word for god is _deva_, which means _bright, shining_. of physical phenomena it was especially those connected with light that enkindled feelings of reverence. the black thunder-cloud that enshrouded nature, in which the demon had bound the life-giving waters, passed away; for the glittering thunder-bolt was launched, and the streams rushed down, exulting in their freedom; and then the heaven shone out again, pure and peaceful as before. but such a wonder as the dawn--with far-streaming radiance, returning from the land of mystery, fresh in eternal youth, and scattering the terrors of the night before her--who could sufficiently admire? and let it be remembered that in the hindu mind the interval between admiration and adoration is exceedingly small. yet, while it is the dawn which has evoked the truest poetry, she has not retained the highest place in worship. [sidenote: fire much worshiped.] no divinity has fuller worship paid him than agni, the fire (_ignis_). more hymns are dedicated to him than to any other being. astonishment at the properties of fire; a sense of his condescension in that he, a mighty god, resides in their dwellings; his importance as the messenger between heaven and earth, bearing the offerings aloft; his kindness at night in repelling the darkness and the demons which it hides--all these things raised agni to an exalted place. he is fed with pure clarified butter, and so rises heavenward in his brightness. the physical conception of fire, however, adheres to him, and he never quite ceases to be the earthly flame; yet mystical conceptions thickly gather round this root-idea; he is fire pervading all nature; and he often becomes supreme, a god of gods. [sidenote: soma highly exalted. soma becomes a very mighty god.] all this seems natural enough; but one is hardly prepared for the high exaltation to which soma is raised. soma is properly the juice of a milky plant (_asclepias acida_, or _sarcostemma viminale_), which, when fermented, is intoxicating. the simple-minded aryas were both astonished and delighted at its effects; they liked it themselves; and they knew nothing more precious to present to their gods. accordingly, all of these rejoice in it. indra in particular quaffs it "like a thirsty stag;" and under its exhilarating effects he strides victoriously to battle. soma itself becomes a god, and a very mighty one; he is even the creator and father of the gods;[ ] the king of gods and men;[ ] all creatures are in his hand. it is surely extraordinary that the aryas could apply such hyperbolical laudations to the liquor which they had made to trickle into the vat, and which they knew to be the juice of a plant they had cut down on the mountains and pounded in a mortar; and that intoxication should be confounded with inspiration. yet of such aberrations we know the human mind is perfectly capable. [sidenote: connection with persian, greek, and roman systems. varuna, the god of heaven. the sublimity of the vedic description of him.] we have first referred to agni and soma, as being the only divinities of highest rank which still retain their physical character. the worship paid to them was of great antiquity; for it is also prescribed in the persian avesta, and must have been common to the indo-iranian branch of the aryan race before the hindus entered india. but we can inferentially go still further back and speak of a deity common to the greeks, romans, persians, and hindus. this deity is varuna, the most remarkable personality in the veda. the name, which is etymologically connected with [greek: ouranos], signifies "the encompasser," and is applied to heaven--especially the all-encompassing, extreme vault of heaven--not the nearer sky, which is the region of cloud and storm. it is in describing varuna that the veda rises to the greatest sublimity which it ever reaches. a mysterious presence, a mysterious power, a mysterious knowledge amounting almost to omniscience, are ascribed to varuna. the winkings of men's eyes are numbered by him. he upholds order, both physical and moral, throughout the universe. [sidenote: contrast with the laudations of agni and soma. the loftier conceptions of divinity the earlier.] the winds are his breath, the sun his eye, the sky his garment. he rewards the good and punishes the wicked. yet to the truly penitent he is merciful. it is absolutely confounding to pass from a hymn that celebrates the serene majesty and awful purity of varuna to one filled with measureless laudations of soma or agni. could conceptions of divinity so incongruous co-exist? that they could not spring up in the same mind, or even in the same age, is abundantly manifest. and, as we have mentioned, the loftier conceptions of divinity are unquestionably the earlier. it is vain to speak, as certain writers do, of religion gradually refining itself, as a muddy stream can run itself pure; hinduism resembles the ganges, which, when it breaks forth from its mountain cradle at hardwar, is comparatively pellucid, but, as it rolls on, becomes more and more muddy, discolored, and unclean.[ ] [sidenote: indra. his achievements.] various scholars affirm that varuna, in more ancient pre-vedic times, held a position still higher than the very high one which he still retains. this is probable; indeed, it is certain that, before later divinities had intruded, he held a place of unrivaled majesty. but, in the vedas, indra is a more conspicuous figure. he corresponds to the jupiter pluvius of the romans. in north-western india, after the burning heat, the annual return of the rains was hailed with unspeakable joy; it was like life succeeding death. the clouds that floated up from the ocean were at first thin and light; ah! a hostile demon was in them, carrying off the healing waters and not permitting them to fall; but the thunder-bolt of indra flashed; the demon was driven away howling, and the emancipated streams refreshed the thirsty earth. varuna was not indeed dethroned, but he was obscured, by the achievements of the warlike indra; and the supersensuous, moral conceptions that were connected with the former gradually faded from the minds of the people, and varuna erelong became quite a subordinate figure in the pantheon. [sidenote: number and relations of deities uncertain.] the deities are generally said in the veda to be "thrice eleven" in number. we also hear of three thousand three hundred and thirty-nine. there is no _system_, no fixed order in the hierarchy; a deity who in one hymn is quite subordinate becomes in another supreme; almost every god becomes supreme in turn; in one hymn he is the son of some deity and in another that deity's father, and so (if logic ruled) his own grandfather. every poet exalts his favorite god, till the mind becomes utterly bewildered in tracing the relationships. we have already spoken of agni, varuna, and indra, as well as soma. next to these in importance may come the deities of light, namely, the sun, the dawn, and the two asvina or beams that accompany the dawn. the winds come next. the earth is a goddess. the waters are goddesses. it is remarkable that the stars are very little mentioned; and the moon holds no distinguished place. [sidenote: hardly any fetichism in the rig veda.] in the religion of the rig veda we hardly see fetichism--if by fetichism we mean the worship of small physical objects, such as stones, shells, plants, etc., which are believed to be charged (so to speak) with divinity, though this appears in the fourth veda--the atharva. but even in the rig veda almost any object that is grand, beneficent, or terrible may be adored; and implements associated with worship are themselves worshiped. thus, the war-chariot, the plow, the furrow, etc., are prayed to. [sidenote: early tendency toward pantheism.] a pantheistic conception of nature was also present in the indian mind from very early times, although its development was later. even in the earliest hymns any portion of nature with which man is brought into close relation may be adored.[ ] [sidenote: reverence of the dead.] we must on no account overlook the reverence paid to the dead. the _pitris_ (_patres_) or fathers are frequently referred to in the veda. they are clearly distinguished from the _devas_ or gods. in later writings they are also distinguished from men, as having been created separately from them; but this idea does not appear in the veda. yama, the first mortal, traveled the road by which none returns, and now drinks the soma in the innermost of heaven, surrounded by the other fathers. these come also, along with the gods, to the banquets prepared for them on earth, and, sitting on the sacred grass, rejoice in the exhilarating draught. [sidenote: the subjects of the hymns of the rig veda.] the hymns of the rig veda celebrate the power, exploits, or generosity of the deity invoked, and sometimes his personal beauty. the praises lavished on the god not only secured his favor but increased his power to help the worshiper. [sidenote: the holiest prayer.] there is one prayer (so called) which is esteemed pre-eminently holy; generally called--from the meter in which it is composed--the gayatri.[ ] it may be rendered thus: "let us meditate on that excellent glory of the divine son (or vivifier); may he enlighten our understandings!" it has always been frequently repeated in important rites. [sidenote: atharva veda. inferior morally and spiritually to the rig veda. explanation of deterioration.] so far we have referred almost exclusively to the rig veda. the next in importance is the atharva, sometimes termed the brahma veda; which we may render the veda of incantations. it contains six hundred and seventy hymns. of these a few are equal to those in the rig veda; but, as a whole, the atharva is far inferior to the other in a moral and spiritual point of view. it abounds in imprecations, charms for the destruction of enemies, and so forth. talismans, plants, or gems are invoked, as possessed of irresistible might to kill or heal. the deities are often different from those of the rig veda. the atharva manifests a great dread of malignant beings, whose wrath it deprecates. we have thus simple demon-worship. how is this great falling-off to be explained? in one of two ways. either a considerable time intervened between the composition of the two books, during which the original faith had rapidly degenerated, probably through contact with aboriginal races who worshiped dark and sanguinary deities; or else there had existed from the beginning two forms of the religion--the higher of which is embodied in the hymns of the rig veda, and the lower in the atharva. we believe the latter explanation to be correct, although doubtless the superstitions of the aborigines must all along have exerted an influence on the faith of the invaders. [sidenote: the offerings.] the offerings presented to the gods consisted chiefly of clarified butter, curdled milk, rice-cakes, and fermented soma juice, which was generally mixed with water or milk. all was thrown into the fire, which bore them or their essences to the gods. the soma was also sprinkled on the sacred grass, which was strewn on the floor, and on which the gods and fathers were invited to come and seat themselves that they might enjoy the cheering beverage. the remainder was drunk by the officiating priests. the offerings were understood to nourish and gratify the gods as corporeal beings. [sidenote: animal victims.] animal victims are also offered up. we hear of sheep, goats, bulls, cows, and buffaloes being sacrificed, and sometimes in large numbers. but the great offering was the asvamedha, or sacrifice of the horse. the body of the horse was hacked to pieces; the fragments were dressed--part was boiled, part roasted; some of the flesh was then eaten by the persons present, and the rest was offered to the gods. tremendous was the potency--at least as stated in later times--of a hundred such sacrifices; it rendered the offerer equal or superior to the gods; even the mighty indra trembled for his sovereignty and strove to hinder the consummation of the awful rite. [sidenote: human sacrifice.] human sacrifice was not unknown, though there are very few allusions to it in the earlier hymns. [sidenote: sacrifice deemed of very high importance.] even from the first, however, the rite of sacrifice occupies a very high place, and allusions to it are exceedingly frequent. the observances connected with it are said to be the "first religious rites." sacrifice was early believed to be expiatory; it removed sin. it was substitutionary; the victim stood in place of the offerer. all order in the universe depends upon it; it is "the nave of the world-wheel." sometimes vishnu is said to be the sacrifice; sometimes even the supreme being himself is so. elaborated ideas and a complex ritual, which we could have expected to grow up only in the course of ages, appear from very early times. we seem compelled to draw the inference that sacrifice formed an essential and very important part of the pre-vedic faith.[ ] in the veda worship is a kind of barter. in exchange for praises and offerings the deity is asked to bestow favors. temporal blessings are implored, such as food, wealth, life, children, cows, horses, success in battle, the destruction of enemies, and so forth. not much is said regarding sin and the need of forgiveness. a distinguished scholar[ ] has said that "the religious notion of sin is wanting altogether;" but this affirmation is decidedly too sweeping. [sidenote: no image-worship. no public worship.] the worship exemplified in the veda is not image-worship. images of the fire, or the winds, or the waters could hardly be required, and while the original nature-worship lasted, idols must have been nearly unknown. yet the description of various deities is so precise and full that it seems to be probably drawn from visible representations of them. worship was personal and domestic, not in any way public. indeed, two men praying at the same time had to pray quite apart, so that neither might disturb the other. each dealt with heaven, so to speak, solely on his own behalf. [sidenote: no temples.] we hear of no places set apart as temples in vedic times. [sidenote: the treatises on ritual.] a veda consists of two parts called _mantra_ or _sanhita_, and _brahmana_. the first is composed of hymns. the second is a statement of ritual, and is generally in prose. the existing brahmanas are several centuries later than the great body of the hymns, and were probably composed when the hindus had crossed the indus, and were advancing along the gangetic valley. the oldest may be about the date of or b.c. [sidenote: growth of priestly power. schools for the study of sacred books, rites, and traditions.] the brahmanas are very poor, both in thought and expression. they have hardly their match in any literature for "pedantry and downright absurdity."[ ] poetical feeling and even religious feeling seem gone; all is dead and dry as dust. by this time the sanskrit language had ceased to be generally understood. the original texts could hardly receive accessions; the most learned man could do little more than interpret, or perhaps misinterpret, them. the worshiper looked on; he worshiped now by proxy. thus the priest had risen greatly in importance. he alone knew the sacred verses and the sacred rites. an error in the pronunciation of the mystic text might bring destruction on the worshiper; what could he do but lean upon the priest? the latter could say the prayers if he could not pray. all this worked powerfully for the elevation of the brahmans, the "men of prayer;" they steadily grew into a class, a caste; and into this no one could enter who was not of priestly descent. schools were now found necessary for the study of the sacred books, rites, and traditions. the importance which these attach to theology--doctrine--is very small; the externals of religion are all in all. the rites, in fact, now threw the very gods into the shade; every thing depended on their due performance. and thus the hindu ritual gradually grew up into a stupendous system, the most elaborate, complex, and burdensome which the earth has seen. [sidenote: moral character of the veda.] it is time, however, to give a brief estimate of the moral character of the veda. the first thing that strikes us is its inconsistency. some hymns--especially those addressed to varuna--rise as high as gentile conceptions regarding deity ever rose; others--even in the rig veda--sink miserably low; and in the atharva we find, "even in the lowest depth, a lower still." [sidenote: indra supersedes varuna.] the character of indra--who has displaced or overshadowed varuna[ ]--has no high attributes. he is "voracious;" his "inebriety is most intense;" he "dances with delight in battle." his worshipers supply him abundantly with the drink he loves; and he supports them against their foes, ninety and more of whose cities he has destroyed. we do not know that these foes, the dasyus, were morally worse than the intrusive aryas, but the feelings of the latter toward the former were of unexampled ferocity. here is one passage out of multitudes similar: "hurl thy hottest thunder-bolt upon them! uproot them! cleave them asunder! o, indra, overpower, subdue, slay the demon! pluck him up! cut him through the middle! crush his head!" [sidenote: deterioration begins early.] indra, if provided with soma, is always indulgent to his votaries; he supports them _per fas et nefas_. varuna, on the other hand, is grave, just, and to wicked men severe.[ ] the supersession of varuna by indra, then, is easily understood. we see the principle on which it rests stated in the old testament. "ye cannot serve the lord," said joshua to the elders of israel; "for he is a holy god." even so jeremiah points sorrowfully to the fact that the pagan nations clung to their false gods, while israel was faithless to the true. as st. paul expresses it, "they did not like to retain god in their knowledge." unless this principle is fully taken into account we cannot understand the historical development of hinduism. [sidenote: varuna the only divinity possessed of pure and elevated attributes.] the veda frequently ascribes to the gods, to use the language of max müller, "sentiments and passions unworthy of deity." in truth, except in the case of varuna, there is not one divinity that is possessed of pure and elevated attributes. ii. philosophy, and ritualism. [sidenote: speculation begins. rise of asceticism. upanishads. they are pantheistic.] during the vedic period--certainly toward its conclusion--a tendency to speculation had begun to appear. probably it had all along existed in the hindu mind, but had remained latent during the stirring period when the people were engaged in incessant wars. climate, also, must have affected the temperament of the race; and, as the hindus steadily pressed down the valley of the ganges into warmer regions, their love of repose and contemplative quietism would continually deepen. and when the brahmans became a fully developed hierarchy, lavishly endowed, with no employment except the performance of religious ceremonies, their minds could avoid stagnation only by having recourse to speculative thought. again, asceticism has a deep root in human nature; earnest souls, conscious of their own weakness, will fly from the temptations of the world. various causes thus led numbers of men to seek a life of seclusion; they dwelt chiefly in forests, and there they revolved the everlasting problems of existence, creation, the soul, and god. the lively greeks, for whom, with all their high intellectual endowments, a happy sensuous existence was nearly all in all, were amazed at the numbers in northern india who appeared weary of the world and indifferent to life itself. by and for these recluses were gradually composed the aranyakas, or forest treatises; and out of these grew a series of more regular works, called upanishads.[ ] at least two hundred and fifty of these are known to exist. they have been called "guesses at truth;" they are more so than formal solutions of great questions. many of them are unintelligible rhapsodies; others rise almost to sublimity. they frequently contradict each other; the same writer sometimes contradicts himself. one prevailing characteristic is all-important; their doctrine is pantheism. the pantheism is sometimes not so much a coldly reasoned system as an aspiration, a yearning, a deep-felt need of something better than the mob of gods who came in the train of indra, and the darker deities who were still crowding in. even in spite of the counteracting power of the gospel mysticism has run easily into pantheism in europe, and orthodox christians sometimes slide unconsciously into it, or at least into its language.[ ] but, as has been already noted, a strain of pantheism existed in the hindu mind from early times. accordingly, these hermit sages, these mystic dreamers, soon came to identify the human soul with god. and the chief end of man was to seek that the stream derived from god should return to its source, and, ceasing to wander through the wilderness of this world, should find repose in the bosom of the illimitable deep, the one, the all. the brahmans attached the upanishads to the veda proper, and they soon came to be regarded as its most sacred part. in this way the influence these treatises have exercised has been immense; more than any other portion of the earlier hindu writings they have molded the thoughts of succeeding generations. philosophy had thus begun. [sidenote: six philosophic schools.] the speculations of which we see the commencement and progress in the upanishads were finally developed and classified in a series of writings called the six sastras or _darsanas_. these constitute the regular official philosophy of india. they are without much difficulty reducible to three leading schools of thought--the nyaya, the sankhya, and the vedanta. roundly, and speaking generally, we may characterize these systems as theistic, atheistic, and pantheistic respectively. [sidenote: the nyaya.] it is doubtful, however, whether the earlier form of the nyaya was theistic or not. the later form is so, but it says nothing of the moral attributes of god, nor of his government. the chief end of man, according to the nyaya, is deliverance from pain; and this is to be attained by cessation from all action, whether good or bad. [sidenote: the sankhya.] the sankhya declares matter to be self-existent and eternal. soul is distinct from matter, and also eternal. when it attains true knowledge it is liberated from matter and from pain. the sankhya holds the existence of god to be without proof. [sidenote: the vedanta.] but the leading philosophy of india is unquestionably the vedanta. the name means "the end or scope of the veda;" and if the upanishads were the veda, instead of treatises tacked on to it, the name would be correct; for the vedanta, like the upanishads, inculcates pantheism. the form which this philosophy ultimately assumed is well represented in the treatise called the vedanta sara, or essence of the vedanta. a few extracts will suffice to exhibit its character. "the unity of the soul and god--this is the scope of all vedanta treatises." we have frequent references made to the "great saying," _tat twam_--that is, that art thou, or thou art god; and _aham brahma_, that is, i am god. again it is said, "the whole universe is god." god is "existence (or more exactly an existent thing[ ]), knowledge, and joy." knowledge, not a knower; joy, not one who rejoices. [sidenote: it teaches absolute idealism.] every thing else has only a seeming existence, which is in consequence of ignorance (or illusion). ignorance makes the soul think itself different from god; and it also "projects" the appearance of an external world. "he who knows god becomes god." "when he, the first and last, is discerned, one's own acts are annihilated." meditation, without distinction of subject and object, is the highest form of thought. it is a high attainment to say, "i am god;" but the consummation is when thought exists without an object. there are four states of the soul--waking, dreaming, dreamless sleep, and the "fourth state," or pure intelligence. the working-man is in dense ignorance; in sleep he is freed from part of this ignorance; in dreamless sleep he is freed from still more; but the consummation is when he attains something beyond this, which it seems cannot be explained, and is therefore called the fourth state. [sidenote: doctrine of "the self." inconsistent statements.] the name, which in later writings is most frequently given to the "one without a second,"[ ] is atman, which properly means self. much is said of the way in which the self in each man is to recover, or discover, its unity with the supreme or real self. for as the one sun shining in the heavens is reflected, often in distorted images, in multitudes of vessels filled with water, so the one self is present in all human minds.[ ] there is not--perhaps there could not be--consistency in the statements of the relation of the seeming to the real. in most of the older books a practical or conventional existence is admitted of the self in each man, but not a real existence. but when the conception is fully formulated the finite world is not admitted to exist save as a mere illusion. all phenomena are a play--a play without plot or purpose, which the absolute plays with itself.[ ] this is surely transcendent transcendentalism. one regrets that speculation did not take one step more, and declare that the illusion was itself illusory. then we should have gone round the circle, and returned to _sensus communis_. we must be pardoned if we seem to speak disrespectfully of such fantastic speculations; we desire rather to speak regretfully of the many generations of men which successively occupied themselves with such unprofitable dreams; for this kind of thought is traceable even from vedic days. it is more fully developed in the upanishads. in them occurs the classical sentence so frequently quoted in later literature, which declares that the absolute being is the "one [thing] without a second."[ ] [sidenote: the gita.] the book which perhaps above all others has molded the mind of india in more recent days is the bhagavad gita, or song of the holy one. it is written in stately and harmonious verse, and has achieved the same task for indian philosophy as lucretius did for ancient epicureanism.[ ] it is eclectic, and succeeds, in a sort of way, in forcing the leading systems of indian thought into seeming harmony. [sidenote: intellectual pride.] some have thought they could discern in these daring speculations indications of souls groping after god, and saddened because of the difficulty of finding him. were it so, all our sympathies would at once be called forth. but no; we see in these writings far more of intellectual pride than of spiritual sadness. those ancient dreamers never learned their own ignorance. they scarcely recognized the limitations of the human mind. and when reason could take them no farther they supplemented it by dreams and ecstasy until, in the yoga philosophy, they rushed into systematized mysticisms and magic far more extravagant than the wildest _theurgy_ of the degraded neoplatonism of the roman empire. a learned writer thus expresses himself: "the only one of the six schools that seem to recognize the doctrine of divine providence is the yoga. it thus seems that the consistent followers of these systems can have, in their perfected state, no religion, no action, and no moral character."[ ] [sidenote: indian philosophy a sad failure.] and now to take a brief review of the whole subject. the hindu sages were men of acute and patient thought; but their attempt to solve the problem of the divine and human natures, of human destiny and duty, has ended in total failure. each system baseless, and all mutually conflicting; systems cold and cheerless, that frown on love and virtuous exertion, and speak of annihilation or its equivalent, absorption, as our highest hope: such is the poor result of infinite speculation. "the world by wisdom knew not god." o, that india would learn the much-needed lesson of humility which the experience of ages ought to teach her! [sidenote: sacerdotalism. the tyranny of sacerdotalism.] while speculation was thus busy sacerdotalism was also continually extending its influence. the brahman, the man of prayer, had made himself indispensable in all sacred rites. he alone--as we have seen--knew the holy text; he alone could rightly pronounce the words of awful mystery and power on which depended all weal or woe. on all religions occasions the priest must be called in, and, on all occasions, implicitly obeyed. for a considerable time the princes straggled against the encroachments of the priests; but in the end they were completely vanquished. never was sacerdotal tyranny more absolute; the proudest pope in mediæval times never lorded it over western christendom with such unrelenting rigor as the brahmans exercised over both princes and people. the feeling of the priests is expressed in a well-known stanza: "all the world is subject to the gods; the gods are subject to the holy texts; the holy texts are subject to the brahman; therefore the brahman is my god." yes, the sacred man could breathe the spell which made earth and hell and heaven itself to tremble. he therefore logically called himself an earthly god. indeed, the brahman is always logical. he draws conclusions from premises with iron rigor of reasoning; and with side-issues he has nothing to do. he stands upon his rights. woe to the being--god or man--who comes in conflict with him! [sidenote: ritual becomes extravagant.] the priests naturally multiplied religious ceremonies, and made ritual the soul of worship. sacrifice especially assumed still more and more exaggerated forms--becoming more protracted, more expensive, more bloody. a hecatomb of victims was but a small offering. more and more awful powers were ascribed to the rite. [sidenote: reaction.] but the tension was too great, and the bow snapped. buddhism arose. we may call this remarkable system the product of the age--an inevitable rebellion against intolerable sacerdotalism; and yet we must not overlook the importance of the very distinct and lofty personality of buddha (sakya muni) as a power molding it into shape. [sidenote: buddhism. moral elements of this system. conflict with brahmanism. victory of brahmanism.] wherever it extended it effected a vast revolution in indian thought. thus in regard to the institution of caste, buddha did not attack it; he did not, it would appear, even formally renounce it; as a mere social institution he seems to have acknowledged it; but then he held that all the _religious_ were freed from its restrictions. "my law," said he, "is a law of mercy for all;" and forthwith he proceeded to admit men of every caste into the closest fellowship with himself and his followers. then, he preached--he, though not a brahman--in the vernacular languages--an immense innovation, which made his teachings popular. he put in the forefront of his system certain great fundamental principles of morality. he made religion consist in duty, not rites. he reduced duty mainly to mercy or kindness toward all living beings--a marvelous generalization. this set aside all slaughter of animals. the mind of the princes and people was weary of priestcraft and ritualism; and the teaching of the great reformer was most timely. accordingly his doctrine spread with great rapidity, and for a long time it seemed likely to prevail over brahmanism. but various causes gradually combined against it. partly, it was overwhelmed by its own luxuriance of growth; partly, brahmanism, which had all along maintained an intellectual superiority, adopted, either from conviction or policy, most of the principles of buddhism, and skillfully supplied some of its main deficiencies. thus the brahmans retained their position; and, at least nominally, their religion won the day. iii. reconstruction--modern hinduism. [sidenote: revival, in an altered form, of hinduism. only the position of the brahman and the restrictions of caste retained.] but the hinduism that grew up, as buddhism faded from indian soil, was widely different from the system with which early buddhism had contended. hinduism, as it has been developed during the last thousand or twelve hundred years, resembles a stupendous far-extended building, or series of buildings, which is still receiving additions, while portions have crumbled and are crumbling into ruin. every conceivable style of architecture, from that of the stately palace to the meanest hut, is comprehended in it. on a portion of the structure here or there the eye may rest with pleasure; but as a whole it is an unsightly, almost monstrous, pile. or, dismissing figures, we must describe it as the most extraordinary creation which the world has seen. a jumble of all things; polytheistic pantheism; much of buddhism; something apparently of christianity, but terribly disfigured; a science wholly outrageous; shreds of history twisted into wild mythology; the bold poetry of the older books understood as literal prose; any local deity, any demon of the aborigines, however hideous, identified with some accredited hindu divinity; any custom, however repugnant to common sense or common decency, accepted and explained--in a word, later hinduism has been omnivorous; it has partially absorbed and assimilated every system of belief, every form of worship, with which it has come in contact. only to one or two things has it remained inflexibly true. it has steadily upheld the proudest pretensions of the brahman; and it has never relaxed the sternest restrictions of caste. we cannot wonder at the severe judgment pronounced on hinduism by nearly every western author. according to macaulay, "all is hideous and grotesque and ignoble;" and the calmer de tocqueville maintains that "hinduism is perhaps the only system of belief that is worse than having no religion at all."[ ] when a modern hindu is asked what are the sacred books of his religion he generally answers: "the vedas, the sastras (that is, philosophical systems), and the puranas." some authorities add the tantras. the modern form of hinduism is exhibited chiefly in the eighteen puranas, and an equal number of upapuranas (minor puranas).[ ] [sidenote: the puranas.] when we compare the religion embodied in the puranas with that of vedic times we are startled at the magnitude of the change. the pantheon is largely new; old deities have been superseded; other deities have taken their place. there has been both accretion from without and evolution from within. the thirty-three gods of the vedas have been fantastically raised to three hundred and thirty millions. siva, durga, rama, krishna, kali--unknown in ancient days--are now mighty divinities; indra is almost entirely overlooked, and varuna has been degraded from his lofty throne and turned into a regent of the waters. [sidenote: new deities, rites, and customs.] the worship of the linga (phallus) has been introduced. so has the great dogma of transmigration, which has stamped a deeper impress on later hindu mind than almost any other doctrine. caste is fully established, though in vedic days scarcely, if at all, recognized. the dreadful practice of widow-burning has been brought in, and this by a most daring perversion of the vedic texts. woman, in fact, has fallen far below the position assigned her in early days. [sidenote: the trimurtti, a triad of gods.] one of the notable things in connection with the reconstruction of hinduism is the position it gives to the trimurtti, or triad of gods--brahma, vishnu, and siva. something like an anticipation of this has been presented in the later vedic times: fire, air, and the sun (agni, vayu, and surya) being regarded by the commentator[ ] as summing up the divine energies. but in the vedas the deities often go in pairs; and little stress should be laid on the idea of a vedic triad. that idea, however, came prominently forward in later days. the worship both of vishnu and siva may have existed, from ancient times, as popular rites not acknowledged by the brahmans; but both of these deities were now fully recognized. the god brahma was an invention of the brahmans; he was no real divinity of the people, and had hardly ever been actually worshiped. it is visual to designate brahma, vishnu, and siva as creator, preserver, and destroyer respectively; but the generalization is by no means well maintained in the hindu books. [sidenote: the avatara.] the puranas are in general violently sectarian; some being vishnuite, others sivite. it is in connection with vishnu, especially, that the idea of incarnation becomes prominent. the hindu term is _avatara_, literally, _descent_; the deity is represented as descending from heaven to earth, for vindication of the truth and righteousness, or, to use the words ascribed to krishna, for the preservation of the good, and the destruction of the wicked, for the establishment of religion, i am born from age to age. [sidenote: the "descents" of vishnu.] the "descents" of vishnu are usually reckoned ten. of these by far the most celebrated are those of rama and krishna. the great importance attached to these two deities has been traced to the influence of buddhism. that system had exerted immense power in consequence of the gentle and attractive character ascribed to buddha. the older gods were dim, distant, and often stern; some near, intelligible, and loving divinity was longed for. buddha was a brother-man, and yet a quasi-deity; and hearts longing for sympathy and succor were strongly attracted by such a personality. [sidenote: the god rama.] the character of rama--or ramachandra--is possessed of some high qualities. the great poem in which it is described at fullest length--the ramayana of valmiki--seems to have been an alteration, made in the interests of hinduism, of early buddhist legends; and the buddhist quality of gentleness has not disappeared in the history.[ ] rama, however, is far from a perfect character. his wife sita is possessed of much womanly grace and every wifely virtue; and the sorrowful story of the warrior-god and his faithful spouse has appealed to deep sympathies in the human breast. the worship of rama has seldom, if ever, degenerated into lasciviousness. in spite, however, of the charm thrown around the life of rama and sita by the genius of valmiki and tulsida,[ ] it is krishna, not rama, that has attained the greatest popularity among the "descents" of vishnu. [sidenote: krishna. his early life a travesty of the life of christ, according to the gospel of the infancy.] very different morally from that of rama is the character of krishna. while rama is but a partial manifestation of divinity krishna is a full manifestation; yet what a manifestation! he is represented as full of naughty tricks in his youth, although exercising the highest powers of deity; and, when he grows up, his conduct is grossly immoral and disgusting. it is most startling to think that this being is by grave writers--like the authors of the bhagavad gita and the bhagavata purana--made the highest of the gods, or, indeed, the only real god. stranger still, if possible, is the probability that the early life of krishna--in part, at least--is a dreadful travesty of the early life of christ, as given in the apocryphal gospels, especially the gospel of the infancy. the falling off in the apocryphal gospels, when compared with the canonical, is truly sad; but the falling off even from the apocryphal ones, in the hindu books, is altogether sickening.[ ] a very striking characteristic of modern hinduism is what is termed _bhakti_, or devotion. there are three great ways of attaining to salvation: _karma marga_, or the way of ceremonial works; _jnana marga_, or the way of knowledge, and _bhakti marga_, or the way of devotion. [sidenote: doctrine of _bhakti_ introduced. influence of the system. mixed with buddhist elements. exaltation of the _guru_.] the notion of trust in the gods was familiar to the mind of india from vedic days, but the deity was indistinct and unsympathetic, and there could hardly be love and attachment to him. but there now arose the doctrine of _bhakti_ (devotion), which resolved religion into emotion. it came into the hindu system rather abruptly; and many learned men have traced its origin to the influence of christianity. this is quite possible; but perhaps the fact is hardly proved. contact with christianity, however, probably accelerated a process which had previously begun. at all events, the system of _bhakti_ has had, and still has, great sway in india, particularly in bengal, among the followers of chaitanya, and the large body of people in western india who style themselves _vaishnavas_ or _bhaktas_ (devotees). the popular poetry of maharashtra, as exemplified in such poets as tukarama, is an impassioned inculcation of devotion to vithoba of pandharpur, who is a manifestation of krishna. into the _bhakti_ system of western india buddhist elements have entered; and the school of devotees is often denominated bauddha-vaishnava. along with extravagant idolatry it inculcates generally, at least in the maratha country, a pure morality; and the latter it apparently owes to buddhism. yet there are many sad lapses from purity. almost of necessity the worship of krishna led to corruption. the hymns became erotic; and movements hopeful at their commencement--like that of chaitanya of bengal, in the sixteenth century--soon grievously fell off in character. the attempt to make religion consist of emotion without thought, of _bhakti_ without _jnana_, had disastrous issues. coincident with the development of _bhakti_ was the exaltation of the _guru_, or religious teacher, which soon amounted to deification--a change traceable from about the twelfth century a.d. [sidenote: explanations of krishna's evil deeds.] when pressed on the subject of krishna's evil deeds many are anxious to explain them as allegorical representations of the union between the divinity and true worshipers; but some interpret them in the most literal way possible. this is done especially by the followers of vallabha acharya.[ ] these men attained a most unenviable notoriety about twenty years ago, when a case was tried in the supreme court of bombay, which revealed the practice of the most shameful licentiousness by the religious teachers and their female followers, and this as a part of worship! the disgust excited was so great and general that it was believed the influence of the sect was at an end; but this hope unhappily has not been realized. [sidenote: reforms attempted. kabir. nanak. failure of all reforms.] reformers have arisen from time to time in india; men who saw the deplorable corruption of religion, and strove to restore it to what they considered purity. next to buddha we may mention kabir, to whom are ascribed many verses still popular. probably the doctrine of the unity of god, as maintained by the mohammedans, had impressed him. he opposed idolatry, caste, and brahmanical assumption. yet his monotheism was a kind of pantheism. his date may be the beginning of the fifteenth century. nanak followed and founded the religion of the sikhs. his sacred book, the _granth_, is mainly pantheistic; it dwells earnestly on devotion, especially devotion to the _guru_. the sikhs now seem slowly relapsing into idolatry. in truth, the history of all attempts at reformation in india has been most discouraging. sect after sect has successively risen to some elevation above the prevalent idolatry; and then gradually, as by some irresistible gravitation, it has sunk back into the _mare magnum_ of hinduism. if we regard experience, purification from within is hopeless; the struggle for it is only a repetition of the toil of sisyphus, and always with the same sad issue. deliverance must come from without--from the gospel of jesus christ. [sidenote: influence of the tantras. worship of the sakti.] we mentioned the tantras as exerting great influence in later days.[ ] in these the worship of siva, and, still more, that of his wife, is predominant. the deity is now supposed to possess a double nature--one quiescent, one active; the latter being regarded as the _sakti_ or energy of the god, otherwise called his wife. the origin of the system is not fully explained; nor is the date of its rise ascertained. the worship assumes wild, extravagant forms, generally obscene, sometimes bloody. it is divided into two schools--that of the right hand and that of the left. the former runs into mysticism and magic in complicated observances, and the latter into the most appalling licentiousness. the worship of the sakti, or female principle, has become a most elaborate system. the beings adored are "the most outrageous divinities which man has ever conceived."[ ] sorcery began early in india; but it is in connection with this system that it attains to full development. human sacrifices are a normal part of the worship when fully performed. we cannot go farther into detail. it is profoundly saddening to think that such abominations are committed; it is still more saddening to think that they are performed as a part of divine worship. conscience, however, is so far alive that these detestable rites are practiced only in secret, and few, if any, are willing to confess that they have been initiated as worshipers. [sidenote: modern ritual.] we have not yet said much about the ritual of modern days. it is exceedingly complicated. in the case of the god siva the rites are as follows, when performed by a priest in the temple: [sidenote: worship of siva.] the brahman first bathes, then enters the temple and bows to the god. he anoints the image with clarified butter or boiled oil; pours pure water over it; and then wipes it dry. he grinds some white powder, mixing it with water; dips the ends of his three forefingers in it and draws them across the image. he sits down; meditates; places rice and _durwa_ grass on the image--places a flower on his own head, and then on the top of the image; then another flower on the image, and another, and another--accompanying each act with the recitation of sacred spells; places white powder, flowers, bilva-leaves, incense, meat-offerings, rice, plantains, and a lamp before the image; repeats the name of siva, with praises, then prostrates himself before the image. in the evening he returns, washes his feet, prostrates himself before the door, opens the door, places a lamp within, offers milk, sweet-meats, and fruits to the image, prostrates himself before it, locks the door, and departs. very similar is the worship paid to vishnu: [sidenote: worship of vishnu.] the priest bathes, and then awakes the sleeping god by blowing a shell and ringing a bell. more abundant offerings are made than to siva. about noon, fruits, roots, soaked peas, sweet-meats, etc., are presented. then, later, boiled rice, fried herbs, and spices; but no flesh, fish, nor fowl. after dinner, betel-nut. the god is then left to sleep, and the temple is shut up for some hours. toward evening curds, butter, sweet-meats, fruits, are presented. at sunset a lamp is brought, and fresh offerings made. lights are waved before the image; a small bell is rung; water is presented for washing the mouth, face, and feet, with a towel to dry them. in a few minutes the offerings and the lamp are removed; and the god is left to sleep in the dark. the prescribed worship is not always fully performed. still, sixteen things are essential, of which the following are the most important: "preparing a seat for the god; invoking his presence; bathing the image; clothing it; putting the string round it; offering perfumes; flowers; incense; lamps; offerings of fruits and prepared eatables; betel-nut; prayers; circumambulation. an ordinary worshiper presents some of the offerings, mutters a short prayer or two, when circumambulating the image, the rest being done by the priest."[ ] we give one additional specimen of the ritual: "as an atonement for unwarily eating or drinking what is forbidden eight hundred repetitions of the gayatri prayer should be preceded by three suppressions of the breath, water being touched during the recital of the following text: 'the bull roars; he has four horns, three feet, two heads, seven hands, and is bound by a three-fold cord; he is the mighty, resplendent being, and pervades mortal men.'"[ ] the bull is understood to be justice personified. all brahmanical ceremonies exhibit, we may say, ritualism and symbolism run mad. [sidenote: caste.] the most prominent and characteristic institution of hinduism is caste. the power of caste is as irrational as it is unbounded; and it works almost unmixed evil. the touch--even the shadow--of a low caste man pollutes. the scriptural precept, "honor all men," appears to a true hindu infinitely absurd. he honors and worships a cow; but he shrinks with horror from the touch of a mhar or mang. even brahmans, if they come from different provinces, will not eat together. thus hinduism separates man from man; it goes on dividing and still dividing; and new fences to guard imaginary purity are continually added. [sidenote: treatment of women. widows.] the whole treatment of women has gradually become most tyrannical and unjust. in very ancient days they were held in considerable respect; but, for ages past, the idea of woman has been steadily sinking lower and lower, and her rights have been more and more assailed. the burning of widows has been prohibited by enactment; but the awful rite would in many places be restored were it not for the strong hand of the british government. the practice of marrying women in childhood is still generally--all but universally--prevalent; and when, owing to the zeal of reformers, a case of widow-marriage occurs, its rarity makes it be hailed as a signal triumph. multitudes of the so-called widows were never really wives, their husbands (so-called) having died in childhood. widows are subjected to treatment which they deem worse than death; and yet their number, it is calculated, amounts to about twenty-one millions! more cruel and demoralizing customs than exist in india in regard to women can hardly be found among the lowest barbarians. we are glad to escape from dwelling on points so exceedingly painful. iv. contrast with christianity. the immense difference between the hindu and christian religions has doubtless already frequently suggested itself to the reader. it will not be necessary, therefore, to dwell on this topic at very great length. the contrast forces itself upon us at every point. [sidenote: the aryas and israelites--their probable future, about b.c. contrast of their after-history.] when, about fifteen centuries b.c., the aryas were victoriously occupying the panjab, and the israelites were escaping from the "iron furnace" of egypt, if one had been asked which of the two races would probably rise to the highest conception of the divine, and contribute most largely to the well-being of mankind, the answer, quite possibly, might have been, the aryas. egypt, with its brutish idolatries, had corrupted the faith of the israelites, and slavery had crushed all manliness out of them. yet how wonderful has been their after-history! among ancient religions that of the old testament stands absolutely unique, and in the fullness of time it blossomed into christianity. how is the marvel to be explained? we cannot account for it except by ascribing it to a divine election of the israelites and a providential training intended to fit them to become the teachers of the world. "salvation is of the jews." the contrast between the teachings of the bible and those of the hindu books is simply infinite. [sidenote: hindu theology compared with christian.] the conception of a purely immaterial being, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, which is that of the bible regarding god, is entirely foreign to the hindu books. their doctrine is various, but, in every case, erroneous. it is absolute pantheism, or polytheism, or an inconsistent blending of polytheism and pantheism, or atheism. equally striking is the contrast between christianity and hinduism as to the attributes of god. according to the former, he is omnipresent; omnipotent; possessed of every excellence--holiness, justice, goodness, truth. according to the chief hindu philosophy, the supreme is devoid of attributes--devoid of consciousness. according to the popular conception, when the supreme becomes conscious he is developed into three gods, who possess respectively the qualities of truth, passion, and darkness. [sidenote: conception of god.] "god is a spirit." "god is light." "god is love." these sublime declarations have no counterparts in hindustan. he is "the father of spirits," according to the bible. according to hinduism, the individual spirit is a portion of the divine. even the common people firmly believe this. every thing is referred by hinduism to god as its immediate cause. a christian is continually shocked by the hindus ascribing all sin to god as its source. [sidenote: the object of worship.] the adoration of god as a being possessed of every glorious excellence is earnestly commanded in the bible. "thou shalt worship the lord thy god; and him only shalt thou serve." in india the supreme is never worshiped; but any one of the multitudinous gods may be so; and, in fact, every thing can be worshiped _except_ god. a maxim in the mouth of every hindu is the following: "where there is faith, there is god." believe the stone a god and it is so. [sidenote: the sense of sin.] every sin being traced to god as its ultimate source, the sense of personal guilt is very slight among hindus. where it exists it is generally connected with ceremonial defilement or the breach of some one of the innumerable and meaningless rites of the religion. how unlike in all this is the gospel! the bible dwells with all possible earnestness on the evil of sin, not of ceremonial but moral defilement--the transgression of the divine law, the eternal law of right. [sidenote: atonement.] how important a place in the christian system is held by atonement, the great atonement made by christ, it is unnecessary to say. nor need we enlarge on the extraordinary power it exercises over the human heart, at once filling it with contrition, hatred of sin, and overflowing joy. we turn to hinduism. alas! we find that the earnest questionings and higher views of the ancient thinkers have in a great degree been ignored in later times. sacrifice in its original form has passed away. atonement is often spoken of; but it is only some paltry device or other, such as eating the five products of the cow, going on pilgrimage to some sacred shrine, paying money to the priests, or, it may be, some form of bodily penance. such expedients leave no impression on the heart as to the true nature and essential evil of sin. [sidenote: salvation. sanctification.] salvation, in the christian system, denotes deliverance, not only from the punishment of sin, but from its power, implying a renovation of the moral nature. the entire man is to be rectified in heart, speech, and behavior. the perfection of the individual, and, through that, the perfection of society, are the objects aimed at; and the consummation desired is the doing of the will of god on earth as it is done in heaven. now, of all this, surely a magnificent ideal, we find in hinduism no trace whatever. [sidenote: views of life. the great tenet of hinduism.] christianity is emphatically a religion of hope; hinduism may be designated a religion of despair. the trials of life are many and great. christianity bids us regard them as discipline from a father's hand, and tells us that affliction rightly borne yields "the peaceable fruits of righteousness." to death the christian looks forward without fear; to him it is a quiet sleep, and the resurrection draws nigh. then comes the beatific vision of god. glorified in soul and body, the companion of angels and saints, strong in immortal youth, he will serve without let or hinderance the god and saviour whom he loves. to the hindu the trials of life are penal, not remedial. at death his soul passes into another body. rightly, every human soul animates in succession eighty-four lacs ( , , ) of bodies--the body of a human being, or a beast, or a bird, or a fish, or a plant, or a stone, according to desert. this weary, all but endless, round of births fills the mind of a hindu with the greatest horror. at last the soul is lost in god as a drop mingles with the ocean. individual existence and consciousness then cease. the thought is profoundly sorrowful that this is the cheerless faith of countless multitudes. no wonder, though, the great tenet of hinduism is this--_existence is misery._ [sidenote: the future of the race. the struggle between good and evil.] so much for the future of the individual. regarding the future of the race hinduism speaks in equally cheerless terms. its golden age lies in the immeasurably distant past; and the further we recede from it the deeper must we plunge into sin and wretchedness. true, ages and ages hence the "age of truth" returns, but it returns only to pass away again and torment us with the memory of lost purity and joy. the experience of the universe is thus an eternal renovation of hope and disappointment. in the struggle between good and evil there is no final triumph for the good. we tread a fated, eternal round from which there is no escape; and alike the hero fights and the martyr dies in vain. it is remarkable that acute intellectual men, as many of the hindu poets were, should never have grappled with the problem of the divine government of the world. [sidenote: the future of the aryan race.] equally notable is the unconcern of the veda as to the welfare and the future of even the aryan race. but how sublime is the promise given to abraham that in him and his seed all nations of the earth should be blessed! renan has pointed with admiration to the confidence entertained at all times by the jew in a brilliant and happy future for mankind. the ancient hindu cared not about the future of his neighbors, and doubtless even the expression "human race" would have been unintelligible to him. nor is there any pathos in the veda. there is no deep sense of the sorrows of life. max müller has affixed the epithet "transcendent" to the hindu mind. its bent was much more toward the metaphysical, the mystical, the incomprehensible than toward the moral and the practical. hence endless subtleties, more meaningless and unprofitable than ever occupied the mind of talmudist or schoolman of the middle ages. [sidenote: the words of st. paul illustrated by hinduism.] but finally, on this part of the subject, the development of indian religion supplies a striking comment on the words of st. paul: "the invisible things of god are clearly seen, being understood from the things that are made. but when they knew god they glorified him not as god, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." [sidenote: moral power.] hinduism is deplorably deficient in power to raise and purify the human soul, from having no high example of moral excellence. its renowned sages were noted for irritability and selfishness--great men at cursing; and the gods for the most part were worse. need we say how gloriously rich the gospel is in having in the character of christ the realized ideal of every possible excellence? [sidenote: ethical effect of hinduism. the people better than their religion.] _summa religionis est imitari quem colis_: "it is the sum of religion to imitate the being worshiped;"[ ] or, as the hindus express it: "as is the deity such is the devotee." worship the god revealed in the bible, and you become god-like. the soul strives, with divine aid, to "purify itself even as god is pure." but apply the principle to hinduism. alas! the pantheon is almost a pandemonium. krishna, who in these days is the chief deity to at least a hundred millions of people, does not possess one elevated attribute. if, in the circumstances, society does not become a moral pesthouse it is only because the people continue better than their religion. the human heart, though fallen, is not fiendish. it has still its purer instincts; and, when the legends about abominable gods and goddesses are falling like mildew, these are still to some extent kept alive by the sweet influences of earth and sky and by the charities of family life. when the heart of woman is about to be swept into the abyss her infant's smile restores her to her better self. thus family life does not go to ruin; and so long as that anchor holds society will not drift on the rocks that stand so perilously near. still, the state of things is deplorably distressing. [sidenote: the doctrine of incarnation.] the doctrine of the incarnation is of fundamental importance in christianity. it seems almost profanation to compare it with the hindu teaching regarding the avataras, or descents of vishnu. it is difficult to extract any meaning out of the three first manifestations, when the god became in succession a fish, a boar, and a tortoise. of the great "descents" in rama and krishna we have already spoken. the ninth avatara was that of buddha, in which the deity descended for the purpose of deceiving men, making them deny the gods, and leading them to destruction. so blasphemous an idea may seem hardly possible, even for the bewildered mind of india; but this is doubtless the brahmanical explanation of the rise and progress of buddhism. it was fatal error, but inculcated by a divine being. even the sickening tales of krishna and his amours are less shocking than this. when we turn from such representations of divinity to "the word made flesh" we seem to have escaped from the pestilential air of a charnel-house to the sweet, pure breath of heaven. v. hinduism in contact with christianity. [sidenote: attempted reforms.] we have used the word _reformer_ in this tract. we formerly noted that, in india, there have arisen from time to time men who saw and sorrowed over the erroneous doctrines and degrading rites of the popular system. in quite recent times they have had successors. some account of their work may form a fitting conclusion to our discussion. [sidenote: advance of christianity in india.] with the large influx into india of christian ideas it was to be expected that some impression would be made on hinduism. we do not refer to conversion--the full acceptance of the christian faith. christianity has advanced and is advancing in india more rapidly than is generally supposed; but far beyond the circle of those who "come out and are separate" its mighty power is telling on hinduism. the great fundamental truths of the gospel, when once uttered and understood, can hardly be forgotten. disliked and denied they may be; but forgotten? no. thus they gradually win their way, and multitudes who have no thought of becoming christians are ready to admit that they are beautiful and true; for belief and practice are often widely separated in hindu minds. [sidenote: the brahma samaj.] but it was to be expected that the new ideas pouring into india--and among these we include not only distinctively christian ideas, but western thought generally--would manifest their presence and activity in concrete forms, in attempted reconstructions of religion. the most remarkable example of such a reconstruction is exhibited in the brahmo somaj (more correctly brahma samaj)--which may be rendered the "church of god." [sidenote: rammohun roy. effect of christianity upon him.] it is traceable to the efforts of a truly distinguished man, rammohun roy. he was a person of studious habits, intelligent, acute, and deeply in earnest on the subject of religion. he studied not only hinduism in its various forms, but buddhism, mohammedanism, and christianity. he was naturally an eclectic, gathering truth from all quarters where he thought he could find it. a specially deep impression was made on his mind by christianity; and in he published a book with the remarkable title, _the precepts of jesus the guide to peace and happiness_. very frequently he gave expression to the sentiment that the teachings of christ were the truest and deepest that he knew. still, he did not believe in christ's divinity. [sidenote: debendernath tagore. keshub chunder sen. formation of a new samaj.] in january, , a place of worship was opened by rammohun roy and his friends. it was intended for the worship of one god, without idolatrous rites of any kind. this was undoubtedly a very important event, and great was the interest aroused in connection with it. rammohun roy, however, visited britain in , and died at bristol in ; and the cause for which he had so earnestly labored in india languished for a time. but in the year debendernath tagore, a man of character and wealth, joined the brahmo somaj, and gave a kind of constitution to it. it was fully organized by . no definite declaration, however, had been made as to the authority of the vedas; but, after a lengthened period of inquiry and discussion, a majority of the somaj rejected the doctrine of their infallibility by . "the rock of intuition" now began to be spoken of; man's reason was his sufficient guide. still, great respect was cherished for the ancient belief and customs of the land. but in a new champion appeared on the scene, in the well-known keshub chunder sen. ardent, impetuous, ambitions--full of ideas derived from christian sources[ ]--he could not brook the slow movements of the somaj in the path of reform. important changes, both religious and social, were pressed by him; and the more conservative debendernath somewhat reluctantly consented to their introduction. matters were, however, brought to a crisis by the marriage of two persons of different castes in . in february, , the progressive party formally severed their connection with the original somaj; and in august, , they opened a new place of worship of their own. since this time the original or adi somaj has been little heard of, and its movement--if it has moved at all--has been retrogressive. the new somaj--the brahmo somaj of india, as it called itself--under the guidance of mr. sen became very active. a missionary institute was set up, and preachers were sent over a great part of india. much was accomplished on behalf of women; and in a marriage act for members of the somaj was passed by the indian legislature, which legalized union between people of different castes, and fixed on fourteen as the lowest age for the marriage of females. these were important reforms. mr. sen's influence was naturally and necessarily great; but in opposing the venerable leader of the original somaj he had set an example which others were quite willing to copy. [sidenote: discontent growing.] several of his followers began to demand more radical reforms than he was willing to grant. the autocracy exercised by mr. sen was strongly objected to, and a constitution of the somaj was demanded. mr. sen openly maintained that heaven from time to time raises up men endowed with special powers, and commissioned to introduce new forms or "dispensations" of religion; and his conduct fully proved that he regarded himself as far above his followers. complaints became louder; and although the eloquence and genius of keshub were able to keep the rebellious elements from exploding it was evident, as early as , that a crisis was approaching. this came in , when mr. sen's daughter was married to the maharaja of kuch behar. the bride was not fourteen, and the bridegroom was sixteen. now, mr. sen had been earnest and successful in getting the brahmo marriage act passed, which ruled that the lowest marriageable age for a woman was fourteen, and for a man eighteen. here was gross inconsistency. what could explain it? "ambition," exclaimed great numbers; "the wish to exalt himself and his daughter by alliance with a prince." but mr. sen declared that he had consented to the marriage in consequence of an express intimation that such was the will of heaven. mr. sen denied miracles, but believed in inspiration; and of his own inspiration he seems to have entertained no doubt. we thus obtain a glimpse into the peculiar working of his mind. every full conviction, every strong wish of his own he ascribed to divine suggestion. this put him in a position of extreme peril. it was clear that an enthusiastic, imaginative, self-reliant nature like his might thus be borne on to any extent of fanaticism. [sidenote: revolt; a third samaj. "new dispensation."] a great revolt from mr. sen's authority now took place, and the sadharan samaj was organized in may, . an appeal had been made to the members generally, and no fewer than twenty-one provincial samajes, with more than four hundred members, male and female, joined the new society. this number amounted to about two thirds of the whole body. keshub and his friends denounced the rebels in very bitter language; and yet, in one point of view, their secession was a relief. men of abilities equal, and education superior, to his own had hitherto acted as a drag on his movements; he was now delivered from their interference and could deal with the admiring and submissive remnant as he pleased. ideas that had been working in his mind now attained rapid development. within two years the flag of the "new dispensation" was raised; and of that dispensation mr. sen was the undoubted head. very daring was the language mr. sen used in a public lecture regarding this new creation. he claimed equality for it with the jewish and christian dispensations, and for himself "singular" authority and a divine commission. [sidenote: its creed.] in the creed of the new dispensation the name of christ does not occur. the articles were as follows: _a._ one god, one scripture, one church. _b._ eternal progress of the soul. _c._ communion of prophets and saints. _d._ fatherhood and motherhood of god. _e._ brotherhood of man and sisterhood of woman. _f._ harmony of knowledge and holiness, love and work, yoga and asceticism in their highest development. _g._ loyalty to sovereign. [sidenote: omission of christ's name.] the omission of christ's name is the more remarkable because mr. sen spoke much of him in his public lectures. he had said in may, , "none but jesus, none but jesus, none but jesus ever deserved this precious diadem, india; and jesus shall have it." but he clearly indicated that the christ he sought was an indian christ; one who was "a hindu in faith," and who would help the hindus to "realize their national idea of a yogi" (ascetic). [sidenote: "motherhood of god."] let it be noted that, from the beginning of his career, mr. sen had spoken earnestly of the fatherhood of god and the brotherhood of man--though, these great conceptions are not of hindu origin. it is difficult to see why, in later days, he insisted so much on the "motherhood of god." perhaps it was a repetition--he probably would have called it an exaltation--of the old hindu idea, prevalent especially among the worshipers of siva, that there is a female counterpart--a sakti--of every divinity. or, possibly, it may have been to conciliate the worshipers of durga and kali, those great goddesses of bengal. [sidenote: public proclamation said to be from god.] a public proclamation was soon issued, purporting to be from god himself, as india's mother. the whole thing was very startling; many, even of keshub's friends, declared it blasphemous. next, in the "flag ceremony," the flag or banner of the new dispensation received a homage scarcely distinguishable from worship. then--as if in strict imitation of the ancient adoration of agni, or fire--a pile of wood was lighted, clarified butter poured on it, and prayers addressed to it, ending thus--"o, brilliant fire! in thee we behold our resplendent lord." this was, at least, symbolism run wild; and every one, except those who were prepared to follow their leader to all lengths, saw that in a land like india, wedded to idolatry, it was fearfully perilous. [sidenote: "apostolic durbar."] in march, , mr. sen and his friends introduced celebrations which, to christian minds, seemed a distressing caricature of the christian sacraments. other institutions followed; an apostolic durbar (court of apostles), for instance, was established. there was no end to mr. sen's inventiveness. in a public lecture delivered in january, , on "asia's message to europe," he elaborately expounded the idea that all the great religions are of asiatic origin, and that all of them are true, and that the one thing required to constitute the faith of the future--the religion of humanity--is the blending of all these varied oriental systems into one. [sidenote: inconsistencies between mr. sen's public and private utterances. mr. sen's policy of reserve.] it was not easy to reconcile mr. sen's public utterances with his private ones--though far be it from us to tax him with insincerity. thus, in an interview extending over two hours, which the writer and two missionary friends had with him a week or so before the lecture now referred to, he said he accepted as true and vital all the leading doctrines of the christian faith, with the exception of the resurrection of christ. but another fundamental difference remained--he avowedly dissented from the orthodox creed in rejecting the miraculous element in scripture. at an interview i had with him some time before he earnestly disclaimed all intention to put christ on a level with buddha or mohammed. "i am educating my friends," he said, "to understand and approve of christianity; i have not yet said my last word about christ." it is a solemn question, had he said it when his career was ended? if so, it was far from a satisfactory word. his policy of reserve and adaptation had probably kept him from uttering all that was in his heart; but it was a sorely mistaken policy. had he temporized less he would have accomplished more. since the death of mr. sen there has been a violent dispute between his family and the "apostolic durbar," on one side, and one of his ablest followers, on the other; and the new dispensation will probably split in two, if it does not perish altogether. [sidenote: the sadharan samaj.] in the meantime, the sadharan samaj, which broke off from keshub's party in , has been going on with no small vigor. vagaries, either in doctrine or rites, have been carefully shunned; its partisans profess a pure theistic creed and labor diligently in the cause of social reform. their position is nearly that of unitarian christianity, and we fear they are not at present approximating to the full belief of the church catholic. [sidenote: movements in western india. tenets of the prarthana sabha.] very similar in character to the brahmo somaj is the prarthana somaj in western india. as far back as , or a little earlier, there was formed a society called the prarthana sabha (prayer-meeting). its leading tenets were as follows: . i believe in one god. . i renounce idol-worship. . i will do my best to lead a moral life. . if i commit any sin through the weakness of my moral nature i will repent of it and ask the pardon of god. the society, after some time, began to languish; but in it was revived under the name of prarthana somaj. its chief branches are in bombay, poona, ahmedabad, and surat. [sidenote: arya samaj.] an interesting movement called the arya samaj was commenced a few years ago by a pandit--dayanand sarasvati. he received the vedas as fully inspired, but maintained that they taught monotheism--agni, indra, and all the rest being merely different names of god. it was a desperate effort to save the reputation of the ancient books; but, as all sanskrit scholars saw at a glance, the whole idea was a delusion. the pandit is now dead; and the arya samaj may not long survive him. at the time we write we hear of an attempt to defend idolatry and caste made by men of considerable education. [sidenote: theosophists.] the so-called "theosophists" have, for several years, been active in india. of existing religions, buddhism is their natural ally. they are atheists. a combination which they formed with the arya samaj speedily came to an end. lastly, the followers of mr. bradlaugh are diligent in supplying their books to indian students. poor india! no wonder if her mind is bewildered as she listens to such a babel of voices. the state of things in india now strikingly resembles that which existed in the roman empire at the rise of christianity; when east and west were brought into the closest contact, and a great conflict of systems of thought took place in consequence. but even as one hostile form of gnostic belief rose after another, and rose only to fall--and as the greatest and best-disciplined foe of early christianity--the later platonism--gave way before the steady, irresistible march of gospel truth, so--we have every reason to hope--it will be yet again. the christian feels his heart swell in his breast as he thinks what, in all human probability, india will be a century, or even half a century, hence. o what a new life to that fairest of eastern lands when she casts herself in sorrow and supplication at the feet of the living god, and then rises to proclaim to a listening world "her deep repentance and her new-found joy!" may god hasten the advent of that happy day! the rise and decline of islam. outline of the essay. the progress of islam was slow until mohammed cast aside the precepts of toleration and adopted an aggressive, militant policy. then it became rapid. the motives which animated the armies of islam were mixed--material and spiritual. without the truths contained in the system success would have been impossible, but neither without the sword would the religion have been planted in arabia, nor beyond. the alternatives offered to conquered peoples were islam, the sword, or tribute. the drawbacks and attractions of the system are examined. the former were not such as to deter men of the world from embracing the faith. the sexual indulgences sanctioned by it are such as to make islam "the easy way." the spread of islam was stayed whenever military success was checked. the faith was meant for arabia and not for the world, hence it is constitutionally incapable of change or development. the degradation of woman hinders the growth of freedom and civilization under it. christianity is contrasted in the means used for its propagation, the methods it employed in grappling with and overcoming the evils that it found existing in the world, in the relations it established between the sexes, in its teaching with regard to the respective duties of the civil and spiritual powers, and, above all, in its redeeming character, and then the conclusion come to that christianity is divine in its origin. the rise and decline of islam. * * * * * introduction. [sidenote: islam pre-eminent in its rapid spread.] among the religions of the earth islam must take the precedence in the rapidity and force with which it spread. within a very short time from its planting in arabia the new faith had subdued great and populous provinces. in half a dozen years, counting from the death of the founder, the religion prevailed throughout arabia, syria, persia, and egypt, and before the close of the century it ruled supreme over the greater part of the vast populations from gibraltar to the oxus, from the black sea to the river indus. [sidenote: propagation far quicker than of christianity.] in comparison with this grand outburst the first efforts of christianity were, to the outward eye, faint and feeble, and its extension so gradual that what the mohammedan religion achieved in ten or twenty years it took the faith of jesus long centuries to accomplish. [sidenote: object of the tract.] the object of these few pages is, _first_, to inquire briefly into the causes which led to the marvelous rapidity of the first movement of islam: _secondly_, to consider the reasons which eventually stayed its advance; and, _lastly_, to ascertain why mohammedan countries have kept so far in the rear of other lands in respect of intellectual and social progress. in short, the question is how it was that, pallas-like, the faith sprang ready-armed from the ground, conquering and to conquer, and why, the weapons dropping from its grasp, islam began to lose its pristine vigor, and finally relapsed into inactivity. i. the rapid spread of islam. [sidenote: two periods in the mission of mohammed.] the personal ministry of mohammed divides itself into two distinct periods: first, his life at mecca as a preacher and a prophet; second, his life at medina as a prophet and a king. [sidenote: i. ministry at mecca, a.d. - . success at mecca limited.] it is only in the first of these periods that islam at all runs parallel with christianity. the great body of his fellow-citizens rejected the ministry of mohammed and bitterly opposed his claims. his efforts at mecca were, therefore, confined to teaching and preaching and to the publishing of the earlier "suras," or chapters of his "revelation." after some thirteen years spent thus his converts, to the number of about a hundred and fifty men and women, were forced by the persecution of the coreish (the ruling tribe at mecca, from which mohammed was descended) to quit their native city and emigrate to medina.[ ] a hundred more had previously fled from mecca for the same cause, and found refuge at the court of the negus, or king of abyssinia; and there was already a small company of followers among the citizens of medina. at the utmost, therefore, the number of disciples gained over by the simple resort to teaching and preaching did not, during the first twelve years of mohammed's ministry, exceed a few hundreds. it is true that the soil of mecca was stubborn and (unlike that of judea) wholly unprepared. the cause also, at times, became the object of sustained and violent opposition. even so much of success was consequently, under the peculiar circumstances, remarkable. but it was by no means singular. the progress fell far short of that made by christianity during the corresponding period of its existence,[ ] and indeed by many reformers who have been the preachers of a new faith. it gave no promise whatever of the marvelous spectacle that was about to follow. [sidenote: ii. change of policy at medina, a.d. - . arabia converted from medina at the point of the sword.] having escaped from mecca and found a new and congenial home in medina, mohammed was not long in changing his front. at mecca, surrounded by enemies, he taught toleration. he was simply the preacher commissioned to deliver a message, and bidden to leave the responsibility with his master and his hearers. he might argue with the disputants, but it must be "in a way most mild and gracious;" for "in religion" (such was his teaching before he reached medina) "there should be neither violence nor constraint."[ ] at medina the precepts of toleration were quickly cast aside and his whole policy reversed. no sooner did mohammed begin to be recognized and obeyed as the chief of medina than he proceeded to attack the jewish tribes settled in the neighborhood because they refused to acknowledge his claims and believe in him as a prophet foretold in their scriptures; two of these tribes were exiled, and the third exterminated in cold blood. in the second year after the hegira[a], or flight from mecca (the period from which the mohammedan era dates), he began to plunder the caravans of the coreish, which passed near to medina on their mercantile journeys between arabia and syria. so popular did the cause of the now militant and marauding prophet speedily become among the citizens of medina and the tribes around that, after many battles fought with varying success, he was able, in the eighth year of the hegira[b] to re-enter his native city at the head of ten thousand armed followers. thenceforward success was assured. none dared to oppose his pretensions. and before his death, in the eleventh year of the hegira[c], all arabia, from bab-el-mandeb and oman to the confines of the syrian desert, was forced to submit to the supreme authority of the now kingly prophet and to recognize the faith and obligations of islam.[ ] [sidenote: religion of mohammed described.] this _islam_, so called from its demanding the entire "surrender" of the believer to the will and service of god, is based on the recognition of mohammed as a prophet foretold in the jewish and christian scriptures--the last and greatest of the prophets. on him descended the koran from time to time, an immediate revelation from the almighty. idolatry and polytheism are with iconoclastic zeal denounced as sins of the deepest dye; while the unity of the deity is proclaimed as the grand and cardinal doctrine of the faith. divine providence pervades the minutest concerns of life, and predestination is taught in its most naked form. yet prayer is enjoined as both meritorious and effective; and at five stated times every day must it be specially performed. the duties generally of the moral law are enforced, though an evil laxity is given in the matter of polygamy and divorce. tithes are demanded as alms for the poor. a fast during the month of ramzan must be kept throughout the whole of every day; and the yearly pilgrimage to mecca--an ancient institution, the rites of which were now divested of their heathenish accompaniments--maintained. the existence of angels and devils is taught, and heaven and hell are depicted in material colors--the one of sensuous pleasure, the other of bodily torment. finally, the resurrection, judgment, and retribution of good and evil are set forth in great detail. such was the creed--"_there is no god but the_ lord, _and_ mohammed _is his prophet_"--to which arabia now became obedient. [sidenote: arabia apostatizes; but is speedily reconquered and reclaimed, a.d. .] but immediately on the death of mohammed the entire peninsula relapsed into apostasy. medina and mecca remained faithful; but every-where else the land seethed with rebellion. some tribes joined the "false prophets," of whom four had arisen in different parts of arabia; some relapsed into their ancient heathenism; while others proposed a compromise--they would observe the stated times of prayer, but would be excused the tithe. every-where was rampant anarchy. the apostate tribes attacked medina, but were repulsed by the brave old caliph abu bekr, who refused to abate one jot or tittle, as the successor of mohammed, of the obligations of islam. eleven columns were sent forth under as many leaders, trained in the warlike school of mohammed. these fought their way, step by step, successfully; and thus, mainly through the wisdom and firmness of abu bekr and the valor and genius of khalid, "the sword of god," the arab tribes, one by one, were overcome and forced back into their allegiance and the profession of islam. the reconquest of arabia and re-imposition of mohammedanism as the national faith, which it took a whole year to accomplish, is thus described by an arabian author, who wrote at the close of the second century of the mohammedan era: after his decease there remained not one of the followers of the prophet that did not apostatize, saving only a small company of his "companions" and kinsfolk, who hoped thus to secure the government to themselves. hereupon abu bekr displayed marvelous skill, energy, and address, so that the power passed into his hands.... and thus he persevered until the apostate tribes were all brought back to their allegiance, some by kindly treatment, persuasion, and craft; some through terror and fear of the sword; and others by the prospect of power and wealth as well as by the lusts and pleasures of this life. and so it came to pass that all the bedouin tribes were in the end converted outwardly, but not from inward conviction.[ ] [sidenote: the arabs thus reclaimed were, at the first, sullen.] the temper of the tribes thus reclaimed by force of arms was at the first strained and sullen. but the scene soon changed. suddenly the whole peninsula was shaken, and the people, seized with a burning zeal, issued forth to plant the new faith in other lands. it happened on this wise: [sidenote: roused by war-cry, they issue from the peninsula, a.d. , _et. seq._ the opposing forces. arab enthusiasm.] the columns sent from medina to reduce the rebellious tribes to the north-west on the gulf of ayla, and to the north-east on the persian gulf, came at once into collision with the christian bedouins of syria on the one hand and with those of mesopotamia on the other. these again were immediately supported by the neighboring forces of the roman and persian empires, whose vassals respectively they were. and so, before many months, abu bekr found his generals opposed by great and imposing armies on either side. he was, in fact, waging mortal combat at one and the same moment with the kaiser and the chosroes, the byzantine emperor and the great king of persia. the risk was imminent, and an appeal went forth for help to meet the danger. the battle-cry resounded from one end of arabia to the other, and electrified the land. levy after levy, _en masse_, started up at the call from every quarter of the peninsula, and the bedouin tribes, as bees from their hive, streamed forth in swarms, animated by the prospect of conquest, plunder, and captive damsels, or, if slain in battle, by the still more coveted prize of the "martyr" in the material paradise of mohammed. with a military ardor and new-born zeal in which carnal and spiritual aspirations were strangely blended, the arabs rushed forth to the field, like the war-horse of job, "that smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains and the shouting." sullen constraint was in a moment transformed into an absolute devotion and fiery resolve to spread the faith. the arab warrior became the missionary of islam. [sidenote: arabs, a military body, subsidized and mobilized by omar.] it was now the care of omar, the second caliph or ruler of the new-born empire, to establish a system whereby the spirit militant, called into existence with such force and fervor, might be rendered permanent. the entire arabian people was subsidized. the surplus revenues which in rapidly increasing volume began to flow from the conquered lands into the moslem treasuries were to the last farthing distributed among the soldiers of arabian descent. the whole nation was enrolled, and the name of every warrior entered upon the roster of islam. forbidden to settle anywhere, and relieved from all other work, the arab hordes became, in fact, a standing army threatening the world. great bodies of armed men were kept thus ever mobilized, separate and in readiness for new enterprise. [sidenote: mission of islam described by fairbairn.] the change which came over the policy of the founder of the faith at medina, and paved the way for this marvelous system of world-wide rapine and conversion to islam, is thus described by a thoughtful and sagacious writer: medina was fatal to the higher capabilities of islam. mohammed became then a king; his religion was incorporated in a state that had to struggle for its life in the fashion familiar to the rough-handed sons of the desert. the prophet was turned into the legislator and commander; his revelations were now laws, and now military orders and manifestoes. the mission of islam became one that only the sword could accomplish, robbery of the infidel became meritorious, and conquest the supreme duty it owed to the world.... the religion which lived an unprospering and precarious life, so long as it depended on the prophetic word alone, became an aggressive and victorious power so soon as it was embodied in a state.[ ] [sidenote: and by von kremer.] another learned and impartial authority tells us: the mussulman power under the first four caliphs was nothing but a grand religio-political association of arab tribes for universal plunder and conquest under the holy banner of islam, and the watch-word, "there is no god but the lord, and mohammed is his apostle." on pretext of spreading the only true religion the arabs swallowed up fair provinces lying all around, and, driving a profitable business, enriched themselves simultaneously in a worldly sense.[ ] [sidenote: religious merit of "fighting in the ways of the lord."] the motives which nerved the armies of islam were a strange combination of the lower instincts of nature with the higher aspirations of the spirit. to engage in the holy war was the rarest and most blessed of all religious virtues, and conferred on the combatant a special merit; and side by side with it lay the bright prospect of spoil and female slaves, conquest and glory. "mount thy horse," said osama ibn zeid to abu bekr as he accompanied the syrian army a little way on its march, out of medina. "nay," replied the caliph, "i will not ride, but i will walk and soil my feet a little space in the ways of the lord. verily, every footstep in the ways of the lord is equal in merit to manifold good works, and wipeth away a multitude of sins."[ ] and of the "martyrs," those who fell in these crusading campaigns, mohammed thus described the blessed state: think not, in any wise, of those killed in the ways of the lord, as if they were dead. yea, they are alive, and are nourished with their lord, exulting in that which god hath given them of his favor, and rejoicing in behalf of those who have not yet joined them, but are following after. no terror afflicteth them, neither are they grieved.--sura iii. [sidenote: material fruits of moslem crusade.] the material fruits of their victories raised the arabs at once from being the needy inhabitants of a stony, sterile soil, where, with difficulty, they eked out a hardy subsistence, to be the masters of rich and luxuriant lands flowing with milk and honey. after one of his great victories on the plains of chaldea, khalid called together his troops, flushed with conquest, and lost in wonder at the exuberance around them, and thus addressed them: "ye see the riches of the land. its paths drop fatness and plenty, so that the fruits of the earth are scattered abroad even as stones are in arabia. if but as a provision for this present life, it were worth our while to fight for these fair fields and banish care and penury forever from us." such were the aspirations dear to the heart of every arab warrior. again, after the battle of jalola, a few years later, the treasure and spoil of the persian monarch, captured by the victors, was valued at thirty million of dirhems (about a million sterling). the royal fifth (the crown share of the booty) was sent as usual to medina under charge of ziad, who, in the presence of the caliph omar, harangued the citizens in a glowing description of what had been won in persia, fertile lands, rich cities, and endless spoil, besides captive maids and princesses. [sidenote: rich booty taken in the capital of persia, a.d. .] in relating the capture of medain (the ancient ctesiphon) tradition revels in the untold wealth which fell into the hands of sad, the conqueror, and his followers. besides millions of treasure, there was endless store of gold and silver vessels, rich vestments, and rare and precious things. the arabs gazed bewildered at the tiara, brocaded vestments, jeweled armor, and splendid surroundings of the throne. they tell of a camel of silver, life-size, with a rider of gold, and of a golden horse with emeralds for teeth, the neck set with rubies, the trappings of gold. and we may read in gibbon of the marvelous banqueting carpet, representing a garden, the ground of wrought gold, the walks of silver, the meadows of emeralds, rivulets of pearls, and flowers and fruits of diamonds, rubies, and rare gems. the precious metals lost their conventional value, gold was parted with for its weight in silver; and so on.[ ] [sidenote: success in battle ascribed to divine aid.] it is the virtue of islam that it recognizes a special providence, seeing the hand of god, as in every thing, so pre-eminently also in victory. when sad, therefore, had established himself in the palace of the chosroes he was not forgetful to render thanks in a service of praise. one of the princely mansions was turned for the moment into a temple, and there, followed by his troops, he ascribed the victory to the lord of hosts. the lesson accompanying the prayers was taken from a sura (or chapter of the koran) which speaks of pharaoh and his riders being overwhelmed in the red sea, and contains this passage, held to be peculiarly appropriate to the occasion: "how many gardens and fountains did they leave behind, and fields of corn, and fair dwelling-places, and pleasant things which they enjoyed! even thus have we made another people to inherit the same."[ ] [sidenote: "martyrdom" in the field coveted by moslem crusaders. the moslem crown of martyrdom.] such as fell in the conflict were called martyrs; a halo of glory surrounded them, and special joys awaited them even on the battlefield. and so it came to pass that the warriors of islam had an unearthly longing for the crown of martyrdom. the caliph omar was inconsolable at the loss of his brother, zeid, who fell in the fatal "garden of death," at the battle of yemama: "thou art returned home," he said to his son, abdallah, "safe and sound, and zeid is dead. wherefore wast not thou slain before him? i wish not to see thy face." "father," answered abdallah, "he asked for the crown of martyrdom, and the lord granted it. i strove after the same, but it was not given unto me."[ ] it was the proud boast of the saracens in their summons to the craven greeks and persians that "they loved death more than their foes loved life." familiar with the pictures drawn in the koran of the beautiful "houries" of paradise,[ ] the saracens believed that immediate fruition on the field of battle was the martyr's special prize. we are told of a moslem soldier, four-score years of age, who, seeing a comrade fall by his side, cried out, "o paradise! how close art thou beneath the arrow's point and the falchion's flash! o hashim! even now i see heaven opened, and black-eyed maidens all bridally attired, clasping thee in their fond embrace." and shouting thus the aged warrior, fired again with the ardor of youth, rushed upon the enemy and met the envied fate. for those who survived there was the less ethereal but closer prospect of persian, greek, or coptic women, both maids and matrons, who, on "being taken captive by their right hand," were forthwith, according to the koran, without stint of number, at the conqueror's will and pleasure. these, immediately they were made prisoners, might (according to the example of mohammed himself at kheibar) be carried off without further ceremony to the victor's tent; and in this respect the saracens certainly were nothing loath to execute upon the heathen the judgment written in their law. so strangely was religious fanaticism fed and fostered in the moslem camp by incentives irresistible to the arab--fight and foray, the spoil of war and captive charms. [sidenote: martial passages from koran recited on field of battle.] the courage of the troops was stimulated by the divine promises of victory, which were read (and on like occasions still are read) at the head of each column drawn up for battle. thus, on the field of cadesiya[d], which decided the fate of persia, the sura _jehad_, with the stirring tale of the thousand angels that fought on the prophet's side at bedr was recited, and such texts as these: _stir up the faithful unto battle. if there be twenty steadfast among you they shall put two hundred to flight of the unbelievers, and a hundred shall put to flight a thousand. victory is from the lord. he is mighty and wise. i the lord will cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. strike off their heads and their fingers' ends. beware lest ye turn your back in battle. verily, he that turneth his back shall draw down upon himself the wrath of god. his abode shall be hell fire; an evil journey thither._ and we are told that on the recital of these verses "the heart of the people was refreshed and their eyes lightened, and they felt the tranquillity that ensueth thereupon." three days they fought, and on the morning of the fourth, returning with unabated vigor to the charge, they scattered to the winds the vast host of persia.[ ] [sidenote: defeat of byzantine army on the yermuk, a.d. .] nor was it otherwise in the great battle of the yermuk, which laid syria at the feet of the arabs. the virgin vigor of the saracens was fired by a wild fanatical zeal "to fight in the ways of the lord," obtaining thus heavenly merit and a worldly prize--the spoil of syria and its fair maidens ravished from their homes; or should they fall by the sword, the black-eyed houries waiting for them on the field of battle. "of warriors nerved by this strange combination of earth and heaven, of the flesh and of the spirit, of the incentives at once of faith and rapine, of fanatical devotion to the prophet and deathless passion for the sex, ten might chase a hundred half-hearted romans. the forty thousand moslems were stronger far than the two hundred and forty thousand of the enemy." the combat lasted for weeks; but at the last the byzantine force was utterly routed, and thousands hurled in wild confusion over the beetling cliffs of the yermuk into the yawning chasm of wacusa.[ ] [sidenote: islam planted by aid of material force.] such, then, was the nature of the moslem propaganda, such the agency by which the faith was spread, and such the motives at once material and spiritual by which its martial missionaries were inspired. no wonder that the effete empires of rome and persia recoiled and quivered at the shock, and that province after province quickly fell under the sway of islam. it is far from my intention to imply that the truths set forth by the new faith had nothing to do with its success. on the contrary, it may well be admitted that but for those truths success might have been impossible. the grand enunciation of the divine unity, and the duty of an absolute submission to the same; the recognition of a special providence reaching to the minutest details of life; the inculcation of prayer and other religious duties; the establishment of a code in which the leading principles of morality are enforced, and the acknowledgment of previous revelations in the jewish and christian scriptures, told not only on the idolaters of arabia and the fire-worshipers of persia, but on jews and samaritans and the followers of a debased and priest-ridden christianity. all this is true; but it is still not the less true that without the sword islam would never have been planted even in arabia, much less ever have spread to the countries beyond. the weapons of its warfare were "carnal," material, and earthly; and by them it conquered. [sidenote: alternatives offered to the conquered nations: islam, the sword, or tribute.] the pressure brought to bear on the inhabitants of the countries overrun by saracen arms was of the most stringent character. they were offered the triple alternative--islam, the sword, or tribute. the first brought immediate relief. acceptance of the faith not only stayed the enemy's hand, and conferred immunity from the perils of war, but associated the convert with his conquerors in the common brotherhood and in all the privileges of islam. [sidenote: acceptance of islam, immediate relief from the sword.] reading the story of the spread of islam, we are constantly told of this and that enemy, that "being beaten, he _believed_ and embraced the faith." take as an example of an every-day occurrence the story of hormuzan. a persian prince of high rank long maintained a border warfare against the moslems. at last he was taken prisoner and sent in chains to medina. as he was conducted into the great mosque, omar exclaimed, "blessed be the lord, that hath humbled this man and the like of him!" he bade them disrobe the prisoner and clothe him in sackcloth. then, whip in hand, he upbraided him for his oft-repeated attacks and treachery. hormuzan made as if fain to reply; then gasping, like one faint from thirst, he begged for water to drink. "give it him," said the caliph, "and let him drink in peace." "nay," cried the wretched captive, trembling, "i fear to drink, lest some one slay me unawares." "thy life is safe," said omar, "until thou hast drunk the water up." the words were no sooner said than hormuzan emptied the vessel on the ground. "i wanted not the water," he said, "but quarter, and thou hast given it me." "liar!" cried omar, angrily, "thy life is forfeit." "but not," interposed the by-standers, "until he drink the water up." "strange," said omar, "the fellow hath deceived me; and yet i cannot spare the life of one who hath slain so many noble moslems. i swear that thou shalt not gain by thy deceit unless thou wilt forthwith embrace islam." upon that, "_believing_, he made profession of the true faith upon the spot;" and thenceforth, residing at medina, he received a pension of the highest grade.[ ] [sidenote: tribute and humiliation. disabilities imposed on jews and christians.] on the other hand, for those who held to their ancestral faith there was no escape from the second or the third alternative. if they would avoid the sword, or, having wielded it, were beaten, they must become tributary. moreover, the payment of tribute is not the only condition enjoined by the koran. "fight against them (the jews and christians) until they pay tribute with the hand, _and are humbled_."[ ] the command fell on willing ears. an ample interpretation was given to it. and so it came to pass that, though jews and christians were, on the payment of tribute, tolerated in the profession of their ancestral faith, they were yet subjected (and still are subjected) to severe humiliation. the nature and extent of the degradation to which they were brought down, and the strength of the inducement to purchase exemption and the equality of civil rights, by surrendering their religion, may be learned from the provisions which were embodied in the code named _the ordinance of omar_, which has been more or less enforced from the earliest times. besides the tribute and various other imposts levied from the "people of the book,"[ ] and the duty of receiving moslem travelers quartered upon them, the dress of both sexes must be distinguished by broad stripes of yellow. they are forbidden to appear on horseback, and if mounted on a mule or ass their stirrups must be of wood, and their saddles known by knobs of the same material. their graves must not rise above the level of the soil, and the devil's mark is placed upon the lintel of their doors. their children must be taught by moslem masters, and the race, however able or well qualified, proscribed from any office of high emolument or trust. besides the churches spared at the time of conquest no new buildings can be erected for the purposes of worship; nor can free entrance into their holy places at pleasure be refused to the moslem. no cross must remain in view outside, nor any church-bells be rung. they must refrain from processions in the street at easter, and other solemnities; and from any thing, in short, whether by outward symbol, word, or deed, which could be construed into rivalry, or competition with the ruling faith. such was the so-called _code of omar_. enforced with less or greater stringency, according to the intolerance and caprice of the day, by different dynasties, it was, and (however much relaxed in certain countries) it still remains, the law of islam. one must admire the rare tenacity of the christian faith, which, with but scanty light and hope, held its ground through weary ages of insult and depression, and still survives to see the dawning of a brighter day.[ ] [sidenote: continuing inducements in times of peace.] such, then, was the hostile attitude of islam militant in its early days; such the pressure brought to bear on conquered lands for its acceptance; and such the disabilities imposed upon recusant jews and christians. on the one hand, rapine, plunder, slavery, tribute, civil disability; on the other, security, peace, and honor. we need not be surprised that, under such constraint, conquered peoples succumbed before islam. nor were the temporal inducements to conversion confined to the period during which the saracens were engaged in spreading islam by force of arms. let us come down a couple of centuries from the time of mohammed, and take the reign of the tolerant and liberal-minded sovereign, al mamun. [sidenote: evidence of al kindy in second century of hegira, a.d. . speech of al mamun.] among the philosophers of all creeds whom that great caliph gathered around him at bagdad was a noble arab of the nestorian faith, descended from the kingly tribe of the beni kinda, and hence called _al kindy_. a friend of this eastern christian, himself a member of the royal family, invited al kindy to embrace islam in an epistle enlarging on the distinguished rank which, in virtue of his descent, he would (if a true believer) occupy at court, and the other privileges, spiritual and material, social and conjugal, which he would enjoy. in reply the christian wrote an apology of singular eloquence and power, throwing a flood of light on the worldly inducements which, even at that comparatively late period, abounded in a moslem state to promote conversion to islam. thus al mamun himself, in a speech delivered before his council, characterizes certain of his courtiers accused as secret adherents of the zoroastrian faith: "though professing islam, they are free from the same. this they do to be seen of me, while their convictions, i am well aware, are just the opposite of that which they profess. they belong to a class which embrace islam, not from any love of this our faith, but thinking thereby to gain access to our court, and share in the honor, wealth, and power of the realm. they have no inward persuasion of that which they outwardly profess."[ ] [sidenote: converts from sordid motives.] again, speaking of the various classes brought over to islam by sordid and unworthy motives, al kindy says: moreover, there are the idolatrous races--magians and jews--low people aspiring by the profession of islam to raise themselves to riches and power and to form alliances with the families of the learned and honorable. there are, besides, hypocritical men of the world, who in this way obtain indulgences in the matter of marriage and concubinage which are forbidden to them by the christian faith. then we have the dissolute class given over wholly to the lusts of the flesh. and lastly there are those who by this means obtain a more secure and easy livelihood.[ ] [sidenote: al kindy contrasts the christian confessor with the moslem "martyr." the christian confessor and the moslem martyr.] before leaving this part of our subject it may be opportune to quote a few more passages from al kindy, in which he contrasts the inducements that, under the military and political predominance of islam, promoted its rapid spread, and the opposite conditions under which christianity made progress, slow, indeed, comparatively, but sure and steady. first, he compares the christian confessor with the moslem "martyr:" i marvel much, he says, that ye call those _martyrs_ that fall in war. thou hast read, no doubt, in history of the followers of christ put to death in the persecutions of the kings of persia and elsewhere. say, now, which are the more worthy to be called martyrs, these, or thy fellows that fall fighting for the world and the power thereof? how diverse were the barbarities and kinds of death inflicted on the christian confessors! the more they were slain the more rapidly spread the faith; in place of one sprang up a hundred. on a certain occasion, when a great multitude had been put to death, one at court said to the king, "the number of them increaseth instead of, as thou thinkest, diminishing." "how can that be?" exclaimed the king. "but yesterday," replied the courtier, "thou didst put such and such a one to death, and lo, there were converted double that number; and the people say that a man appeared to the confessors from heaven strengthening them in their last moments." whereupon the king himself was converted. in those days men thought not their lives dear unto them. some were transfixed while yet alive; others had their limbs cut off one after another; some were cast to the wild beasts and others burned in the fire. such continued long to be the fate of the christian confessors. no parallel is found thereto in any other religion; and all was endured with constancy and even with joy. one smiled in the midst of his great suffering. "was it cold water," they asked, "that was brought unto thee?" "no," answered the sufferer, "it was one like a youth that stood by me and anointed my wounds; and that made me smile, for the pain forthwith departed." now tell me seriously, my friend, which of the two hath the best claim to be called a _martyr_, "slain in the ways of the lord:" he who surrendereth his life rather than renounce his faith; who, when it is said, fall down and worship the sun and moon, or the idols of silver and gold, work of men's hands, instead of the true god, refuseth, choosing rather to give up life, abandon wealth, and forego even wife and family; or he that goeth forth, ravaging and laying waste, plundering and spoiling, slaying the men, carrying away their children into captivity, and ravishing their wives and maidens in his unlawful embrace, and then shall call it "jehad in the ways of the lord!" ... and not content therewith, instead of humbling thyself before the lord, and seeking pardon for the crime, thou sayest of such a one slain in the war that "he hath earned paradise," and thou namest him "a martyr in the ways of the lord!"[ ] and again, contrasting the spread of islam, "its rattling quiver and its glittering sword," with the silent progress of christianity, our apologist, after dwelling on the teaching and the miracles of the apostles, writes: they published their message by means of these miracles; and thus great and powerful kings and philosophers and learned men and judges of the earth hearkened unto them, without lash or rod, with neither sword nor spear, nor the advantages of birth or "helpers;"[ ] with no wisdom of this world, or eloquence or power of language, or subtlety of reason; with no worldly inducement, nor yet again with any relaxation of the moral law, but simply at the voice of truth enforced by miracles beyond the power of man to show. and so there came over to them the kings and great ones of the earth. and the philosophers abandoned their systems, with all their wisdom and learning, and betook them to a saintly life, giving up the delights of this world together with their old-established usages, and became followers of a company of poor men, fishers and publicans, who had neither name nor rank nor any claim other than that they were obedient to the command of the messiah--he that gave them power to do such wonderful works.[ ] [sidenote: the apostles compared with the chiefs of islam.] and yet once more, comparing the apostles with the military chiefs of islam, al kindy proceeds: after the descent of the holy ghost and the gift of tongues the apostles separated each to the country to which he was called. they wrote out in every tongue the holy gospel, and the story and teaching of christ, at the dictation of the holy ghost. so the nations drew near unto them, believing their testimony; and, giving up the world and their false beliefs, they embraced the christian faith as soon as ever the dawn of truth and the light of the good tidings broke in upon them. distinguishing the true from the false, and error from the right direction, they embraced the gospel and held it fast without doubt or wavering, when they saw the wonderful works and signs of the apostles, and their lives and conversation set after the holy and beautiful example of our saviour, the traces whereof remain even unto the present day.... how different this from the life of thy master (mohammed) and his companions, who ceased not to go forth in battle and rapine, to smite with the sword, to seize the little ones, and ravish the wives and maidens, plundering and laying waste, and carrying the people into captivity. and thus they continue unto this present day, inciting men to these evil deeds, even as it is told of omar the caliph. "if one among you," said he, "hath a heathen neighbor and is in need, let him seize and sell him." and many such things they say and teach. look now at the lives of simon and paul, who went about healing the sick and raising the dead, by the name of christ our lord; and mark the contrast.[ ] [sidenote: such are the conclusions of a native of chaldea.] such are the reflections of one who lived at a mohammedan court, and who, moreover, flourishing as he did a thousand years ago, was sufficiently near the early spread of islam to be able to contrast what he saw and heard and read of the causes of its success with those of the gospel, and had the courage to confess the same. [sidenote: hinderances or inducements inherent in the faith itself.] apart, now, from the outward and extraneous aids given to islam by the sword and by the civil arm i will inquire for a moment what natural effect the teaching of islam itself had in attracting or repelling mankind. i do not now speak of any power contained in the truths it inculcated to convert to islam by the rousing and quickening of spiritual impulses; for that lies beyond my present purpose, which is to inquire whether there is not in material causes and secular motives enough in themselves to account for success. i speak rather of the effect of the indulgences granted by islam, on the one hand, as calculated to attract; and of the restraints imposed and sacrifices required, on the other, as calculated to repel. how far, in fact, did there exist inducements or hinderances to its adoption inherent in the religion itself? [sidenote: requirements of islam: prayer. prohibition of wine, games of chance, and usury. fast of ramzan.] what may be regarded as the most constant and irksome of the obligations of islam is the duty of prayer, which must be observed at stated intervals, five times every day, with the contingent ceremony of lustration. the rite consists of certain forms and passages to be repeated with prescribed series of prostrations and genuflexions. these must be repeated at the right times--but anywhere, in the house or by the wayside, as well as in the mosque; and the ordinance is obligatory in whatever state of mind the worshiper may be, or however occupied. as the appointed hour comes round the moslem is bound to turn aside to pray--so much so that in central asia we read of the police driving the backward worshiper by the lash to discharge the duty. thus, with the mass of mussulmans, the obligation becomes a mere formal ceremony, and one sees it performed anywhere and every-where by the whole people, like any social custom, as a matter of course. no doubt there are exceptions; but with the multitude it does not involve the irksomeness of a spiritual service, and so it sits lightly on high and low. the friday prayers should as a rule be attended in the mosque; but neither need there be much devotion there; and, once performed, the rest of the day is free for pleasure or for business.[ ] the prohibition of wine is a restriction which was severely felt in the early days of the faith; but it was not long before the universal sentiment (though eluded in some quarters) supported it. the embargo upon games of chance was certainly unpopular; and the prohibition of the receipt of interest was also an important limitation, tending as it did to shackle the freedom of mercantile speculation; but they have been partially evaded on various pretexts. the fast throughout the month of ramzan was a severer test; but even this lasts only during the day; and at night, from sunset till dawn, all restrictions are withdrawn, not only in respect of food, but of all otherwise lawful gratifications.[ ] [sidenote: little that is unpopular in these ordinances.] there is nothing, therefore, in the requirements and ordinances of islam, excepting the fast, that is very irksome to humanity, or which, as involving any material sacrifice, or the renunciation of the pleasures or indulgences of life, should lead a man of the world to hesitate in embracing the new faith. [sidenote: indulgences allowed in the matter of wives and concubines.] on the other hand, the license allowed by the koran between the sexes--at least in favor of the male sex--is so wide that for such as have the means and the desire to take advantage of it there need be no limit whatever to sexual indulgence. it is true that adultery is punishable by death and fornication with stripes. but then the koran gives the believer permission to have four wives at a time. and he may exchange them--that is, he may divorce them at pleasure, taking others in their stead.[ ] and, as if this were not license enough, the divine law permits the believer to consort with all female slaves whom he may be the master of--such, namely, as have been taken in war, or have been acquired by gift or purchase. these he may receive into his harem instead of wives, or in addition to them; and without any limit of number or restraint whatever he is at liberty to cohabit with them. [sidenote: polygamy, concubinage, and divorce. practice at the rise of islam.] a few instances taken at random will enable the reader to judge how the indulgences thus allowed by the religion were taken advantage of in the early days of islam. in the great plague which devastated syria seven years after the prophet's death khalid, the sword of god, lost _forty_ sons. abdal rahman, one of the "companions" of mohammed, had issue by sixteen wives, not counting slave-girls.[ ] moghira ibn shoba, another "companion," and governor of kufa and bussorah, had in his harem eighty consorts, free and servile. coming closer to the prophet's household, we find that mohammed himself at one period had in his harem no fewer than nine wives and two slave-girls. of his grandson hasan we read that his vagrant passion gained for him the unenviable sobriquet of _the divorcer_; for it was only by continually divorcing his consorts that he could harmonize his craving for fresh nuptials with the requirements of the divine law, which limited the number of his free wives to four. we are told that, as a matter of simple caprice, he exercised the power of divorce seventy (according to other traditions ninety) times. when the leading men complained to aly of the licentious practice of his son his only reply was that the remedy lay in their own hands, of refusing hasan their daughters altogether.[ ] such are the material inducements, the "works of the flesh," which islam makes lawful to its votaries, and which promoted thus its early spread. [sidenote: practice in modern times. the malays of penang. lane's testimony concerning egypt. the princess of bhopal's account of mecca.] descending now to modern times, we still find that this sexual license is taken advantage of more or less in different countries and conditions of society. the following examples are simply meant as showing to what excess it is possible for the believer to carry these indulgences, _under the sanction of his religion_. of the malays in penang it was written not very long ago: "young men of thirty to thirty-five years of age may be met with who have had from fifteen to twenty wives, and children by several of them. these women have been divorced, married others, and had children by them." regarding egypt, lane tells us: "i have heard of men who have been in the habit of marrying a new wife almost every month."[ ] burkhardt speaks of an arab forty-five years old who had had fifty wives, "so that he must have divorced two wives and married two fresh ones on the average every year." and not to go further than the sacred city of mecca, the late reigning princess of bhopal, in central india, herself an orthodox follower of the prophet, after making the pilgrimage of the holy places, writes thus: women frequently contract as many as ten marriages, and those who have only been married twice are few in number. if a woman sees her husband growing old, or if she happen to admire any one else, she goes to the shereef (the spiritual and civil head of the holy city), and after having settled the matter with him she puts away her husband and takes to herself another, who is, perhaps, good-looking and rich. in this way a marriage seldom lasts more than a year or two. and of slave-girls the same high and impartial authority, still writing of the holy city and of her fellow-moslems, tells us: some of the women (african and georgian girls) are taken in marriage; and after that, on being sold again, they receive from their masters a divorce, and are sold in their houses--that is to say, they are sent to the purchaser from their master's house on receipt of payment, and are not exposed for sale in the slave-market. they are only _married_ when purchased for the first time.... when the poorer people buy (female) slaves they keep them for themselves, and change them every year as one would replace old things by new; but the women who have children are not sold.[ ] [sidenote: islam sanctions a license between the sexes which christianity forbids. the laws of christianity deter men from carnal indulgences. islam the "easy way."] what i desire to make clear is the fact that such things may be practiced _with the sanction_ of the scripture which the moslem holds to be divine, and that these same indulgences have from the first existed as inducements which helped materially to forward the spread of the faith. i am very far, indeed, from implying that excessive indulgence in polygamy is the universal state of moslem society. happily this is not the case. there are not only individuals, but tribes and districts, which, either from custom or preference, voluntarily restrict the license given them in the koran; while the natural influence of the family, even in moslem countries, has an antiseptic tendency that often itself tends greatly to neutralize the evil.[ ] nor am i seeking to institute any contrast between the morals at large of moslem countries and the rest of the world. if christian nations are (as with shame it must be confessed) in some strata of society immoral, it is in the teeth of their divine law. and the restrictions of that law are calculated, and in the early days of christianity did tend, in point of fact, _to deter men_ devoted to the indulgences of the flesh from embracing the faith.[ ] the religion of mohammed, on the other hand, gives direct sanction to the sexual indulgences we have been speaking of. thus it panders to the lower instincts of humanity and makes its spread the easier. in direct opposition to the precepts of christianity it "makes provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof." hence islam has been well called by its own votaries the _easy way_. once more, to quote al kindy: thou invitest me (says our apologist to his friend) into the "easy way of faith and practice." alas, alas! for our saviour in the gospel telleth us, "when ye have done all that ye are commanded, say, we are unprofitable servants; we have but done that which was commanded us." where then is our merit? the same lord jesus saith, "how strait is the road which leadeth unto life, and how few they be that walk therein! how wide the gate that leadeth to destruction, and how many there be that go in thereat!" different this, my friend, from the comforts of thy wide and easy gate, and the facilities for enjoying, as thou wouldst have me, the pleasures offered by thy faith in wives and damsels![ ] footnotes: [a] a.d. . [b] a.d. . [c] a.d. . [d] a.d. . ii. why the spread of islam was stayed. [sidenote: islam stationary in area, and in civilization retrograde.] having thus traced the rapid early spread of islam to its proper source, i proceed to the remaining topics, namely, the causes which have checked its further extension, and those likewise which have depressed the followers of this religion in the scale of civilization. i shall take the former first--just remarking here, in respect of the latter, that the depression of islam is itself one of the causes which retard the expansion of the faith. [sidenote: the arabs ceased, in second century, to be a crusading force.] as the first spread of islam was due to the sword, so when the sword was sheathed islam ceased to spread. the apostles and missionaries of islam were, as we have seen, the martial tribes of arabia--that is to say, the grand military force organized by omar, and by him launched upon the surrounding nations. gorged with the plunder of the world, these began, after a time, to settle on their lees and to mingle with the ordinary population. so soon as this came to pass they lost the fiery zeal which at the first had made them irresistible. by the second and third centuries the arabs had disappeared as the standing army of the caliphate, or, in other words, as a body set apart for the dissemination of the faith. the crusading spirit, indeed, ever and anon burst forth--and it still bursts forth, as opportunity offers--simply for the reason that this spirit pervades the koran, and is ingrained in the creed. but with the special agency created and maintained during the first ages for the spread of islam the incentive of crusade ceased as a distinctive missionary spring of action, and degenerated into the common lust of conquest which we meet with in the world at large. [sidenote: with cessation of conquest, islam ceased to spread.] the extension of islam, depending upon military success, stopped wherever that was checked. the religion advanced or retired, speaking broadly, as the armed predominance made head or retroceded. thus the tide of moslem victory, rushing along the coast of africa, extinguished the seats of european civilization on the mediterranean, overwhelmed spain, and was rapidly advancing north, when the onward wave was stemmed at tours; and as with the arms, the faith also of islam was driven back into spain and bounded by the pyrenees. so, likewise, the hold which the religion seized both of spain and sicily came to an end with mussulman defeat. it is true that when once long and firmly rooted, as in india and china, islam may survive the loss of military power, and even flourish. but it is equally true that in no single country has islam been planted, nor has it anywhere materially spread, saving under the banner of the crescent or the political ascendency of some neighboring state. accordingly, we find that, excepting some barbarous zones in africa which have been raised thereby a step above the groveling level of fetichism, the faith has in modern times made no advance worth mentioning.[ ] from the jewish and christian religions there has (again speaking broadly) been no secession whatever to islam since the wave of saracen victory was stayed, excepting by the force of arms. even in the palmy days of the abbasside caliphs, our apologist could challenge his adversary to produce a single conversion otherwise than by reason of some powerful material inducement. here is his testimony: [sidenote: al kindy's challenge to produce a christian convert to islam apart from material inducements.] now tell me, hast thou ever seen, my friend, (the lord be gracious unto thee!) or ever heard of a single person of sound mind--any one of learning and experience, and acquainted with the scriptures, renouncing christianity otherwise than for some worldly object to be reached only through thy religion, or for some gratification withheld by the faith of jesus? thou wilt find none. for, excepting the tempted ones, all continue steadfast in their faith, secure under our most gracious sovereign, in the profession of their own religion.[ ] iii. low position of islam in the scale of civilization. [sidenote: social and intellectual depression.] i pass on to consider why mohammedan nations occupy so low a position, halting as almost every-where they do, in the march of social and intellectual development. [sidenote: islam intended for the arabs. wants the faculty of adaptation.] the reason is not far to find. islam was meant for arabia, not for the world; for the arabs of the seventh century, not for the arabs of all time; and being such, and nothing more, its claim of divine origin renders change or development impossible. it has within itself neither the germ of natural growth nor the lively spring of adaptation. mohammed declared himself a prophet to the arabs;[ ] and however much in his later days he may have contemplated the reformation of other religions beyond the peninsula, or the further spread of his own (which is doubtful), still the rites and ceremonies, the customs and the laws enjoined upon his people, were suitable (if suitable at all) for the arabs of that day, and in many respects for them alone. again, the code containing these injunctions, social and ceremonial, as well as doctrinal and didactic, is embodied with every particularity of detail, as part of the divine law, in the koran; and so defying, as sacrilege, all human touch, it stands unalterable forever. from the stiff and rigid shroud in which it is thus swathed the religion of mohammed cannot emerge. it has no plastic power beyond that exercised in its earliest days. hardened now and inelastic, it can neither adapt itself nor yet shape its votaries, nor even suffer them to shape themselves to the varying circumstances, the wants and developments, of mankind. [sidenote: local ceremonies: pilgrimage. fast of ramzan.] we may judge of the local and inflexible character of the faith from one or two of its ceremonies. to perform the pilgrimage to mecca and mount arafat, with the slaying of victims at mina, and the worship of the kaaba, is an ordinance obligatory (with the condition only that they have the means) on all believers, who are bound to make the journey even from the furthest ends of the earth--an ordinance intelligible enough in a local worship, but unmeaning and impracticable when required of a world-wide religion. the same may be said of the fast of ramzan. it is prescribed in the koran to be observed by all with undeviating strictness during the whole day, from earliest dawn till sunset throughout the month, with specified exemptions for the sick and penalties for every occasion on which it is broken. the command, imposed thus with an iron rule on male and female, young and old, operates with excessive inequality in different seasons, lands, and climates. however suitable to countries near the equator, where the variations of day and night are immaterial, the fast becomes intolerable to those who are far removed either toward the north or the south; and still closer to the poles, where night merges into day and day into night, impracticable. again, with the lunar year (itself an institution divinely imposed), the month of ramzan travels in the third of a century from month to month over the whole cycle of a year. the fast was established at a time when ramzan fell in winter, and the change of season was probably not foreseen by the prophet. but the result is one which, under some conditions of time and place, involves the greatest hardship. for when the fast comes round to summer the trial in a sultry climate, like that of the burning indian plains, of passing the whole day without a morsel of bread or a drop of water becomes to many the occasion of intense suffering. such is the effect of the arabian legislator's attempt at circumstantial legislation in matters of religious ceremonial. [sidenote: political and social depression owing to relations between the sexes.] nearly the same is the case with all the religions obligations of islam, prayer, lustration, etc. but although the minuteness of detail with which these are enjoined tends toward that jejune and formal worship which we witness every-where in moslem lands, still there is nothing in these observances themselves which (religion apart) should lower the social condition of mohammedan populations and prevent their emerging from that normal state of semi-barbarism and uncivilized depression in which we find all moslem peoples. for the cause of this we must look elsewhere; and it may be recognized, without doubt, in the relations established by the koran between the sexes. polygamy, divorce, servile concubinage, and the veil are at the root of moslem decadence. [sidenote: depression of the female sex. divorce.] in respect of married life the condition allotted by the koran to woman is that of an inferior dependent creature, destined only for the service of her master, liable to be cast adrift without the assignment of a single reason or the notice of a single hour. while the husband possesses the power of a divorce--absolute, immediate, unquestioned--no privilege of a corresponding nature has been reserved for the wife. she hangs on, however unwilling, neglected, or superseded, the perpetual slave of her lord, if such be his will. when actually divorced she can, indeed, claim her dower--her _hire_, as it is called in the too plain language of the koran; but the knowledge that the wife can make this claim is at the best a miserable security against capricious taste; and in the case of bondmaids even that imperfect check is wanting. the power of divorce is not the only power that may be exercised by the tyrannical husband. authority to _confine_ and to _beat_ his wives is distinctly vested in his discretion.[ ] "thus restrained, secluded, degraded, the mere minister of enjoyment, liable at the caprice or passion of the moment to be turned adrift, it would be hard to say that the position of a wife was improved by the code of mohammed."[ ] even if the privilege of divorce and marital tyranny be not exercised, the knowledge of its existence as a potential right must tend to abate the self-respect, and in like degree to weaken the influence of the sex, impairing thus the ameliorating and civilizing power which she was meant to exercise upon mankind. and the evil has been stereotyped by the koran for all time. [sidenote: principal fairbairn on home-life under islam.] i must quote one more passage from principal fairbairn on the lowering influence of moslem domestic life: the god of mohammed ... "spares the sins the arab loves. a religion that does not purify the home cannot regenerate the race; one that depraves the home is certain to deprave humanity. motherhood is to be sacred if manhood is to be honorable. spoil the wife of sanctity and for the man the sanctities of life have perished. and so it has been with islam. it has reformed and lifted savage tribes; it has depraved and barbarized civilized nations. at the root of its fairest culture a worm has ever lived that has caused its blossoms soon to wither and die. were mohammed the hope of man, then his state were hopeless; before him could only be retrogression, tyranny, and despair."[ ] [sidenote: demoralizing influence of servile concubinage.] still worse is the influence of servile concubinage. the following is the evidence of a shrewd and able observer in the east: all zenana life must be bad for men at all stages of their existence.... in youth it must be ruin to be petted and spoiled by a company of submissive slave-girls. in manhood it is no less an evil that when a man enters into private life his affections should be put up to auction among foolish, fond competitors full of mutual jealousies and slanders. we are not left entirely to conjecture as to the effect of female influence on home-life when it is exerted under these unenlightened and demoralizing conditions. that is plainly an element _lying at the root of all the most important features that differentiate progress from stagnation_.[ ] [sidenote: deteriorating influence of relations established between the sexes.] such are the institutions which gnaw at the root of islam and prevent the growth of freedom and civilization. "by these the unity of the household is fatally broken and the purity and virtue of the family tie weakened; the vigor of the dominant classes is sapped; the body politic becomes weak and languid, excepting for intrigues, and the throne itself liable to fall a prey to a doubtful or contested succession"[ ]--contested by the progeny of the various rivals crowded into the royal harem. from the palace downward polygamy and servile concubinage lower the moral tone, loosen the ties of domestic life, and hopelessly depress the people. [sidenote: the veil.] nor is the veil, albeit under the circumstances a necessary precaution, less detrimental, though in a different way, to the interests of moslem society. this strange custom owes its origin to the prophet's jealous temperament. it is forbidden in the koran for women to appear unveiled before any member of the other sex with the exception of certain near relatives of specified propinquity.[ ] and this law, coupled with other restrictions of the kind, has led to the imposition of the _boorka_ or _purdah_ (the dress which conceals the person and the veil) and to the greater or less seclusion of the harem and zenana. [sidenote: society vitiated by the withdrawal of the female sex. mohammedan society, thus truncated, incapable of progress. the defects of mohammedan society.] this ordinance and the practices flowing from it must survive, more or less, so long as the koran remains the rule of faith. it may appear at first sight a mere negative evil, a social custom comparatively harmless; but in truth it has a more debilitating effect upon the moslem race perhaps than any thing else, for by it _woman is totally withdrawn from her proper place in the social circle_. she may, indeed, in the comparatively laxer license of some lands be seen flitting along the streets or driving in her carriage; but even so it is like one belonging to another world, veiled, shrouded, and cut off from intercourse with those around her. free only in the retirement of her own secluded apartments, she is altogether shut out from her legitimate sphere in the duties and enjoyments of life. but the blight on the sex itself from this unnatural regulation, sad as it is, must be regarded as a minor evil. the mischief extends beyond her. the tone and framework of society as it came from the maker's hands are altered, damaged, and deteriorated. from the veil there flows this double injury. the bright, refining, softening influence of woman is withdrawn from the outer world, and social life, wanting the gracious influences of the female sex, becomes, as we see throughout moslem lands, forced, hard, unnatural, and morose. moreover, the mohammedan nations, for all purposes of common elevation and for all efforts of philanthropy and liberty, are (as they live in public and beyond the inner recesses of their homes) but a truncated and imperfect exhibition of humanity. they are wanting in one of its constituent parts, the better half, the humanizing and the softening element. and it would be against the nature of things to suppose that the body, thus shorn and mutilated, can possess in itself the virtue and power of progress, reform, and elevation. the link connecting the family with social and public life is detached, and so neither is _en rapport_, as it should be, with the other. reforms fail to find entrance into the family or to penetrate the domestic soil where alone they could take root, grow into the national mind, live, and be perpetuated. under such conditions the seeds of civilization refuse to germinate. no real growth is possible in free and useful institutions, nor any permanent and healthy force in those great movements which elsewhere tend to uplift the masses and elevate mankind. there may, it is true, be some advance, from time to time, in science and in material prosperity; but the social groundwork for the same is wanting, and the people surely relapse into the semi-barbarism forced upon them by an ordinance which is opposed to the best instincts of humanity. sustained progress becomes impossible. such is the outcome of an attempt to improve upon nature and banish woman, the help-meet of man, from the position assigned by god to her in the world. [sidenote: yet the veil necessary under existing circumstances.] at the same time i am not prepared to say that in view of the laxity of the conjugal relations inherent in the institutions of islam some such social check as that of the veil (apart from the power to confine and castigate) is not needed for the repression of license and the maintenance of outward decency. there is too much reason to apprehend that free social intercourse might otherwise be dangerous to morality under the code of mohammed, and with the example before men and women of the early worthies of islam. so long as the sentiments and habits of the moslem world remain as they are some remedial or preventive measure of the kind seems indispensable. but the peculiarity of the mussulman polity, as we have seen, is such that the sexual laws and institutions which call for restrictions of the kind as founded on the koran are incapable of change; they must co-exist with the faith itself, and last while it lasts. so long, then, as this polity prevails the depression of woman, as well as her exclusion from the social circle, must injure the health and vitality of the body politic, impair its purity and grace, paralyze vigor, retard progress in the direction of freedom, philanthropy, and moral elevation, and generally perpetuate the normal state of mohammedan peoples, as one of semi-barbarism. to recapitulate, we have seen: [sidenote: recapitulation.] _first._ that islam was propagated mainly by the sword. with the tide of conquest the religion went forward; where conquest was arrested made no advance beyond; and at the withdrawal of the moslem arms the faith also commonly retired. _second._ the inducements, whether material or spiritual, to embrace islam have proved insufficient of themselves (speaking broadly) to spread the faith, in the absence of the sword, and without the influence of the political or secular arm. _third._ the ordinances of islam, those especially having respect to the female sex, have induced an inherent weakness, which depresses the social system and retards its progress. [sidenote: contrast with christianity.] if the reader should have followed me in the argument by which these conclusions have been reached the contrast with the christian faith has no doubt been suggesting itself at each successive step. [sidenote: christianity not propagated by force.] christianity, as al kindy has so forcibly put it, gained a firm footing in the world without the sword, and without any aid whatever from the secular arm. so far from having the countenance of the state it triumphed in spite of opposition, persecution, and discouragement. "my kingdom," said jesus, "is not of this world. if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that i should not be delivered to the jews; but now is my kingdom not from hence.... for this end came i into the world, that i should bear witness to the truth. every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice."[ ] [sidenote: nor by worldly inducements.] the religion itself, in its early days, offered no worldly attractions or indulgences. it was not, like islam, an "easy way." whether in withdrawal from social observances deeply tainted with idolatry, the refusal to participate in sacrificial ceremonies insisted on by the rulers, or in the renunciation of indulgences inconsistent with a saintly life, the christian profession required self-denial at every step. [sidenote: adaptive principles and plastic faculty of christianity.] but otherwise the teaching of christianity nowhere interfered with the civil institutions of the countries into which it penetrated or with any social customs or practices that were not in themselves immoral or idolatrous. it did not, indeed, neglect to guide the christian life. but it did so by the enunciation of principles and rules of wide and far-reaching application. these, no less than the injunctions of the koran, served amply for the exigencies of the day. but they have done a vast deal more. they have proved themselves capable of adaptation to the most advanced stages of social development and intellectual elevation. and, what is infinitely more, it may be claimed for the lessons embodied in the gospel that they have been themselves promotive, if indeed they have not been the immediate cause, of all the most important reforms and philanthropies that now prevail in christendom. the principles thus laid down contained germs endowed with the power of life and growth which, expanding and flourishing, slowly it may be, but surely, have at the last borne the fruits we see. [sidenote: examples: slavery. relations between the sexes.] take, for example, the institution of slavery. it prevailed in the roman empire at the introduction of christianity, as it did in arabia at the rise of islam. in the moslem code, as we have seen, the practice has been perpetuated. slavery must be held permissible so long as the koran is taken to be the rule of faith. the divine sanction thus impressed upon the institution, and the closeness with which by law and custom it intermingles with social and domestic life, make it impossible for any mohammedan people to impugn slavery as contrary to sound morality or for any body of loyal believers to advocate its abolition upon the ground of principle. there are, moreover, so many privileges and gratifications accruing to the higher classes from its maintenance that (excepting under the strong pressure of european diplomacy) no sincere and hearty effort can be expected from the moslem race in the suppression of the inhuman traffic, the horrors of which, as pursued by moslem slave-traders, their prophet would have been the first to denounce. look now at the wisdom with which the gospel treats the institution. it is nowhere in so many words proscribed, for that would, under the circumstances, have led to the abnegation of relative duties and the disruption of society. it is accepted as a prevailing institution recognized by the civil powers. however desirable freedom might be, slavery was not inconsistent with the christian profession: "art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather."[e] the duty of obedience to his master is enjoined upon the slave, and the duty of mildness and urbanity toward his slave is enjoined upon the master. but with all this was laid the seed which grew into emancipation. "_our father_," gave the key-note of freedom. "ye are _all_ the children of god by faith in christ jesus." "there is neither bond nor free, ... for ye are all one in christ jesus."[f] "he that is called in the lord, being a servant, is the lord's freeman."[g] the converted slave is to be received "not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved."[h] the seed has borne its proper harvest. late in time, no doubt, but by a sure and certain development, the grand truth of the equality of the human race, and the right of every man and woman to freedom of thought and (within reasonable limit of law) to freedom of action, has triumphed; and it has triumphed through the spirit and the precepts inculcated by the gospel eighteen hundred years ago. nor is it otherwise with the relations established between the sexes. polygamy, divorce, and concubinage with bondmaid's have been perpetuated, as we have seen, by islam for all time; and the ordinances connected therewith have given rise, in the laborious task of defining the conditions and limits of what is lawful, to a mass of prurient casuistry defiling the books of mohammedan law. contrast with this our saviour's words, "_he which made them at the beginning made them male and female.... what therefore god hath joined together let not man put asunder_."[i] from which simple utterance have resulted monogamy and (in the absence of adultery) the indissolubility of the marriage bond. while in respect of conjugal duties we have such large, but sufficiently intelligible, commands as "to render due benevolence,"[j] whereby, while the obligations of the marriage state are maintained, christianity is saved from the impurities which, in expounding the ordinances of mohammed, surround the sexual ethics of islam, and cast so foul a stain upon its literature. [sidenote: elevation of woman.] take, again, the place of woman in the world. we need no injunction of the veil or the harem. as the temples of the holy ghost, the body is to be kept undefiled, and every one is "to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor."[k] men are to treat "the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity."[l] women are to "adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety."[m] these, and such like maxims embrace the whole moral fitness of the several relations and duties which they define. they are adapted for all ages of time and for all conditions of men. they are capable of being taken by every individual for personal guidance, according to his own sense of propriety, and they can be accommodated by society at large with a due reference to the habits and customs of the day. the attempt of mohammed to lay down, with circumstantial minuteness, the position of the female sex, the veiling of her person, and her withdrawal from the gaze of man, has resulted in seclusion and degradation; while the spirit of the gospel, and injunctions like that of "giving honor to the wife as to the weaker vessel,"[n] have borne the fruit of woman's elevation, and have raised her to the position of influence, honor, and equality which (notwithstanding the marital superiority of the husband in the ideal of a christian family) she now occupies in the social scale. [sidenote: relations with the state. christianity leaves humanity free to expand.] in the type of mussulman government which (though not laid down in the koran) is founded upon the spirit of the faith and the precedent of the prophet the civil is indissolubly blended with the spiritual authority, to the detriment of religious liberty and political progress. the _ameer_, or commander of the faithful, should, as in the early times, so also in all ages, be the _imam_, or religious chief; and as such he should preside at the weekly cathedral service. it is not a case of the church being subject to the state, or the state being subject to the church. here (as we used to see in the papal domains) the church is the state, and the state the church. they both are one. and in this we have another cause of the backwardness and depression of mohammedan society. since the abolition of the temporal power in italy we have nowhere in christian lands any such theocratic union of cæsar and the church, so that secular and religious advance is left more or less unhampered; whereas in islam the hierarchico-political constitution has hopelessly welded the secular arm with the spiritual in one common scepter, to the furthering of despotism, and elimination of the popular voice from its proper place in the concerns of state. [sidenote: the koran checks progress.] and so, throughout the whole range of political, religious, social, and domestic relations, the attempt made by the founder of islam to provide for all contingencies, and to fix every thing aforehand by rigid rule and scale, has availed to cramp and benumb the free activities of life and to paralyze the natural efforts of society at healthy growth, expansion, and reform. as an author already quoted has so well put it, "_the koran has frozen mohammedan thought; to obey it is to abandon progress_."[ ] [sidenote: is islam suitable for any nation?] writers have indeed been found who, dwelling upon the benefits conferred by islam on idolatrous and savage nations, have gone so far as to hold that the religion of mohammed may in consequence be suited to certain portions of mankind--as if the faith of jesus might peaceably divide with it the world. but surely to acquiesce in a system which reduces the people to a dead level of social depression, despotism, and semi-barbarism would be abhorrent from the first principles of philanthropy. with the believer, who holds the gospel to be "good tidings of great joy, _which shall be to all people_,"[o] such a notion is on higher grounds untenable; but even in view of purely secular considerations it is not only untenable, but altogether unintelligible. as i have said elsewhere: the eclipse in the east, which still sheds its blight on the ancient seats of jerome and chrysostom, and shrouds in darkness the once bright and famous sees of cyprian and augustine, has been disastrous every-where to liberty and progress, equally as it has been to christianity. and it is only as that eclipse shall pass away and the sun of righteousness again shine forth that we can look to the nations now dominated by islam sharing with us those secondary but precious fruits of divine teaching. then with the higher and enduring blessings which our faith bestows, but not till then, we may hope that there will follow likewise in their wake freedom and progress, and all that tends to elevate the human race.[ ] [sidenote: no sacrifice for sin or redemptive grace.] although with the view of placing the argument on independent ground i have refrained from touching the peculiar doctrines of christianity, and the inestimable benefits which flow to mankind therefrom, i may be excused, before i conclude, if i add a word regarding them. the followers of mohammed have no knowledge of god as a _father_; still less have they knowledge of him as "_our_ father"--the god and father of the lord jesus christ. they acknowledge, indeed, that jesus was a true prophet sent of god; but they deny his crucifixion and death, and they know nothing of the power of his resurrection. to those who have found redemption and peace in these the grand and distinctive truths of the christian faith, it may be allowed to mourn over the lands in which the light of the gospel has been quenched, and these blessings blotted out, by the material forces of islam; where, together with civilization and liberty, christianity has given place to gross darkness, and it is as if now "there were no more sacrifice for sins." we may, and we do, look forward with earnest expectation to the day when knowledge of salvation shall be given to these nations "by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our god, whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."[p] [sidenote: contrast between divine and human work.] but even apart from these, the special blessings of christianity, i ask, which now of the two faiths bears, in its birth and growth, the mark of a divine hand and which the human stamp? which looks likest the handiwork of the god of nature, who "hath laid the measures of the earth," and "hath stretched the line upon it,"[q] but not the less with an ever-varying adaptation to time and place? and which the artificial imitation? [sidenote: islam.] "as a reformer, mohammed did indeed advance his people to a certain point, but as a prophet he left them fixed immovably at that point for all time to come. as there can be no return, so neither can there be any progress. the tree is of artificial planting. instead of containing within itself the germ of growth and adaptation to the various requirements of time, and clime, and circumstance, expanding with the genial sunshine and the rain from heaven, it remains the same forced and stunted thing as when first planted twelve centuries ago."[ ] [sidenote: christianity compared by christ to the works of nature.] such is islam. now what is christianity? listen to the prophetic words of the founder himself, who compares it to the works of nature: "_so is the kingdom of god, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;_ "_and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how._ "_for the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself: first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear._"[r] and again: "_whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of god, or with what comparison shall we compare it?_ "_it is like a grain of mustard-seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all seeds that be in the earth;_ "_but when it is sown, it groweth up and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches, so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it._"[s] [sidenote: islam the work of man; christianity the work of god.] which is _nature_, and which is _art_, let the reader judge. which bears the impress of man's hand, and which that of him who "is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working?" in fine, of the arabian it may be said: "_hitherto shalt thou come, but no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed._" but of christ: "_his name shall endure forever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed._ "_he shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth._ "_blessed be the lord god, the god of israel, who only doeth wondrous things. and blessed be his glorious name forever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. amen, and amen._"[t] footnotes: [e] cor. vii, . [f] gal. iii, , . [g] cor. vii, . [h] philemon . [i] matt. xix, . [j] cor. vii, . [k] thess. iv, . [l] tim. v, . [m] tim. ii, . [n] pet. iii, . [o] luke ii, . [p] luke i, - . [q] job xxxviii, . [r] mark iv, - . [s] mark iv, - . [t] psa. lxxii, , , , . the end. footnotes: [ ] barth. [ ] bergaigne, in his able treatise, _la religion védique_, insists earnestly on what he calls the "liturgical contamination of the myths." see vol. iii, p. . [ ] r.v., ix, , . [ ] r.v., ix, , . [ ] the religion of the indo-european race, while still united, "recognized a supreme god; an organizing god; almighty, omniscient, moral.... this conception was a heritage of the past.... the supreme god was originally the god of heaven." so darmesteter, _contemporary review_, october, . roth had previously written with much learning and acuteness to the same effect. [ ] muir's _sanskrit texts_, v, . [ ] r.v., iii, , . [ ] the rites, says haug, "must have existed from times immemorial."--_aitareya brâhmana_, pp. , . [ ] weber, _history of indian literature_, p. . [ ] max müller, _ancient sanskrit literature_, p. . [ ] "the haughty indra takes precedence of all gods." r.v., , . [ ] "these two personages [indra and varuna] sum up the two conceptions of divinity, between which the religious consciousness of the vedic aryans seems to oscillate."--bergaigne, _la religion védique_, vol. iii, p. . [ ] the meaning of the term is not quite certain. _sessions_, or _instructions_, may perhaps be the rendering. so monier williams. [ ] for example, wordsworth: "thou, thou alone art everlasting, and the blessed spirits which thou includest, as the sea her waves." --_excursion_, book iv. [ ] or, the thing that really is--the [greek: ontôs on]. [ ] _ekamadvitiyam._ [ ] this illustration is in the mouth of every hindu disputant at the present day. [ ] barth, p. . [ ] _ekamadvitiyam._ [ ] volui tibi suaviloquenti carmine pierio rationem exponere nostram et quasi musæo dulci contingere melle. [ ] dr. j. muir, in _north british review_, no. xlix, p. . [ ] _miscellaneous writings_ (macmillan, ), vol. i, p. . [ ] but the truth is that every man is accounted a good hindu who keeps the rules of caste and pays due respect to the brahmans. what he believes, or disbelieves, is of little or no consequence. [ ] yaska, probably in the fifth century b.c. [ ] weber thinks that christian elements may have been introduced, in course of time, into the representation. [ ] his ramayana was written in hindi verse in the sixteenth century. [ ] when jhansi was captured in the times of the great mutiny english officers were disgusted to see the walls of the queen's palace covered with what they described as "grossly obscene" pictures. there is little or no doubt that these were simply representations of the acts of krishna. therefore to the hindu queen they were religious pictures. when questioned about such things the brahmans reply that deeds which would be wicked in men were quite right in krishna, who, being god, could do whatever he pleased. [ ] born probably in . [ ] raja narayan basu (bose), in enumerating the sacred books of hinduism, excluded the philosophical systems and included the tantras. he was and, we believe, is a leading man in the adi brahma somaj. [ ] barth, as above, p. . [ ] so writes vans kennedy, a good authority. the rites, however, vary with varying places. [ ] _asiatic researches_, v, p. . [ ] cicero. [ ] we learned from his own lips that among the books which most deeply impressed him were the bible and the writings of dr. chalmers. [ ] see _life of mohammed_, p. . smith & elder. [ ] _life of mohammed_, p. , where the results are compared. [ ] _life of mohammed_, p. ; sura ii, ; xxix, . [ ] the only exceptions were the jews of kheibar and the christians of najran, who were permitted to continue in the profession of their faith. they were, however, forced by omar to quit the peninsula, which thenceforward remained exclusively mohammedan. "islam" is a synonym for the mussulman faith. its original meaning is "surrender" of one's self to god. [ ] _apology of al kindy, the christian_, p. . smith & elder, . this remarkable apologist will be noticed further below. [ ] principal fairbairn: "the primitive polity of islam," _contemporary review_, december, , pp. , . [ ] herr von kremer, _culturgeschichte des orients_, unter den chalifen, vol. i, p. . [ ] _annals of the early caliphate_, p. . smith & elder, . [ ] gibbon's _decline and fall_, chapter li, and _annals of the early caliphate_, p. . [ ] _ibid._; and sura xliv, v. . _we_--that is, the lord. [ ] _annals of the early caliphate_, p. . [ ] see, for example, sura lxxviii: "verily for the pious there is a blissful abode: gardens and vineyards; and damsels with swelling bosoms, of a fitting age; and a full cup. lovely large-eyed girls, like pearls hidden in their shells, a reward for that which the faithful shall have wrought. verily we have created them of a rare creation, virgins, young and fascinating.... modest damsels averting their eyes, whom no man shall have known before, nor any jinn," etc. the reader will not fail to be struck by the materialistic character of mohammed's paradise. [ ] see sura _jehad_; also _annals of the early caliphate_, p. , _et. seq._ [ ] _annals of the early caliphate_, p. , _et. seq._ [ ] see _annals_, etc., p. . [ ] sura ix, v. . [ ] so jews and christians as possessing the bible are named in the koran. [ ] see _annals_, etc., p. . [ ] _the apology of al kindy_, written at the court of al mamun a.h. (a.d. ), with an essay on its age and authorship, p. . smith & elder, . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _apology_, p. , _et. seq._ [ ] alluding to the "_ansar_," or mortal "helpers" of mohammed at medina. throughout, the apologist, it will be observed, is drawing a contrast with the means used for the spread of islam. [ ] _apology_, p. . [ ] _apology_, p. . [ ] i am not here comparing the value of these observances with those of other religions. i am inquiring only how far the obligations of islam may be held to involve hardship or sacrifice such as might have retarded the progress of islam by rendering it on its first introduction unpopular. [ ] see sura ii, v. . [ ] sura iv, . "exchange" is the word used in the koran. [ ] each of his widows had , golden pieces left her. _life of mohammed_, p. . [ ] "these divorced wives were irrespective of his concubines or slave-girls, upon the number and variety of whom there was no limit or check whatever."--_annals_, p. . [ ] lane adds: "there are many men in this country who, in the course of ten years, have married as many as twenty, thirty, or more wives; and women not far advanced in age have been wives to a dozen or more husbands successively." note that all this is entirely within the religious sanction. [ ] _pilgrimage to mecca_, by her highness the reigning begum of bhopal, translated by mrs. w. osborne ( ), pp. , . slave-girls cannot be _married_ until freed by their masters. what her highness tells of women _divorcing_ their husbands is of course entirely _ultra vires_, and shows how the laxity of conjugal relations allowed to the male sex has extended itself to the female also, and that in a city where, if anywhere, we should have expected to find the law observed. [ ] in india, for example, there are mohammedan races among whom monogamy, as a rule, prevails by custom, and individuals exercising their right of polygamy are looked upon with disfavor. on the other hand, we meet occasionally with men who aver that rather against their will (as they will sometimes rather amusingly say) they have been forced by custom or family influence to add by polygamy to their domestic burdens. in mohammedan countries, however, when we hear of a man confining himself to _one wife_, it does not necessarily follow that he has no slaves to consort with in his harem. i may remark that slave-girls have by mohammedan laws no conjugal rights whatever, but are like playthings, at the absolute discretion of their master. [ ] the case of the corinthian offender is much in point, as showing how the strict discipline of the church must have availed to make christianity unpopular with the mere worldling. [ ] [sidenote: laxity among nominal christians.] _apology_, p. . i repeat, that in the remarks i have made under this head, no comparison is sought to be drawn betwixt the morality of nominally christian and moslem peoples. on this subject i may be allowed to quote from what i have said elsewhere: "the moslem advocate will urge ... the social evil as the necessary result of inexorable monogamy. the koran not only denounces any illicit laxity between the sexes in the severest terms, but exposes the transgressor to condign punishment. for this reason, and because the conditions of what is licit are so accommodating and wide, a certain negative virtue (it can hardly be called continence or chastity) pervades mohammedan society, in contrast with which the gross and systematic immorality in certain parts of every european community may be regarded by the christian with shame and confusion. in a purely mohammedan land, however low may be the general level of moral feeling, the still lower depths of fallen humanity are unknown. the 'social evil' and intemperance, prevalent in christian lands, are the strongest weapons in the armory of islam. we point, and justly, to the higher morality and civilization of those who do observe the precepts of the gospel, to the stricter unity and virtue which cement the family, and to the elevation of the sex; but in vain, while the example of our great cities, and too often of our representatives abroad, belies the argument. and yet the argument is sound. for, in proportion as christianity exercises her legitimate influence, vice and intemperance will wane and vanish, and the higher morality pervade the whole body; whereas in islam the deteriorating influences of polygamy, divorce, and concubinage have been stereotyped for all time."--_the koran: its composition and teaching, and the testimony it bears to the holy scriptures_, p. . [ ] [sidenote: alleged progress of islam in africa.] much loose assertion has been made regarding the progress of islam in africa; but i have found no proof of it apart from armed, political, or trading influence, dogged too often by the slave-trade; to a great extent a social rather than a religious movement, and raising the fetich tribes (haply without intemperance) into a somewhat higher stage of semi-barbarism. i have met nothing which would touch the argument in the text. the following is the testimony of dr. koelle, the best possible witness on the subject: "it is true the mohammedan nations in the interior of africa, namely, the bornuese, mandengas, pulas, etc., invited by the weak and defenseless condition of the surrounding negro tribes, still occasionally make conquests, and after subduing a tribe of pagans, by almost exterminating its male population and committing the most horrible atrocities, impose upon those that remain the creed of islam; but keeping in view the whole of the mohammedan world this fitful activity reminds one only of these green branches sometimes seen on trees, already, and for long, decayed at the core from age."--_food for reflection_, p. . [ ] _apology_, p. . [ ] _annals_, pp. , . [ ] sura iv, v. . [ ] _life of mohammed_, p. . [ ] _the city of god_, p, . hodder & stoughton, . [ ] _the turks in india_, by h.g. keene, c.s.i. allen & co., . [ ] _annals_, etc., p. . [ ] see sura xxxiv, v. . the excepted relations are: "husbands, fathers, husbands' fathers, sons, husbands' sons, brothers, brothers' sons, sisters' sons, the captives which their right hands possess, such men as attend them and have no need of women, or children below the age of puberty." [ ] john xviii, , . [ ] dr. fairbairn, _contemporary review_, p. . [ ] _the early caliphate and rise of islam_, being the rede lecture for , delivered before the university of cambridge, p. . [ ] _the koran_, etc., p. . transcriber's note: the following section was originally at the beginning of the text. the chautauqua literary and scientific circle. studies for - . leading facts of american history. montgomery, $ social institutions of the united states. bryce, initial studies in american letters. beers, story of the constitution of the united states. thorpe, classic german course in english. wilkinson, two old faiths. mitchell and muir, public domain works from the university of michigan digital libraries.) the future of islam by wilfrid scawen blunt "la taknatu addurru yontharu akduhu liauda ahsana fin nithami wa ajmala." "fear not. often pearls are unstrung to be put in better order." _published by permission of the proprietors of the "fortnightly review"_ london kegan paul, trench & co., , paternoster square preface. these essays, written for the _fortnightly review_ in the summer and autumn of , were intended as first sketches only of a maturer work which the author hoped, before giving finally to the public, to complete at leisure, and develop in a form worthy of critical acceptance, and of the great subject he had chosen. events, however, have marched faster than he at all anticipated, and it has become a matter of importance with him that the idea they were designed to illustrate should be given immediate and full publicity. the french, by their invasion of tunis, have precipitated the mohammedan movement in north africa; egypt has roused herself for a great effort of national and religious reform; and on all sides islam is seen to be convulsed by political portents of ever-growing intensity. he believes that his countrymen will in a very few months have to make their final choice in india, whether they will lead or be led by the wave of religious energy which is sweeping eastwards, and he conceives it of consequence that at least they should know the main issues of the problem before them. to shut their eyes to the great facts of contemporary history, because that history has no immediate connection with their daily life, is a course unworthy of a great nation; and in england, where the opinion of the people guides the conduct of affairs, can hardly fail to bring disaster. it should be remembered that the modern british empire, an agglomeration of races ruled by public opinion in a remote island, is an experiment new in the history of the world, and needs justification in exceptional enlightenment; and it must be remembered, too, that no empire ever yet was governed without a living policy. the author, therefore, has resolved to publish his work, crude as it is, without more delay, in the hope that it may be instrumental in guiding the national choice. he is, nevertheless, fully aware of its defects both in accuracy and completeness, and he can only hope that they may be pardoned him in view of the general truth of the picture he has drawn. since the last of these essays was written, their author has returned to egypt, and has there had the satisfaction of finding the ideas, vaguely foreshadowed by him as the dream of some few liberal ulema of the azhar, already a practical reality. cairo has now declared itself as the home of progressive thought in islam, and its university as the once more independent seat of arabian theology. secured from turkish interference by the national movement of the arabs, the ulema of the azhar have joined heart and soul with the party of reform. the importance of this event can hardly be overrated; and if, as now seems probable, a liberal mohammedan government by a free mohammedan people should establish itself firmly on the nile, it is beyond question that the basis of a social and political reformation for all islam has been laid. it is more than all a hopeful sign that extreme moderation with regard to the caliphate is observed by the egyptian leaders. independence, not opposition, is the motto of the party; and no rent has been made or is contemplated by them in the orthodox coat of islam. abd el hamid khan is still recognized as the actual emir el mumenin, and the restoration of a more legitimate caliphate is deferred for the day when its fate shall have overtaken the ottoman empire. this is as it should be. schism would only weaken the cause of religion, already threatened by a thousand enemies; and the premature appearance of an anti-caliph in egypt or arabia, however legitimate a candidate he might be by birth for the office, would divide the mohammedan world into two hostile camps, and so bring scandal and injury on the general cause. in the meantime, however, liberal thought will have a fair field for its development, and can hardly fail to extend its influence wherever the arabic language is spoken, and among all those races which look on the azhar as the centre of their intellectual life. this is a notable achievement, and one which patience may turn, perhaps in a very few years, to a more general triumph. there can be little doubt now that the death of abd el hamid, or his fall from empire, will be the signal for the return of the caliphate to cairo, and a formal renewal there by the arabian mind of its lost religious leadership. to mohammedans the author owes more than a word of apology. a stranger and a sojourner among them, he has ventured on an exposition of their domestic griefs, and has occasionally touched the ark of their religion with what will seem to them a profane hand; but his motive has been throughout a pure one, and he trusts that they will pardon him in virtue of the sympathy with them which must be apparent in every line that he has written. he has predicted for them great political misfortunes in the immediate future, because he believes that these are a necessary step in the process of their spiritual development; but he has a supreme confidence in islam, not only as a spiritual, but as a temporal system the heritage and gift of the arabian race, and capable of satisfying their most civilized wants; and he believes in the hour of their political resurgence. in the meantime he is convinced that he serves their interests best by speaking what he holds to be the truth regarding their situation. their day of empire has all but passed away, but there remains to them a day of social independence better than empire. enlightened, reformed and united in sympathy, mussulmans need not fear political destruction in their original homes, arabia, egypt, and north africa; and these must suffice them as a dar el islam till better days shall come. if the author can do anything to help them to preserve that independence they may count upon him freely within the limits of his strength, and he trusts to prove to them yet his sincerity in some worthier way than by the publication of these first essays. cairo, _january th, _. contents. page chapter i. census of the mohammedan world. the haj chapter ii. the modern question of the caliphate chapter iii. the true metropolis--mecca chapter iv. a mohammedan reformation chapter v. england's interest in islam the future of islam. chapter i. census of the mohammedan world. the haj. in the lull, which we hope is soon to break the storm of party strife in england, it may not perhaps be impossible to direct public attention to the rapid growth of questions which for the last few years have been agitating the religious mind of asia, and which are certain before long to present themselves as a very serious perplexity to british statesmen; questions, moreover, which if not dealt with by them betimes, it will later be found out of their power to deal with at all, though a vigorous policy at the present moment might yet solve them to this country's very great advantage. the revival which is taking place in the mohammedan world is indeed worthy of every englishman's attention, and it is difficult to believe that it has not received anxious consideration at the hands of those whose official responsibility lies chiefly in the direction of asia; but i am not aware that it has hitherto been placed in its true light before the english public, or that a quite definite policy regarding it may be counted on as existing in the counsels of the present cabinet. indeed, as regards the cabinet, the reverse may very well be the case. we know how suspicious english politicians are of policies which may be denounced by their enemies as speculative; and it is quite possible that the very magnitude of the problem to be solved in considering the future of islam may have caused it to be put aside there as one "outside the sphere of practical politics." the phrase is a convenient one, and is much used by those in power amongst us who would evade the labour or the responsibility of great decisions. yet that such a problem exists in a new and very serious form i do not hesitate to affirm, nor will my proposition, as i think, be doubted by any who have mingled much in the last few years with the mussulman populations of western asia. there it is easily discernible that great changes are impending, changes perhaps analogous to those which christendom underwent four hundred years ago, and that a new departure is urgently demanded of england if she would maintain even for a few years her position as the guide and arbiter of asiatic progress. it was not altogether without the design of gaining more accurate knowledge than i could find elsewhere on the subject of this mohammedan revival that i visited jeddah in the early part of the past winter, and that i subsequently spent some months in egypt and syria in the almost exclusive society of mussulmans. jeddah, i argued, the seaport of mecca and only forty miles distant from that famous centre of the moslem universe, would be the most convenient spot from which i could obtain such a bird's-eye view of islam as i was in search of; and i imagined rightly that i should there find myself in an atmosphere less provincial than that of cairo, or bagdad, or constantinople. jeddah is indeed in the pilgrim season the suburb of a great metropolis, and even a european stranger there feels that he is no longer in a world of little thoughts and local aspirations. on every side the politics he hears discussed are those of the great world, and the religion professed is that of a wider islam than he has been accustomed to in turkey or in india. there every race and language are represented, and every sect. indians, persians, moors, are there,--negroes from the niger, malays from java, tartars from the khanates, arabs from the french sahara, from oman and zanzibar, even, in chinese dress and undistinguishable from other natives of the celestial empire, mussulmans from the interior of china. as one meets these walking in the streets, one's view of islam becomes suddenly enlarged, and one finds oneself exclaiming with sir thomas browne, "truly the (mussulman) world is greater than that part of it geographers have described." the permanent population, too, of jeddah is a microcosm of islam. it is made up of individuals from every nation under heaven. besides the indigenous arab, who has given his language and his tone of thought to the rest, there is a mixed resident multitude descended from the countless pilgrims who have remained to live and die in the holy cities. these preserve, to a certain extent, their individuality, at least for a generation or two, and maintain a connection with the lands to which they owe their origin and the people who were their countrymen. thus there is constantly found at jeddah a free mart of intelligence for all that is happening in the world; and the common gossip of the bazaar retails news from every corner of the mussulman earth. it is hardly too much to say that one can learn more of modern islam in a week at jeddah than in a year elsewhere, for there the very shopkeepers discourse of things divine, and even the frank vice-consuls prophesy. the hejazi is less shy, too, of discussing religious matters than his fellow mussulmans are in other places. religion is, as it were, part of his stock-in-trade, and he is accustomed to parade it before strangers. with a european he may do this a little disdainfully, but still he will do it, and with less disguise or desire to please than is in most places the case. moreover--and this is important--it is almost always the practical side of questions that the commercial jeddan will put forward. he sees things from a political and economical point of view, rather than a doctrinal, and if fanatical, he is so from the same motives, and no others, which once moved the citizens of ephesus to defend the worship of their shrines. in other cities, cairo and constantinople excepted, the ulema, or learned men, of whom a stranger might seek instruction, would be found busying themselves mainly with doctrinal matters not always interesting at the present day, old-world arguments of koranic interpretation which have from time immemorial occupied the schools. but here even these are treated practically, and as they bear on the political aspect of the hour. for myself, i became speedily impressed with the advantage thus afforded me, and neglected no opportunity which offered itself for listening and asking questions, so that without pretending to the possession of more special skill than any intelligent inquirer might command, i obtained a mass of information i cannot but think to be of great value--while this in its turn served me later as an introduction to such mussulman divines as i afterwards met in the north. jeddah then realized all my hopes and gratified nearly all my curiosities. i will own, too, to having come away with more than a gratified curiosity, and to having found new worlds of thought and life in an atmosphere i had fancied to be only of decay. i was astonished at the vigorous life of islam, at its practical hopes and fears in this modern nineteenth century, and above all at its reality as a moral force; so that if i had not exactly come to scoff, i certainly remained, in a certain sense, to pray. at least i left it interested, as i had never thought to be, in the great struggle which seemed to me impending between the parties of reaction in islam and reform, and not a little hopeful as to its favourable issue. what this is likely to be i now intend to discuss. first, however, it will i think be as well to survey briefly the actual composition of the mohammedan world. it is only by a knowledge of the elements of which islam is made up that we can guess its future, and these are less generally known than they should be. a stranger from europe visiting the hejaz is, as i have said, irresistibly struck with the vastness of the religious world in whose centre he stands. mohammedanism to our western eyes seems almost bounded by the limits of the ottoman empire. the turk stands in our foreground, and has stood there from the days of bajazet, and in our vulgar tongue his name is still synonymous with moslem, so that we are apt to look upon him as, if not the only, at least the chief figure of islam. but from arabia we see things in a truer perspective, and become aware that beyond and without the ottoman dominions there are races and nations, no less truly followers of the prophet, beside whom the turk shrinks into numerical insignificance. we catch sight, it may be for the first time in their real proportions, of the old persian and mogul monarchies, of the forty million mussulmans of india, of the thirty million malays, of the fifteen million chinese, and the vast and yet uncounted mohammedan populations of central africa. we see, too, how important is still the arabian element, and how necessary it is to count with it, in any estimate we may form of islam's possible future. turkey, meanwhile, and constantinople, retire to a rather remote horizon, and the mussulman centre of gravity is as it were shifted from the north and west towards the south and east. i was at some pains while at jeddah to gain accurate statistics of the haj according to the various races and sects composing it, and with them of the populations they in some measure represent. the pilgrimage is of course no certain guide as to the composition of the mussulman world, for many accidents of distance and political circumstance interfere with calculations based on it. still to a certain extent a proportion is preserved between it and the populations which supply it; and in default of better, statistics of the haj afford us an index not without value of the degree of religious vitality existing in the various mussulman countries. my figures, which for convenience i have arranged in tabular form, are taken principally from an official record, kept for some years past at jeddah, of the pilgrims landed at that port, and checked as far as european subjects are concerned by reference to the consular agents residing there. they may therefore be relied upon as fairly accurate; while for the land pilgrimage i trust in part my own observations, made three years ago, in part statistics obtained at cairo and damascus. for the table of population in the various lands of islam i am obliged to go more directly to european sources of information. as may be supposed, no statistics on this point of any value were obtainable at jeddah; but by taking the figures commonly given in our handbooks, and supplementing and correcting these by reference to such persons as i could find who knew the countries, i have, i hope, arrived at an approximation to the truth, near enough to give a tolerable idea to general readers of the numerical proportions of islam. strict accuracy, however, i do not here pretend to, nor would it if obtainable materially help my present argument. the following is my table:-- table of the mecca pilgrimage of . | | | total of nationality of pilgrims. |arriving|arriving| mussulman |by sea. |by land.| population | | | represented. -----------------------------------------+--------+--------+------------ ottoman subjects including pilgrims from | | | syria and irak, but not from egypt or | | | arabia proper | , | , | , , | | | egyptians | , | , | , , | | | mogrebbins ("people of the west"), that | | | is to say arabic-speaking mussulmans | | | from the barbary states, tripoli, | | | tunis, algiers, and morocco. these are | | | always classed together and are not | | | easily distinguishable from each other | , | ... | , , | | | arabs from yemen | , | ... | , , | | | " " oman and hadramaut | , | ... | , , | | | " " nejd, assir, and hasa, most | | | of them wahhabites | ... | , | , , | | | " " hejaz, of these perhaps | | | , meccans | ... | , | , , | | | negroes from soudan | , | ... | , , (?) | | | " " zanzibar | , | ... | , , | | | malabari from the cape of good hope | | ... | | | | persians | , | , | , , | | | indians (british subjects) | , | ... | , , | | | malays, chiefly from java and dutch | | | subjects | , | ... | , , | | | chinese | | ... | , , | | | mongols from the khanates, included in | | | the ottoman haj | ... | ... | , , | | | lazis, circassians, tartars, etc. | | | (russian subjects), included in the | | | ottoman haj | ... | ... | , , | | | independent afghans and beluchis, | | | included in the indian and persian | | | hajs | ... | ... | , , |-----------------|------------ total of pilgrims present at arafat | , | total census of islam | , , the figures thus roundly given require explanation in order to be of their full value as a bird's-eye view of islam. i will take them as nearly as possible in the order in which they stand, grouping them, however, for further convenience sake under their various sectarian heads, for it must be remembered that islam, which in its institution was intended to be one community, political and religious, is now divided not only into many nations, but into many sects. all, however, hold certain fundamental beliefs, and all perform the pilgrimage to mecca, where they meet on common ground, and it is to this latter fact that the importance attached to the haj is mainly owing. the main beliefs common to all mussulmans are-- . a belief in one true god, the creator and ordainer of all things. . a belief in a future life of reward or punishment. . a belief in a divine revelation imparted first to adam and renewed at intervals to noah, to abraham, to moses, and to jesus christ, and last of all in its perfect form to mohammed. this revelation is not only one of dogma, but of practice. it claims to have taught an universal rule of life for all mankind in politics and legislation as well as in doctrine and in morals. this is called islam. . a belief in the koran as the literal word of god, and of its inspired interpretation by the prophet and his companions, preserved through tradition (hadith).[ ] these summed up in the well-known "kelemat" or act of faith, "there is no god but god, and mohammed is the apostle of god," form a common doctrinal basis for every sect of islam--and also common to all are the four religious acts, prayer, fasting, almsgiving and pilgrimage, ordained by the koran itself. on other points, however, both of belief and practice, they differ widely; so widely that the sects must be considered as not only distinct from, but hostile to, each other. they are nevertheless, it must be admitted, less absolutely irreconcileable than are the corresponding sects of christianity, for all allow the rest to be distinctly within the pale of islam, and they pray on occasion in each other's mosques and kneel at the same shrines on pilgrimage. neither do they condemn each other's errors as altogether damnable--except, i believe, in the case of the wahhabites, who accuse other moslems of polytheism and idolatry. the census of the four great sects may be thus roughly given-- . the sunites or orthodox mohammedans , , . the shiites or sect of ali , , . the abadites (abadhiyeh) , , . the wahhabites , , the _sunites_, or people of the path, are of course by far the most important of these. they stand in that relation to the other sects in which the catholic church stands to the various christian heresies, and claim alone to represent that continuous body of tradition political and religious, which is the sign of a living church. in addition to the dogmas already mentioned, they hold that, after the prophet and his companions, other authorised channels of tradition exist of hardly less authority with these. the sayings of the four first caliphs, as collected in the first century of the mohammedan era, they hold to be inspired and unimpeachable, as are to a certain extent the theological treatises of the four great doctors of islam, the imams abu hanifeh, malek, esh shafy, and hanbal, and after them, though with less and less authority, the "fetwas," or decisions of distinguished ulema, down to the present day. the collected body of teaching acquired from these sources is called the sheriat (in turkey the sheriati sherifeh) and is the canon law of islam. nor is it lawful that this should be gainsaid; while the imams themselves may not inaptly be compared to the fathers of our christian church. it is a dogma, too, with the sunites that they are not only an ecclesiastical but a political body, and that among them is the living representative of the temporal power of the prophet, in the person of his khalifeh or successor, though there is much division of opinion as to the precise line of succession in the past and the legitimate ownership of the title in the present. but this is too intricate and important a matter to be entered on at present. the sunites are then the body of authority and tradition, and being more numerous than the other three sects put together in a proportion of four and a half to one, have a good right to treat these as heretics. it must not, however, be supposed that even the sunites profess absolutely homogeneous opinions. the path of orthodox islam is no macadamised road such as the catholic church of christendom has become, but like one of its own haj routes goes winding on, a labyrinth of separate tracks, some near, some far apart, some clean out of sight of the rest. all lead, it is true, in the same main direction, and here and there in difficult ground where there is a mountain range to cross or where some defile narrows they are brought together, but otherwise they follow their own ways as the idiosyncrasy of race and disposition may dictate. there is no common authority in the world acknowledged as superior to the rest, neither is there any office corresponding even remotely with the infallible papacy. the mohammedan nations have for the most part each its separate school, composed of its own ulema and presided over by its own grand mufti or sheykh el islam, and these are independent of all external influence. if they meet at all it is at mecca, but even at mecca there is no college of cardinals, no central authority; and though occasionally cases are referred thither or to constantinople or cairo, the fetwas given are not of absolute binding power over the faithful in other lands. moreover, besides these national distinctions, there are three recognized schools of theology which divide between them the allegiance of the orthodox, and which, while not in theory opposed, do in fact represent as many distinct lines of religious thought. these it has been the fashion with european writers to describe as sects, but the name sect is certainly inaccurate, for the distinctions recognisable in their respective teachings are not more clearly marked than in those of our own church parties, the high, the low, and the broad. indeed a rather striking analogy may be traced between these three phases of english church teaching and the three so-called "orthodox sects" of islam. the three mohammedan schools are the hanefite, the malekite, and the shafite, while a fourth, the hanbalite, is usually added, but it numbers at the present day so few followers that we need not notice it.[ ] a few words will describe each of these. the _hanefite_ school of theology may be described as the school of the upper classes. it is the high and dry party of church and state, if such expressions can be used about islam. to it belongs the osmanli race, i believe without exception, the ruling race of the north, and their kinsmen who founded empires in central and southern asia. the official classes, too, in most parts of the world are hanefite, including the viceregal courts of egypt, tripoli, and tunis, and it would seem the courts of most of the indian princes. it is probably rather as a consequence of this than as its reason that it is the most conservative of schools, conservative in the true sense of leaving things exactly as they are. the turkish ulema have always insisted strongly on the dogma that the _ijtahad_, that is to say the elaboration of new doctrine, is absolutely closed; that nothing can be added to or taken away from the already existing body of religious law, and that no new _mujtahed_, or doctor of islam, can be expected who shall adapt that law to the life of the modern world. at the same time, while obstinate in matters of opinion, hanefism has become extremely lax as to practice. its moral teaching is held, and i believe justly, to be adapted only too closely to the taste of its chief supporters. it is accused by its enemies of having given the sanction of its toleration to the moral disorders common among the turks, their use of fermented drinks, their immoderate concubinage and other worse vices. it is, in fact, the official school of ottoman orthodoxy. it embraces most of those who at the present day support the revived spiritual pretensions of constantinople. the pilgrimage then described in our table as ottoman is mostly made up of men of this theological school. it must not, however, be supposed that anything like the whole number either of the pilgrims, or of the , , population they represent, is composed of turks. the true ottoman turk is probably now among the rarest of visitors to mecca, and it is doubtful whether the whole turkish census in europe and in asia amounts to more than four millions. with regard to the pilgrimage there is good reason why this should be the case. in turkey, all the able-bodied young men, who are the first material of the haj, are taken from other duties for military service, and hardly any now make their tour of the kaaba except in the sultan's uniform. rich merchants, the second material of the haj in other lands, are almost unknown among the turks; and the officials, the only well-to-do class in the empire, have neither leisure nor inclination to absent themselves from their worldly business of intrigue. besides, the official turk is already too civilized to put up readily with the real hardships of the haj. in spite of the alleviations effected by the steam navigation of the red sea, pilgrimage is still no small matter, and once landed at jeddah, all things are much as they were a hundred years ago, while the turk has changed. with his modern notion of dress and comfort he may indeed be excused for shrinking from the quaint nakedness of the pilgrim garb and the bare-headed march to arafat under a tropical sun. besides, there is the land journey still of three hundred miles to make before he can reach medina, and what to some would be worse hardship, a wearisome waiting afterwards in the unhealthy ports of hejaz. the turkish official, too, has learned to dispense with so many of the forms of his religion that he finds no difficulty in making himself excuses here. in fact, he seldom or never now performs the pilgrimage. the mass of the ottoman haj is made up of kurds, syrians, albanians, circassians, lazis, and tartars from russia and the khanates, of everything rather than real turks. nor are those that come distinguished greatly for their piety or learning. the school of st. sophia at constantinople has lost its old reputation as a seat of religious knowledge; and its ulema are known to be more occupied with the pursuit of court patronage than with any other science. so much indeed is this the case that serious students often prefer a residence at bokhara, or even in the heretical schools of persia, as a more real road to learning. turkey proper boasts at the present day few theologians of note, and still fewer independent thinkers. the egyptian haj is far more flourishing. speaking the language of arabia, the citizen of cairo is more at home in the holy places than any inhabitant of the northern towns can be. the customs of hejaz are very nearly his own customs, and its climate not much more severe than his. cairo, too, can boast a far more ancient political connection with mecca than constantinople can, for as early as the twelfth century the sultans of egypt were protectors of the holy places, while even since the ottoman conquest, the caliph's authority in arabia has been almost uninterruptedly interpreted by his representative at cairo. so lately as this was the position of things at mecca, and it is only since the opening of the suez canal that direct administration from constantinople has been seriously attempted. to the present day the viceroy of egypt shares with the sultan the privilege of sending a mahmal, or camel litter, to mecca every year with a covering for the kaaba. moreover the azhar mosque of cairo is the great university of arabic-speaking races, and its ulema have the highest reputation of any in islam. egyptian influence, therefore, must be reckoned as an important element in the forces which make up mohammedan opinion. the late khedive, it is true, did much to impair this by his infidelity and his coquetteries with europe, and under his reign the egyptian haj fell to a low level; but mohammed towfik, who is a sincere, though liberal mussulman, has already restored much of his country's prestige at mecca, and it is not unlikely that in time to come egypt, grown materially prosperous, may once more take a leading part in the politics of islam.[ ] but of this later. all three schools of theology are taught in the azhar mosque, and egyptians are divided, according to their class, between them. the viceroy and the ruling clique, men of ottoman origin, are hanefites, and so too are the descendants of the circassian beys, but the leading merchants of cairo and the common people of that city are shafites, while the fellahin of the delta are almost entirely malekite. malekite, too, are the tribes west of the nile, following the general rule of the population of africa.[ ] the _malekite_ school of religious thought differs widely from the hanefite. if the latter has been described as the high church party of islam, this must be described as the low. it is puritanical, fierce in its dogma, severe in its morals, and those who profess it are undoubtedly the most fervent, the most fanatical of believers. they represent more nearly than any other mussulmans the ancient earnestness of the prophet's companions, and the sword in their hand is ever the sword of god. piety too, ostensible and sincere, is found everywhere among the malekites. abd el kader, the soldier saint, is their type; and holy men by hereditary profession abound among them. the malekites believe with earnest faith in things supernatural, dreaming prophetic dreams, and seeing miracles performed as every-day occurrences. with the arabs of africa, unlike their kinsmen in arabia itself, to pray and fast is still a severe duty, and no class of mussulmans are more devout on pilgrimage. in algiers and morocco it is as common for a young man of fortune to build a mosque as it is for him to keep a large stud of horses. to do so poses him in the world, and a life of prayer is strictly a life of fashion. with regard to morals he is severe where the koran is severe, indulgent where it indulges. wine with him is an abomination, and asceticism with regard to meat and tobacco is often practised by him. on the whole he is respectable and respected; but the reforms he would impose on islam are too purely reactive to be altogether acceptable to the mass of mohammedans or suited to the urgent necessities of the age. it is conceivable, however, that should the revival of islam take the form of a religious war, the races of africa may be found taking the leading part in it. tripoli, tunis, algiers, and morocco contain hardy races of fighting men who may yet trouble europe; and fifty years of rule have not yet assimilated the french sahara. it is difficult to gain accurate statistics as to the proportion of pilgrims sent to mecca by these various states, but it would seem the algerian pilgrimage is the smallest. this is due mainly to hindrances raised by the french government, whose policy it is to isolate their province from the rest of the mussulman world. an algerian pilgrim is called upon to produce the sum of francs before he is permitted to embark for jeddah, and he is subjected to various other needless formalities. still the number sent is large and their fervour undoubted, though the upper classes, from a fear of losing credit with the french authorities, rather hold aloof. the mainstay of the mogrebbin haj are the moors. these have an immense name for zeal and religious courage at mecca, and for the great scrupulosity with which they perform their religious duties. there is too among the moors a far wider level of theological education than among most mussulmans. i made acquaintance while at jeddah with a young arab from shinghiat in senegal who, bedouin as he was, was an alem, and one sufficiently well versed in the sheriat to be referred to more than once in my presence on points of religious law and literature. i expressed my surprise at finding a bedouin thus learned, for he was evidently an arab of the arabs, but he told me his was no exceptional position, and that most bedouins in southern morocco could read the koran. the moors would have a still higher position in islam than that already given them were it not that they are on one point at variance with the mass of sunites. they do not acknowledge the modern caliphate. those therefore of the sunites who have acknowledged the ottoman claim are at issue with the moors. on all other points, however, the moors are sunites of the sunites. from the moor to the negro is but a step, though it is a step of race, perhaps of species. the political and religious connection of morocco with the soudan is a very close one, and, whatever may be the future of the mediterranean provinces fronting the spanish coast, it cannot be doubted that the moorish form of mohammedanism will be perpetuated in central africa. it is there, indeed, that islam has the best certainty of expansion and the fairest field for a propagation of its creed. statistics, if they could be obtained, would, i am convinced, show an immense mohammedan progress within the last hundred years among the negro races, nor is this to be wondered at. islam has so much to offer to the children of ham that it cannot fail to win them--so much more than any form of christianity or european progress can give. the christian missionary makes his way slowly in africa. he has no true brotherhood to offer the negro except in another life. he makes no appeal to a present sense of dignity in the man he would convert. what christian missionary takes a negress to wife or sits with the negro wholly as an equal at meat? their relations remain at best those of teacher with taught, master with servant, grown man with child. the mohammedan missionary from morocco meanwhile stands on a different footing. he says to the negro, "come up and sit beside me. give me your daughter and take mine. all who pronounce the formula of islam are equal in this world and in the next." in becoming a mussulman even a slave acquires immediate dignity and the right to despise all men, whatever their colour, who are not as himself. this is a bribe in the hand of the preacher of the koran, and one which has never appealed in vain to the enslaved races of the world.[ ] central africa then may be counted on as the inheritance of islam at no very distant day. it is already said to count ten millions of moslems. the _shafite_ school, the third of the four "orthodox sects," is the most flourishing of all in point of numbers, and it has characteristics which mark it out as the one best adapted to survive in the struggle which is impending between the schools of religious thought in islam. the shafites may be compared to our broad church, though without its immediate tendency to infidelity. with the shafites there is a disposition to widen rather than to narrow the area of theology. the hanefites and malekites proclaim loudly that inquiry has been closed and change is impossible, but the shafites are inclined to seek a new mujtahed who shall reconcile islam with the modern conditions of the world. they feel that there is something wrong in things as they are, for islam is no longer politically prosperous, and they would see it united once more and reorganized even at the expense of some dogmatic concessions. i know that many even of the shafites themselves will deny this, for no mussulman will willingly acknowledge that he is an advocate of change; but it is unquestionable that among members of their school such ideas are more frequently found than with the others. among the shafites, too, ideas of a moral reformation find a footing, and they speak more openly than the rest their suspicion that the house of othman, with its fornications and its bestialities and contempt of justice, has been the ruin of islam. arabian custom is the basis of its ideas upon this head, for most arabs out of africa if anything are shafites; and it is the school of the virtuous poor rather than of the licentious rich. it is more humane in its bearing towards jews and christians, finding a common ground with them in the worship of the one true god, the moral law propounded at various times to man, and the natural distinction between right and wrong. i may exaggerate this, perhaps, but something of it certainly exists, and it is a feeling that is growing. shafism has its stronghold at cairo, where the sheykh el islam has always belonged to this rite, but it is also the prevailing school in asia wherever mohammedanism has been introduced through the instrumentality of arabian missionaries. in india the mass of the mussulman population is shafite, especially in hyderabad and the bombay presidency, where the arab element is strongest, while hanefism is the school of the great people who derive their origin from the mogul conquests, and of many of the ulema who are in the habit of making their religious education complete in the hanefite schools of bokhara. wahhabism, too, in the present century has taken great hold of the poorer classes, and within the last few years a turkish propaganda has been at work among them with some success. but of this again later. the indian haj is the most numerous, and represents the largest population of all on our list, and it is besides the most wealthy. the indian mussulman has less to fear from the climate of arabia than the native of more northern lands, and few who can afford it fail to perform this religious duty at least once in their lives. the english government neither checks nor encourages the haj, and indeed of late years has shown a rather culpable negligence as to the interests of british subjects on pilgrimage. such at least is the opinion i heard constantly given at jeddah, and several recent incidents seem to prove that a little closer attention to this matter would be advisable. that ugly story which was told in our newspapers more than a year ago of the abandonment of a pilgrim ship in the red sea by her british captain is, i am sorry to say, a true one, and i heard it confirmed with every circumstance which could aggravate the charges made. the captain in a fit of panic left the ship without any substantial excuse, and if it had not been for the good conduct of a young man, his nephew, who, though ordered to leave too, refused out of humanity, there is little doubt that the vessel would have been lost. a very painful impression was produced on the jeddans while i was there by the news that this english captain had been sentenced for all punishment by an english court to two years' suspension of his certificate. indian pilgrims have besides been very roughly treated in hejaz by the authorities during the last year because they were british subjects, and this without obtaining any redress. such at least is the gossip of the town. however this may be, it seems to me astonishing that so important a matter as the indian haj should be left, as it now is, entirely in the hands of chance. the dutch do not so leave the management of their pilgrimage from java, which, it will be remarked, stands second only to india on my list in respect of numbers. their policy is a very definite one and seems justified by results. there is no disillusion, they argue, for a mussulman greater than to have visited mecca, and they say that a returned hajji is seldom heard to complain in java of his lot as the subject of a christian power. besides the disappointment which all pilgrims are wont to feel who come with exalted hopes and find their holy lands undistinguishable from the other lands of the world, the pilgrim to mecca certainly has to encounter a series of dangers and annoyances which he cannot but recognize to be the result of mussulman misgovernment. from the moment of his landing on the holy shore he finds himself beset with dangers. he is fleeced by the turkish officials, befooled by the religious touts of the towns, and sometimes robbed openly by actual highway robbers. the religious government of the land has no redress to offer him, and the turkish guardians of the peace who affect to rule are only potent in demanding fees. at every step he is waylaid and tricked and ill-treated. he finds the hejazi, the keepers of the holy places and privileged ciceroni of the shrines, shrewder as men of business than devout as believers, and he returns to his home a sadder and, the dutch say, a wiser man. i do not affirm that the dutch are right; but this is the principle they act on, and they boast of its success. we in india, as i have said, in our grand careless way, leave all these things to chance. india, nevertheless, still holds the first rank in the haj, and, all things considered, is now the most important land where the mohammedan faith is found. in the day of its greatness the mogul empire was second to no state in islam, and though its political power is in abeyance, the religion itself is by no means in decay. india has probably a closer connection at the present moment with mecca than any other country, and it is looked upon by many there as the mussulman land of the future. indeed, it may safely be affirmed that the course of events in india will determine more than anything else the destiny of mohammedanism in the immediate future of this and the next generation. the malays, though holding no very high position in the commonwealth of islam, are important from their numbers, their commercial prosperity, and, more than all to an european observer, from the fact that so many of them are dutch subjects. holland, if any lesson for the future can be learned in history, must in a few years find her fate linked with that of germany, and so too her colonies. i will not now enlarge upon the prospect thus opened, but it is a suggestive one, and worthy of all possible attention. for the moment the malays stand rather apart from other pilgrims at the shrines. they boast no great school of theology or particular religious complexion; and as pilgrims they are held in rather low esteem from their penurious ways. but they are a dark element in the future, which it is equally easy to under as to over rate. originally converted by, and to a certain degree descended from, arabs, they are, as far as i could learn, followers of the shafite teaching, and inclined to the broad rather than the narrow ways of islam. they number, according to the dutch consular agent at jeddah, thirty million souls, and are increasing rapidly both in java and in the other islands of the malay archipelago. another enigma are the chinese. i saw a few of them in the streets, and made inquiries as to them. but i could gain no certain information. i have heard them estimated as high as twenty millions and as low as five, but it is certain that they are very numerous.[ ] they established themselves in china, it is said, about the second century of islam, and their missionaries were men of arab race. they are found scattered in groups all over china, but principally inland, and have full enjoyment of their religion, being a united body which is respectable and makes itself respected--so much so that the "houi-tse," or people of the resurrection, as they are called, are employed in the highest offices of the chinese state.[ ] it is plain, however, that they are hardly at all connected with the modern life of islam, for it is only within the last few years that any of them have performed the pilgrimage; and if i include them in my lists as sunites and shafites it is in default of other classification. they probably hold to the mussulman world a position analogous in its isolation to that of the abyssinian church in christendom. they too, however, may one day make their existence felt; for china is no dead nation, only asleep. and with them our survey of orthodox islam ends. the heretical sects remain to us. of these the most notable without contestation is the shiite, or sect of ali, which traces its origin to the very day of the prophet's death, when abu bekr was elected caliph to ali's exclusion. i will not here renew the arguments urged in this old dispute more than to say that the dispute still exists, though it has long ceased to be the only cause of difference between shiah and suni. beginning merely as a political schism, the shiite sect is now distinctly a heresy, and one which has wandered far from the orthodox road. their principal features of quarrel with the sunites are--first, a repudiation of the caliphate and of all hierarchical authority whatsoever; secondly, the admission of a right of free judgment in individual doctors on matters of religion; and thirdly, a general tendency to superstitious beliefs unauthorized by the koran or by the written testimony of the prophet's companions. they also--and this is their great doctrinal quarrel with the unitarian sunites--believe in a series of incarnations of the twelve qualities of god in the persons of the "twelve imams," and in the advent of the last of them as a messiah, or "móhdy," doctrines which are especially advanced by the sheykhi school of shiism and minimized by the mutesharreh or orthodox. these last matters, however, are rather excrescences than necessary parts of shiism. they owe their prevalence, without doubt, to the persian mind, which is equally prone to scepticism and credulity, and where shiism has always had its stronghold. the religious constitution of the sect of ali has been described to me by a member of it who knows europe well as resembling in its organization the presbyterian church of scotland. that is to say, it acknowledges no head, temporal or spiritual, and each congregation represents a separate unit of authority in itself. there is no such functionary in persia as sheykh el islam, or grand mufti, and the shah claims to be neither imam nor caliph. each shiite doctor who has taken his degree at kerbela or ispahan may deliver his fetwa or opinion on points of doctrine, and the only test of his authority to preach or lead the prayer in mosque is his power of attracting a congregation. it is strange that in a sect which had its origin in an assertion of hereditary right to the caliphate everything hereditary should be now rigidly excluded. in theory, i believe the shias still hold that there is an imam and caliph, but they will not tolerate the pretension of any one now in authority to the title, and leave it in abeyance until the advent of the móhdy, or guide, who is to reunite islam and restore its fortunes. so much is this the case that, sovereign though he be and absolute master in persia, the shah is to the present day looked upon by the persians as a usurper, and he himself acknowledges the fact in a rather curious ceremony. it is a maxim with mussulmans of all sects that prayer is not valid if made in another man's house without his permission, and this being so, and the shah admitting that his palaces of right belong not to himself but to the móhdy, he is obliged to lease them according to legal form from an alem or mujtahed, acting for the supposed móhdy, before he can pray in them to his spiritual profit. it will be readily understood that, with such an organization and with such tendencies to deductive reasoning, a wide basis is given for divergence of opinion among the shiites, and that while the more highly educated of their mollahs occasionally preach absolute pantheism, others consult the grosser inclinations of the vulgar, and indulge their hearers with the most extravagant tales of miracle and superstition. these are a constant source of mockery to the sunites. among the more respectable shiite beliefs, however, there seems to be a general conviction in persia that a reform of islam is at hand, and that a new leader may be expected at any moment and from any quarter, so that enthusiasts are constantly found simulating the gifts of inspiration and affecting a divine mission. the history of the babites, so well described by m. de gobineau in his _religions of asia_, is a case in point, and similar occurrences are by no means rare in persia. i met at jeddah a highly educated persian gentleman, who informed me that he had himself been witness when a boy to a religious prodigy, notorious, if i remember rightly, at tabriz. on that occasion, one of these prophets being condemned to death by the supreme government, was bound to a cross with two of his companions, and after remaining suspended thus for several hours, was fired at by the royal troops. it then happened that, while the companions were dispatched at the first volley, the prophet himself remained unhurt, and, incredible to relate, the cords which bound him were cut by the bullets, and he fell to the ground on his feet. "you christians," said another persian gentleman once to me, "talk of your christ as the son of god and think it strange, but with us the occurrence is a common one. believe me we have 'sons of god' in nearly all our villages." thus, with the shiites, extremes meet. no moslems more readily adapt themselves to the superficial atheisms of europe than do the persians, and none are more ardently devout, as all who have witnessed the miracle play of the two imams will be obliged to admit. extremes, too, of morality are seen, fierce asceticisms and gross licentiousnesses. by no sect of islam is the duty of pilgrimage more religiously observed, or the prayers and ablutions required by their rule performed with a stricter ritual. but the very pilgrims who go on foot to mecca scruple not to drink wine there, and persian morality is everywhere a byword. in all these circumstances there is much to fear as well as to hope on the side of the shiite sect; but their future only indirectly involves that of islam proper. their whole census does not probably exceed fifteen millions, and it shows no tendency to increase. outside persia we find about one million irâki arabs, a few in syria and afghanistan, and at most five millions in india. one small group still maintains itself in the neighbourhood of medina, where it is tolerated rather than acknowledged, and a few shiites are to be found in most of the large cities of the west, but everywhere the sect of ali stands apart from and almost in a hostile attitude to the rest of islam. it is noticeable, however, that within the last fifty years the religious bitterness of shiite and sunite is sensibly in decline. the next most important of the heretical sects is the abadiyeh. these, according to some, are the religious descendants of the khawarij, a sect which separated itself from the califate in the time of the seyid ali, and, after a severe persecution in irak, took refuge at last in oman. whatever their present doctrines, they seem at first to have been like the shiites, political schismatics. they maintained that any mussulman, so long as he was not affected with heresy, might be chosen imam, and that he might be deposed for heresy or ill-conduct, and indeed that there was no absolute necessity for any imam at all. they are at present only found in oman and zanzibar, where they number, it is said, about four millions. till as late as the last century the imamate was an elective office among them, but with the accession of the abu saïd dynasty it became hereditary in that family.[ ] they reject all communion with the sunites, but i have not been able to discover that they hold any doctrines especially offensive to the mass of moslems. their differences are mainly negative, and consist in the rejection of califal history and authority later than the reign of omar, and of a vast number of traditions now incorporated in the sunite faith. allied to them but, as i understood, separate, are the zeïdites of yemen, who are possibly also descended from the khawarij. but, as the zeïdites are accustomed to conceal the fact of their heresy and to pass themselves when on pilgrimage as sunites, i could learn little about them. they were, till ten years ago, independent under the imams of sana, and it is certain that they repudiate the califate. in former times, before the first conquest of arabia by the turks, these imams were all powerful in hejaz, and on the destruction of the bagdad califate assumed the title of hami el harameyn, protector of the holy places. the turks, however, now occupy sana, and the office of imam is in abeyance. the zeïdites can hardly number more than two millions, and their only importance in the future lies in the fact of their geographical proximity to mecca, and in the fact that their sympathies lie on the side of liberality in opinion and reform in morals. neither zeïdites nor abadites have any adherents out of their own countries. of the wahhabites a more detailed account is needed, as although their numbers are small and their political importance less than it formerly was, the spirit of their reform movement still lives and exercises a potent influence on modern mohammedan ideas. i have described elsewhere[ ] the historical vicissitudes of the sect in arabia, and the decline of its fortunes in nejd, but a brief recapitulation of these may be allowed me. the early half of the last century was a period of religious stagnation in islam, almost as much as it was in christendom. faith, morals, and religious practice were at the lowest ebb among mussulmans, and it seemed to europeans who looked on as though the faith of mecca had attained its dotage, and was giving place to a non-curantist infidelity. politically and religiously the mussulman world was asleep, when suddenly it awoke, and like a young giant refreshed stood once more erect in arabia. the reform preached by abd el wahhab was radical. he began by breaking with the maxim held by the mass of the orthodox that inquiry on matters of faith was closed. he constituted himself a new mujtahed and founded a new school, neither hanafite, malekite, nor shafite, and called it the school of the unitarians, muwaheddin, a name still cherished by the wahhabites. he rejected positively all traditions but those of the companions of the prophet, and he denied the claims of any but the first four caliphs to have been legitimately elected. the koran was to be the only written law, and islam was to be again what it had been in the first decade of its existence. he established it politically in nejd on precisely its old basis at medina, and sought to extend it over the whole of arabia, perhaps of the world. i believe it is hardly now recognised by mohammedans how near abd el wahhab was to complete success. before the close of the eighteenth century the chiefs of the ibn saouds, champions of unitarian islam, had established their authority over all northern arabia as far as the euphrates, and in they took mecca and medina. in the meanwhile the wahhabite doctrines were gaining ground still further afield. india was at one time very near conversion, and in egypt, and north africa, and even in turkey many secretly subscribed to the new doctrines. two things, however, marred the plan of general reform and prevented its full accomplishment. in the first place the reform was too completely reactive. it took no account whatever of the progress of modern thought, and directly it attempted to leave arabia it found itself face to face with difficulties which only political as well as religious success could overcome. it was impossible, except by force of arms, to arabianise the world again, and nothing less than this was in contemplation. its second mistake, and that was one that a little of the prophet's prudence which always went hand in hand with his zeal might have avoided, was a too rigid insistance upon trifles. abd el wahhab condemned minarets and tombstones because neither were in use during the first years of islam. the minarets therefore were everywhere thrown down, and when the holy places of hejaz fell into the hands of his followers the tombs of saints which had for centuries been revered as objects of pilgrimage were levelled to the ground. even the prophet's tomb at medina was laid waste and the treasures it contained distributed among the soldiers of ibn saoud. this roused the indignation of all islam, and turned the tide of the wahhabite fortunes. respectable feeling which had hitherto been on their side now declared itself against them, and they never after regained their position as moral and social reformers. politically, too, it was the cause of their ruin. the outside mussulman world, looking upon them as sacrilegious barbarians, was afraid to visit mecca, and the pilgrimage declined so rapidly that the hejazi became alarmed. the source of their revenue they found cut off, and it seemed on the point of ceasing altogether. then they appealed to constantinople, urging the sultan to vindicate his claim to be protector of the holy places. what followed is well known. after the peace of paris sultan mahmud commissioned mehemet ali to deliver mecca and medina from the wahhabite heretics, and this he in time effected. the war was carried into nejd; deriyeh, their capital, was sacked, and ibn saoud himself taken prisoner and decapitated in front of st. sophia's at constantinople. the movement of reform in islam was thus put back for, perhaps, another hundred years. still the seed cast by abd el wahhab has not been entirely without fruit. wahhabism, as a political regeneration of the world, has failed, but the spirit of reform has remained. indeed, the present unquiet attitude of expectation in islam has been its indirect result. just as the lutheran reformation in europe, though it failed to convert the christian church, caused its real reform, so wahhabism has produced a real desire for reform if not yet reform itself in mussulmans. islam is no longer asleep, and were another and a wiser abd el wahhab to appear, not as a heretic, but in the body of the orthodox sect, he might play the part of loyola or borromeo with success. the present condition of the wahhabites as a sect is one of decline. in india, and i believe in other parts of southern asia, their missionaries still make converts and their preachers are held in high esteem. but at home in arabia their zeal has waxed cold, giving place to liberal ideas which in truth are far more congenial to the arabian mind. the ibn saoud dynasty no longer holds the first position in nejd, and ibn rashid who has taken their place, though nominally a wahhabite, has little of the wahhabite fanaticism. he is in fact a popular and national rather than a religious leader, and though still designated at constantinople as a pestilent heretic, is counted as their ally by the more liberal sunites. it is probable that he would not withhold his allegiance from a caliph of the legitimate house of koreysh. but this, too, is beyond the subject of the present chapter. with the wahhabites, then, our census of islam closes. it has given us, as i hope, a fairly accurate view of the forces which make up the mohammedan world, and though the enumeration of these cannot but be dull work, i do not think it will have been work done in vain. without it indeed it would be almost impossible to make clear the problem presented to us by modern islam or guess its solution. more interesting matter, however, lies before us, and in my next chapter i propose to introduce my reader to that burning question of the day in asia, the caliphate, and explain the position of the house of othman towards the mohammedan world. footnotes: [ ] the following is a formula of the faith:-- . that thou believest in god, the one god and none other with him, and that thou believest that mohammed is his servant and his apostle. . that thou believest in the holy angels and the holy books, the pentateuch, the psalms, the gospels and the koran. . that thou believest in the last day, and in the providence of god both for good and for evil. [ ] the hanbali ritual is now almost entirely confined to medina and kasim in central arabia. [ ] this was written before the events of last september, which have given a new impulse to liberalism in egypt, though it has taken the direction of mohammedan thought there out of the hands of the khedive. [ ] the exact composition of the azhar university is as follows. of the five hundred and odd sheykhs or professors, two hundred are shafite, two hundred malekite, one hundred hanefite, and five hanbalite. each of these sections has a supreme sheykh, chosen by itself, whose fetwa on questions concerning the school is decisive. there is, moreover, a sheykh el islam, also elected, who decides religious questions of general importance, and a grand mufti appointed by the government who gives fetwas on matters of law. the latter is hanefite, the former at the present moment shafite, as are the bulk of the students. these number about fifteen hundred. [ ] it is the secret of the rapid conversions in ancient days among the poor of the roman and persian empires, and it is the secret of those now taking place among the low-caste indians. [ ] the mohammedan revolts in yunan and kashgar, repressed with great ferocity by the chinese, have in late years temporarily diminished the mohammedan census; but there seems good reason to believe that they are making steady progress in the empire. [ ] compare m. huc's account of their origin. [ ] compare dr. badger's history of oman and sale's koran. [ ] lady anne blunt's _pilgrimage to nejd_. appendix. chapter ii. the modern question of the caliphate. about the year of our era ( of the hejra), selim i., padishah of the ottoman turks and emperor of constantinople, finding himself the most powerful prince of his day in islam, and wishing still further to consolidate his rule, conceived the idea of reviving in his own person the extinct glories of the caliphate. he had more than one claim to be considered their champion by orthodox mohammedans, for he was the grandson of that mahomet ii. who had finally extinguished the roman empire of the east, and he had himself just ended a successful campaign against the heretical shah of persia, head of the sect of ali. his only rivals among sunite princes were the sultan el hind, or, as we call him, the great mogul, the sultan el gharb, or emperor of morocco, and the mameluke sultan of egypt, then known to the world as _par excellence_ the sultan. with the two former, as rulers of what were remote lands of islam, selim seems to have troubled himself little; but he made war on egypt. in he invaded syria, its outlying province, and in he entered cairo. there he made prisoner the reigning mameluke, kansaw el ghouri, and had him publicly beheaded, or according to another account, received his head from a soldier, who had killed him where he lay on the ground after falling (for the sultan was an old man) from his horse. he then, in virtue of a very doubtful cession made to him of his rights by one motawakkel ibn omar el hakim, a descendant of the house of abbas, whom he found living as titular caliph in cairo, took to himself the following style and title: sultan es salatin, wa hakan el hawakin, malek el bahreyn, wa hami el barreyn, khalifeh rasul allah, emir el mumenin, wa sultan, wa khan--titles which may be thus interpreted: king of kings and lord of lords, monarch of the two seas (the mediterranean and the red sea), and protector of the two lands (hejaz and syria, the holy lands of islam), successor of the apostle of god, prince of the faithful, and emperor. 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 .[ ] 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. selim was already temporal lord of the greater part of islam, and he might be expected thus to restore the spiritual sovereignty also. besides, to the ears of mussulmans of the sixteenth century, the caliphal title was no longer a familiar sound, and the title of sultan which selim already bore was that of the highest temporal authority they knew. the caliphate, if it existed at all, was in the modern world a less imposing name than the sultanate; and the two had since the destruction of bagdad become confused, as they still remain, in men's minds who do not any more now make common use of the older title. thus it was not difficult for the new sultan of damascus and cairo and medina to impose himself on the multitude--not merely as heir to the caliphal possessions, but to the title also of the caliphs and their spiritual rank. advantage, too, seems to have been taken in the first instance, as it has been subsequently, of the accidental resemblance of name between othman, selim's ancestor, and othman the third caliph. the vulgar ear caught the sound as one familiar to it, and was satisfied, for there is all the world in a name. with the ulema, however, it was necessary to be more precise; and we know that the question of the ottoman right to the spiritual succession of the prophet was one long and hotly debated in the schools. tradition was formal on the point of excluding aliens to the koreysh from this its legal inheritance, for mohammed himself had repeatedly distinguished his own tribe as being the sole heirs to his authority; nor would any doctor of the specially arabian schools listen to a departure from ideas so absolute. the hanefite school, however, representing those chiefly interested in accepting the ottoman pretension, undertook its legal defence, and succeeded, in spite of the one great obstacle of birth, in making out a very tolerable case for themselves and the beni othman--a case which, in the absence of any rival candidate to oppose to them, has since been tacitly accepted by the majority of the sunite ulema. the difficulty, however, was in practice settled by a compromise, and the dispute itself had long been forgotten by all but the learned, until within the present generation its arguments were once more dragged out publicly to serve a political purpose. the hanefite arguments are on this account interesting, and i have been at pains to ascertain and understand them; but perhaps before i state them in detail it will be best first briefly to run over the caliphal history of an earlier age and describe the state of things which selim's act superseded. orthodox mussulman writers recognize four distinct phases which the office of khalifeh has undergone, and four distinct periods of its history. the word khalifeh, derived from the arabic root _khalafa_, to "leave behind," signifies literally one left behind, and in the legal sense the relict or successor of the prophet and heir to his temporal and spiritual power. the _first_ historical phase noticed is one of pure theocracy, in which the caliph or successor of mohammed was saint as well as priest and king, and was to a certain extent inspired. it lasted thirty years only, and is represented by the four great caliphs--abu bekr, omar, othman, and ali--who receive from the faithful when they speak of them the title of seydna, or our lord. the _second_ phase, which lasted nearly six hundred years, is that of the arabian monarchy, in which the caliphate took the shape of hereditary temporal dominion. its representatives are neither saints nor doctors of the law, and stand on a quite different footing from those who precede them. they begin with mawiyeh ibn ommiyah, founder of the ommiad dynasty, and end with mostasem billah, the last sultan of the abbasides. the _third_ period is a phase of temporal inter-regnum during which for nearly three hundred years the khalifeh exercised no sovereign rights, and resided as a spiritual chief only, or as we should now say sheykh el islam, at cairo. the temporal authority of islam, which is theoretically supposed to have been continued without break even during this period, was then in delegation with the memluk sultans of egypt and other mussulman princes. the _last_ phase is that of the ottoman caliphate. as nearly all modern arguments respecting the caliphate appeal to examples in the earliest period, it will be well to consider the origin of its institution and the political basis of islam itself. mohammedan doctors affirm that the apostle of god, mohammed (on whose name be peace), when he fled from mecca, did so not as a rebellious citizen but as a pretender to authority. he was by birth a prince of the princely house of the koreysh, itself the noblest tribe of hejaz, and his grandfather had been supreme ruler in mecca. he established himself, therefore, with his companions in exile as head of an independent political community, following in this the ancient custom of arabia where sections constantly cut themselves off from the parent tribe and form new nations under the separate leadership of one or another member of their princely families. islam, therefore, was from its commencement a political as well as a religious body, and while mohammed preached to his disciples as a prophet, he also gave laws to them as their king and governor. he was their imam, the leader of their prayer, and he was their emir and kadi, prince and magistrate. thus the supreme temporal and spiritual authority became linked, and islam was from its beginning a nation no less than a church. as long as mohammed lived, this state of things remained unquestioned, and difficulties began only at his death. it is a point which has been much disputed what were the prophet's intentions regarding this event. in early times the sect of ali maintained that he had appointed his son-in-law his heir, and others have held that abu bekr had the nomination; but sunites are now mostly agreed that no individual appointment was made, and that the choice of a successor was left to be decided by election. in any case the procedure followed by mohammed's bereaved followers was elective, and its details were in strict accordance with that arabian custom on which the koranic law is mainly built. now, in an arab tribe, when the sheykh dies, the elders of the tribe, heads of its great houses and sections, assemble in one of their number's tent and, sitting in a circle, discuss the subject of his succession. theoretically, the choice of a successor is open to any one of them, for the tribe, however large, is all one great family, descended from a common ancestor, and though no one from without could be admitted to the supreme rule, any one from within the tribe can hold office. but in practice the choice is limited to a few persons. the reverence of the arabs for blood, and for selected strains of blood, prevent them, except in very exceptional cases, from changing the dynasty of their rulers. if the dead man has left behind him a son of full age and respectable qualities, he will, without dispute, be acknowledged sheykh. if not, an uncle, a nephew, or a cousin will be chosen. only in extreme circumstances of general danger, or of failure of heirs male, can the member of a new family reasonably aspire to power. moreover, there is no uniform law of election. the meeting does not pretend to give a right, only to confirm one; for the right lies not with the electors but with him who can maintain his election. there is, therefore, no formal system of voting, but the elders having ascertained who among the dead man's relations commands the strongest following, proceed to acknowledge him by the ceremony of giving him their hands. he then becomes their sheykh. it sometimes happens, however, that parties are so evenly divided between rival leaders that the tribe divides, one section going this way and the other that, until one of the leaders gives in his submission; otherwise the quarrel is decided by the sword. all these features of the arabian tribal system of succession may be noticed in the first elections to the caliphate. as soon as it was known that mohammed was indeed dead, a conclave composed of the elders and chief men of islam, self-constituted and recognizing no special popular mandate, assembled in the house of omar ibn el khattub. this conclave is known to jurists as the _ahl el helli wa el agde_, the people of the loosing and the knotting, because they assumed the duty of solving the knotty question of succession. a nice point had to be decided, just such a one as has in all ages been the cause of civil war in arabia. the prophet had left no son, but more than one near relation. moreover, at that moment the new nation of islam was in danger of internal disruption, and the religious and the civil elements in it were on the point of taking up arms against each other. the two chief candidates were ali ibn abutaleb and abu bekr, the one son-in-law and cousin and the other father-in-law of mohammed--ali represented the civil, abu bekr the religious party; and as it happened that the latter party was predominant at medina, it was on abu bekr that the choice fell. he was recognized as head of the more powerful faction, and the chiefs gave him their hands; while civil war was only prevented by the magnanimous submission of ali. this form of succession is held by most sunite doctors to be the authentic form intended by the prophet, nor did the three following elections differ from it in any essential point. it is only noticed that abu bekr designated omar as the most fitting person to succeed him, and so in a measure directed the choice of the ahl el agde. the caliph was in each instance elected by the elders at medina, and the choice confirmed by its general acknowledgment elsewhere. in the time of ali, however, a new principle began to make its appearance, which foreshadowed a change in the nature of the caliphate. the election of abu bekr, as i have said, was determined by the predominant religious feeling of the day. he was the holiest man in islam, and his government was throughout strictly theocratic. he not only administered the religious law, but was its interpreter and architect. he sat every day in the _mejlis_, or open court of justice, and decided there questions of divinity as well as of jurisprudence. he publicly led the prayer in the mosque, expounded the koran, and preached every friday from the pulpit. he combined in his person all the functions now divided between the sheykh el islam, the grand mufti, and the executive authorities. he was king and priest and magistrate, doctor of civil and religious law, and supreme referee on all matters whether of opinion or practice; he was, in a word, the pope of islam. nor did his three successors abate anything of abu bekr's pretensions. the only power they delegated was the command of the mussulman armies, which were then overrunning the world, and the government of the provinces these had conquered. ali, however, when he at last succeeded to the caliphate, found himself opposed by the very party whose candidate he had once been, and this party had gathered strength in the interval. with the conquest of the world worldly ideas had filled the hearts of mussulmans, and a strong reaction also had set in in favour of those specially national ideas of arabia which religious fervour had hitherto held in check. it was natural, indeed inevitable, that this should be the case, for many conquered nations had embraced the faith of islam, and, as mussulmans, had become the equals of their conquerors, so that what elements of pride existed in these found their gratification in ideas of race and birth rather than of religion, ideas which the conquered races could not share, and which were the special inheritance of arabia. the national party, then, had been reinforced, at the expense of the religious, among the koreysh, who were still at the head of all the affairs of state. their leader was mawiyeh ibn ommiyeh, a man of distinguished ability and of that charm of manner which high-born arabs know so well how to use to their political ends. he had for some years been governor of syria, and was more popular there than the pious ali; and syria, though not yet the nominal, was already the real seat of the mussulman government. mawiyeh therefore refused to accept ali's election at medina as valid, and finding himself supported by a rival ahl el agde at damascus, made that appeal to the sword which arabian usage sanctions as the ultimate right of all pretenders. religious writers agree in condemning mawiyeh for his revolt; and while his succession to ali is accepted as legal, they place him on quite a different level from the four caliphs who preceded him. in mawiyeh they see fulfilled that prediction of their prophet which announced that islam should be ruled for thirty years by an imam, and ever after by a king. mawiyeh is, indeed, the type of all the later mohammedan emperors. according to canon law, the head of the state is also head of the religion; but mawiyeh ceased to exercise religious functions in person. these, unlike his predecessors, he delegated to others, and neither led the prayer nor preached; nor was he held to be either the best or the most learned man in islam, as abu bekr and the rest had been. moreover--and this is the chief point noticed regarding him--he introduced the system of dynastic heredity into the caliphate, nominating his son yezid his successor in his own lifetime. the change, advantageous as it was politically, is regarded as a religious falling off. henceforth the caliphs, whether of the ommiad or afterwards of the abbaside families, were not in reality elected, though the form of confirmation by the ulema was gone through; and they affected to succeed by right of birth, not by the voice of the people. during the whole period of the arabian caliphate we only notice one prince of the faithful who busied himself much with religious learning, and few who personally exercised the magisterial functions. only once we read of an abbaside caliph insisting on his right of leading the prayer, and this was probably the effect of an accidental jealousy. as a rule the temporal government of islam was intrusted to a _sadrazzam_, or grand vizier, the spiritual duty of prayer to a _naïb_, or deputy imam, and the elaboration or interpretation of law and doctrine to such ulema or mujtaheddin as could command a following. the character of the khalifeh, however, was still essentially sacred. he was of the koreysh and of the blood of the prophet, and so was distinct from the other princes of the world. as their political power decayed, the abbasides fell indeed into the hands of adventurers who even occasionally used them as puppets for their own ambitious ends; but the office was respected, and neither the kurdish saladdin, nor togral bey, nor malek shah, nor any of the seljukian emirs el amara dared meddle personally with the title of caliph. the ommiad dynasty, founded by mawiyeh, reigned at damascus eighty-five years, and was then succeeded on a new appeal to the sword in a.d. by the descendants of another branch of the koreysh--the beni abbas--who transferred the capital of islam to bagdad, and survived as temporal sovereigns there for five hundred years. this second period of islam, though containing her greatest glories and her highest worldly prosperity, is held to be less complete by divines than the first thirty years which had preceded it. islam was no longer one. to say nothing of the persian and arabian schisms, the orthodox world itself was divided, and rival caliphs had established themselves independently in spain and egypt. moreover, during the last two centuries the temporal power of the caliphs was practically in delegation to the seljuk turks, who acted as mayors of the palace, and their spiritual power was unsupported by any show of sanctity or learning. it was terminated forcibly by the pagan holagu, who at the head of the mongols sacked bagdad in . the third period of caliphal history saw all temporal power wrested from the caliphs. islam, on the destruction of the arabian monarchy, resolved itself into a number of separate states, each governed by its own bey or sultan, who in his quality of temporal prince was head also of religion within his own dominions. the mongols, converted to the faith of mecca, founded a mohammedan empire in the east; the seljuk turks, replaced by the ottoman, reigned in asia minor; the barbary states had their own rulers; and egypt was governed by that strange dynasty of slaves, the mameluke sultans. nowhere was a supreme temporal head of islam to be seen, and the name of khalifeh as that of a reigning sovereign ceased any longer to be heard of in the world. only the nominal succession of the prophet was obscurely preserved at cairo, whither the survivors of the family of abbas had betaken themselves on the massacre of their house at bagdad. it is difficult to ascertain the precise position of these titular caliphs under the mameluke monarchy in egypt. that they were little known to the world in general is certain; and one is sometimes tempted to suspect the complete authenticity of the succession preserved through them. contemporary christian writers do not mention them, and it is evident from sir john mandeville and others that in egypt the egyptian sultan himself was talked of as head of the mussulman religion. i have heard their position compared with that of the present sheykhs el islam at constantinople--that is to say, they were appointed by the sultan, and were made use of by him as a means of securing mussulman allegiance--and i believe this to have been all their real status. they are cited, however, as in some sense sovereigns by hanefite teachers, whose argument it is that the succession of the prophet has never lapsed, or islam been without a recognized temporal head. the sultans, neither of egypt nor of india, nor till selim's time of the turkish empire, ever claimed for themselves the title of khalifeh, nor did the sherifal family of mecca, who alone of them might have claimed it legally as koreysh. neither did tamerlane nor any of the mussulman mongols who reigned at bagdad. the fact is, we may assume the caliphate was clean forgotten at the time selim bethought him of it as an instrument of power. it must, then, have been an interesting and startling novelty with mussulmans to hear of this new pretender to the ancient dignity--interesting, because the name khalifeh was connected with so many of the bygone glories of islam; startling, because he who claimed it seemed by birth incapable of doing so. the hanefite ulema, however, as i have said, undertook selim's defence, or rather that of his successors, for selim himself died not a year afterwards, and succeeded in proving, to the satisfaction of the majority of sunites, that the house of othman had a good and valid title to the rank they had assumed. their chief arguments were as follows. the house of othman, they asserted, ruled spiritually by-- . _the right of the sword_, that is to say, the _de facto_ possession of the sovereign title. it was argued that, the caliphate being a necessity (and this all orthodox mussulmans admit), it was also necessary that the _de facto_ holder of the title should be recognized as legally the caliph, _until a claimant with a better title should appear_. now the first qualification of a claimant was that he should claim, and the second that he should be supported by a party; and selim had both claimed the caliphate and supported his pretensions at the head of an army. he had challenged the world to produce a rival, and no rival had been found--none, at least, which the hanefite school acknowledged, for the sultan of morocco they had never accepted, and the last descendant of the abbasides had waived his rights. in support of the proposition that the sword could give a title they cited the examples of mawiyeh, who thus established his right against the family of ali, and of abu el abbas, who had thus established his against that of mawiyeh. . _election_, that is the sanction of a legal body of elders. it was argued that, as the ahl el agde had been removed from medina to damascus, and from damascus to bagdad, and from bagdad to cairo, so it had been once more legally removed from cairo to constantinople. selim had brought with him to st. sophia's some of the ulema of the azhar mosque in cairo, and these, in conjunction with the turkish ulema, had elected him or ratified his election. a form of election is to the present day observed at constantinople in token of this right; and each new sultan of the house of othman, as he succeeds to the temporal sovereignty of turkey, must wait before being recognized as caliph till he has received the sword of office at the hands of the ulema. this ceremony it is customary to perform in the mosque of ayub. . _nomination._ sultan selim, as has been already said, obtained from mutawakkel, a descendant of the abbasides and himself titularly caliph, a full cession of all the caliphal rights of that family. the fact, as far as it goes, is historical, and the only flaw in the argument would seem to be that mutawakkel had no right thus to dispose of a title to an alien, which was his own only in virtue of his birth. the case, indeed, was very much as though the emperor of germany, having possessed himself of london, should obtain from don carlos a cession of the throne of spain; or as though napoleon should have got such a cession of the papacy, in , from pius vii. still it is insisted upon strongly by the hanefite divines as giving a more permanent dynastic title than either of the previous pleas. as a precedent for nomination they cite the act of abu bekr, who on his death-bed recommended omar as his successor in the caliphate. . _the guardianship of the two shrines_, that is to say of mecca and jerusalem, but especially of mecca. it has been asserted by some of the ulema, and it is certainly a common opinion at the present day, that the sovereignty of hejaz is in itself sufficient title to the caliphate. it seems certainly to have been so considered in the first age of islam, and many a bloody war was then fought for the right of protecting the beyt allah; but the connection of hejaz with the empire of the caliphs has been too often broken to make this a very tenable argument. in the tenth century it was held by the karmathian heretics, in the thirteenth by the imams of sana, and for seven years in the present century by the wahhabis. still the _de facto_ sovereignty of the harameyn, or two shrines, was one of selim's pleas; and it is one which has reappeared in modern arguments respecting the caliphal rights of his descendants. . _possession of the amanat_ or sacred relics. this last was a plea addressed to the vulgar rather than to the learned; but it is one which cannot be passed by unnoticed here, for it exercises a powerful influence at the present day over the ignorant mass of mussulmans. it was asserted, and is still a pious belief, that from the sack of bagdad, in , certain relics of the prophet and his companions were saved and brought to cairo, and thence transferred by selim to constantinople. these were represented to constitute the imperial insignia of office, and their possession to give a title to the caliphal succession. they consisted of the cloak of the prophet borne by his soldiers as a standard, of some hairs from his beard, and of the sword of omar. the vulgar believe them to be still preserved in the mosque of ayub; and though the ulema no longer insist on their authenticity, they are often referred to as an additional test of the sultan's right. such, then, were the arguments of the hanefite school, who defended selim's claim, and such they are with regard to his successors of the house of othman. by the world at large they seem to have been pretty generally accepted, the more so as the turkish sultans, having only a political end in view, were satisfied with their formal recognition by their own subjects, and did not bring the question to an issue with their independent neighbours. neither the mogul emperors at delhi nor the sheriffs of morocco were called upon to acknowledge temporal or spiritual supremacy in the ottoman sultans, nor did these affect an every-day use of the ancient title they had assumed. in india the head of the house of othman was still known to moslems as padishah or sultan er roum, the roman emperor, the most powerful of mussulman princes, but not in any special manner the head of their religion, certainly not their sovereign. the ulema, indeed, such as were hanefites, admitted him to be legally khalifeh; but many of the shafite school denied this, pleading still that as an alien to the koreysh his claim was illegal, while to the ignorant mass of the people out of his dominions his spiritual title remained almost unknown. the sultans themselves were doubtless to blame for this, seeing that the spiritual functions of their new office were left almost entirely unperformed. for it cannot be too strongly insisted on that the assumption of the caliphate was to the house of othman only a means to an end, viz. the consolidation of its worldly power upon a recognized basis, and that, once that end obtained, the temporal dignity of sultan was all that they really considered. thus they never sought to exercise the right appertaining to the caliphal office of appointing naïbs, or deputy imams, in the lands outside their dominions, or to interfere with doctrinal matters at home, except where such might prejudice the interests of their rule. with regard to these, the theologians of constantinople, having satisfactorily settled the caliphal dispute, and pronounced the house of othman for ever heirs to the dignity they had assumed, were recommended by the head of the state to busy themselves no further with doctrinal matters, and to consider the _ijtahad_, or development of new dogma, altogether closed for the future in their schools. soliman the magnificent, selim's heir, especially insisted upon this. he had already promulgated a series of decrees affecting the civil administration of his empire, which he had declared to be immutable; and an immutability, too, in dogma he thought would still further secure the peace and stability of his rule. nor did he meet with aught but approval here from the hanefite divines. the turkish ulema, ever since their first appearance in the arabian schools in the eleventh century, finding themselves at a disadvantage through their ignorance of the sacred language, and being constitutionally adverse to intellectual effort, had maintained the proposition that mental repose was the true feature of orthodoxy, and in their _fetwas_ had consistently relied on authority and rejected original argument. they therefore readily seconded the sultan in his views. argument on first principles was formally forbidden in the schools; and for the interpretation of existing law two offices were invented--the one for dogmatic, the other for practical decisions, those of the sheykh el islam and the great mufti. this closing of doctrinal inquiry by the ottoman sultans, and the removal of the seat of supreme spiritual government from the arabian atmosphere of cairo to the tartar atmosphere of the bosphorus, was the direct and immediate cause of the religious stagnation which islam suffered from so conspicuously in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. we have now brought the history of the caliphate down to the period described in the last chapter as one of intellectual torpor for islam. it was a lethargy from which there seemed no awakening, and which to contemporaries, voltaire among the rest, seemed closely approximating to the death of unbelief. in spite of soliman's eternal arrangements, the temporal power of the house of othman was wofully diminished, and the spiritual prestige of the sultans was gone with mussulmans. by the middle of the last century the title of caliph, even in their own dominions, was all but forgotten, and the court of constantinople was become a byword for its vice and infidelity. it can therefore be well imagined that the awakening of religious feeling, which i also described as having been produced by the wahhabite movement, especially menaced the sultan in his caliphal pretensions. by the beginning of the present century the serious world of islam was already ripening for a change, and the title of the caliphate seemed open to whoever should re-invent and prove himself worthy to wear it. two men certainly then dreamed of its acquisition, both men of supreme genius, and holding the elements of success in their hands. nor can it be doubted that either of them would have achieved his ambition but for the appearance against them of a material power greater than their own, and which then, for the first time, began to make itself felt as paramount in asia. that power was england, and the ambitions she thwarted there were those of bonaparte and mehemet ali. it is not, i believe, sufficiently understood how vast a scheme was overthrown by the battle of the nile. napoleon's mind was formed for dominion in the east, and where he failed in europe he would have infallibly succeeded in asia. there little policies are useless, and great ones root themselves in a congenial soil; and he was possessed with an idea which must have flourished. his english opponents, judging him only by the scale of their own thoughts, credited him with the inferior design of invading india through persia, and called it a mad one; but india was, in fact, a small part only of his programme. when he publicly pronounced the kelemat at cairo, and professed the faith of islam, he intended to be its head, arguing rightly that what had been possible three hundred years before to selim was possible also then to him. nor would the mussulman world have been much more astonished in at being asked to accept a bonaparte for caliph, than it was in at being asked to accept an ottoman. with napoleon's genius for war, and but for the disastrous sea fight on the nile, all this might have been, and more; and it is conceivable that europe, taken in reverse by a great moslem multitude, might have suffered worse disasters than any the actual napoleonic wars procured her, while a more durable empire might have been founded on the nile or bosphorus than the bonapartes were able to establish on the seine. as it was, it was an episode and no more, useful only to the few who saw it near enough to admire and understand.[ ] among these who saw and understood was mehemet ali, the albanian adventurer, who undertook the government of egypt when england restored it to the porte. bonaparte from the first was his model, and he inherited from him this vision of a new caliphate, the greatest of the napoleonic ideas, and worked persistently to realize it. he was within an ace of succeeding. in mehemet ali had mecca, cairo, and jerusalem in his hands, and he had defeated the sultan at konia, and was advancing through asia minor on constantinople. there, without doubt, he would have proclaimed himself caliph, having all the essential elements of the sultan's admitted right on which to found a new claim. nor is it probable that he would have found much religious opposition to the realization of his scheme from the turkish ulema. these, already alarmed by sultan murad's administrative reforms, would hardly have espoused the sultan's defence with any vigour; and though mehemet ali himself was open to a charge of latitudinarianism, he had the one great claim upon orthodox islam of having delivered the holy cities of mecca and medina from the wahhabis. the house of othman, indeed, at this time had begun to stink--not only in the nostrils of the outside world, but in that of the hanefite school itself; and as these had formerly accepted selim, so they might very well, in , have accepted mehemet ali. but this attempt, too, was stopped by england in pursuance of a policy which it is difficult now not to regret. the too venturous arnaout was sent back to his vice-royalty in egypt, and the house of othman was entrusted with a new lease of spiritual sovereignty, if not yet of spiritual power. the reigns of abd el mejid and of abd el aziz are remarkable with mussulmans as having witnessed a complete dissociation of interests between the imperial government and the old hanefite school of ulema. i have no space here to discuss the nature of the reforms attempted and partly effected in the ottoman empire between the years and as a concession to the clamour of europe. they were instituted not by and through religion, as they should have been, but in defiance of it, and so failed to find acceptance anywhere with religious people. all changes so attempted must fail in islam because they have in them the inevitable vice of illegality, and i hope to have an opportunity of explaining later the manner in which alone a true reform can hope to find acceptance. for the present i only note the promulgation of the hatti humayoum and its kindred decrees as points in the history of the ottoman caliphate's decline, and as direct reasons for the reactionary change of front which we now witness in the policy of constantinople. abd el mejid for his ill-judged attempts gained with mussulmans the name of an unbeliever, and his son was deposed in the way we all know as a breaker of the religious law. for a moment, however, abd el aziz seems to have seen the true nature of his position and to have had some idea of the _rôle_ required of him, as the following incident will show. it marks at any rate the epoch pretty exactly when a revival of the sultan's spiritual pretensions, as a settled policy, was first resolved on in turkey. the circumstances have been narrated to me as follows:-- quite in the early days of abd el aziz's reign a certain statesman, a man of original genius and profoundly versed in the knowledge both of europe and of the east, and especially of the religious history of islam, came to constantinople. he was a friend of rushdi pasha, then the grand vizier, and of others of the party of young turkey, men who were seeking by every means, fair and foul, to reorganize and strengthen the central authority of the empire. to these, and subsequently, in an interview, to the sultan himself, he urged the advantage which might accrue to the ottoman government both as a means of controlling the provinces and as a weapon against european diplomacy if the spiritual authority of the sultan as caliph were put more prominently forward. he suggested especially to abd el aziz that his real strength lay in the reorganization not of his temporal but of his spiritual forces; and he expressed his wonder that so evident a source of strength had been so little drawn on. he pointed out the importance of the mussulman populations outside the empire to the sultan, and urged that these should be brought as much as possible within the sphere of constantinople influence. the barbary states, mussulman india, and central asia might thus become to all intents and purposes, save that of tribute, subjects of the porte. in early times it had been a duty of the caliphs to appoint in all the provinces of islam imams or deputies to represent their spiritual authority, and it was suggested that these should once more be appointed. an imam, or leader of their public prayer, is a necessity with orthodox mussulmans, and in default of legal appointment from the caliph, who is himself the supreme imam, the faithful had been constrained to apply either to the local governments for such appointment or to elect the functionary themselves. this they acknowledged to be illegal, and would willingly revert to the more legitimate system; while the re-establishment of such a hierarchy would bring an enormous accession of spiritual power to constantinople. it was also shown to abd el aziz how all-important arabia was to his position, and how greatly the means of influence there had been neglected. i am informed by one present at this interview that abd el aziz was not only delighted at the idea, but profoundly astonished. he seems to have had no notion previously either of the historical dignity of the spiritual office he held nor of its prerogatives, and for a while his thoughts were turned in the direction pointed out to him. he sent for the chief ulema and asked them if all he heard was true; and, when he found their ideas to be entirely in unison with the advice just given him, he commissioned the sheykh el islam to push forward the doctrine of his spiritual leadership by all the means in his power. missionaries were consequently despatched to every part of the mussulman world, and especially to india and the barbary states, to explain the hanefite dogma of the caliphate; and though at first these met with little success they eventually gained their object in those countries where believers were obliged to live under infidel rule, so much so that in a few years the ottoman caliphate became once more a recognized "question" in the schools. they were aided in this by a powerful instrument, then first employed in turkey, the press.[ ] a newspaper in arabic called the _jawaib_ was subsidized at constantinople under the direction of one achmet faris, a convert to islam and a man of great literary ability and knowledge of arabic, who already had views on the subject of the caliphate; and this organ henceforth consistently advocated the new policy of the ulema. the official clique in stamboul were, however, at that time still intent on other projects, and only half understood the part to be played by religion in their scheme of administrative reform for the empire. besides--and this was the chief hindrance to the ulema--abd el aziz was not a man capable of seriously carrying out a great political idea, being little else than a man of pleasure. he and his government consequently soon drifted back into the groove of his predecessors' material policy, which relied for its strength on the physical force of arms, foreign loans, and the intrigues of officials. the only practical action taken by ottoman ministers in the line indicated were the twin crusades proclaimed against the wahhabis of hasa and the heretical imams of sana. but the hanefite ulema were not thus to be satisfied. they had determined on carrying out the idea they had adopted, and on forcing the sultan to put himself openly at the head of a religious and reactionary movement; and when they found that abd el aziz could not be made to act consistently as caliph, they deposed him, and thus opened a way for the true hero of their idea, the present sultan, abd el hamid. the advent of this latest scion of the house of othman to the spiritual succession of the prophet, though a godsend in appearance to religious moslems, cannot but be regarded by all who wish islam well as a very great misfortune. it is almost certain that if abd el mejid and abd el aziz had been succeeded by another of those senseless monarchs who have so often filled the imperial throne, the ottoman caliphate would already have been a thing of the past, at least as regards the larger and more intelligent part of islam. in the collapse of its physical power in , the official camarilla of constantinople would have been unable to control the movement of revolt against the spiritual and temporal sovereignty of the sultan, and something would have taken its place offering a more possible foundation for true religious reform. arabia would in all probability have by this time asserted its independence, and under a new caliphate of the koreysh would have been attracting the sympathies and the adhesion of the eastern world. there might have been schisms and religious convulsions, but at least there would have been life; and what islam requires is to live. but unfortunately abd el hamid was neither a mere voluptuary nor an imbecile, and catching, by an instinct which one cannot but admire, the one rope of safety which remained for him and his house, he placed himself at the head of the extreme reactionary party of islam, and thus put back for a while the hour of fate. it is difficult to gain accurate information as to abd el hamid's character and religious opinions, but i believe it may be safely asserted that he represents in these latter the extremest hanefite views. in youth he was, for a prince, a serious man, showing a taste for learning, especially for geography and history; and though not an _alem_ he has some knowledge of his religion. it may therefore be taken for granted that he is sincere in his belief of his own spiritual position--it is easy to be sincere where one's interest lies in believing; and i have it from one who saw him at the time that on the day soon after his accession, when, according to the custom already mentioned, he received the sword at the mosque of ayub, he astonished his courtiers with the sudden change in his demeanour. all the afternoon of that day he talked to them of his spiritual rank in language which for centuries had not been heard in the precincts of the seraglio. it is certain, too, that his first act, when delivered from the pressure of the russian invasion, was to organize afresh the propagandism already begun, and to send out new missionaries to india and the barbary states to preach the doctrine of his own caliphal authority to the moslems _in partibus infidelium_. his language, too, to strangers from external islam was from the first that of a spiritual rather than a temporal prince, and with the european ambassadors he has used this position consistently and most effectually. it is no mean proof of abd el hamid's ability that he should have invented the mussulman _non possumus_ with which he has disconcerted our diplomacy. in private life he is said to be regular at his prayers, though it is also said that he conforms to the custom of turkish sultans in avoiding legal marriage. he is at the same time a liberal patron of dervishes, workers of miracles, and holy men. these he is at pains to seek out and receive honourably. in his administration he conforms, wherever he is himself the actor, strictly to the sheriat, and on doubtful points consults always the mufti or sheykh el islam. he has shown no inconsiderable firmness in resisting european demands when they contravened the canon law.[ ] for all these reasons it will be readily understood that abd el hamid has gained not only the support of his own turkish ulema, but the sympathy of a very considerable section of opinion outside his dominions. from a traitor to the cause of religion the ottoman sultan has come to be looked upon, east and west, as once more its champion; and with the old-fashioned reactionary school abd el hamid is fast growing into a hero. a year ago, when i was at jeddah, this was not yet the case, but it would seem to be so now. then even the people of his own party spoke of him doubtfully, and he certainly excited no enthusiasm among them. they did not understand him, and thought that he was playing a part. he was said to be of armenian parentage (on his mother's side) and his sincerity as a moslem was suspected. it seemed impossible one born in abd el mejid's seraglio should be a serious man. besides, he had not yet shown his strength, and to be strong is to be a hero everywhere. but within the last eight months, events have marched rapidly. abd el hamid has played his cards successfully in greece, in albania, and with the kurds. he has not been afraid of england and has shown a bold front against infidel reforms. he has had the courage under the eyes of europe to arrest their _protégé_, midhat, and to try him for murder. lastly, the french have played into his hands in tunis, and he has thus gained a footing of sympathy with the mussulmans of north africa, a population which has for centuries opposed his claims. twenty years ago it would have been absolutely impossible for an ottoman sultan to awaken any loyal feeling in any arab breast. tunis then specially boasted her independence of the porte, and all but the hanefite rulers of the sea-coast towns of africa would have scouted the idea of fighting for the turk. now the malekites themselves, the puritans of kerwan, are moving at abd el hamid's nod. he would seem, too, to be stirring with some success in egypt, and indian mussulmans are praying for him publicly in their mosques. everywhere the reactionary party is standing to its arms, and is beginning to recognize a leader in this supple armenian khalifeh, who is defying europe, and seems willing, if necessary, to lead them one day on a jehad. with all this, however, it must not be supposed that orthodox islam is by any means yet won back to constantinople. turkey, i have shown, and the hanefite school, are far from being the whole of the mohammedan world; and side by side with the fanatical obduracy of the ottoman state party and the still fiercer puritanism of the melkites there exists an intelligent and hopeful party favourable to religious reform. shafite egypt is its stronghold, but it is powerful too in arabia and further east. with it a first article of faith is that the house of othman has been and is the curse of islam, and that its end is at hand. in spite of abd el hamid's pious appeals to the sheriat they look upon him as one who troubleth islam. he is the representative of the party most bitterly opposed to all of good. they know that as long as there is an ottoman caliph, whether his name be abd el aziz or abd el hamid, moral progress is impossible, that the ijtahad cannot be re-opened, and that no such reformation of doctrine and practice can be attempted as would alone enable their faith to cope with modern infidelity. they see moreover that, notwithstanding his affected legality, abd el hamid's rule is neither juster nor more in accordance with the mussulman law than that of his predecessors. the same vices of administration are found in it, and the same recklessness for his mussulman subjects' welfare. of all the lands of islam his own are probably those where abd el hamid has now the most scanty following. constantinople is after all his weak point, for the young turkish school is far from dead, the vicissitudes of life and death follow each other closely on the bosphorus, and the liberal party can better afford than the reactionary to wait. the death or fall of abd el hamid, whenever it may happen, would immediately decide a movement counter to the ottoman caliphate. footnotes: [ ] i do not vouch for the entire accuracy of these dates. turkish historians place selim's death in a.h., which should correspond with our . it would seem doubtful too whether selim himself took any higher title with regard to the holy places than khadam el harameyn, servant of the two shrines, though his successors are certainly called hami. it was not till five years after selim's death that mecca acknowledged the ottoman caliphate. [ ] the original diary of lascaris, napoleon's agent with the arabs, has, i understand, within the last two years been discovered at aleppo and purchased by the french government. its publication, whenever that may be decided on, will, if i am not quite mistaken, throw new and important light on napoleon's egyptian career. [ ] the _jawaib_ was first started about the year . [ ] in the recent trial of the murderers of abd el aziz, abd el hamid has departed from his usual adherence to the sheriat. it is a lapsus which may one day be taken hold of against him, should the ulema need to depose him. he is said to have yielded to the advice of an european confidant who directs the details of his diplomacy with europe. chapter iii. the true metropolis--mecca. in the last chapter the position of the ottoman sultans towards the mass of orthodox islam was sketched, and the foundations were shown on which their tenure of the caliphal title rested. these i explained to be neither very ancient nor very securely laid in the faith and affections of the faithful; and, though at the present moment a certain reaction in favour of constantinople had set in, it was due to accidental circumstances, which are unlikely to become permanent, and was very far indeed from being universal. it may be as well to recapitulate the position. the sunite or orthodox mohammedan world holds it as a dogma of faith that there must be a khalifeh, the ex-officio head of their religious polity, and the successor of their prophet. in temporal matters, whoever holds this office is theoretically king of all islam; and in spiritual matters he is their supreme religious authority. but, practically, the caliph's temporal jurisdiction has for many centuries been limited to such lands as he could hold by arms; while in spiritual matters he has exercised no direct authority whatever. nevertheless, he represents to mussulmans something of which they are in need, and which they are bound to respect; and it cannot be doubted that in proper hands, and at the proper moment, the caliphate might once more become an instrument for good or evil of almost universal power in islam. even now, were there to be an apprehension of general and overwhelming danger for religion, it is to the caliph that the faithful would look to defend their interests; and, as we have seen, a moderate show of piety and respect for the sacred law has been sufficient, in spite of a violent political opposition, to secure for the actual holder of the title a degree of sympathy which no other mussulman prince could at any cost of good government have obtained. on the other hand, it has been shown that the loyalty, such as there is, which abd el hamid inspires is due to him solely as incumbent of the caliphal office, and not as the representative of any race or dynasty. the house of othman, as such, represents nothing sacred to mussulmans; and the turkish race is very far from being respected in islam. the present caliphal house is unconnected in blood with the old traditional line of "successors;" and even with the turks themselves inspires little modern reverence. moreover, the actual incumbent of the office is thought to be not even a true ottoman, being the offspring of the seraglio rather than of known parents; abd el hamid's sole title to spiritual consideration is his official name. this he has had the sense to set prominently forward. reduced to a syllogism, mussulman loyalty may be read thus: there must be a caliph, and the caliphate deserves respect; there is no other caliph but abd el hamid; ergo, abd el hamid deserves respect. it has been pointed out, however, that, if the sultan's recent revival of spiritual pretensions is his present strength, it may also in the immediate future become his weakness. the challenge which the constantinople school of hanefism threw down ten years ago to the world has been taken up; and all the learned world now knows the frailty of the house of othman's spiritual position. the true history of the caliphate has been published and set side by side with that turkish history which the ignorance of a previous generation had come to confound with it. at the present day nobody with any instruction doubts that abd el hamid and his house might be legally displaced by the first successful rival, and that the only right of constantinople to lead islam is the right of the sword. as long as the ottoman empire is maintained and no counter caliph appears, so long will the sultan be the acknowledged head of religion; but not a day longer. the caliphate, for one alien as abd el hamid is to the koreysh, must be constantly maintained in arms, and on the first substantial success of a new pretender his present following would fall off from him without compunction, transferring to this last their loyalty on precisely the same ground on which abd el hamid now receives it. abd el hamid would then be legitimately deposed and disappear, for it is unlikely that he would find any such protector in his adversity as the legitimate caliphs found in theirs six hundred years ago. so fully is this state of things recognized by the ulema, that i found the opinion last year to be nearly universal that abd el hamid was destined to be the last caliph of the house of othman. it becomes, therefore, a question of extreme interest to consider who among mussulman princes could, with any chance of being generally accepted by orthodox islam, put in a claim to replace the ottoman dynasty as caliph when the day of its doom shall have been reached. it is a question which ought certainly to interest englishmen, for on its solution the whole problem of mussulman loyalty or revolt in india most probably depends, and though it would certainly be unwise, at the present moment, for an english government to obtrude itself violently in a religious quarrel not yet ripe, much might be done in a perfectly legitimate way to influence the natural course of events and direct it to a channel favourable to british interests. is there then in islam, east, or west, or south, a man of sufficient eminence and courage to proclaim himself caliph, in the event of abd el hamid's political collapse or death? what would be his line of action to secure mahommedan acceptance? where should he fix his capital, and on what arms should he rely? whose flag should he display? above all--for this is the question that interests us most--could such a change of rulers affect favourably the future thought and life of islam, and lead to an honest moslem reformation? these questions, which are being cautiously asked of each other by thoughtful mussulmans in every corner of the east, i now propose to consider and, as far as it is in my power, to answer. i have said that islam is already well prepared for change. whatever europeans may think of a future for the ottoman empire, mussulmans are profoundly convinced that on its present basis it will not long survive. even in turkey, the thought of its political regeneration as an european empire has been at last abandoned, and no one now contemplates more than a few years further tenure of the bosphorus. twenty years ago it was not so, nor perhaps five, but to-day all are resigned to this. ancient prophecy and modern superstition alike point to a return of the crescent into asia as an event at hand, and to the doom of the turks as a race which has corrupted islam. a well-known prediction to this effect, which has for ages exercised its influence on the vulgar and even the learned mohammedan mind, gives the year of our era as the term within which these things are to be accomplished, and places the scene of the last struggle in northern syria, at homs, on the orontes. islam is then finally to retire from the north, and the turkish rule to cease. such prophecies often work their own fulfilment, and the feeling of a coming catastrophe is so deeply rooted and so universal that i question whether the proclamation of a jehad by the sultan would now induce a thousand moslems to fight voluntarily against the cross in europe. the sultan himself and the old turkish party which supports him, while clinging obstinately in appearance to all their ground, really have their eyes turned elsewhere than on adrianople and salonica and the city of the roman emperors. it is unlikely that a new advance of the christian powers from the balkan would meet again with more than formal opposition; and constantinople itself, unsupported by european aid, would be abandoned without a blow, or with only such show of resistance as the sheriat requires for a cession of territory.[ ] the sultan would, in such an event, pass into asia, and i have been credibly informed that his own plan is to make not broussa, but bagdad or damascus his capital. this he considers would be more in conformity with caliphal traditions, and the caliphate would gain strength by a return to its old centres. damascus is surnamed by theologians _bab el kaaba_, gate of the caaba; and there or at bagdad, the traditional city of the caliphs, he would build up once more a purely theocratic empire. such, they say, is his thought; and such doubtless would be the empire of the future that mussulmans would choose. only it is improbable that it would continue to be in any sense ottoman, or that abd el hamid would have the opportunity of himself establishing it. the loss of constantinople would be a blow to his prestige he could not well recover from, and no new empire ever yet was founded on defeat. what is far more likely to happen is that, in such an event, abd el hamid and his house would disappear, and an entirely new order of caliphal succession take their place. even without supposing any such convulsion to the empire as a loss of the bosphorus, his reign will hardly be a long one. the ulema of constantinople are by no means all on his side, and the party of "young turkey," cowed for the moment by the terrorism which there prevails, is his bitter enemy, and will not let him rest. it will infallibly on the next danger from europe, show its head again and take its revenge. it is said to be the programme of this party, when it next comes to power, to separate the spiritual functions of the caliphate from those of the head of the state, copying, in so far, the modern practice of europe towards the papacy. i suppose that it would be attempted to restore that state of things, which as we have already seen, existed at cairo in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; and it is just conceivable that, as far as turkey itself was concerned, such an arrangement might, for a time, succeed. there would then be two powers at constantinople, a maire du palais who would reign, and a caliph who would be head of religion;--a separation of offices which would certainly facilitate the sort of reform that midhat and his friends desire. but to the world at large the event would only signify that constantinople had formally abdicated her claim to leadership, and islam would never acknowledge as caliph the mere puppet of an irreligious clique of officials, because he happened to be a member of the beni othman. his political power is the only thing that reconciles islam with an ottoman caliph, and without sovereignty he would be discarded. in whatever way, therefore, that we look at it, there seems justification in probability for the conviction already cited that after abd el hamid a new order of caliphal succession will be seen. it seems to be an universal opinion at the present day among those who think at all upon the matter, that whatever change may be impending for islam, it will be in the direction of concentration rather than of extension. all parties see that the day of outside conquest is at an end, and that the utmost that islam can look forward to politically is the maintenance of its present positions, and as an extreme possibility the emancipation of its lost provinces in india and north africa from christian rule. there is, therefore, a conviction that the removal of the seat of supreme authority, when made, will be towards the centre, not to any new extremity of islam. constantinople, even if all islam were combined for its defence, is felt to be too near the infidel frontier to be safe, and cosmopolitan city as it has become, it is by many looked upon itself as infidel. a position further removed from danger and more purely mohammedan is the necessity of the day; and it can hardly be doubted that, when the time comes, the possession of some such vantage ground will be recognized as a first qualification with whoever shall assume the leadership of islam. we have seen that abd el hamid dreams of damascus or bagdad. but others dream of cairo as the new seat of the caliphate; and to the majority of far-sighted mussulmans it is rapidly becoming apparent that the retreat, once begun, must be conducted further still, and that the only true resting-place for theocracy is in arabia, its birthplace and the fountain head of its inspiration. there, alone in the world, all the conditions for the independent exercise of religious sovereignty are to be found. in arabia there are neither christians nor jews nor infidels of any sort for islam to count with, nor is it so rich a possession that it should ever excite the cupidity of the western powers. a caliph there need fear no admonition from frank ambassadors in virtue of any capitulations; he would be free to act as the successor of the apostle should, and would breathe the pure air of an unadulterated islam. a return, therefore, to medina or mecca is the probable future of the caliphate. the importance of arabia has of late years been fully recognized both at constantinople and elsewhere. it has been the sustained policy of abd el hamid at all cost and by whatsoever means to maintain his influence there; and he knows that without it his spiritual pretensions could have no secure foundations. arabia, he perceives, is the main point of the caliphal problem; and whether or not the future holder of the office reside in hejaz, it is certain that by its tenure alone the mohammedan world will judge of his right to be their leader. it will, therefore, before we go further, be interesting to examine the relations existing in the past and present between mecca and the caliphate, and to ascertain the position now held by abd el hamid in arabia. on this point i believe that i can offer information which will be both valuable and new. the political constitution of the moslem holy land is one of the most anomalous in the world. like every district of arabia proper, hejaz has a town and a nomad population, but almost no intermediate agricultural class. the townsmen i have already described--a multitude of mixed origin, descended from such pilgrims as from every quarter of the globe have visited the holy places, and have remained to marry and die in them. the nomads, on the contrary, are a pure race of a peculiarly noble type, and unchanged in any essential feature of their life from what they were in the days of mohammed. they are warlike, unquiet, bedouins, camel-riders (for they have no horses), and armed with matchlocks; and they are proud of their independence, and tenacious of their rights. no serious attempt has ever been made, except by mehemet ali, to subdue them, and none at all has succeeded. unlike the generality of peninsular bedouins, however, they are professed sunite mohammedans, if not of a very pious type; and they acknowledge as their chief the head of their most noble tribe, the grand sherif of the koreysh, who is also prince of mecca. the koreysh is still a distinct nomadic tribe, inhabiting the immediate neighbourhood of mecca; not numerous, but not in decay. they are divided into several sections, each governed by its sheykh, the chief of which, the abadleh, has for several centuries supplied the reigning family of hejaz. this last traces its descent from ali ibn abutaleb, the fourth caliph, through his son hassan, and through ali's wife, fatmeh, from mohammed himself. it is probably the oldest authentic male descent in the world, and certainly the most sacred. all the members of this abadleh family enjoy the title of sherif, the head of it only being distinguished as the sherif el kebir, the great or grand sherif. the rest of the koreysh, not being descended from fatmeh, do not receive the title. all alike wear the bedouin dress of abba and kefiyeh, even the prince himself, standing in this strikingly in contrast with the hejazi citizens, who affect the turban and gombaz. the district of medina is occupied by the harb bedouins, a larger and more powerful tribe than the koreysh, who also recognize the sherif, but their allegiance is precarious; while to the east and south of mecca the ateybeh and assir, more powerful still, are wholly independent. it has always been a difficult matter to keep these unruly elements at peace with each other and with the citizens, nor could the sherif hope to effect it were he not himself of bedouin and noble blood. the early history of the sherifate is exceedingly obscure. when the caliphs definitely abandoned medina as their capital in the fortieth year of islam (a.d. ), they for a time left deputies of the sherifal family behind them to govern in their name, and, as long as the ommiad and abbaside dynasties continued at damascus and bagdad, their sovereignty was acknowledged in hejaz. but on the destruction of the arabian caliphate in , the sherifal family seems to have set itself up independently, relying only on the casual help of the egyptian sultans and the imams of sana to protect them against the bedouins of nejd and assir, now hardly any longer, even in name, mohammedans. the egyptian sultan, however, was the titular protector of the holy places, and it was he who transmitted the surrah, or religious contributions made by the faithful, and provided escort for the yearly pilgrimage made to the shrines. thus we read of kaïd beg having rebuilt the mosque of medina in , and having sent a yearly subsidy of ardebs of corn for the townspeople. other princes, however, contributed their offerings too, and received titles of honour connected with the holy land, the shahs of persia, the moguls, and the ottomans. the first connection of the latter with mecca that i can find was in , when the padishah mohammed khan i., having sent a surrah, or bag of gold, to the sherif to be distributed in alms, received from him the title of khaddam el harameyn, servant of the two shrines; and the gift being continued annually by the ottoman padishahs may very likely have paved the way to their recognition later as caliphs. it would seem singular at first sight that the sherifs, being themselves of the sacred family whose special inheritance the caliphate was, should ever thus have recognized a stranger as its legal heir. but the political weakness of the meccan government in the sixteenth century must be taken into account as the all-sufficient reason. the grand sherif could hardly have stood alone as an independent sovereign, for he was continually menaced on the one side by the dissenting omani, and on the other by the unbelieving tribes of nejd, against whom his frontier was defenceless. he could not, with his own resources, protect the pilgrim routes from plunder--and on the pilgrimage all the prosperity of hejaz depended. it therefore was a necessity with the meccans to have a protector of some sort; and sultan kansaw having fallen, they accepted sultan selim. the ottoman sultans then became protectors of the holy places, and were acknowledged caliphs without any appeal to arms at mecca and medina. their weapons were, in fact, the gold and silver pieces with which they subsidized the sherifs. sultan selim at once, on being acknowledged, ordered an additional annuity of ardebs to be paid to mecca, and he and his immediate successors carried out at their own expense such public works as the shrines required in the way of repairs or improvements. subsequently the seaport of jeddah, formerly occupied by the egyptians, received a turkish contingent, but the interior of hejaz was never subjugated, nor was any tax at any time levied. only once a year an ottoman army appeared before the walls of medina, conducting the pilgrims from damascus and convoying the surrah. the state of things at mecca in the last century has been clearly sketched by niebuhr. the sherifs were in reality independent princes, but they "gratified the vanity of the grand signior" by calling him their suzerain, he on his side occasionally exercising the right of power by deposing the reigning sherif and appointing another of the same family. no kind of administration had then been attempted by the turks in hejaz. mehemet ali's occupation of hejaz in first brought foreign troops inland. he established himself at taïf, the summer residence of the meccans; deposed the grand sherif ghaleb, and appointed in his stead another member of the sherifal family; declaring the sultan sovereign of the country--acts which the meccans acquiesced in through dread of the wahhabis, from whom mehemet ali promised to deliver them. the egyptian and turkish governments have thus, during the present century, exercised some of the functions of sovereignty in hejaz. at the present moment sultan abd el hamid's position in the country is this. his troops occupy jeddah and yembo, the two seaports, and the towns of medina and taïf in the interior. he is acknowledged by the sherifs as sovereign, except in mecca; and he appoints to all the principal offices of state, including the supreme office of the grand sherifate itself. he is represented by a pasha who resides alternately at jeddah and taïf according to the season, but who has not the right of entering mecca without the grand sherif's leave, or of sending troops there. the total garrison of the turks in hejaz last winter was from to , men, of whom only were regulars (nizams), and efficient. while i was at jeddah, the medina garrison of regulars, having been long unpaid and unrationed, was said to be living on public charity. on the other hand the hejazi bedouins do not acknowledge any sovereignty but that of the sherif, nor could the sultan pretend to keep order outside the towns except through the sherif's interposition. the sultan levies no tax in the interior or impost of any kind, and the sole revenue he receives in hejaz comes from customs duties of jeddah and yembo, which may amount to £ , . in return for this he also is bound to transmit every year at the time of the pilgrimage sums of money collected by him from the revenues of the wakaf within his dominions, lands settled by pious persons on the sherifal family. these are said to amount to nearly half a million sterling, and are distributed amongst all the principal personages of hejaz. the transmission of the wakaf income, in which the sultan constitutes himself, so to say, the sherif's agent, is in fact the real bond which unites hejaz with the caliphate, and its distribution gives the sultan patronage, and with it power in the country. the bond, however, is one of interest only. the sherifs, proud of their sacred ancestry, look upon the turkish caliphs as barbarians and impostors, while the sultans find the hejaz a heavy charge upon their revenue. either hates and despises the other, the patron and the patronized; and, save that their union is a necessity, it would long ago have, by mutual consent, been dissolved. the sherif depends upon the sultan because he needs a protector, and needs his wakaf. the sultan depends upon the sherif, because recognition by hejaz as the protector is a chief title to his caliphate. mecca, in fact, is a necessity to islam even more than a caliph; and whoever is sovereign there is naturally sovereign of the mussulman world. outside hejaz the sultan holds what he holds of arabia merely by force. i have described already the growing power of ibn rashid, the prince of nejd; and since that time, two years ago, he has sensibly extended and confirmed his influence there. he has now brought into his alliance all the important tribes of northern arabia, including the powerful ateybeh, who, a few months ago, were threatening mecca; and in hejaz his name is already as potent as the sultan's. he offered, while i was at jeddah, to undertake the whole convoy of the damascus pilgrimage with his own troops, as already he convoys that from persia; while i have quite recent information of a campaign against his own rivals, the ibn saouds, which he has just brought to a successful conclusion. in yemen, the other neighbour of the meccans, , turkish troops are required to garrison the few towns the sultan calls his own, and were it not for the facility given him by the possession of the sea-coast, these could not long hope to hold their ground. every day i am expecting news from there of a revolt, and the first sign of weakness at constantinople will certainly precipitate a war of independence in that part of arabia. we may expect, therefore, in the event of such a break-up as i have suggested to be likely of the ottoman power--either through loss of territory or by the growing impoverishment of the empire, which needs must, in a few decades, end in atrophy--to see among mussulman princes a competition for the right of protecting the holy places, and with it of inheriting the caliphal title. the sultan reduced to asia minor, even if he retain armenia and kurdistan (which is extremely improbable), would be quite unable to afford himself the expensive luxury of holding his arabian conquests and buying the patronage of mecca. he would be unable any longer to overawe the red sea, or secure the pilgrim routes. the princes of nejd would certainly not tolerate the presence of turkish soldiers at medina, and the sherifs of mecca would have to make terms with them and with the restored imams of yemen till such time as they should find a new protector elsewhere. above all, the half million of wakaf income would no longer be forthcoming, and a turkish emir el haj arriving empty-handed at mecca would bring his master to a climax of derision. hejaz then would infallibly look out for a new potentate whom she could dignify with the title of hami el harameyn and emir el mumenin; and if there were none forthcoming would herself proclaim a caliphate. let us look, therefore, at the lands of islam to see in which of them a competent prince of the faithful is likely to appear. it is possible, though to european eyes it will seem far from probable, that out of the ferment which we are now witnessing in the barbary states, some leader of real power and religious distinction may arise who shall possess the talent of banding together into an instrument of power the immense but scattered forces of islam in northern africa, and after achieving some signal success against the new french policy, establish himself in tripoli or tunis in independent sovereignty. were such another man as abd el kader to arise, a saint, a preacher, and a soldier, indifferent to the petty aims of local power and gifted with military genius, true piety, and an eloquent tongue, i believe at the present day he might achieve at least a partial success. the french army is weak in discipline and confidence compared to what it was in abd el kader's day, and it has a far more difficult frontier to defend; while the government at home is but half resolute, and the arabs command much floating sympathy in europe and elsewhere. i do not say the thing is likely, but it is conceivable; and africa contains the elements of a possible new sovereignty for some mussulman prince which might eventually lead him on the road to mecca. it is undoubted that with the prestige of success against a christian power, and backed by the vast populations of soudan and the fierce military fervour of the malekite arabs, an abd el kader or an abd-el-wahhab would attract the sympathy of islam, and might aspire to its highest dignity. but enormous postulates must be granted before we can look on any one now known to fame in africa as a probable candidate for the future caliphate. the present leaders of the arabs are but local heroes, and as yet they have achieved nothing which can command respect. in tripoli there is indeed a saint of very high pretensions, one known as the sheykh es snusi, who has a large religious following, and who has promised to come forward shortly as the móhdy or guide expected by a large section of the sunite as well as the shiite mussulmans. next year he will attain the age of forty (the legal age of a prophet), and he may be expected to take a prominent part in any general movement that may then be on foot. but as yet we know nothing of him but his name and the fact of his sanctity, which is of wahhabite type. moreover, even supposing all that may be supposed of a possible success, there yet lies egypt and the suez canal between the barbary state and mecca, so that i think we may be justified in these days of steam fleets and electric cables and european concerts, if we treat north western africa as out of probable calculations in considering the future of the caliphate. it is remarkable that the sultan of morocco has taken as yet no apparent part in the religious movement of modern barbary. the mussulman princes of india hold a very similar position. opposed as they soon may be, indeed must be if the unintelligent english policy of the last twenty years be persevered in, to an european government in arms, they will have the chance of making themselves a leading position in the eyes of islam; and should a mohammedan empire arise once more at delhi or hyderabad, india would certainly become _par excellence_ the dar el islam. it would then be by far the richest and most populous of mohammedan states, and able to outbid any other with the surrah it could send to mecca. the wakaf property in india at the present day is supposed to be as valuable as that in the ottoman empire, and it would then become a source of patronage with the government, instead of being privately remitted as now. if money alone could buy the caliphate, a successful leader of revolt against the english in india might dictate his terms to islam. but again the insuperable obstacle intervenes of distance and the sea. mussulman india could never give that protection to mecca that islam needs, and could not assert its sovereignty anywhere but at home, in arms. even this is assuming, as in the case of barbary, an enormous postulate--success. neither india, then, nor western africa can reasonably be expected to supply that substitute for the house of othman which we need. a more apparent and in the opinion of some a likely candidate for the caliphate succession may be looked for in the viceregal family of egypt. mohammed towfik, if he were a man of genius like his grandfather, or if, honest man as he is, he plays his cards with success, might in a few years become an important rival at mecca to the sultan. to say nothing of its traditional connection with the caliphate, egypt has the more modern recollection of mehemet ali to urge upon the hejazi in its favour as the protecting state of islam. mehemet ali's name and that of his successor ibrahim pasha, if not precisely popular, are at least respected at mecca; and the latter possesses a great title to sunite gratitude in having destroyed the wahhabite empire in . i have mentioned mehemet ali's ambition; and a similar ambition would seem to have occurred to ismaïl, the late khedive. he, in the plenitude of his financial power, is stated to have expended large sums of money in subsidising the sherifs with a view to possible contingencies at constantinople. but unfortunately for him the opening of the suez canal, on which he had counted for securing him the support of europe, proved the precise instrument of ruin for his scheme. the porte in , scenting danger to its own caliphal pretensions from this quarter, occupied the red sea in force, reinforced its garrisons in jeddah and yembo, advanced to taïf, and threw a large army into yemen. this was alone made possible by the canal, and ismaïl to his chagrin found himself "hoist with his own petard." mohammed towfik, therefore, would have some excuse in family tradition if he indulged occasionally in dreams of a similar nature. his connection with mecca is at the present day second only to that of constantinople; the egyptian khedivieh line of steamers ply constantly between suez and jeddah; and the haj the khedive sends to mecca, including as it does most of the mogrebbin pilgrims, is more numerous than the sultan's. he maintains intimate relations with one at least of the great sherifal families, and sends a mahmal yearly with an important surrah to medina. mohammed towfik also has the deserved reputation of being a sincere mussulman and an honest man, and it is certain that a large section of true liberal opinion looks to him as the worthiest supporter of its views. with all this i doubt if he be big enough a man to aspire as yet with success to abd el hamid's succession. the present viceroy's financial position, though we may hope sounder in its base, is not so immediately powerful as his father's; and much ready money will be required by an aspirant to the caliphate. his fighting power, too, is small, and he would have to proclaim himself in arms. moreover--and this i fear will remain an insuperable difficulty--he is hampered with the control of europe. islam would hardly obey another caliph who was himself obedient to christendom; and the same causes which have ruined the house of othman, would also ruin him. a caliph, as things stand, cannot legally govern, except by the old canon law of the sheriat, and though a lapsus from strict observance may be tolerated in an ordinary prince, or even in a well established caliph, a new caliph putting forward a new claim would be more strictly bound. how could mohammed towfik's necessity to islam be reconciled to his necessity to europe? between the two stools he hardly could avert a fall.[ ] unless, then, some unexpected religious hero should appear in eastern asia, of which as yet there is no sign, we are driven to arabia for a solution of the difficulty where to establish a mussulman theocracy, and to the sherifal family of mecca itself for a new dynasty. the family of the sherifs has this vast advantage over any other possible competitor to the supreme title of islam, that it is of the acknowledged blood of that tribe of koreysh which mohammed himself designated as his heirs. amongst many other passages of authority which bear upon the rights of the koreysh the following seem to me the most explicit and the best worth quoting: "the prophet," says a tradition of omm hani, daughter of abutaleb, "exalted the koreysh by conferring on them seven prerogatives: the first, the _nebbuwat_ (the fact that they had given birth to a prophet); the second, the _khalafat_ (the succession); the third, the _hejabat_ (the guardianship of the kaaba); the fourth, the _sikayat_ (the right of supplying water to the haj); the fifth, the _refadat_ (the right of entertaining the haj); the sixth, the _nedwat_ (the right of counsel, government); and the seventh, the _lewa_ (possession of the banner, with the right of proclaiming war)." the prophet also, according to another tradition, said, "as long as there remains one man of the koreysh, so long shall that man be my successor;" and as to the arab race, "if the arab race falls islam shall fall." all the world knows these things, and to the popular mind, especially, the sherif is already far more truly the representative of spiritual rank than any sultan or caliph is. the vast populations of southern and eastern asia send out their pilgrims, not to constantinople but to mecca, and it is the sherif whom they find there supreme. the turkish government in hejaz holds a comparatively insignificant position, and the sultan's representative at jeddah is hardly more than servant to the prince of mecca. it is he who is the descendant of their prophet, not the other, and though the learned may make distinctions in favour of the caliph the haj only hears of the sherif. even at constantinople, by immemorial custom, the sultan rises to receive members of the sacred family; and at mecca it is commonly said that should a sultan make the haj in person he would be received by the grand sherif as an inferior. the sherifal family, then, is surrounded with a halo of religious prestige which would make their acquisition of the supreme temporal title appear natural to all but the races who have been in subjection to the ottomans; and were a man of real ability to appear amongst them he would, in the crisis we have foreseen, be sure to find an almost universal following. that the ottoman government is perfectly aware of this is certain. even in the days of its greatest power it always showed its jealousy and distrust of mecca, and was careful when any of the grand sherifs acquired what was considered dangerous influence, to supplant him by setting up a rival. its physical power enabled it to do this, and though it could not abolish the office of the grand sherifate, it could interfere in the order of succession. family feuds have, therefore, been at all times fostered by the turks in hejaz, and will be, as long as their presence there is tolerated. an excellent example of their system has recently been given in the episode of the late grand sherif's death, and the story of it will serve also to show the fear entertained by the present sultan of this his great spiritual rival. to tell it properly i must go back to the epoch of the wahhabite invasion of hejaz in . at that time, and for the latter half of the previous century, the supreme dignity of the sherifal house was held by a branch of it known as the dewy zeyd (the word _dewy_ is used in hejaz, as are elsewhere _beni_ or _ahl_, meaning _people_, _family_, _house_), which had replaced in the barakat branch, mentioned by niebuhr as in his day supreme. the actual holder of the title was ghaleb ibn mesaad, and he, finding himself unable to contend against the wahhabis, became himself a wahhabi. consequently, when mehemet ali appeared at mecca in , his first act was to depose this ghaleb, in spite of his protest that he had returned to orthodoxy, and to appoint another member of the sherifal house in his place. the sherif chosen was yahia ibn serur, of a rival branch, the dewy aoun, and a bitter animosity was, by this means, engendered between the two families of aoun and zeyd, which is continued to the present day. nor, as may be supposed, was this lessened by the subsequent changes rung by the turkish and egyptian governments in their appointments to the office, for, in , we find abd el mutalleb, the son of the deposed wahhabite ghaleb, reappointed, and in the following year again, mohammed, the son of yahia ibn aoun, an intrigue which brought on a civil war. then in a new intrigue reinstated abd el mutalleb and the zeyds; and then, in , these were again deposed for rebellion, and an aoun was placed in power. from till the aouns retained the grand sherifate and were supreme in hejaz. coming into power at a time when liberal ideas were in the ascendant they have consistently been liberal, and still represent the more humane and progressive party among the meccans. in the desert, where all are latitudinarian, they are the popular party; and, though themselves beyond a suspicion of unorthodoxy, they have always shown a tolerant spirit towards the shiahs and other heretics, with whom the sherifal authority necessarily comes in contact every year at the haj. they have even maintained friendly terms with the european element at jeddah, and as long as they remained in power the relations between india and mecca were of an amicable nature. abdallah ibn aoun, the son of mohammed, who succeeded his father in , and reigned for nineteen years, was a man of considerable ability, and he is credited with having had views of so advanced a nature as to include the opening of hejaz to european trade. nor was his brother, who in became grand sherif, of a less liberal mind. though of less ability than abdallah, he is described as eminently humane and virtuous, and it is certain that, with the exception of his hereditary enemies, the zeyds, he was universally beloved by the hejazi. so much was this the case that, in the year following the disastrous russian war, when constantinople seemed on the point of dissolution, the arabs began to talk openly of making el husseyn ibn aoun caliph in the sultan's place. i have not been able to ascertain that el husseyn himself indulged the ambitious project of his friends, for he was eminently a man of peace, and the caliphal title would hardly have given him a higher position than he held. but it is certain that his popularity gave umbrage at constantinople, the more so as abd el hamid could not and dared not depose him. el husseyn, too, became specially obnoxious to the reactionary party, when it resolved at last to quarrel with england, for he and his family persisted in remaining on friendly terms with the british government on all occasions when the interests of indian subjects of her majesty's came in question at the haj. for this reason, principally, it would seem his death was resolved on to make room for the agent of a new policy. on the th of march, , jeddah was the scene of a solemn pageant. the haj was just over, and the seaport of mecca crowded with pilgrims was waiting for the grand sherif, the descendant of the prophet and the representative of the sacred house of ali, to give the blessing of his presence to the last departing votaries. travelling by night from mecca, el husseyn and his retinue appeared at dawn outside the city walls, and when it was morning, mounted on a white mare from nejd, and preceded by his escort of koreysh arabs and the sultan's guard of honour, he rode into the town. the streets of jeddah are narrow and tortuous, and the way from the gate to the house of omar nassif, his agent, where he was accustomed to alight, was thronged with pious folk, who struggled for the privilege of kissing his feet and the hem of his arab cloak. he had nearly reached the place when an old beggar from the crowd pushed his way forward asking loudly for alms in the name of god. it was an appeal not to be denied, and as the sherif turned to those near him to order a contribution from the bag kept for such distributions, the old man rose upon him, and drawing a ragged knife (so it was described to me) struck him in the belly. at first, even those who saw the deed hardly knew what had happened, for el husseyn did not fall or dismount, and without speaking rode on to the house. there he was lifted from his mare and carried to an upper chamber, and in the course of some hours he expired. those nearest him, meanwhile, had seized and cudgelled the old man, and some of the escort had taken him to the guard-house. when it became known what had happened, a great cry arose in jeddah, and old and young, and women and children, and citizens and strangers wept together. i have heard the scene described as one beyond description moving, and the women shrieked and wailed the whole night long. el husseyn was beloved, and he was taken in the flower of his manhood. no satisfactory judicial investigation seems to have been made of the deed, though a formal mejlis was held at mecca whither the assassin was immediately transferred, and on the fourth day he was publicly executed. who and what he was it is difficult to determine. the turkish bulletin on the event described him as a persian fanatic, but no one confessed to having known him, and those who saw and spoke to him while in custody maintain that he was an afghan and a sunite. he seems to have given half-a-dozen contradictory accounts of himself; but the general impression remains that he came from turkey, and was by profession a dervish. he had not come with the haj, but had been first noticed as a beggar at mecca ten days before, when he had asked and received an alms of the sherif, and had since been several times found obtrusively in el husseyn's path. no one at jeddah holds the turkish governor to have been cognisant of the crime. he was personally on good terms with el husseyn, and has since been disgraced; but all point to the stamboul camarilla and even the sultan himself as its author. it is known that abd el hamid constantly employs dervishes as his spies and private agents, and some who pretend to know best affirm that the old man received his mission directly from the caliph. i do not affect to decide upon the point, but think the _onus probandi_ to lie with those who would deny it. assassination of a dangerous rival or of too powerful a chieftain has been the resource time out of mind of the ottoman sovereigns, and they can hardly claim indulgence now from public opinion. the sheykh of the dervishes is all powerful with his fanatical followers, and he is the sultan's servant; a word from him would doubtless have secured the services of twenty such devotees. one circumstance points decidedly to constantinople. it is known in jeddah that el husseyn's successor, who had long been resident at constantinople, sent orders to his agent at jeddah to prepare for his return as grand sherif two months before el husseyn, who was a young man, died; and that he had, moreover, dispatched most of his baggage in anticipation. the last words of the old assassin are curious. having done his deed he seemed quite happy, and neither ate nor drank, but prepared for the next world. a little while before he was executed he related a story. "there was once," he said, "an elephant, a great and noble beast, and to him god sent a gnat, the smallest thing which is. it stung him on the trunk and the elephant died. allah kerim: god is merciful." el husseyn's successor, the man for whom room was made, and who knew beforehand that it was to be made, was none other than the aged and twice deposed abd el mutalleb, the son of the wahhabite ghaleb, the fiercest fanatic of the dewy zeyd. i have not room here to describe in detail the effect of this coup de jarnac on the political aspect of hejaz. for the moment the reactionary party is in power at mecca, as it is at constantinople. abd el mutalleb is supported by turkish bayonets, and the aoun family and the liberals are suffering persecution at mecca, while the sherifal court, which had hitherto been most friendly to england, has become the focus of indian discontent. outside the town all is disorder. it is sufficient for the present if i have shown that there is in hejaz an element of spiritual power already existing side by side with the sultan, of which advantage may one day be taken to provide him with a natural successor. if no new figure should appear on the political horizon of islam when the ottoman empire dies, sufficiently commanding to attract the allegiance of the mussulman world (and of such there is as yet no sign), it is certainly to the sherifal family of mecca that the mass of mohammedans would look for a representative of their supreme headship, and of that caliphate of which they stand in need. the transfer of the seat of spiritual power from constantinople to mecca would be an easy and natural one, and would hardly disturb the existing ideas of the vulgar, while it would harmonize with all the traditions of the learned. mecca or medina would, on the extinction of constantinople, become almost of necessity the legal home of the ahl el agde, and might easily become the acknowledged centre of spiritual power. all whom i have spoken to on the subject agree that the solution would be an acceptable one to every school of ulema except the distinctly turkish schools. indeed "mecca, the seat of the caliphate" is, as far as i have had an opportunity of judging, the cry of the day with mussulmans; nor is it one likely to lose strength in the future. like the cry of "roma capitale," it seems to exercise a strong influence on the imagination of all to whom it is suggested, and when to that is added "a caliphate from the koreysh," the idea is to arabs at least irresistible. how indeed should it be otherwise when we look back on history? for my own part, though i do not pretend to determine the course events will take, i consider this notion of a return to mecca decidedly the most probable of all the contingencies we have reviewed, and the one which gives the best promise of renewed spiritual life for islam. politically the caliph at mecca would of course be less important than now on the bosphorus; but religiously he would have a far more assured footing. every year the pilgrimage from every part of the world would visit him, and instead of representing a mere provincial school of thought, he would then be a true metropolitan for all schools and all nations. the arabian element in islam would certainly support such a nomination, and it must be remembered that arabia extends from marocco to bushire; and so would the indian and the malay--indeed every element but the turkish, which is day by day becoming of less importance. i have even heard it affirmed that a caliphate of the koreysh at mecca would go far towards reconciling the schismatics, abadhites, and shiahs with orthodoxy; and i have reason to believe that it would so affect the liberal three-quarters of wahhabism. to the shiahs, especially, a descendant of ali could not but be acceptable; and to the arabs of oman and yemen a caliph of the koreysh would be at least less repugnant than a caliph of the beni othman. there certainly have of late years been symptoms of less bitterness between these schismatics and their old enemies, the sunites; and such a change in the conditions of the caliphate might conceivably bring about a full reconciliation of all parties. mussulmans can no longer afford to fight each other as of old; and i know that a reunion of the sects is already an idea with advanced thinkers. lastly, the caliphate would in arabia be freed from the incubus of turkish scholasticism and the stigma of turkish immorality, and would have freer scope for what islam most of all requires, a moral reformation. it is surely not beyond the flight of sane imagination to suppose, in the last overwhelming catastrophe of constantinople, a council of ulema assembling at mecca, and according to the legal precedent of ancient days electing a caliph. the assembly would, without doubt, witness intrigues of princes and quarrels among schoolmen and appeals to fanaticism and accusations of infidelity. money, too, would certainly play its part there as elsewhere, and perhaps blood might be shed. but any one who remembers the history of the christian church in the fifteenth century, and the synods which preceded the council of basle, must admit that such accompaniments of intrigue and corruption are no bar to a legal solution of religious difficulties. it was above all else the rivalries of popes and anti-popes that precipitated the catholic reformation. footnotes: [ ] according to canon law the caliph cannot cede any portion of the lands of islam except on physical compulsion. [ ] this too was written before the events of september, . these have immensely added to the chance of cairo's becoming once more the seat of the caliphate, though not perhaps of mohammed towfik's being the caliph elected. chapter iv. a mohammedan reformation. it is with considerable doubt of my ability to do justice to so very difficult a subject that i now approach the most important point of all in this inquiry, namely, the question on which in reality every other depends: "is there a possibility of anything like general reform for islam in her political and moral life?" it is obvious that, unless we can answer this in the affirmative, none of the changes i have been prefiguring will very much affect her ultimate fortunes--neither the solution of her legal deadlock with the ottoman caliphate, nor the transfer of her metropolis to a new centre, nor even the triumph of her arms, if such were possible, in africa or india. these by themselves could, at best, only delay her decline. they might even precipitate her ruin. islam, if she relies only on the sword, must in the end perish by it, for her forces, vast as they are, are without physical cohesion, being scattered widely over the surface of three continents and divided by insuperable accidents of seas and deserts; and the enemy she would have to face is intelligent as well as strong, and would not let her rest. already what is called the "progress of the world" envelopes her with its ships and its commerce, and, above all, with its printed thought, which she is beginning to read. nor is it likely in the future to affect her less. every year as it goes by carries her farther from the possibility of isolation, and forces on her new acquaintances, not only her old foes, the frank and muscovite, but the german, the chinaman, and the american, with all of whom she may have in turn to count. if she would not be strangled by these influences she must use other arms than those of the flesh, and meet the intellectual invasion of her frontiers with a corresponding intelligence. otherwise she has nothing to look forward to but a gradual decay, spiritual as well as political. her law must become little by little a dead letter, her caliphate an obsolete survival, and her creed a mere opinion. islam as a living and controlling moral force in the world would then gradually cease. in expressing my conviction that islam is not thus destined yet awhile to perish i believe that i am running counter to much high authority among my countrymen. i know that it is a received opinion with those best qualified to instruct the public that islam is in its constitution unamenable to change, and by consequence to progressive life, or even, in the face of hostile elements, to prolonged life at all. students of the sheriat have not inaptly compared the koranic law to a dead man's hand, rigid and cold, and only to be loosened when the hand itself shall have been cut away. it has been asserted that the first rule of mohammedan thought has been that change was inadmissible, and development of religious practice, either to right or left of the narrow path of mediæval scholasticism, absolutely precluded. i know this, and i know, too, that a vast array of learned mohammedan opinion can be cited to prove this to be the case, and that very few of the modern ulema of any school of divinity would venture openly to impugn its truth. nor have i forgotten the repeated failure of attempts made in turkey within the last fifty years to gain religious assent to the various legal innovations decreed by sultan after sultan in deference to the will of europe, nor the fate which has sometimes overtaken those who were the advocates of change. i know, according to all rule written and spoken by the orthodox, that islam cannot move, and yet in spite of it i answer with some confidence in the fashion of galileo, "e pur si muove." the fact is, islam does move. a vast change has come upon mohammedan thought since its last legal mujtahed wrote his last legal opinion; and what was true of orthodox islam fifty and even twenty years ago is no longer true now. when urquhart, the first exponent of mohammedanism to englishmen, began his writing, the hanefite teaching of constantinople had not begun to be questioned, and he was perfectly justified in citing it as the only rule recognized by the mass of the orthodox. no such thing as a liberal religious party then existed anywhere, and those who broke the law in the name of political reform were breakers of the law and nothing more. every good man was their enemy, and if any spoke of liberty he was understood as meaning licence. it was not even conceived then that the sheriat might be legally remodelled. now, however, and especially within the last ten years, a large section of godly and legal-minded men have ranged themselves on the side of liberal opinion, and serious attempts have been made to reconcile a desire of improvement with unabated loyalty to islam. a true liberal party has thus been formed, which includes in its ranks not merely political intriguers of the type familiar to europe in midhat pasha, but men of sincere piety, who would introduce moral as well as political reforms into the practice of mohammedans. these have it in their programme to make the practice of religion more austere while widening its basis, to free the intelligence of believers from scholastic trammels, and at the same time to enforce more strictly the higher moral law of the koran, which has been so long and so strangely violated. in this they stand in close resemblance to the "reformers" of christianity; and some of the circumstances which have given them birth are so analogous to those which europe encountered in the fifteenth century that it is impossible not to draw in one's own mind a parallel, leading to the conviction that islam, too, will work out for itself a reformation. the two chief agents of religious reform in europe were the misery of the poor and the general spread of knowledge. it is difficult at this distance of time to conceive how abject was the general state of the european peasantry in the days of louis xi. of france and frederick iii. of germany. the constant wars and almost as constant famines, the general insecurity of the conditions of life, the dependence of a vast majority of the poor on capricious patrons, the hideous growth of corruption and licentiousness in the ruling classes, and the impotence of the ruled to obtain justice, above all, the servile acquiescence of religion, which should have protected them, in the political illegalities daily witnessed--all these things, stirring the hearts of men, caused them to cry out against the existing order of church discipline, and inclined them to reform. on the other hand, as we all know, the invention of printing had caused men to read and the invention of the new world to travel. moreover, in the fifteenth century the ottoman turks, then an irresistible power, were invading europe, and a new element of contact with an outside world was created, and a new fear. christendom certainly at that time was in danger of political annihilation, or fancied itself to be so, and the apprehensions of devout persons in central europe were roused to a vivid consciousness of impending evil by the thought that this was perhaps another authorized scourge of god. i will not strain the parallel further than it will bear, but i would suggest that causes somewhat analogous to these are now at work among the mussulmans of the still independent states of islam, and that they are operating somewhat in the same direction. the mussulman peasantry, especially of the ottoman empire, are miserable, and they know that they are so, and they look in vain to their religion to protect them, as in former days, against their rulers. they find that all their world now is corrupt--that the law is broken daily by those who should enforce the law; that the illegalities of those who ruin them are constantly condoned by a conniving body of the ulema; that for all practical purposes of justice and mercy religion has abdicated its claim to direct and govern. they have learned, too, by their intercourse with strangers, and in the towns by the newspapers which they now eagerly read, that this has not been always so, and that servitude is not the natural state of man or acquiescence in evil the true position of religion, and they see in all they suffer an outrage inflicted on the better law of islam. i was much struck by hearing the egyptian peasantry last year attribute the lighter taxes they were then enjoying to the fact that their new ruler was "a man who feared god." at the same time the learned classes are shocked and alarmed at the political decline of islam and the still greater dangers which stare her in the face, and they attribute them to the unchecked wickedness and corruption with which the long rule of constantinople has pervaded every class of society, even beyond its own territorial borders. they complain now that they have been led astray, and believe that the vengeance of heaven will overtake them if they do not amend their ways. in all this, i say, there is something of the spirit which once goaded christians into an examination of the bases on which their belief rested, and of the true nature of the law which tolerated such great corruption. nor must we suppose that any part of this dissatisfaction is attributable as yet to a decay of faith, such as we now witness among ourselves. islam as yet shows hardly a taint of infidelity. the mussulman of the present day, whatever his rank in life, believes with as absolute a faith as did the christian of the period just referred to. with the exception of here and there a false convert or, as a very rare case, an europeanized infidel of the modern type, there is no such thing as a mohammedan sceptic, that is to say, a moslem who does not believe in the divine mission of mohammed. he may neglect every duty of his profession, be guilty of every crime, have broken every law--he may be the worst and the most depraved of men--or, on the other hand, he may have adopted the language and to a certain extent the tone of thought of europe, and, a thing far more rare, he may be even a scoffer and blasphemer;--still i do not imagine that in his heart he any the less firmly believes that the koran is the book of truth, or that at the day of judgment he shall be found with those who have escaped jehannem through their professed acknowledgment of god and of his apostle. i have heard strange stories in corroboration of this from persons whom i could not doubt, and about persons whom all the world knew. thus, one who was with fuad pasha, the most european of ottoman diplomatists, in his last days at nice, assures me that his whole time was spent in a recitation of the koran, learning it by heart. another, who was called the voltaire of islam, performed his prayers and prostrations with scrupulous regularity whenever he found himself in private; and a third, equally notorious as a sceptic, died of religious mania. all, too, who have mingled much with mussulmans, must have been struck with the profound resignation with which even thoughtless and irreligious men bear the ills of life, and the fortitude with which they usually meet their end--with the large proportion that they see of men who habitually pray and fast, and who on occasion, at great risk and sacrifice, make the pilgrimage, and with the general absence of profanity, and the fact that an avowal of religion is never proffered apologetically as with us, nor met in any society with derision. these things are, perhaps, not in themselves evidence of belief, for hypocrites have everywhere their reward, but the fact even of hypocrisy proves the general spirit to be one of avowed belief. the truly devout are doubtless rare, but where we find them it is evident that their belief pervades their lives in as strict a sense as it does devout persons among ourselves. it would probably be difficult to point out in europe men who in the world--i do not speak of ecclesiastics or persons in religious orders--lead more transparently religious lives than do the pious moslems of the better class whom one may find in almost any oriental town, or men who more closely follow the ideal which their creed sets before them. to doubt the sincerity and even, in a certain sense, the sanctity of such persons, would be to doubt all religion. in any case it is notorious that the faith of mecca is still the living belief of a vast number of the human race, the rule of their lives, and the explanation to them of their whole existence. there is no sign as yet that it has ceased to be a living faith. neither in considering its future is it easy for a candid english mind to escape the admission that, for all purposes of argument, the mohammedan creed must be treated as no vain superstition but a true religion, true inasmuch as it is a form of the worship of that one true god in whom europe, in spite of her modern reason, still believes. as such it is entitled to whatever credit we may give true religions of prolonged vitality; and while admitting the eternal truth of christianity for ourselves, we may be tempted to believe that in the arabian mind, if in no other, islam too will prove eternal. in its simplest form islam was but an emphatic renewal of the immemorial creed of the semites, and as long as a pure semitic race is left in the world, the revelation of mecca may be expected to remain a necessary link in their tradition. no modern arguments of science are ever likely to affect the belief of arabia that god has at sundry times and in sundry places spoken to man by the mouth of his prophets; and among these prophets mohammed will always be the most conspicuous because the most distinctly national. also the law of islam--i am not speaking merely of the sheriat as we now see it--will always remain their law because it is the codification of their custom, and its political organization their political organization because it is founded on a practice coeval with their history. lastly, semitic thought is a strong leaven which everywhere pervades the minds of nations, aliens though they be, who have once admitted it; and it will not easily be cast out. we have seen in europe, even in england, a land never brought physically into contact with arabia, how long arabian thought, filtered as it was through france and spain to our shores, has dominated our ideas. chivalry, a notion purely bedouin, is hardly yet extinct among us. romance, the offspring of pre-islamic arabia, is still a common motive of our action, and our poets express it still, to the neglect of classic models, in the rhymed verse of yemen. the mass of our people still pray to the god of abraham, and turn eastwards towards that land which is arabia's half-sister, the holy land of the jews. if then we, who are mere aliens, find it impossible to escape this subtle influence, what must it be for those races wholly or half arabian who have for centuries been impregnated with islam, the quintessence of arabian thought? who shall fix the term of its power, and say that it cannot renew itself and live? "send forth," says a famous english writer, who was also a famous english statesman, "a great thought, as you have done before, from mount sinai, from the villages of galilee, from the deserts of arabia, and you may again remodel all men's institutions, change their principles of action, and breathe a new spirit into the scope of their existence." but i must not lose myself in generalities or forget that it is for practical englishmen that i am writing. to be precise, i see two ways in which it is probable that islam will attempt to renew her spiritual life, and two distinct lines of thought which according to external circumstances she may be expected to follow--the first a violent and hardly a permanent one, the second the true solution of her destiny. among the popular beliefs of islam--and it is one common to every sect, shiite and abadite, as well as sunite--is this one, that in the latter days of the world, when the power of god's worshippers shall have grown weak and their faith corrupted, a leader shall arise who shall restore the fortunes of the true believers. he shall begin by purging the earth of injustice, fighting against oppressors wherever he shall find them, mohammedan as well as infidel, and he shall teach the people a perfect law which they shall have forgotten, and he shall reign over islam in place of their khalifeh, being called the móhdy, or guide. to this some add that he will arise of a sudden in some distant corner of the earth, and that he will march towards mecca, and that everywhere the blood of moslems shall be shed like water, and that he shall enter mecca when the streets shall run with blood. in support of this coming of the móhdy many traditions exist which are held to be authentic by the ulema. thus it is related on the authority of abdallah ibn messaoud that he heard the prophet say, "when there shall remain but one day of the days of the earth, god shall prolong that day, and shall send forth from my house a man bearing my name and the name of my father (mohammed ibn abdallah), and he shall purify the earth from injustice and fill it with that which is right." the same was heard also by ali ibn abu taleb, the prophet's son-in-law, and by hadhifat ibn el yaman, who relates that this prophecy was delivered by mohammed one friday at the khotbah, or sermon, in medina. salman el faris, another witness, declares that he afterwards approached the prophet and stood before him and asked him, "from which of thy descendants, o apostle of god, shall the móhdy be?" and the prophet answered, stretching his hand towards his grandson huseyn, "from this child shall he come." besides this general belief, which, though not a positive dogma of their faith, is common to all mussulmans, the shiites, always prone to exaggerate and embellish, maintain that the móhdy's duty is not limited to teaching, guiding, and purifying the law, but also that he shall revenge the blood unjustly shed of the imams; and they cite in support of this a tradition of ali ibn abu taleb, who thus addressed his son, huseyn, the same who was afterwards martyred at kerbela, "i swear to thee, o my son," he said, "i swear by my soul, and by my offspring, and by kerbela, and by its temple, that the day shall come in which our beards shall be dyed with blood. and i swear that afterwards god shall raise up a man, the móhdy, who shall stand in our place, the lord of mankind. he it is who shall avenge us, nay, he shall avenge thy blood also, o huseyn. therefore have patience. for the blood of one man he shall shed the blood of a thousand; and he will not spare them who have helped our enemies." the shiites say also that this móhdy will be no new personage, but that he lives already in the flesh, being no other than the twelfth and last of their recognized imams, who was born in the year of the hejira, and whose name was mohammed ibn el hassan, abul kassem, el móhdy, lord of the command and lord of time; and who, while yet a child, disappeared from the world, retaining nevertheless his authority. this móhdy they expect _when the turkish rule is in decay_. after accomplishing his vengeance and re-establishing justice he shall rule for an undetermined period, when jesus the son of mary also shall come, and the apostle mohammed, an apparition which will announce the end of the world.[ ] it would seem, therefore, exceedingly probable that out of the religious ferment which we now see agitating africa some enthusiast will arise who will announce himself as this móhdy, and head an active movement of reform. already, indeed, two such personages have made their appearance, one in tripoli, of whom i heard much talk a year ago, and who is now said to be marching to join the defenders of keruan; and a second quite recently in soudan. it is not difficult to imagine the kind of reformation such an inspired guide would preach. indeed his rôle is marked out for him in the prophecies just quoted. he would purge the earth of injustice with the sword, and, breaking with all authority but that of the koran he would seek to renew a kingdom of heaven on the model of islam militant. it would be a repetition, but on a grander scale, of the wahhabite movement of the eighteenth century, and, having a wider base of operations in the vast fanatical masses of north africa, might achieve far more important results. even without pretending to the rank of an inspired guide, it is certain that a man of zeal and character might in the present crisis easily persuade the malekite arabs to reform their moral practice, if necessary to asceticism, by proving to them that they would thus regain their ascendancy in arms. on this basis a reformation would be easy; but it would be analogous to that of the hussites and anabaptists in europe, rather than of the true church reformation which succeeded these, and would hardly be universal or permanent. i once heard a most distinguished alem describe the qualifications of one who should preach a reform of this kind:--"the man," said he, "who would persuade us to reform must come, in the first place, of a well-recognized family. he must be either a prince, or a sherif, or an hereditary saint. this would secure him from a first personal attack on the ground of seeming impiety. he must secondly be an arab, gifted with the pure language of the koran, for the arabian ulema would not listen to a barbarian; and he must possess commanding eloquence. a reformer must before all else be a preacher. thirdly, he must be profoundly learned, that is to say, versed in all the subtleties of the law and in all that has been written in commentary on the koran; and he must have a ready wit, so that in argument he may be able constantly to oppose authority with authority, quotation with quotation. granted these three qualifications and courage and god's blessing, he may lead us where he will." the chief obstacles, however, to a reformation of this sort would not be in the beginning, nor would they be wholly moral ones. the full programme of the móhdy needs that he should conquer mecca; and the land road thither of an african reformer lies blocked by egypt and the suez canal. so that, unless he should succeed in crossing the red sea through abyssinia (an invasion which, by the way, would fulfil another ancient prophecy, which states that the "companions of the elephant," the abyssinians, shall one day conquer hejaz), he could not carry out his mission. nor, except as an ally against the turk, would a fanatical reformer now find much sympathy in arabia proper. the peninsular arabs have had their puritan reformation already, and a strong reaction has set in amongst them in favour of liberal thought. they are in favour still of reform, but it is of another kind from that preached by abd el wahhab; and it is doubtful whether a new militant islam would find many adherents amongst them. the only strong advocate of such views at the present day among true arabs in arabia is the aged sherif, abd el mutalleb, the sultan's nominee, who indeed has spared no pains, since he was installed at mecca, to fan the zeal of the north africans. a wahhabi in his youth, he is still a fierce puritan; and it is possible that, should he live long enough (he is said to be ninety years old), he may be able to produce a corresponding zeal in arabia. but at present the mass of the arabs in hejaz, no less than in nejd and yemen, are occupied with more humane ideas. abd el mutalleb's chief supporters in mecca are not his own countrymen, but the indian colony, descendants many of them of the sepoy refugees who fled thither in , and who have the reputation of being the most fanatical of all its residents. the true arabs are in revolt against his authority. again, it is improbable that any enunciation of puritan reform would find support among the northern races of asia, which are uniformly sunk in gross sensuality and superstition; while constantinople may be trusted to oppose all reform whatever. wahhabism, when it overspread southern asia, never gained a foothold further north than syria, and broke itself to pieces at last against the corrupt orthodoxy of constantinople. and so too it would happen now. abd el hamid, in spite of his zeal for islam, would see in the preaching of a moral reform only a new heresy; and, as we have seen, the móhdy's mission is against all evil rule, the sultan's and caliph's not excepted. so that, unless abd el hamid places himself openly at the head of the warlike movement in africa and so forestalls a rival, he is not likely long to give it his loyal support. already there are symptoms of his regarding events in tunis with suspicion, and on the first announcement of an inspired reformer he would, i believe, not hesitate to pronounce against him. i understand the turkish military reinforcements at tripoli quite as much in the light of a precaution against arab reform as against infidel france. puritanism, then, on a militant basis, even if preached by the móhdy himself, could hardly be either general or lasting, and its best result would probably be, that after a transient burst of energy, which would rouse the thought of islam and renew her spiritual life, a humaner spirit, as in arabia would take its place, and lead to a more lasting, because a more rational, reform. but it was not to such a puritan reformation that i was pointing when i expressed my conviction that islam would in the end work out her salvation, nor do i hold it necessary that she should find any such _deus ex machinâ_ as an inspired guide to point her out her road. her reformation is indeed already begun, and may be gradually carried to its full results, by no violent means, and in a progressive, not a reactionary spirit. this only can be the true one, for it is a law of nations and of faiths, no less than of individuals, that they cannot really return upon their years, and that all beneficial changes for them must be to new conditions of life, not to old ones--to greater knowledge, not to less--to freedom of thought, not to its enslavement. nor is there anything in the true principles of islam to make such progress an unnatural solution of her destiny. mohammedanism in its institution, and for many centuries after its birth, was eminently a rationalistic creed; and it was through reason as well as faith that it first achieved its spiritual triumphs. if we examine its bases its early history, we must indeed admit this. the koran, which we are accustomed to speak of as the written code of mohammedan law, is in reality no legal text-book by which mussulmans live. at best it enunciates clearly certain religious truths, the unity of god, the doctrine of rewards and punishments in a future life, and the revelation of god's claims on man. psalms, many of them sublime, occupy the greater number of its chapters; promises of bliss to believers and destruction to unbelievers come next; then the traditional history of revelation as it was current among the semitic race; and only in the later chapters, and then obscurely, anything which can properly be classed as law. yet law is the essence of islam, and was so from its earliest foundation as a social and religious polity; and it is evident that to it, and not to the koran's dogmatic theology, islam owed its great and long career of triumph in the world. now this law was not, like the koran, brought down full-fledged from heaven. at first it was little more than a confirmation of the common custom of arabia, supplemented indeed and corrected by revelation, but based upon existing rules of right and wrong. when, however, islam emerged from arabia in the first decade of her existence, and embracing a foreign civilization found herself face to face with new conditions of life, mere custom ceased to be a sufficient guide; and, the voice of direct revelation having ceased, the faithful were thrown upon their reason to direct them how they were to act. revelation continued, nevertheless, to be the groundwork of their reasoning, and the teaching of their great leader the justification of each new development of law as the cases requiring it arose. the koran was cited wherever it was possible to find a citation, and where these failed tradition was called in. the companions of the prophet were in the first instance consulted, and their recollections of his sayings and doings quoted freely; while afterwards, when these too were gone, the companions of the companions took their place, and became in their turn cited. thus by a subtle process of comparison and reasoning, worked out through many generations, the mohammedan law as we see it was gradually built up, until in the third century of islam it was embodied by order of the caliph into a written code. the fakh ed din and the fakh esh sheriat of abu hanifeh, the doctor intrusted with this duty, was a first attempt to put into reasoned form the floating tradition of the faithful, and to make a digest of existing legal practice. he and his contemporaries examined into and put in order the accumulated wealth of authority on which the law rested, and, taking this and rejecting that saying of the fathers of islam, founded on them a school of teaching which has ever since been the basis of mohammedan jurisprudence. abu hanifeh's code, however, does not appear to have been intended, at the time it was drawn up, to be the absolute and final expression of all lawful practice for the faithful. it included a vast amount of tradition of which either no use was made by its compiler, or which stood in such contradiction with itself that a contrary interpretation of it to his could with equal logic be deduced. abu hanifeh quoted and argued rather than determined; and as long as the arabian mind continued to be supreme in islam the process of reasoning development continued. the hanefite code was supplemented by later doctors, malek, esh shafy, and ibn hanbal, and even by others whose teaching has been since repudiated, all in the avowed intention of suiting the law still further to the progressive needs of the faithful, and all following the received process of selecting and interpreting and reasoning from tradition. these codes were, for the then existing conditions of life, admirable; and even now, wherever those conditions have remained unaltered, are amply sufficient for the purposes of good government and the regulation of social conduct. they would, nevertheless, have been but halting places in the march of mohammedan legislation, had the destinies of islam remained permanently in the hands of its first founders. unfortunately, about the eleventh century of our era, a new and unfortunate influence began to make itself felt in the counsels of the arabian ulema, which little by little gaining ground, succeeded at last in stopping the flow of intellectual progress at the fountain head. the tartar, who then first makes his appearance in mohammedan politics, though strong in arms, was slow to understand. he had no habit of thought, and, having embraced islam, he saw no necessity for further argument concerning it. the language of the koran and the traditions was a science sealed to him; and the reasoning intelligence of the arab whose dominion he had invaded was a constant reproof to him. he dared not venture his barbarian dignity in the war of wit which occupied the schools; and so fortified his unintelligence behind a rampart of dogmatic faith. impotent to develop law himself, he clutched blindly at that which he found written to his hand. the code of abu hanifeh seemed to him a perfect thing, and he made it the resting place of his legal reason. then, as he gradually possessed himself of all authority, he declared further learning profane, and virtually closed the schools. his military triumphs in the sixteenth century sealed the intellectual fate of islam, and from that day to our own no light of discussion has illumined moslem thought, in any of the old centres of her intelligence. reason, the eye of her faith in early times, has been fast shut--by many, it has been argued, blind. it is only in the present generation, and in the face of those dangers and misfortunes to which islam finds herself exposed, that recourse has once more been had to intellectual methods; and it is precisely in those regions of islam where arab thought is strongest that we now find the surest symptoms of returning mental life. modern arabia, wherever she has come in contact with what we call the civilization of the world, has shown herself ready and able to look it in the face; and she is now setting herself seriously to solve the problem of her own position and that of her creed towards it. in north africa, indeed, civilization for the moment presents itself to her only as an enemy; but where her intelligence has remained unclouded by the sense of political wrong she has proved herself capable, not only of understanding the better thought of europe, but of sympathizing with it as akin to her own. thus at cairo, now that the influence of constantinople has been partially removed, we find the arabian ulema rapidly assimilating to their own the higher principles of our european thought, and engrafting on their lax moral practice some of the better features of our morality. it is at no sacrifice of imagined dignity, as with the turks, that egypt is seeking a legal means for universal religious toleration, or from any pressure but that of their own intelligence that her chief people are beginning to reform their domestic life, and even, in some instances, to adopt the practice of monogamy. the truth would seem to be that the same process is being effected to-day in their minds as was formerly the case with their ancestors. in the eighth century, the arabs, brought into contact with greek philosophy, assimilated it by a natural process of their reasoning into the body of their own beliefs; and now in the nineteenth they are assimilating a foreign morality into their own system of morals. not only in egypt,--in oman and peninsular arabia, generally there is a real feeling of cordiality between the mohammedan and his christian "guest." the abolition of slavery in zanzibar was a concession to european opinion at least as much as to european force; and a moral sympathy is acknowledged between a moslem and a christian state which has its base in a common sense of right and justice. i have good reason to believe that, were the people of yemen to effect their deliverance from constantinople, the same humane feeling would be found to exist among them; and i know that it exists in nejd; while even in hejaz, which is commonly looked upon as the hot-bed of religious intolerance, i found all that was truly arabian in the population as truly liberal. under the late grand sherif, abd el hamid's reputed victim, these ideas were rapidly gaining ground; and had it not been for his untimely end, i have high authority for stating that the mohammedan holy land would now be open to european intercourse, and slavery, or at least the slave trade, be there abolished. there is, therefore, some reason to hope that, were arabian thought once more supreme in islam, its tendency would be in the direction of a wider and more liberal reading of the law, and that in time a true reconciliation might be effected with christendom, perhaps with christianity. the great difficulty which, as things now stand, besets reform is this: the sheriat, or written code of law, still stands in orthodox islam as an _unimpeachable_ authority. the law in itself is an excellent law, and as such commends itself to the loyalty of honest and god-fearing men; but on certain points it is irreconcilable with the modern needs of islam, and it cannot legally be altered. when it was framed it was not suspected that mohammedans would ever be subjects of a christian power, or that the mohammedan state would ever need to accommodate itself to christian demands in its internal policy. it contemplated, too, mainly a state of war, and it accepted slavery and concubinage as war's natural concomitants. it did not understand that some day islam would have to live at peace with its neighbours, if it would live at all, or that the general moral sense of the world would be brought to bear upon it with such force that the higher instincts of moslems themselves should feel the necessity of restricting its old and rather barbarous licence as to marriage and divorce. yet these things have come to pass, or are rapidly coming; and the best thinkers in islam now admit that changes in the direction indicated must sooner or later be made. only they insist that these should be legally effected, not forced on them by an overriding of the law. what they want is _a legal authority to change_. now, no such authority exists, either in the ottoman sultan, or in the sherif, or in any sheykh el islam, mufti, or body of ulema in the world. none of these dare seriously meddle with the law. there is not even one universally recognized tribunal to which all moslems may refer their doubts about the law's proper reading, and have their disputes resolved. a fetwa, or opinion, is all that can be given, and it applies only to the land where it is issued. the fetwa of this great alem in one moslem state may be reversed by the fetwa of another in that. the sheykh el islam at constantinople may be appealed against to the mufti at mecca or cairo, or these again, it may be, to bokhara. none absolutely overrides the rest. thus while i was at jeddah there came a deputation of mussulmans from bengal, being on their way to mecca to ask a fetwa on the disputed point whether believers were permitted or not to use european dress. a previous fetwa had been asked at constantinople, but the deputation was dissatisfied, alleging that the sheykh el islam there could not be trusted and that they preferred the meccan mufti. thus legal-minded moslems who would see their way to improvement are constantly faced with a legal bar, the want of authority. _as things stand_ there is no remedy for this. an opinion, however, seems now to be gaining ground among the learned, that a legal issue may one day be found in the restoration to the caliphate of what is called by them the _saut el haï_, the living voice of islam, which in its first period, and indeed till the destruction of the abbaside dynasty by holagu, belonged to the successors of the prophet. it is certain that in the first four reigns of abu bekr, omar, othman, and ali, such a living power to legislate was accorded to the caliphs; and that on their own authority they modified at will the yet unwritten law. thus it is related of abu bekr that in one instance he set aside a law called the mota, though based directly on some sentences of the koran, declaring it not conformable to the better tradition; and that ali again reversed this ruling, which has, nevertheless, been adhered to by the sunites. later, too, the ommiad and abbaside caliphs exercised this right of legislation by deputy; it was in their names that the mujtaheddin, abu hanifeh and the rest, framed their first codes of law; and to the last the words of their mouth were listened to, as in some measure inspired utterances, by the faithful. it was only when the sacred office passed from the sacred and legitimate house that this feeling of reverence ceased, and the living voice of the caliph was disregarded in islam. the ottoman conqueror, when he took upon him the title of emir el mumenin, did not venture to claim for himself the power to teach, nor would moslems have listened to any such pretension. the house of othman was from the first sunk in degrading vices, and was too untaught to teach. the account given us by bertrandon de la brocquière in the fifteenth century of the court and habits of the "grand turk" is evidently no exaggeration; and it is easy to conceive by the light of it how impossible it must have been for the arabian ulema to connect the notion of inspiration in any way with such personages as the sultans then were. as a fact the saut el haï was not claimed by selim, nor has it ever been accorded to his descendants. the want of some voice of authority is, nevertheless, becoming daily more generally felt by orthodox mohammedans; and it seems to me certain that, in some shape or other, it will before long be restored to general recognition. abd el hamid, whose spiritual ambition i have described, has, quite recently, caused a legal statement of his caliphal rights to be formally drawn up, and it includes this right of the _saut el haï_;[ ] and, though it is improbable that the faithful will, at the eleventh hour of its rule, invest the house of othman with so sublime a prerogative, it is extremely likely that, when a more legitimate holder of the title shall have been found, he will be conceded all the rights of the sacred office. then the legal difficulty will at last be overcome. the dead hand of the law will be no longer dead, but will be inspired by a living voice and will. since we are imagining many things we may imagine this one too,--that our caliph of the koreysh, chosen by the faithful and installed at mecca, should invite the ulema of every land to a council at the time of the pilgrimage, and there, appointing a new mujtahed, should propound to them certain modifications of the sheriat, as things necessary to the welfare of islam, and deducible from tradition. no point of doctrine need in any way be touched, only the law. the fakh ed din would need hardly a modification. the fakh esh sheriat would, in certain chapters, have to be rewritten. who can doubt that an omar or an haroun, were they living at the present day, would authorize such changes, or that the faithful of their day would have accepted them as necessary and legitimate developments of koranic teaching? it would be an interesting study to pursue this inquiry further, and to see how it might be worked out in detail. the crying necessity of civilized islam is a legal _modus vivendi_ with europe, and such an adaptation of its law on points where europe insists as shall suffice to stave off conflict. it is evident that legal equality must now be accorded to christians living under mohammedan law, and that conformity, on the other hand, in certain points to foreign law must be allowed to moslems living under christian rule. again, slavery must, by some means, be made illegal; and a stricter interpretation of the koranic permission be put on marriage, concubinage, and divorce. that all these changes might be logically effected by a process of reasoning from the traditions, and expanding or minimising the interpretation of the koran, no one need doubt who remembers what fetwas have already been given on these very points by some of the azhar ulema. at present these decisions are unsatisfactory to the faithful at large, because those issuing them have no recognized authority to strain the law, but with authority the same decisions would meet with general approval. at least such is the impression of modern mohammedan opinion made on me by my conversation with mohammedans. it would be interesting to work out these points; and i hope some day to have an opportunity of doing so, but for the present i have neither the time nor the knowledge sufficient for the purpose. i must be content with having suggested the method; i cannot work out the details of a reformation. it may, however, give an idea of the kind of material in tradition which reformers are looking for, if i quote a document which was being circulated last spring among the ulema of the azhar. it purports to be the text of the prophet's first treaty with the christians of arabia, though i do not vouch for its authenticity, and runs as follows:-- "covenant of god's apostle, mohammed, with the christian people, their monks and their bishops."--(a.d. .) "mohammed, the apostle of god, sent with a message of peace to all mankind, dictateth the words of this covenant that the cause of god may be a written document between him and the people of christ. "he who keepeth this covenant, let him be called a true moslem worthy of the religion of god, and he who departeth from it let him be called an enemy, be he king or subject, great or small. "to this have i pledged myself: i will fence in their lands with my horsemen, and my footmen, and my allies, throughout the world; and i will care for their safety and the safety of their temples, their churches, their oratories, and their convents, and the places of their pilgrimage, wheresoever i shall find them, whether by the land or by the sea, in the east or in the west, on the mountain or in the plain, in the desert or in the city. there will i stand behind them that no harm shall reach them, and my followers shall keep them from evil. this is my covenant with them. i will exempt them in all matters wherein the moslems are exempt. i command also that no one of their bishops be expelled from his see, nor shall any christian be forced from his religion, nor shall a monk be forced from his convent, nor a hermit from his cell. it is my will that none of their holy buildings be destroyed or taken from them for mosques by my people or for their dwellings. whosoever despiseth this command is guilty before god and despiseth the pledge of his apostle. all monks and bishops, and the dependents of these, i declare exempt from tribute, except such as they shall of their free will bring. nor shall christian merchants, doing business by sea, or diving for pearls, or working in the mines for gold, or silver, or jewels, even the wealthy and the mighty, pay more than twelve drachmas of yearly tribute. this, for such christian merchants as shall live in arabia; but for travellers and strangers in the land, they are exempt. likewise such as have lands and gardens bearing fruit, and fields for corn, shall pay no more than it is in their power to bring. "and the people to whom i have pledged my word shall not be required to fight for themselves. but the moslems shall protect them, asking them neither for arms, nor rations, nor horses for the war, except such as each shall choose to bring. but if any shall bring money, or help the moslems in war, it must be acknowledged them with thanks. "and this is my command. no moslem shall molest a follower of christ; and if he dispute with him it shall be with good manners. and if a christian do any man wrong it shall be a duty with moslems to stay the avenger and make peace between them, paying the ransom if the wrong demand a ransom. and it is my wish that christians should not be disregarded by my followers, for i have pledged my word unto them before god that they shall be as moslems in my sight, sharing and partaking of all things with the rest. and in their marriages they shall not be troubled no moslem shall say to a christian, 'give me thy daughter,' nor take her unless he be willing. and if a christian woman become a slave to a moslem he shall be bound by this covenant to leave her her religion, nor shall he compel her to disobey her religious chiefs. this is the command of god, and whosoever shall deny it and disobey god shall hold him for a liar. "moreover it shall be a duty with my followers to repair the churches of the christians, rendering them the service not as a debt, but for god's sake and for the keeping of the covenant, made to them by the apostle of god. "no christian shall be compelled to go forth in time of war as an envoy or spy against his people. "these are the privileges which mohammed, the apostle of god, hath granted to the followers of christ. in return he requested them to deal with him and with the moslems as follows:-- " . none of them in time of war shall give assistance, either openly or in secret, to the enemies of islam. " . they shall not give asylum in their churches or in their houses to the enemies of islam. " . they shall not help them with arms, or rations, or horses, or men. " . they shall not keep counsel with the declared enemies of islam, nor receive them in their houses, nor deposit money with them. " . they shall grant to all moslems seeking their hospitality entertainment for at least three days. but no moslem shall require of them to make special cooking for him, and he shall eat of the common food with his host. " . if a moslem seek asylum with a christian, the christian shall not refuse to shelter him, and shall not deliver him to his enemies. "what christian soever shall refuse these my requests, he shall not partake of the privileges of this covenant which i have made with the bishops, monks, and the rest, the followers of christ. and i call god to witness with my followers and command them to keep faithful to this my precept, now and till the day of judgment. "the above was written in the presence of the under-signed persons, dictated by the apostle of god, and written down by mawiyeh ibn abu sofian, on monday, at the end of the fourth month, of the fourth year, of the hejira, in medina, peace be upon its lord. (signed) "abu bekr es sadik. "omar ibn el khottub. "othman ibn affan. "ali ibn abu taleb. and thirty-one other signatures. "god be witness of what hath been said in this treaty. praised be god the lord of the earth." in conclusion, i would urge that while it is to mohammedans themselves that we must look to work out their ultimate regeneration according to the rules of their own law and conscience, christendom can still do much to influence immediate results. the day of religious hatred between moslem and christian as such is, i hope, nearly at an end; and though political strife is unfortunately renewing the old quarrel in north africa, there is no danger now of its becoming on europe's part a crusade. christendom has pretty well abandoned her hopeless task of converting islam, as islam has abandoned hers of conquering europe; and it is surely time that moral sympathy should unite the two great bodies of men who believe in and worship the same god. england, at least, may afford now to acknowledge mohammedanism as something not to be merely combated and destroyed, but to be accepted by her and encouraged--accepted as a fact which for good or evil will exist in the world whether she will or no--encouraged because it has in it possibilities of good which she cannot replace by any creed or philosophy of her own. she can do much to help these possibilities, for they depend for the moment on her political action. there is a good cause and a bad in islam as elsewhere in the world, and though hitherto england's physical help has been given all to evil, it has been through ignorance of the issues at stake; and i am confident that as she learns these, she will acknowledge the wrong she has unconsciously been doing, and repair while there is yet time her error. in my next and concluding chapter i propose to sketch a policy towards islam worthy of england's high sense of duty, and conformable to her true interests. footnotes: [ ] a remarkable coincidence of prediction, christian and mohammedan, has been pointed out to me in rohrbacher's history of the church, published in , where by an elaborate calculation based on the old testament prophecies he arrives at the conclusion that the turkish empire will fall in , the date assigned it also by the mohammedan prediction quoted in my last chapter--that is to say a.h. . [ ] this claim has been endorsed by abd el mutalleb, who is issuing a _resalat rayiyeh_, or pastoral letter, this year to the pilgrims in support of abd el hamid's caliphate. chapter v. england's interest in islam. nothing now remains for me but to point the moral which these essays were designed to draw. it will have been observed that hitherto i have avoided as much as possible all allusion to the direct political action which christendom is exercising, and must ever more and more exercise, upon the fortunes of islam; and in this i have been guided by two motives. i have wished, first, to give prominence to the fact that in all great movements of the human intellect the force of progression or decay should be looked for mainly from within, not from without; and, secondly, to simplify my subject so as to render it more easily intelligible to the reading public. we have reached, however, the point now when it will be necessary to take different ground, and look at islam no longer as regards her internal economy, but as she is being affected by the world at large. we must inquire what influence the material pressure of europe is likely to have on her in the levant, and what in africa and central asia; and, above all, we must examine closely our own position towards her, and the course which duty and interest require us to pursue in regard to the vast mussulman population of our indian empire. i take it the sentiment generally of continental europe--i do not speak of england--towards mohammedanism is still much what it has always been, namely, one of social hostility and political aggression. in spite of all the changes which have affected religious thought in catholic europe, and of the modern doctrine of tolerance in matters of opinion, none of the nations by which islam is immediately confronted to the north and west have really changed anything of their policy towards her, since the days when they first resolved on the recovery of "christian lands lost to the infidel." it is true that most of them no longer put forward religious zeal as the motive of their action, or the possession of the holy sepulchre as its immediate object; but under the name of "civilization" their crusade is no less a continuous reality, and the direction of their efforts has not ceased to be the resumption by europe of political control in the whole of the provinces once forming the roman empire. the sentiment in its origin was a just one, and, though now become for the most part selfish with the various christian states, who see in the advantage to christendom only an advantage to themselves, it appeals to an ancient and respectable moral sanction which is in itself no inconsiderable power. it is certain that the national conscience neither of france, nor spain, nor italy, nor austria would repudiate an aggression, however unprovoked, upon any of the still independent mussulman states of the mediterranean, and that the only judgment passed on such an act by public opinion would be one dependent on its failure or success. thus in estimating the future of islam as a political body, and in view of the disparity proved to exist at all points between modern europe and its ancient rival in the matter of physical strength, we must be prepared to see the latter submit at no distant date to great territorial losses along the whole line of its european frontier. few, i think, to begin from the extreme west, will be inclined to doubt that, should the french succeed in thoroughly crushing the arab movement which they have provoked in tunis, and which will in all probability be extended next summer to morocco and tripoli, the beginning of the next century will see what is left of the barbary coast in their possession, or in that of spain or italy; and the greater part of the cultivable lands fronting the mediterranean occupied by their immigrants. what france has done or attempted to do in algiers her two neighbours may possibly achieve with even more success in morocco and western tripoli, for the spaniards and italians are both eminently colonizing races, and the hill country of barbary is little different in climate from their own. tripoli, on the break up of the ottoman empire, will certainly tempt italian statesmen, and spain has already a footing on the african coast in tetuan. it is therefore conceivable that the better lands on the seaboard will receive a flood of such agriculturists from either country as now seek their fortunes on the river plate and elsewhere. should such be the case, the mohammedan population may be ousted from their possession of the soil, and driven southwards, at least for a time, and a considerable decrease of the political strength of islam be witnessed in that quarter. i do not, however, conceive that europe will ever obtain a sure colonial footing south of the atlas, or that the mussulmans of the sahara will lose anything of their present religious character. at worst, southern morocco and fezzan will always remain independent mohammedan states, the nucleuses of religious life in barbary, and links between the mussulmans of northern and central africa, while further east the growing influence of egypt will make itself felt intellectually to the advantage of believers. it is, however, to central africa that islam must in the future look for a centre of religious gravity westwards. there, in the conversion of the negro race of the tropics, already so rapidly proceeding, she has good prospect of compensation for all losses on the mediterranean coast; and, screened by the sahara and by a climate unsuited to european life, she may retain for centuries her political as well as her religious independence. the negro races will not only be mohammedanised; they will also be arabised; and a community of language and of custom will thus preserve for soudan its connection with mecca, and so with the general life of islam. the losses, then, to islam in africa will be rather apparent than real, and may even in the end prove a source of new strength. nor must we lose sight of the possibility of a french defeat i believe that at no time during the past forty years has the military position of "our allies" been in a graver peril in their colony than now, or the resources of their antagonists greater. it is a weakness of the french system in africa that it has made no attempt to assimilate the native population; and it is the strength of that population, in as far as it is arab, that it does assimilate french thought to its own advantage. it is far from certain whether the conquest of algiers may not some day have for its effect the renewal of mohammedan political vitality in all the barbary coast. a more absolute and immediate loss must be anticipated in europe and western asia. there it is pretty certain that in a very few years ottoman rule will have ceased, and the turkish-speaking lands composing the empire been absorbed by one or other of the powerful neighbours who have so long coveted their possession. austria, in person or by deputy, may be expected by the end of the present century to have inherited the european, and russia the asiatic, provinces of turkey proper, while the fate of syria and egypt will only have been averted, if averted it be, by the intervention of england. that a dissolution of the empire may and will be easily accomplished i have myself little doubt. the military power of constantinople, though still considerable for the purposes of internal control, will hardly again venture to cope single-handed with any european state, nor is it in the least probable that the sultan will receive further christian support from without. the fall of kars has laid asia minor open to the russian arms, and the territorial cessions of san stefano and berlin have laid roumelia open to the austrian. on the first occasion of a quarrel with the porte a simultaneous advance from both quarters would preclude the chance of even a serious struggle, and the subjugation of the turkish-speaking races would be effected without more difficulty. the weakness of the empire from a military point of view is, that it is dependent wholly on its command of the sea, a position which enables it to mass what troops it has rapidly on the points required, but which even a second-rate mediterranean power could wrest from it. its communication cut by a naval blockade, the empire would almost without further action be dissolved. whatever loyalty the sultan may have lately achieved outside his dominions, there is not only no spirit of national resistance in asia minor itself, but the provinces, even the most mussulman, would hail an invading army as a welcome deliverer from him. left to themselves they would abandon without compunction the sultan's cause, and the next war of an european state with turkey will not only be her last, but it will in all likelihood hardly be fought out by her. nor do i conceive that the fall of the ottoman empire and the annexation of its turkish provinces would be a mere political loss of so much territory to islam. it would involve moral consequences far greater than this for the whole mussulman world of north-western asia. i have the authority of the most enlightened of modern asiatic statesmen in support of my opinion that it would be the certain deathblow of mohammedanism as a permanent religious faith in all the lands west of the caspian, and that even among the tartar races of the far east, the sunite mussulmans of siberia and the khanates, and as far as the great wall of china, it would be a shock from which sunism in its present shape would with difficulty recover. what has hitherto supported the religious constancy of orthodox believers in those lands, formerly ottoman, which have become subject to russia, has been throughout the consciousness that there was still upon the russian border a great militant body of men of their own faith, ruled by its acknowledged spiritual head. the centre of their religious pride has been constantinople, where the sultan and caliph has sat enthroned upon the bosphorus, commanding the two worlds of europe and asia, and securing to them communication with the holy places of their devotion and the living body of true believers. their self-respect has been maintained by this feeling, and with it fidelity to their traditions. moreover, the school of st. sophia has been a fountain-head of religious knowledge, the university at which the ulema of kazan and tiflis and astrachan have received their spiritual education; while at all times religious personages from constantinople have travelled among them, keeping alive the recollection of their lost allegiance. on this basis their faith has retained what it has of loyalty in spite of the political russianising they have undergone; but with their political centre destroyed, they would be as sheep without a shepherd, scattered in little groups here and there among a growing christian population, and shut out from the fold of their belief. constantinople is the assembling place of pilgrimage for all mohammedans west of the ural mountains, who reach it by the black sea, and could never be replaced to them by any new centre further south among the arab races, with whom they have little sympathy or direct religious connection. a caliph at mecca or in egypt could do little for them, and the turkish-speaking sunites would have no university open to them nearer than bokhara. in this respect they would find themselves in a far worse position than the moors, however universally these may become subject to europe, and their religious disintegration would be a mere question of time. i believe, therefore, that islam must be prepared for a loss, not only of political power in europe and in western asia, but also of the mohammedan population in the ottoman lands absorbed by russia. it will be a strange revenge of history if the ottoman turks, whom europe has for so many centuries held to be the symbolic figure of mohammedanism, shall one day cease to be mohammedan. yet it is a revenge our children or our grandchildren may well live to see. how far eastward the full results of this religious disintegration may extend, it is perhaps fanciful to speculate. the north-western provinces of persia, which are inhabited by mussulmans of mixed race speaking the turkish language and largely interfused with christian armenians, would, i am inclined to think, follow the destiny of the west, and ultimately accept christianity as a dominant religion. but, east of the caspian, sunite islam, though severely shaken, may yet hope to survive and hold its ground for centuries. the present policy of russia, whatever it may be in europe, is far from hostile to mohammedanism in central asia. as a religion it is even protected there, and it is encouraged by the government in its missionary labours among the idolatrous tribes of the steppes, and among the buddhists, who are largely accepting its doctrines in the extreme east. hitherto there has been no christian colonization in the direction of the khanates, nor is there any indigenous form of christianity. moreover, central asia, though connected by ties of sympathy with constantinople, has never been politically or even religiously dependent on it. it has a university of its own in bokhara, a seat of learning still renowned throughout asia, and it is thither and not to st. sophia that the sunite mussulmans east of the caspian proceed for their degrees. mohammedanism, therefore, in eastern asia is not exposed to such immediate danger as in the west. bokhara may lose its political independence, but there is no probability for many generations to come of its being christianized as constantinople certainly must be, and it may even on the fall of the latter become the chief centre of sunite orthodoxy of the existing hanefite type, remaining so perhaps long after the rest of islam shall have abandoned hanefism. it is obvious, however, that cut off geographically as the khanates are from the general life of islam, bokhara can but vaguely represent the present religious power of constantinople, and will be powerless to influence the general flow of mohammedan thought. its influence could be exerted only through india, and would be supported by no political prestige. so that it is far more likely in the future to follow than to lead opinion. otherwise isolation is its only fate. the future of shiite mohammedanism in persia proper is a still more doubtful problem. exposed like the rest of central asia to russian conquest, the persian monarchy cannot without a speedy and complete revolution of its internal condition fail to succumb politically. the true irâni, however, have an unique position in mohammedan asia which may save them from complete absorption. unlike any mohammedan race except the arabian, they are distinctly national. the turk, conqueror though he has always been, repudiates still the name of turk, calling himself simply a moslem, and so likewise do the less distinguished races he has subjected. but the persian does not do this. he is before all things irâni, and to the extent that he has made for himself a mohammedanism of his own. he boasts of a history and a literature older far than islam, and has not consented to forget it as a thing belonging only to "the age of ignorance." he runs, therefore, little risk of being either russianised or christianised by conquest; and being of an intellectual fibre superior to that of the russians, and, as far as the mass of the population is concerned, being physically as well gifted, it may be supposed that he will survive, if he cannot avert, his political subjugation. there is at the present moment, i am informed, a last desperate effort making at teheran for the re-organization of the empire on a liberal basis of government, and though it would be folly to count much on its success, it may conceivably succeed. mohammedanism would not there, as at constantinople, be found a barrier to reform, for persian shiism is an eminently elastic creed, and on the contrary may, it is thought, be made the instrument of a social reformation; only, as i have said it would be folly to count on its success; and there are certain moral defects in persian character which do not encourage lookers-on. shiite mohammedanism, however, whether persia be absorbed or not by russia, is of little importance in a general review of islam's future, and may safely be dismissed as not directly relevant to the main question before us. admitting, then, the probability, nay, the certainty, of considerable political and territorial losses northwards, caused by the violent pressure of a hostile europe, let us see what yet remains to islam as her certain heritage, and how the changes foreshadowed may affect her general life. i cannot myself find any cause of despair for mussulmans in the prospect of a curtailment of their religious area in the directions indicated, or any certain reason of exultation for their enemies in the thought that with the fall of constantinople islam, too, will have fallen. on the contrary, i see in the coming destruction of the ottoman supremacy, and in the exclusion of the northern races, even at the cost of their religious support, from the counsels of the faithful, an element of hope in the future far outweighing the immediate chagrin which may be caused by loss of sovereignty or loss of population. the mohammedan population which the fall of constantinople would conceivably cut off from the main body could not at most number more than some twenty millions, and when we remember that this is no more than a tithe of the whole mussulman census, and that the proportion is a constantly decreasing one, it will be evident that there is little ground for looking at the loss as one necessarily fatal to religion. the northern races still give to mohammedanism an appearance of physical strength; but it is an appearance only, and it is given at the cost of its intellectual vigour. the political success of the turks has for centuries thrown islam off its moral equilibrium, and their disappearance from its supreme counsels will give weight to races more worthy of representing religious interests. constantinople will be replaced by cairo or mecca, and the tartar by the arab--an exchange which, intellectually considered, no lover of islam need deplore. one great result the fall of constantinople certainly will have, which i believe will be a beneficial one. it will give to mohammedanism a more distinctly religious character than it has for many centuries possessed, and by forcing believers to depend upon spiritual instead of temporal arms will restore to them, more than any political victories could do, their lost moral life. even independently of considerations of race as between turk and arab, i believe that the fall of the mussulman empire, as a great temporal dominion, would relieve islam of a burden of sovereignty which she is no longer able in the face of the modern world to support. she would escape the stigma of political depravity now clinging to her, and her aims would be simplified and intensified. i have already stated my opinion that it is to arabia that mussulmans must in the future look for a centre of their religious system, and a return of their caliphate to mecca will signify more than a mere political change. it is obvious that empire will be there impossible in the sense given to it at constantinople, and that the display of armies and the mundane glory of vast palaces and crowds of slaves will be altogether out of place. the caliph of the future, in whatever city he may fix his abode, will be chiefly a spiritual and not a temporal king, and will be limited in the exercise of his authority by few conditions of the existing material kind. he will be spared the burden of despotic government, the odium of tax-gathering and conscription over unwilling populations, the constant struggle to maintain his authority in arms, and the as constant intrigue against rival mohammedan princes. it is probable that all these would readily acknowledge the nominal sovereignty of a caliph who could not pretend to coerce them physically, and that the spiritual allegiance of orthodox believers everywhere would accrue to him as other mohammedan sovereignty relaxed its hold. thus the dream of what is called pan-islamism may yet be fulfilled, though in another form from that in which it is now presented to the faithful by abd el hamid and the ulema of constantinople. that islam in this spiritual form may achieve more notable triumphs than by arms in eastern and southern asia we may well believe, and even that it may establish itself one day as the prevailing religion of the continent. its moral advance within recent times in the malay archipelago, in china, in tartary, and in india, encourages the supposition that under alien rule mohammedanism will be able to hold its own, and more than own, against all rivals, and that in the decay of buddhism it, and not christianity, will be the form under which god will eventually be worshipped in the tropics. its progress among the malays under dutch rule is certainly an astonishing phenomenon, and, taken in connection with a hardly less remarkable progress in equatorial africa, may well console those mussulmans who see in the loss of their temporal dominions northwards signs of the decay of islam. could such a reformation as was suggested in my last chapter be indeed effected, the vigour of conversion would doubtless be redoubled, independently of any condition of political prosperity in the ancient seats of mohammedan dominion. i do not, therefore, see in territorial losses a sign of islam's ruin as a moral and intellectual force in the world. it is time, however, to consider the special part destined to be played by england in the drama of the mussulman future. england, if i understand her history rightly, stands towards islam in a position quite apart from that of the rest of the european states. these i have described as continuing a tradition of aggression inherited from the crusades, and from the bitter wars waged by the latin and greek empires against the growing power of the ottoman turks. in the latter england took no part, her religious schism having already separated her from the general interests of catholic europe, while she had withdrawn from the former in the still honourable stage of the adventure, and consequently remained with no humiliating memories to avenge. she came, therefore, into her modern relations with mohammedans unprejudiced against them, and able to treat their religious and political opinions in a humane and liberal spirit, seeking of them practical advantages of trade rather than conquest. nor has the special nature of her position towards them been unappreciated by mohammedans. in spite of the deceptions on some points of late years, and recent vacillations of policy towards them, the still independent nations of islam see in england something different from the rest of christendom, something not in its nature hostile to them, or regardless of their rights and interests. they know at least that they have nothing to dread from englishmen on the score of religious intolerance, and there is even a tendency with some of them to exaggerate the sympathy displayed towards them by supposing a community of beliefs on certain points considered by them essential. thus the idea is common among the ignorant in many mussulman countries that the english are _muwahedden_, or unitarians, in contradistinction to the rest of christians, who are condemned as _musherrakin_, or polytheists; and the turkish alliance is explained by them on this supposition, supplemented in the case of the turks themselves with the idea that england is itself a part of islam, and so its natural ally.[ ] these are of course but ideas of the vulgar. yet they represent a fact which is not without importance, namely, that england's is accepted by mussulmans as a friendly not a hostile influence, and that her protection is sought without that suspicion which is attached to the friendly offices of other powers. even in india, where englishmen have supplanted the mussulmans as a ruling race, the sentiment towards british rule is not, as far as i can learn, and compared with that of other sections of the indian community, a hostile one. the mussulmans of delhi and the punjab would no doubt desire a resumption by themselves of practical authority in the country where they were till lately masters; but they are conscious that they are not strong enough now to effect this, and their feeling towards english rule is certainly less bitter than towards the hindoos, their former subjects, now their rivals. were they in any way specially protected in their religious interests by the indian government, they would, i am confident, make not only contented but actively loyal subjects. as things stand, therefore, it would seem natural that, in the general disruption which will follow the fall of constantinople, it is to england the various nations of islam should look mainly for direction in their political difficulties. the place of adviser and protector, indeed, seems pointed out for her. with the disappearance of the ottoman sultan there will be no longer any great mussulman sovereignty in the world, and the mohammedan population of india, already the wealthiest and most numerous, will then assume its full importance in the counsels of believers. it will also assuredly be expected of the english crown that it should then justify its assumption of the old mohammedan title of the moguls, by making itself in some sort the political head of islam. her majesty will be left its most powerful sovereign, and it will be open to her advisers, if they be so minded, to exercise paramount influence on all its affairs. i do not say that they will be so minded, but they will have the power and the opportunity to a degree never yet presented to any christian government of directing the tone of thought of mussulmans throughout the world, and of utilizing the greatest religious force in asia for the purposes of humanity and progress. i am myself profoundly convinced that on england's acceptance or refusal of this mission the future of her dominion in india will mainly depend, and with it the whole solution of the problem she has set to herself of civilizing southern asia. let us see what our actual relations with mohammedanism are, and what is the value of its goodwill to us in asia. and first as to india. i find in _hunter's gazetteer_, our latest authority, the following figures:-- mussulman census of india. bengal , , assam , , north-west provinces , , ajmere , oudh , , punjab , , central provinces , berar , mysore , coorg , british burmah , madras , , bombay , , ----------- total , , these are large figures taken merely as they stand, but in point of fact they represent far more than is apparent. to understand them at their full value it must be remembered--first, that the mussulman population is a largely increasing one, not only in actual numbers, but in its proportion to the other races and sects of the peninsula, a fact which i believe the census returns of , when published, will amply prove. secondly, that its geographical distribution coincides pretty closely with that of the political life and energy of the country. the punjab and the north-west provinces alone contain an aggregate of thirteen million mussulmans. thirdly, that it is homogeneous to a degree shown by no other indian community. though less numerous by two-thirds than the whole hindoo population, it is far more so than any coherent section of that population, and is thus the largest body of opinion in the empire. fourthly, it is also the most generally enlightened. it is the only section of the community which knows its own history and preserves the tradition of its lost political importance; and if it has held itself aloof hitherto from competition with other races for the public service, it has been through pride rather than inability. what mussulmans there are who have entered the service of government have been men of distinguished capacity. and lastly, it is no isolated body, but remains in close communication with the mass of its fellow-believers throughout the world. the mohammedan population of india is, therefore, an exceptional as well as a large one. our second interest in mohammedanism lies in egypt. here, standing at the threshold of our commerce with the east, we find another large community almost wholly mussulman, for whose well-being we are already to a certain extent pledged, and in whose political future we perceive our own to be involved. a hostile egypt we rightly hold to be an impossibility for our position; and religious antagonism at cairo, even if controlled by military occupation, would be to us a constant menace. nor must it be supposed that egypt, like the barbary coast, will, into whose hands soever it falls, change its religious aspect. the population of the delta is too industrious, too sober, and content with too little, to fear competition as agriculturists with either italians, greeks, or maltese; and the conditions of life under a torrid sun will always protect egypt from becoming an european colony. the towns may, indeed, be overrun by foreigners, but the heart of the country will remain unchanged, and, like india, will refuse to remodel itself on any foreign system of civilization. mohammedanism, therefore, will maintain itself in egypt intact, and its good-will will remain our necessity.[ ] a third interest lies in asiatic turkey. this we have guaranteed by treaty against foreign invasion; and though our pledge is nominally to the sultan, not to the people of the empire, and though that pledge is contingent upon an impossibility, administrative reform, and is therefore not strictly binding, it is impossible to escape the admission that we have a moral obligation towards the mussulmans of asia minor and syria. how far we may be disposed or able to fulfil it remains to be seen. i do not myself anticipate any further intervention on the part of england in defence of the turkish-speaking lands. these, from their geographical position, lie outside our effective military control, and, dishonourable as a retreat from our engagements will be to us, it may be a necessity. it is difficult to understand how an english army could effectively protect either asia minor or mesopotamia from russian invasion. the occupation of kars has given russia the command of the tigris and euphrates, and with them of armenia, kurdistan and irak, so that our protection could hardly be extended beyond the sea-coast of asia minor and the persian gulf. no such inability, however, applies to syria. there, if we _will_, we certainly _can_ carry out our engagements. a mere strip of seaboard, backed by the desert, and attackable only from the north on a narrow frontier of some hundred miles, syria is easily defensible by a nation holding the sea. it is probable that a railway run from the gulf of scanderun to the euphrates, and supported by a single important fortress, would be sufficient to effect its military security at least for many years; and syria might thus have given to it a chance of self-government, and some compensation for misfortunes in which we have had no inconsiderable share. but this is an interest of honour rather than of political necessity to england; and he must possess a sanguine mind who, in the present temper of englishmen, would count greatly on such motives as likely to determine the action of their government. if, however, it should be otherwise, it is evident that the success of such a protectorate would depend principally upon the mohammedan element in syria, which so greatly preponderates over any other. a fourth interest, also a moral one, but connected with an accepted fact of english policy, is the attempted abolition of the african slave trade. now, though it is unquestionable that mohammedanism permits, and has hitherto encouraged, slavery as a natural condition of human society, it is no less true that without the co-operation of the various mussulman princes of the african and arabian coasts its abolition cannot be effected. short of the occupation by european garrisons of all the villages of the red sea, and from gardafui southwards to mozambique, or, on the other hand, of the subjection of all independent moslem communities in arabia and elsewhere, a real end, or even a real check, cannot be put on the traffic except through the co-operation of mussulmans themselves. the necessity has, indeed, been completely recognized in the numerous treaties and arrangements made with the sultans of turkey, zanzibar, and oman, and with the viceroy of egypt; and, though i am far from stating that these arrangements are wholly voluntary on the part of any of the princes, yet their good-will alone can make the prevention efficient. an excellent proof of this is to be found in the case of the turkish government, which, since its quarrel with the english, has given full license to the traffic in the red sea, which no means at the disposal of the latter can in any measure check. at no modern period has a larger number of slaves been imported into hejaz and yemen than during the last eighteen months, and until friendly relations with the porte, or whatever mussulman authority succeeds the porte in those provinces, are restored, slave-trading will continue. i do not myself entirely sympathize with anti-slave-trade ideas as applied to mohammedan lands, knowing as i do how tolerable and even advantageous the social condition of the negroes is in them. but still i wish to see slavery discontinued, and i believe that a firm but friendly attitude towards mussulmans will have completely extinguished it in another two generations. a rupture with them can only prolong and aggravate its existence. lastly, we may perhaps find a prospective interest for england in the probability of a caffre conversion to mohammedanism at no very remote period, and the extension of islam to her borders in south africa. it is of course premature to be alarmed at this, as it is a contingency which can hardly happen in the lifetime of any now living; but mohammedanism is not a creed which a hundred or two hundred years will see extinguished in africa or asia, and already it has passed considerably south of the equator. cape colony at this day numbers some fifteen thousand mussulmans. it would seem, then, on all these grounds difficult for england to ally herself, in dealing with islam, with what may be called the crusading states of europe. her position is absolutely distinct from that of any of them, and her interests find no parallel among christian nations, except perhaps the dutch. for good as for evil, she has admitted a vast body of mohammedans into her social community, and contracted engagements from which she can hardly recede towards others among them, so that it is impossible she should really work in active antagonism to them. as christians, englishmen may regret this; but as practical men, they would surely be wise to recognize the fact, and to accept the duties it entails. nor can these be discharged by a mere policy of inaction. england should be prepared to do more than assert a general doctrine of tolerance and equality for all religions in respect of this one. mohammedanism is not merely an opinion; a certain political organization is a condition of its existence, and a certain geographical latitude; and, moreover, it is a force which cannot remain neutral--which will be either a friend or a foe. to do nothing for mussulmans in the next ten years will be to take cause against them. the circumstances of their case do not admit of indifference, and they are approaching a crisis in which they will, on two points at least, require vigorous political protection. their caliphate in some form of temporal sovereignty, though perhaps not of empire, will have to be maintained; and short of securing this to them, and their free access as pilgrims to mecca, it will be idle to pretend to mussulmans that we are protecting their interests, or doing any part of our sovereign duty towards them. it can hardly be argued that the indian doctrine of religious equality will suffer from doing political justice to mohammedans. on the downfall, therefore, of the ottoman empire, whenever that event shall occur, the _rôle_ of england in regard to islam seems plainly marked out. the caliphate--no longer an empire, but still an independent sovereignty--must be taken under british protection, and publicly guaranteed its political existence, undisturbed by further aggression from europe. on the bosphorus no such guarantee can now be reasonably given, because there it lies in a position militarily indefensible. england is a naval power, and the seat of the caliphate must be one secured from all attack by land. it will then be for mohammedans, and especially for the mohammedans of india, to decide upon the new metropolis of their faith, the conditions of their choice lying within the narrow limits of their still independent lands. if syria be still free, that metropolis may be damascus; if irak, bagdad; or it may be in egypt, or arabia, or central asia. it is manifest, however, that as far as british protection against europe is concerned, the further it is removed from christendom the better, and the more easily accessible by sea. i have already given it as my opinion that the move, when made will be one southwards, and ultimately to arabia. but it may well happen that its first stage will be no further than cairo. the caliphate reached constantinople through egypt, and may return by the same road, and there are certain quite recent symptoms which seem to point in the direction of such a course being the one taken. the events of the last year in egypt are significant. for the first time in its modern history a strong national party has arisen on the nile, and has found full support from the azhar ulema, who are now the most powerful body of religious opinion in islam. they are politically hostile to the sultan, and though they have no design as yet of repudiating his caliphal title, they are unlikely to be faithful to his broken fortunes, and on the downfall of constantinople will doubtless proclaim a caliph of their own. the family of mohammed ali, if popular, may then hope for their suffrages, or it may be some seyyid, or sherif, of the legitimate house of koreysh. in any case, a caliphate at cairo is a possibility which we must contemplate; and one which, under the political direction and sole guarantee of england, but enjoying full sovereignty there, might be a solution of the difficulty acceptable to mohammedans, and not unfavourable to english interests. it seems to me, however, that it would be but a make-shift arrangement, not a permanent settlement, and this from the complexity of foreign interests in egypt, which would keep the mohammedan pontiff there under restraints irksome to the religious sense of mussulmans. it would be in fact but the prelude to that final return to arabia which arabian thought, if no other, destines for the caliphate. the sherif of mecca would hardly tolerate any further subjection to an emir el mumenin shorn of his chief attributes of power, and unable, it might be, any longer to enforce his authority. sooner or later the caliphate, in some form or another, would return to its original seat, and find there its final resting-place. established at mecca, our duty of protecting the head of the mussulman religion would be comparatively a simple one. hejaz for all military purposes is inaccessible by land for europeans; and mecca, were it necessary at any time to give the caliph a garrison of mussulman troops, is within a night's march of the coast. in arabia no christian rights need vindication, nor could any european power put in a claim of interference. yemen, the only province capable of attracting european speculation, would, i know, gladly accept an english protectorate, such as has been already given with such good results to oman; and other points of the arabian shore might equally be declared inviolable. arabia, in fact, might be declared the natural appanage of the caliphate, the stati pontificali of the supreme head of the mussulman religion. in its internal organization we should have no cause to interfere; nor would its protection from without involve us in any outlay. it has already been shown how favourable an action an arabian caliphate may be expected to exercise on the progressive thought of islam. that it could not be a hostile power to england is equally certain. whether or not the caliph reside at mecca, the grand sherifate must always there exist and the pilgrimage be continued; and we may hope the latter may then be principally under english auspices. the regulation of the haj is, indeed, an immediate necessary part of our duty and condition of our influence in the mussulman world; and it is one we should be grossly in error to neglect. it will have been seen by the table given in the first chapter that nearly the whole pilgrimage to arabia is now made by sea, and that the largest number of pilgrims sent there by any nation comes from british territory. with the protectorate, therefore, in the future of egypt, and, let us hope, of syria, england would be in the position of exercising a paramount influence on the commercial fortune of the holy cities. the revenue of hejaz derived from the haj is computed at three millions sterling, a figure proved by the yearly excess of imports over exports in her seaports, for she produces nothing, and the patronage of half, or perhaps two-thirds, of this great revenue would make england's a position there quite unassailable. an interdiction of the haj, or the threat of such for a single year, would act upon every purse among the hejazi and neutralize the hostility of the most recalcitrant of resident caliphs or sherifs; while a systematic development of the pilgrimage as a government undertaking, with the construction of a railway from jeddah to mecca, and the establishment of thoroughly well-ordered lines of steamers from the principal mohammedan ports, all matters which would amply repay their cost, would every year add a new prestige to english influence. this might be still further enhanced by the very simple measure of collecting and transmitting officially the revenue of the wakaf property, entailed on the sherifs, in india. this is said to amount to half a million sterling, and might, as in turkey, take the form of a government subsidy. at present it is collected privately, and reaches the sherifs reduced, as i have been told, by two-thirds in the process of collection, so that the mere assumption of this perfectly legitimate duty by the indian authorities would put a large sum into the hands of those in office at mecca, and a proportionate degree of power into the hands of its collectors. this, indeed, would be no more than is being already done by our government for the shia shrines of kerbela and meshed ali, with results entirely beneficial to english popularity and influence. with regard to the pilgrimage, i will venture to quote the opinion of one of the most distinguished and loyal mohammedans in india, who has lately been advocating the claims of his co-religionists on the indian government for protection in this and other matters. speaking of sultan abd el hamid's pan-islamic schemes, which he asserts have not as yet found much favour in india, he continues, "i may, however, add that by far the most formidable means which can be adopted for propagating such ideas, or for rousing a desire for islamic union, would be the distribution of pamphlets to the pilgrims at mecca. the annual haj at mecca draws the more religious from all parts of india, and the hajjis on their return are treated with exceptional respect and visited by their friends and neighbours, who naturally inquire about the latest news and doctrines propounded in the holy cities; so that for the dissemination of their views the most effective way would be for the propagandists to bring the hajjis under their influence. i call it _effective_, because the influence of what the hajjis say goes to the remotest villages of the mofussil." he then advocates as a counter-acting influence the undertaking by government of the transport of the haj to jeddah, and the appointment of an agent, a native of india, to look after their interests while in the holy land. "by making," he concludes, "the arrangements i have suggested, the english government will gain, not only the good-will of the whole mohammedan population of india, but they will also inspire the hajjis with the wholesome feeling that they owe allegiance to, and can claim protection from, an empire other than that to which the people of arabia are subject (the turkish). "the proposed help would stand in very favourable contrast to the sufferings which the pilgrims undergo from maladministration at mecca and in their journey to medina. moreover, practically the assistance rendered by the government would be the most effective way of resisting such influences as the propagandists might bring to bear upon the hajjis with a view to animate them with hostility to the british supremacy in india.... i believe if the indian government only wished to make some such arrangement it would pay its own way. i am absolutely certain that it would have a disproportionately beneficial effect on the political feelings of the mohammedans towards british rule." such, or some such, is the line of action which england, looking merely to her own interests, may, it is hoped, pursue in the next century, and begin in this. her asiatic interests she must recognize to be peace and security in mussulman india, good-will in egypt, and the healthy growth of the humaner thought of islam everywhere; and these she can only secure by occupying the position marked out for her by providence of leading the mohammedan world in its advance towards better things. the mission is a high one, and well worthy of her acceptance, and the means at her disposal are fully sufficient for its discharge. nor will her refusal, if she refuse, be without grave and immediate danger. the mohammedan world is roused as it has never been in its history to a sense of its political and moral dangers, and is looking round on all sides for a leader of whatsoever name or nation to espouse its cause. we can hardly doubt that the position of directing so vast a force, if abandoned by england, will be claimed by some more resolute neighbour. the british empire in asia is cause of envy to the world at large, and its prosperity has many enemies, who will certainly make the distress of islam an engine in their hands against it. neglected by the power which they hold bound to protect their interest, the mussulmans of india will certainly become its bitterest enemies, and though they may not immediately be able to give effect to their hostility, the day of embarrassment for us can hardly fail to come, and with it their opportunity. at best the enmity of islam will make the dream of reconciling the indian populations to our rule for ever an impossibility. leaders they will look for elsewhere--in russia, maybe, in germany, or even france, jealous of our interests in egypt--not leaders such as we might have been for their good, but for our evil, and in pursuance of their own designs. the caliphate is a weapon forged for any hand--for russia's at bagdad, for france's at damascus, or for holland's (call it one day germany's) in our stead at mecca. protected by any of these nations the caliphate might make our position intolerable in india, filling up for us the measure of mussulman bitterness, of which we already are having a foretaste in the pan-islamic intrigues at constantinople. but enough of this line of reasoning, which after all is selfish and unworthy. the main point is, that england should fulfil the trust she has accepted of developing, not destroying, the existing elements of good in asia. she cannot destroy islam, nor dissolve her own connection with her. therefore, in god's name, let her take islam by the hand and encourage her boldly in the path of virtue. this is the only worthy course, and the only wise one, wiser and worthier, i venture to assert, than a whole century of crusade. in conclusion, i would say to mohammedans that if i have drawn a gloomy picture of their immediate political fortunes, it is not that i despair even of these. their day of empire in the world seems over, but their day of self-rule may well dawn again, though under changed conditions from any we now witness. i foresee for them the spiritual inheritance of africa and southern asia, and as the intelligence of the races they convert shall have risen to the level of their present rulers, and europe, weary of her work, shall have abandoned the task of asiatic and african government, the temporal inheritance too. how long this shall be delayed we know not. their prophet has foretold that islam shall not outlive two thousand years before the móhdy shall come, and the thirteen hundredth is just commencing; nor do i believe their deliverance will be so very long delayed. a "man of justice" may yet restore their fortunes; but it will hardly be by present violence or by wading to mecca through seas of blood; and when the end of their humiliation shall have come, it may be found that his true mission has commenced already, and that the battle he was to fight has been long waging in the hearts of those who have striven to reform their ways and purify their law, rather than lament their broken power and the corrupt vanities of their temporal empire. the end. footnotes: [ ] the arabs believe that the beni ghassan, the christian bedouin tribe which opposed the caliph omar, migrated to great britain on the mohammedan conquest of syria. [ ] since this was written astonishing evidence of political vitality has been given to europe by egypt, and there is now, i trust, little doubt that she will be left to work out her salvation in her own way. the phenomenon opens too large a vista to the imagination to be treated of in a note, but the author would invite attention to it as a fact worthy of more consideration than all his arguments. printed by william clowes and sons, limited, london and beccles. pan-islam macmillan and co., limited london . bombay . calcutta . madras melbourne the macmillan company new york . boston . chicago dallas . san francisco the macmillan co. of canada, ltd. toronto pan-islam by g. wyman bury _author of "the land of us," "arabia infelix."_ macmillan and co., limited st. martin's street, london to my wife preface i have written this book to present the main factors of a many-sided problem--political, social and religious--in a form which the general public can easily grasp. modern democratic principles tend to give the public increasing control of international and inter-racial affairs, and therefore any contribution to public knowledge on such questions is in the interests of sound administration. the book is not intended to advise those who actually handle these affairs: i give such advice, when required, in more detail and not through the medium of a published work. "pan-islam" is an elementary handbook, not a text-book--still less an exhaustive treatise, but the questions it discusses are real enough. my qualifications for writing it are based on a quarter of a century's experience of the subject in most parts of the moslem world, and i have studied the question in areas which i have not actually visited through intercourse with pilgrims from those parts. i have no axe to grind or infallible panacea to advocate; i merely lay the result of my researches before the public for its information, as failing health has warned me to "pass the ball when collared," and i would like to think that the land where most of my life's work has centred will not be mishandled by cranks and opportunists after i have left the game. an arm-chair is a sorry substitute for an arab pony, and a garden plot for the highlands of arabia felix, but the human mind is not necessarily confined by such trammels, and if my environment is narrow i hope my book is not. g. wyman bury. helouan, th july, . contents page chapter i its origin and meaning chapter ii its bearing on the war chapter iii its strength and weakness chapter iv moslem and missionary chapter v a plea for tolerance pan-islam chapter i its origin and meaning much has been written about christianity and islam, so i hasten to inform my readers that this is not a religious treatise, nor do i class them with the globe-trotter who searched benares brass-bazar diligently for "a really nice image of allah" and pronounced the dread name of hindustan's avenging goddess like an effervescing drink. i presuppose that christians or moslems who read this book have got beyond the stage of calling each other pagans or _kafirs_, and it will have served its purpose if it brings about a friendlier feeling between the two great militant creeds whose adherents have confronted together many a stricken field. most people have heard of the pan-islamic movement, especially during the war. some of us have called it a political bogey and some a world-menace, but these are extremist views--it is really the practical protest of moslems against the exploitation of their spiritual and material resources by outsiders. pan-islam (as its name implies) is a movement to weld together moslems throughout the world regardless of nationality. the ethics and ideals of islam are more attainable to ordinary human beings than those of christianity: whether it is better to aim high and score a partial success or aim lower and achieve is a matter of personal opinion and need not be discussed here, but one tangible fact stands out--that islam, with its easier moral standard and frequent physical discipline of attitudes and observances connected with obligatory prayer, enters far more into the daily life of its adherents than christianity does with us. hence pan-islam is more than a spiritual movement: it is a practical, working proposition which has to be reckoned with when dealing with moslems even in secular matters. pan-islam is no new thing--it is as old as the hejira, and then helped to knit together moslem arabs against their pagan compatriots who were persecuting them. in the palmy days of the abbaside caliphate it was quiescent enough, and men of all creeds were welcomed at baghdad for their art, learning, or handicraft when we were massacring jews in london as part of a coronation pageant. medieval moslems never fanned the movement into flame as long as they were let alone, and even now tribes living beyond the scope of missionaries and traders prefer the christian traveller whom they know to the moslem stranger from the coast whom they usually distrust, and who, to do him justice, seldom ventures among them, unless compelled by paramount self-interest, generally in connection with some european scheme or other. hitherto pan-islam had been an instinctive and entirely natural _riposte_ to the menace or actual aggression of non-moslems; it assumed the character of a definite organisation under the crafty touch of that wily diplomat abdul hamid, once called by harsh critics "the damned," though his efforts in that direction have been quite eclipsed by more recent exponents. in extreme evangelical circles it used to be frequently urged that pan-islam was a bugbear discovered, if not created, by one of india's most eminent viceroys, whose remarks thereon are said to have given abdul hamid the hint. this method of eliminating a danger by denying its existence has been discredited, since , as completely as the somewhat similar one (attributed to mississippi engineers) of sitting on the safety-valve just too long for safety. moreover, in view of abdul's undoubted ability, he probably discovered for himself its efficacy as a weapon of reprisal when hard pressed by pertinacious and inquisitive ambassadors, for he often found himself much embarrassed in his dealings with armenia and other domestic affairs by the intrusions of the more formidable christian powers. great britain naturally felt the point of this weapon most as governing wide moslem territories, and one can imagine some such interview as this: "frontier rectifications, my dear sir nicholas? by all means--and, talking about frontiers, i do hope affairs are quite quiet now on your north-west frontier; i take such an interest in my east indian correspondence." and those britons who have handled oriental affairs for the last twenty years can appreciate the extent of that interest when we remember that even while yamen arabs were fighting the turks, their neighbours on the aden side of the frontier were praying in their mosques that the sultan and his troops might be victorious "by land and sea." all this, however, was merely playing with intrigue as a political counterpoise; it remained for a christian nation to put pan-islam on a business footing. first we have polite bagmen calling at stamboul with german guns and a german military system. then "our mr. william" of the well-known potsdam firm of hohenzollern and sons made his great advertising campaign in the near east; many of us remembered his theatrical visit to saladin's tomb and the tawdry wreath with its bombastic inscription, "from the emperor of the franks to the emperor of the saracens--greeting." that astute "pilgrim" made himself especially affable to the american protestant missionaries in the holy land, preached to a small but select congregation at the church of the holy sepulchre, and posed alternately as a pious but militant moslem (when hajji guiyaum rode in military pomp into jerusalem) and as a prince of peace. that the hospice of kaiserin augusta victoria on the top of the mount of olives was loop-holed for musketry and mounted a searchlight in its tower that could signal with haifa was possibly due to some wayward caprice of the builder, but it came in very useful later on. so did the scholarly researches of eminent germans in sinai, assisted as they were by maps which the anglo-egyptian authorities courteously placed at their disposal, and which formed a basis for a more detailed survey of wells and routes. but the old firm at potsdam excelled itself in its representatives on the palestine coast. there was, for example, the german consul at haifa famed for his culture and diplomacy (the teutonic brand), who also spoke arabic, turkish, french and english fluently. this gifted official frequented native cafés, where he fraternised with the local arabs and conducted a vigorous verbal propaganda against the entente. then there was the german engineer who wrecked the british railway scheme to connect haifa and damascus and re-naturalised as a german citizen after being american consul. the belgian vice-consul too, that merry hun, who was also agent for our khedivial mail line. when the turks came in against us this good and faithful servant danced on the belgian and british flags and threw himself heart and soul into pan-islamic propaganda. nor must we overlook that reverend pastor and koranic scholar who distributed anti-christian and more especially anti-british propaganda by means of native emissaries. last but not least, the herr direktor of the hejaz railway, who was collecting railway material for sinai before war broke out. some time before the turks came in he imported, for the alleged use of the jewish technical school, so great a quantity of high explosives that it caused a panic in haifa. yet it did not sufficiently impress our levantine vice-consul there for him to report it, though the german consul's remarkable activity to get the stuff landed might have given him the hint. at jeddah our khedivial mail agency, under the good old english name of robinson, was a perfect nest of germans and pro-german dutchmen when i called there in . they were very active early in the war, but had wisely disappeared before my last visit, when jeddah fell to our blockade and bombardment. as for hodeidah, the chief port of yamen, it was the happy hunting-ground of a great german firm, and the american consul was himself a german. decidedly, for people who believed that they had a monopoly of divine assistance, they had taken a lot of pains that their holy war should be a success. to grasp the world-wide conspiracy which hatched out so many formidable events during the war and to appreciate the causes which contributed to its final collapse we must take a comprehensive glance at the ottoman caliphate and how it came about. remember, the ottoman turks are not semitic, as is the bulk of the moslem world. tradition derives them from turk, son of japhet, and they are a turco-mongol blend which most people agree to call tartar. their language is closely allied to mongolian, though written in arabic, or rather persian, character, and its arabic words are pronounced unintelligibly to an arab. a true turk learns arabic with difficulty, and a far higher percentage of britons in india speak hindustani than turks do arabic in turkish arabia. then, again, look at their early history. their mongol-turkish ancestors were driven westward because they made mongolia too hot for them, and we hear of turks smelting iron for their mongol masters in what is now eastern turkestan until they threw off the mongol yoke in a.d. , when turkish history begins. at the dawn of islam (a.d. ) turks and mongols were harrying each other all over the caspian countries like rival wolf-packs, sometimes combining for a raid on their neighbours and then fighting over the loot. that is why you find racial turks in such outlandish places as merv, khiva, samarcand, bokhara and cabul, for the turkish race is not confined to asia minor and turkey in europe, but is scattered over parts of russia and china and afghanistan. now to consider the ottoman turks, with whom we are chiefly concerned. they were superior to their mongol fellow-wolves in that they could smelt iron and had some idea of constructive enterprise. they had also adopted islam, which was a great advance from the shamanistic wizardry and totem-worship they used to practise, and their contact with the arabs who raided them and afterwards accepted their military service to the caliphate had civilised them considerably. their seljouk cousins were already ruling in asia minor, whither they had been driven by the mongols when a wandering turkish band sought similar asylum there in the earlier part of the thirteenth century and intervened most opportunely to help the seljouks repulse a mongol raid; in return, the seljouk emperor gave them a grant of land in bithynia. in the seljouk empire was finally smashed by the mongols, who withdrew eastward without occupying the country, for they were merely predatory and destructive and had no gift or desire for permanent colonisation. so it came about that the ottoman empire began in under othman i in bithynia and grew by absorption and lack of effective opposition until, in , we find it spreading under selim i (the magnificent) to the gates of vienna and extending from germany to persia and from arabia to the atlantic. the benign sun of the arabian caliphate, under which learning and industry flourished securely, had long since set in blood under circumstances of treachery and murder which have hardly been surpassed even in the late war. under the later abbasides, when the glories of the caliphate were waning, there were bitter dissensions between sunnis and shiahs (the main orthodox and schismatic sects of islam) which culminated in fierce rioting at baghdad in . the then caliph was foolish enough to appeal for assistance against the schismatic seditionists to his mongol neighbours. it had been done before under similar conditions, and even in these days such a manoeuvre seems still to appeal to some types of religious fanaticism, judging by certain passages between our sister isle and the modern hun. on the above occasion, however, it was practised once too often. hulaku khan, the fierce mongol chief, had long had his eye on baghdad as holding princely loot in all too slack a grip, for the caliphate had been relying on tartar mercenaries for years. he approached that queen of cities, as she then was, with a great host, lured the caliph out to meet him by the promise of an alliance, and murdered the whole party, the caliph being trampled to death. then baghdad was given over to sack and massacre for more than a month, by which time , , people are said to have perished. the caliphate was transplanted to cairo, where it dragged out an anæmic existence until selim i seized it, with the person of the then caliph, by right of conquest, and it has been an appanage of the ottoman reigning house ever since. selim the magnificent may be called the turkish top-note. after him the ottoman empire gradually declined. it has generally taken advantage of disaster or dissension to extend its borders--a precarious method of empire-building unless consolidated by benevolent and sound administration, which is not a feature of turkish rule. add to this the facts that turks are slack moslems, that the national party which ousted abdul hamid (himself most orthodox) is not religious at all, with all its barbarian, totemistic nonsense of the "white wolf," and that they _would_ pose as conquerors on insufficient grounds, and we begin to see why they have been kicked out of their asiatic empire bit by bit. if turk and mongol had been capable of dynastic evolution and co-ordinate policy they might have shared most of the eastern hemisphere between them. we have seen the high-water mark of the ottoman empire; marco polo has told us of kubla khan's chinese empire, and the moguls did much for india in their prime. but the wolf-taint was in their blood, and just as a pet wolf gets fat and degenerate, so it has been with these tartars. their undoubted soldierly qualities are sapped by luxury, and they possess no constructive gifts which peace and prosperity might develop. hence it is that every empire they have founded has risen to a culminating point of conquest and then dwindled away in sloth and corruption. the turk is not fit to be put in charge of any race but his own, for he is at heart a bitter wolf who will turn and rend without ruth or warning. i have met turks who have shown tact, humanity, and ability under trying conditions, and i have met well-mannered wolves in captivity, but would not trust the pack ranging in its native forest. i once heard a member of our ottoman embassy who has unique experience of the turk size him up as follows: "the turk can be a suave and cultured gentleman till his time comes, and then he will tear your guts out and _dance_ on them." it was the seljouk turks whose persecutions caused the crusades. before them, arab rule in palestine was tolerant enough, and the caliph omar was scrupulously careful when he entered jerusalem as a conqueror to respect christian prejudices and the monuments of our creed. so it came about that their empire was dropping from them piecemeal even before the war, for a race that can no longer conquer and has never learned to conciliate must draw in its borders or cease to exist as a state. when war broke out turkey was just hanging on to the last scrap of her empire in europe and had lost all but the shadow of sovereignty in egypt, while arabia was seething with discontent, where not in actual revolt, and regarded the belated efforts of local officials to govern tactfully as signs of weakness. the colossal brigandage of germany appealed to her freebooting instincts, although it took a corrupt, self-seeking government and a final push from the "goeben" and the "breslau" to plunge her into war against her best friends. to proclaim a _jihad_ was her obvious course, if only to keep arabia moderately quiet, apart from its value as a weapon against her christian foes. we will now see how she fared in the "holy war." chapter ii its bearing on the war quite early in the war those of us who had to deal with pan-islamic propaganda realised that the widespread organisation which germany had grafted on to the original turkish movement must have existed some time before the outbreak of actual hostilities. for example, there was a snug, smooth-running concern at san francisco which spread its tentacles all over the moslem world, but specialised in a seditious newspaper called _el'-ghadr_, which means treachery or mutiny. this was particularly directed at our indian army, but egypt was not forgotten. a gifted censor sent us an early copy, but had, unfortunately, lost the wrapper, so our earnest desire to make the addressee's closer acquaintance was thwarted. stamboul was naturally an active centre, and, before the turks entered the war, turkish officers in full uniform, and sometimes even wearing swords, permeated cairo cafés with espionage and verbal propaganda, trying to fan into flame the military ardour of egyptian students and men about town. this last activity was wasted effort, as anyone who knew the type could have told them; the effendis abstained from the crudities of personal service and confined themselves to stirring up the town riffraff, who wanted a safer form of villainy than open riot, and the _fellahin_, who wanted a safe market for their produce and easy taxation, both of which they stood to lose by violence. many a _fellah_ still believes that the war was a myth created by the authorities to put prices up. even teuton activity failed to stimulate these placid folk, and the glad tidings preached by the madder type of german missionary that the kaiser was the messiah left them unmoved. when the turks came in against us, and the ex-khedive, safe among his new-found friends, threw off the mask, the cairene effendis became tremendously active. forgetting how they had disliked abbas ii and called him a huckstering profligate, they mourned for his deposal by wearing black ties, especially the students. some of these enthusiastic young heroes even went so far as to scatter chlorate of potash crackers about when their school was visited by poor old sultan husein (who was worth six of his predecessor), and he got quite a shock, which was flagrantly and noisomely accentuated by asafoetida bomblets. the ex-khedive did not share their patriotic grief. he was quite comfortable while awaiting the downfall of british rule, for, with shrewd prescience that almost seems inspired, he had taken prudent measures for his future comfort and luxury before leaving egypt on his usual summer tour to europe. he had mortgaged real estate up to the hilt, realised on immobile property as far as possible, and diverted his fluid assets through various channels beyond the reach of his sorrowing subjects and the egyptian government. when an official inventory was taken in abdin palace at the accession of the late sultan husein, it was ascertained that the famous inlaid and begemmed coffee-service, which, like our crown jewels, was not supposed to leave the country, had been sent after the ex-khedive to his new address--truly a man of parts. i have often wondered whether his hunnish friends got him to disgorge by means of a forced loan or war-bonds, or something of that sort. if so, they achieved something notable, for he has left behind him, beside his liabilities, the name of being a difficult man to get money out of. when the turco-teuton blade was actually drawn in holy war i was down with enteric, which i had contracted while working in disguise among seditious circles in the slums of old cairo. i just convalesced in time to join the intelligence staff on the canal the day before jemal pasha's army attacked. his german staff had everything provided for in advance with their usual thoroughness. from the documents and prisoners that came through our hands we learnt that the hotel in cairo where the victors were to dine after their triumphant entry had actually been selected, and some enthusiasts went so far as to insist that the menu had been prepared. if so, they omitted to get the canal army on toast, and for want of this indispensable item the event fell through. all the same, it was a soldierly enterprise, and if the senussis had invaded in force or the population risen behind us, as they hoped would be the case, the result might have been different. as it was they put up a very good fight and their arrangements for getting across the sinaitic desert were excellent. for the last ten miles they man-handled their pontoons to the edge of the canal. these craft were marvels of lightness and carrying capacity, but, of course, no protection whatever against even a rifle-bullet, and they had not fully reckoned with the franco-british naval flotilla, which proved a formidable factor. the morning after the main fight a little syrian subaltern passed through my hands. he had been slightly wounded in the leg and still showed signs of nervous shock, so i made him sit down with a cigarette while i questioned him. he had been in charge of a pontoon manned by his party and said that they had got halfway across the canal in perfect silence when "the mouth of hell opened" and the pontoon was sinking in a swirl of stricken men amid a hail of projectiles. he and two others swam to our side of the canal, where they surrendered to an indian detachment. our indian troops on the canal were naturally a mark for pan-islamic propaganda reinforced by hindu literature of the _bande mataram_ type,--a double-barrelled enterprise to bag both the great creeds of india. the astute propagandists had a pamphlet or two aimed at sikhism, which they seemed to consider a nation, as they spoke of their national aspirations, though an elementary study of the subject might have taught them that it was a religious and secular movement originally intended to curb moslem power in india during the sway of the later moguls. anyone but a moslem can be a sikh. naturally i was on the _qui vive_ for signs of pan-islamic activity on the enemy's side, and i questioned my little syrian very closely to ascertain how far the movement was used as a driving force among the troops engaged against us. he, personally, had rather a grievance on the subject, for the indian moslems who took him had reproached him bitterly for fighting on the wrong side. "i fought," he said, "because it was my duty as an officer of the ottoman army. i know that men were invited to join as for a _jihad_, but we officers did not deceive ourselves. _par exemple_, i think myself a better moslem than any turk, but what would you?" i consoled the little man while concealing my satisfaction at the feeling displayed against him. an extraordinarily heterogeneous collection of prisoners came dribbling through my hands directly after the turks were repulsed. most were practically deserters who had been forcibly enrolled, given a mauser and a bandoleer, and told to go and fight for the holy places of islam. as one of the more intelligent remarked, "if the holy places are really in danger, what are we doing down this way?" they came from all over the moslem world. there were one or two russian pilgrims returning from mecca to be snapped up by the military authorities at damascus railway station when they got out of the pilgrim train from medina. there were cabdrivers from jerusalem, a stranded pilgrim from china, several tripolitans who had been roped in on the palestine seaboard while trying to get a passage home, a moor who tried to embrace my feet when i spoke of the snow-crowned atlas above morocco city (marraksh) and told him that he would be landed at tangier in due course--inshallah. of course we released, and repatriated as far as we could, men who were not ottoman subjects and had obviously been forced into service against us. a few days later, when jemal pasha's army was getting into commissariat difficulties out in the sinaitic desert (for the staff had relied on entering egypt), we began to get the real turks among our prisoners. i was very curious to ascertain if they had been worked up with pan-islamic propaganda or carried any of it on them, for there was not even a red crescent koran on any of the arabic-speaking prisoners. a search of their effects revealed a remarkable phase of propaganda. there was hardly any religious literature except a loose page or two of some pious work like the "traditions of muhammad," but there were quantities of rather crude (and very lewd) picture-cards portraying soldiers in turkish uniform outraging and murdering nude or semi-nude women and children, while corpses in priestly garb, shattered crucifixes, and burning churches indicated the creed that was being so harried and gave the scene a stimulating background. from their appearance i should say these pictures were originally engraved to commemorate balkan or armenian atrocities, but their possessors, on being closely questioned, admitted that the impression conveyed to them was of the joyous licence which was to be theirs among the frankish civilians after forcing the canal. one kurdish gentleman had among his kit fancy socks, knitted craftily in several vivid colours, also ornate slippers to wear in his promised palatial billet at cairo. there were some odd articles among the kit of these turkish prisoners, to wit, a brand-new garden thermometer, which some wag insisted was for testing the temperature of the canal before immersion, and a lavatory towel looted from the hejaz railway. still, nothing was quite so remarkable as a white flag with a jointed staff in a neat, compact case which had been carried by a german officer. among his papers was an indecent post-card not connected, i think, with propaganda of any sort, as it portrayed a bright-coloured female of ripe figure and teutonic aspect, wearing a pair of long stockings and high-heeled shoes, and bore the legend "gruss von münchen." a certain coyness, or possibly an appreciation of their personal value, kept most of the german officers from actual contact with our line. only one reached the canal bank, and he is there still. the german touch, however, was much in evidence. there were detailed written orders about manning the pontoons, not to talk, cough, sneeze, etc., and for each man to move along the craft as far as feasible and then sit down. they seem to have relied entirely on surprise, and ignored the chance of its occurring on the wrong side of the canal. the emergency rations too which we found on the earlier batches of prisoners had a distinctly teutonic flavour--they were so scientifically nourishing in theory and so vilely inedible in practice. they were a species of flat gluten cake rather like a dog-biscuit, but much harder. an amateur explosive expert of ours tested one of these things by attempting detonation and ignition before he would let his batch of prisoners retain them, which, to do their intelligence justice, they were not keen on doing, but offered any quantity of the stuff for cigarettes. we ascertained from them that you were supposed to soak it in water before tackling it in earnest, but as the only supply (except the runlet they still carried on them) was in the fresh-water canal behind our unshaken line, such a course was not practicable; the discovery of a very dead turk some days later in that canal led to the ribald suggestion that he had rashly endeavoured to eat his ration. our scientist laid great stress on its extraordinary nutritive properties, but desisted, after breaking a tooth off his denture, in actual experiment. german influence, too, was apparent in the relations between officers and men. a turkish _yuzbashi_ was asked to get a big batch of prisoners to form two groups according to the languages they spoke--arabic or turkish. it was not an easy task in the open on a pitch-black night, but he did it with soldierly promptitude and flung his glowing cigarette end in the face of a dilatory private. as a natural corollary it may be mentioned here that one or two of our prisoners had deserted after shooting officers who had struck them. for some days after the battles of serapeum and toussoum we expected another attempt, but they had been more heavily mauled than we thought at first. the dead in the canal were kept down by the weight of their ammunition for some time, and the shifting sand on the sinaitic side was always revealing hastily-buried corpses on their line of retreat. jemal pasha hurried back to gaza and published a grandiloquent report for moslem consumption, to the effect that the turks were already in cairo (as was indeed the case with many hundreds), and that, of the _giaour_ fleet, one ship had sunk, one had been set on fire, and the rest had fled. two heavy howitzers, as a matter of fact, had managed by indirect fire from a concealed position to land a couple of projectiles on the "hardinge," which was not originally built for such rough treatment, being an indian marine vessel taken over by the navy. she gave more than she got when her four-point-sevens found the massed turkish supports. a great deal of criticism has been flung at this first series of fights on the canal, mostly by anglo-egyptian civilians. they asked derisively whether we were protecting the canal or the canal us. the answer is in the affirmative to both questions. ordinary steamer traffic was only suspended for a day during the first onslaught, and the g.o.c. was not such a fool as to leave the canal in his rear and forgo the defensive advantage. there are some who, in their military ardour, would have had him pursue the enemy into the desert, forgetting that to leave a sound position and pursue a superior force on an ever-widening front in a barren country which they know better than you do and have furnished with their own supply-bases is just asking for trouble. our few aeroplanes in those days could only reconnoitre twenty miles out, and there was no evidence that the enemy had not merely fallen back to his line of wells preparatory to another attempt. we had not then the men, material, or resources for a triumphant advance into sinai; it was enough to make sure of keeping the enemy that side of the canal with the senussi sitting on the fence and egypt honeycombed with seditious propaganda. anyone at all in touch with native life in cairo could gauge the extent of propagandist activity by gossip at cafés and in the bazars. the senussi was marching against us. india was in revolt and the indian army on the canal had joined the turks. the crowning stroke of ingenuity was a tale that received wide credence among quite intelligent egyptians. it was to the effect that the turks had commandeered an enormous number of camels and empty kerosene tins. this was quite true so far, but the yarn then rose to the following flight of fancy: these empty tins were to be filled with dry cement and loaded on camels, which were to be marched without water for days until they reached the canal, when the pangs of thirst would compel them to rush madly into the water. the cement would solidify and the faithful would march across on a composite bridge of camel and concrete. our flotilla was to be penned in by similar means. there must be something about a turk that hypnotises an egyptian. his country has suffered appallingly under ottoman rule, and a pure-blooded turk can seldom be decently civil to him and considers him almost beneath contempt. this is the conquering tartar pose that has earned the turk such detestation and final ruin in arabia, but it seems to have fascinated the egyptian like a rabbit in the presence of a python. quite early in the turkish invasion of sinai a detachment of egyptian camelry, operating in conjunction with the bikanirs, deserted _en masse_ to the enemy. it was at first supposed that they had been captured, but we afterwards heard of their being fêted somewhere in palestine. on the other hand, an egyptian battery did yeoman service on the canal; i saw a pontoon that looked like a carelessly opened sardine-tin as a result of its attentions. the most tragic aspect of this spurious and mischievous propaganda was its victims from indian regiments. the indian moslem as a rule has no illusions about the turks, and will fight them at sight, but there will always be a few misguided bigots to whom a specious and dogmatic argument will appeal. there is no occasion to dwell on these cases, which were sporadic only and generally soon met with the fate incurred by attempted desertion to the enemy. we looked on the movement as an insidious and dangerous disease and did our best to trace it to its source and stop the distributing channels. after events on the canal had simmered down, i was seconded to cairo to help tackle the movement there: to show how little hold it had over the minds of thinking moslems. i may mention that my colleague was a pathan major who was a very strict moslem and a first-rate fellow to boot. we both served under an anglo-indian major belonging to the c.i.d., one of the most active little men i have ever met. there were also several "ferrets," or intelligence agents, who came into close contact with the "suspects" and could be trusted up to a certain point if you looked sharply after them. this is as much as can be said for any of these men, though some are better, and some worse, than others. on the canal we employed numbers of them to keep us informed of the enemy's movements and used to check them with the aerial reconnaissance--they needed it. it did not take us long to find out that these sophisticated sinaites had established an intelligence bureau of their own. they used to meet their "opposite numbers" employed by the enemy at pre-arranged spots between the lines and swop information, thereby avoiding unnecessary toil or risk (the sinaitic bedouin loathes both) and obtaining news of interest for both sides. it was a magnificently simple scheme; its sole flaw was in failing to realise that some of us had played the great game before. we used to time our emissaries to their return and cross-check them where their wanderings intersected those of others--all were supposed to be trackers and one or two knew something about it. of course they were searched and researched on crossing and returning to our outpost line, for they could not be trusted to refuse messages to or from the turks. it was among this coterie that the brilliant idea originated of shaving a messenger's head, writing a despatch on his scalp, and then letting his hair grow before he started to deliver it. i doubt if any of our folk were thorough enough for this, but we tested for it occasionally, and an unpleasant job it was. generally they would incur suspicion by their too speedy return and the nonchalant way in which they imparted tidings which would have driven them into ecstasies of self-appreciation had they obtained such by legitimate methods. then a purposely false bit of information calculated to cause certain definite action on the other side would usually betray them. some purists suggested a firing party as a fitting end for these gambits, but that would have been a waste. such men have their uses, until they know they are suspected, as valuable channels of misinformation. no doubt the enemy knew this too, and that is how an intelligence officer earns his pay, by sifting grain from chaff as it comes in and sending out empty husks and mouldy news. but to return to cairo. we netted a good deal of small fry, but only landed one big fish during the time i was attached. he was a mesopotamian and a very respectable old gentleman, who followed the calling of astrologer and peripatetic quack--a common combination and admirably adapted for distributing propaganda. he came from stamboul through athens with exemplary credentials, and might have got through to india, which was the landfall he proposed to make, if his propagandist energy had not led him to deviate on a small side-tour in egypt. here we got on his track, and i boarded the port said express at short notice while he and the "ferret" who had picked him up got into a third-class compartment lower down. as the agent made no signal after the train had pulled out, i knew our man had not got the bulk of his propaganda with him, otherwise i had powers to hold up the express, for it was more important to get his stuff than the man himself. at port said he had a chance of seeing me, thanks to the agent's clumsiness, and i had to shave my beard off and buy a sun-helmet in consequence, for i was travelling in the same ship along the canal to see that he did not communicate with troops on either side of the bank, and on the slightest suspicion he would have put his stuff over the side. all went smoothly and he was arrested in suez roads by plain-clothes men with a sackful of seditious literature for printing broadcast in india. of course they arrested the "ferret" too, as is usual in these cases. i went ashore with them in the police-launch as a casual traveller and was amused to hear the agent rating the old man for not having prophesied this mishap when telling his fortune the night before. the propagandist was merely interned in a place of security--it was not our policy to make martyrs of such men, especially when they were _bona fide_ ottoman subjects. i was rather out of touch with the pan-islamic movement during the summer of , as my lungs had become seriously affected on the canal, and the trouble became so acute that i had to spend two or three months in the hills of cyprus. before i had been there a week the g.o.c. troops in egypt cabled for me to return and proceed to aden as political officer with troops. i was too ill then to move and had to cable to that effect. my chagrin at missing a "show" was much alleviated when i heard what the show was. as it had a marked effect on the pan-islamic campaign by enhancing turkish prestige, it is not out of place to give some account of it here. while i was still on the canal in february ( ) a "memo" was sent for my information from headquarters at cairo to say that the turks had invaded the aden protectorate at dhala, where i once served on a boundary commission. i noted the fact and presumed that aden was quite able to cope with the situation, as the turks had a most difficult terrain to traverse before they could get clear of the hills and reach the littoral, while the hinterland tribes are noted for their combatant instincts and efficiency in guerilla warfare, besides being anti-turk. i had, however, in spite of many years' experience, failed to reckon with aden apathy. true to the policy of _laissez faire_ which was inaugurated when our boundary commission withdrew some twelve years ago, aden had been depending for news of her own protectorate on office files and native report, especially on that much overrated friend and ally the lahej sultanate. the turks knew all about this, for the leakage of aden affairs which trickles through lahej and over the yamen border is, and has been for years, a flagrant scandal. the invasion at dhala was a feint just to test the soundness of official slumber at aden; the obvious route for a large force was down the tiban valley, owing to the easier going and the permanent water-supply. our border-sultan (the haushabi) was suborned with leisurely thoroughness all unknown to his next-door neighbour, that purblind sultanate at lahej, unless the latter refrained from breaking aden's holy calm with such unpleasant news. in may aden stirred in her sleep and sent out the aden troop to reconnoitre. this fine body of indian cavalry and camelry reported that affairs seemed serious up the tiban valley; then inertia reasserted itself and they were recalled. also the lahej sultanate, in a spasm of economy, started disbanding the arab levies collected for the emergency from the tribes of the remoter hinterland which have supplied fine mercenaries to many oriental sultanates for many centuries. the watchful turk, with his unmolested spy system, had noted every move of these pitiful blunders, and, at the psychological moment, came pouring down the tiban valley some , strong with another , arab levies. they picked up the haushabi on the way, whose main idea was to get a free kick at lahej, just as an ordinary human boy will serve some sneak and prig to whom a slack schoolmaster has relegated his own obvious duty of supervision. to do that inadequate sultanate justice, it tried to bar the way with its own trencher-fed troops and such levies as it had, but was brushed aside contemptuously by the hardier levies opposed to it and the overwhelming fire of the turkish field batteries. then a distraught and frantic palace emitted mounted messengers to aden for assistance like minute-guns from a sinking ship. aden behaved exactly like a startled hen. she ran about clucking and collecting motor-cars, camel transport, anything. the authorities dared not leave their pet sultan in the lurch--questions might be asked in the house. on the other hand they had made no adequate arrangements to protect him. just as a demented hen will leave her brood at the mercy of a hovering kite to round up one stray chick instead of sitting tight and calling it in under her wing, so aden made a belated and insane attempt to save lahej. the aden movable column, a weak brigade of indians, young territorials, and guns, marched out at p.m. on july , _i.e._ at the hottest time of day, in the hottest season of the year and the hottest part of the world. motor-cars were used to convey the infantry of the advanced guard, but the main body had to march in full equipment with ammunition. the casualties from sunstroke were appalling. the late g.o.c. troops in egypt mentioned them to me in hundreds, and one of the aden "politicals" told me that not a dozen of the territorial battalion remained effective at the end of the day. many were bowled over by the heat before they had gone two miles. most of the native camel transport, carrying water, ammunition and supplies,--and yet unescorted and not even attended by a responsible officer--sauntered off into the desert and vanished from the ken of that ill-fated column. meanwhile the advanced guard of men (mostly indians) and two -pounder mountain-guns pushed on with all speed to lahej, which was being attacked by several thousand turks and turco-arabs with -pounder field batteries and machine-guns. they found the palace and part of the town on fire when they arrived, and fought the turks hand-to-hand in the streets. they held on all through that sweltering night, and only retired when dawn showed them the hopeless nature of their task and the fact that they were being outflanked. they fell back on the main body, which had stuck halfway at a wayside well (bir nasir) marked so obviously by ruins that even aden guides could not miss it. shortage of water was the natural result of sitting over a well that does not even supply a settlement, but merely the ordinary needs of wayfarers. this well is marked on the aden protectorate survey map (which is procurable by the general public) as bir muhammad, its full name being bir muhammad nasir. there are five wells supplying settlements within half an hour's walk of it on either side of the track, but when we remember that the column's field-guns got no further owing to heavy sand, and that the aforesaid track is frequently traversed by ordinary _tikkagharries_, we realise the local knowledge available. the column straggled back to the frontier town of sheikh othman, which they prepared to defend, but simla, by this time thoroughly alarmed, ordered them back for the defence of aden, and they returned without definite achievement other than the accidental shooting of the lahej sultan. this was hardly the fault of the heroic little band which reached lahej; that ill-starred potentate was escaping with his mounted retinue before dawn and cantered on top of an indian outpost without the formality of answering their challenge. he was brought away in a motor-car and died at aden a few days later--another victim to this deplorable blunder. any intelligent and timely grasp of the enemy's strength and intention would have given the poor man ample time to pack his inlaid hookahs, persian carpets, and other palace treasures and withdraw in safety to aden while our troops made good the sheikh othman line along the british frontier. i am presuming that aden was too much taken by surprise to have met the turks in a position of her own choosing while they were still entangled in hilly country where levies of the right sort could have harried them to some purpose, backed by disciplined, unspent troops and adequate guns. what i wish to impress is that the intelligence department at aden must have been abominably served and organised, for i decline to believe that _any_ g.o.c. would have attempted such an enterprise with such a force and at such a time had he any information as to the real nature of his task. as it was, the british town of sheikh othman, within easy sight of aden across the harbour, was held by the turks until a reinforcing column came down from the canal and drove them out of it, while the protectorate has been overrun by the turks and the turco-arabs until long after the armistice, and the state of british prestige there can be imagined. official attempts to gloze over the incident would have been amusing if they were not pathetic. needless to say they did not deceive moslems in egypt or the rest of arabia. here is the most accurate account they gave the public: "turks and aden. "engagement at lahej. "the india office issued the following _communiqué_ last night through the press bureau: "'in consequence of rumours that a turkish force from the yamen had crossed the frontier of the aden hinterland and was advancing towards lahej, the general officer commanding at aden recently dispatched the aden camel troop to reconnoitre. "'they reported the presence of a turkish force with field-guns and a large number of arabs and fell back on lahej, where they were reinforced by the advance guard of the aden movable column consisting of rifles and two -pounder guns. "'our force at lahej was attacked by the enemy on july by a force of several thousand turks with twenty guns and large numbers of arabs, and maintained its position in face of the enemy artillery's fire until night, when part of lahej was in flames. during the night some hand-to-hand fighting took place, and the enemy also commenced to outflank us. "'meanwhile the remainder of the aden movable column was marching towards lahej, but was delayed by water difficulties and heavy going. it was therefore decided that the small force at lahej should fall back. "'the retirement was carried out successfully in the early morning of july , and the detachment joined the rest of the column at bir nasir. our troops, however, were suffering considerably from the great heat and the shortage of water, and their difficulties were increased by the desertion of arab transport followers. it was therefore decided to fall back to aden, and this was done without the enemy attempting to follow up. "'our losses included three british officers wounded: names will be communicated later. we took one turkish officer (a major) and thirteen men prisoners.'" aden seems to have made no attempt to stem the tide of turkish influence while she could. the best fighting tribe in the protectorate stretches along the coast and far inland north-east of aden, and its capital is only a few hours' steam from that harbour. the turks made every effort to win over this important tribal unit, which might have been a grave menace on their left flank. its sultan made frequent representations to aden for even a gunboat to show itself off his port, but to no purpose. after the turks had succeeded in alienating those of his tribe they could get at, or who could get at them, a tardy political visit was paid by sea from aden. the indignant old sultan came aboard and spoke his mind. "you throw your friends on the midden," he said bitterly, and departed to establish a _modus vivendi_ on his own account with the turks. the situation at aden has had a marked effect in bolstering up the turkish campaign of spurious pan-islamism, and those of us who have been dealing with chiefs in other parts of arabia have met it at every turn. it is idle to blame individuals--the whole system is at fault. the policy of non-interference which the liberal government introduced, after the boundary commission had finished its task and withdrawn, has been over-strained by the aden authorities to such an extent that they would neither keep in direct personal touch themselves nor let anyone else do so. as an explorer and naturalist whose chief work has lain for years in that country, i have made every effort to continue my researches there until my persistency has incurred official persecution. the serious aspect of this attitude is that at a time when accurate and up-to-date knowledge of the hinterland would have been invaluable it was not available. the pernicious policy of selecting any one chief (unchecked by a european) to keep her posted as to affairs in her own protectorate has been followed blindly by aden to disaster. the excuse in official circles there is that the haushabi sultan had been suborned by the turks without their knowledge and he had prevented any information from getting through lahej to them. can there be any more damning indictment of such a system? the aden incident is similar to the mesopotamian medical muddle, both being due to sporadic dry-rot in high places which the test of war revealed. the loyalty of its princes and the devotion of its army prove that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with british rule in india to command such sentiments, but some of those mandarins who have had wide control of human affairs and destinies have ignored a situation until it was forcibly thrust upon them and have fumbled with it disastrously. it is difficult to bring such people to book, for they shuffle responsibility from one to the other or take refuge in the truly oriental pose of heaven-born officialdom. such types should be obsolete even in india by now, but this war has proved that they are not, and when their inanities fritter away gallant lives and trail british prestige in the dust they need rebuke. i hope some day, if i live, to deal faithfully with aden's hinterland policy. in the autumn of i was fit enough to join the red sea maritime patrol as political officer with the naval rank of lieutenant. our duties were to harry the turk without hurting the arab, to blockade the arabian coast against the turk while allowing dhow-traffic with foodstuffs consigned to arab merchants and steamer-cargoes of food for the alleged use of pilgrims to go through. incidentally we had to keep the eastern highway free of mines and transportable submarines, prevent the passage of spies between arabia and egypt, and fetch and carry as the shore-folk required. taking it all round, it was not an easy job, but i think the blockade presented the most complex features. you knew where you were with spies--anyone with the necessary experience could spot a doubtful customer as soon as the dhow that carried him came alongside; and irregular but frequent visits at the various ports soon put a stop to the mine-industry and prevented any materialisation of the submarine menace except in reports from aden which caused me a good many additional trips in an armed steam-cutter to "go, look, see." but the problems presented by the blockade required some solving with very little time for the operation, and if your solution was not approved by the authorities on the beach they lost no time in letting you know it--usually by wireless, which was picked up by most ships in the patrol by the time it reached you. the basic idea was that if in doubt it was better to let stuff through to the turks than pinch hejazi bellies and get ourselves disliked. in theory this was perfectly sound, for we wanted the hejaz to like us well enough to fight on our side, and only the huns think you can get people to love you by afflicting them. in practice, however, we soon found that the hejazi merchants were selling direct to the turks and letting their fellow-countrymen have what was left at the highest possible price. on top of it all india started a howl that her pilgrims in the hejaz were starving, and we had to defer to this outcry. i have never had to legislate for highly-civilised moslems with a taste for agitation, but i have always sympathised with those who have, and could quite appreciate india's position in the matter. still, after comparing her relief cargoes with the number of her pilgrims in the country and finding that each had enough to feed him for the rest of his natural life, i ventured to ask that this wholesale charity might cease, more especially as these big steamer-cargoes were dealt with much as the dhow-borne cereals and chiefly benefited the turks and local profiteers. as regards dhows, our rule was to allow coastal traffic from jeddah and empties returning there, as it tended to distribute food among the arabs and get it away from the turks. dhows bringing cargo from the african coast or from aden were permitted, provided they did not carry contraband of war; this permitted native cereals, such as millet, but barred wheat and particularly barred barley, which the local arab does not eat for choice, but which the turks wanted very badly for their cavalry. in this connection a typical incident may be mentioned as illustrating the sort of thing we were up against. the ship i was serving in at the time lay off jeddah and had three boats down picketing the dhow-channels leading in to that reef-girt harbour, for which dhows were making like homing bees. in such cases my post was usually on the bridge, while the ship's interpreter and arab-speaking seedee-boys went away in the boats. the dhows were reached and their papers examined, then allowed to proceed if all was in order. otherwise the officer examining signalled the facts and awaited instructions. usually it was some technical point which i could waive, but on this occasion one of the cutters made a signal to the effect that barley in bulk had been found in one dhow. i was puzzled, because all the dhows were from suakin or further south, quite outside the barley-belt, except on very high ground which rarely exports cereals. however, the signal was repeated, and i had to have the dhow alongside. meanwhile the "owner" was anxious to get steerage-way, for we were not at anchor and in very ticklish soundings; so i slid off the bridge and had a sample of the grain handed up to me: it was a species of millet, looking very like pearl-barley as "milled" for culinary purposes. i shouted to the _reis_ to go where he liked as long as he kept clear of our propellers, which thereupon gave a ponderous flap or two as if to emphasise my remarks, and he bore away from us rejoicing. in the ward-room later on i rallied that cutter's officer on his error. "well, it was just like the barley one sees in soup," was his defence. in the southern part of the red sea, which was handled politically from aden, the problems of blockade were even more complex, for there even arms and ammunition were allowed between certain ports to meet the convenience of the idrisi chief, who was theoretically at war with the turks, but rather diffident about putting his principles into practice, especially after the turkish success outside aden. this meant that the sorely-tried officers responsible for the conduct of the blockade in those waters had frequently to decide on a cargo of illicit-looking rifles and cartridges, not of government make, but purchased from private firms and guaranteed by a filthy scrap of paper inscribed with crabbed arabic which carried no conviction. all they had to help them was the half-educated ship's interpreter, with no knowledge of the political situation, for aden had not an officer available for this work. to enhance the difficulties of the position, some of these coastal chiefs were importing contraband of war to sell to the turks for private gain. up north there were no difficulties with illicit arms; we allowed a reasonable number per dhow, provided that they were the private property of the crew, and when rifles were dished out to our arab friends the navy delivered the goods, which were all of government mark and pattern. the political aspect of the blockade required delicate handling anywhere along the arabian littoral of the red sea, but especially so on the hejazi coast. we were at war with the turks but not with the arabs, whom it was our business to approach as friends if they would let us. the turks, however, used arab levies freely against us whose truculence was much increased on finding they could make hostile demonstrations with impunity, as the patrol only fired on the turkish uniform, since few people can distinguish between a turco-arab gendarme and an armed tribesman at long range unless they know both breeds intimately. the general standard of honour and good faith at most places along the arabian littoral is not high, even from an oriental point of view, and is nowhere lower than on the hejazi coast. frequently an unattached tribesman would take a shot at a reconnoitring cutter on general principles and then rush off to the nearest turkish post with the information and a demand for bakshish, and there were several attempts (one successful) to lure a landing party on to a well-manned but carefully hidden position. as for the actual levies, they would solemnly man prepared positions within easy range of even a -pounder when we visited their tinpot ports, relying on us not to fire, and telling their compatriots what they would do if we did. even when examining dhows one had to be on one's guard, and it was best not to board them to leeward and so run the risk of having their big, bellying mainsail let go on top of you and getting scuppered while entangled in its folds. african dhows could generally be trusted not to resist search, for when a _reis_ has got his owners or agents at a civilised port like suakin he likes to keep respectable even if he _is_ smuggling. our chief difficulty with such craft, before we tightened the blockade, was due to the nonchalant manner in which they put to sea and behaved when at sea. their skippers had the sketchiest idea of what constituted proper clearance papers and why such papers must agree with their present voyage. their confidence too in our integrity, though touching, was often embarrassing. one of our rules was that considerable sums in gold must be given up against a signed voucher realisable at port sudan. i was never very brisk at counting large sums of money, and one day when hove to off jeddah there were five dhows rubbing their noses alongside, with about £ in gold between them and very little time to deal with them, as we were in shoal water with no way on the ship. my operations were not facilitated by the biggest croesus of the lot producing some £ in five different currencies from various parts of his apparel and stating that he had no idea how much there was but would abide by my decision. i believe he expected me to give him a receipt in round hundreds and take the "oddment," as we call it in warwickshire, for myself. as it was, i was down half a sovereign or so over the transaction, having given him the benefit of the doubt over two measly little gold coins of unascertainable value. some of them were just as happy-go-lucky in their seamanship, though skilful enough in handling their outlandish craft. early one morning, about fifty miles out of jeddah, i boarded a becalmed dhow and found them with the dregs of one empty water-skin between a dozen men. not content with putting to sea with a single _mussick_ of water, they had hove to and slept all night, and so dropped the night breeze, which would have carried them to jeddah before it died down. we gave them water and their position, but i told the _reis_ that he was putting more strain on the mercy of allah than he was, individually, entitled to. but the craft that plied along the hejazi coast were sinister customers and wanted watching. some time before i joined the patrol one of our ships was lying a long way out off um-lejj, as the water is shallow, and her duty-boat was working close in-shore examining coastal craft. one of these had some irregularity about her and was sent out to the ship with a marine and a bluejacket in charge while the cutter continued her task. that dhow stood out to sea as if making for the ship and then proceeded along the coast. the cutter, still busied with other dhows, presumed that the first craft had reported alongside the ship and been allowed to proceed; the ship naturally regarded her as a craft that had been examined and permitted to continue her journey. and that is all we ever knew for certain of her or the fate of our two men. their previous record puts desertion out of the question; besides, no sane men would desert to a barren, inhospitable coast among semi-hostile fanatics whose language was unknown to them. on the other hand, the men were, of course, fully armed, and there were but five of the dhow's crew all told, of whom two were not able-bodied. there must have been the blackest treachery--probably the unfortunate men goodnaturedly helped with the running gear and were knocked on the head while so engaged. their bodies would, no doubt, have been put over the side when the dhow was out of sight, and their rifles sold inland at a fancy price. when i first joined the patrol we were not allowed to bombard or land at any point between the mouth of the gulf of akaba and the hejaz southern border. the turkish fort up at akaba had been knocked about a good deal by various ships of the patrol, and the whole place was uninhabited; but we visited it frequently, as drifting mines were put in up there, having been taken off the rail at maan and brought down to the head of the gulf, in section, by camel. i always suspected the existence of a turkish observation-post, but no signs of occupation had been seen for a long time till h.m.s. "fox" went up one dark night without a light showing. all dead-lights were shipped, and dark blue electric bulbs replaced the usual ones where a light of some sort was essential and visible from out-board. the padre, who had opened the "vicarage" dead-light about an inch to get a breath of air, was promptly spotted by an indignant number one who said that it made the ship look like a floating gin palace. this must have been a pardonable hyperbole, for the signal-fires ashore which used to herald our approach from afar were not lit. we were off akaba at peep of day, and two armed cutters raced each other to the beach. i went with the one that made for the stone jetty in the middle front of the town; we had to jump out into four feet of water, as the port has deteriorated a good deal since solomon used it and called it eziongeber. a careful search revealed no one in the town, but water had been drawn recently from the well inside the fort, and a mud hut out in the desert behind the town seemed a likely covert to draw. the cutter's officer accompanied me, leaving the crew ensconced in the cemetery, which was a wise move, for, when we were close to the hut, heavy fire was opened on us from a hidden trench some three hundred yards away. we both dropped and rolled into a shallow depression caused by rain-wash, where we lay as flat as we could while the flat-nosed soft lead bullets kicked sand and shingle down the backs of our necks. as we had only revolvers--expecting resistance, if any, to be made among the houses--we could not reply, but the ship handed out a few rounds of percussion shrapnel which shook the turks up enough for us to withdraw. fortunately for us, they were using black powder, and outside four hundred yards one has time to avoid the bullet by dropping instantly at the smoke. otherwise they should have bagged us in spite of the support of our covering party in the cemetery, for the ground was quite open and so dusty that they could see the break of their heavy picket-bullets to a nicety. we landed in force an hour later and turned them out of it. on returning, the men who searched the hut (which the ship's guns had knocked endways) brought me a budget of correspondence. it was chiefly addressed to the officer in charge and told me that the detachment was syrian, which i had already suspected from their using the early pattern mauser. it gave other useful information, and the men did well to bring it along; but i would have given much to have found some channel through which i could return it. most of it was private; there were several congratulatory cards crudely illuminated in colours by hand for the feast of muled-en-nebi (the birthday of the prophet), which corresponds with our christmas. there was also a letter from the officer's wife enclosing a half-sheet of paper on which a baby hand had imprinted a smeared outline in ink. it bore the inscription "from your son ahmed--his hand and greeting." early in the spring of we managed to persuade the political folk at cairo to extend our sphere of action. i had particularly marked down um-lejj as containing a well-manned turkish fort which could be knocked about without damaging other buildings in the town if we were careful. it was also a rallying-point for turkish influence, and it was not conducive to our prestige or politically desirable that it should flourish unmolested. i was in the "fox" again for that occasion, she being the senior ship of the patrol and the only one that could land an adequate force if required. the evening before we anchored far out on the fishing-grounds of hasani island, and i managed to pick up a fisherman who knew where the turkish hidden position was, outside the town, and, having been held a prisoner once in their customs building, could point that out too. next morning we stood slowly in for um-lejj with the steam-cutter groping ahead for the channel, which is about as tortuous a piece of navigation as you can get off this coast, and that is saying a good deal. when we cleared for action i went to my usual post on the bridge with the s.n.o. and took my fisherman-friend with me. the civil population was streaming out of the town across the open plain in all directions like ants from an over-turned ant-hill, probably realising that we meant business this time. this was all to the good, as otherwise i should have had to go close in with the steam-cutter, a white flag and a megaphone to warn arab civilians; thus giving the turks time to clear, besides the chance of a sitting-shot at us if they thought my address to the townsfolk a violation of the rules of war, which, technically, it might be. however, the fort was a fixture and our business was first of all with it. standing close in, the ship turned southwards and moved slowly abreast of the town. the port battery of four-point-sevens loaded with h.e. and the two six-inchers fore and aft swung out-board and followed suit. the occasion called for fine shooting, as a minaret rose just to the right of the fort, and the houses were so massed about it that there was only one clear shot--up the street leading from the beach past the main gate. "at the southern gate of the fort, each gun to fire as it comes to bear up the street from the water-side." as i turned my glasses on the big portico of the southern gate, out stepped a turkish officer who regarded us intently; the next instant the bridge shook to the crashing concussion of our forward six-inch, and through a drifting haze of gas-fume i saw him blotted out by the orange flash of lyddite and an up-flung pall of dust and _débris_. there was a pause, cut short by the clap of the bursting shell reverberating like thunder against the foot-hills beyond the town. a little naked boy ran in an attitude of terrified dismay up the water-street just as the first four-point-seven fired. i saw him through my glasses duck his head between his arms, then dive panic-stricken through a doorway as the fort was smitten again in dust and thunder. "was the poor little beggar hit?" "no, sir, only scared." while the target was still veiled in its dust the second four-point-seven spoke, and the minaret disappeared from view behind a dun-coloured shroud. "cease fire" sounded at once. "who fired that gun? take him off," came in tones of stern rebuke from the bridge. luckily the minaret showed intact as the dust drifted clear and firing continued. as the fort crumbled under our guns, turkish soldiers began to break cover at various points of the town and fled across the plain. the cutter, in-shore, opened with maxim-fire, and so accurately that we could see the sombre-clad figures lying here and there or seeking frantically for cover, while an arab in their vicinity, leading a leisurely camel, continued his stroll inland unperturbed. we drove the main body out of their hidden position and into the hills with well-timed shrapnel, and finished up by demolishing the customs (where a lot of ammunition blew up), to the temporary satisfaction of my fisherman, who was curled up in a corner of the bridge, nearly stunned by the shock of modern ordnance in spite of the cotton-wool i had made him put in his ears. before we picked up our cutter the civil population was already streaming back. the incident is worth noting in view of remarks made by a popular fiction-monger in one of his latest works, that indiscriminate aerial raids on civil centres in england are on the same level of humanity as naval bombardments. i visited the fishing-banks off hasani island a week or so after to get the latest news of um-lejj, which came from turkish sources. there was one civilian casualty--a woman who was in the turkish concealed position. no casualties among turkish officers, but one of them left in charge of the fort had disappeared. there were bits of the fort left, but the commandant had moved his headquarters to the school-house within the precincts of the mosque--sagacious soul. the object-lesson which we gave the arabs at um-lejj put a check to their irresponsible sniping of boats and landing-parties, though one could always expect a little trouble with an arab dhow running contraband for the turks. in these cases their guilty consciences usually gave them away. returning to the coast toward jeddah unexpectedly, having played the well-worn ruse of "the cat's away," we sighted a small dhow close in-shore, and should have left her alone as she was in shoal-water, but, on standing in to get a nearer view of her, she headed promptly for the beach and ran aground, disgorging more men than such a craft should carry. i went away in the duty cutter to investigate, and we had barely realised that she was heavily loaded with kerosene in tins (a heinous contraband) when the fact was emphasised by a sputtering rifle-fire from the scrub along the beach. the ship very soon put a stop to that demonstration with a round or two of shrapnel, while we busied ourselves with the dhow. there was no hope of salving her, as she had almost ripped the keel off her when she took the ground and sat on the bottom like a dilapidated basket. we broached enough tins to start a conflagration, lit a fuse made of a strip of old turban soaked in kerosene, and backed hard from her vicinity, for the kerosene was low-flash common stuff as marked on the cases, and to play at snapdragon in half an acre of blazing oil is an uninviting pastime. however, she just flared without exploding, and we continued our cruise up the coast just in time to overhaul at racing speed a perfect regatta of dhows heeling over to every stitch of canvas in their efforts to make jeddah before we could get at them, for they had seen the smoke of that burning oil-dhow and realised that the cat was about. good money is paid at cowes to see no more spirited sailing--we had to put a shot across the bows of the leading dhow before they would abandon the race. there was always trouble off jeddah--the approaches to that reef-girt harbour lend themselves to blockade-running dhows with sound local knowledge on board. at night, especially, they had an advantage and would play "puss-in-the-corner" until the cutter lost patience, and a flickering pin-point of light stabbed the velvet black of the middle watch, asking permission to fire; one rifle-shot fired high would stop the game, and i made them come alongside and take a wigging for annoying the cutter and turning me out; there was seldom anything wrong about the dhow--it was sheer cussedness. all through the early part of we were keeping in touch with the sharif of mecca by means of envoys, whom we landed where they listed, away from the turks, picking them up at times and places indicated by them. sharif husein had long chafed under turkish suzerainty, in spite of his subsidy and the deference which policy compelled them to accord him. he knew that the hejaz could never realise its legitimate aspirations under ottoman rule, which was a blight on all arab progress and prosperity, as the young turkish party was hardly moslem at heart, being more national (that is tartar)--certainly not pro-arab. husein's difficulty was to get his own people to rise together and throw off the turkish yoke, for the hejazi tribesman, especially between the coast and mecca, has long been more of a brigand than a warrior, as any pilgrim will tell you. such folk are apt to jib at hammer-and-tongs fighting, and of course we could not land troops to assist them, as it would have violated the sacred soil that cradled islam and merely stiffened the bogus _jihad_ which the turks had proclaimed against us, besides compromising the sharif with his own tribesmen. the hejazis' ingenuous idea was to go on taking money from us, the turks and the sharif, while--thanks to our lenient blockade--a regular dhow-traffic fed them. we did not approve of this utopian policy, and the fall of kut brought matters to a climax. after certain communications had passed between the representatives of his majesty's government and the sharif, it was decided to tighten the blockade and so induce the gentle hejazi to declare himself. the day was fixed, may, , on and after which date no traffic whatever was to be permitted with the arabian coast other than that specially sanctioned by government. in palaver thereon i managed to get local fishing-craft exempted. the fisher-folk are not combatants either on empty stomachs or full ones, and could be relied on to consume their own fish in that climate unless very close to a market, where the pinch would be great enough to make them exchange it for foodstuffs, thus helping the situation we wished to bring about. i knew that all _bona fide_ fishing-craft were easily recognisable by their rig and comparatively small size, and hoped that good will would combine with freedom of movement to make these folk useful agents for intelligence. i heard with some relief that the movements of the patrol would place h.m.s. "hardinge" (a roomy ship of the indian marine) on station duty off jeddah, which was to be my post while the enhanced blockade was in force--there are few more trying seasons than early summer in those waters. i joined her from suez the day after the blockade was closed, and found her keeping guard over a perfect fleet of dhows. there were about three dozen craft with over three hundred people on board, for many native passengers were trying to make jeddah before we shut down. the feckless mariners in charge had made the usual oriental calculation that a day more or less did not matter, but found to their horror that the navy was more precise on these points--and there they were. the first thing to ensure was that the crew, and especially the passengers, among whom were a good many women and children, did not suffer from privation. this had already been ably seen to by the ship's officers--i merely went round the fleet to sift any genuine complaints from the discontent natural to the situation in which their own slackness had placed them. i insisted on hearing only one complaint at a time, otherwise it would have been pandemonium afloat, for they were anchored close enough together to converse with each other; vociferous excuses for their unpunctuality were brushed aside, legitimate requests for more water or food or condensed milk for the children or more adequate shelter for the women from the sun were attended to at once, and our floating village quieted down. the craft were all much the same type of small dhow or _sanbuk_ which frequents the red sea and the gulf of aden, having little in common with the big-bellied buggalows which ply with rice and dates between the persian gulf and indian ports but do not come into the red sea. these were much smaller and saucier-looking craft, some fifty to eighty feet long, with a turn of speed and raking masts. all were lugger-rigged with lateen sails, and only the poop and bows were decked, the bulwarks being heightened with strips of matting to prevent seas from breaking in-board. sanitary arrangements were provided for by a box-like cubby-hole over-hanging the boat's side; inexperienced officers often take it for a vantage-point to heave the lead from, and only find out too late after attempting to board there, that things are not always what they seem. these little vessels are practically the corsair type of saracenic sailing-galley which used to infest the barbary coast in days gone by. they do everything different from our occidental methods. for example, they reef and furl their tall lateens from the peak, and have to send a man up the long tapering gaff to do it. their masts rake forward and not aft, which enables them to swing gaff, sail, and sheet round in front of the mast when they come about, instead of keeping the sheet aft and dipping the butt of the gaff with the sail to the other side of the mast, which would be an impossibility for that rig, as the butt of their enormous mainyard or gaff is bowsed permanently down in the bows, while the soaring peak may be nearly a hundred feet above the water. cooking was done over charcoal in a kerosene tin half full of sand, and the "first-class" passengers lived under an improvised awning on the poop, the women's quarters being under that gim-crack structure. all the same, they are good sea-boats and remarkably fast, especially _on_ a wind, quite unlike the big-decked buggalows which are built for cargo capacity and have real cabins aft but sail like a haystack on a barge. it was inhuman (as well as an infernal nuisance) to keep all those people sweltering indefinitely at sea; on the other hand, our orders as to the strict maintenance of the blockade were explicit. the "owner" and i conferred and decided that the situation could be met by transferring their cargo to the ship and letting the dhows beach. this was referred and approved by wireless. the job took us some days, as the weather was rather unfavourable and all the cargoes had to be checked by manifest with a view to restitution later. each dhow as she was cleared had to make for the shore and dismast or beach so that she could not steal out at night and add to the difficulties of the blockade. none attempted to evade this order, most carried out both alternatives; perhaps a casual reminder that they would be within observation and gun-fire of the ship had some influence on their action. hitherto the turco-teutonic brand of holy war had been fairly successful. the allied thrust at the dardanelles and gallipoli had failed, the aden protectorate was in turkish hands, we had spent a most unpleasant easter in sinai, and kut had fallen. still, the turks were soon to realise that a wrongly-invoked _jihad_, like a mishandled musket, can recoil heavily, and, before the end of may, signs were not wanting that trouble was brewing for them in the hejaz. we were in close touch with the shore through fishing-canoes by day and secret emissaries by night, who brought us news that some german "officers" had been done to death by hejazi tribesmen some eight hours' journey north of jeddah. they had evidently been first over-powered and bound, then stabbed in the stomach with the huge two-handed dagger which the hejazis use, and finally decapitated, as a turkish rescue party which hurried to the spot found their headless and practically disembowelled corpses with their hands tied behind them. their effects came through our hands in due course, and we ascertained that the party consisted of lieut.-commander von moeller (late of a german gunboat interned at tsing-tao) and five reservists whom he had picked up in java. they had landed on the south arabian coast in march, had visited sanaa, the capital of yamen, and had come up the arabian coast of the red sea by dhow, keeping well inside the farsan bank, which is three hundred miles long and a serious obstacle to patrol work. they had landed at konfida, north of the bank, and reached jeddah by camel on may . against the advice of the turks they continued their journey by land, as they had no chance of eluding our northern patrol at sea. they were more than a year too late to emulate the gallant (and lucky) "odyssey" of the emden's landing-party from cocos islands up the red sea coast in the days when our blockade was more lenient and did not interfere with coasting craft. they hoped to reach maan and so get on the rail for stamboul and back to germany, as the sharif would not sanction their coming to the sacred city of medina, which is the rail-head for the damascus-hejaz railway. after so staunch a journey they deserved a better fate. among their kit was a tattered and blood-stained copy of my book on the aden hinterland.[a] meanwhile affairs ashore were simmering to boiling-point, and on the night of june we commenced a bombardment of carefully located turkish positions, firing by "director" to co-operate with an arab attack which was due then but did not materialise till early next morning, and was then but feebly delivered. we found out later that the rifles and ammunition we had delivered on the beach some distance south of jeddah to the sharif's agents in support of this attack had been partly diverted to mecca and partly hung up by a squabble with their own camel-men for more cash. we continued the bombardment on the night of the th and were in action most of the day on the th, shelling the turkish positions north of jeddah, which we had located by glass and the co-operation of friendly fishing-craft who gave us the direction by signal. during the morning the hejazis made an abortive and aimless attack along the beach north of jeddah, and so masked our own supporting fire, while the turks gave them more than they wanted. by this time the senior ship and others had joined us, and the s.n.o. approved of my landing with a party of indian signallers to maintain closer touch with their operations, provided that arab headquarters would guarantee our safety as regards their own people. this they were unable to do. the bombardment grew more and more strenuous and searching as other ships joined in and our knowledge of the turkish positions became more accurate. on the th it culminated with the arrival of a seaplane carrier and heavy bombing of the ottoman trenches which our flat-trajectory naval guns could hardly reach. the white flag went up before sunset, and next day there were _pourparlers_ which led to an unconditional surrender on june , . mecca had fallen just before, and taif surrendered soon after, leaving medina as the only important town still held by the turks in the hejaz. we began pouring food and munitions into jeddah as soon as it changed hands; for the rest of this cruise my ship was a sort of parcels-delivery van, and when the parcel happens to be an egyptian mountain battery its delivery is an undertaking. my personal contact with the turks and their ill-omened _jihad_ ended soon after, as i was invalided from service afloat, but i kept in touch as an intelligence-wallah on the beach and followed the rest of it with interest. they got holy war with a vengeance. the sharif's sons (more especially the emirs feisal and abdullah, who had been trained at the stamboul military academy), ably assisted by zealous and skilled british officers as mine-planters and aerial bombers, harried outlying posts and the hejaz railway line north of medina incessantly. the turkish positions at wejh fell to the red sea flotilla, reinforced by the flagship. i should like to have been there, if only to have seen the admiral sail in to the proceedings with a revolver in his fist and the _élan_ of a sub-lieutenant. the hejazis failed to synchronise, as usual, so the navy dispensed with their support. on february , , kut was wrested from the turks again; on march they lost baghdad; on november their beersheba-gaza front was shattered, and jerusalem fell on december . early next year jericho was captured (february ), a british column from baghdad reached the caspian in august, and after a final, victorious british offensive in palestine the unholy alliance of turkish pan-islamism and german _kultur_ got its death-blow when emir feisal galloped into damascus. the turks had drawn the blade of _jihad_ from its pan-islamic scabbard in vain; its german trade-mark was plainly stamped on it. there had been widespread organisation against us, and the serpent's eggs of sedition and revolt had been hatched in centres scattered all over the eastern hemisphere, but their venomous progeny had been crushed before they became formidable. as a world-force this band of pan-islamism had failed because it had been invoked by the wrong people for a wrong purpose. such a movement should at least have as its driving power some great spiritual crisis: this turco-german manifestation of it had its origin in self-interest, and if successful would have immolated arabia on the demoniac altar of _weltpolitik_. seyid muhammed er-rashid ridha, a descendant of the prophet and one of the greatest arab theologians living, has voiced the verdict of islam on this unscrupulous and self-seeking adventure in a trenchant article published in september, . he showed up enver and his unionist party as an atheist among atheists who had deprived the sultan of his rightful power and islam of its religious head, and contrasted their conduct with that of the british, who exempted the hejaz from the blockade enforced against the rest of the ottoman empire until it became quite clear that the turks were benefiting chiefly by that exemption, and who, out of respect for the holy places of islam, refrained from making that country a theatre of war. true to the teutonic tradition, the movement had been laboriously organised, but lacked psychic insight, for the turk is too much of a tartar and too little of a moslem to appreciate the arab mind, and the german ignored it, rooting with eager, guttural grunts among the carefully cultivated religious prejudices of islam like a hog hunting truffles until whacked out of it by the irate cultivators. the following incident may serve to illustrate their crude tactics. soon after the turks came into the war the mullah of the principal mosque at damascus was told to announce _jihad_ against the british from his pulpit on the following friday in accordance with an order from the grand mufti at stamboul. the poor man appears to have jibbed considerably and sent his family over the nejd border to be out of reach of turkish persecution. finally he decided to conform, but when he climbed the steps of his "minbar" and scanned his congregation he saw a group of german officers wearing tarboushes with a look of almost porcine complacency. his fear fell from him in a gust of rage and he spoke somewhat as follows: "i am ordered to proclaim _jihad_. a _jihad_, as you know, is a holy war to protect our holy places against infidels. this being so, what are these infidel _pigs_ doing in our mosque?" there was a most unseemly scuffle; the turco-german contingent tried to seize the mullah; the arab congregation defended him strenuously from arrest. in the confusion that worthy man got clear away and joined his family in nejd. _jihad_ is incumbent on all moslems if against infidel aggression. we stood on the defensive when the turks first attacked us on the canal, and when we finally overran palestine and syria it was in co-operation with the arabs, who have more right there than the turks. those who forged the blade of this counterfeit _jihad_ could not temper it in the flame of religious fervour, and it shattered against the shield of religious tolerance and good faith: we make mistakes, but can honestly claim those two virtues. footnotes: [footnote a: "the land of uz," macmillan.] chapter iii its strength and weakness to gauge the strength or weakness of pan-islam as a world-force we may best compare it with its great militant rival, the christian church, choosing common ground as the only sound basis of comparison, and remembering that it is pan-islam we are examining rather than islam itself--the tree, not the root; and though we cannot study the one without considering the other, islam has already been extensively discussed by men better qualified than myself to deal with it: the requirements of this work only call for comparison so far as the driving-power of pan-islam is concerned as a material force. first of all we must discard common factors. i set the great shiah schism against the catholic church (omitting the word "roman" as a contradiction in terms) and cancel both for the purposes of comparison. catholicism, is not, of course, schismatic, otherwise there are points of resemblance, such as observances of saints and shrines, which have permeated the other sects to a certain extent; also the degree of antagonism is about the same. therefore we can ignore the catholic church in this chapter, and when we are talking of pan-islam we should consider it a sunnite (or orthodox) movement, and count the shiites out, as they do not even recognise the same centre of pilgrimage. perhaps the strongest factor in pan-islam as a political movement or a world-wide fellowship is the meccan pilgrimage. i have already alluded to its cosmopolitan nature in the previous chapter, but never realised it so much till after the surrender of jeddah, when stately bokhariots, jabbering javanese, malays, chinese, russians, american citizens and south africans were among those who beset me as stranded pilgrims. this implies a very wide sphere of influence, against which we can only set the well-known immorality and greed which pilgrims complain of at mecca; a huge influx of cosmopolitan visitors to _any_ centre will generally cause such abuses. on the feast of arafat there are normally , pilgrims in the meccan area who represent million orthodox moslems throughout the world, while the actual population of the city is only , . the arabic language is another strong bond of brotherhood in islam. i do not mean to say that it is generally "understanded of the people," any more than latin is throughout the catholic world; but it is the language of most sunnites and is moderately understood in somaliland, east africa, java and the malay peninsula as the language of the koran; in fact, it is the only written language in somaliland, and turkey uses the script though not the tongue. the daily observances of prayer, with their simple but obligatory ceremonial, and the yearly fast for the month of ramadhan unite moslems with the common ties of duty and hardship, as in the comradeship which sailors and soldiers have for each other throughout the world. then, again, there is no colour-line in islam; a negro may rise to place and power (he often does), and usually enjoys the intimate confidence of his master as not readily amenable to local intrigue. difference of nationality is not stressed except by the young turks, who have slighted semitic moslems to their own undoing. contrast this attitude with our church and estimate the precise amount of christian brotherhood between an orthodox greek, a welsh wesleyan, an ethiopian priest, a scotch presbyterian, and an anglican bishop (since the kikuyu heresy). even within the narrow limits of one sect there is nothing like the fellowship one finds in secular societies. which is the stronger appeal, "anglican communicant" or "freemason"? is a cross or the quadrant and compasses the more potent charm? arabs credit us christians with a much stronger bond of sympathy between co-religionists than is actually the case. it is true that those who come into any sort of contact with us realise that there is a distinct difference in form of worship and sentiment between catholics (whom they call _christyân_) and protestants (or _nasâra_), but i shall not readily forget the extraordinary conduct of a hejazi who boarded us off jeddah with some of the effects belonging to the murdered germans mentioned in the previous chapter. he must have had the firm conviction that we christians would avenge the killing of other christians by moslems, for he merely told me that he had in his possession certain property of the _allemani_, and i told him that he would be suitably rewarded on producing it; i found out later that he had boasted to our ship's interpreter (a mussulman) that he was one of the slayers, and it occurred to me that if that were the case he might be able to give me further information, or perhaps produce papers of theirs which might appear valueless to him but would be of interest to us. i interviewed him on deck and suggested this, reminding him of what he had told the interpreter, but laying no stress on the deed he had confessed, for it was outside our jurisdiction and no concern of mine. "papers?" he said. "by all means, i will go and fetch them," and breaking from my light hold of his sleeve he flickered over the rail and dropped into the sea some thirty feet below. two armed marines stepped to the rail with a clatter of breech-bolts and looked inquiringly at me. meanwhile my bold murderer was calling on his god, for he wore a full bandoleer, which was weighing him down. out darted a fishing-canoe from under our quarter and made for him, but its occupants took the hint i conveyed through a megaphone and confined their efforts to saving him for the duty-cutter to pick up. he was brought before me dripping wet, with the fear of death in his eyes. i thought this was due to the foolish risk he had taken, and spoke in gentle reproof of his conduct, pointing out that if any boat had been alongside where he leaped he would have met with a bad accident. to my surprise he fell at my feet and scrabbled at my clean white shoes, imploring me to spare his life. i put him down as somewhat mad, and asked "number one" to put a sentry over him to see that he did not repeat his attempt to avoid our acquaintance. he clung to me like a limpet and had to be removed by force, with despairing entreaties for mercy, disregarding my still puzzled assurances as to his personal safety. i learned afterwards his true reason for alarm; he thought that after leaving my presence he would be quietly made away with in traditional eastern style. another very strong feature of pan-islam is the consistency of the creed from which it grows. i do not necessarily imply that islam itself is benefited thereby, for consistency sometimes means narrowness, and we are not considering creeds; but there is no doubt about the dynamic force of a movement based on a religion which is sure of itself. a moslem has one authorised version of the koran, and only one; his simple creed is contained in its first chapter and is as short as the lord's prayer, which it somewhat resembles in style. praising god as the lord of the worlds (not only of this world of ours), it attributes to him mercy and clemency with supreme power over the day of judgment and is an avowal of worship and service. its only petition is to be led in the way of the righteous, avoiding errors that incur his wrath. contrast this with the many confusing aspects of christianity. perhaps diverse opinions tend to purify and invigorate a creed, but they certainly do not strengthen the cohesion of any secular movement based on it. then, again, the moslem conception of god and the hereafter stiffens the backbone of pan-islam in adversity. they are taught to believe that he is _really_ omnipotent and that his actions are beyond criticism--welfare and affliction being alike acceptable as his will. we, on the other hand, seem to be developing the theory of a finite god warring against, and occasionally overcome by, evil, which includes (in this new thesis) human suffering and sorrow as well as sin. there is a growing idea, pioneered partly by mr. h. g. wells and apparently supported by many of the clergy, that the acts of god must square with human ideals of mercy or justice, and as many occurrences do not, the inference is that evil gets the best of it sometimes. now the moslem slogan is "allah akbar" (god is greatest), and that seems to me a better battle-cry than, for example, "gott mit uns," as god will still be great and invincible to moslems in their victory or defeat; but the finite idea presumes, in disaster, that you and your god have been defeated together. it is not my business to criticise either conception from a religious point of view, but in mundane affairs it is the former that will make for fighting force, especially as we still insist that our god is a jealous god, visiting the sins of the fathers, etc.: surely this is not a human ideal of justice; the obvious deduction is that our modern deity is stronger to punish than protect--hardly an encouraging attribute. whether a religion is the better for an organised priesthood or not is irrelevant to our subject, but the absence of it in islam certainly strengthens the pan-islamic movement, as each moslem may consider himself a standard-bearer of his faith, while we are apt to leave too much to our priests, thus engendering slackness on our part and meticulous dogma on theirs; both undermine christian brotherhood. the fact that priestly stipends seem to the ordinary layman as in inverse ratio to the duties performed also widens the breach between clergy and laity, besides sapping clerical _moral_. this is not the particular feature of any one sect--the reader can supply cases within his own experience, but here is one that is probably outside it and showing how widespread the system is. the rank and file of the greek orthodox clergy are notoriously ill-paid. yet their monastery at jerusalem costs £e. , per annum to maintain and pays £e. , annually in clerical salaries to archbishops and clergy who control the spiritual affairs of less than fifteen thousand people. it derives £e. , from its property in russia, £e. , from the property of the holy sepulchre, and as much again from visitors and other sources; and this in a region where the founder of our faith was content to wander with less certainty of shelter than the wild creatures of the countryside. incidentally, the monastery seems to have been unable to curtail its expenditure during the war, for it has accumulated debts to the amount of £e. , , most of its sources of income having ceased for the time. i quote from current newspapers. blame does not necessarily attach to the monastery or its administrators, who may have done their best to fulfill their obligations under adverse circumstances; i would merely draw attention to the incongruity of the whole system as regards a universal brotherhood based on christian teaching. there are no such exotic growths to impede the march of pan-islam. so much for the strength of the pan-islamic movement. now let us consider its weak points. to begin with, the gross abuse of pan-islam by interested parties for non-spiritual ends during the war has done the genuine movement harm. that lying, political appeal to _jihad_ has made thinking moslems mistrust the infallibility of organised pan-islam, of which the culminating expression is holy war, one of the most sacred mussulman duties if justly invoked. we christians do not make such mistakes. when italy was fighting the turks in tripoli the pope himself warned christian soldiers against regarding the campaign as a crusade, and when we took jerusalem we took it side by side with our mussulman allies and forthwith placed an orthodox moslem guard on omar's mosque. in this connection it may be of interest to note that the officer commanding a mixed christian guard at the holy sepulchre was a jew. another source of weakness, so far as a united moslem world is concerned, may be found in the antagonistic points of view between civilised and uncivilised moslems (i use the attribute in its modern sense). uncivilised moslems view with suspicion and, in fact, derision the dress and customs of their civilised co-religionists, insisting that european coats and trousers display the figure indecently and that their frankish luxuries and amusements are snares of eblis. the enlightened moslem, on the other hand, regards the tribesman as a _jungliwala_, or wild man of the woods, derides his illiteracy, and is revolted by the harsh severity of the old islamic penal code as practised still in semi-barbaric moslem states. now we christians are fairly lenient as regards each other's customs, and still more so with regard to dress (judging by the garb we tolerate), while we have quite outgrown our old playful habits of boiling, burning, or torturing our fellow-men except on the battle-fields of civilised warfare. civilisation (as we understand it) is a two-edged weapon and tool smiting or serving pan-islam and christendom, but on the whole it serves the latter rather than the former, as the superior resources of christendom can take fuller advantage of it as a tool or a weapon, though both turn to scourges when used against each other in battle. also its handmaid, education, though in itself a foe to no religion, _does_ tend to tone down dogma and engender tolerance, thus minimising the dynamic force of bigotry in pan-islam, though consolidating the real stability of religion on its own base. moreover, some gifts of civilisation can do a lot of harm if wrongly used; i refer more especially to drink, drugs, and dress. just as hereditary exposure to the infection of certain diseases is said to confer, by survival of the fittest, a certain immunity therefrom--for example, consumption among us europeans and typhoid among asiatics--so moral ills seem to affect humanity to a greater or less extent in inverse proportion to the temptation in that particular respect which the individual and his forebears have successfully resisted. the average european and his ancestors have been accustomed to drink fermented liquor for many centuries, and in moderation as judged by the standard of his time, but he has always been taught to avoid opium and has not known the drug for long. the oriental moslem, on the other hand, has used opium as a remedy and prophylactic against malaria for generations, but is strictly ordered by his creed to consider the consumption, production, gift or sale of alcohol a deadly sin. in consequence, the european can usually take alcohol in moderation, but almost invariably slips into a pit of his own digging when he tries to do the same with opium, while the oriental moslem can use opium in moderation (provided that he confines himself to swallowing it and does not smoke it), but when he drinks, usually drinks to excess because he has not learned to do otherwise. it is a melancholy fact that hitherto in countries opened up by our western civilisation drink has got in long before education, unless extraordinary precautions have been taken to prevent it; that is one reason why moslem states are so wary of civilised encroachment. as for drugs other than opium (and far more dangerous), civilised moslems, especially in egypt, are alarmed at the spread of hashish-smoking among their co-religionists, while the cultured classes, including women-folk, are taking to cocaine: the material for both vices is supplied from european sources, mostly greek. dress, compared with the other two demons, is merely a fantastic though mischievous sprite and can be quite attractive, but it breaks up many a moslem home when carried to excess in the harem, as it frequently is in civilised circles, while the younger men vie with each other in the more flagrant extravagances of occidental garb: prayers and ablutions do not harmonise with well-creased trousers and stylish boots any more than a veil does with a divided skirt. the native press is always attacking the above abuses, but they are firmly rooted. all three undermine the pan-islamic structure by causing cleavage in public opinion. european dress has already been mentioned as widening the gap between civilised and uncivilised moslems, but it also tends to disintegrate cultured moslem communities, for the older men are apt to regard it with suspicion or downright condemnation. i once asked an eminent and learned moslem whether he thought modern european dress impeded regular observance of prayers and ablutions. he replied, "perhaps so, but those moslems who wear such clothes indicate by so doing that the observances of islam have little hold upon them." all these defects, however, are mere cracks in the inner walls of the pan-islamic structure and can be repaired from within, but the turkish government, which represented the caliphate, and should have considered the integrity of islam as a sacred trust, has managed to split the outer wall and divide the house against itself, just as the unity of christendom (such as it was) has been rent asunder by one of its most prominent exponents. pan-islam has received the more serious damage because the wreckers still hold the caliphate and the prestige attached thereto; it is for moslems (and moslems only) to decide what action to take; but in any case, the breach is a serious one and has been much widened by the action of turkish troops at the holy places. they actually shelled the caaba at mecca (luckily without doing material damage), and their action in storing high explosives close to the prophet's tomb at medina may have saved them bombardment, but has certainly not improved their reputation as moslems. even before the war i often heard yamen arabs talking of "turks and moslems"--a distinctly damning discrimination--and the situation has not been improved by ottoman slackness in religious observances and their inconsistent national movement. at the same time, their rule in arabia will be awkward to replace at first. i described the turks in the final chapter of a book[b] published early in the war as pre-eminently fitted to govern moslems by birthright, creed, and temperament, summing them up as individually gifted but collectively hopeless as administrators because they lacked a stable and consistent central government. they have proved the indictment up to the hilt, but that does not dower any of us christians with their inherent qualifications as rulers in islam. if any of us are called upon to face fresh responsibilities in this direction, it would take us all our time to make up for these qualities by tact, sound administration, and strict observance of local religious prejudice. even then there is a mussulman proverb to this effect: "a moslem ruler though he oppress me and not a _kafir_ though he work me weal"--it explains much apparent ingratitude for benefits conferred. the lesson we have to learn from pan-islamic activities of the last decade or two is that countries which are mainly moslem should have moslem rulers, and that christian rule, however enlightened and benevolent, is only permissible where islam is outnumbered by other creeds. at the same time, in countries where christian methods of civilisation and european capital have been invited we have a right to control and advise the moslem ruler sufficiently to ensure the fair treatment of our nationals and their interests. but with purely moslem countries which have expressed no readiness to assimilate the methods of modern civilisation or to invite outside capital we have no right to interfere beyond the following limit: if the local authorities allow foreign traders to operate at their ports their interests should be safeguarded, if important enough, by consular representation on the spot, or, if not, by occasional visits of a man-of-war to keep nationals in touch with their own government, presuming that the place is too small to justify any mail-carrying vessel calling there except at very long intervals. there should always be a definite understanding as to foreigners proceeding or residing up-country for any purpose. if the local ruler discourages but permits such procedure, all we should expect him to do in case of untoward incidents is to take reasonable action to investigate and punish, but if he has guaranteed the security of foreign nationals concerned, he must redeem his pledge in an adequate manner or take the consequences. there should seldom be occasion for an inland punitive expedition; in these days, when many articles of seaborne trade have become, from mere luxuries, almost indispensable adjuncts of native life in the remotest regions, a maritime blockade strictly enforced should soon exact the necessary satisfaction. such rulers should bear in mind that if they accept an enterprise of foreign capital they must protect its legitimate operations, just as a school which has accepted a government grant has to conform to stipulated conditions. where no such penetration has occurred, all we should concern ourselves with is that internal trouble in such regions shall not slop over into territory protected or occupied by us, and this is where our most serious difficulties will occur in erstwhile turkish arabia. the turk, with all his faults, could grapple with a difficult situation in native affairs by drastic methods which might be indefensible in themselves, but were calculated to obtain definite results. at any rate, we had a responsible central government to deal with and one that we could get at. now we shall have to handle such situations ourselves or rely on the local authorities doing so. the former method is costly and dangerous, yielding the minimum of result to the maximum of effort and expense, while involving possibilities of trouble which might compromise our democratic yearnings considerably: the latter alternative presupposes that we have succeeded in evolving out of the present imbroglio responsible rulers who are well-disposed to us and prepared to take adequate action on our representations. in syria and mesopotamia, where communications are good and european penetration an established fact, there should not be much difficulty, but in arabia proper the problem is a very prickly one. beginning with arabia felix, which includes yamen, the aden protectorate, and the vague, sprawling province of hadhramaut, we may be permitted to hope that nothing worse can happen in the aden protectorate than has happened already; the remoter hadhramaut has always looked after its own affairs and can continue to do so; but yamen bristles with political problems which will have to be solved, and solved correctly, if she is going to be a safe neighbour or a reliable customer to have business dealings with. hitherto none of her local rulers have inspired any confidence in their capacity for initiative or independent action. during the war the idrisi, who had long been in revolt against the turks in northern yamen, kept making half-hearted and abortive dabs at loheia--like a nervous child playing snapdragon--but his only success (and temporary at that) was when he occupied the town after the red sea patrol had shelled the turks out of it. as for the imam, he has been sitting on a very thorny fence ever since the turks came into the war. we have been in touch with him for a long time, but all he has done up to date is to wobble on a precarious tripod supported by the opposing strains of turks, tribesmen, and british. now one leg of the tripod has been knocked away he has yet to show if he can maintain stability on his own base, and, if so, over what area. the undeniable fighting qualities of the yamen arab, which might be a useful factor in a stable government, will merely prove a nuisance and a menace under a weak _régime_, and tribal trouble will always be slopping over into our aden sphere of influence. then the question will arise, what are we going to do about it? we cannot bring the yamenis to book by blockading their coast and cutting off caravan traffic with aden, because, in view of our trade relations with the country by sea and land, we should only be cutting our nose off to spite our face. moreover, the punishment would fall chiefly on the respectable community, traders, the cultured classes, etc., to whom seaborne trade is essential, while it would hardly affect the wild tribesmen, except as regards ammunition, and to prevent them getting what they wanted through the hejaz is outside the sphere of practical politics. in the hejaz itself we can at least claim that authority is suitably represented and accessible to us. before the war we kept a british consul at jeddah with an indian moslem vice-consul who went up to mecca in the pilgrim season. a responsible consular agent (moslem of course) to reside at medina, also another to understudy the jeddah vice-consul when he went to mecca and to look after the yenbo pilgrim traffic, would safeguard the interests of our nationals, who enormously outnumber the pilgrims of any other nation. further interference with the hejaz, unless invited, would be unjustifiable. trouble for us does not lie in the hejaz itself, but in its possible expansion beyond its powers of absorption, or, in homely metaphor, if it bites off more than it can chew. there is a certain tendency just now to overrate hejazi prowess in war and policy; in fact, king husein is often alluded to vaguely as the "king of arabia," and there is a sporadic crop of ill-informed articles on this and other arabian affairs in the english press. one of the features of the war as regards this part of the world is the extraordinary and fungus-like growth of "arabian experts" it has produced, most of whom have never set foot in arabia itself, while the few now living who have acquired real first-hand knowledge of any part of the arabian peninsula before the war may be counted on the fingers of one hand. yet the number of people who rush into print with their opinions on the most complex arabian affairs would astonish even the arabs if they permitted themselves to show surprise at anything. these opinions differ widely, but have one attribute in common--their emphatic "cock-sureness." each one presents the one and only solution of the whole arabian problem according to the facet which the writer has seen, and there are many facets. they are amusing and even instructive occasionally, but there is a serious side to them--their crass empiricism. each writer presents (quite honestly, perhaps) his point of view of one or two facets in the rough-cut, many-sided and clouded crystal of arabian politics without considering its possible bearing on other parts of the peninsula or even other factors in the district he knows or has read about. the net result is an appallingly crude patchwork, no one piece harmonising with another, and, in view of the habit government has formed in these cases of accepting empirical opinions if they are shouted loud enough or at close range, there is more than a possibility that our arabian policy may resemble such a crazy quilt. if it does, we shall have to harvest a thistle-crop of tribal and intertribal trouble throughout the arabian peninsula, and the seed-down of unrest will blow all over syria and mesopotamia just at the most awkward time when reconstruction and sound administration are struggling to establish themselves. weeds grow quicker and stronger than useful plants in any garden. empirical statements sound well and look well in print, but they are no use whatever as sailing directions in the uncharted waters of arabian politics. putting them aside, the following facts are worth bearing in mind when the future of arabia is discussed. the hejazi troops were ably led by the sharifian emirs and syrian officers of note, and had the co-operation of the red sea flotilla on the coast and british officers of various corps inland to cut off medina, the last place of importance held by the turks after the summer of . yet the town held out until long after the armistice, and its surrender had eventually to be brought about by putting pressure on the turkish government at stamboul. on the other hand, the two great provinces which impinge upon the hejaz, namely, nejd and yamen, have given ample proof that they can hammer the turks without outside assistance. the nejdis not only cleared their own country of ottoman rule, but drove the turks out of hasa a year or two before the war, while the yamenis have more than once hurled the turks back on to the coast, and the rebels of northern yamen successfully withstood a hejazi and turkish column from the north and another turkish column from the south. the inference is that if the limits of hejazi rule are to be much extended there had better be a clear understanding with their neighbours and also some definite idea of the extent to which we are likely to be involved in support of our _protégé_. i know that many otherwise intelligent people have been hypnotised by the prophecy in "the white prophet": "the time is near when the long drama that has been played between arabs and turks will end in the establishment of a vast arabic empire, extending from the tigris and the euphrates valley to the mediterranean and from the indian ocean to jerusalem, with cairo as its capital, the khedive as its caliph, and england as its lord and protector." while refraining from obvious and belated criticism of a prophecy which the march of events has trodden out of shape, and which could never have been intended as a serious contribution to our knowledge of arabs and their politics, we must admit that the basic idea of centralising arabian authority has taken strong hold of avowed statecraft in england. it would, of course, simplify our relations with arabia and the collateral regions of mesopotamia and syria if such authority could establish itself and be accepted by the other arabian provinces to the extent of enforcing its enactments as regards their foreign affairs, _i.e._, relations with subjects (national or protected) of european states. if such authority could be maintained without assistance from us other than a subsidy and the occasional supply, to responsible parties, of arms and ammunition, it would satisfy all reasonable requirements, but if we had to intervene with direct force we should find ourselves defending an unpopular _protégé_ against the united resentment of arabia. i believe there is no one ruler or ruling clique in arabia that could wield such authority, and my reason for saying so is that the experiment has been tried repeatedly on a small scale during the twenty years or so that i have been connected with the country and has failed every time. toward the close of last century a sultan of lahej who had always claimed suzerainty over his turbulent neighbours, the subaihi, had to enter that vagabond tribeship to enforce one of his decrees, and got held up with his "army" until extricated by aden diplomacy at the price of his suzerain sway. his successor still claimed a hold over an adjacent clan of the subaihi known as the rigai, but when one of our most promising political officers was murdered there, and the murderer sheltered by the clan, he was unable to obtain redress or even assist us adequately in attempting to do so. early in this century aden was involved in a little expedition against turks and arabs because one of her protected sultans (equipped with explosive and ammunition) could not deal with a small arab fort himself. this is the same sultanate which let the turks through against us in the summer of and whose ruler was prominent in the sacking of lahej. i have already alluded, in chapter ii, to the inadequacy of the lahej sultan on that occasion, yet aden had bolstered up his authority in every possible way and had relied on him and his predecessor for years to act as semi-official suzerain and go-between for other tribes--a withered stick which snapped the first time it was leant upon. i could also point to the imam of yamen, strong in opposition to the turks as a rallying point of tribal revolt, but weak and vacillating on the side of law and order. i might go on giving instances _ad nauseam_, but here is one more to clinch the argument, and it is typical of arab politics. aden had just cause of offence against a certain reigning sultan of the abd-ul-wahid in her eastern sphere of influence. he had intrigued with foreign states, oppressed his subjects, persecuted native trade and played the dickens generally. therefore aden rebuked him (by letter) and appointed a relative of his to be sultan and receive his subsidy. the erring but impenitent potentate reduced his relative to such submission that he would sign monthly receipts for the subsidy and meekly hand over the cash: these were his only official acts, as he retired into private life in favour of aden's _bête noir_, who flourished exceedingly until he blackmailed caravans too freely and got the local tribesmen on his track. when we also consider how early in islamic history the caliphate split as a temporal power, and the difficulty which even the early caliphs (with all their prestige) had to keep order in arabia, it should engender caution in experiments toward even partial centralisation of control: apart from the fact that they might develop along lines diverging from the recognised principles of self-determination in small states, they could land us into a humiliating _impasse_ or an armed expedition. we parried the turco-german efforts to turn pan-islam against us, thanks to our circumspect attitude with regard to moslems, but a genuine movement based on any apparent aggression of ours in arabia proper might be a more serious matter. footnotes: [footnote b: "_arabia infelix_," macmillan.] chapter iv moslem and missionary having weighed the influence which pan-islam can wield as a popular movement, we will now consider the human factors which have built it up. just as we used christendom as a test-gauge of pan-islam, so now we will compare the activities of moslems (who do their own proselytising) with those of christian missionaries, grouping with them our laity so far as their example may be placed in the scales for or against the influence of christendom. to do this with the breadth of view which the question demands we will examine these human factors throughout the world wherever they are involved in opposition to each other. we shall thus avoid the confined outlook which teaches europeans in asia minor to look on turks as typical moslems to the exclusion of all others, or makes anglo-egyptians talk of country-folk in egypt as arabs and their language as the standard of arabic, or engenders the anglo-indian tendency of regarding a scantily-dressed paramount chief from the aden hinterland as an obscure _jungliwala_ because, in civilised india, an eminent moslem dresses in accordance with our conception of the part. we can leave the western hemisphere out of this inquiry, for though the greatest missionary effort against islam is engendered in the united states, it manifests itself in the eastern hemisphere, and the moslem population in both the americas is too small and quiescent to be considered a factor. we will begin with england and work eastward to the edge of the moslem world. at first glance the idea of england as an arena where two great religious forces meet seems rather far-fetched, but there is more moslem activity in some of our english towns than people imagine. turning over some files of the _kibla_ (a meccan newspaper), one comes across passages like the following:-- "the honourable cadi abdulla living in london reports that six noted english men and women have embraced the moslem religion in the cities of oxford, leicester, etc. the meritorious abdul hay arab has established a new centre in london for calling to islam, and the mufti muhammad sadik has delivered a speech in english in the mosque on 'the object of human life which can only be attained through moslem guidance.' many english men and women were present and put questions which were answered in a conclusive manner. at the close of the meeting a young lady of good family embraced islam and was named maimuna." then we have the scholarly and temperate addresses of seyid muhammad rauf and others before the islamic society in london; they are marked by considerable shrewdness and breadth of view, and though their debatable points may present a few fallacies, their effective controversion requires unusual knowledge of affairs in moslem countries. it is not, however, the activities of moslems in england which damage the prestige of christendom; it is the behaviour of english alleged christians themselves. every missionary, political officer, tutor, or even the importer of a native servant--in short, anyone who has been responsible for an oriental in england--knows what i mean. i do not say that london (for example) is any more vicious than delhi or cairo or cabul or constantinople or any other large moslem centre, but vice is certainly more obvious in london to the casual observer, even allowing for the fact that many comparatively harmless customs of ours (such as women wearing low-necked dresses and dancing with men) are apt to shock moslems until they learn that occidental habit has created an atmosphere of innocence in such cases which even bunny-hugging has failed to vitiate. the social life of london in all its grades and phases operates more widely for good or ill on christian prestige among moslems than londoners can possibly imagine. from the young princeling of some native state sauntering about clubland with his bear-leader to the lascar off a p. and o. boat, among east london drabs, or the middle-class mohammedan student who compares the civic achievements that surround him with the dingy dining-room of a bloomsbury boarding-house, all are apostles of life in london as it seems to them. i have had the hospitality of "family hotels" in the euston road portrayed to me in the crude but vivid imagery of the east when spooring boar in southern morocco with a native tracker who had been one of a troupe of soosi jugglers earning good pay at a west-end music-hall, and i once overheard a young _effendi_ explaining to his _confrères_ in a cairo café exactly the sort of company that would board your hansom when leaving "jimmy's" in days of yore. as for the news of london and its ways, as conveyed by its daily press, educated egyptians were better posted therein than most englishmen in cairo during the war, as their clubs and private organisations subscribed largely to the london dailies, which entered egypt free of local censorship, while anglo-egyptian newspapers were more strictly censored than their vernacular or continental contemporaries, as they presented no linguistic difficulties, but could be dealt with direct and not through an understrapper. missionaries would have us judge islam by the open improprieties and abuses which occur at mecca, kerbela, and other great moslem centres. how should we like christianity to be judged by the public behaviour of certain classes in london or other big towns? remember, it is always the scum which floats on top and the superficial vice or indecorum that strike a foreign observer. it is not my mission to preach--i am merely pointing out a flaw in our harness which causes a lot of administrative trouble out east. it is difficult to check the hashish habit in egypt when the average educated _effendi_ reads of drug-scandals in london with mischievous avidity, and the endeavours of a well-meaning education department to implant ideals of sturdy manhood are handicapped when the students batten on the weird and unsavoury incidents which are dished up _in extenso_ by london journalism from time to time. such matters do no harm to a public with a sense of proportion, but the _effendi_ is in the position of a schoolboy who has caught his master tripping and means to make the most of it. he assimilates and disseminates the idea that cocaine is as easily procurable as a cocktail in london clubs, and that the black mass is at least as common as the _danse de ventre_ in cairo. we can leave england for our eastern tour with the conclusion that islam is welcome to any proselytes it makes there, but that the gravest slur on christian prestige is cast by our own conduct. there is only one bone of contention between moslems and missionaries in europe now that turkey and russia are knocked out of the ring of current politics. is st. sophia to remain a mosque or revert to its original purpose as a christian church? whatever may be turkish opinion on the subject, the tradition of islam is definite enough. when the caliph omar entered jerusalem in triumph, after khaled had defeated the hosts of heraclius east of jordan, he withstood the importunate entreaties of his followers to pray in the church of the holy sepulchre, saying that if he did so the building would _de facto_ become a mosque, and such a wrong to christianity was against the ordinance and procedure of the prophet. it is worthy of note that christians were not molested at jerusalem until after the seljouk turks wrested the holy city from the moribund arabian caliphate in : their persecution and the desecration of sacred places by the turks brought about the first crusade in . again it was the ottoman turks who stormed constantinople and turned st. sophia into a mosque. according to the orthodox tradition of islam, once a church always a church. when the ex-khedive had the chance of reacquiring the site of all saints', cairo, owing to the increasing noise of traffic in the vicinity, he contemplated building a cinema-theatre there (for he had a shrewd business mind), but he was roundly told by moslem legalists that it was out of the question. even if the turks urge right of conquest, victorious christendom can claim that too, and if they allege length of tenure as a mosque in support of their case they put themselves out of court, as st. sophia has been a church for more than nine centuries and a mosque for less than five. if turkey is allowed to remain in europe at all it will be on sufferance. even in asia minor signs are not wanting that turkish rule will be pruned, clipped and trained considerably, as humanity will stand its rampant luxuriance of blood and barbarity no longer. the young turks were given every chance to consolidate their national aspirations and have achieved national suicide. one may feel sorry for the patient, sturdy peasantry and the non-political cultured classes who have been coerced or cajoled into fighting desperately in a cause that meant calamity for them whether they won or lost; but a nation gets the rulers it deserves and must answer for their acts. asia minor will probably be more accessible as a mission-field in due course. the moslem turk is not amenable to conversion; in fact, during a quarter of a century's wandering in the east i have never met a turkish convert. the american protestant mission will probably be well to the fore in this area in view of its excellent work on behalf of the armenians and other distressed christians during the war. just as it has concentrated its principal energies on the copts in egypt, so it may with advantage devote itself to the education and "uplift" of the armenians, and if its activities are as successful as with the copts, even the armenians cannot but approve, for the more enlightened individuals of that harassed and harassing little nation admit that the armenian character could be considerably improved, and that, though their hideous persecution is indefensibly damnable, their covetous instincts and parasitic activities are an incentive to maltreatment. one of the most difficult minor problems of reconstruction in eastern europe and asia minor will be how to safeguard the interests and modify the provocative activities of such subject-races as the jews and the armenians where established among ill-controlled nations and numerically inferior, though intellectually superior, to them. with their natural gift for intrigue and finance, they repay public persecution and oppression by undermining the administration and battening on the resources of their unwilling foster-country until active dislike becomes actual violence and outbursts of brutish rage yield ghastly results. deportation is not only tyrannically harsh but impracticable, for unless they were dumped to die in the waste places of the earth, which is unthinkable, some other nation must receive them, and even the most philanthropic government would hesitate to upset its economic conditions by admitting unproductive hordes of sweated labour and skilled exploiters. there are only two logical alternatives to such an _impasse_. one is to treat such subject-races so well that they may be trusted not to use their peculiar abilities against the interests of their adoptive country, which would then be their interests too, and the other is to exterminate them, which is inhuman. there is no middle course. it is a salutary but humiliating fact that we incur the worst human ills by our lack of human charity. we starved and over-crowded our poor till they bred consumption, and we enslaved negroes till they degenerated our anglo-saxon sturdiness of character, then plunged a great nation into civil war, and have finally become one of its most serious social problems. so the jews were debarred from liberal pursuits and privileges until they concentrated on finance and commerce, being also persecuted until they perfected their defensive organisation. the consequence is that they are individually formidable in those activities and collectively invincible. similarly the turks harried the armenians to their own undoing with even less excuse, for those ill-used people were certainly not interlopers, and so far from ameliorating their condition in the course of time, as we have done with the jews, the turks went from bad to worse till they culminated in atrocities which no provocation can palliate or humanity condone. but to return to asia minor; there the armenians were first on the ground, and yet the moslems of armenia outnumber them by three to one. any sound form of government would have to give equal rights, but it would have to be strong and farseeing to prevent the greedy exploitation and savage reprisals which such conditions would otherwise evolve. on entering asia we shall find a somewhat similar problem confronting the administration in syria and palestine. here we have several mixed races and at least three distinct creeds--christianity, islam, and judaism. the zionist movement looks promising, everyone concerned seems to be in accord, and a jew millennium looms large in the offing, but----. in palestine there are normally about , moslems and christians (the latter a very small minority) to , jews. the lure of the promised land will presumably increase the jewish population enormously, but they will still be very much in the minority unless the country is over-populated. the zionist organisation will naturally try to select for emigration agriculturists, mechanics, and craftsmen generally to develop the resources of the country, but that is easier said than done. if palestine, in addition to the sentimental aspect, is to be a refuge and asylum for the downtrodden and persecuted jews of eastern europe, there would be very few farmers among _that_ lot--except tax-farmers. even in england, where he labours under no landowning disability, the jew thinks that farming for a living is a mug's game and confines his agricultural activities to week-ends in the autumn with a "hammerless ejector" and a knickerbocker suit. as for mechanics and skilled labour generally, such jews as take to it usually excel in such work and do very well where they are. the bulk of the immigrant population--unless palestine is going to be artificially colonised without regard for the necessitous claims of the very people who should be drawn off there--will be indigent artisans, small shopkeepers, shop assistants, weedy unemployables, and a sprinkling of shrewd operators on the look-out for prey. if the scheme is going to be run entirely on philanthropic lines (and there are ample resources and charity at the back of it to do so) the zionists will be all right, and will, perhaps, improve immensely in the next generation under the influence of an open-air life--if they adopt it; but the resident majority of moslems and christians will not take too kindly to their new compatriots, while the palestine jews are already carping at the idea of so many trade rivals and accusing them of not being orthodox. none of this ill-feeling need matter in the long run with a firm but benevolent government, but the authorities will have to evolve some legislation to check profiteering and over-exploitation, or there will be trouble. it is not only the new-comers who will want curbing, but the present population. during the war the flagrant profiteering of jew and christian operators in palestine and syria did much to accentuate the appalling distress and was the more disgraceful compared with the magnificent efforts of the american and anglican churches to relieve the situation. the jews nearly incurred a pogrom by their operations, which were only checked by a wealthy syrian in egypt starting a co-operative venture of low-priced foodstuffs and necessities with the support of the british authorities. as for the local syrians, some of them were even worse. french and british officers speak of wealthy syrians (presumably christian, certainly not moslem) giving many and sumptuous balls at beyrout, at which they lapped austrian champagne while their wives, blazing in diamonds, whirled with hunnish officers in the high-pressure, double-action german waltz. and this with thousands of their compatriots starving in the streets and little naked children banding together to drive pariah dogs with stones from the street offal they were worrying, if perchance it might yield a meal. meanwhile decent anglo-saxon christendom was battling in that very town under adverse conditions to succour human destitution which had been largely caused by the callous operations of these soulless parasites. the christians of syria have no monopoly of such scandals. yet there are otherwise intelligent people who speak of modern christianity as an automatic promoter of ethics, and have the effrontery to try to thrust it on the east as a moral panacea. it is human ideals which make or mar a soul when once the seed of any sound religion has been sown, and they depend upon environment and climate more than our spiritual pastors admit; otherwise, why this missionary activity among oriental christians? if you try to grow garden flowers in the rich, rank irrigation soil of the nile valley they flourish luxuriantly, but soon develop a marked tendency to revert to their wild type, and it is permissible to suppose that human character is even more sensitive to its mental and physical surroundings. any observant teacher of oriental youth will tell you that the promise of their precocious ability is seldom fulfilled by their maturity. even the "country-born" children of british parents are considered precocious at their preparatory school in england, and, if not sent home to be educated, are apt to fall short of their parents' intellectual and moral standard in later years. the mamelukes knew what they were about when they kidnapped hardy albanian youths to carry on their rule in egypt and passed over their own progeny. kingsley has shown us in "hypatia" what the nile valley did for the christian church. it is not a question of jew, christian, or moslem that the administrative authorities in syria and palestine will have to consider beyond ensuring that each shall follow his religion unmolested. they will have to defend the many from the machinations of the few and the few from the violent reprisals of the many. it is statecraft that is wanted, not politics or religious dogma. in mesopotamia there has not been much missionary effort hitherto, and there is not a good case for exploiting it as a missionary field beyond certain limits. the riparian townsfolk are respectable people of some education and grasp of their own affairs, and the country-folk are a harum-scarum set of scallywags who used to attack turks or british indifferently, whichever happened to be in difficulties for the moment. they are best left to the secular arm for some time to come. medical missions, staffed by both sexes, could do good work at urban centres, and a few river steamers, or even launches, would extend their efforts considerably. we now come to arabia itself, "the peninsula of the arabs," where orthodox islam has its strongholds and missionary enterprise is not encouraged. geographers differ somewhat as to what constitutes arabia proper, but for the purposes of modern practical politics it may be considered as all the peninsula south of a line from the head of the gulf of akaba to the head of the persian gulf, and consisting of nejd, the hejaz,[c] asir, yamen, aden protectorate, hadhramaut and oman. each of these divisions should be dealt with separately in considering arabian politics nowadays, and it will be well for the "mandatories" concerned if further sub-divisions do not complicate matters; i omit the sub-province of hasa (once a dependency of the turkish _pashalik_ at bussora) because, since the nejdi _coup d'état_ in , the emir ibn saoud will probably control its policy _vis-à-vis_ of missionaries and europeans generally, though the sheikh of koweit may expect to be consulted. nejd comes first as we move southward: impinging as it does on syria, mesopotamia, and the hejaz, its politics are involved in theirs to a certain extent and its affairs require careful handling. it is certainly no field for unrestrained missionary effort, but there is no reason why a medical mission should not be posted at riadh if the emir is willing. there are two rival houses in nejd--the ibn saoud and ibn rashid, the former pro-british and the latter (hitherto) pro-turk; emir saoud held ascendancy before the war and should be able to maintain it now that turco-german influence is a thing of the past. he is an enlightened, energetic man and was a close friend of our gallant "political," the late captain shakespeare, who was killed there early in the war during an engagement between the two rival houses. the question of missionary enterprise in nejd could well be put before the emir for consideration on its merits. such procedure may seem weak to an out-and-out missionary, but even he would hesitate to keep poultry in another man's garden, even for economic purposes, without consulting him. fowls and missionaries are useful and even desirable in a suitable environment, otherwise they can be a nuisance. next in order as we travel is the hejaz, where islam started on its mission to harry exotic creeds and nations, until its conquering progress was checked decisively by reinvigorated christendom. in missionary parlance, arabia generally is referred to as "a gibraltar of fanaticism and pride which shuts out the messenger of christ," and it must be admitted that the hejaz has hitherto justified this description to a certain extent. even at jeddah christians were only just tolerated before the war, and i found it advisable, when exploring its tortuous bazars, to wear a tarboosh, which earned me the respectful salutations then accorded to a turk. the indigenous townsfolk of jeddah are the "meanest" set of moslems i have ever met--i use the epithet in its american sense, as indicating a blend of currishness and crabbedness. they cringed to the turk when the braver arabs of the south were hammering the oppressor in asir and yamen, but, like pariahs, were ready to fall on them and their women and children when they had surrendered after a gallant struggle, overwhelmed by an intensive bombardment from the sea. the alien moslems resident in jeddah--especially the indians--are not a bad lot, but there is an atmosphere of intolerance brooding over the whole place which even affects jeddah harbour. i remember being shipmate in with some eight hundred pilgrims from aden and the southern ports of the red sea. as we were discharging them off jeddah, a plump and respectable aden merchant whom i knew by sight, but who did not know me in the guise i then wore, was gazing in rapt enthusiasm at sun-scorched jeddah, which, against the sterile country beyond, looked like a stale bride-cake on a dust heap. "a sacred land," he crooned. "a blessed land where pigs and christians cannot live." incidentally he made a very good living out of christians and was actually carrying his gear in a pigskin valise. at the same time, it is absurd for missionaries to aver of christians at jeddah that "even those who die in the city are buried on an island at sea." the christian cemetery lies to the south of the town (we had to dislodge the turks from it with shrapnel during the fighting), and the only island is a small coral reef just big enough to support the ruins of a nondescript tenement once used for quarantine. no one could be buried there without the aid of dynamite and a cold chisel. presumably missionary report has confused jeddah with the smaller pilgrim-port of yenbo, where there are an island and a sandy spit with a sheikh's tomb and a select burial-ground for certain privileged moslems of the holy man's family. the worst indictment of jeddah (and mecca too, for that matter) is made by the pilgrims themselves, though some of it may be exaggerated by men smarting under the extortions of pilgrim-brokers. a pious moslem once averred in my presence that the pilgrim-brokers of jeddah were, in themselves, enough to bring a judgment on the place, and that trenchant opinion is not without foundation. even to the unprejudiced eye of a travelled european they present themselves as a class of blatant bounders battening on the earnest fervour of their co-religionists and squandering the proceeds on dissipation. i have more than once been shipmate with a gang of them, and it is at sea that they cast off such restraint as the critical gaze of other moslems might impose. as sumptuous first-class passengers they lounge about the deck in robes of tussore, rich silks and fancy waistcoats, though out of deference to their religious prejudice and christian table-manners they usually mess by themselves. after dinner they play vociferous poker in the saloon for cut-throat stakes, evading the captain's veto by using tastefully designed little fish in translucent colours to represent heavy cash, and these they invoke from time to time "for luck." as it is usually sweltering weather, the occidental whiskey-and-soda and the aromatic _mastic_ of the levant are much in evidence, and thus three of islam's gravest injunctions are set at naught. their chief fault, to a broad-minded sportsman, is that they lack self-control, whatever their luck may be. i have heard an ill-starred gambler bemoaning his losses with the cries of a stricken animal, and they are still more offensive as winners. in mecca such open breaches of the islamic code are not tolerated, but there are other lapses which neither moslem nor christian can condone. it is unfair and out of date to quote burton's indictment of meccan morals, nor have we any right to judge the city by its behaviour soon after its freedom from the turkish yoke, when it may have been suffering from reaction after nervous tension; but, unless the bulk of respectable moslem opinion is at fault, there is still much in the administration of mecca which cries for reform. harsh measures may have been necessary at first, but to maintain a private prison like the _kabu_ in the state it is can redound to no ruler's credit, and for prominent officials to cultivate an "alluring walk" and even practise it in the _tawâf_ or circumambulation of the holy caaba is beyond comment. also the mental standard of officialdom is low, since syrians of education and training do not seem to be attracted by the hejaz service for long, and local men of position and ability are said to have been passed over as likely to be formidable as intriguers. it may be reasonably urged that it is difficult to improvise a civil service on the spur of the moment, and it is permissible to anticipate a better state of affairs now that war conditions are being superseded. at the same time it is no use blinking the fact that reform is indicated at mecca if that sacred city is to harmonise with its high mission as the religious centre of the islamic world, and this affects our numerous moslem fellow-countrymen; otherwise the domestic affairs of the hejaz are not our concern. the hejaz has been very much to the fore lately, and ill-informed or biassed opinion has developed a tendency to credit it with a greater part in arabian and syrian affairs than it has played, can play, or should be encouraged to play. its intolerant tone has, presumably, been modified by co-operation with the civilised forces of militant christendom, but the new kingdom has got to regenerate itself a good deal before it can cope with wider responsibilities. emir feisal is, no doubt, an enlightened prince, but one swallow does not make a summer, and hejazi troops have not yet evolved enough _moral_ to dominate and control a more formidable breed or be trusted with the peace and welfare of a more civilised population, especially where there are large non-moslem communities. there has been a great deal of nonsense talked and written about their invincible fighting prowess. they accompanied the egyptian expeditionary force in much the same way as the jackal is said to accompany the lion, with a reversionary interest in his kill, and their faint-hearted fumbling with the turkish defences outside jeddah was obvious to any observer. they are what they have been since the fiery self-sacrificing enthusiasm of early islam died down and left them with the half-warm embers of their racial greed to become hereditary spoilers of the weak, instinctively shunning a doubtful fight. in guerilla warfare, leavened by british officers, they have shown an aptitude for taking advantage of a situation, but they cannot stand punishment and will not face the prospect of it if they can help it. their own leaders knew that well enough when they refrained from taking medina by assault, bombardment being out of the question, as buildings of the utmost sanctity would have been inevitably damaged or destroyed. prince feisal has, in a published interview with a representative of the press, disclaimed all imperialistic ambitions for the hejaz, but merely demanded arab independence in what was once the ottoman empire. that being assured, the new kingdom will be able to devote its energies to internal affairs, and the excellent impression made by the hejazi prince in europe should be a favourable augury of the future. the missionary question should be left to the reigning house for decision; it is not fair to hamper the hejaz with unnecessary complications, and to allow active missionary propaganda at a pilgrim-port like jeddah is asking for trouble, apart from the flagrant violation of religious sentiment. imagine catholic feeling if an enterprising moslem mission were established at lourdes. tact and expediency are just as necessary in religious as in secular affairs--at least so st. paul has taught us; but the modern missionary is too apt to regard these qualities in christianity as insincerity and the lack of them in islam as fanaticism. south of the hejaz lies that rather vague area known as asir. for geographical purposes we may consider it as the country between two parallels of latitude drawn through the coastal towns of lith and loheia, with the red sea on the west and an ill-defined inland border merging eastward into the desert plateau of southern nejd. politically, it is that territory of western arabia between the hejaz and yamen in which the idrisi has more control than anyone since his successful revolt against the turks a year or two before the war. in all probability its northern districts with lith will go to the hejaz, and the southern ones with loheia to the idrisi; but western diplomacy will be well advised to leave those two rulers to settle it between themselves and the local population, especially inland, as tribal boundaries between semi-nomadic and pastoral people are not for intelligent amateurs to trifle with. nor should the missionary be encouraged; asir is not a suitable field for his activities, and the trouble he would probably cause is out of all proportion to the good he could possibly do. the asiri is a frizzy-haired fanatic with a short temper and a serious disposition, addicted to sword-play and the indiscriminate use of firearms. i doubt if he would see the humour of missionary logic. as for the idrisi himself, he is a tall, well set up man of negroid aspect (being of moorish and soudani descent), and has shown shrewdness as an administrator, though his operations in the war have lacked "punch." he is very orthodox, and from what i know of him i should not say that religious tolerance was his strong point. his capital is at sabbia, in the maritime foot-hills, with a very trying climate. asir might suit the naturalist or explorer who could adapt himself to his environment and respect local prejudice. no one has yet entered the country in either capacity, but, from what has been told me before the war by intelligent turkish officers who campaigned there, i think that the birds and smaller mammals would repay research, while the great dawasir valley and other geographical problems inland might be investigated with advantage under the _ægis_ of local chiefs. all that is required, besides the necessary scientific knowledge and arabic, is a certain amount of perseverance and resolution blended with a reasonable regard for other people's convictions. most arabian expeditions fail through lack of time spent in preliminary steps. i have tripped up in that way myself, but it was owing to the restrictions of a paternal government, and not through lack of patience. before i started serious exploration in the aden hinterland i spent a year on the littoral plain getting in touch with the people and mastering the dialect. any success i may have had up-country was due to the foundation i laid in those early days, and it was not until the aden authorities closed their sphere of influence against exploration in general and myself in particular that my expeditions began to miss fire, as i had to land at remote places along the coast and hasten up-country before their fostering care could set the tribes on me. he who would explore asir should take a khedivial mail steamer from suez to jeddah, and there show his credentials and explain his purpose to his consul and the local authorities. the idrisi has an agent there, and it should not be difficult to pick up an asiri dhow returning down the coast to gîzân, which is the port for sabbia. he would have to stay there until he got the idrisi's permit and an escort, without which he would be held up to a certainty. in any case, no such enterprise need be contemplated until asiri affairs have settled down a good deal. in yamen proper it should be feasible to travel again within certain limits as soon as the imam can come to an understanding with the tribal chiefs. there is not much left for the explorer or naturalist to do, unless he goes very far inland toward the great central desert, which project is not likely to be encouraged by the local authorities. there is, however, a possible field for the mineralogist and prospector east and south-east of sanaa, which area also contains sabæan ruins and inscriptions of interest to the archæologist. the northern boundary of yamen may be said nowadays to trend north-east from loheia inland through highland country to the desert borders of nejran (once a christian diocese). its eastern border is very vague, but may be said to coincide approximately with the th parallel of longitude. southward the limit has been clearly defined by the anglo-turkish boundary commission of - inland from the bana valley, about a hundred map-miles north of aden, to the straits of bab-el-mandeb. within these limits the two great divisions of islam are represented in force--the orthodox _sunnis_ on the littoral plain and far inland along the upland deserts, while the highlanders among the lofty fertile ranges separating these two areas and forming the backbone of the country follow the _shiah_ schism, being zeidis, which of all the schismatic sects approaches most nearly to orthodox islam and regards mecca as its pilgrim-centre. the feeling between these two religious divisions may be compared with that existing between anglicans and catholics. they will occasionally use each other's places of worship--more especially the upper or governing classes--and seldom come to open loggerheads; when they do, it is usually about politics, and not religion. at the same time, if you, as a christian traveller among both parties, want a scathing opinion of a zeidi, you will get it from an orthodox lowlander, and the men of the mountains reciprocate with point and weight, for the balance of religious culture and position is with them among the big hill-centres; including sanaa, the political capital where the imam holds, or should hold, his court as hereditary ruler spiritual and temporal. this ecclesiastical potentate has backed the turk in a non-committal but flamboyant manner during the war up to the turning of the tide against them, when he sat on the fence until his turkish subsidy ceased. he now looks to western diplomacy in general and the british government in particular not only to continue but to enhance this subsidy, in order that he may really govern in yamen. his attitude throughout is natural and, indeed, justifiable in the interests of himself and his dynasty; at least occidental politicians cannot cavil at his motives; but what they ought to ascertain is how far he can fill the bill as a ruler in yamen and the extent to which he should be backed. without a considerable subsidy his administrative powers (not hitherto very marked) will not carry far even in the highlands. missionaries were allowed to enter yamen before the war, but did not establish themselves, even on the coast. some of them went up-country and stayed there some time without being molested. the average yameni is not fanatical by temperament; there is more bigotry among the urban jew colonies than in the whole moslem countryside. in the aden protectorate there has been long established the falconer medical mission, which, though actually at sheikh othman, just inside the british border, has done splendid work among natives of the hinterland, who visit it from all parts. its relations with the arabs have always been excellent, though the local ruffians looted the mission when the turks held sheikh othman temporarily. the province of hadhramaut, politically, includes not only the vast valley of that name with its tributaries, but the whole of the western part of southern arabia outside the aden protectorate from the yamen border to the confines of oman near longitude . mokalla is the capital and principal port. missionaries have been well received there by the enlightened ruler--a member of the kaaiti house with the local title of jemadar, inherited from an ancestor who soldiered in the arab bodyguard of a former nizam at haiderabad. the interior is not suited to missionary enterprise. muscat, the capital of oman, has already been occupied by missionaries. the sultan (at whose court there is a british resident) is well-disposed, but has lost most of his influence inland. further up the persian gulf missionaries have long been established on the islands of bahrein, which are under british protection. continuing our journey eastward, we can dismiss the shiahs of persia as outside our pan-islamic calculations, for their pilgrim-centre is at kerbela, some twenty odd miles west of the euphrates and the site of ancient babylon. this centre has been visited by missionaries. afghanistan and beluchistan both bar missionaries, but there are c.m.s. frontier posts from quetta, in british beluchistan, to peshawar, near the afghan border. they do good hospital work, otherwise their evangelising activities over the border are confined to native colporteurs and the circulation of vernacular scriptures. there is a fierce and barbarous turcoman spirit in both countries which their respective rulers (the khan of kelat and the emir at cabul) do their best to keep within bounds, aided by british residents. missionaries seem to think this spirit can be exorcised by their entrance into the arena. you might as well throw squibs into a cage full of tigers. on entering india (that vast hunting-ground of many sects and creeds), moslem and missionary are almost swamped in the flood of hinduism. there is no restriction on the activities of either within the four corners of the king-emperor's peace, and there is very little antagonism between the two in so big a field, where both are doing good work. although the moslems outnumber the christians by seven to one, the honours of war go to the missionaries. their highly-organised medical and educational missions do excellent work--the zenana mission is, in itself, a justification of christian mission work in india to any humanitarian with some knowledge of _zenana_ conditions. the moslems, on the other hand, in spite of their high standard of education, in india show a tendency among their less educated classes toward the caste prejudices of hinduism, which are dead against the teaching of islam and a handicap to any social organisation. few people realise what a huge proposition the indian empire is to solve in its entirety, with its population of millions, of whom over per cent. are illiterate. of the more or less educated residuum, not quite per cent. are brahmins having little in common with the huge uneducated bulk of the population, which is chiefly agricultural and, by its patient toil, supplies most of the wealth of india. yet it is the cultured but unproductive brahmin (organised by a brainy old lady) who wants to control the native affairs of india--and probably will. in farther india the brahmin is at a discount and the buddhist is to the fore, while moslem and missionary are far too busy among the heathen to bother about each other; as also in malay, where there is field enough and to spare for both of them. the only other debatable field in asia is that vast area which we call china, comprising china proper, manchuria, mongolia, tibet and eastern turkestan. moslem and missionary can hardly be said to meet face to face, as missionary enterprise is chiefly in china itself, where the great waterways have been of much assistance to christian activities, while moslem efforts are concentrated on chinese turkestan. here there are two christian missions, at yarkand and kashgar, under the protection (as elsewhere in china) of the chinese government. moslem propaganda is spread by traders and others working from centres of islamic learning outside chinese territory, such as bokhara and samarkand in russian turkestan, and cabul, the afghan capital. in addition, there is a wave of chinese secular culture lapping in from the east, and missionaries ask that existing missions be reinforced with funds to take a more effective part in this battle for souls (as they express it). they complain bitterly that the upper classes _will_ send their sons away to places like bokhara to be educated, and that they come back moslems. they also call for ample funds to attack islam on its own ground in russian turkestan, as it is permeating christian russia. this missionary point of view is natural enough; how far it is justifiable is for the contributing public to decide. to the ordinary mind christian villages which can become moslem by the leavening influence of a few inhabitants who have been to work in moslem centres convey one of two impressions, or both: either christianity is not adapted to their requirements so much as islam, or they are too weak-kneed to be a credit to any faith, and the one with the most virile methods may take them and make men of them if it can. moslem and missionary activities in chinese asia remind one of cheese-mites gnawing away on opposite sides of a double gloucester. they are very active, and if they keep at it may get through some day; but meanwhile the cheese seems much the same as ever, apart from its own internal changes which the mites cannot control or affect. we will now turn to africa, the main theatre of war between moslem and missionary, who battle with each other for pagan souls and each other's proselytes. we will first visit morocco, the most westerly of moslem countries. here there is not much missionary activity, either protestant or catholic, but the french have been doing some excellent secular work there, and under their tutelage the country is developing on lines of moderate progress. there is little antipathy shown to missionaries here, at any rate on the coast, and medical missionaries have been welcomed inland. education does not flourish, but the country might be described by an unbiassed observer as enlightened at least as far south as a line joining mogador and morocco city (marrakesh). in this northern area you will find an industrious agricultural population of small farmers scattered about the countryside, which consists of wide, open tracts of arable land under millet, maize, and other cereals, dotted here and there with groves of olive and orange and interspersed with large forests of _argan_ and other small trees. desert country encroaches more and more toward the south, and in spite of several large streams draining into the atlantic from the snowcapped atlas range, the country becomes very wild and sterile the farther south you go from mogador until it merges in the sahara, across which lies the great, bone-whitened highway that leads to timbuctoo. whatever the indigenous berber of the atlas may be, the northern moor has never been a mere barbarian, and spain owes much to his culture and industry. he certainly used to have a bizarre conception of international amenities, and got himself very much disliked in the mediterranean and even northern waters in consequence. that phase, however, has long since passed; the last corsair has rotted at its moorings in sallee harbour, and i am told that to put a wealthy jew in a thing like a giant trouser-press and extort money under pressure is considered now an anachronism. when i first knew the country, a quarter of a century ago, it was just emerging from a revolutionary war, and local relations with foreigners or even neighbours were capricious. they murdered a german bagman up the coast in an _argan_ forest, and the "gefion" landed a flag-flaunting armed party to impress mogador, which dropped water-pitchers on them from upper windows and wondered what on earth the fuss was about. on the other hand, i was well received by one of the revolted tribes, which had chased its lawful kaid into mogador until checked by old scrap-iron and bits of bottle-glass from the ancient cannon mounted over the northern gate of the town. i was treated with far more hospitality than my absurd and rather rash enterprise deserved. imagine a callow youth just out of his teens dropping in haphazard on a rebel tribe accompanied by a mission-taught moor and a large liver-coloured pointer who had far more sense than his master. my tame moor was an excellent fellow, who, beside keeping my tent tidy and cooking, helped me to grapple with the derived forms of the arabic verb and the subtleties of moorish etiquette. i learnt to drink green tea, syrup-sweet and flavoured with mint, out of ornate little tumblers of a size and shape usually associated with champagne, and, after assiduous practice, i could tackle a dish of boiled millet, meat, and olives with the fingers of my right hand without mishap. beyond occasional brushes with adjacent sections of the neighbouring tribe which had declared for the fez central government, i had very little trouble, except that a peaceful boar-hunt would occasionally degenerate into an intertribal skirmish if i and my party got too near the loyalist border. as all concerned had, thanks to western enterprise, discarded their picturesque flint-locks in favour of winchester or marlin repeaters, the proceedings required wary handling if we were to extricate ourselves successfully, but my long-range sporting martini usually gave me the weather-gauge. i dressed as a moor, and looked the part, but made no attempt to pass for anything but a christian, nor did any unpopularity attach thereto; i was merely expected--as a natural corollary--to have a little medical knowledge (and it _was_ a little). i found the attitude of moors generally towards christians curiously inconsistent. in the towns there was a certain amount of formal fanaticism which found vent in donkey-drivers addressing their beasts as "_nasara_" to the accompaniment of whacks and yells, but public behaviour was tolerant enough, and the attitude of moorish officialdom was almost courtly. jews had rather a bad time, if local subjects, as their black slippers and furtive bearing outside their own quarter made them a mark for naughty little boys, who flung their canary-coloured slippers at them with curses and imprecations deserving a more direct and personal application of their footgear. most of the wealthier jews had acquired european or american protection, and were safe enough. they lived in the frankish quarter and dressed in ultra-european style. they made rather a depressing spectacle on saturdays, when, garbed in black broadcloth, with bowler hats, they drifted through the sunlit streets on their sabbath constitutional from one town gate to the next and back. they were keen trade competitors, and gained or lost fortunes by gambling in the almond export-market or catching a grain-famine at the psychological moment. one of them had retired to a leisured affluence on the proceeds that a big cargo of almonds had yielded him at a startling turn in the market. he was a hospitable soul who met me once entering the landward gate in a travel-stained burnoose and insisted on dragging me into his gorgeously-carpeted house to drink _aquardiente_ and look at his "curios." these consisted chiefly of modern firearms, some of first-class london make, which hung on his walls as ornaments, having been bought haphazard without ammunition or sporting intent. i nearly had a fit when he showed me a double . express hopelessly rusted by the damp sea-air and offered to lend it me if i could find "shots" for it. the reverse of the shield was illustrated by another acquaintance of mine who had made a large fortune by importing russian wheat to morocco in famine time and had lost it in a short but striking career in england, during which he was said to have entertained royalty, astonished the racing world and married a well-known actress in light comedy. he, too, was of hospitable intent, but had generally left his purse at home when the reckoning came. on the other hand, he always carried the "stub" of the cheque-book which had seen him to the apogee of his meteoric career, and a glance at its counterfoils (by his express invitation) was well worth the price of a drink or two. the local islamic attitude toward moorish jews was one of contemptuous tolerance. they could certainly travel, in native dress, where no christian could. once, in the _patio_ or go-down of a european merchant, i met a greasy, unkempt jew in a tattered gaberdine watching my commercial friend as he weighed what i took to be a double handful of crude brass curtain rings such as traders used to sell by the gross along the west african coast. they were solid gold and represented the venture of a jewish syndicate which had collected it in pinches of gold-dust from the river beds of southern soos and hit on this form of transport. a troop of horse could never have brought it, as gold, a day's journey through the lawless tribes of the south, but that tatterdemalion jew had done it at the price of a few contemptuous buffets. he had, indeed, offered one truculent gang of highwaymen a few of the tawdry-looking rings to let him pass, but they had waved such obvious trash aside in their eager search for actual cash, which they had taken to the last _rial_. the only other occasion on which i have known a moor to be hoisted with the petard of his own contemptuous fanaticism was an experience of my own. i was moving quietly through a belt of timber just before dawn in the hopes of getting a shot at a boar who was in the habit of feeding till daybreak among some barley that grew near a caravan route. before the light was quite strong enough to shoot by i was more than a little annoyed and astonished to hear cocks crowing all over the place; presuming an early caravan with poultry for market, i pushed on to the track, meaning to pass the time of day and ask if they had glimpsed my quarry or heard him. i almost ran into a town-bred moor who was trying to round up some scattered poultry in the gloom and cursing volubly. he explained that he was riding his donkey along the track perched between two light reed cages containing fowls when the donkey baulked as a boar snorted in the thickets just off the road. he whacked the donkey and cursed the boar as a pig and a christian. thereupon came a rush like cavalry, the donkey was knocked from under him and he was lying amid the wreckage of his flimsy crates with his poultry scattered abroad. the boar, already angry and suspicious, as anyone but a townsman would have known by the noise he made, had charged like a thunderbolt at the sound of a human voice so close to him and galloped off with all the honours of war. the donkey was badly hurt and the man only escaped because he was sitting high and just above the point of impact. i helped him secure his poultry and started back to my village to send him another donkey. he thanked me in brotherly style as one moor to another. "i'm a christian myself," i remarked at parting, and added in my best beginner's arabic as i turned to go, "it is incumbent on me to assist you after the aggression of my co-religionist." this conventional attitude of arrogance toward christendom is perhaps traceable to moorish predominance in the middle ages and the importation of christian slaves by the pirates of the barbary coast. in any case, it has been much toned down of late years owing to contact with capable and well-intentioned franks as administrators and technical experts. morocco should never become a forcing-bed of religious or racial antipathy, and will not so long as france continues to develop the country by methods which the natives can assimilate, and is not lured into over-exploitation of her mineral resources or unwarrantable interference with her spiritual affairs. a perfectly justifiable missionary policy would be the inauguration of industrial schools on the coast and at one or two big inland centres, also medical missions (with consent of the local authorities) wherever feasible. moorish craftsmanship is worth stimulating, and doctors are welcomed for their science. both schemes would redound to the credit of christendom and be in accordance with the best traditions of the early church. in the other barbary states (algeria, tunis and tripoli) a few catholic missions have been established, and the north african protestant mission has an advanced post at kairwan in tunis. here many routes converge, for kairwan is a great centre of pilgrimage and taps the religious thought of all the saharan tribes. under such conditions, islam gets ahead every time, as every caravan traveller is a potential missionary, while christian missions are anchored to the spot or have to rely on native colporteurs, who labour under the initial disadvantage of being proselytes and seldom have the combination of tact and staunchness which evangelists require. it is in egypt that we first find moslem and missionary at close grips arrayed against each other. cairo is a perfect cockpit of creeds. christianity is represented by catholics, copts, orthodox greeks and protestants, these last being subdivided into anglicans, presbyterians, wesleyans and american presbyterians and congregationalists. the main body of islam--some of my more fervent missionary friends allude to it as "the hosts of midian"--presents a fairly solid front of orthodoxy, the bulk being hanifis, shafeis, maliki or hanbalis (chiefly the two former); but the irregular forces of shiah are well represented among non-indigenous moslems from yamen, persia and india, while scattered groups of wahabi ascetics, sufi mystics and esoterics of bahaism skirmish on debatable ground between the opposing lines, where range such free-lance companies as theosophists, christian scientists, salvationists, etc., all with local headquarters in cairo and propaganda of their own. it must not be supposed that all this warlike metaphor indicates actual strife or even severe friction, any more than "the hosts of midian" represents the attitude of missionaries to moslems here. on the contrary, relations are for the most part excellent, and the prevailing animosity is political, not religious, being directed against us british much as normal schoolboys dislike their form-master until they get a harsher one. the catholic church confines most of her energies to teaching her own people, who are very numerous and well looked after; she does not do much alien mission work in this part of the world. the most formidable band of gladiators in the christian ranks is the american protestant mission, and next to them the anglican c.m.s. (chiefly distinguished in egypt for its medical work, which is excellent and has an extraordinarily wide range). the americans are great on education and have done more for the english language in cairo than any government institution. i use the term "gladiators" advisedly, for their most trenchant work is done on their own side--they concentrate their chief efforts on the copts, and make a fairly good bag of proselytes from them, apart from the great number to whom they teach sound ideals of duty as well as english and the three "r's." one of their leading missionaries has left it on record that no one stands more in need of salvation than the copts, and as there is a coptic reform society the copts must think there is room for improvement too. it has been found in practice that to convert a _bonâ-fide_ moslem involves segregating him, and that means finding him a living in a new environment, otherwise he is almost bound to "revert" under local pressure. apart from the strain on mission resources which such procedure would cause if extensively followed, most missionaries rightly condemn such a system as encouraging conversion for material motives. therefore they adopt a policy of "peaceful penetration" against islam, encouraging young men to come to them unostentatiously (i call them the nicodemus-squad) in order to discuss religious questions, which is usually done in a temperate and intelligent manner on both sides. even if they get no "forrader," it tends to toleration and a better knowledge of each other's language and ideals. a good deal of teaching is done too with no expectation of making proselytes, and solid friendships are formed. i have myself known a convalescing lady missionary of the c.m.s. to receive repeated calls of friendly inquiry from former pupils; when i first saw two veiled young girls swing past with a palpably british terrier and the crisp, vigorous step of occidental emancipation, it puzzled my ethnological faculties until i was told the object of their visit. all this is to the good, and it would be very good indeed if they let well alone. unfortunately, there is another cogent factor in the mission field, and that is the sinews of war in hard cash. most people, even those who support missions to moslem countries, are human enough to like a fight put up for their money. it is not enough for them that a great deal of quiet, patient work is being done by missionaries among moslems in the name of christianity and the service of mankind. they want to hear about storming citadels of sin and campaigning against the devil in the dark places of the earth; especially is this so in america, where moslem prejudice does not have to be considered and religious organisation, like most other concerns, is on a big scale. as a natural consequence, missionaries have to play up to this combatant instinct, and so we read in their books and reports remarks calculated to engender religious intolerance on both sides, and which do not conform with the shrewd and kindly work in the field of those devoted and often scholarly men. i shall have occasion to allude to some of these statements as we proceed, so think it only fair to mention their justification here. cairo is described as a "strategic centre" in mission parlance, and so it is, being situated on a great waterway with rail connection far south into the heart of africa and converging caravan routes from every quarter. along these arteries of traffic many tons of tracts and propaganda are hurled annually by train, felucca and colporteur. those who cannot read accept such matter gladly to wrap things up in and to show to their literate friends, who read what resembles a bit of the koran and find it carries a sting in its tail, like a scorpion, aimed at islam. a great deal of this literature consists of the psalms of david, the talmud or the gospel, all reverenced by moslems if dished up without trimmings. not wishing to impose on that hard-worked word "camouflage," i would merely ask, as a naturalist, if such protective mimicry is worth the irritation it causes. in any case, the system reminds me of an old highlander's opening comment on a sword dance by a rock scorpion in a tangier saloon. "there is a sairtain elegance aboot yourr grace-steps, but _get in between the swords_." no vicarious efforts by propaganda will ever take the place of personal precept and example. in hunting proselytes among the followers of islam it is not advisable to rely too much on the scriptures, as moslems doubt the authenticity of our version and point to our own divergent copies in proof thereof. nor is it any use asking them to believe as an act of faith; if they did they would need no proselytising: an appeal must be made to their reason, and there is no better appeal than the life, works, and conduct of one who professes and practises christianity. even if he makes no single convert he has leavened the population around him with the dignity and prestige of his creed which has produced such a type. unfortunately such results cannot be scheduled in mission reports, though they are real enough and well worth living for, whether a man be a missionary or not; only they cannot be produced by brilliant wide-sweeping feats of organisation and enterprise, but by persevering, consistent lives, which are not easy or spectacular. egypt should be a great field of religious warfare by personal influence, as christians and moslems live side by side in daily contact and reasonable accord, yet few of us take advantage of the fact to uphold the prestige of our creed or even of our race. we europeans are busy with our multifarious interests and duties, while egyptian moslems are either entangled in the web of their environment, as are the _fellahin_, or eager snatchers at the gifts of civilisation, as are the more or less cultured effendis, or mere hair-splitters in futile religious controversy, as are too many of the _ulema_ or sages at the great collegiate mosque of al-azhar. in each case, spiritual matters are apt to get crowded out. the fault lies chiefly with our cosmopolitan ingredients, which engender feverish living, if not actual vice, and the over-strained effort on the one side to impart and on the other side to assimilate a western system of education which has induced intellectual dyspepsia. so we hear of students mugging parrot-like to pass half-yearly examinations, in the hopes of getting government appointments for which there are far too many applicants; these young men besiege the press with complaints of unfair treatment if they fail, or even go to the length of attempting suicide with carbolic acid (fortunately with sufficient caution to ensure it usually being but an attempt); this latter petulant protest at the temporary thwarting of their material hopes is dead against all the teaching and tradition of islam, but it has become so frequent that a leading educational authority suggests that no student who attempts suicide shall be allowed to sit again for a government examination. among their seniors up at al-azhar are men of real learning and remarkably persevering scholarship (their theological course makes the average brain reel to contemplate), but some sheikh started a controversy as to whether adam was a prophet or not, which fell among those sages with the disrupting force of a grenade, causing much litigation in the islamic courts and culminating in the divorce of the originator by his wife for _kufr_, or heresy as ordained by moslem law. beneath these troubled waters the _fellah's_ life flows placidly, bounded on the one hand by his crops and on the other by the market; his spiritual stimulus being supplied by an occasional religious fair or a visit to the shrine of some local saint. he toils as patiently as his water-wheel buffalo, and on that toil depends the wealth of egypt which supports saints and sinners, schools and shops, with all our european schemes and enterprises thrown in. as for us british, if our object is to enhance the prestige of our race or creed, we fall very short of achievement. we have not even that reputation for integrity which usually attaches to us in other parts of the moslem world. this may be partly due to our anomalous position in the country, which was thrust upon us, but the pleasure-seeking tourist of pre-war days has a lot to answer for. some of them seemed to think that so far from home their conduct was of no account (at least, that is the only charitable explanation), and british personal prestige suffered in consequence. anglo-egyptian officials, especially the subordinate grades, which come into more direct contact with the people, tried to counteract this by increased dignity of demeanour, but the natives now knew them _en déshabillé_, or thought they did, and declined to keep them on their pedestals. the result is, familiarity without intimacy and detachment without dignity, while the pre-war official habit of going home every year for some months has prevented even subordinates from studying their district or department consecutively. hence it is that a widespread nationalist movement gathered force and perfected its plans for a detailed campaign which blended peaceful demonstration with sabotage, murder and violence, and took the anglo-egyptian government completely by surprise, paralysing communications and intimidating the general public until the weight of imperial troops, luckily still quartered in the country, was allowed to make itself felt and restored order. this is not the time or the place to discuss these affairs, which are still _sub judice_, but one salient feature of the movement is pertinent to our subject, and that is the marked _rapprochement_ between moslems and copts, who fraternised in each other's mosques and churches, carried flags bearing the device of cross and crescent and used american mission buildings to further their new-found brotherhood. these relations were somewhat marred by the wholesale devastation of coptic property up-country, but the copts took it very well and paraded the streets with their moslem friends, if they could not hide away from them. the local jew came in too, and the climax of this religious _entente_ was reached when an egyptian jewess preached in the mosque of al-azhar on the ancient relations between jews and arabs. but we must not merely consider egypt as a sort of religious and racial clearing house; it is also the main gate of africa. southward, up the nile valley and across grim deserts, lies khartoum, the capital of the anglo-egyptian sudan, only four days from cairo by rail. this is a very tempting theatre for missionary enterprise, which is, however, held in check by the authorities, who decline to have their sudan spiritually exploited and materially disturbed by futile efforts to evangelise the country. missionaries say that this part of the sudan, as well as egypt, was once christian; that discrimination is being shown in favour of islam even to the extent of making pagans become moslem on joining the egyptian army; that gordon college is being run on non-christian lines and that islam is getting ahead of them in the race to convert pagans in this part of the world. the case against them is that the fact of these regions being once christian and now moslem shows, if anything, that the latter religion is more suited to local requirements and conditions; islam is naturally favoured in a moslem country, though many christian missions have been given facilities too, and have mostly failed owing to climatic conditions: the egyptian army is moslem and under a moslem government; the conversion of pagan recruits to islam is encouraged for the sake of discipline and soldierly conduct; missionaries themselves admit that even in civil life a christian convert from islam must be segregated or he will lapse under surrounding pressure--perhaps they will explain how that is to be done in a barrack-room or native infantry lines, or would they prefer such recruits to remain pagan? presumably they would, as one of their complaints is that "it is a thousand times harder to convert a moslem to christianity than a pagan." comment is superfluous; nothing could portray their attitude more clearly. as for islam getting ahead of them in the race for pagan souls, it is so and will be so always among the black races unless christian missions are bolstered up by all the resources of local authority; the reason is that islam offers equal privileges and no colour-line, imposes easy spiritual obligations and is propagated fervently by its followers without the encumbrance of an organised priesthood. just as commercial travellers consider a district neglected where a rival firm has got ahead of them, so missionaries are piqued at conditions in the sudan; but even that does not excuse such statements as that women in the sudan are free and not badly treated as pagans, but slaves and oppressed under islam. every student of the islamic code knows that the status of women has been enormously improved thereby as compared with any pagan system. missionaries must know this, for they are much better educated about islam than they were a quarter of a century ago, yet they do not scruple to raise the partisan cry of a debased womanhood under islam wherever local conditions involve domestic hardship. such tactics are unworthy of them; an intellectual moslem does not reproach christianity because he has visited districts in the poorer quarters of our big towns and seen women lead lives of drudgery or being sometimes knocked about by their husbands. outside the sudan and nigeria we must keep to the eastern side of africa in order to maintain touch with islam. the negroid people of italian erythrea are moslems, as are also the somalis; but their racial cousins, the abyssinians, are christians of the ethiopian church, with the negus as their temporal and spiritual ruler, who claims descent from king solomon and the queen of sheba. abyssinia has been christian ever since the fourth century, but the missionaries are not happy about the country at all. here nothing impedes the entrance of the missionary as an individual, but the people will not have him as an evangelist at any price. the "fanatical and debased" priests of the abyssinian church and the drastic punishments inflicted by the local authorities on those suspected of favouring other forms of christianity are described as grave hindrances. there is a large population of "black jews," who will have no dealings with christianity in any form. meanwhile islam gains ground steadily, especially in the south along the trade routes. a german missionary, writing from strasburg in , describes the situation as alarming, because "whole tribes of abyssinians who still bear christian names have become muhammedans in the last twenty years." there is one protestant mission up at addis abeba, but it confines its attentions to the semi-pagan gallas, having given up christian abyssinia as a bad job. somaliland is a poor field for missionary enterprise, owing to the sparse, semi-nomadic population and the difficulties of getting about. in the french sphere there is connection by rail between jibuti on the coast and dera dowa near the abyssinian border; travelling musicians of the _café chantant_ type used to use it a good deal before the war, but there was not much doing in the missionary line. italian somaliland, east of the british sphere to cape guardafui, is left to look after itself, except for the occasional visit of an italian man-of-war; but south of that great headland there are italian settlements. in british somaliland missionary enterprise has hitherto been catholic, and even that ceased some years before the war when the authorities had to tell the mission that it must leave, as they could no longer protect it from the mullah's people. it was a pity, as the mission was doing good work and was much respected in the country. there was a brotherhood which taught and doctored, and a teaching sisterhood. they were franciscans and had their local headquarters and a tastefully designed little chapel in the native town of berbera, but the brothers had also an agricultural settlement up-country, where they tilled the soil and did their best to teach the natives to do so too. the somali is much easier to convert than the arab, as his versatile and superficial temperament induces him to imitate, if not to assimilate, alien forms and ceremonies from the correct procedure at the "angelus" to the singing, with appropriate gestures, of "a bicycle made for two." unfortunately, it is almost impossible to teach him to think, or to do a day's honest work; he will pull a punkah while you are awake to keep him at it, or row a boat if allowed to sing, and sometimes he will fish if hungry and quite near the sea; but agriculture involves the hard work of digging, and that is too much for him. the object of the mission was to give somali boys and girls the rudiments of catholic christianity and habits of industry. the boys were well grounded in english and the three "r's" in their simplest form, while the girls were taught chiefly sewing and cooking. the idea was for boys and girls to marry each other in the fulness of time and beget christian children, but, as one of the good fathers used regretfully to say, it did not work out in practice. the boys learnt enough to become interpreters or obtain small clerkships in the post and telegraph offices of aden and adjacent ports, whereupon they felt marriage with a "black woman" to be derogatory, and looked higher, to the less swarthy charms of some half-caste maiden met at mass (for they usually remained catholic, at least in outward form). the girls, on the other hand, with all their domestic training, were much sought after by local chiefs, who were prepared to give them a good allowance in beads, bangles and cloth, plenty of food and a fairly easy life. in such surroundings they naturally readopted islam. somaliland is not as barren as most people suppose. of course the littoral plain is comparatively sterile, as is the case on the arabian side, owing to the scanty rainfall, and the maritime scarp of the hills that back it is not much better, but the country improves as you go inland; there is good grazing on the intra-montane plateau, and the watersheds of such massifs as wagr, sheikh and golis ( , ft. or so) are thickly wooded, chiefly with the gigantic cactus tree, which averages forty feet; timber trees are scarce, being mostly tall _coniferæ_ in sheltered glens at the higher altitudes. inland of these ranges the ground slopes gradually toward the almost waterless haud--a vast plateau sparsely covered with tall mimosa bush or actual trees attaining some thirty feet in height and striking deep to subterranean moisture, which keeps them remarkably fresh and green. giraffe feed eagerly on the tender upper foliage and herds of camel graze there too, going six months without water, for there is no known supply locally except in the occasional mud-pans or _ballis_ after a rainburst, which may happen once a year. these camels are kept for meat and milk only, and are no use for transport, as they are too "soft" to carry a sack of flour. they are rounded up and brought in to wells twice a year, where they water for a week or so. herdsmen moving with them live on their milk, which is most sustaining. they must be watered after a maximum interval of half a year, or they get "poor" and will not put on flesh. needless to say, no transport camel could be treated like that. a caravan camel can go five days without water, but that is about his limit while working, and he should be allowed to rest and graze for some days afterwards if he is to regain working condition. the giraffe, as also antelope of various kinds, can support life without water at all, though they trek greedily to the _ballis_ after rain. here lion lie in wait for them occasionally, and it is a frequent subject of discussion among naturalists and sportsmen how such heavy, thirsty animals can subsist in the haud. the most probable supposition is that they only enter this region with the rains and trek from one _balli_ to another. i have met a lioness a long way out of lion country presumably trekking from one water-hole to the next. what is still more remarkable is that heavy game sometimes will do so too. heavy firing was once heard far south of burao, and a mounted force pushed out thinking it was the mullah's people going for our "friendlies" out grazing. a rhinoceros on trek for water and nearly mad with thirst had winded the waterskins in a somali grazing camp and charged through the zareba to get at them. he was mobbed to death by the herdsmen with the rifles which a benevolent government had given them for protection against the dervishes. to do them justice, the somalis fear their fauna very little and have more than once, when in attendance on a european sportsman, driven off a lion with spears and a resolute front after the white man had failed to stop the beast with both barrels. even a woman will face a leopard with a torch of dry grass to contest the ownership of a fat-tailed sheep which he has tried to filch from the zareba by night, fearing his snarling menace far less than the wrath of her lord and master if the marauder secures his prey. as for the midgan, that born hunter and nomadic outcast whom other somalis look down upon, but who has more woodcraft in his touzled head than any of them, he will deliberately hunt the king of beasts, using some decrepit and almost valueless camel as a stalking-horse. he is armed with a bow having about as much apparent "give" in it as the bottom joint of a fishing rod, yet able to propel with surprising force a stumpy arrow cunningly poisoned with a wizard brew of viper venom and the root of the tall box tree. his procedure is to drive his camel slowly grazing toward some island of bush in which he has marked down a lion, he himself being perched a-straddle behind the hump and directing the animal's movements with kicks from one or other of his bare heels. from his lofty observation point he at once spots the crouching approach of the lion and slips off over the camel's rump to cover, whence he speeds one of his venomous little shafts at close range. the outraged monarch attacks the camel and the hunter keeps well aloof from the subsequent confusion until the poison works and the lion is seized with muscular convulsions, like those of tetanus, when he may safely approach to gloat over his quarry. what is really remarkable is that the camel is not invariably killed. i once met a midgan on trek who showed me the unmistakable claw-marks of a lion on his camel's neck and shoulders and said he had used the animal on three such occasions; compared with these desperate encounters the exploits of our white shikaris armed with powerful modern rifles are insignificant. one beast of prey, however, is feared and hated by every somali man, woman or child--hunter, shepherd or townsman--and that is the great, spotted hyæna which slinks up by night to snap at face or breast of sleeping folk and bolts into the gloom at the agonised shriek of his mangled victim. the brute is cowardly enough to refuse encounter with an able-bodied man awake and on the alert unless rendered desperate by hunger, but his jaws are as strong as a lion's, and one snapping bite does the mischief. i once helped the p.m.o. at berbera to tend some half-dozen poor wretches who had been frightfully mauled during the night on the outskirts of the town itself and probably by the same hyæna. the hot weather had induced many folk to sleep outside their stifling huts and they _will_ not take the trouble to collect and build up a few thorny bushes to keep the brutes off. the somali is about as incapable of hard work as his "fat" camel, and the only time he may be seen digging is among the convict gangs who till, or used to till, the government garden out at dubar on the inland edge of the littoral plain, where the berbera water supply bubbles out hot from under the low maritime hills and trickles through ten miles of surface pipe-line to supply the "fort," which is supposed to protect the british cantonment straggling some distance outside berbera town. he feels such work dreadfully, not only as an injury to his self-respect (and he has all the puerile pride of the negroid races), but as an irksome tax on his physical powers, which are quite unaccustomed to sustained and strenuous exertion. on the other hand, he will make long journeys on short commons and keep well and happy if allowed to punctuate his hardships at long intervals with debauches on meat and milk and fat. he excuses himself from tilling the ground on the plea that others might harvest the fruit of his labours, as there is no individual land-tenure or any definite divisions of land indicating ownership, but only tribal grazing rights over ill-defined areas and the parcel of land enclosed by his zareba fence, of which he is but the tenant, as it is free to anybody as soon as he leaves it to trek to other pastures. therefore, vegetables are unattainable by him, and his cereals (rice, millet and coarse flour) reach him by sea and caravan or he does without. he appears immune from scurvy and is seldom sick or sorry unless he over-eats himself. he loves _ghi_ (or clarified butter) and animal fat, which he swallows in large gulps when he can get it, also rubbing it in his frizzy hair and using it to sleek his black, spindly shanks and smear his spear-blades--on shikar he will "gorm" it all over your spare gun if you do not watch him. his favourite beverage is strong tea with lots of sugar in it (when procurable) otherwise he will not touch it, and he will drink water which a thirsty camel would sniff at suspiciously before imbibing. he dresses in a white sheet worn toga-wise and not without a certain dignity, and his head is usually bare except in towns or the partially civilised _entourage_ of a white man, where he will wear anything on his head from a tarboosh to a topi as a mark of distinction, but seems to avoid a turban, which he has not the knack of tying properly. to meet him and his family on trek is to glimpse an epitome of his life. first comes the able-bodied though elderly sire carrying a few light throwing-spears and a knobkerry or a gim-crack stabbing-spear, and close behind him are the adult males of his house similarly armed or with a rifle or two supplied by a benevolent government for protection against the mullah, to whom these children of nature frequently offer them for sale at very reasonable prices. after these come the women-folk in order of precedence, carrying loads in inverse ratio thereto. the young, favourite wife walks first, carrying her latest addition to the family in a cotton shawl at her hip; she is followed by other wives of less social standing, carrying household utensils, with the smaller children at foot, and at the tail of the procession stagger the old crones under heavy burdens of pots, pans, pitchers and unsavoury goat-hair rugs. a camel or two bring up the rear with the conglomeration of sticks and hides and matting which makes the home and looks like an untidy bird's nest. on the flanks and in the rear skirmish the elder children, girls and boys, with flocks and herds which graze as they go. the big piebald sheep with their black heads and indecently fat tails are not allowed to range far afield, where lynx or leopard might stalk them under covert, as they are valuable, succulent and very foolish. they carry no wool--their coat feels just like a fox-terrier's--but they have more meat on them than three average goats, and the huge pendulous flap of fat which does duty as a tail is a delicacy to make a somali mouth water or a european gorge rise. the only serious occupation a buck somali will permit himself is to sit under a tree and watch his grazing flocks. he is fond of conversation, chiefly of a recriminative character, and gives vent to his _joie de vivre_ by prancing and singing on two or three simple notes to the accompaniment of his clapping hands and the thud of his horny heels. his chief woe is drought and lack of grazing, because he then has to get up off his butt-end and take long treks to pastures new. his ideas of earthly paradise centre round the _cafés_ of aden, where his countrymen are numerous and where wages are so high that six grown somalis can batten in well-fed ease on the earnings of a seventh, who keeps on till he wants a holiday and then "goes sick" and sends another of the syndicate to replace him. qualifications do not matter, as they all have sufficient to fumble through their jobs and no more. if he lacks the capital to start cab-driving and finds boat-rowing or punkah-pulling too strenuous for him, he sets himself to learn a little english and gets a job as servant with some new-fledged british subaltern at a minimum rate of £ a month, which is fixed by his union, for that is one civilised device he really _can_ handle. he is the slackest oarsman, the laziest punkawala and the worst whip east of suez. his idea of driving is to sit with knees drawn up toward his chin while he lugs at the reins as if they were a punkah-cord, urging his staunch little screw along with ineffectual flaps of his whip and noises like the paroxysms of sea sickness. he will ruin any saddle-camel for fast work if allowed to ride one regularly, such animals not being raised in his country, but he breeds a small, hardy type of pony which he loves to gallop in wild dashes, with flapping legs and sawing hands, reining the poor little beast up short on a bit like a rat-trap to witch beholders with his horsemanship. as a combatant you never know how to take him. he may put up a hefty fight or he may outrun the antelope in his precipitate retreat. i was much impressed by the defences in barbed wire and thorn trees considered necessary to ward off the onslaught of dervishes by men who knew them better than i did. he is a cheery, irresponsible soul and has been called the irishman of the east. missionaries rather like him, because he is very teachable up to a certain point, fond of learning new tricks if not too difficult, and without that habit of logical and consecutive thought which makes the real arab so difficult to tackle in argument. no remarks on somaliland would be complete without some mention of the mullah. that astute personage has often been alluded to as "mad," but has proved himself far saner than the government he was up against. in the early 'nineties he kept the arabi pasha coffee-house opposite the cab-stand in the native town at aden, where he dispensed tea and husk-coffee in little bowls of green-glazed earthenware, also raspberryade and other bright-coloured "minerals" in bottles, with a small lump of ice thrown in. his establishment was patronised almost entirely by somalis and largely by the _ghari-walas_ themselves. at the same time, he was obliging enough to spare the servant of a neighbouring sahib like myself a pound or two of ice from his "cold box" on occasional application to meet an emergency. he had a good deal of property in flocks and herds over in british somaliland, which he visited from time to time. in the late 'nineties he got involved in some suit or other and the local authorities mulcted him of many camels. he very much resented this decision and raised some friends and sympathisers to resist its execution by the police. an inadequate force was sent and sustained a reverse, after which his following grew enormously. early in this century, when i again had news of him, he had craftily cut in between the italian, abyssinian and british converging columns and annihilated colonel plunkett's gallant little band at gumburu, but sustained a severe defeat at jidballi, where his red flannel dressing-gown was sighted in early and headlong retirement as his dervishes recoiled from the embattled square. all the same, he was still going strong long after the south african war was over, and we had more leisure to attend to him. when the british frontier was drawn in to enable the statement to be made in parliament that "the mullah's troops were no longer within protectorate limits," he took advantage of it to deal ruthlessly with those tribes which had refused to join him on the solemn and definite promise that government would protect them from his vengeance. the unhappy dolbahuntas were almost wiped out as a tribal unit; their zarebas and flimsy villages were surrounded by the mullah's men and fired, leaving the occupants--men, women and children--the choice of a dreadful end among blazing thorns or red death on the spears of their fellow-countrymen and co-religionists. a prominent nationalist has alluded to the mullah and his dervishes as "brave men striving to be free." in british prestige had shed its last rag in somaliland: we had withdrawn to the coast and the mullah's horsemen actually rode through berbera bazar on one of their raids and withdrew unscathed. in it was found necessary to form a company of somali police on camels to keep the peace between "friendlies" who, to allay a certain amount of indignation at home, had been armed with rifles to protect themselves against the mullah's people, but were using these weapons, in their light-hearted way, to argue questions of grazing as they arose. early in "a small dervish outpost" was reported to be preventing our friendlies from grazing in the ain valley south of burao at a time when no other pasturage was locally available, and the somali camel-corps, about a hundred strong with three white officers, was sent to occupy burao as its base and from there to afford moral and material support enabling the friendlies to graze unmolested in the threatened area. this cheery opportunism was the government's wobbling attempt at equilibrium between the barefaced desertion of our protected tribes and its avowed policy of non-intervention unless on the cheap. it was done too much on the cheap; that little force was attacked by an overwhelming force of dervishes while out on the grazing grounds affording moral and material support. the maxim was put out of action by an unlucky bullet, and the friendlies skedaddled with their government rifles at the first shot, but returned later to loot the dead. the half-trained somali camelry suffered severely and were most unsteady, but the two white officers surviving managed to extricate the remnant with difficulty, the gallant commandant having died for his trust early in the fight. he was blamed posthumously for having exceeded his orders; whether he ought to have exercised his moral and material support at a safe distance from the place where it was needed or have led his command in headlong flight was not made clear, and they were the only two military alternatives to the action he _did_ take. at all events the incident shamed the government into taking more adequate measures to protect its friendlies in spite of bitter nationalist opposition. missionaries point to our long and fruitless struggle in somaliland as an illustration of the force of fanaticism. it is nothing of the sort; the mullah was a man with a grievance who was driven into outlawry by the sequence of events, and the movement was entirely political. having once tasted the sweets of temporal power, he wanted to expand it, and used his spiritual and material influence to that end, not hesitating to order the wholesale massacre of other equally orthodox moslems when it seemed to him politically expedient. he owed his success to his ruthless treatment of his compatriots, the difficult and scantily watered terrain, our lack of co-ordination with the italians and abyssinians, but above all to our parsimonious method of cadging and scraping a little money together for an expedition and stopping when the funds gave out, like a small boy with fireworks. somaliland, with its insignificant caravan trade, its wide, waterless tracts and its sparse population of shiftless, unproductive semi-nomads, is a bad business proposition, and no government can be blamed for hesitating to spend money on it; but if half the expenditure had been concentrated on one scheme at one time instead of being frittered away on several divergent schemes over a lengthy period the mullah would have been brought to book and the resources of the country developed considerably. south of somaliland in british, and what was once german, east africa the missionary has comparative freedom of movement, whereas in somaliland no white man has ever been allowed to travel without the sanction of the local authorities. he, however, complains that he is not encouraged by the administration in either colony, and certainly makes no headway against islam, which has a very strong hold, especially in british east africa, with the swahilis. still, he can point to the inland kingdom of uganda as one of his successes, and it would be more so if the various christian sects would refrain from wrangling among themselves. we have now reached the southern limit of moslem activity in africa, for we are getting among native races who do not take kindly to asceticism in any form, and beyond them are the sturdy white christians of south africa. curiously enough, there is a flourishing little colony of moslems at salt river, the railway suburb of cape town, where imported east indian and arab mechanics have settled. they muster about , souls and have founded a school to educate their children. an unbiassed english resident states that they are far better citizens than native christians of the same class, owing to their temperate habits. drink is the undoubted curse of the non-moslem african. in south africa no native in white employ can get alcoholic drink without the written authority of his employer, but there are many illicit sources of supply. south african colonists insist that the native christians are the worst--this should not be set down to christianity, but to the civilisation which goes with it, and, in place of kaffir beer and such like home-fermented brews of comparatively mild exhilarant character, introduces the undisciplined native mind to the furious joys of trade fire-water. africa is the main battle-ground between moslem and missionary, for it is in that continent that the forces of islam and christianity are most nearly balanced. the american protestant mission, which is, as we have seen, one of the principal belligerents, complains loudly on behalf of christendom that in africa especially our colonial administrations do not give the support to christian missions that christian governments should. apart from the fact that we administer these countries in trust for their indigenous population and have no right to thrust our own creed upon them to the exclusion of any other with a sound system of ethics, it can most cogently be urged that islam is the only religion which insists on total abstinence, and that seems to be the only way in which the native african can avoid alcoholic excess. i have in front of me a letter written by an american of boston, mass., to the _spectator_ of february th, . in it he alludes to a report of the committee for preventing the demoralisation of native races by the liquor traffic which is said to be "making africa a cesspool of alcohol, and statistics show that in this devil's work holland with her gin and, i regret to say, the united states with its trade rum have been the conspicuously worst offenders." the writer goes on to say that the native races are morally and intellectually children, and that has been recognised in the states where it is a penal offence to introduce alcoholic drink within the indian reservations. this being so, the attitude of american protestants in attacking the only teetotal creed which is working among natives in a continent where total abstinence is unanimously declared to be essential to native welfare indicates loose thinking. it is still more extraordinary when we remember that the teetotal party in the united states have moved heaven and earth and every device, legitimate or otherwise, to secure national prohibition, about which, to put it mildly, there appear to be two opinions among american citizens. we are told that the south adopted prohibition as a measure of protection against the negro. apart from the safety of white colonists in africa, is the welfare of african negroes beneath the consideration of a free-born american? if so, why does he (or she) subscribe so liberally to support missions in africa? such an attitude is incongruous, even if we adopt the preposterous view that christianity alone can make a sober man of a negro. imagine a municipality which allowed a gang of hooligans to scatter incendiary bombs broadcast and encouraged its inadequate fire brigade to fight a rival organisation tooth and nail. its avowed intention of prohibiting the use of matches on its own premises would not be considered a satisfactory _amende_. i lay no more stress on american protestant activities against islam than is their due. there may be some opinions among europeans that their evangelising fervour might find a mission field nearer home in south america or even in mexico. such a criticism is not only ungrateful but unreasonable. american missions have done much for humanity in the east, while as regards their own sub-continent the catholic church has held that field for centuries, and no reasonable being wants to see the two great divisions of christianity sparring with each other about the spiritual education of greasers. the monroe doctrine does not apply to missionaries, but i would point out to them that in wrestling against islam they are fanning the fires of fanaticism and causing much material trouble, and the net spiritual result is to lessen their own power for good and embitter islam for ill while widening the breach between christian and moslem. this chapter is an attempt to give an impartial glimpse at the relations between moslem and missionary throughout the eastern hemisphere. with regard to their activities, it is neither a detailed account nor an apology. no sincere religious effort requires an apology, and if it is not sincere no apology suffices. footnotes: [footnote c: the definite article precedes most arabic place-names, but is only retained in ordinary local speech as above, presumably to denote respect. i hold to native pronunciation, except in cases of long-established custom, and consider "the yamen" as clumsy as "the egypt"--both take the definite article in arabian script.] chapter v a plea for tolerance the world just now appears to be awaiting a millennium resulting from a concourse of more or less brilliant and assertive folk with divergent views. presuming that the necessary change in human nature will be wrought by enactment, we have still to acquire more religious tolerance if we are to live together in unity with our moslem fellow-subjects and neighbours. what is the use of talking about a league of nations and the self-decision of small states if we still seek to impose our religious views on people who do not want them and encroach on the borders of other creeds? are other people's spiritual affairs of no account, or do we arrogate to ourselves a monopoly of such matters? both positions are untenable. the justification of missionary enterprise is based on christ's last charge to his disciples: "go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." he clearly defined that gospel as "the tidings of the kingdom," and what that kingdom was he has repeatedly told us in the sermon on the mount, frequent conversations with his disciples and others and the example of his daily life. he never sought to change a man's religious belief (such as it was) or his method of livelihood (however questionable it might be), but to reform him within the limits of his convictions and his duties. he has also left on record an indictment of proselytisers that will endure for all time. of course, if the gospel narrative is unreliable throughout (as the reverend and scholarly compiler of the "encyclopedia biblica" would appear to imply) then these arguments fall to the ground, but so does any possible justification of missionary enterprise. on the other hand, moslems _do_ believe and reverence the _engîl_ or gospel, though they follow the doctrine and dogma of a later revelation. the logical deduction from these facts is that moral training, education and charitable works among moslems are permissible and justifiable features of missionary endeavour, if not forced upon an unwilling population, but attacks on islam itself are not only unmerited but unauthorised and impertinent. many missionaries of undoubted scholarship and breadth of view see this and model their field work accordingly, with good results; in fact, most real success in the mission field has been achieved by practical, christian work on the above lines, and not by religious propaganda; but the flag which missionary societies flaunt before a subscribing christian public is quite a different banner, as can be easily ascertained from their own published literature, which is very prolific and accessible to all. in writing about islam the authors or compilers of these works too frequently allow their zeal to involve them in a web of inconsistency and misstatement, or else they let their religious terminology take liberties with their intellect and that of the public. we will glance briefly at their indictment of islam as presented in their quasi-geographical works, disregarding their public utterances and tracts as privileged, like the platform-speeches and vote-catching pamphlets of a general election; also we will keep to their own terminology and expressions as far as possible. first and foremost, especially in the united states, where knowledge of non-christian creeds is not so general as with us, the literature of foreign missions insists on grouping together all regions as yet unexploited by them (whether populated by heathen, moslems, buddhists or any other non-christian race) and describing them indiscriminately as gibraltars of satan's power, a challenge to christendom and a reproach to zion (whatever that may mean). yet the four great christian churches--greek, russian, catholic and protestant--seem powerless to check the reign of hell in bolshevist europe, where the liberty of man is demonstrated by murder, rapine, torture and every fiendish orgy or bestial lust which mortal mind can conceive. the people among whom these devilries are being enacted are christians ruled by christians, and have been christian for centuries. they are still christian so far as a blood-besotted clique will let them be anything. and in the face of such facts there are missionaries who enunciate in cold print that without christianity there could be no charitable or humane organisation of any sort, or good government, or security of property, and--clinching argument--trade would suffer. could there be any more glaring example of the cart before the horse? does a dog wag his tail or the tail wag the dog? is japan hopelessly benighted and devoid of the activities described as the monopoly of christianity? moreover: can christian teaching or preaching pacify the embittered struggle between labour and capital which threatens yet to wreck civilisation? does it even try? there is no more ridiculous or extravagant boast among a certain class of self-appointed evangelists than the oft-repeated statement that all the modern blessings of western civilisation are the fruit of christianity and that the backward state of oriental moslems is due to the absence of christianity. any thoughtful schoolboy knows that it was the exploitation of coal and iron which lifted us western nations out of the ruck, backed by the natural hardihood due to a bracing climate, otherwise the mediterranean might still be harried by corsairs. steam transport by land and sea was the direct offspring of these two minerals. even then western supremacy was gradual and only recently completed by the exploitation of petroleum, rubber and high explosives. brown bess, as a shooting weapon, was far inferior to the long-barrelled flint-lock of morocco, and the arabian match-lock could out-range any firearm in existence till sharp cutting tools made the rifle possible. what does modern surgery, or any other science of accurate manipulation, not owe to modern steel? when we turn from metallurgy to medicine, let us not forget that avicenna was writing his pharmacopoeia when christian apothecaries were selling potions and philtres under the sign of a stuffed crocodile. some exponents of christianity would go further and arrogate to her the inception of all arts and handicrafts. damascus blades, cordovan leather, moorish architecture, persian carpets, indian filagree, chinese carvings and japanese paintings all give the lie to such claims. if we are to measure christianity by the material progress of her adherents, what conclusions are we to draw from the history of the roman empire, the byzantine empire and the copts? fourteen hundred years after the birth of christianity in palestine the fall of constantinople shattered her last vestige of sovereignty in the east after she had gone through centuries of decadence, debauch and intrigue such as anyone can find recorded by gibbon or even in historical novels like "hypatia." islam, to-day, is about the same age as christianity was then, and has gone through similar stages, except that it has been spared the intrigues of an organised priesthood and its comparative frugality has protected it from oriental enervation to a certain extent. compared with western christianity its present epoch coincides with the era preceding the reformation, when religious teaching had become stereotyped and lacked vitality, as is now the case with moslem teaching as a rule. there is no reason why islam should not recover as christianity did, and if it does not it will not be due to any intrinsic defect, but to its oriental environment, which has already debased and wrecked eastern christendom. the respective ages of the two religions induces another comparison. we are now in the fourteenth century of the hejira; glance at european christendom of that period in the christian era, or even much later, and reflect on the sicilian vespers, the inquisition, the massacre of the huguenots, the atrocious witchfinders who served that pedantic protestant prig, james i, and all the burnings, hackings and slayings perpetrated in the name of christendom. we must admit that no moslems anywhere, even in the most barbarous regions, are any worse than the christians of those days, while the vast majority are infinitely better, viewed by any general standard of humanity. christendom's only possible defence is that civilisation has influenced christianity for good, and not the other way about. there is one other loophole which i, for one, refuse to crawl through--that christianity is a greater moral force than islam or more rapid in its action. missionaries say that islam is incapable of high ideals owing to its impersonal and inhuman conception of the deity, whom it does not limit by any human standards of justice. they complain that there is no fatherhood in the moslem god; but--pursuing their own metaphor--what would an earthly father think if his acts of correction were criticised by his children from their own point of view? he might be angry, but would probably just smile, and i hope the almighty does the same. a child thinks it most unjust to be rebuked or perhaps chastised for playing at trains with suitable noises at unsuitable seasons but it is that, and similar parental correction, which makes him become a decent member of society and not a self-centred nuisance. moslems shrink from applying _any_ human standards to the deity, regarding him as the lord of the universe and not a popularly-elected premier. "whatever good is from god, whatever ill from thyself," is a koranic aphorism. nor do they seek to drive bargains with him, as do many pious christians, and their supplications are limited (as in our lord's prayer) to the bare necessities of life--food and water to support existence, and clothing to cover their nakedness. the application of human ideals to the almighty places him on a level with kipling's "wise wood-pavement gods" or the teutonic conception of a deity who sent the entente bad harvests to help german submarine activities. such absurdities incur the rebuke of the staunch old patriarch, "though he slay me yet will i trust in him"; there is no excuse for seeking to inflict them on the austerities of islam. climate and terrain have a marked influence on the form religion takes in its human manifestation. missionary literature asserts this clearly with regard to islam, describing it, aptly enough, as a religion of desert and oasis thence deriving its austere and sensual features, but the thesis applies with equal force to christianity. the marked cleavage of hermit-like asceticism and gross sensuality which rock-bound deserts and the lush nile valley wrought in egyptian christendom has been described by every writer dealing with that subject, and arabian christianity drooped, and finally died, in the arid pastoral uplands of jauf and nejran long before it succumbed in fertile, hard-working yamen. if the east became christian next week there would be the same rank growth and final atrophy or disintegrating schism for lack of outside opposition. missionaries are quick enough to remark on this process in arabia where islam is practically unopposed, but will not apply it to christianity. they do not seem to realise that healthy competition maintains the vitality of religion no less than trade or any other form of human effort requiring continuous energy and application. islam revivified a decadent christianity, and the attacks of modern missionaries are strengthening islam. they justify these attacks and urge further support for them on the grounds that islam is moribund and now is the time to give it the _coup de grâce_, or that islam is the most dangerous foe to christendom in the world and must be fought to a finish lest it unite three hundred million moslems against us. i have seen both reasons given in the same missionary book; both are absurd. the latter is a mere red herring drawn across the trail of existing facts, more so, indeed, than the ex-kaiser's yellow peril, for that at least was trailed from a vast country enclosing within a ring fence a huge population of homogeneous race and creed. as for crushing islam by missionary enterprise, you cannot kill a great religion with pin-pricks, however numerous and frequent; you can only cause superficial hurts and irritation, as in a german student's duel. every religion contains the germs of its own destruction within itself (which it can resist indefinitely so long as it is healthy and vigorous), but no outside efforts, however overwhelming, can do aught but stiffen its adherents. the early christian church was driven off the face of the earth into catacombs, but emerged to rule supreme in the very city which had driven her underground; muhammad barely escaped from mecca with his life, but returned to make it the centre of his creed, and crusaders died in hopeless defeat at hattin cursing "mahound" with their last breath as the enemy of their faith, yet their very presence there showed how islam had revived christianity. _per aspera ad astra:_ there is no easy road or short cut to collective, spiritual progress. i am not arguing against possible "acts of grace" working on individuals, but the uplift of a race, a class or even a congregation cannot be done by a sort of spiritual legerdemain based on hypnotic suggestion. individuals may be so swayed for the time being, and, in a few favourable cases, the initial impetus will be carried on, but most human souls are like locusts and flutter earthward when the wind drops. they may have advanced more or less, but are just as likely to be deflected or even swept back again by a change in the wind. revivalist campaigns and salvation by a _coup de théâtre_ do not encourage consecutive religious thought, which is the only stable foundation of religious belief; second-hand convictions do not wear well in the storm and sunshine of unsheltered lives, and a creed that has to be treated like an orchid is no use to anybody. if the same amount of earnest, consecutive effort and clear thinking had been applied to religion as has gone to build up civilisation we should all be leading harmonious spiritual lives to-day and sin and sorrow would probably have been banished from the earth, but few people think of applying their mental faculties to religion, and its exploitation by modern mercantile methods is not the same thing at all. civilisation is an accretion of countless efforts and ceaseless striving to ameliorate existing conditions, whereas religion started as a perfect thesis and has since got overgrown with human bigotry and fantasies while absorbing very little of the vast, increasing store of human knowledge. that is why civilisation has got so much in advance of religion that the latter cannot lead or guide the former, but only lags behind, like a horse hitched to a cart-tail. missionary writers are rather apt to confuse the gifts of civilisation with the thing itself. a savage can be taught to use a rifle or an electric switch or even a flame-projecter, but this is no proof that he is really civilised. on the other hand, the scholarly recluse and philosopher whose works uplift and refine humanity may bungle even with the "fool-proof" lift which takes him up to his own eyrie in flat-land, but he is none the less civilised. they would have us believe that petticoats and pantaloons are the hall-mark of christian civilisation, and one of their favourite sneers at arabia (as a proof of its benighted condition and need of their ministrations) is "a land without manufacture where machinery is looked on as a sort of marvel." as a matter of fact, arabia can manufacture all she really wants, and did so when we blockaded her coasts; nor is machinery any more of a marvel to the average arabian arab than it is to the average occidental. both use intelligently such machinery as they find necessary in their pursuits and occupations, though neither can make it or repair it except superficially, and both fumble more or less with unfamiliar mechanical appliances. the young man from the country blows the gas out or tries to light his cheroot at an incandescent bulb, and may be considered lucky if he does not get some swift, silent form of vehicular traffic in the small of his back when he is gaping at an electric advertisement in changing-coloured lights. it has been my object, and to a certain extent my duty, on several occasions to try to impress a party of chiefs and their retinue when visiting aden from the wildest parts of arabia felix (which can be very wild indeed). on the same morning i have taken them over a man-of-war, on the musketry-range to see a maxim at practice and down into a twelve-inch casemate when the monster was about to fire. they never turned a hair, but asked many intelligent questions and a few amusing ones, tried to cadge a rifle or two from the officer showing them the racks for small arms, condemned the maxim for "eating cartridges too fast" and were much tickled by the gunner-officer's joke that they could have the big cannon if they would take it away with them. these wild arabians, when trained, make the most reliable machine-tenders in the east, as they have a _penchant_ for mechanism of all sorts and will not neglect their charge when unsupervised. we are all inclined to boast too personally of our enlightened civilisation with its marvellous mechanical appliances, but what is it after all but the specialist training of the few serving the wants of the many? if the average missionary swam ashore with an arab fireman from a shipwreck and landed on an uninhabited island of ordinary tropical aspect, the arab would know the knack of scaling coco-nut palms (no easy task), the vegetation which would supply him with fibre for fishing-lines and what thorns could be used to make an effective hook, while the missionary would probably be unable to get fire by friction with the aid of a bow-string and spindle. missionary literature is very severe on arabia as a stiff-necked country which has hitherto discouraged evangelical activities. "hence the low plane of arabia morally. slavery and concubinage and, nearly everywhere, polygamy and divorce are fearfully common and fatalism has paralysed enterprise." this indictment is not only unjust, but it recoils on western civilisation. arabia is on a high enough moral plane to refuse drink, drugs and debauchery generally, while prostitution is unknown outside large centres overrun by foreigners, which are more cosmopolitan than arab. sanaa, which is a pure arab city with little or no foreign element, is much more moral than london or new york. to adduce slavery and concubinage coupled with polygamy and divorce as further evidence against arabia is crass absurdity; slaves are far better treated anywhere in arabia than they were in the states or the west indies; concubinage and polygamy, as practised by the patriarchs of holy writ, are still legal in that part of the world; there is nothing sinful about them in themselves--a moslem might as well rebuke western society for being addicted to whisky and bridge. he might even remind us that divorce is easier in the states than in arabia and quote the prophet's words on the subject: "of all lawful acts divorce is the most hateful in the sight of god." with us a woman can be convicted of adultery in the eyes of the world on evidence that would not hang a cat for stealing cream, but in islam the act must be proved beyond doubt by two witnesses, who are soundly flogged if their evidence breaks down, and their testimony is declared invalid for the future. this places the accusation under a heavy disability, but it is better than putting a woman's most cherished attribute at the mercy of a suborned servant or two--a far greater injustice to womanhood than bearing a fair share of a naturally hard and toilsome life, which is also a missionary complaint against arabia. as for fatalism paralysing enterprise there, perhaps it does to a certain extent, but it cannot compare with our own organised strikes in that direction. another charge is that arabia has no stable government and people go armed against each other. tribal arabia has the only true form of democratic government, and the arab tribesman goes armed to make sure that it continues democratic--as many a would-be despot knows to his cost. they use these weapons to settle other disputes occasionally, but christian cowboys still do so at times unless they have acquired grace and the barley-water habit. these deliberate misstatements and the distortion of known facts are unworthy of the many earnest workers in recognised mission fields, and they become really mischievous when they culminate in an appeal to the general public calling for resources and _personnel_ to "win mecca for christ," and use it and the arabic language to disseminate christianity and so win arabia and, eventually, the moslem world. christianity had a very good start in arabia long before muhammad's day, and (contrary to missionary assertion) was in existence there for centuries after his death. not long before the dawn of islam, christian and pagan arabs fought side by side to overthrow a despotic jew king in yamen who was trying to proselytise them with the crude but convincing contrivance of an artificial hell which cost only the firewood and labour involved and beat modern revivalist descriptions of the place to a frazzle as a means of speedy conversion--to a jew or a cinder. christianity lasted in yamen up to the tenth century a.d. it paid tribute as a subordinate creed, like judaism, but had far more equable charters and greater respect among moslems. in fact, it was never driven out, but gradually merged into islam, as is indicated by the inscriptions found on the lintel of ruined churches here and there, "there is but one god." the published statement of a travelled missionary that the turks stabled their cavalry horses in the ruins of abraha's "cathedral" at sanaa is misleading. the church which that abyssinian general built when he came over to help the arabs against the jew king of proselytising tendencies has nothing left of it above ground except a bare site surrounded by a low circular wall which would perhaps accommodate the horses of a mounted patrol in bivouac. the turks probably used it for that purpose without inquiry. what is the use of bolstering up a presumably sincere religious movement with these puerile and mischievous statements? apart from the rancour they excite among educated moslems (who are more familiar with this class of literature than the writers perhaps imagine) they deceive the christian public and place conscientious missionaries afield in a false position, for most practical mission workers know and admit that the wholesale conversion of moslems is not a feasible proposition and that sporadic proselytes are very doubtful trophies. knowing this, they concentrate their principal efforts on schools, hospitals and charitable relief, all based on friendly relations with the natives which have been patiently built up. these relations are jeopardised by the wild-cat utterances which are published for home consumption. if a christian public cannot support legitimate missionary enterprise without having it camouflaged by all this spiritual swashbuckling, then it is in urgent need of evangelical ministrations itself. missionaries in the field have, of course, a personal view which we must not overlook, as it is entirely creditable to all parties concerned. the more strenuous forms of mission work in barbarous countries demand, and get, the highest type of human devotion and courage. it is a healthy sign that the public should support such enterprise and that men and women should be readily found to undertake it gladly. there is a great gulf between such gallantry and the calculating spirit which works from a "strategic centre," to bring about a serious political situation which others have to face. let us now examine the islamic attitude toward christianity. the thoughtful moslem generally admits the excellence of occidental principles and methods in the practical affairs of life, but insists that even earthly existence is made up of more than civilised amenities, economics and appliances for luxury, comfort and locomotion. it is when he comes to examine our social life that he finds us falling very short of our christian ideals, and he argues to himself that if that is all christianity can do for us it is not likely to do more for him, but rather less. he admits that his less civilised co-religionists in arabia, afghanistan, etc., lack half-tones in their personalities, which are black and white in streaks instead of blending in various shades of grey. he considers that islam with its simple austerities is better suited to such characters than christianity with its unattainable ideals. he himself has visited western cities and observed their conditions shrewdly. he regards missionaries as zealous bagmen travelling with excellent samples for a chaotic firm which does not stock the goods they are trying to push. the missionary may say that he has no "call" to reform existing conditions in his own country, just as the bagman may disclaim responsibility for his firm's slackness; but such excuses book no orders. the travelled moslem will shake his head and say that he has seen the firm's showrooms, and their principal lines appeared to be labour trouble, profiteering and diluted bolshevism, with a particularly tawdry fabric of party politics. he respects the spiritual commercial traveller and his opinions, if sincere (he is a judge of sincerity, being rather a casuist himself), but wherever he has observed the workings of christianity in bulk it has not had the elevating and transcendental effect which it is said to have; that is, he has not found the goods up to sample and will have none of them. he seldom realises (to conclude our commercial metaphor) that most christian folk in countries which export missionaries are born with life-members' tickets entitling them to sound, durable goods which are not displayed in our spiritual shop-windows or in the missionary hand-bag:--the prayers of childhood and the mother's hymn, the distant bells of a sabbath countryside, the bird-chorus of spring emphasising the magic hush of communion on easter morning, the holly-decked church ringing with the glad carols of christmastide and the tremendous promise which bids us hope at the graveside of our earthly love. it is such memories as these, and not the stentorian eloquence of some popular salvation-monger in an atmosphere of over-crowded humanity, which go to make staunch christian souls. the possible proselyte from islam has to rely on what the missionary has in his bag. large quantities of faith are pressed upon him which do not quite meet his requirements, as it is his reason which should be satisfied first; no one can believe without a basis of belief. there is also a great deal of slaughter-house metaphor which does not appeal to him at all, as he looks on blood as a defilement and a sheep as the silliest animal in existence--except a lamb. these metaphors were used by our lord in speaking to a people who readily understood them, but for some obscure reason they have not only been retained but amplified extensively to the exclusion of much beautiful imagery which is still apposite. we christians reverence such similes for their associations, but a moslem misses the point of them, just as we miss the stately metre of the koran in translation. the would-be convert from islam must, of course, learn to stifle any fond memories of the virile, vivid creed he is invited to renounce. no longer must he give ear to the far-flung call proclaiming from lofty minarets the unity of god and the prophet's mission or its cheery, swinging reiteration as the dead are carried to the _magenna_ or "gate of heaven." certainly not; the less he contemplates their fate the better for his peace of mind, since (if the effort to convert him is anything more than an outrageous piece of impudence) their lot in the hereafter must be appalling and his own depends on the thoroughness with which he steels his heart against all he ever knew and loved before he met that pious man and his little picture pamphlets. do proselytising missionaries in the islamic field ever sit down and think what they are really trying to do? does the social ostracism of a human being, the damnation of his folk and the salvation of none but a remnant of mankind mean anything to them? if so they ought to be overcome with horror--unless it is their idea of humour, which i cannot believe. to pester a man into abandoning a perfectly sound and satisfying religion for one which may not suit him so well is more reprehensible than badgering a man to go to your doctor when his own physician understands his case and has studied it for a long time. at least his discarded medical adviser will not make his life a burden to him--a burden which the proselytiser does not have to share. on the other hand, moslems are often glad enough to avail themselves of such christian works as mission education, medical treatment and organised charity, so they should tolerate the proselytising propaganda which seems inseparable from these enterprises. missionaries afield are usually justified by their works; it is the aggressive policy blazoned abroad from mission headquarters which does so much mischief. islam was never intended to overthrow christianity, but to bring back pagan arabs to the true worship of god. mission policy clamours for attack on it as if it were an invention of the devil and then complains of moslem fanaticism, forgetting that if it were an artifice of satan they cast doubts on the omnipotence, omniscience or beneficence of god for permitting it to exist and flourish. otherwise, they infer that they are in a position to correct the almighty in this matter. it is their complacent pedagogy which exasperates moslems so. it is not the way to treat people who believe in the immaculate conception, who call christmas day "_the_ birthday" and respect us as "people of the book." it is time some protest was lodged against this policy if only on behalf of christian administrations in moslem countries, which are always being attacked by it and urged to give more facilities of spiritual aggression, especially just at present when turkey's power has been shattered and mission strategy thinks it sees an opening. there was never a less desirable moment for unchecked religious exploitation than now, when the war-worn nations of christendom are trying to reconstruct themselves, and the world is seething with unrest and overstocked with discarded weapons of precision. there is no compromise in religion, nor should there be; you cannot go halfway in any faith, and no one wants a mongrel strain begotten of the two great militant creeds such as our leading exponent of paradox wittily describes as "chrislam." yet surely there is a reasonable basis for a religious _entente_ between islam and christianity. think what islam has done to advance the knowledge of humanity long before the dawn of modern science. moslems, too, would do well to remember what christian civilisation has done for them in trade, agriculture and industries. if you accept gifts from others you should tolerate their ways; it is but an ill-conditioned cur that bolts the food proffered and then snarls. a moslem or a christian worthy of the name will remain so. he may expand or (more rarely) contract his views, but will still be a moslem or a christian, as the case may be. no human being has the right to say that his conception of the deity is correct and all others wrong, nor is such a conclusion supported by the gospel or the koran. it is the alchemy of the human soul which can transmute the dross of a sordid environment to the gold of self-sacrifice, and the gold of inspired religion to the dross of bigotry. whether we believe, as christians, that christ died on the cross and rose the third day, or, as moslems, that he escaped that fate by an equally stupendous miracle, we know that he faced persecution and death for mankind and his ideals, and that both creeds are based on the same great doctrine--"god is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." finis printed in great britain by r. clay and sons, ltd. brunswick st., stamford st., london, s.e. , and bungay, suffolk. modern persia by rabbi mooshie g. daniel, mccormick seminary _late professor of ancient syriac in oroomiah college, persia._ wheaton college press wheaton, ill. . copyrighted , by mooshie g. daniel to the class of of mccormick theological seminary, this volume is respectfully dedicated by the author. preface. the author, in spending four years in america, has come in contact with different classes of people who have raised serious questions concerning modern persia. those who are interested in politics and government, have asked: is modern persia a province of turkey? is it as large as the state of michigan? is the king still absolute as in ancient times? have the laws of the medes and persians undergone no change? are there any remains of persia's ancient beauty and grandeur? these, and questions like these, have been from time to time presented to the author. on the other hand it is to be observed that many journalists traveling through persia have greatly misrepresented that country. their limited stay made it impossible for them to acquire any accurate knowledge of the country. it is no easy task to familiarize oneself with the ideas and customs of that ancient and historic country. to thousands in persia the literature and history of their own land is a sealed book. questions the most serious and earnest have been raised by godly ministers and devoted people who have for years been generous givers to the cause of foreign missions. i have been asked questions like these: is there a solid foundation established by missions in persia? what has the gospel done? what changes have taken place? what are some of the fruits of our mission work over there? what are some of the temporal improvements? very recently rev. o. n. hunt of edwardsburg, mich., wrote the author asking what is the moral condition of persia to-day in comparison to what it was when the missionaries began their work? questions like these prompted the author to write this small book. its object is to encourage the mission spirit; to quicken and kindle anew the fires of divine love in the hearts of all those to whom it will come; to promote and advance the blessed gospel of our lord and his christ; to hasten the day when millions that now sit in darkness and the shadow of death may set their faces toward the light. oh, jehovah of the east! who was once born in the east, who preached and was crucified in the east, when wilt thou again visit the east? remarks: the author wishes to say that in the survey of modern persia free use was made of the international encyclopedia, especially in the matter of dates. dr. philip scaff's church history was also consulted in the account given of mohammed. the leaves of the trees, are the gift of the poors. contents. part i. chapter. page i. general survey of persia--climate and products--inhabitants--manufactories and trades--government and taxation--the army - ii. the ancient history of persia. - iii. architecture of persia - iv. the language and poetry of persia - part ii. _religions._ i. parsee religion--bible and doctrines--their rituals - ii. mohammedanism--mohammed--his birth and character--the conquest of islam - iii. the mohammedan religion - iv. the creed of islam - v. the priesthood--mujtahids--arch-mujtahids, common mujtahids--mollah--the sayyids--darwishes--their service - vi. the laymen--middle class--low class - vii. the mosques and their services--special service - viii. moslem's private prayer and fasting - ix. the pilgrimages--preparation--alms giving--carrying the dead--the motive in pilgrimages for the dead--the female pilgrims--their returning - x. the shiite moslem's mu-har-ram--singers - xi. heaven and hell - xii. matrimony - part iii. i. the royal family--the king in his palace--his table--treasury--wives - ii. governor--prisons--executions - iii. counts or lords - iv. cities--holidays--schools - part iv. i. bobeism--bobe--his doctrine--his personal appearance - ii. the kurds--occupation--their character--houses--religion - part v. i. the nestorians--their place--language - ii. their history - iii. clergy - iv. churches and ordinances - v. assyrian or nestorian college - vi. assyrian missionary spirit - vii. their persecutions - viii. their condition at the time american missions were started - part vi. i. introduction of mission work - ii. method of work - iii. development of mission work - iv. religious education--college--ladies' seminary---medical schools--country schools--translation of books - v. the gospel and temporal improvement--temperance--conversion to mohammedanism--morals elevated - vi. mission work among moslems - [illustration: m. g. daniel.] life of mooshie g. daniel in persia. the ancestors of m. g. daniel, a true stock of the nestorian sect and syrian nationality came down from kurdiston mountain in and settled in persia at oroomiah district. the one family now increased to fifty, all live in villages near to each other. g. daniel with his four brothers settled in a small village four miles east of oroomiah city. the inhabitants of this village are composed of fifty mohammedan families and twenty-eight nestorians. his parents had four sons and two daughters, all died in their childhood. daniel was their seventh child born in . his native village was visited by rev. g. coan, d.d. and dr. perkins, missionaries from america who preached the gospel message to the nestorians of that village, at the same time also started a school for their children. at this time daniel was thirteen years old. the parents were very glad to send their children to this school which increased to thirty students. daniel was very anxious to attend this school. this desire was encouraged in every possible way by his earnest, self sacrificing christian mother, rachel, who came of high and noble lineage. but his father vigorously objected for fear his son would change from his old nestorian faith. when daniel saw other boys going to school he would often cry and pray that god would change his father's heart and lead him to send his son to school. this earnest desire on the part of the young and earnest lad led to an earnest discussion and difference between his parents as to the future policy with their boy. finally after two month's earnest prayer on the part of the mother and her son the spirit of god reconciled the opposition of the father and made him willing to send his son to school. daniel continued his studies in this school four years and read a chapter of the bible to his parents every night. the father thus became interested and in the second year sent daniel's two sisters and brother to school. he soon became the first student in the school. rev. g. coan when visiting the school embraced daniel and his sisters and kissed them with the holy kiss of joy as the first fruit of his labors. after four years this school closed on account of lack of students. there arose a dark cloud of sorrow and disappointment to poor daniel. what shall i do to continue my studies, was the despairing cry of the consecrated boy. but his strong will soon found a way. he was now sixteen years old. there was a small village of three hundred families called golpashan two miles distant from his home town. golpashan contained a high school and a presbyterian church of three hundred members. daniel decides to go to school at this place, but again meets opposition from his father, who wants him to stay at home and work for him. but his mother met his father with the strong argument that she had consecrated her child to god before he was born, because god gave him to me after the death of my six children. but the mother lived in continual fear that her son would be devoured by wolves on his way to school and then she said, "i will go down to my grave in a miserable condition." but the son, willing to sacrifice even life itself for study, said, "i will go, mother, trusting in god and your prayers." events soon proved that the mother's fears were well founded. once, very early in the morning, while on his way to school he was attacked by a large, ferocious wolf. but he made good his escape up a tree near by. but he received such a shock from this attack that he was prostrated three months and his life was despaired of by all his friends. but god graciously restored him to health for his holy ministry. daniel always believed in the out-stretched hand of god that snatched him from the wolf. hundreds of times he thanks god in his prayers for this deliverance. when mr. daniel was seventeen years old he reached the greatest crisis of his life. his parents decided to marry him to a girl a few steps only from his residence, because the parents of the couple had decided when they were children to marry them to each other. this was in accordance with a foolish custom of the nestorians. his father had firmly decided to make the match, but his mother said, "only if he himself wishes." but daniel's aim was very high, he was running to obtain a higher prize. he said to his mother, "i am married to my studies." his mother replied, "my son, i have dedicated you to god, i cannot compel you to marry." his father was full of indignation and anger against the disobedience of his son, and he said, "i will never send you to the presbyterian college. i cannot spend one cent on you." daniel was very fond of fishing, hunting, and raising grapes, and was one of the best husbandmen in persia. one morning when fishing, a young man whose name was abraham, and afterward a classmate for seven years in college, handed to him an envelope in which was written by dr. oldfather, a missionary, and president of the presbyterian college at oroomiah, persia, "we have accepted you in our college." daniel thought this a calling from jesus christ just as he had called four of his disciples from their fishing. he threw his net on the shore of the river, and kneeling down, thanked god for this, his holy calling. rising up from his prayer he took his net, and started for home. on arrival he told his parents that he wanted to go to college. again his father objected, saying that he could not spend any money for his education. but his mother sold all her jewels and sent him to college. college life. in daniel went to oroomiah college. for first two years rev. dr. oldfather was president of the college. in the second year he was converted by hearing a sermon and a song by dr. oldfather whose singing quickens sleeping souls of sinners. his class at the beginning was thirty persons, but at graduation only twelve. he studied very hard, sitting up at night with his book until eleven o'clock. one of his classmates, rev. abraham, was his bosom friend. they recited in a small closet often until midnight and then had prayers before going to bed. daniel graduated in under the presidency of dr. j. h. shedd, one of the most eminent men ever sent as a missionary to persia by the presbyterian church. all his classmen are leaders in the presbyterian church as well as of the nestorian nation. for two of them have lately been offered the title counts by the late shah. dr. s. j. alamsha a noble consecrated doctor of medicine, one of the fellow graduates of daniel, shows the tenor of the spirit of christian fortitude and devotion in declaring his faith in the trinity in the very face of the governor of state who had just threatened him with persecution by cutting off his hands if he insisted on repeating the confession. but dr. alamsha replied that he was a christian, and if ever questioned as to his faith would confess it not only at the cost of his hands but his head also. he further stated that he would not impose his faith on any one unless they requested, and that if the governor did not want his confession he had better not ask for it. [illustration: wife and daughter of the author.] two weeks after daniel's graduation he was elected instructor in the high school for three years. each year he had a week of revival meetings which was very fruitful in the conversion of many students. nearly one hundred students were graduates under him in high school. in daniel was married to miss sarah george, a young lady graduate of the ladies' seminary, whose mother was instructor in this seminary for seven years. in was offered to him the chair of ancient syriac in oroomiah college which he occupied for seven years. his many friends rejoiced with him in his call to this higher and wider field of labor. when he moved to college mrs. daniel was very ambitious for his success in college. she said, "i like to tell you i want you to teach your studies better than any professor in the college; i want you to devote all your time to your work; i want you to be a shining example to all students; i want you to love all students as your brothers; i want you to respect yourself. be kind to all students, let our home be as their homes. i want you to preach the best sermons, then you will be the crown of my head and i will love you as the pupil of my eyes." this was a very hard charge and very precious work, but it proved for daniel very precious jewels. mrs. daniel is one of the most intelligent ladies of persia. for the first three years he went to bed always at eleven o'clock and taught each week twenty-six studies. three times a week he conducted gospel meetings and each alternate sabbath conducted sabbath-school. he was a leader of the college church, secretary of board of education, superintendent and quester of county schools. the testimony of faculty and board of education was that he taught ancient syriac better than any of his predecessors. daniel was the youngest member of the faculty. he had students ten years older than himself but they all loved him as their brother. sometimes he would spend as much as two hours a night talking and praying with individual students. four months of winter for several years he was visitor of the county schools. besides this he worked in revival meetings during one week in his own church. while working with the pastor he preached twice each day and forty-two persons were converted. when he was leaving town all elders, deacons and other prominent men escorted him a long distance with much gratitude. his piety and integrity were taken as an example by christian and un-christian. life of mooshi g. daniel in america. church, school and class. on the first of october i entered mccormick seminary. immediately feeling the need of identifying myself with the church i accordingly became a member of the church of the covenant, dr. w. s. plummer bryan, pastor. it is impossible to set down in words the comfort, encouragement and assistance that has come to me through this relation. dr. bryan has been to me a steadfast and faithful friend. his sermons have been to me a continual source of instruction in things spiritual and divine. many of them have left a lasting impression upon my mind. one i remember with great distinctness. it was upon the last seven words of christ, so real and vivid did the scene appear that the whole of that mournful tragedy was enacted before my eyes. concerning the church of the covenant i can say with david, "if i forget thee, oh jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. if i do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if i prefer not jerusalem above my chief joy." even though i were on the other side of the globe, i will not forget the kindness of the church and its pastor. naturally my life at the seminary at first was lonesome; but as soon as i became acquainted with professors and students the seminary became a home to me much prized and enjoyed. from my studies i derived much pleasure. systematic theology was to me a continual banquet of delicacies. in pastoral theology and homiletics i was inspired with the high and sacred duties of the christian ministry. by the study of greek exegesis i was taught the invaluable benefit that comes from close attention to the original texts and manuscripts which are the source of interpretation in the study of new testament greek. in old and new testament literature belief in inspiration was reinforced and fortified. the whole scheme of the christian religion was to me rendered plain and reasonable. my class. the class of is unique and original among all the classes graduated from mccormick seminary. it was said by one in position to know, that it was perhaps the strongest class ever sent out from the seminary. this was evidenced by the character of the orations delivered at the graduating exercises. among this class are many who will be adorned by degrees and honorary titles. all, i hope, will meet with much success in winning souls to christ. in personal appearance there are among them princes and lords; but one thing made me sorry every time i looked upon their faces, namely that so many shaved their mustaches. my advice to all of them is to raise mustaches, and not appear like girls, but as princes. some of them had such long and difficult names that i could not pronounce them, but a few had very easy names, for instance mr. mcgaughey, which means in persian language, "don't say so," a phrase used by young girls. mr. earhart which means in ancient syriac, "i will run." mr. ross in arabic means "head." my class was very loving and kind to us two persians. every time we made good recitations in classes, they were gladder than we were, and when we failed they became even more sorry than we. i remember once failing in my recitation, and after class mr. earhart came into my room to comfort me. the memories of my class are to me like sweet spices, and will be cherished by me everywhere i go. introduction. this book is by a native who knows at first-hand of what he writes. he writes of those features and facts of persia as a country and a people in which an intelligent american is most sure to be interested. very ancient and renowned among the asiatics, persia, persisting in her nationality and gradually improving her condition excites inquiry abroad. in this volume we have a view of her geographical divisions, her form of government, system of taxation, methods of merchandise, educational conditions and the state of religion. the author also particularizes and portrays the character, creed and course of mohammed: how moslemism was propagated by violence and perpetuated by deceit, and of such false doctrines, as hatred toward enemies, and rewards in heaven and hell. the reader is informed of bobeism, a new sect which has arisen in opposition to government and orthodox mohammedanism. the book was written for the reading public and by its style, movement, and contents is calculated not only to enlarge ones general knowledge of the land of the shah but to quicken interest in the enterprise of christian missions which are the chief hope of the country. rev. john l. withrow, d.d., ll.d. _ex-moderator of general assembly, chicago, ill. july , ' ._ part i. chapter i. general survey of persia. once, in ages long past, persia was the home of heroes and was studded with palaces of splendor. bards and poets of all nations have vied with each other in singing of the bravery of her sons and the beauty of her daughters. the names of cyrus the great, darius, and others are engraved in ever-living letters on the pages of history. to-day, though her glory has flown away and her splendor has faded, her natural beauty remains untarnished. the words of the poet sahdy are still true: "it is a paradise making men drunken with the odors of its roses; it is a garden whose streams wreath the faces of men in smiles." in , in the war between persia and russia, the territory of the former was greatly reduced. it now contains , square miles or three times the number in france or germany. it is divided into thirteen states as follows: ghilon, mazandaron, ostorobad, in the north; azerbijon, persian kurdistan, luriston and khuziston on the west; fariston, loriston, kerman with mogiston in the south; irakeston the capital state where the king resides being in the center. on the east lies the large state of khorason, which is mainly desert. persia is dotted with many great and small mountains, interspersed with fertile valleys, flowing fountains and silvery streams. dense jungles abound in the states of mazandaron and ghilon. climate and products. the great extent of the country gives rise to an extremely varied climate. cyrus said of it: "the people perish with the cold at one extremity, while they are suffocated with the heat at the other." persia may be considered to possess three climates: that of southern dashtiston; of the elevated plateau; and of the caspian provinces. in dashtiston the autumnal heats are excessive, those of summer are more tolerable, while in winter and spring the climate is delightful. in the plateau the climate of fariston is temperate. about isphahon in the same plateau the winters and summers are equally mild, and the regularity of the seasons appears remarkable to a stranger. the caspian provinces from their general depression below the level of the sea are exposed to fierce heat during the summer months, though their winters are mild. heavy rains are frequent and many of the low districts are marshy and unhealthy. except in the caspian and northwest provinces the atmosphere of persia is remarkable above that of all other countries for its dryness and purity. the cultivated portions of persia, where there is a good rainfall or the land can be irrigated, produce an immense variety of crops. here is grown the best wheat in the world. other characteristic products are barley, rice, cotton, sugar and tobacco. vineyards are plentiful. the vines of shiroz are celebrated in eastern poetry. mulberries and silk are two other famous persian products, while the finest perfumes are made from the countless varieties of roses with which the land is carpeted. the forests of the elburz mountains abound with wild animals, such as wolves, tigers, jackals, wild boars, foxes and the caspian cat. deer of every variety inhabit some of the mountains. lions and leopards are also found in mazandaron. among domestic animals the horse, camels and the buffalo hold the first place. the horses of persia have always been celebrated as the finest in the east. they are larger and more handsome, but not so fleet as the horses of arabia. sheep are one of the main sources of wealth of the country. all the rivers are well stocked with fish, especially with sturgeon. silver, lead, iron, copper, salt, antimony, sulphur, and naptha are mined in large quantities. the late shah found a little gold, but not in quantities sufficient to pay for mining. inhabitants. in the days of darius and cyrus the population numbered not less than , , , but that number has diminished until now not more than , , people dwell in this once-populous land. these are from different nationalities: the kurds, numbering , , arabs, , , jews, , , nestorians, , , armenians, , , zoroastrians, , , and the remainder are a mohammedan sect. manufacturies and trades. the manufacturies of persia are by no means extensive, but persian rugs and shawls have a reputation the world over. the deft fingers of the women have contributed for centuries to the glory and wealth of this country. in the marts and markets of the world these rugs and shawls sell for fabulous prices. at the world's fair i saw a single rug valued at $ , . trade, both domestic and foreign, is carried on by caravans. tabriz is the chief commercial city and from this point goods to the value of $ , , are exported annually. from the province shiraz about $ , worth of opium is sent out each year. government and taxation. the government of persia is a pure despotism. the shah is absolute monarch; he appoints governors for each of the thirteen states and these governors, in turn, appoint minor governors for the cities. six cabinet officers assist the executive, but their function is wholly advisory. upon the least pretext, any member of the cabinet may, at the will of the shah, lose his head. the country has been impoverished for ages from two principle sources. nomadic tribes, wandering bands of kurds and arabs swoop down upon some unprotected villages and carry away everything of any value. taxation is the second cause of poverty. the burden of the taxes falls upon jews and christians, the most cruel extortions often being used to obtain the desired amount. in the revenue was about £ , , , of which nearly £ , , were from direct taxations. but notwithstanding so much is collected, not one cent goes for public improvements. the army. the standing army numbers about , , of which only , are well disciplined infantry, , artillery, , cavalry, and irregular infantry and guards constitute the remainder. the officers in the persian army are for the most part ignorant and inefficient, while the soldiers are described as obedient, sober, intelligent and capable to endure great fatigue. the peculiar power of the persian army lies in its irregular cavalry of kurds and other tribes who are famous for their courage and daring, and are equal to the russian cossacks and vastly superior to the turkish sultan's boshibozouks. [illustration: persian officer.] chapter ii. the ancient history of persia. according to the poet, firdusi, in his shah nomeh, the history of persia begins some thousands of years before the christian era. professor yooseph of oroomiah college one of persia's most scholarly men holds that as early as the time of abraham there was here an organized government. the first king was the chedolaomer of the bible, king of elam (gen. : ). this opinion is confirmed by the fact that the name elam is in reality the name of persia. persians call their country ajam. thus it can be seen that the hebrew letter j has been changed to l. however there is stronger proof of this theory in the accounts of greek historians. the northwest part of ancient persia, called media, was known to the greeks as a part of the assyrian empire. but the medes under dejoce in b.c. threw off the yoke of assyria and gained the dominance over the other tribes of persia. in cyrus of persia rebelled against the medes, led an army to victory over them, and extended the persian empire as far east as the oxus and indus and over asia minor, syria, palestine and mesopotania. he was succeeded by his son cambyses ( - ) and the latter by darius ( - ). this dynasty ruled till darius iii. ( - ). he was compelled to yield his throne to alexander the great, who conquered all persia. under the leadership of the tribe of arsocide persia became independent in b.c. but the dynasty of arsocide came to an end at the hand of ardasher babajan, who managed to gain possession of more than half of the entire country, _i.e._, of the provinces of fars, kerman and the whole of irakiston. then in this valiant warrior conquered the whole nation and was crowned "king of kings" (in persian, shah in shah) with ardasher begin the famous dynasty of the sassanidae who brought persia to an unprecedented eminence of power and prosperity. their last king succumbed to the arabs in a.d. and the latter ruled till a.d. the tribe of the abbossides went to the throne at this time but were soon in turn overthrown. persia was then divided into different provinces until in it was conquered by the mongols under genghis-khan and his grandson khula-kun-khan. the former was a christian. during his reign moryaw-alaha was the nestorian patriarch and under him the church was very successful. the mongol dynasty lasted until . a new dynasty arose in western persia in . the first prince of this line was ismael, the descendant of an ancient family of devotees and saints. he was held in the highest esteem by his followers, who revered him not only on account of his own valor but for the high standing of his family. having become the leader of a number of tribes, he overthrew the power of the turkoman and made azerbijon their capital. he then rapidly subdued western persia and in took kurason and balkh from the uzbeks. in the year he encountered a far more formidable enemy in the mighty salim, sultan of turkey, whose zeal for conquest was fanned by religious hatred of the shiites, who were followers of ismael, and who in turn were fiercely inflamed against a sect called sunites. in the ensuing conflict ismael was defeated but salim did not gain greatly by his victory. the son of ismael, shah tah-masip who reigned from - subdued all the uzbeks of khorason and frequently defeated the turks without suffering the loss of a single battle. he takes rank as a prudent and spirited ruler. shah abbos i, the great, who was one of the most glorious of persia's modern kings ascended the throne in and ruled until . he restored internal tranquillity and repelled the invasions of the uzbeks and turks. in the year he gave the turks such a terrific drubbing that they made no more trouble during his long reign. he also restored to his kingdom kurdiston-mosul and diarbekir which had long been separated from persia. abbos' government was strict, but just and equitable. roads, bridges, caravansaries, and other conveniences for trade were constructed at great cost, and the improvement and ornamentation of the towns were not neglected. many of his large caravansaries which bear his name remain to this day. isphahan, his capital, in a brief period of his reign, doubled its population. his tolerance was remarkable, considering the character of his ancestors and subjects, for he encouraged the armenian christians to settle in the country, well knowing that their peaceable industrious habits would enhance the prosperity of his kingdom. his successors were shah sufi ( - ), shah abbos ii, ( - ), and shah soliman ( - ). during the reign of shah sultan hussein ( - ), a weak and foolish prince, priests and slaves were elevated to high offices and the sunnites suffered sore persecution. the result was that afghan besieged the king in isphahan. hussein abdicated the throne in favor of his conqueror, who ultimately became insane and suffered deposition in at the hands of his brother, ashrab. the atrocious tyranny of ashrab was suddenly checked by the celebrated nadir-shah. hussein and ashrab belonged to the dynasty of syydes, a holy sect, descendants of their prophet, mohammed. nadir-shah was one of the greatest warriors of persia. he raised tah-masip ( - ) and his son abbos iii ( - ), of the suffivian race, to the throne and then on some frivolous pretext, deposed abbos iii, and seized the scepter himself ( - ). nadir was assassinated by imam-kuli-­khan, of oroomiah, whose descendants now live very near our mission station in oroomiah. again after the murder of nadir, persia was divided into many independent states and became a field of blood. bloogistan and afghaniston became independent till when a kurd, karim khan ( - ), abolished this state of affairs, reestablished peace and unity in western persia, and by his justice, wisdom, and warlike talents acquired both the esteem of his subjects and the respect of the neighboring states. he received the title, "father of persia." karim khan was succeeded in by al-murad, then by jaafor and the latter by lutf-ali-merza. [illustration: king karim khan kurd.] during lutf-ali's reign, mazandaron became independent under agha mohammed khan a turkoman. lutf-ali-merza rushed on mazandaron and killed all the relations of mohammed khan who were ruling there, and took captive agha mohammed khan a boy only six years old, making him a eunuch. this boy was of kojor race. when he was in the harem of lutf-ali, he kept thinking how his cruel master murdered his father and all his relations. when he sat on the royal rugs, he would take his revenge by cutting them. when he was of full age, twenty or twenty-five years old, he ran away to his own country, mazandaron, and joined himself to his relations. he frequently attacked lutf-ali and defeated him in . he was then able to establish his throne in the southern part of mazandaron. this great eunuch king founded the dynasty which rules to-day, restored the kingdom as it was under karim-kurd and conquered georgia and kharason. but he was assassinated may , . his nephew futten-ali-shah ( - ) engaged in three wars with russia and was defeated each time. as a result he lost his territory in armenia, and a great part of persia, namely from the caucassian mountains to the river, aras, which now fixed the boundary between russia and persia. futteh-ali in his last war with russia in was entirely defeated. beside losing some part of his territory he paid the sum of , , , rubles ($ , , ) to russia. the death of the crown prince, abbos mirza, in seemed to give the final blow to the declining fortune of persia, as he was the only man who seriously attempted to raise his country from the state of abasement into which it had fallen. futteh-ali had seven sons. one of them johon-suz-mirza lives to-day. seven years ago he was governor in the author's city; and came to visit the college of oroomiah with a hundred princes and counts with him. he is a very ostentatious man. after the death of the crown prince each of the seven sons claimed to be inheritor of the throne, while the father was still living. at the same time the crown prince abbas-mirza had a son named mohammed. futteh-ali when quite old and near to death, by the aid of russia made mohammed, his grandson, king ( - ). nayib-al-saltana acted as regent during the boyhood of mohammed. when he came to power for himself he conceived the idea of restoring bloogistan, afghanistan, and a great part of turkoman to persian dominion. he was especially anxious to take herat, the key to india, but was resisted by england. the war was terminated in . [illustration: founder of the present dynasty.] nasiruddin (defender of his religion), the late shah who was assassinated may , , a young man eighteen years old and very energetic succeeded to the throne of his father in . following his father's example the new shah tried to restore afghaniston and bloogiston but was compelled by england to sign an agreement on jan. , by which he was bound not to interfere further in the internal affairs of herat. in he violated this treaty and took the city of herat. after a severe war with england in in which his loss was , soldiers he relinquished herat but he added to persia many provinces in the western part of afghaniston and bloogiston, and also some states in turkoman. he was one of the best kings of persia. he visited europe three times, once in . he had european ideas and was a well-educated man. he started a good system of postal-telegraph and had trained after the european discipline , soldiers. above all he founded a beautiful college in teheran which is called in persian daralfnoon (or the place of science). the present shah, mozuffur-uddin was born march , and succeeded to the throne of his father may , . in the author saw him at oroomiah college. he came with a large retinue to visit being entertained at the home of dr. cochran. the work of the college pleased him and he made it a gift of thirty pounds. he is a very kind and liberal man, especially toward the poorer of his subjects. we believe god will make him to be good to the oppressed christians. the list of kings who have reigned over persia as regular kings make a total of . chapter iii. architecture of persia. the architecture of persia is of considerable interest from the fact that the persians added to their own the architecture of assyria and egypt, when they conquered those mighty empires. hence the composite nature of the designs of some of her most famous buildings. a brief study of the old city of persepolis will enable us the better to understand the nature of the architecture of this land so rich in magnificent ruins. (the author wishes to give credit to mcclintock and strong's encyclopedia, for a large part of the following pages. he has extracted many quotations from this work.) this city called "the glory of the east," the ancient capital of persia, is situated in the province of faris, on the river araxes. darius, hastaspes, xerxes, artaxerxes and others tried to make it one of the grandest cities in all the world. unfortunately it was destroyed by alexander the great, and now contains only some ruins of the royal palaces. first is the chehly minor (_forty pillars_,) also called tokhtie-jamshid, or throne of jamshid. some suppose that jamshid was the founder of the city. next in order is nakhshie-rustum, to the northwest. near each of these palaces are the mounds of the tombs. the east building is the harem of jamshid, situated on a vast terrace of cyclopean masonry, at the foot of a lofty mountain range. by far the most important is the first group, situated at the foot of a lofty mountain range. the extent of this terrace is about feet from north to south and feet from east to west, and was once surrounded by triple walls , and feet in height respectively. the internal area is further divided into three terraces, the lowest one to the south; the central being about feet square and rising feet above the plain; and the third, the northern, about feet long and feet high. on the northern is the "propyleum of xerxes," but most distinguished here is the "great hall" of xerxes, called chehly minor by way of eminence. the palace of xerxes and that of darius towering one above the other in successive elevation are also on this terrace. the stones used for this building are of dark gray marble, cut into gigantic square blocks, and in many cases exquisitely polished. the ascent from the plain to the great platform is made by two flights, the steps being nearly feet wide, - / inches high and inches in tread so that travelers have been able to ascend on horseback. the propyleum of xerxes is composed of two masses of stone work which probably formed an entrance for foot passengers. the steps are paved with gigantic slabs of polished marble. the portal is still standing and bears figures of animals feet high. the building itself is conjectured to have been a hall feet square, closely resembling the assyrian halls of nineveh. it bears the following inscription: "the great god ahroomazda, he it is who has given this world and who has given life to mankind, who has made xerxes both king and lawgiver of the people. i am xerxes the king and great king, the king of kings, the king of the many peopled countries, the supporter of the great world, the son of king darius, the achoemenian." "says xerxes the king, by the grace of ahroomazda i have made this gate of entrance. there is many another nobler work besides this,--persepolis which i have made and which my father has executed." an expanse of feet divides this platform from the center one which bears many of those columns of the hall of xerxes, from which the ruins have taken their names. the stairs leading up to the chehly minor are still magnificent according to the statement of prof. jooseph whose residence was near this historic palace. the walls are superbly decorated with sculptures, representing colossal warriors with spears, gigantic bulls, combats with wild beasts, processions, and the like, while broken capitals, shafts, pillars and countless fragments of buildings with cuneiform inscriptions cover the whole extent of the platform, feet from north to south and feet from east to west. the great hall of xerxes, perhaps the largest and most magnificent structure the world has ever seen, is computed to have been a rectangle of about to feet and to have consequently covered two and a half acres. the pillars were arranged in four divisions consisting of a central group six deep every way and an advanced body of twelve in two ranks, the number flanking the center. fifteen columns are all that now remain of the number. their form is very beautiful. their height is feet, the circumference of the shaft feet, the length from the capital to the turrets feet. next along the west front stood the palace of darius and to the south the palace of xerxes measuring about feet square, similarly decorated with lions, birds, heroes, kings and warriors. of course the present architecture of persia is not equal to the old for the evident reason that the country is not so rich as it was. however the work in some cities is equivalent to ancient buildings. in modern times some splendid palaces have been erected of brick, either of raw or hardened by fire. these tower to a considerable height. the custom of persia is to beautify without rather than within, so the exterior is painted with different colors. blue, red and green are favorites. the walls are adorned with the pictures of flowers, birds, lions and many verses of al-kuran. favorite poems also appear. inside it is more plain, whitened by chalks. but the roof is wonderfully decorated with delicate chalk work. here are sculptured designs of ladies holding bouquets of flowers, playing with doves on their shoulders and surrounded by beautiful objects. usually in the center is a large mirror. this is all hand work. a single mason may work a month in completing the roof decorations of one room. all buildings are square. village architecture is very poor. buildings are one story in height, especially of mohammedans. most all are built of unburnt bricks. a mohammedan peasant does not know the joy and pleasure of living. though he has plenty of money, he is content to live in a small cottage, spending little. christians, on the other hand, are the direct reverse and are learning to enjoy having things nice. chapter iv. the language and poetry of persia. the ancient languages of persia are three ( ) the zend or east iranian, or bactorian language. but this became obsolete during the third century before christ. this was called the zoroastrian languages, because the name zend is that of their sacred book. ( ) the ancient persian language, the chief remnants of which are found in the cuneiform inscriptions of the time of archemides, discovered in the ruins of persepolis on the rocks of behiston. the inscriptions contain the names of gods, men and of daniel the prophet. ( ) the third language was pehlawee spoken by the west iranians, medians and persians, during the period of the sassanidæ-- rd to th century, a.d. at last a new form of commentaries to the sacred writings came into existence, in which clearer and more distinct characters were used. almost all old words of the zend were replaced. this new form is called pazend. in later times historians and the arabs have called it parsee. it was in use from to a.d. at the old persian language was revived. this is called jamie or nizamie. a purer dialect came into use as the direct result of the writings of the poet hafiz a.d. and has continued down to the present day. this is spoken especially in shiraz, a city of great note in the history of persia, and the capital of the state of faris, which gives persia its name. unfortunately after the mohammedan conquest persia fell under their reign. arabs tried to infuse arabic into the persian language. the koran was the only holy bible to them they believed that its teachings should be accepted by all parsees. all writers in the country now, as a matter of course, became mohammedans. with the fanaticism, characteristic of a conquering religion, with the ruthlessness which islam has always shown, all the representatives of the old persian literature and science were grievously persecuted by omar's general, sayid ibn abou wakkas. all priests and writers were compelled to accept the new order of things: "allah the only god, and mohammed his prophet." so the pure language of the parsees was infused with arabic words to such an extent that one-third of the words of the language are arabic. poetical literature. under the dynasty of samanides, a writer comes into view, one nasr, living about a.d. under the third ruler of the dynasty. also abul hasson rudige, the blind, lived under the same ruler. this man wrote , , rhymes. about a.d. kabbas wrote, being a contemporary of mahmud who surrounded himself with four hundred court poets. ansarie, another writer, wrote , rhymes in honor of the king. the reign of atabek dynasty was the brilliant age of persian poetry. anhaduddin anawaree was one of the greatest writers of that period. the best mystic poet was sunayi, author of , distichs. nizami about the twelfth century, was the founder of the romantic epoch. the greater part of his jami­ or collection of five romantic poems, are about khosraw and shirin, a king and his betrothed; magenoon and leila, a lover and his beloved. kizilarsalon, the king offered for each one of his poems not less than fourteen estates. his tomb now at gendsheh is visited by hundreds of pious pilgrims. in the eastern part of persia the theosophical mysticism was preeminently cultivated, especially in azerbijon state. a great number of these mystics are in oroomiah, my city. they speak in allegorical form in glowing songs of wine and love. again in this province we find sunayee in the thirteenth century and fariduddin attar, born . a still greater man in this peculiar field was djalal eddin romi born at balkh and who died . he was the founder of a still existing and most popular order of darwishes. his poems on contemplative life have made him the oracle of oriental mysticism up to this day. i will give one of his rhymes which will show the spirit of his mysticism: "gar kasi wasf ou zman posad, bidil oz binishon chiguyan baz, ashikon kushtagon mashookand, bar nayayad z kooshtagon awaz." the thirteenth century was one of the most brilliant in the annals of persian poetry. the greatest seer of the era was sheikh musli eddin sahdie of shiraz who died in the year . he stands unrivaled as persia's foremost didactic poet. his boston and guliston--"the fruit of the garden and roses,"--are universally known and loved in europe. at the beginning of the fourteenth century we made several meritorious imitations of sahdi in didactic poetry. but far above all these as above all other persian lyrical and erratic poets shines hafiz. the "sugar lip" is a book in which he sang of wine and love, nightingale and flowers, bee and roses. below is given a quotation from one of his poems about the nightingale and the miller: "ai morgh saher ashk zparwana beyamoz, kan sukhtara jan shud wawaz nayamab" translation: "o thou the bird of morning, you must learn love from the miller. it burned itself in the fire but did not make any noise." haji mollah kozim translated this rhyme as follows: "the morning bird is the nightingale--little smaller than the sparrow, but it has a very loud voice as clear as a golden bell." all poets in persia agree that it is a better singer than any other bird in asia. besides his singing he is the bird that has more love for his mate than any other bird in the world. they generally sing in the morning and the evening time. when the female is on her nest the male sits in the same tree, or very near, and sings for his mate. at times the male sits on the nest and his mate perched near by sings for him in a wonderfully sweet voice. the nightingale is a general favorite, and many popular songs have been written about this bird, and are sung by nearly every young man and young lady, boy and girl in persia. this author says of the miller that it loves light more than any other insect. from its love of light it throws itself into the fire, as everyone has seen in america of a summer evening about an electric lamp. sahdi takes this example for himself to illustrate his love to god. he says the love of the miller is more than the love of the nightingale because the nightingale shows its love by singing and making noise; but the miller, though it has a living body, makes no noise when it is burning in the fire. "so," says he, "ought to be my love to god." the city of shiraz from the beginning until this day has been the seat of religion and especially of poetry because these two eminent poets, sahdi and hafiz, were born, lived, wrote and died here. their tombs are visited annually by thousands of pilgrims. they are dead but their influence still lives and it has much effect on persia and especially on the inhabitants of the city of shiraz. many students are enrolled at the great cathedral mosque in the city, where some of the ablest professors of the country are instructors. professor yooseph, a graduate of this institution, told me that the air and the very dust of that city has in it the spirit of poetry. even the small boys who sell grapes, apples, etc. in the streets sing some very charming poems about their fruits, though they themselves may never have learned to read. the sweetness of persian language for poetry. the persians have one poem about the sweetness of their language for poetry, as follows: "the original language was the language of arabs. the turkish language is hard. but the persian language is honey comb." in comparison with the other asiatic languages many scholars think it is indeed honey-comb and the sweetest of asiatic languages, if not also of european languages, for the expression of poetry. part ii. religion. chapter i. parsee religion. this was the prevailing religion of persia in ancient times. zerdush was either the founder or a reformer of that religion. the general belief is that he was the founder, since the religion and its followers are called by his name. some suppose that this religion, the religion of hindoo, were originally the same and that they were divided by some political affair between the iranians and the aryans. the hindoo branch took the name brahminian. the doctrines changed somewhat after the separation, but the fundamental principles remained the same. different dates are given for the beginning of the zerdush religion. some authorities date its beginning at b.c. while others place it at b.c. the latter is generally agreed upon. there are two prevailing ideas about his place of birth, both babylonia and oroomiah, persia being claimed as his native city. there are many good reasons for believing that oroomiah was his birthplace. first, the original worshipers were persians, and the religion was started in persia. second, all oriental scholars and writers supposed that this was his native city. third, in the district immediately surrounding oroomiah the writer has seen more than thirty immense hills of ashes, the remaining monuments of the fire-worshippers of this religion. fire was their god and a continuous flame was kept burning through the centuries. some of these mountains of ashes are so huge in size that it would take a man an entire day to walk around it, and as high as the masonic temple of chicago, a twenty story office building. some of these hills are named as following: de-ga-la, sheikh-ta-pa, gog-ta-pa, etc. among these hills we find the "tower of silence", a large structure built of stone and containing the remains of kings and other notable men of ancient times. bible and doctrines. the bible of the parsees is called avesta, which means the revelation. the language is zend from which the persian language is derived. the founder of this religion taught as pure monotheism as was taught by mohammed. zerdush taught the existence of but one deity, who was called maz-daw or as it is pronounced now in persia, hurmizd. to this god was attributed the creation of all good fortune, government, long life, honor, health, beauty, truth, joy and happiness. but later this doctrine of monotheism became dualism, _i.e._, the supposition of two primal causes of the real and intellectual world, the vahu mano; the good mind or reality and akem mano or the naught mind or naught reality. ah-ra-man, the god of darkness has created devils, he causes evil thoughts, evil deeds, wars, misfortune, sorrow, death, and hell. zerdush taught there are two lives, one mental and the other physical. he believed in the immortality of the soul; that there are two abodes for the departed, heaven, the house of angels and hell the dwelling-place of the devil and his angels. between the two there is a bridge of judgment over which only the followers of zerdush will be able to cross safely. before the general resurrection the sosiosh, the son of zerdush, will be spiritually begotten. he will come as a messenger from ahuramazdoo and will foretell the time of the resurrection and judgment. the world at that time will be utterly steeped in wretchedness and darkness and sin; will then be renewed, death, the arch fiend of creation, will be slain and life will be everlastingly holy; and righteousness will dwell in the renewed world. this zoroastrian creed flourished until the time of alexander the great throughout ancient ironiona including cabuliston, bakhria, media and persia, and then declined. but again under ardashir, who has been called bobegon, and who claimed to be the descendant of zerdush, the religion of his ancestors was renewed, and the lost parts of the holy book, avesta, were found and put together. he chose a magician the ablest of , magician priests, to translate the book into vernacular language, thus renewing the religion. unfortunately the avesta was utterly destroyed in a.d. by the followers of mohammed. now we have in persia only , zoroastrians. the mohammedans called them gabrees, _i.e._, ungodly. most of them live in kerman yezd on the soil of their motherland. the men are good citizens, humble, honest, and generous, especially to their own brethren, and are industrious, intelligent, handsome, clean in appearance and faithful to their religion. the women are most beautiful, delicate in frame, small hands, small nose, clear complexion, with pink cheeks, black eyes and eyebrows. they do not cover their faces when in public, except to mohammedans, whom they consider wicked men. the women are good faithful housewives and honest to their husbands. their rituals. a parsee child must be born on the ground floor of the house of its parents as a sign of humility and that the child may begin its life with good thoughts, words and actions, and as a sign of loyalty to its parents. the mother cannot go out for forty days. after that she washes herself with holy water which has been sanctified by the priest. a parsee rises early, washes his hands and face, and recites his prayers toward the sun. he rejects pork, ham and camel flesh and will not eat anything cooked by one outside of the parsee religion. marriages can be contracted only with persons of their own creed. polygamy is forbidden except after nine years of sterility, then a man is allowed to marry another woman. divorces are entirely forbidden. the crimes of fornication and adultery are very severely punished. they worship the clean creations of the great hurmizda such as the sun, moon, fire, etc. aha-ramazda is the origin of light, the sun and fire having come from him, he having first been created by hurmizda. in the case of a hopelessly sick person the priest will recite some text of the holy bible avesta, as a consolation to the dying person. after death the body is taken to the ground floor, the place of its birth, to be washed and anointed with perfumes, dressed in white and put upon an iron grating. a dog is brought in to take a last look, and he drives away all evil spirits. the friends and relatives go before the door, bow down and raise their hands to their heads after touching the floor, as an indication of their last respect to the departed soul. the body upon the bier is covered. two men will bring it out and give it to four pall-bearers dressed in white, who, followed by a great procession take it to the "tower of silence." the last prayer will be recited in the holy temple, a building in which the holy fire burns continually through the ages. the body is then taken from the "tower of silence" and, placed on an iron bier, is exposed to the fowls of the air and the dew of heaven and to the sun until the flesh has disappeared, and the bleached bones fall through into a pit beneath, and are afterwards buried in a cave. they believe the holy fire is brought down from heaven. only priests can approach it and they must wear a half-mask over the face lest their breath should defile it, and never touch it with hands, but by instruments. tobacco smoking is prohibited as the smoker would defile the holy fire. they say there are five kinds of fire and great respect is shown to them. i remember having had a conversation with a parsee in which he said: "fire purifies all things, is stronger than all things, is cleaner than all other things, more beautiful than all things; therefore, fire is _god_. your own bible says: 'i am a consuming fire.'" the parsees have five kinds of sacrifices. these are the slaughtering of animals for the public and poor men; prayer, the doruns sacrament with its consecrated bread and wine in honor of the founder of the law, heromah (or sama) and dahman. this sacrament resembles our lord's supper. it is eaten publicly as a feast of joy. fourth, the sacrifice of expiation which is offered by all men and is killed in their temples. lastly the sacrifice for the souls of the dead. the removal of moral and physical impurities is effected by holy water and earth and by prayer. prayer and holy words from the avesta are recited several times every day. fasting and celibacy are hateful to the divinity. the ethical code may be summed up in three words--purity of thought, of words and of deeds. this, they claim, will become the universal religion of the world. a parsee believes the soul of a dead man is for three days walking near the tomb where the dead body is laid. the fourth day the gates of heaven will be opened and he will approach the bridge of chin-vat. here the good and evil deeds of his life will be weighed in the balances of justice. if the good deeds of his life outweigh the bad, he will pass over the bridge into heaven. if the bad are heavier than the good the candidate falls beneath the bridge into hell. in both heaven and hell there are three states. in heaven, good words, thoughts, deeds and words. in hell, bad words, thoughts and deeds. chapter ii. mohammedanism. mohammed means "praised one." one of the mohammedan divines once spoke in the presence of the writer of the similarity in the arabic language of "ahamad" and the "holy spirit" and he claimed to believe that ahamad or mohammed was the holy spirit which jesus promised to send into the world. when told in reply that jesus promised to send the comforter into the world immediately after his departure, and that mohammed did not live until years after christ, the priest had no more to say. this great prophet of the desert who converted the wild arabs was born about a.d. at mecca. he was the only child of abdulla and his mother halima, both from the noble family of koreish who claimed that they were the descendants of ismael and that their family was hereditary guardians of the sacred kaaba mosque in which was kept the holy black stone worshipped by all arabs. the moslems have many legends and traditions regarding the birth of mohammed. the sun moved from its place and gave a more brilliant light, with the seven colors of the rainbow; the angels bowed themselves to him and sung a new song in heaven; all the trees were shaken as by a strong wind. he was born circumcised and with his navel cut. a seal of prophecy was written on his back in letters of light. immediately prostrating himself on the ground he raised his hands and prayed. three persons as brilliant as the sun, one holding a silver goblet, another an emerald tray and the third a silken towel appeared in company with the angel gabriel, the latter holding in his hand a knife. gabriel cut open the child's belly, the first angel poured cleansing water over the child to wash away all sin, the second held the emerald tray beneath him and the third dried him with the silken towel, and then all saluted him and called him the "prince and savior of mankind." his father died at the age of twenty-five years, before his son was born. he left his widow five camels, a few goats and a slave girl, her name being amina. at the age of six years mohammed had a fit of epilepsy. he frequently fell down and foamed at the mouth, and snored like a camel. about this time his mother died and he was reared by his grandfather abdul-mota-kalib and his uncle abu-ta-lif and nursed by his faithful slave amina. for a time he herded goats, a disreputable occupation among arabs. but he afterwards glorified in it, pointing to the example of moses and david and saying that god never called a prophet who had not before been a shepherd. in appearance he was of medium size, slender but broad-shouldered and of strong muscles, black eyes and hair, white teeth, oval shaped face (which is now much praised among mohammedans), a long nose, patriarchal beard and a commanding look. his step was quick and firm. he wore common garments of white cotton stuff, and mended his own clothing and did everything possible for himself and aided his wives in household affairs. he had fourteen wives besides concubines. he possessed a vivid imagination and a genius for poetry and religious doctrines, but was not learned and perhaps could not read nor write. he became servant for a very wealthy widow named khadijah, and made several caravan journeys for her to syria and palestine with great success. afterwards he won the heart of the widow and married her against the will of her father. he was twenty-five years of age and the widow was forty-five years old. marriage proved happy and was fruitful with four daughters and two sons, but all died except one little daughter fa-ti-ma. mohammed adopted ali, his nephew, and married his daughter fa-ti-ma to him. she became the mother of all the prophet's descendants. mohammed loved his first wife kha-di-jah, was faithful to her, and after her death always cherished her memory, as she was the first person to believe in his doctrines. on his journeys to palestine and syria he became acquainted with jews and christians and got an imperfect knowledge of their religion and traditions. at that time the jews and christians had scattered the ideas of monotheism among the arabs. some of the arabs were tired of worshiping false idols and embraced the faith in one god. one of these men was mohammed. he became zealous to establish a religion throughout arabia, to teach and compel men to worship only one god and to recognize himself as his only prophet. he spent many days and nights in the caves of mount hira near mecca in meditation and prayer. his zealous efforts to establish his faith brought a return of the violent convulsion and epileptic fits of earlier days, and his enemies said he was possessed with demons. he started preaching to the ignorant classes of arabs teaching them that there was only one living god who created heaven and earth and all mankind. in a.d. , his fortieth year he claimed to have received a call from the angel gabriel while in a trance in mount hira, directing him to say: "in the name of god." many times after this first meeting he communicated with gabriel in these caves and saw many visions. once when almost discouraged he waited for further enlightenment in visions to qualify him for the duties of his office as prophet--if not to commit suicide--when suddenly gabriel, at the end of the horizon appeared, saying: "i am gabriel and thou art mohammed the prophet of god, fear not." after this assurance he commenced his career as a prophet and founder of a new religion. his doctrines were gathered from three religions, the jewish, christian and arabic. he taught that there is only one allah--almighty god, ever-present and working will. henceforth the revelations came from time to time, sometimes like the sound of a bell conversing with him; at other times gabriel came down and spoke to him. for the first three years he worked among his family. kadijah was his first believer. his father-in-law, abi-baker, omar, a young energetic man, his daughter fatima, his son-in-law ali and other faithful followers to the number of forty, were the first disciples of this new religion, and were very influential in spreading the same. then he publicly announced that he had a command from god, and had been given the divine office as prophet and lawgiver. as his notoriety spread, pilgrims flocked to mecca and he preached to them attacking the idolatry of mecca. when his enemies demanded a miracle from him, he responded by producing the koran leaf by leaf as occasion demanded. he provoked persecution; and civil war followed. in a.d. he was forced to flee for his life from mecca to medina, a distance of miles. this flight is called higira, meaning the flight, (july , ) from which the era of islam begins. in medina he was generally accepted as a prophet of god. his method was at first toleration. he said: "let there be no compulsion in religion," but afterwards said: "all infidels must accept one god and mohammed his prophet. if men refuse, kill them, plunder their property and their wives and daughters are for you." the wild arabs were kindled by this command. his followers were all robbers except some of the leaders. in with an army of , all citizens of medina, he gained a victory over his strong enemy, koreish, whose army was double the size of mohammed's. by other engagements he rapidly conquered jews and christians. after one battle jews were massacred at his order and their wives and daughters were made slaves. in he triumphantly entered mecca and in he demolished idols; then koreish, a leading tribe, shouted "there is but one god and mohammed is his prophet." ten years after higira, with , moslems he made his last journey to mecca, and subdued all arabia. upon returning to medina, he died in his home and in the arms of ayesha his favorite wife, june th, , at the age of sixty-three years. when on his death-bed and suffering extreme pain and anguish his friends expressed surprise that a great prophet should suffer so. he called their attention to the fact that one prophet of olden times was eaten by worms, while another was so poor as to have only a rag to cover his shame, and stated that a prophet is not rewarded here but hereafter. his last words were a prayer for the destruction of all jews and christians because they were so hard to convert. he prayed, "o lord let not my tomb be an object of worship. let there remain only one faith, that of islam, in all arabia. gabriel come near me, lord pardon me, grant me joy, accept me into thy companionship on high, etc." mohammed did not claim the power of performing miracles but since his death some of his followers have attributed miracles to him such as, when walking the streets, trees and stones would salute him; he caused a flood of water to spring up from dry ground; he rode on his horse borak through air from medina to mecca, jerusalem to paradise and to the heavenly mansions and again came back to mecca. the only miracle mohammed himself claimed was the revelation of koran. his character. some people have the impression that mohammed was a man of good character and great simplicity. possibly this was true of him in the earlier part of his life, but he degenerated as solomon, but unlike the wise preacher of "vanity" he never repented. mohammed was a slave of sensual passion. the doctrine of polygamy which he taught was the result of his own sensuality. ayesha his favorite wife said: "the prophet loves three things, women, perfumes and food." he, at the age of fifty-three years, married this woman when she was at the age of nine years. again he claimed to have a special revelation from heaven to marry zey-nab the wife of his adopted son. to gratify this wish, it was necessary for zeyd, his faithful son, to get a divorce from zey-nab. the conquest of islam. "the secret of success for islam is in the sword," said mohammed. his faith teaches that one drop of blood shed for allah, or god, avails more than all prayer, fastings and sacrifices. one night spent in the holy armies of islam will be rewarded by allah more than human reason can think. everyone that falls in battle is received in heaven as a martyr and rewarded for his devotion to the faith. after mohammed's death, his successor became aggressive as his forces grew stronger. his command to his armies was: "before you is paradise, behind you is hell." inspired by this belief, the wild and superstitious arabs rushed forward and subdued syria, palestine and egypt. the churches in the large cities of these lands were converted into mosques for the worship of mohammed. in and they besieged constantinople and in subdued the northern provinces of africa. in they established a califat in spain at cordova. the arabs crossed the pyrenees and made the threat that they would soon stable their horses in st. paul's cathedral at rome. but they were defeated by charles martel in . ferdinand drove them out of spain into africa. in the east the moslems had, in the ninth century subdued persia, afghan, bloogiston, a large part of india, also a large part of brahmanism and buddhism. the turks were conquered in the eleventh century; the mongols in the thirteenth century. constantinople fell into the hands of the unspeakable turks in . the magnificent church of st. sophia in which chrysostom preached the gospel with a fiery tongue and many church fathers chanted in it the true word of god was converted into a mosque. to-day the koran is read there in instead of the gospel. the sultan occupies the throne of constantine and calls himself the "shadow of almighty," boasts in his fanatical religion, and scorns christian powers. on the other hand the christian powers look at him with the cold spirit of christianity but i believe the time will come and is near when the gospel will be preached again in the church of st. sophia instead of the koran. chapter iii. the mohammedan religion. the koran is the mohammedan's holy bible, creed, and code of laws. the holy koran was delivered to mohammed neither in graven tablets of stone, nor by cloven tongues of fire, but it was engraven on mohammed's heart and was communicated by his tongue to the arabs. his heart was the sinai where he received his revelation and his tablets of stone were the hearts of believers. the koran contains chapters and verses. each chapter begins with formula, "in the name of god the merciful and the compassionate." the chapter is named from the chief subject treated therein; as "praise," "the light," "the spider," "the woman," etc. mohammed received all of his revelation at once but when occasion required he dictated new chapters to zeid. another notion is that the koran was delivered orally and was scattered until after the prophet's death when it was collected by ayesha, his youngest wife, and zeid. all of it was written in the best classical poetry. it is sweet in the arabic language but it looses its beauty when translated into other languages. mohammed did not invent a new religion but collected most of his doctrines from the jewish, heathen and christian religions and christian tradition. mohammed was greatly indebted to a nestorian monk named sargius be-hi-ra, a man of rare ability, whom the prophet kept in his home for several years and learned all he knew about christian doctrines and traditions. many of the wise counsels, stories, teachings of our duties to god and brethren in the faith, that are related in the old and new testament are reproduced in the koran, but the language is changed and the order of their occurrences is reversed. the koran contains mistakes such as making the virgin mary the mother of our lord the same person as mary the sister of moses and aaron. but without question the koran is one of the greatest books of the world in the number of adherents it has. it is a code of civil and religious law; , , mohammedans scattered all over the world to-day are following the teaching of the koran. the book contains much that is good and wise but one of its most dangerous defects is the prominence and approval given to polygamy and sensualism. chapter iv. the creed of islam. monotheism is the corner-stone of islam. their creed consists of six articles. god, predestination, the angels good and bad, the books and the traditions of the , prophets, the resurrection and judgment, eternal reward and punishment. the formula continually repeated by the mohammedans is this: "there is no god but god and mohammed is his prophet." allah or god has infinite power and wisdom and is holy, omnipotent, omnipresent, creator of the universe, upholder of all. he is an arbitrary ruler but deals justly with men. he is an object of fear and reverence, rather than of love and gratitude. the mohammedan does not look upon god as the father. he says god is the almighty creator and men ought to fear and tremble before him as slaves. the writer was reasoning with a mohammedan one day and spoke of god as "our heavenly father." he said "you blaspheme. don't call god a father." this could not be as he never had a wife. allah has foreordained all things, good and evil. an unconditional resignation to him is true wisdom. he is known because he has revealed himself through chosen messengers, angelic and human, such as adam, noah, abraham, moses, and jesus, our great and chief prophets, but mohammed is the last and the greatest above all. chapter v. the priesthood. the muj-ta-hid is the highest order of the priesthood but this order is divided into four degrees. the members of the highest degree reside at karbala, the sacred city. the chief of this degree is called naib-el-emam and in the belief of shiite moslems he is the representative of mohammed. his position is the same as that of the pope in the roman catholic church; and he is believed to be infallible. his authority extends over the entire clergy and in some respects over government. he resides in the most holy mosque which was built on the tombs of hassan and hussein, children of ali, who were martyrs in the war between the shi-ites and sun-neh moslems. he has power to declare holy war. vast sums of money are contributed into his keeping every year which he spends in defraying the expenses of thousands of pilgrims who flock to this shrine, and also for students who study in that mosque. he leads a simple life but it was stated by one of the pilgrims that he makes considerable money for his children. when this great chief dies there is a day of lamentation throughout persia and lords and counts feed thousands of poor men and divide money among them. all business is suspended for the day. the late shah, it is said, sent three different messengers to this high church official before he could get an interview, the churchman pleading humility and unworthiness to receive the king but before the latter departed after the interview he was charged to be a good and faithful ruler. the second degree in the muj-ta-hid is called arch-muj-ta­hid. it is composed of four priests who reside in the four places known as era-wa-nee shirazee, khorasonee and isphahonee, and one of these officials succeeds na-ib-el emam at the death of the latter. the third degree is the common muj-ta-hid who are numerous. in my city oroomiah of , inhabitants there are ten or more priests of this degree. sometimes they are called eulama meaning divines. the method of their living. they are executors of civil and religious law; no man can be a judge or lawyer unless he is a muj-ta-hid. these priests judge such cases as the division of property for which he charges a fee. where the interested parties are rich they are frequently required to appear before the priest several times before a decision is given that he may charge them a larger fee. as a general rule the man who pays these priest-­magistrates the most money will win the case, even if it is necessary to pervert the law. many a well-to-do man has been brought to poverty by the extortions of these muj-ta-hid. government cannot resist them. when lords or counts or rich people marry they charge large sums of money for performing the ceremony. large fees are also made for writing legal documents in the transference of land or other valuable property. the common people consider it a privilege to make presents to the muj-ta-hid. these men are usually very rich, and own one or more beautiful palaces and have from two to four wives. every young widow who has beauty and riches is sought in marriage by some of the priests. the fourth degree is called mollah, and their office is the same as the protestant elder. the mohammedans have no preaching services such as we have except on holidays, when certain ceremonies are carried out. the mol-lah visit the sick, call on families, teach them prayers and traditions and conduct funerals. some of them teach children who come to them each day for instruction. their meals are provided by the students who bring them some food, usually very choice each morning. one dime a month is generally the tuition fee. in the fall his parishioners who are able give him a collection of provisions for the winter such as grapes, apples, wheat, fuel, etc. he is highly respected in the community and is always invited out to a feast in some private home on holidays. he writes documents for the people for which he gets from two to ten cents, but the fee is often two or three eggs or a basket of fruit. this is the poor mollah's only income. some of them have no parish and do secular work for a living, others recite koran on the tomb of a lord for which they are paid by the relatives of the deceased. i have seen one mollah reciting koran for fifteen years at the tomb of a noted army officer. there are a class of priests, more learned and devout, who work as the revivalists of their religion. on holidays, which are quite frequent, the mosques are crowded with worshipers, when one of these priests mounts an elevated pulpit with great ostentation and in an impressive voice begins to read or repeat koran. he will chant traditions of the prophets and martyrs and relate pathetic stories of the noble sacrifices of departed heroes of the faith. his charming tones and utterances have much effect on his audience and men and women weep and beat their breasts. the garments of muj-ta-hid. the muj-ta-hid wears underclothes of white linen, his long coat is made of woolen cloth. his outer cloak is a robe that hangs to the feet. this robe is quite expensive, being made of the fur of animals, and is dyed yellow. they believe it a duty to wear a robe of skin as a sign of meekness. the robes cost from $ to $ . he wears a girdle of white linen in many folds. his turban is large and white. the light, heelless shoes cover only half of his feet. when he goes out he has a fine staff in his hand, the handle being of gold or silver. from ten to twenty servants accompany him, some stepping before, others after him. men of all class rise and salute him by bowing with their hands across their breast. many men kiss the shoes of the high muj-ta-hids. the place of say-yids in mohammedanism. mohammedanism is divided into two great sects:--viz. shiites and sunnites. both hold mohammed to be the prophet and savior of mankind and koran to be the holy bible, written by the finger of god and given to mohammed through the mediation of gabriel. but they differ in their belief as to who are the true successors of mohammed. shiites claim that ali the son-in-law and nephew of mohammed was caliph, while sunnites contend that four disciples of mohammed were his true successors. this difference led to war and bloodshed and gave rise to a permanent division in mohammedanism. persia generally belongs to the shiites tribe. they receive ali as the caliph after mohammed. the descendants of ali are therefore held in high esteem and rank in persia. they are called say-yids, which means prophets and masters and they have privileges that do not belong to common men. they are very zealous to perpetuate their own sect. from the time of ali they have kept a careful record of their genealogy. this book of testimony called sajjara, is given from father to son and serves as a credential to the say-yidical tribe. each family must have in its possession a credential at least two hundred years old. when these are worn by age and use their leaders may draft copies and duly certify them. the say-yid's dress distinguishes him from other men. he wears a green turban and girdle, so that he is really known whether alone or in a throng. if a common man should presume to wear these articles of dress he would be severely punished. the say-yid's turban is to them more precious than a kingly crown. it is the sign of their glory. the girdle is a symbol of strength. their rank is higher than all other degrees among men and their high priest is more honored than a prince. so say-yid ruleth over other men. he demands and receives their honors. in the assemblies of lords and influential men, the say-yid occupies the chief seats, and are always served first. oaths of gravity are sworn by their heads. all men fear them, believing that their curse will surely be brought to pass. they are never smitten or reviled. if a christian should lift his hand against them that hand must be severed from his body. they are exempt from legal punishment. governors cannot impose on them fines or imprisonments. if a say-yid should kill a common man it would be impossible to punish him with death for his murder. the governor cannot punish him for it would be a sin against god; it is believed that god created all men for the sake of mohammed and his descendants. a say-yid's punishment must come through the leader of that order. many vows are made to them. parents when their daughters are sick, vow to marry them to a say-yid, believing that god will cure her for the sake of the say-yid. they generally ride on gray horses, claiming that those of that color belong to them. they lead the large pilgrim caravans, which go every year to worship at the tomb of ali. their presence is believed to protect the caravans from thieves and robbers. their law gives them authority over the property of other men. they are masters while others are peasants. sometimes they smite and punish other men without mercy. by their law one-tenth of all property belongs to them. generally they do not work, but live well, because of their position as say-yids or holy men. the more noble of them will sit in their houses and receive tithes of the fruits, coffee, tea and money of the surrounding people. if these tithes are not freely given a servant will be sent with authority to demand and take same. the less noble of the say-yids go personally to the homes vineyards and gardens and gather their portion. sometimes there might be seen no less than ten say-yids going to vineyards for this purpose. generally they ask nothing from christians, as their law restrains them and they are ashamed to ask of other religions. i once met a say-yid in my father's vineyard and he asked a portion. i refused, telling him that i myself was also a say-yid _i.e._, a christian say-yid, and asked if one say-yid should receive something from another. he laughed, and said: "yes sir, sometimes." i gave him three pounds of raisins. these say-yids are in only the shiites branch of islam. in later years their honor is decreased; the government is against them. some of them are very religious. two of them in the city of ispha-han were converted to christianity and suffered martyrdom. one has been converted to christianity in my city, oroomiah. he is one of the most spiritual men among christians. the darwishes. shiites mohammedanism rests upon two pillars one of which is darwishes. this is one of the most holy orders of the musalmans. it corresponds to the monasticism of christianity. it contains several degrees, such as asceticism, mandicanism, etc. it is a volunteer consecration to allah and his prophet, except in cases in which parents had dedicated their sons to the order. there are numerous instances in which women without children made a vow to allah that if given a son they would consecrate him to god to be a darwish. this order contains members from all classes, high and low, rich and poor, and even from the royal family. celibacy is not required but they are taught that it is far better for them not to marry. [illustration: high-class dervish.] their character. a darwish is expected to be and usually is humble, kind and liberal, ready to serve any man. he must suffer all the trouble of life and live in an humble condition because this is holiness. he is required to be well informed in all religious stories, tradition, and koran, and particularly in the poetical writings of maw-le-wee order, which is their own order, founded by an-wa-ree the father of the darwishes. some of the members know from one to five thousand of these sacred poems. most of them are sufficiently educated to read. the darwishes are the most faithful, honest and pure of all the followers of mohammed. in all my life i have never heard of a single immoral darwish. some of them are very intelligent and well educated and familiar with all their religious rites. on the other hand they are very superstitious, fanatical and ambitious to propagate their religion, believing it to be a true religion. they are free to discuss their faith with all men in a kind spirit. in a discussion with one of them he could not answer me but proposed that we prove the truth of our religion by both entering a burning fire, and the one who came out unharmed would have the true religion. i told him to enter the fire and if he was not burned i would believe in his religion and become a mohammedan. he did not dare do it and was ashamed. the nature of their service. the darwishes' work is to tell stories, tales and traditions during week days in the streets. friday is holy day among mohammedans and is to be observed in worshiping god. the darwishes begin at one o'clock p.m. on that day singing poems on the streets and continue until evening. their poems are for the glory and honor of mohammed and ali, for they believe these two men were the supreme creation of god. one of their poems reads as follows: "the first of creatures is ali; the supreme of beings is ali; the true calif of the prophet all is ali; the lord of all the world is ali; the lord of my soul is ali." the darwishes wear long hair, and a pointed orange shape cap, a cloak of patch work and a long white robe and in his right hand a tomahawk with a fancy handle with some poems written on the blade. in the other hand is held a kashkul for the collection of money. these are the rituals of his office. a dozen or more of them may be seen on every street, not far from each other, standing in front of the stores singing some poems for the praise of ali in a loud voice, and with an earnest and enthusiastic spirit. then he will pass his kashkul and the shopman will drop in it from one to three pennies and sometimes only a bit of sugar or ginger. any gift is acceptable. one passing in the streets hears voices of base, tenor, etc, some rough, some clear as the sound of a bell of gold making an attractive melody. sometimes they sing two by two, one for the praise of mohammed, the other for the praise of ali. once i heard a darwish singing a poem to the praise of ali, and when he had finished another responded near by singing to the praise of mohammed in the following words: "he (mohammed) has attained to the supremacy of his personal holiness; he has enlightened the darkness by personal beauty; beautiful are all his deeds. the blessings of god be upon him and upon all his children." some darwishes travel over all persia, spending a short time in each city they visit doing their work. the cap which the darwish wears has embroidered upon it a verse from koran and signifies his consecration to the service of allah. the kashkul is a box in which to collect money for the poor and sick. the white robe is a sign of purity. the sheepskin on his shoulder is a sign of meekness. the beads on his neck are to remind him of the duty of prayer. the tomahawk is a sign of war and victory for his prophet and allah. those who have excelled in their holy service go to their leader and he places on the skin of the right shoulder of the darwish an inscription which remains as a sign of consecration and honor. there is a low class of darwishes who are very ignorant, superstitious and fanatical and are like beggars. they pitch their tents at the gates of rich people and will not go away until they have been satisfied with money. sometimes a large crowd of this class will gather in a mosque and spend several hours in howling unto allah and the prophets until made weary by the exertion. when the good darwish goes home friday evening he will have gathered some money and also provisions, such as tea, coffee, sugar etc. he will keep for himself and family enough to last one week; the remainder is given to the poor. their place in mohammedan religion. the darwish is highly respected by all classes from the royal family to the most humble. no man dares to beat or lay hands on one of them, as it would be considered a great crime. in case a darwish does wrong or commits crime the government does not punish him but refers the matter to the leader of the order. sometimes they are called kallander, which means humble and holy men of allah. they are exempted from paying tax and from military service. many presents are given to them by the people. the salutation is different from the common people. the first says, "ya-ho" which means: "o living god"; the response is "ya-mal-ho," which means: "o god the giver of life." so it is plain that the darwishes are one of the two pillars that support islamism. thank god we have some darwishes converted to christianity. chapter vi. the laymen. the laymen are divided into three classes, viz., the counts, lords, middle class and low class. the middle class live mostly in towns and cities. their occupation is merchandise; to carry goods to europe and import goods into persia. others are manufacturing carpets, rugs, etc. others are iron-smiths, silver-smiths, carpenters, druggists, butchers, and masons. a great number are secretaries for lords, counts, and in military service. the life of this class is very happy indeed. their homes are quite comfortable, and kept in good order. their tables are spread with enough of the good things to satisfy. this class do none of the work that custom has assigned to the lower classes. pride would not allow it. custom requires them to have smooth hands--not always white, for some prefer to dye them red. the women of the middle class take life easy. they are not often allowed to go outside without permission of their husbands or mothers-in-law. in some instances the older ladies spend their time making rugs, shawls, and carpets--some of which are very beautiful and costly. the young ladies and brides spend their time in making caps, purses, head-covering, dresses, etc. unmarried girls are positively required and it is the duty of her mother to teach her how to make rugs, carpets and embroidery work, etc. for her marriage. one of her first duties is to learn to dress herself handsomely. the face and brow will be colored with red and white paints. the eyes and eyebrows with black paint. the hands and feet are dyed with hana a kind of paint that colors them red. [illustration: harem costume.] costumes at home. the shirt worn at home by woman is an article made of silk or cotton. it is short, open breast, well embroidered, and is red or white and reaches to the middle of the thigh. over the shirt is the cula-ja, rather loose, with long sleeves fastened with buttons of silver. the shalwar is similar to the ordinary skirt only it is very short. some wear from three to ten of these skirts. the outer one is very rich and trimmed with gold lace. the head covering is called char-kat and is made square of a long embroidered article of fine silk or thin cotton and is fastened under her chin. sometimes at home they are bareheaded. hose are white and long. the hair is generally black, heavy, braided and spread on her back. in front it is parted in the middle when bangs are not worn. the hair is usually painted to appear black and smooth. her jewelry. the middle class of women are fond of jewelry, but do not burden themselves with heavy ornaments as do some of the lower class. they usually wear two or three finger rings, small earrings of gold, bracelets and necklace. there is frequently a large emerald, incased in gold, hanging from the necklace, bearing this inscription: "there is no god but allah." beautiful ornaments of gold and silver are attached to the ends of their braided hair. when a wife has perfumed and adorned herself she will await the coming of her husband from his shop. she knows at what time he will return home. an hour before his coming she will go before the mirror to see if she is dressed beautifully enough to please her husband. ten minutes before his arrival she will prepare a delicious kalyon, (which is a smoke and water pipe.) holding it in her hand she will rise and offer him the kalyon, saying, "my lord, command your pleasure." he will take the pipe and smoke. while he is sitting she will sprinkle perfume on his head and clothes. for several minutes they exchange the pipe and smoke alternately. this is the first thing which a husband of the middle class expects of his wife--not to work for him but to adorn herself and please him. it cannot be said that the mohammedan does not love his wife. he buys her whatever she asks for; not because he considers her his equal, but for the sake of his own pleasure. men's costume. most men of the middle class, at some time in life go on a pilgrimage to mecca and medina. after a pilgrim returns he is given the title of ha-jeh and thereafter wears a turban on his head instead of the ordinary cap. the cap commonly worn by the persian is about eight inches high, has no brim and is black in color. the shirt is of white cotton, open in front and fastened with a button on the right shoulder. the trousers are very much like the bloomers worn by some bicyclists of modern times, and old people wear garments even wider than bloomers. they are made of wool or cotton and are usually black. the coat is called ar-ka-look. some are long enough to reach the ankle, while others reach about the middle of the thigh. the sleeves fasten at the wrist by a button of silk cord. there is a pocket on either side near the belt. various colors are worn. the gima or overcoat is a heavy wool garment reaching to the knee, the lower part of which is pleated. it is open in front and fastened with a number of buttons. the belt is a large piece of linen folded many times around the waist. some wear heavy and costly shawls. it is a general custom to shave the head except a small place on each side of the head just over the ear and a spot on the crown of the head. the hair-covered spots are called zoolf and are dyed with hana. the most religious men and the aged shave the entire surface of the head. the young men shave the beard, except the mustache, till the age of thirty years after which time the beard is clipped at the length of about one inch till the age of forty. after the age of forty the beard is never cut. the mustache is never shaved, by young or old. it is a mean thing to do, and is against their religion. no man has been seen in persia with a smooth upper lip except europeans. a man who will shave his mustache is not a mohammedan but an infidel; not a man, but a girl. the long mustache is regarded as the glory of man. the lower class. the lower class of people are farmers and day labors and among them is much misery. they work long hours and get from fifteen to twenty-five cents a day. their clothing is of cheap material, poorly made, and shorter than the garments of the higher classes. in order to save time and soap their clothes are sometimes not washed for a month. some farmer's wives use the sickle all day long in the field during harvest-time. many women do the lighter work of killing weeds. sometimes a woman will take her babe to the field with her and leave it in the care of an older child while she labors. in the fall of the year the laborers are busy in the vineyards, a great abundance of grapes being produced in this country. a familiar scene of an evening is to see men and women trudging homeward bearing heavy burdens of fruit, raisins, etc. stored in baskets. some of the children are employed through the day looking after and feeding the cattle, buffaloes and sheep, while it is the duty of others to carry food and drink to the workers in the fields. in the winter the men are employed feeding cattle or in weaving coarse cloths for the clothing of the lower class. others who are not thus engaged spend the winter in carrying dried fruits, wheat, fuel and various kinds of goods to the cities on donkey caravans. the women of this class spend the winter in spinning cotton and wool, making carpets, sacks, etc. and in sewing garments for their children and husbands. young girls are busy in preparing useful articles for their wedding. the dozen or more holidays that come during the year are celebrated by this class in having big dinners, and the women cease from the heavy burdens of their labor for the day and attempt to beautify themselves after the fashion of women of the higher classes with paint and finery. their taste not being cultivated in that art they often make themselves more hideous than beautiful. chapter vii. the mosques and their services. the mosque is the mohammedan holy temple or church. there is one in most every community which has been erected by lords or rich people. in the cities they have some magnificent mosques built of stone and brick. a mosque is divided into several small rooms and two large halls. one hall is for winter service, the other for summer. the summer hall is in the front end of the building, is enclosed with three walls, the front being open. the pillars that guard the entrance to this hall are adorned with artistic designs. the interior walls of the mosque are painted white and on them are inscribed in large letters numerous verses from the koran. the floors of the halls are not covered with carpets or rugs, as they would be stolen; but there are cheap mats made of reeds on the floor. there are no chairs but the worshipers sit on the floor. it is believed that any man who builds a mosque has remission of his sins. it gives him great reputation and he is known as a holy and religious man. there are some very old mosques, a few having stood as long as years. in some instances christian churches have been converted into mosques in times of persecution. in the city of oroomiah one very fine church was converted into a mosque about years ago. it is a very large building with a high steeple and stands in the heart of the city, surrounded by fine grounds of about three acres. the grounds are surrounded by high wall, inside of which are rows of small buildings divided into rooms and used by students. these were originally used by the christians as a kind of a university. even to-day the door facing the east which christians entered to worship jesus remains. when the mohammedans took possession of the building a new door was made on the south side facing the holy city of mecca. mosques are regarded as holy and no animal is allowed to step in, especially dogs. if a mohammedan knew that dogs sometimes enter christian churches they would despise christians the more. jews and christians are not allowed to enter a mosque. they can only stand before the door and listen solemnly. the mohammedans have no bells on their mosques. they say satan is in the bell, and that its sound is the sound of satan. sometimes they stop our bells, saying that allah will not accept their prayers on account of our bells. they have no bell, but a man, sometimes a mool-lah, who ascends to the roof of the mosque three times daily, morning, noon and night and in a loud voice calls men to prayer. the call is made in the following words: "al-lah ak-par." this means almighty god and is repeated three times. then he continues: "ashuddu-in-nah la il-la-ha ella allah," meaning, "i testify that there is no god but god." "ashud-du in-nah mohammed rus-sool al-lah," meaning, "i testify that mohammed is the only apostle of god." "hay-ya alal sa-lah," meaning, "hasten to prayer." "hay-ya alal falah," meaning, "hasten to the place of refuge and hope." "hay-ya allal kher-ul amal," meaning, "hasten to do good works." the call is concluded by again repeating three times the words, "allah ak-par." the mosque is open day and night, and men may come into prayer at any hour. friday is holy day and corresponds somewhat to the christian sunday. no man is chastised if he works on friday but all faithful mohammedans attend public services on that day. the services in the mosques of the cities are conducted by muj-ta-hids or high priests. the priest starts to the house of worship when he hears the voice of the mah-zin calling to prayer from the top of the mosque. he is accompanied by eight or ten servants beside numbers of worshipers who may fall in line with the holy man. when he enters the assembled worshipers rise to their feet and remain standing until the priest has seated himself in the pulpit. he will recite from the koran and tell traditions in a chanting voice. women are allowed to attend these services but they are required to sit in one corner of the mosque apart from men. special services. among muj-ta-hids two titles are given to those who excel in holiness, viz., pish-namaz and imam-ju-ma. the former means mediator in prayer; the latter, the prophet of holy friday. they are indeed more devoted to their faith and at the same time more fanatical in their hatred for christianity. when one of these priests goes to the mosque he wears a large turban on his head, some of them costing $ , a cloak of fur, a staff with gold or silver handle. he wears a long beard which is painted black. following him is a procession of from fifty to one hundred men, mostly mollah, or lower class, who are faithful moslems. proceeding toward the mosque with slow and solemn tread, he is saluted by the people of all classes along the street by their rising to their feet, crossing the breast with the arms and reverently bowing before him, uttering the words "sallam ali-kun agha," which means "peace be unto you, sir." this service occurs on holy friday sometimes , or , men will be gathered in the mosque. women are not admitted in these most holy and solemn services. the muj-ta-hid stands in the front part of the mosque, facing mecca, and all the audience is back of him. as he advances in the prayer all the people repeat what he prays. they imitate every motion he makes. when he kneels, they kneel. when he puts the end of his front fingers in his ears, the entire audience does the same. they believe all prayers which are prayed in that way are accepted through his mediatorial prayer. [illustration: priests at worship.] chapter viii. moslem's private prayer and fasting. prayer. prayer carries the musselman half way to heaven. there is no salvation by grace or by atonement. allah forgives his sins only on the condition of good works. hence it is an obligation with every one to pray. prayer is not a duty issuing from his love to allah, but a yoke which binds him against his will. it is reduced to a mechanical act without spirit. the moslem always washes with cold water before prayer. he will take a jar of water and say, "bism allah" meaning, "in the name of god i do this holy service." then dipping his right hand in the water he rubs his arms from the wrist to the elbow; with the tips of his fingers he will wet his forehead and the inside of his ears, and the surface of his feet. travelers in the desert, use sand as a substitute for water. the worshiper must have a seal of mecca which is made of clay and is about the size of a half-dollar. on it are the words, "there is no god but god." facing mecca, he puts the seal on the ground and standing erect he raises both hands to his head, kneels to the ground, puts his brow on the seal, then kisses it. rising to his feet he puts both index fingers in his ears; and also makes numerous other gestures. they have one prayer which is always repeated. they have five stated seasons daily for prayer; daybreak, noon, soon after noon, after sunset (to avoid the idea of sun worship) and just before retiring. the general place of prayer is the mosque, but few of the moslems pray there, as they prefer praying in the streets, open squares and in meadows before mosques where they will be seen by more men and can better show their piety and integrity. in the midst of his prayer he will stop and speak a few words to the surrounding people as a religious custom, or to revile children whose noise while at play may have interrupted him. a prayer often prayed by faithful moslems, quoted from the koran, is a foolish and selfish prayer and is entirely against the spirit and teachings of our lord jesus christ. it reads: "o allah, i seek refuge to thee from satan and all evil spirits. o lord of all creatures destroy all heathen and infidels, even those who believe in the trinity, the enemy of our religion. o allah, make their children orphans, their wives widows, and defile their abodes. give their families, their households, their women, their children, their relatives, their possessions, their race, their wealth, their lands, and their daughters as a booty to the moslems, thy only people, o lord of all creatures." every word is against the blessed teachings of our lord who said: "love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you." the mohammedan religion does not require women to pray. it is a question if she has the same soul that man has. however some women among the higher classes and some old widows do pray. but they cannot pray in the most holy mosques on account of their uncleanness, nor in the streets for they ought not to be seen of men. if they wish to they may pray in their private houses. while prayer carries a musselman half way to heaven, fasting carries him to the gate and alms admit him. so fasting and alms are the keys to paradise and every man must practice them. the moslems have only one month of fasting called the ramadhan. their month begins with the new moon; but sometimes in some parts of the land it is cloudy and they cannot see the moon. so men will be appointed by the government throughout all the empire to watch carefully for the new moon, sometimes from the peaks of mountains. when she is discovered telegrams are sent announcing the beginning of the fast on the morrow. they will fast from one hour before sunrise to one half hour after sunset, or till it becomes too dark for a man to discriminate between red and black thread. during this time they abstain from eating, drinking, and smoking. the poor class work till noon. the rich do not work at all. the most of the day is spent in reciting the koran, praying and sleeping. christians cannot eat in the street, for the moslems might long to eat too, or even take a taste, and thus break their fast. boys and girls above eight years must fast, while sick men are not compelled to during this month. however when they recover they are required to fast thirty days as soon as they are able. they do not converse much in the day but wear a sad countenance. they do not allow a christian to speak to them. at morning and evening in the cities a cannon is fired for the beginning and ending of the fast. during this month much alms is given. the lords and princes especially send meals from their table. they believe fasting and giving secure absolute forgiveness of sins and admittance to heaven. the night is changed to a feast. they eat and drink and converse till twelve o'clock. then they retire but are up again at three and eat and drink till one hour before sun is down. death among them occurs most often in that month because many eat too much. so many different meals hurt their stomach and they fall sick and die. the mohammedans say they go to heaven for its gates are open during this month for musselmen. hundreds of them eat everything they want and at any time of the day. they do not believe in fasting: but they must be careful that the high priest does not catch them breaking the fast, for he would punish such offence severely. the writer has seen many mohammedans eating in this month. they would eat and smoke in their houses and then wash out their mouths and tell everyone they were fasting. thousands fast either for their own glory or from the fear of men. chapter ix. the pilgrimages. islam's religion has many holy places and it is the duty of every mohammedan to visit these shrines unless circumstances hinder him. pilgrimages secure not only forgiveness of sins, but a great reputation as well. of all mohammedan shrines there are four most remarkable. medina is the first. it was the birthplace of mohammed. here he lived till he was six years old when his mother, amina, died. a slave girl faithfully nourished him and took him to mecca. but his last days were spent in medina. when he was dying in the arms of ayesha, omar asked him: "prophet where do you wish us to bury you?" he answered: "throw the rein of the bridle on my camel's neck and i believe the angel gabriel will come and direct her where to go. there bury me." they did so. his camel started off, but soon stopped and would not proceed further. so they buried mohammed there and a magnificent mosque stands above his grave. this building is adorned with silver and gold and mohammedans worship it. the second place is mecca. this city is the most holy for all the mohammedan world. here is the old temple of the arabs the kaaba which was converted by mohammed into a mosque. it has been rebuilt many times by the rich kings of islam. this mosque is among the seven wonders of the world and is not inferior in beauty and cost' to solomon's temple. outside at the gate is a black stone which the ancient arabs worshiped before mohammed. some said the stone was cast out of paradise with adam; others that it was cast down from heaven. upon it abraham offered isaac. the worshipers held a tradition that if anyone should place a smooth stone on this holy stone and it should stick fast he should have the wish of his heart. many childless women use this means to find if god will give them a child. near the mosque is the well of ab zimzim, _i.e._, living water. mohammedans claim abraham, hagar and jacob quenched their thirst at this well. jacob and other patriarchs, they say, watered their sheep here. many pilgrims have assured the writer that the mosque of the kaaba was originally built by the angel gabriel. there are two hundred million moslems scattered throughout the world and each of them turns his face toward this mosque and prays five times daily. the third place is karballa. this city holds the second place in sacredness in the estimation of the mohammedans. it is situated in asiatic turkey, near the famous city of bagdad, where saleek and katispon once flourished, ancient towns of the christian nestorians. here their patriarch dwells who ruled over all the nestorian church. after the death of mohammed his four caliph successors overthrew these places and took them from the nestorians. later a battle took place here between these caliphs and the grandchildren of mohammed to decide which should be at the head of the new religion. the caliphs were successful; the grandchildren being slain. they were buried here and upon their graves was reared a magnificent mosque. like that of mecca this, too, is adorned with gold and silver. hundreds of rich men from all parts of persia give large offerings for this temple. karballa has different meanings. some translate it the place of danger, some the place of mourning, some the place of the killing of martyrs, others the place of those holy men. here in this city is the pope of all persia,--they call him prophet. in his hands is all the power of his religion, and he has more power than the king. everything he commands they must do, even to the killing or massacring of all the christians. the king must do him formal reverence. the fourth place is mashhad. this city is situated in the northeast part of persia, in the state of khorason, near the caspian sea. this is the most holy city in persia. here are buried many famous persons as the grandchildren of mohammed. this mosque is more rich than mecca and karballa. the dome is gilded with gold outside and inside. generally each king of persia makes expensive presents, but the most remarkable event in this connection was two hundred years ago. nadirshah, a powerful king of persia, he that conquered india and despoiled calcutta of its treasures,--made a present to this temple of a crown of gold, adorned with precious stones. they say at night it is like the electricity building at the columbian exposition. they call it mashhad-mokaddas, meaning holy. it is a place of martyrs. no christians or jews are permitted to reside in this city. in the thirteenth century this was the cathedral of the archbishop of the nestorians. pilgrimages to the holy places. mohammedan law commands all to go to these holy places. the books of ceremony emphasize the importance of such pilgrimages. the hope of remission of sins is given to all visitors, and they are thereafter called by a different name from ordinary men. everyone has confidence in them; and sometimes for a witness they call from this class of men. their law is, every man able must go and god will be merciful to his family, and afterward he will be rich. everyone who refuses to go is not a true moslem and does not love his religion. preparation for the journey. before going on this journey many fast and pray. they must repent of every sin and sometimes one sees men praying in various ways, and it is easy to see that they are preparing for a pilgrimage. they put on a sorrowful countenance and walk about sadly,--all of which is merely for vain glory. every day they must wash and cleanse themselves and go to the mosque. if they are at enmity with any man, they must first be reconciled before their journey will be recognized. some days before starting some say-yids, descendants of mohammed who wear a blue turban and are considered most honorable and holy men, who do not work, who are not punished for any violation of law, will ride on blue horses with long spears in their hands. they will walk in the streets crying in a loud voice to all those who are to make a pilgrimage to prepare themselves and be ready on a certain day. together with this command is uttered words of comfort and encouragement. they tell the people not to fear. god will send for the sake of mohammed his angels and prophets, riding on blue horses, to deliver them from all robbers and thieves. yet many do die on this pilgrimage at the hands of desperate characters of the desert or mountains. alms-giving. one month before starting each man must give according to his ability for alms. they are besieged by the others to prepare food and drink for feasts. if a man is rich the demand is repeated. before starting the pilgrim goes to the leader to inquire what is necessary for him to do and how to do it that his pilgrimage be accepted. the priest will say if the man is rich, "you found a mosque." if a man is poor a smaller amount of money is required. the very poor are commanded to fast from ten to forty days. those who make their pilgrimage on horseback scatter money on the way for the benefit of the beggars and the poor. as the pilgrim sets out he is accompanied by friends for some distance as a mark of honor to the faithful islam. before the band of pilgrims the leader rides calling out in a loud voice, "säläwät." carrying the dead. their law requires that not only the living but also the dead shall go to these places. the dead are sometimes carried to the sacred cities forty years after burial. sometimes when a stingy man dies who has not gone on a pilgrimage in his lifetime, he exacts a promise from his relatives that a certain amount of his money will be used to carry his body to a holy city. if this promise is not kept, the priest will compel his relatives and heirs not only to restore the specified sum for sacred purposes but more. when the poor man is about to die he administers an oath to his relatives that after his death his body shall at some future time be taken to karballa. as a reward for this service, the relatives will be blessed of god and made rich. the dead are buried in a box so that at some appointed time the remains may be exhumed and transferred to a new box and strapped to the back of a horse and carried to the holy city. it matters not if the body has decayed. if the bones remain it is not too late for the pilgrimage. if the deceased has been very poor and his friends cannot take him in person, they hire strangers to do it. thus one may see the caravans with hundreds of horses--sometimes thousands--with the boxes of dead strapped to their backs on their way to the holy places. motive in pilgrimages for the dead. the object of these trips is to secure heaven for the dead. their religion teaches that all who die in a holy city or who are buried there find a home in heaven. some say god has a multitude of spiritual camels with riders who will come and carry the dead bodies to heaven. if you say to them, "flesh and bones cannot inherit the holy place of god," they will answer, "their spirit is taken to heaven, not their body." others will say, "the bones are not the original ones but likenesses of them." others say, "it is an honor to the prophets who are buried in the holy city for other dead men to be buried there." at an appointed time after burial it is believed that the dead will rise and bow to the tombs of the prophets. this is the manner of their worship: those who go to medina must arrive before a certain day because on that particular day their worship is commenced. for two or three days various ceremonies are performed such as fasting, prayer, purification and washing of their bodies. when these are concluded, on the fourth day they array themselves in a special robe for worship. without any covering on their feet they walk around the mosque seven times. when they enter the mosque they bow themselves before the tomb of mohammed. after this bowing they walk seven times around the tomb of the prophet. they then kneel down and kiss the tomb at the same time placing such money upon it as they can spare. upon leaving the mosque a ram is killed as a sacrificial offering. on that day more than one hundred thousand sheep are killed in that small city. this together with the warm sun beating on the blood of the victims gives rise to the most fearful of all scourges, cholera. in karballa, medina and mashhad worship is conducted in this manner. the female pilgrim. the law requires that females also go to these holy places. girls at every age are allowed to go, also children. widows under fifty years are not accepted as pilgrims, first, because of their probable desire for marriage, and second because the law says no women must undertake a pilgrimage alone for thus they would expose themselves to men. so in order to go some marry for the occasion. the husband accompanies them hither and upon returning either divorces them or keeps them as wives or concubines. the return of the pilgrims. those who went to mecca from certain parts before trains began to run in the east consumed a year or more in their journey, but now it takes only six or eight months. those going to karballa take from three to five months, likewise those going to mashhad. every band of pilgrims when returning to their own city will send a messenger about ten days ahead to announce that in so many days a band of pilgrims will appear in the city. on the day of their arrival many hundred men will meet them several miles from the city. the say-yids ride before them crying säläwäts. friends and relatives kill lambs as a sacrifice before them. this sacrifice is a holy thing and no man can touch it till its blood is shed, but when it is beheaded, it belongs to god and the strongest man takes it for his own. this being a sacred thing all are very anxious to partake of it. the weak will do all they can to keep the strong from carrying the sacrifice away. so there is always quarreling when the pilgrims return. the acquaintances of the pilgrims will come and say, "my portion be as thy portion. blessed art thou. may your pilgrimage be accepted," and the pilgrim will answer, "god grant that you may also go to this holy place and receive remission of sin." women will sometimes cut pieces from the pilgrim's garments which are supposed to be holy. at the pilgrims home many sheep are killed and a variety of fine meats are cooked. people gather there to eat and drink and they say to the host, "god bless your pilgrimage." he will answer, "may the prophet give you success and grant that you, too, may visit the holy place." it is evident from the above descriptions that there is no place in islam for peace of conscience or absolute assurance of heaven. the writer has often asked of mohammedans: "have you any hope of heaven?" they say, "we don't know god knows." "yes god knows everything but what do you say of your hope?" he will reply, "i have no hope--but god is merciful." many of them would receive christ if there was freedom of worship. there are even now some true christians among the moslems who secretly like nicodemus. let us pray that god will open the way of freedom for them. chapter x. the shiite moslem's mu-har-ram. when mohammed was dying he announced, against his will, that abbubaker his father-in-law was his rightful successor. it was his real desire to be succeeded by ali his son-in-law, but he saw that abbubaker had a much wider influence than ali. in the next generation after the four caliphs, or chief disciples of the head of the faith, and ali had died there arose divisions in the church. hassan and hussein, sons of ali, claimed to be the rightful caliphs after the death of abbubaker. they contended that their grandfather had made abbubaker caliph because he was old and faithful, and therefore that that office should not descend to his children. a great body of moslems followed them. one of them, hassan, was too timid to push his claims. his death came soon from a dose of poison administered to him by some of his enemies. the energetic young hussein continued to assert his claims, but he had no army. with seventy men, mostly relatives, he started for a fortified city, but was surrounded by the army of yazid. taking shelter in a cave beneath a huge rock, hussein and his followers defended themselves for three days and three nights. at last they were driven to desperation by hunger and thirst. drawing their swords they came out and met an army of several thousand men. after a brief contest hussein and his men were overcome. hussein was captured alive. the shiite moslems of persia say that when hussein was taken before the chief captain for execution, he was very thirsty and asked for a drink of water before being beheaded. but this request was not granted and he was executed with his thirst unquenched. in memory of this tragedy there may now be seen walking the streets of persian cities every warm summer day men carrying a bottle or jar of water and crying aloud: "sakkaw, sakkaw" (their name) and giving water to any who may be thirsty, in the name of hussein. moslems take this drink in a cup carried by the sakkaw, but a christian must furnish his own cup or drink from the palms of his hands. if offered one or two cents the sakkaw will take it, but he never asks for money. the killing of hussein and his followers occurred in the month called mooharram. this entire month and ten days of the following month are observed as a time of lamentation for hassan, hussein and their followers who were slain. during this period every man, woman and child of the shiite moslems are under obligations to wear black garments. the last ten days of mooharram are observed in a fanatical spirit as a revival of religion. this period is called ashara, meaning ten days. the first seven days are for preparation. the mosques will be crowded with men and women. the mas-ya-khans, or revivalist priests, are in charge of these services. followed by a large procession this priest goes to the mosque and mounting a high pulpit preaches to large crowds. his general theme is tragic tales, stories of martyrs, the manner of their death, their last utterances and the wailing and moaning of their friends and relatives. often in the concluding words of a pathetic story, the entire audience, sometimes numbering thousands, will be deeply moved and slapping their foreheads with the palms of their hands will cry aloud to give vent to their emotions. the mosques cannot accommodate all the worshipers during this period, so some parts of a street are laid with carpets and rugs where the people sit while listening to preaching. the last three days are the most solemn. all the stores of the city are closed and no business of any kind is transacted. at an early hour on these days the whole population, except the old men and women who stay at home to take care of young children, gather around the mosques. in and near the mosque a national and a religious emblem are carried on a pole by strong men. these are quite heavy and the standard bearers change every few minutes. headed by these emblems the large crowd, often numbering , to , people will march through the streets. each company visits from one mosque to another. passing through the streets the men bearing the national and religious emblems are followed by musicians playing mournful dirges with such instruments as drum, flute, and cymbals. surrounding the musicians are hundreds of men marching with bare breasts, shouting "hassan, hussein hassan, hussein" and pounding upon their breasts with bare hands. following them is another band surrounding a say-yid a descendant of ali, and all of them are shouting "hassan, hussein" and beating their breasts. next in the procession comes a band of ascetic darwishes, wearing neither hat nor shoes nor other garments than a pair of pants, when the weather is mild. holding in their bands a whip about two feet long and one or two inches in diameter, made of small iron strands, they beat their bare shoulders and back with the same as they march shouting, "yahu, yamalhu" which are names of their god. following comes another band of darwishes bearing in one hand a knotty club to which is fastened nails, bits of brass, etc. with the other hand they beat their breasts as they repeat the cry of the preceding band. these worshipers torture the flesh by beating it thus and bruise it black. the procession is completed by a crowd of boys and girls and women following. the marching commences early in the morning and continues till eleven; is taken up again at two in the afternoon and continues till six o'clock. the greatest demonstration of all occurs on the last of the ten days. at sunrise the crowds of former days gather around the mosques to start again on the marches. on this day there are also fresh recruits. in front of the mosque is a band of to men and boys of to years of age. they are bareheaded, and uniformed with a white shirt over the other clothing that reaches to the feet. held in the right hand before each one is a two edged sword. the left hand rests on the belt of the soldier next in front. the leader standing at the head of the band recites their creed: "allah is god and the only god. mohammed is the prophet of god and ali is his vicar." all the band repeats this creed. immediately the leader smites his own brow with his sword, and this act is imitated by all his followers. soon the faces and white clothing of the men are red with blood. bleeding they go marching through the streets shouting: "hassan hussein," and waving their swords in harmony with step and voice. their rout can often be traced by drops of blood in the streets. when zeal reaches a high pitch, the blows are repeated on their brows. fearing that these zealous young men may lose all regard for life, and inflict upon themselves mortal blows, relatives or friends frequently walk near with long sticks in hand to hinder them from such deeds. this band first marches to the courthouse to be seen by the governor. every band has a right to ask the governor for the freedom of some one prisoner, and these requests are always granted, no matter what the crime of the imprisoned. these bleeding men are as martyrs, and would go direct to heaven if death resulted from these self-inflicted wounds. after the parade ends, the bloody shirts of these men are divided among their friends and kept as holy relics. the men who compose these bands are usually the most wicked in the community. they go through these ceremonies for the remission of sins, and to redeem themselves in the eyes of others; but they usually continue in their wickedness as time goes on. another important feature of the last day in the procession, is a richly decorated hearse containing a coffin, in which lies a man representing the corpse of hassan. beside the coffin sits a woman, the widow of hassan, dressed in sackcloth, and her head covered with mud. following the hearse are three beautiful arabian horses, finely saddled and harnessed, with a flake of gold embedded with pearls on their foreheads. on two of them are seated two girls representing the daughters of martyrs. the top of the girls' heads are covered with mud and straw. the third horse is riderless to remind one of the missing martyr. following next is a large number of women, boys and girls and some men, all with yokes about their necks, their hands chained behind them, seated on horses and mules. these are to represent the captives taken by yazid, the captain who killed hussein. near them are men in helmets to represent the soldiers of yazid. they are armed with whips and are driving these women and children of moslems into captivity. next in line may be seen false heads, raised aloft on poles, representing yazid, mawya, and other ancient enemies of hussein. boys and men gather around them spitting at and reviling them. gathered, all the sword bearers, chain strikers, and the many men beating their breasts, they make a great crowd and tremendous noise. the bystander is struck with horror when two fanatical bands meet, each trying to excel the other in self mutilation. then are frightful gushes cut; the thumping of chains on bruised bodies, and the pounding of breasts is heard louder than before. with an upward sweep of the right arm every man cries in a loud voice: "ya ali, ya ali!" as the companies pass each other. at p.m. on the last day the marching ceases, and the throng halts by some tents pitched in the middle of a public square. the population of the city is gathered round about. there is not even standing room for all, and hundreds or thousands of people are gathered at windows or on housetops near by. perhaps , people are present. the sword and chain strikers approach the tents and with a shout of victory, utter the names of ali, hassan and hussein, then set fire to the tents and burn them and their contents to the ground. they imagine that their enemies were in those tents, and now that they have been destroyed it is a time of great rejoicing. the marching clubs disband and the active ones are soon found at the mosques drinking sharbat, a sweet drink, as a sort of a reward for performing their religious duties. singers. the closing hours of the last day are given to the singing of poems by the best musicians, gathered at the mosques. the singing band usually numbers from twenty to thirty men. they sing poems about the last utterances of hussein and other martyrs, or about the sayings and weeping of the relatives of these martyrs. it is not very safe for christians to mix with the crowds on these last days, unless in company with some honest mohammedan. if one is seen laughing at the ceremonies he is apt to be beaten by some one whose fanatical spirit is thoroughly aroused. our missionaries sometimes ask the privilege of using a roof by which the procession passes. this is always granted. the three nights are considered holy and the most religious moslems do not retire until midnight. services are held in the mosques, reciting traditions. the audience is composed of men only. it would not be safe for the women to attend, owing to the wickedness of the men. the audience is frequently deeply moved by the tragic tales, and weep angry tears. they curse and revile their enemies and their enemies' wives and daughters. the last night is called watch night, and many moslems do not even slumber during the night. it is holy night in which hussein and other martyrs were buried in their tombs. it is a dishonor, and even a sin, for them to go to bed without meditation on their prophets. in the mosque services the people shout: "o hassan and hussein, let my soul be a sacrifice for thee." they believe the observance of that night is absolute remission of sins; that the gates of heaven are open to all believers for the sake of martyrs. some pious moslems preserve the tears of that night in small bottles, as it is believed they will cure disease when applied to the brows of sick men. these tears are prized as a most holy relic. the musselman says: "even david the prophet believed in the efficacy of tears when he wrote in the psalms, 'put thou my tears in thy bottle, o god.'" on the last night many shiite moslems walk to the mosque in bare feet, wearing sackcloth. often a governor or lord accompanied by to servants, all barefooted, will be seen slowly treading their way toward a mosque. wearied by the great exertions of the past ten days it is difficult to keep awake during the last night; so many men will be seen coming out of the mosques during the night to walk around and keep awake. at daybreak these solemn ceremonies end. in all these ten days of special religious services not one word is said in condemnation of sin. there is no moral teaching. nothing is taught about man's duty to god, or his duty to fellow-men. nothing is said to strengthen his character, to make him a purer and nobler man. the only teaching is in tragic tales of martyrs; the only inspiration is hatred to enemies. compare this religion with that of our blessed savior, jesus christ, god-man. he gave his life for all nations, even his enemies. he calls mankind to sacrifice, but it has a practical object: that they may be purer and live a higher and nobler life. christianity is as the sun shining in its fulness, while mohammedanism, in its ignorance and superstition, is as the darkness of midnight. chapter xi. heaven and hell. heaven. mohammed declared in the koran that there are seven heavens. above all is the heaven for prophets, martyrs, those who die in battle for religion's sake, and for angels. chief among all in this heaven is mohammed, mediator between god and believers. the other heavens will be inhabited by believers, the degree of piety and integrity determining to which heaven they shall go. heaven was pictured as an earthly paradise. there are beautiful gardens, vineyards, green pastures, fresh fountains, the river of living water, many bathing pools of glass, a palace of marble and glass, ornamented with pearls and diamonds. the trees bear fruit continuously, some in blossom, others ripe with fruit. prominent are the palm, and grape, fruits which were favorites of mohammed while on earth. choice fruits grow in abundance and on low trees so that a man can stand on the ground and eat of the fruit. each vine bears , clusters of grapes, and every grape contains , gallons of juice. the pastures are eternally green, and in them grow many thousand varieties of flowers of exquisite odors. there are no animals in heaven as they are not needed. there will be no dogs, cats, swine, nor unclean birds, as eagles, hawks, and buzzards. but there are millions of brilliantly plumaged birds whose melodies continually ring through heaven. the walls and gates of heaven are as described in the nd chapter of revelation. believers will spend eternity in the joys of luxurious life in paradise, amidst blooming gardens and beautiful virgins. to an ordinary believer will be given houries or female angels. these creatures are described in the koran as being fair, with rosy cheeks, black eyes, and in blooming youth. such beauty the eyes of men have not seen on earth. martyrs and more pious men have more than houries, the number increasing in proportion to the believer's prominence. the believer will sit under a fragrant tree in a golden chair, or lie on a golden cot, while birds overhead sing wonderfully sweet. his fairies will be about him and offer him choice unfermented wine in a golden cup on an emerald tray. such is the moslem's heaven. these were the promises with which mohammed aroused the enthusiasm of his followers. fanatical zeal has been so enkindled in men that many thousands have perished in an effort to spread these doctrines throughout the world. saints will live nearer to allah than ordinary believers and will have conversation with him. no people can enter heaven unless they be moslems. the gate to heaven is reached by a bridge. this bridge is as narrow as a hair, and only believers can walk it. when a soul approaches the gate it finds fatima, the daughter of mohammed, standing there. she asks him to recite the creed: "allah is the only god, and mohammed is his prophet." if repeated, the soul enters heaven; if not, with a breath fatima blows him off the bridge and he falls into hell, the regions below. hell. as there are seven heavens according to degree of integrity of believers even so there are seven hells. gehenna is beneath the lowest part of the earth and the seas of darkness. it is a place of fire, as a great ocean without limits. it burns with brimstone and like materials. there are thousands of terrible flames and bad smells. satan is there with all infidels, christians, jews, fire-worshipers and apostate mohammedans. the torture of the latter will be worse than the torture of others. there are in hell thousands of wild animals, as lions, tigers, vipers and serpents. every lion has in his mouth , teeth, and every tooth has , different stings or poisons. so with the tiger and serpents. every viper has , tails and on every tail , stingers, and every stinger contains , kinds of poison. the common drink of the inmates of hell is poison drunk from iron cups. their meals will be the flesh of animals and even their own flesh. satan and his servants will torture them with spears and swords of iron. there will be no rest for them day or night. men and women will gnash their teeth against their own children. all will be weeping, cursing and blaspheming. hell is surrounded by walls of iron over which none can escape. chapter xii. matrimony. marriage among assyrians is considered as sacred as the ordination of priests, but is subordinate to or less sacred than the sacrament of the lord's supper or baptism. therefore marriage is a solemn service and the rules relating to it are very strict. engagements for marriage are made by the parents of the contracting parties rather than by the young people themselves. girls are strictly forbidden speaking of or referring to marriage in the presence of their parents or brothers. if a young man loves a young lady, he does not ask his parents' consent to marriage, but tells his aunt or married sister about what cupid has done for him. this news is soon conveyed to his mother and then it is proper for her to call on the mother of the young lady. if not already acquainted with the young woman, this visit will give her an opportunity to form an opinion of her. if that opinion is favorable, all is well and the matter will be further considered. but if the opinion is unfavorable she returns home and tells her son that she is not pleased and does not want him to marry this girl. this method must be resorted to as the girls and boys in assyria do not have an opportunity to associate as they do in america. mothers always advise their girls not to walk with boys and young men, and custom does not permit it. therefore, if she meets a young man in the street, she bows, and perhaps blushes a little, as she passes. if lovers are passing each other, custom does not allow them to stop and converse, but it does allow the young man to telegraph his message of love with a wink. several months usually elapse between the engagement and marriage. [illustration: nestorian wedding.] the method of making an engagement is quite different from that of americans. after a mother has assured herself that a certain girl whom her son fancies would make him a good wife, she, with two or three relatives, will send word to the girl's parents that they will call at a certain time, and stay over night. while there the object of their visit will be made known and the matter discussed. if the girl's parents are ever so willing, they will not give their consent at the first visit, but will take the matter into consideration. the friends are invited to call again in two or three weeks for an answer. a third or fourth visit may be made before a final answer is obtained. at the last visit the father of the girl says, in reply to a request for an answer, that the girl does not belong to him. he says he gave her to his brother. the brother then says he gave her to his sister, etc., until the person is reached who can give her away. this man rises and says, "i give our daughter to mr. and mrs. ---- as a handmaiden." the question now being settled, refreshments are served and the company rejoices until a late hour. sometimes the foregoing proceedings are witnessed from an opening in the roof by the young man who is most interested and who is anxiously awaiting the result. during the period of the betrothal, the young man is allowed to make but one visit. he is not allowed to kiss his betrothed until after marriage. the assyrian idea of a virgin is a pure maiden who is not married nor has ever been kissed by any man. two weeks before the wedding the young man's parents make another call to settle the amount of dowry with which to purchase wedding garments for the bride. the wedding feast lasts two or three days. on the last day a company of the groom's friends go to bring the bride. dressed in her wedding garments, and seated on a fine horse she is taken to the groom's home. the company make merry on the way with music of drum and flute, and dancing. the horse is stopped about fifty yards from the house, and the groom appears on the roof of his father's house with three red apples in his hands. kissing each one he tries to throw it over the bride. when the apples strike the ground there is a crowd of boys ready to scramble for them as there is a superstition that the lucky boy will be the next to marry. the bride now goes to her new home. the wedding ceremony, which is performed by a minister and a deacon, is taken largely from the bible. it lasts about two hours, during which time the bride and groom remain standing. the bride's dress covers her body and face from view except her forehead. she wears a crown and is called a queen. the groom wears a high feather on his crown, a sash around his chest and is called a king. for two months after the wedding they are called king and queen. they do no work during this time but visit and take life easy. moslem marriages. the marriage ceremony of the mohammedans takes place about a week before the formal wedding. it is very simple. representatives of the contracting parties go to a priest and get two ceremonial letters, one for the bride, the other for the groom. in them is stated the sum necessary for the groom to pay, if he ever divorces the woman. it further states that it is the groom's duty to love this woman and all other women that he may marry thereafter. that it is the bride's duty to love the groom and no one else. the prevailing low regard for woman grows out of the teaching of mohammed. among his last words he charged husbands not to place any confidence in their wives. he stated that they had been the cause of much of the crime and misery in the world. when a moslem goes out with his wife he is disgraced if she goes before or even beside him; she should follow. a man can marry four wives, but can divorce any one of them at any time. but a woman cannot get a divorce from her husband. a man is angry when his wife gives birth to a girl babe, and his friends fear to break the news to him. one man was known to be so angry when his fourth daughter was born, that he did not speak to his wife for three months. the mother of a son is loved the more, and the first person who breaks the news to the father is given a present. if a man murders his wife he may be fined a sum of money, but can't be executed because woman is not equal to man. the question as to whether a woman has a soul is sometimes discussed. men do not salute women in meeting them, but women are expected to bow their heads to men. part iii. chapter i. the royal family. the present dynasty is called the kajar dynasty. it began with agha mohammed khan who was taken captive by the enemy when he was a child and all of the prominent members of the family excepting children were slain. agha mohammed khan, then a boy six years of age was made a eunuch by the new king to serve in his harem. but at the age of twenty or twenty five he escaped from his master and returned to his relatives and former friends. collecting a force he attacked the king's army and after several engagements overthrew the king and took possession of the throne. as a ruler he was very cruel to his enemies but very kind to his officers and subjects. one night while resting in his tent two servants or subordinate officials in an adjoining tent quarreled and awakened the king with their noise. this angered him and the next day he ordered that both of them be beheaded. the following night, before the time for execution had come, the two condemned men formed a plot with some other officials who hated their ruler's cruelty, to kill the king. this plot was successfully carried out. the king's nephew, futteh ali, became his successor. he became one of the most noted kings of persia, and was called the king of kings. futteh ali had several sons, one of whom, abbas mirza, was chosen as crown prince this prince died in early manhood. he left a son, mohammed by name, who afterwards became king. after mohammed, the late nasiraldinshah became king and was assassinated may st, . nasiraldin was a good king and did more for persia than any ruler during the past years. he made three visits to europe and gathered many modern ideas which he wished to introduce in his kingdom. he organized a postal system connecting all the prominent towns and cities of persia. telegraphic communication was also established. he built roads between important towns and cities and detailed soldiers as guards where the roads passed through sections infested with robbers. this king reigned forty-eight years. a year ago he became a victim of a fanatical babei, a new religious sect. the assassin took the king's life while the latter was worshiping in the most holy place of a mosque. nasiraldin left four sons. the eldest is named zelli sultan. he is a highly educated and powerful man. the second son, mozafferedden succeeded his father and is now king of persia. the third son is governor of the capital. the fourth son is a youth of twelve years. before the death of the late king, zelli sultan, his first, son, began making secret preparations to usurp the throne. when the plot was learned, the son was stolen from his home one night and taken before the king. all implements of war prepared by him were confiscated, and he was sentenced to death. but high officials interceded for the son, and the sentence was changed to that of blinding him. when the hour came for putting out the prince's eyes, the king was moved by the young man's beauty, and said there was not a handsomer pair of eyes in all his empire, and that he would not destroy them. therefore zelli sultan's punishment was changed to three years' imprisonment. at the expiration of the term, the king gave him solemn warning that any further attempt at usurpation would be punished by death. i have often been asked why the first son did not take the throne instead of the second. the reason is this. the king had several wives, but the first one was a princess from his own tribe, and is called the queen. her first son must be successor to the throne. therefore zelli sultan was not eligible to the throne, as his mother was not a princess. [illustration: present shah.] the present shah is a man who has a strong desire to rule in peace. he tolerates all religious beliefs, even though they differ from his own. he is loved by all classes of people, and all religious sects because he is kind and considerate toward them. the shah is very friendly toward the christian missionaries. a few years ago he visited the presbyterian college, the ladies' seminary, and listened to some of the recitations. as an evidence of his friendliness he was a guest at the home of dr. cochran, and dined with him. not every one is so honored, for i have heard that an army officer in that part of persia offered the shah £ , to take dinner with him, but the invitation was not accepted. the shah has also visited a nestorian bishop, who resides in a cottage so humble that some lords would be ashamed to enter it. on the other hand when he was in our city of oroomiah he did not visit the homes of any of the mujtahids, but met these high priests in a mosque by appointment. of late years the royal family has been kind to christians. nine out of ten cases of cruelty to christians come from the mujtahids and the lords. the priesthood is stronger than the government in persia. sometimes the king has to give up his ideas to please the priests. for example: the late shah desired to introduce the modern railroad into persia, but the priests were bitterly opposed to it, and the king had to give up his plans. when asked why they opposed railroads, one priest gave two reasons: "first, our country is weak. if we built railroads, europeans could run in on us and take our country. second, it would destroy our religion. and we could not control our wives. if we beat them they could take the train and be in europe in one day, while now it takes twenty days. again, some of our women might marry christians and escape to europe." the king in his palace. the royal palace is surrounded by high stone walls. the grounds are entered by four beautiful gates. the walls at the sides and above the gates are adorned with the pictures of former kings and brave generals; also decorative carvings of lions, the standards of persia, and of birds. the grounds are beautifully arranged, all the roads leading to the king's palace in the center, and beautified with ornamental trees and hedges of roses of varied hues. guarding the entrances to the gates and the roadways that lead to the palace doors are numerous officers of superior rank, those nearest the palace ever standing with drawn swords. when the king sits in judgment he uses the peacock throne, and is surrounded by his six cabinet officers, who are advisers. he is absolute, and may overrule the advice of the cabinet. this body makes the laws of the land. the king appoints the members of his cabinet, the people having no voice whatever in government. when the shah tires of the routine of governmental duties, his secretary reads to him from shahnameh, a poetical history of persian kings. it is one of the king's duties to become very familiar with the history of persia and her former rulers. when the king retires to his private room at night, the entrance to the room is guarded by two most trusted officials with drawn swords. one of the four gates in the walls around the palace is called the king's gate, as he always enters through it. no other person, be he lord, count, or high official is permitted to pass through this gate on horseback or in carriage. he must dismount and walk through. when the king goes from the palace for a hunt or vacation, he is escorted out of the city by a large guard. first, coming down the street will be seen about thirty infantry bearing each a golden club, and shouting: "get out; get out!" whereupon the street is cleared of all traffic that the royal procession may pass. the infantry is followed by about fifty cavalrymen with drawn swords. next comes ten or a dozen riderless arabian horses. these horses are beauties, and are adorned with bridles of gold and many precious stones. his table. the king's table is set with the luxuries of the land. from the time of the purchase until it appears on the table, the food is inspected by two trusted officials whose duty it is to see that the king is not poisoned. before the king eats of the food it is further examined by his physician. treasury. the late shah left $ , , to his son, nearly half of which was in the form of precious stones and jewelry. perhaps he has a larger amount invested in precious stones than any other king in the world. his peacock throne which was brought from delhi, india, by king nadirshah, who captured that city about years ago, was prized at $ , , some years ago, and is worth more than that now. it is made of solid gold, and is embedded with diamonds, pearls, and other precious stones. the rug upon which he prays is worth $ , , . at the beginning of each new year, seated on the peacock throne, he wears his crown, and all of his officers bow before him and wish him a prosperous reign during the new year. on such occasions his person is covered with many dazzling jewels. wives. the late shah had forty regular wives and about sixty concubines. the present shah has seven wives. the palace in which the king's wives reside is almost as beautiful as the king's palace, near which it is located. a number of soldiers guard the entrance to this palace. there are no men inside the palace except a few eunuch servants. there is also a large number of maid servants therein. when the king has many wives he marries some of them against their will. if he fancies a beautiful daughter of a lord, her parents will frequently marry her to the king in order to get an office or a title. the eunuchs have authority to rebuke the wives of the king. sometimes a number of the women will playfully resent the eunuch's authority and push him against a wall or knock his high hat down over his eyes. once they picked an old fellow up and threw him into a pool of water greatly damaging his fine suit of clothes. at times they give a valuable present to a eunuch such as a nice robe. chapter ii. governor. persia is divided into thirteen states. the king appoints a governor over each state; this governor appoints a mayor over each city within his territory. this office is not awarded on the basis of education, ability or worthiness, but is given to the man who will pay the most money, provided his ancestry is fairly good. many mayors of cities are related to the royal family. these offices are limited to terms of one year, but many times a mayor is removed before his time is out; the subjects may complain, or some person may bid more money for the office. when a man is appointed mayor of a city, the lords and counts of that city, accompanied by soldiers, will go three miles out of the city to meet the new official. he is greeted with discharges of artillery. these lords ride on very fine arabian horses, with goldbitted bridles, and escort the mayor into the city. the new governor of the city admires the fine horses of his lords, and sometimes covets some fine steed, and before his term expires finds a way to get possession of it by helping the lord out of some trouble. if the new mayor is a prince all prisoners confined in the city jails are taken before him as he enters the city. this is to signify that, as a member of the royal family, he has authority to behead them. the third day after a new mayor has arrived in a city it is customary for lords and counts to visit him with presents of money, golden articles, arabian horses etc. as presents. a mayor has from one hundred to three hundred servants. he pays them no salary. some became his servants for the name, some from fear, and others from choice. most of these servants get their living from fines and bribes. some of them are detailed to settle quarrels between men in some village that belongs to the city. this is their opportunity and they early learn to make the most of it. the mayor has great power. he is judge, sheriff, tax-collector, etc. he has things his own way. when there is an injustice done there is no other local officer to appeal to. prisons. the prisons are frequently cellars, underground, without windows, damp and infested with flies. they are seldom ventilated, and there is no bed nor furniture in them. the government does not feed the inmates. friends of the imprisoned ones bring bread and throw to them, and some of this even, is sometimes picked up by the jailer and kept for his own nourishment. no men are allowed to visit the prisons, but wives or daughters are allowed to visit their friends if they pay a fee to the jailer. the torture of prisoners is regulated according to the nature of their crimes. the common method of torture for thieves, robbers and murderers is to put the bare foot of the criminal in a vice and squeeze it until he cries in agony. if he gives the jailer some money or promises to give some the next time his friends visit him, the pressure on the foot is lessened. if a man goes to jail wearing good clothes, the jailer often exchanges his own poorer suit for the good clothes. execution. this is done in different ways. a prince from the royal family has authority to behead men. sometimes when a good friend of the king is appointed governor, the king presents him with a knife. this is a sign and carries with it authority to behead men. every prince-mayor or other governor who has been given this authority keeps two executioners. the uniform of their office is a suit of red clothes. these two men walk before the mayor when he goes through the streets. when a condemned man is to be executed he is brought from the cell, hands chained behind, and with a chain about his neck. he is surrounded by a group of soldiers with fixed bayonets. the guilty man has been in a dungeon for several months perhaps. his clothes are in rags, and, having had no bath since first imprisoned, he is very dirty, his hair and beard are long and shaggy. a few steps before him walks the executioner, with blood-red garments and a knife in his hand. thus they proceed to the public square, and before the assembled crowd the executioner steps behind the kneeling victim and with a single stroke of the keen knife cuts his throat, and another soul takes its flight, having completed its part in the drama of life. a common mayor who has not the authority to behead, may kill criminals by fastening them to the mouth of a cannon and sending a ball through the body. another method is to bury the condemned alive in a cask filled with cement, leaving only the head exposed. the cement soon hardens and the victim dies. sometimes when their crime is not very bad the punishment is the severing of one hand from the body. if the man thus punished should commit a second crime the remaining hand would be severed. if a mohammedan becomes drunk with wine and gets loud and abusive, he is arrested, and the executioner punctures the partition skin between the nostrils of the drunken man, and a cord of twine, several feet long, is passed through the opening. then the executioner starts down the street leading his victim. the man soon gets sober and is very much ashamed. shopkeepers give the executioner pennies as he passes along the street. men who quarrel and fight are punished by tying their feet to a post, with the bare soles upward, and then whipping the feet until the flesh is bruised and bleeding and, frequently, the nails torn from the toes. the victims frequently become insensible under this punishment. one good thing in the laws of punishment is that no christians or jews are ever beheaded. the mohammedans consider the christian and jew as being unclean, and think it would be a mean thing to behead them. princes, lords and counts are never beheaded. the most severe punishment for a prince is to pluck out his eyes. the method of execution for counts and lords is of two kinds. the king will send a bottle of sharbat to the condemned man which is given him in the form of a sweet drink but it contains a deadly poison. he is compelled to drink this and soon dies. another form is for the condemned man to be met by a servant from the governor after having taken a bath and the servant cuts blood-vessels in the arm of the condemned until death results from loss of blood. thus it will be seen that the contrast in modes of punishment in a christian nation and a mohammedan nation is very great. the kind of punishment inflicted on criminals in any country grows out of the prevailing religious belief of that country. a religion that has much cruelty in it will lead a people to torture its criminals. but a nation whose religion is based upon love will deal with its criminals effectively, but as kindly as possible. the writer has visited prisons in both persia and america and finds that the contrast between the prisons of the two countries is like the contrast of a palace and a cellar. prisoners in america ought to be very thankful for the humane treatment they receive under this christian government. chapter iii. counts or lords. the counts and lords live in luxury. their title was not obtained by great service to the nation or by high education. it descends from ancestors, and many ignorant and unworthy men bear this title. wealthy merchants sometimes purchase a title for their sons. the titled class in persia is very numerous. in one city of , inhabitants there are more than counts. they own almost all of the land in persia. in some instances one count owns as much as one hundred villages. all inhabitants of a village are subjects of the count and they pay taxes to him and also to the king. the men pay a poll tax of one dollar a year; a tax is levied on all horses, cows, sheep, and chickens. the count gets two thirds of all grain raised by the farmers, and he expects a portion of all fruits raised, which portion is called a present. if this 'present' is not large enough to please the count, he has an unfavorable opinion of the subject and soon finds faults in him and withholds favors. all of the count's work is done by his subjects without pay. when he builds a palace or cultivates a vineyard, he calls upon his subjects to do the work. he punishes his subjects if they rebel or are discourteous to him. sometimes the punishment is so severe that death is the result. the count collects a large sum of money annually from his subjects in the way of fines--some of them for most trivial offences or discourtesies, and these numerous fines keep the subjects very poor. the counts are the most immoral class of people in persia. they are without education, knowing nothing of the sciences, geography, mathematics or political economy, but most of them can read and write the persian language and know something of persian history. it is not much wonder that this leisure class becomes immoral, for it is a disgrace for them to do any kind of work, and "satan finds work for idle hands to do." a count can't keep his own accounts or sell goods in a store. there are no newspapers and magazines circulated throughout persia to occupy and lead out the thought of the people of leisure hours. no public libraries, and no private libraries except those of a few persian volumes. the only newspaper published in persia is an eight page paper published every three weeks. it does not circulate much outside of the capital city. the presbyterian mission publishes a monthly paper about christian work. when a subject goes before his lord, he finds the lord seated in his private room before a window. the subject bows before approaching near to the window. when the lord is ready to listen, the subject comes to the window. he usually meets with a frown and gets replies to his questions in a gruff voice. as a class the counts are not strong physically; they eat and drink too much for their own good. chapter iv. cities, schools and holidays. the persian cities generally are very old and most of them are surrounded by walls about six feet through and twenty feet high. the walls are made of clay, tramped solid by buffaloes or by men. the gates giving entrance to the city are opened during the day from eight o'clock in the morning until night. these walls would not withstand a charge from modern cannon, but they were very useful fourteen years ago when parts of the empire were overrun by about , kurds, a tribe of wild nomads. they spoiled the villages wherever they went but could not take the walled cities. the streets of cities are generally narrow and crooked, and are not paved. the best houses are brick with stone foundation. some poor men build homes with sun dried brick and still others make the walls of mud. the roof is flat and made of mud supported by timber. the houses are built adjoining one another, so that men can walk all over the city on the housetops. this is the common way of travel in winter when the streets are muddy. in some of the large cities like the capital, tehran, and isphahan and shiraz modern paving of streets with stone is being introduced. on each business street a single line of goods is sold. one will be devoted to drygoods, another to groceries, another to carpenter shops, another to iron and silver smiths, etc. the streets are from ten to thirty feet in width, and many of them are arched over with brick, so that rain and snow are shut out. light is let into these enclosed streets by openings in the top of the arch. camels, horses and donkeys bearing burdens of various kinds of goods may be seen passing through the streets. and in open squares of the city there stand many of these animals belonging to men who have come to the city to buy or sell goods. before some of the mosques may be seen secretaries or mollahs whose business it is to write documents in business transactions for which they get from two to fifteen cents. in buying goods in persia a stranger is liable to be cheated. it is a custom among dealers to ask two or three times what an article is worth, expecting to come down with the price before making a sale. the silver smiths do some highly skillful work in making rings for the ears and fingers, and belts for the ladies. in all persia you cannot find a lady selling goods in a store, except in one street where poor old women and widows are allowed to come for a few hours each day to sell such articles as caps, purses, sacks and soaps. their faces must be covered except the eyes. only a few women of the lower class are seen in the stores buying goods, and they must not have their faces exposed to view. no christian can sell fluids such as milk, oil, syrups or juicy fruits like grapes. it is against the mohammedan law to buy such things from a christian. if a christian wishes to buy any such goods from a mohammedan he must not touch the same, as the merchant could not thereafter sell it to a mohammedan. there are many pick-pockets, both male and female in the crowded streets. a stranger must beware. weights. the standard measure is the miscal, of which equals a pound. four persian pounds equal one hapta while it takes five american pounds to equal one hapta. eight hapta equal one batma. four batma equal one khancaree. in this measure they weigh raisins, molasses, and tobacco. ten batma equal one load. in this they weigh green wheat, corn, etc. twenty-five batma equal kharwar. in this they weigh fuel. the money is of copper and silver and a very little gold. the following table shows the values of persian coins: denars = / cent denars = cent denars = cent denars = cent , denars = cent , denars = dollar the bankers sit on small rugs before the shops with boxes of money in their laps. their chief business through the day is to change money. for changing cents into copper, they charge one cent, and the fee increases in proportion to the amount of the bill changed. interest in persia, especially among mohammedans, is very high, being from to per cent. per annum. but the synod of the presbyterian evangelical church has a law which forbids any of their members charging more than or per cent. there are no gas or electric lights in the streets of a persian city. the mayor appoints an officer, who has a number of assistants, to watch over the city day and night. every day of the year is given a name by the mayor; as, lion, eagle, cyrus, fortune, etc. this word is known only to the officials and such persons as may have been given permission to be out at a late hour. if an officer finds a man on the street after o'clock he calls to him to give the name of the night. if he can't do this he is arrested. one of the worst things in a persian city is the large graveyards, which contain two to five acres of ground. mohammedans dig up the remains of a dead relative to carry it to a shrine place, and these removals often fill the city with bad odors. these graveyards make excellent hiding places for robbers and thieves. there are many robbers outside of the city walls, and it is very dangerous to go out after night, even a distance of one mile. victims are usually shot while at a distance, or stabbed and then plundered. the hammams or bath-places are quite numerous in the cities. they are usually well-built, brick buildings and have within two or three pools of water, some hot, others cold. men can bathe any day in the week except friday, which day is reserved for women. the charge is three or four cents. christians cannot enter a mohammedan hammam, as they are considered unclean. holidays. the mohammedans have several holidays. neither the government nor the priesthood compel observance of these days, but they are usually observed either for the sake of rest, religious profit or amusement. there is, however, one set of holidays, ten days known as moharram, that is strictly observed by all faithful mohammedans. there is also one national holiday generally observed in memory of the beginning of the persian nation. it is called newrooz, meaning new day. this name was given by a persian king in ancient times. two weeks before this day all stores will be decorated with different kinds of fruits, such as palms, figs, pomegranates, apples, almonds, and raisins. also some fine shawls and rugs are hung before the stores. during these two weeks most people buy of these fruits and prepare for the national feast. on that day nearly every man, woman and child puts on some new garments of clothing and new clothes throughout if possible. people also clean their houses for this occasion. on the evening of newrooz a table is spread with the finest fruits and the family will gather around and feast until a late hour in the night. the poor are remembered on these occasions and presents of fruit are sent to them. christians are also frequently remembered in this way. schools. there is no system of public or state schools in persia. there are schools in all large towns and cities which are taught by the priest in a room of the mosque. these schools are voluntary, no person being obliged to send his children. the students pay the priest each from to cents per month. those who can't pay anything are admitted free. the priest's food is brought to him by the students. the ages of the pupils range from ten to twenty years. these schools are for boys only. there are no schools for girls. if a girl gets any education at all, it must be from a private tutor. in the schools the textbooks in history and poetry are in the persian language and koran and grammar are taught in the arabic language. mathematics, geography, the sciences and the history of other nations are never taught. when the pupils are at study they reel back and forth and repeat words loud enough to be heard a block away. they imagine this is an aid to memory. the teacher has authority to punish the students very severely. sometimes a parent will take his child to a teacher and will deliver him into the gentle keeping of the professor with the remark: "his bones are mine, but his flesh is yours. teach him, but punish him as you see fit." a post is planted in the schoolroom to which a wild boy's feet are fastened, soles upward, and the bottoms are whipped with heavy switches. this punishment is only for the worst boys. for mild offences, the teacher raps the student over the head with a long switch which is always kept in a convenient place or carried in the teacher's hand. the religious teaching consists of quotations from koran and traditions about their prophets. the boys are usually very bad about reviling each other and about fighting. the teacher does not protect the weaker, but urges him to return the revilings or the blows he has received. the students of one mosque often attack the students of a neighboring mosque as they regard them as enemies. the most prominent university of the shiite mohammedans is in the shrine place of karballa. all those who are to become mujtahids study at this place. in several of the large cities they have schools of higher rank than the ordinary mosque school in which a course of persian literature is given. it is a pleasure to state that the late shah, after his visit to some of the universities of europe, founded a college in the capital city which is called the place of science. the french, english and russian languages are taught, and the study of some modern sciences are being introduced. the college is only for princes and the children of rich people. it is only one flower in a vast wilderness. the problem of mohammedanism is to keep the common people ignorant, so the priest can continue to rule them. therefore the priesthood does not favor higher education. some counts or lords send their sons to paris to be educated, but the ordinary young men have no opportunities for education. part iv. chapter i. bobeism. the mohammedan religion is to-day divided in about fifty different sects. this division greatly weakens it. the bobe sect was started by mirza mohammed ali of shiraz, a city in which reside the most intellectual and poetical scholars of persia. he began to plan the new religion at the age of eighteen, but did not reveal it until he was twenty-five years old. the foundation of his faith was this: mohammed, like christ, taught that the latter days will be a millennium. they have a tradition that when all the prophets had died, or had been killed by their enemies, a son six years of age was, by the direction of allah, hid in an unknown well. he was to remain there until the time for the millennium. it was believed that he would be the ruler of the mohammedans in these last days. he was to lead both his victorious armies and conquer all the world, and islam would become the universal religion. mirza mohammed ali based his doctrine on this theory but changed it somewhat. at the age of twenty-five he made several pilgrimages to shrines, such as karballa, mecca, and medina, and then returned to his native town of shiraz. at first he began to teach his doctrine to his confidential friends and relatives until it was deepened in their hearts. and then he began to preach to the public that he was mehdeialzaman. his doctrine. he taught that every age must have its own prophet, inspired from god. he claimed that he was inspired and that he had frequent communications from god telling him how to direct the people. he openly claimed to be mehdeialzaman. and he taught that the priesthood and the religion were corrupt and that he was appointed to renew them. he did not oppose the koran, but at the same time said that every age needs a new bible. he claimed to have received a bible from god. this book is called bayon, meaning exposition. he taught the equality of both sexes and paid homage to woman. he showed that it was against the law of god to marry more than one woman or to keep concubines. further, it is against the law of society and the happiness of women to marry more than one wife. the law of divorce, which is common among mohammedans, was not practised by the new sect. the place of woman among them is the same as among christians. the prophet taught that the spirit of charity ought to be as a flame of fire in the hearts of his followers. he said we cannot please god if we see our brother in need and do not help him, if we pray he will not hear us, if we worship him he will turn his face away from us. believing this, the spirit of charity is very strong among them, and they support the needy. the use of wine and all intoxicants is strictly forbidden. they are very kind to people of other faiths who are not mohammedans; them they hate. mehdeialzaman preached these doctrines and won many hearts. the converts were generally intelligent and well educated. his doctrine spread through the southern and northeastern parts of persia. among his followers were two prominent and attractive persons, mollah hussein and hajee mohammed ali. he called them his right and left hand supporters. another convert of importance was a lady of rare attainments. in poetry she was accomplished, in beauty wonderfully rare, and she was highly educated. she traveled with two assistants from state to state and from city to city preaching the new doctrine. she never met bobe, the founder and knew of him only through letters. she said that god had endowed him with unusual gifts for this holy cause. by the power of her eloquence she made many converts, and was called by her followers, kurratool alaein, which is a very high title. personal appearance of bobe. in stature he was tall and slender, eyes black; eyebrows, heavy and long; beard, patriarchal. his countenance was very pleasant and attractive. in conversation with high and low classes of people alike he showed himself a servant of all. he was poetical, a great orator and a deep thinker. he wrote many beautiful poems. his epistles to his disciples were philosophical. his words in sermons touched the hearts of men. when orthodox mohammedans saw that bobeism was spreading among the people, the priesthood and the government joined in severely persecuting the disciples of the new faith. the disciples were scattered by this persecution to different cities which resulted in a still greater spread of the new doctrine. at that time the prophet appointed eighteen of his apostles as guards of the faith. two of them were women, and he requested that this rule be followed in future ages. about this time bobe and his twelve disciples were arrested in shiraz and taken to isphahan. while imprisoned there his doctrines were being rapidly carried on by his followers. he was finally banished to makoo, an obscure town between persia and russia, as it was thought his religion could not spread from such an obscure place. but his doctrine soon prevailed there. at last the priesthood and government decided to bring him to tabreez to be shot. after his arrival in tabreez many learned priests came to discuss doctrines with him, but none were able to answer his questions, but his enemies were determined to kill him. bobe and his twelve disciples were hanged to a wall before the soldiers. before the order to fire, the disciples were given a chance to save their lives by denying bobe's faith. only one denied the faith and was saved. the others asserted that they were willing to die for the truth. when the soldiers obeyed command to shoot, all the disciples on the wall were killed. but bobe was not struck by the ball; it struck above his body cutting in two the rope by which he was suspended. bobe fell to the ground unharmed and tried to escape through the crowd. he ran into a house which proved to be the home of an officer, who promptly arrested the fleeing prophet and returned him to the executioner. before the second shot was fired bobe was again promised freedom if he would deny his own teachings. he replied that many of the holy prophets of the past died for the truth and that he, too, was willing to die in this holy testimony. after the killing of bobe and his disciples, the government issued an edict that the surviving followers who would not deny bobe should be killed. this happened at the beginning of the reign of the late shah. many fanatical bobes tried to kill the shah. soon after the edict one of them shot at the chief ruler of the land, but was killed by a soldier. after this incident, fiery persecutions arose against them and about eighteen thousand of their number were killed. the torture inflicted in many instances was very cruel. the more prominent victims were taken to the capital city, stripped of clothing except trousers, and led about the streets while flaming candles were burning away their flesh. many of them cried allegiance to bobe to the last. the heroic death of the fanatical bobes had the effect on many prominent men in the capital of making them believers in bobe. after the great massacre, which occurred in , the believers in bobe held their faith in secret. eighteen men, whose names were not generally known, were appointed guardians of the faith, and one very learned young man was appointed to take bobe's place. his title is baha and he resides in akra, a small city in turkish territory. even to-day they are very earnest in spreading their religion, but their work is done in secret. their apostles go from place to place and are known by a secret sign. the enmity between them and the orthodox mohammedans has been very severe. from the killing of bobe until the present time they have been trying to kill the shah. in their first attempt they failed, but a year ago while the shah was worshiping in the most holy place of the mosque, he became the victim of a fanatic bobe who had disguised himself as a woman. this bobe, while under disguise, shot the king, who died two minutes afterward. some thought that the government would again persecute them, but there were some hindrances which would not permit this. in the first place their religion is kept secret; it is impossible to know who belongs to this new sect. secondly, many of the high classes and royal officers belong to this sect, and for this reason it would be impossible to persecute them. thirdly, their number to-day would reach two hundred thousand, and to kill this immense company would certainly damage the government. their antagonism against the government and against orthodox mohammedanism is caused entirely by the lack of freedom of religious worship. they are very warm friends of the christians, placing in them the greatest confidence, sometimes they will even lodge in the houses of christians and eat with them without questioning. this a strict mohammedan would never do. they readily allow the christians to preach to them and to discuss religion with them. yet it is not an easy matter to convert them, for one must know their manner of life and religious doctrines to successfully meet their arguments. a few however have been truly converted. this filled the mohammedans with hatred both against the christians and the converts. when the christian shows the superiority of christ and of his doctrine over that of their prophet bobe, they are forced into silence. they are now securing many converts from mohammedanism, and it is believed that the time will come when religious toleration will be obtained by them. this will also give the christians a good opportunity of preaching the gospel. chapter ii. the kurds. the kurds are the wildest tribe of nomads in all asia. they have been known in europe as raiders for a long time, and during the past two years they have attracted the attention of the civilized world by their horrible massacre of the armenians. it may be of interest to the reader to know something more of the life of this tribe. a former student of the writer who spent several years among the kurds as a physician, and who mastered their language and is intimately acquainted with their lives, manners, and customs, has kindly given some of the information that follows. in regard to their ancestry it is very difficult to trace back to the original stock from which they came. they have lived under the authority of several governments, and it is believed that in their blood is a mixture of old assyrian, chaldean, babylonian, and arabian. it is supposed that some of the wildest characters in all of these old nations formed the tribe of kurds, of whom there are to-day, about , , . their dwelling-place is in the kurdiston mountains, a large territory through which runs the boundary line between turkey and persia. most of it lies in turkey. the kurds are nominally subjects of these two countries, but practically they are a band of outlaws beyond the control of any government. those who live in the mountain districts pay no taxes to turkey or persia, but those residing in the villages of the plains are required to pay taxes the same as other citizens. great numbers of them residing in the mountains and deserts are nomads, traveling where they will with their herds and flocks. a kurd is very wild and independent in spirit. he would rather live in a cave under a projecting rock and be unmolested, than to dwell in a palace and be subject to higher authority. some of the tribes have a small village in the mountains, to which they return in winter. recognizing the wild and daring spirit of these men, the sultan of turkey has trained some of the dwellers in villages of the plains for cavalrymen, and called them the imperial cavalry. mounted on splendid arabian horses and provided with modern firearms, they are well-nigh invincible. the persian government has no confidence in the kurds, and so employs none of them in the army. [illustration: kurdish chief and attendants.] occupation. the kurds seldom cultivate the soil, but keep herds of cattle and horses and flocks of sheep, moving from place to place in search of good pasture. they can make very good carpets and other articles of wool, which they sell to persian and turkish merchants. some of them become very rich from their herds and flocks and from the sale of carpets. one of their principal occupations is robbery. parents teach their children how to become successful thieves. a father will give his son, of six or seven years of age, a pistol, dagger and shield and then play robber with the child, showing him how to use these deadly instruments. a kurd once told the writer of his timid son. the child was afraid to steal. the father wanted to make him a successful thief and so tried the following plan. the first night he sent the child to steal grapes from his own vineyard; the second night, corn from his own crib; the third night, grapes from a stranger, next a chicken, then a sheep, then to enter a house, and so on until the youth became one of the most daring of highway robbers. then the father was proud of his son and told him that he had become a man and could marry. the girls of these tribes will not marry a man until his reputation as a successful robber is established. they want to be assured that they will not be allowed to starve after marriage. as before stated, the kurds are divided into tribes, each tribe having a chief. these tribes are generally enemies with one another. the chief of a tribe will lead his men against another tribe and kill all the men and take the flocks, herd and all other property as booty. but they do not harm the women and children. an old man is not honored by a tribe. they say he can't fight nor rob and is good for nothing but to feed sheep. the man most highly honored is the one who has killed many men. when a man is killed in battle or while robbing he is honored at the funeral by the singing of many songs, in weeping and in lamentation; but not many tears are shed when one dies a natural death. they are very skillful horsemen, and have fine horses which become very intelligent under training. their horses bring a high price in turkey and persia. their character. the kurds are very quick-tempered. a slight offense will make them an enemy and they will at once seek revenge. they are very fond of fighting and war. very active and nimble in climbing mountains and in running and fighting. they love to revile an enemy and are continually trying to invent new and more severe expressions of hatred. it is their nature to quarrel and fight. brothers often become angered over a small matter and fight to death. they think no more of killing a man than we do of killing a chicken. they are very licentious, especially those living in towns and cities. husband and wife are not loyal to each other and this is frequently the cause of murder. as a people they have no foresight, having no thought for the morrow. they have a saying among them, "god will be merciful for to-morrow." they are very rash, acting on the impulse of the moment and having no consideration for consequences. they never forget a kindness shown them. if a kurd eat bread given him, he will never try to rob the giver. this is against their law. they treat travelers very kindly who may come to their tents or caves, and will offer him food. but it would not be well for him to show any gold while there as they would follow and rob him. the most prominent characteristic of the race is thieving. most all of the thieves in persia and turkey are kurds. a kurd was once arrested in persia for stealing and a hand was cut off as punishment. soon after he was again arrested for the same offence, and the other hand was cut off. the third time he was found stealing and arrested. there being no other member of the body left which is used in the art of stealing except the head, that was cut off. thus the poor kurd's career ended. houses. their houses are made of stone and mud and are usually under projecting rocks or in the side of a hill. the roof is so low that a man cannot stand erect. the writer once visited a kurd's home. the wife brought a carpet and spread it in the center of the large room on which to be seated, and then fixed some bread and milk for a luncheon. in one corner of the house were tied a pair of fine horses; in another stood several cows quietly chewing their cuds, while a few sheep were lying on the opposite side of the room. it is needless to say that this house, like all other kurdish houses, was a dirty, filthy place. the men are tall and slender with very black hair and eyes. living a wild out-door life they are very healthy and strong. the women are very beautiful. sometimes persian lords marry them. the food of the kurds consists of milk, butter, bread, honey, vegetables and but little meat. religion. in religion the kurds are mohammedans of the turkish faith. their chief priests are called sheikh and are honored as a god. they kneel before a chief priest and kiss his hands, clothes and shoes, and ask for his blessing. to penitent ones he promises that he will ask god to forgive their sins. he has absolute power over laymen. they believe his words as inspired truth and obey implicitly. one leader of this type assisted turkey in a war against russia some years ago. he commanded about , kurds. he told them not to be afraid of the big cannon that would be seen when they met the russians, for, he says, "i have by the help of allah bound the mouths of these cannon and they can't hurt you." believing this statement, the kurds wildly flew into the face of the big guns and many thousand were slain. there are priests of different rank but all are subordinate to the sheikh. they are more superstitious and fanatical than the mohammedans of turkey or persia. they have no written languages. they speak a mixed language collected from persian arabic, syrian, and other tongues. the kurds have been called wild asses of the desert, thirsty to shed blood and eager to plunder. part v. chapter i. the nestorians. nestorius was a greek, born in the latter part of the fourth century near germanicia. he became a monk in the roman catholic church and was ordained an elder by the patriarch of antioch. being learned in literature and an orator of power, he became patriarch of constantinople in . cyril, patriarch of alexandria, was jealous of nestorius as he desired to become patriarch of constantinople himself. he attacked the teachings of nestorius, claiming that he taught that there are in christ two distinct persons and two natures; and that he denied the divinity of christ in refusing to call the virgin mary the mother of god. this criticism of nestorius's teachings is without foundation, as he did not teach anything of the kind. many writers of church history have made this mistaken criticism. there are now in the possession of prominent nestorians manuscripts of nestorius from to years old and in none of them is that doctrine held. nestorians of to-day resent this doctrine as being no part of their belief. nestorius believed that mary was the mother of christ and that christ had two natures, perfect god and perfect man, united with each other but not mingled. he rejected pictures and statues representing christ, mary or the saints. upon this basis he was anathematized in the council of ephesus in a.d. in the council his friends were absent and nestorius refused to attend as his enemy cyril presided at the council and had power to rule it. nestorius then united himself with the syrian church whose doctrines agreed with his own. he soon became a prominent leader among this sect and the name nestorians was given to the sect by enemies. many learned men in the syrian church of to-day are not willing to be called by this name. not because they reject any of nestorius's doctrine but because they say it is not right for a nation to be called after the name of a stranger. but most uneducated people glory in being called nestorians. the true origin of the nestorians was in the old assyrian nation. the assyrians were descendants of arphaxad the son of shem. their place. they originally dwelt in or near the cradle of mankind, in eastern mesopotamia, assyria and syria. at times their empire extended nearly to babylon and nineveh and the great empire of assyria was established. language. all assyrian scholars believe or suppose that the original language spoken before the confusion of tongues was assyrian, while some other scholars believe it was the hebrew language. it is believed that in time it will be generally agreed that assyrian was the original language. it is evident that abraham was a descendant of aber, grandson of arphaxad, third son of shem. the assyrian language was spoken in purity until the time of abraham. when he left his parents by command of god to dwell in canaan and egypt it is an inevitable truth that abraham spoke the language of his assyrian parents. but when he dwelt in canaan and egypt his speech became mixed with words of those languages. the old testament was written by this confused language of assyria and egypt which was called holy language. therefore we see names in the old testament both of assyrian and the mixed language of abraham. chapter ii. their history. st. thomas and st. bartholomew from the twelve apostles, and the st. eddi and st. maree from the seventy apostles have been called the apostles of assyria. their first patriarch was st. maree whose residence was in ktispon on the river tigris which was for a long time capital of the sassanites dynasty. st. maree expired in a.d. . after his death his disciples went to jerusalem and chose abriz as their patriarch. he served from a.d. to . after abriz from a.d. to , abraham, a relative of the apostle james, became their patriarch. his successor was james, a just man, and a relative of the virgin mary, mother of our lord. akhad abowoy became their patriarch from to . during this period there was a severe war between the romans and persians. the latter then ruled over persia, assyria and babylonia. the patriarch of jerusalem, a subject of rome, advised the assyrians who were under the parthians to elect a patriarch who was a subject of the parthians. the parthians ruled over persia from b.c. until a.d. in all the changes of government the assyrians have kept in office a succession of patriarchs even to the present time. the residence of their first patriarch was in ktispon and since that time at various places as baghdad, babel, nineveh, mosoel and for a long time at elkosh, the town of the prophet nahum. he now resides in kurdiston mountain in the village of kudshanoos. his home is located on a hill surrounded by much beautiful scenery. the church in which marshimon administers is called st. ruben, a building made of granite. [illustration: nestorian archbishop.] chapter iii. clergy. the assyrian church believe they have an apostolic succession from st. thomas and st. bartholomew. there are seven orders in the clergy. the patriarch, metropolitan, episcopas, archdeacon, elder, deacon and reader. the first three are forbidden marriage. the eating of meat is prohibited but fish, butter and eggs can be used. in olden times the presence of twelve metropolitans was required at the ordination of a patriarch, but to-day they require only four metropolitans and a few episcopas. the patriarch ordains the metropolitans and episcopas and these in turn ordain the lower clergy. it is the duty of the patriarch to overlook the entire church. much of his time is also taken up in sending messages to kurdish priests and to turkish officials about wrongs that have been committed against his people. the patriarch is highly respected and his messages receive prompt attention. his income consists of a small annual fee of five to twenty cents from all the men who belong to his sect. fifty years ago it was a custom for elders to marry a virgin and not a widow. this custom is not observed now. they have seven orders of monks. in ancient times these were the strength of the church. the monks are pure men and learned. there are a few nuns, one of the most faithful of whom is a sister of the present patriarch. chapter iv. churches and ordinances. their faith. their faith as it is described in some ancient mss about years old was entirely evangelical. they believed in the trinity, god the father, son and holy spirit, three persons, equal in power and nature, working together for the salvation of mankind. some western historians have made the error of stating that the assyrians deny the divinity of christ or believe that he has two personalities. from the beginning until the present time they have believed in the merit of saints. their clergy does not claim the power to forgive sins. they accept the creed of the apostles and it is recited by the clergy and by religious men. many days of fasting are observed, as fifty days before easter, twenty-five days before christmas, and others. on these days old people take no food until noon. in times of persecution their schools and books were destroyed and the people became ignorant. catholics introduced among them their literature which changed prevailing doctrines. their churches. many of their churches are built of stone while others are made of brick and clay. some of the buildings are years old and will stand many years to come. the walls are about eight feet thick at the base gradually tapering toward the top. in the older churches the doors are quite low and it is necessary for a man to stoop in entering. it is believed by some that the doors were built in this way that the church might be used as a place of refuge, rolling stones in the doorway after entering. others say the object was to prevent horses, cattle and other animals from entering. these churches are regarded as most sacred places and are called houses of god. there is an interior stairway leading to the roof, which is necessary for repairing the roof or shoveling off snow. the yard in front of a church is shaded with elm-trees; the yard is used as a graveyard. extending from each corner of the roof is a pair of horns from a wild goat, which is a sign of sacrifice. there is a small room in the rear of the building which is called the most holy place. in this room the priests carry on certain ceremonies and no other people are allowed to enter it at any time. before this room is a small pulpit on which are placed a cross, bible, and other ceremonial books. the only windows are a few small openings just below the room. candles are burned during hours of service to light the room, and incense is burned as a ceremonial and to produce a pleasing odor. there are no pictures on the walls but there are some decorations in the way of finely embroidered silk towels brought by some of the worshipers. reading scripture and prayer-book, and chanting psalms are the main features of worship. there is no music except a number of small bells on the walls which the worshipers ring as they enter the building. the audience sits on the floor or stands through the service. assyrians believe the two chief ordinances are the lord's supper and baptism. the ordaining of priests and marriage are ordinances that rank next in importance. baptism is administered by bishops and elders. all the children of a member are baptized by immersing three times. some believe that baptism regenerates a child, while others say it will have a good effect provided the parents give the child proper training thereafter. the lord's supper is administered with much ritual on festival days such as easter, christmas and ascension day. this ceremony is more highly honored than any other ordinance as it commemorates the death and victory of christ. both wine and bread are used. a few years ago (and even now in some places) it was a custom to make the bread and wine from gleanings brought in from the fields and vineyards by virgins. this was considered pure and more acceptable as it had belonged to no man. they do not believe with the catholics that the bread and wine become the flesh and blood of christ, but they put much emphasis on these ingredients after the same have been consecrated. they are then holy. on the night previous to communion day, the priest and deacons go to the church shortly after midnight and entering into the most holy place, make the bread for use on the next day. the priest himself kneads the dough. this bread is considered more sacred than that made in the ordinary way. after the bread has been made, the remainder of the night is spent in chanting psalms, scripture and prayer-book. an hour before sunrise the people flock to the church. when the church is full of worshipers the priest mounts the pulpit, chants the sacred words for an hour or more. the audience remains in perfect silence until he reaches the end of a psalm or the end of the service, when all the people say "amen." the priest and a deacon stand in the pulpit to administer the sacrament. communicants come forward one by one and the priest puts a small piece of bread in their mouths, and the deacon gives the wine. children under seven years of age do not partake of the sacrament. on these occasions the priest and deacon wear long white robes of silk or cotton, tied about with a long silk girdle. a turban is worn on the head. chapter v. assyrian or nestorian college. the golden age of this church was the period from the fourth to the thirteenth century. they had twenty-five flourishing colleges. the most important schools were located at oddessa, nesibis, and urhai. the latter was called the queen of schools. these schools, while they flourished, were the secret of the churches' strength. the instructors were the most learned men of their age. aiwaz and st. basil of nesibis and urhai were among the most learned teachers. the assyrian, arabic and greek languages were taught classically. medicine, astronomy, and mathematics including geometry were taught. especial attention was given to the study of theology. there were as many as , monks and students in some of these institutions. their doctors of medicine were given high positions under the arabian and persian governments. literature in the eastern languages was rich. from these schools came great church fathers who defended the church from the heretics of the age. there is one mss years old in the library of the presbyterian mission which is called "persecuted simon." it was written by simon, a student in one of these colleges. it contains twelve lectures all against the heretics of his age. during that period about such mss were written. there are to-day in europe many mss written by these scholars that are from to years old. the new testament was translated into the assyrian language in the middle of the second century. these mss are skillfully executed and show the beauty and antiquity of this church. only three of these ancient mss are now to be found in persia, but there are many of them scattered in the libraries of europe. chapter vi. assyrian missionary spirit. the aim of the schools mentioned in the preceding chapter was to educate monks to become missionaries and spread the gospel. these schools were fountains from which flowed living waters for a thirsty land. there was no other nation in their age that possessed such a spirit of christian vitality. zeal for the spread of the gospel was burning in their hearts as a divine flame. there was a class of bishops appointed by their leaders to awaken and keep alive this missionary spirit. "the dying love of christ for sinners" was the text from which they preached. also his last commission to his disciples, matt. : , . these bishops preached with an inspiration from god, and enflamed many hearts until they were ready to sacrifice their lives for christ. these missionaries wore sandals on the feet, carried a staff of peace in the hand, and a knapsack on the shoulder containing bread and manuscripts of sacred writing. thus equipped, they journeyed into heathen lands, following the command of their nazarene teacher. the church was very poor and had no board of foreign missions to guarantee even a small income. the missionaries went forth trusting in their heavenly father. if he took care of the birds of the air, how much more would he care for the heralds of his gospel. the week before departure was spent in fasting and prayer and consecration. on the last day they partook of communion from the hand of their leader, and solemn advice was given by the bishop. in parting the bishop kissed the missionary's brow, and the latter kissed the bishop's hand; and the bishop would say: "the lord god of the prophets and apostles be with you; the love of christ defend you; the holy spirit sanctify and continually comfort you." some of the missionaries went to distant lands, requiring eight to twelve months to make the journey on foot. they worked in china, india, tatariston, persia, bloogistan, afghanistan, and northern africa. success followed their work. in the territory between china and tatariston, they converted , heathen. not long ago a monument was unearthed in china which had been set about years ago by one of these pioneers of the cross. on it were engraved the names of many of their leaders, and also the creed, doctrine of the trinity, and incarnation of christ. they established twenty-five churches in northern persia. in southern india is a small church planted at that time. these followers are now called the disciples of st. thomas, and sometimes their young priests come to persia to be ordained by the patriarch, who resides in the kurdiston mountains. this spirit which was shining as the sun in heaven began to languish in the tenth century, and by the fourteenth century had entirely died. at that time some of the church's true sons in lamentation said: "how are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!" hundreds of their missionaries had become martyrs of christ in a heroic spirit. they would enter fire singing praises to god, believing their shed blood would be the seed of the church. chapter vii. their persecutions. this ancient church of the assyrians which began with the apostles, has been praised in all the eastern and western churches for its zeal in spreading the gospel, but at no time in its history has it been free from persecution. like the burning bush of old, this church has been burning with persecution, but has not been consumed. the ten plagues of egypt have been here repeated several times. it has passed through the agony of blood, but with a spirit of submission to the will of god who rules over all the changes of a nation for the good of his own kingdom. severe persecutions began in a.d. . when constantine convened the nicean council of the delegates from the eastern church, mostly from assyria, only eleven of them were free from mutilation in some form. at the time the sassanites dynasty ruled over assyria. their patriarch was st. shumon, son of a painter. no other assyrian patriarch was equal to him in piety, integrity, and his heroic spirit of martyrdom. he was patriarch from to a.d. in that period the king of persia was second shafoor of the fire-worshipers. the fire-worshipers believed in two creative powers, hurmizd and ahramon. every good thing as virtue, success, long years, praise, truth, purity, were created by hurmizd; while wickedness, hate, war, disaster, etc., issued from ahramon, their creator. shafoor worshiped clean creatures of hurmizd, such as sun, moon, and fire. christianity was strong then, some of the royal family being christians. the christians were antagonized by the fire-worshipers because they rejected the sun and moon and de-defiled fire. other objections were that the christians taught that god had become incarnate and come to earth; and also that they preferred poverty to wealth and did not marry, thus diminishing the strength of the nation. the emperor issued an edict that those who would not worship the sun and the moon should pay a large sum of money. the patriarch answered that "while god is the creator of the sun we can not substitute the created for the creator. concerning a fine we have no money to pay your lord the sum required, as our lord commanded us not to lay up our treasures on earth." then the king commanded that all christians be put to death by terrible torture, except the patriarch. him he would spare to the last, that he might be moved by the torture of others and worship the sun. but st. shumon meantime was urging the christians to stand firm in the faith. the king requested that the patriarch and two chief bishops be brought before him. it had been a custom to prostrate himself before the king as a token of honor, but on this occasion he wished to avoid any show of worshiping a creature and did not prostrate himself before the ruler. the king asked him to worship the sun. st. shumon replied: "if i refuse to worship the king how can you expect me to worship the sun, a creature without life." being unable to make him worship the sun the king put him in jail for the night. next morning the patriarch was taken before the king again. on his way he met a steward of the king who was a christian but had been worshiping the sun to please the king. st. shumon rebuked the steward for being faithless. the steward was touched by this rebuke and, going before the king, confessed that he was a christian and must therefore be beheaded. but he requested that a herald be sent through the streets to proclaim that he had been a faithful subject to his ruler, and that he must die because he was a christian. this was granted. in company with one hundred bishops and priests st. shumon was brought before the king. again he was told that he could save the life of himself and his people by worshiping the sun. st. shumon replied, "we have one god and jesus christ our savior as the object of our worship. our lord teaches us to be faithful to kings and to pray for them, but we are forbidden to worship any creature." then the king commanded that all of them be beheaded next day. the night in a dungeon was spent in prayer and song and words of advice from st. shumon in love and tears of sorrow. the patriarch consoled his followers by referring to the fact that st. paul and apostles spent many nights in prison. he said, "the prison is heaven because the presence of our lord is with us. this is our last night on earth; to-morrow we will be crowned." taking the new testament in his hand he preached to his condemned disciples of the suffering and death of christ and then administered the lord's supper. at the close of his prayer he thanked christ that they were worthy to be his martyrs, and further prayed, "watch with me, o lord, help our infirmity, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. thanks be to god that we are to become martyrs on the same day of the week as did christ." in the morning he, with his followers stood before the king. the bishops were first beheaded, and st. shumon spoke to each one as follows: "my son, close your eyes, and after one minute you will be with christ." st. shumon had asked to be beheaded first that he might not see the death of his beloved followers, but he was not heard. at last came his turn with two chief bishops. when he alone was left he sang a song of thanks to god that out of martyrs, not one had denied the faith. his song was as follows: "praised be thy power our god; let the kingdom of our savior be victorious. thou quickener of life, thou hast prepared a crown for thy martyrs." then he was beheaded with an axe. another severe persecution was in the th century by tamerlane. in two kurdish dukes baddirkhunback and nurullaback and their armies came whirling down from the kurdish mountains and in one month massacred , assyrians. the spirit of martyrdom still lives in this people, as was shown in , when two men and a girl were killed as martyrs. no doubt there are to-day singing praises before the throne of god, hundreds of martyrs from this nation. chapter viii. their condition at the time american missions were started. the colleges of the assyrians were destroyed four hundred years before the american missionaries came. not a single school was left, and the only effort at education was by monks teaching dead languages to aspirants for the priesthood. learned bishops and monks who were full of the spirit of christ in spreading the gospel at home and abroad had all vanished. some of the clergy could not understand what they read. priests and their parish became blind to the word of god, as their books had been burned in times of persecution by the mohammedans in order to keep them ignorant. sometimes there was only one priest in a dozen villages. the clouds of ignorance spread over all the nation. their sun went down. regeneration and conversion were unknown to them. traditions prevailed among priests and laymen. they trusted in saints and in ancient and holy church buildings. in their ignorance they offered sacrifice to martyrs and built tombs to prophets; put more hope in the merit of fasting than in christ. a small number of new testament manuscripts, which were written in dead languages were used only in taking oaths. sometimes laymen kneeled before them and kissed them instead of obeying the truth that was written in them. the candlestick of the church was turned down and the light quenched. moreover the mohammedans had threatened to massacre them if they did not accept that faith. the assyrians had lost about all of their christianity except the name. among , christians in kurdiston and , in persia there was only one lady who could read, and she was a nun, sister of the patriarch. the words of the daughter-in-law of eli when she said, "the glory is departed from israel." could have been applied to this nation. part vi. chapter i. introduction of mission work. while the sky of persia was covered with heavy clouds of ignorance and even the dim ray of light in assyria was almost quenched, suddenly god, in his great wisdom and wise providence, awakened the consciences of godly men in america to think about mission work in persia. in the year of messrs. smith and dwight were sent by the a.b.c.f.m. to examine the degenerate and antique churches of the east. they traveled through syria, asia minor, armenia and persia. in the latter country they remained in the city of oroomiah for several weeks, and met the bishops and leaders of the assyrian church with whom they visited the villages of assyria. men, women and children everywhere greeted them with great joy. in this way they became acquainted with the needs of the nations. mr. smith said at that time: "i see that this field is white and ready for the harvest. in all my journey i have seen no people as willing to accept the gospel as are the assyrians of persia. it is a good field for the work." on their return to america messrs. smith and dwight reported the needs of the assyrians and their readiness to accept the gospel. but the question arose, where is the man qualified for the work, who can overcome the difficulties? in the beginning of every great work there must always be a unique man to lead it. god found only moses among all the israelites as being competent to bring his people out of egypt. he elected george washington to make free america. even so, in his providence, he found the rev. justin perkins to be the man equipped for this great mission work. in , justin perkins and dr. grant as his medical assistant were appointed to the work in persia. these two blessed messengers of emanuel shone in the dark skies of persia, and i believe will everlastingly shine in the sky of heaven. they were received by the natives as if god had sent them from heaven. many assyrians went out to meet them with tears of joy in their eyes. perhaps some one will ask why the assyrians were so eager to receive the missionaries. were they awakened to their spiritual condition? the answer is, they were not fully awakened to their great need of spirituality, but they were eager to be saved from the wicked plan of the mohammedans to convert them to that faith by force, if need be. chapter ii. method of work. mr. perkins gained the confidence and won the love of the people by making himself one of their number, by adopting their customs and speaking of assyria as "our nation." in this way he got very close to the people, they believed him their friend, and were not afraid to come near to him. in adopting the native dress it must be remembered of him that he wore the hat commonly worn by aged religious men. it was made of sheep-skin and was not less than two feet high. the assyrians churches were open to the new missionaries and they preached two or three times every sunday. there was marked interest in the new teachers from the beginning, and every service was attended by or natives. in addition to the observance of sunday the assyrians have numerous sacred or saint's days; at such times the churches are better attended than on sundays. services were also lead by the missionaries on these days. through every day of the week the missionaries were busy scattering the blessed seed. when there were no services held in the churches they would meet in some private home. several neighboring families would come in, and all would listen to the gospel. the writer remembers when he was a boy of dr. coan lodging at his father's home several nights and holding meetings. our homes were very humble among the assyrians. the houses were low and dark, blackened with smoke from the ovens. the floor was covered with cheap mats, but some people had a carpet which was spread when guests came. most of the families are very large, numbering from ten to thirty-five. in many instances, five or six sons having married are found raising their families under their father's roof. the food for all is cooked in the one oven, but more than one table is used when the family is very large. the meals set before the missionaries were very different from what they had been accustomed to. there were no knives and forks, no tables and chairs. but the missionaries humbled themselves, sat on the floor, and ate of the poorly cooked food with their fingers. in summer most of the people were working in the field and vineyards. the missionaries would visit them at their work and ask permission to talk for an hour. the workers would gather in the shade of a tree and for an hour listen to the message. many times these meetings proved very beneficial. in the well known fidelia fisk and several other noble women came to work for women. they would visit them in their homes or where they were at work in the field or vineyard, and while helping them in their work would strive to ennoble their lives by talking of christian principles. a story is told of a missionary who one day passed a shepherd among his flocks. he asked the shepherd if he ever prayed. the reply was that he did not know how. when the good man offered to teach him the shepherd said it was useless to try as he could not learn. but the faithful missionary was eager to teach truth, even to the dullest minds, and so began teaching him the lord's prayer. but the shepherd could not memorize it. remembering how this shepherd knew every sheep in his flock by name a happy thought struck the missionary. he would name a small number of the sheep with words or phrases of the lord's prayer. calling the sheep and giving them these new names the shepherd soon learned the prayer, and could repeat it readily. when passing that way a few weeks later the missionary asked the shepherd if he still remembered the prayer. calling his sheep the herdsman went through the prayer with but one mistake. the missionary complimented him but told him that he had omitted "forgive our sins." "did i?" replied the shepherd. "oh, i know how it happened. "forgive our sins" took sick and died a few days ago." this made it necessary to point out another sheep and name it "forgive our sins." missionaries have to resort to various methods to teach truth. many times the hearts of parents are won by the missionaries kissing one of their beloved children. they proved to the people that they were not ashamed to be as brothers to them. this kind of treatment will touch the human heart in any clime. chapter iii. development of mission and organization of the church. after several years work by justin perkins and dr. grant, his medical assistant, the mission had grown until more workers were needed. from time to time other workers came, such as messrs. stoddard, stakings, dr. coan and mr. ray. the latter was known among the natives as the prince of preachers. he died in that country and his widow, mrs. ray, now resides in lake forest, ill. other workers who should be mentioned are dr. larabee and mr. cochran. during these years of preaching, seed was sown for more thorough work. revival meetings were begun in the churches, and, in answer to prayer, the lord poured out his spirit upon both preachers and listeners. at some of these meetings there would be from thirty to men and women crying aloud and trying to learn what they must do to be saved. in those times some of the penitents in their ignorance prayed prayers that they would to-day be ashamed of. one old man, who is now an elder, became terribly in earnest when he was under conviction and was seeking conversion. in his anguish he prayed thus: "o lord god, father of christ, send thy spirit and regenerate all of this church. if you won't do this, then destroy this church over our heads and kill us." this prayer, and others like it, was prayed with such intense earnestness, that another seeker near by thought the lord would answer it at once; and so, reaching for his hat, he prayed: "o lord don't do this until i get out; then destroy all of them if you want to." hastily uttering this prayer he sought safety outside the walls of the building. when the old elder was recently reminded of the prayer he made years ago, he was not ashamed, for he said that was all they knew in those days as they had not yet learned how to pray. until the time of these revivals there had been no separation of the missionaries from the old assyrian church. it had been their custom to take of the lord's supper from the hands of assyrian priests. mr. cochran, president of the oroomiah college thought it was now time to form a separate organization. accordingly the new converts were organized into a separate church on evangelical principles. this separation aroused the bitter opposition of the bishops and priests of the old church for a time, but it finally resulted beneficially to both sects. the ancient church tried to attract and hold the people by adopting the same kind of preaching and sunday-schools as were being carried on by the evangelical branch. preaching sermons was a new work for priests of the old church, and many amusing mistakes were made at first. one priest in an enthusiastic discourse when intending to call the mohammedans, dogs, made the sad mistake of addressing his audience as, "ye dogs and sons of dogs." at another time a bishop having announced that he would preach a sermon, carefully wrote his discourse. a large and expectant audience greeted him. when it was time to deliver the address the bishop felt in every pocket for his written sermon but failed to find it. turning to the audience he said: "satan, the accursed, has stolen my sermon out of my pocket and disappeared with it." being unable to make the address from memory he dismissed the audience. the church has developed along this line, however, and to-day in oroomiah their services differ very little from that of the evangelical churches. once a tiny rivulet the evangelical church has become a brook which flows in beauty and waters much of a thirsty land. it is the hope of persia. the statistics of mission work in persia in were as follows: five presbyteries, fifty-five churches, , members, , sunday-school scholars, , attendants at preaching services. these five presbyteries make one synod. besides this there are two other presbyteries with about church members. there are seven missionary stations, viz., oroomiah, tabriz, tehron, salmas, hamadon, myandab and moesul. these are in charge of american missionaries; besides them there are many native preachers in the different towns and cities. oroomiah is the mother station. most of these missions are dependent on missionaries, but some of them are self-supporting. the total number of protestants in persia will number fully , . chapter iv. religious education. college. the first need of the nation was a college. in justin perkins gathered a small number of deacons and priests to teach them for the work of spreading the gospel. the native priests were very ignorant, but mr. perkins believed it would take fewer years to prepare them for the work than children, so he opened a rude school in a cellar. at that time the priests in common with all other people drank wine and were frequently drunk. when dr. perkins opened his school for the native priests and deacons many of them brought a bottle of wine for use during school hours. dr. perkins dealt patiently with them but stated that it was against the rules of the school to bring wine. they replied that they would not come to study if they were not allowed to bring wine. so wine they brought. one native preacher who is now an old man and a fine singer, told at a recent synod of this early school, of which he was a member: one day they got too much wine and went upstairs and began to dance. dr. perkins called to them and asked them to dance a little slower. they replied to the teacher that they would dance slower, but kept on dancing. in time the habit of drinking was left off and total abstinence was firmly established. the school in the cellar has grown until now we have in oroomiah a fine brick building in which the college classes meet. in it are six branches: high-school, preparatory, college, medicine, industrial, and theological. its superintendents from the start have been able men. dr. perkins founded it, mr. cochran further developed it, and the late dr. shedd, a profound theologian, contributed his fine ability to the institution. several eastern languages are taught. mathematics, including algebra and geometry, geography and history are taught, but of course not as completely as in america. ladies' seminary. when the missionaries came to persia there was only one woman among the , assyrians who could read. girls were not encouraged to study as it was against law and believed to be useless. this belief originated in mohammed's teachings. fidelia fisk, soon after her arrival, saw the condition of women and determined to open a seminary. at first it was difficult to get girls to attend. if mothers were asked to send their girls, they asked, "what is the use? they can never become bishops or priests." if a girl was asked to attend she would reply that she did not have time as she must be preparing a dowry for her wedding, an event that would certainly occur before her eighteenth year. however, a small free school was opened for girls, where the branches taught were similar to those of the college. fidelia fisk labored faithfully in her duties as teacher and made for herself a lasting reputation in that country. her patience was often severely taxed. it is told of her that once after she had become old she was trying to explain an example in multiplication, when a loose tooth dropped out of her mouth. she sank wearily into a chair, exclaiming, "it's no use; there is no god of mathematics in this nation." there stands to-day on the same site where this faithful soul started the little school, a beautiful brick building known as the fidelia fisk seminary. it is also self-supporting, and is attended by or students. now the girls and mothers laugh at their old superstition about education, as they have learned that it prepares one for something besides bishop or priest. fathers want their daughters to attend the seminary, and young men who are looking for a wife appreciate the importance of the training which seminary girls have received. they know that she can raise their children better, keep the home cleaner, and better understand her relation to her husband. while the seminary was founded by fidelia fisk it was developed largely by jenny deane, who was superintendent of the institution for thirty years. it was under her direction that the building was erected. miss deane was a very wise lady, and has few, if any, superiors in america in the management of an institution. as a retired missionary she now resides in detroit, michigan. she will never be forgotten by the many women in persia whom she has so greatly helped. there are also four other seminaries in persia for ladies. medical schools. the beauty and blessing of medical mission work will be better understood if we contrast it with prevailing ideas about medicine. until about fifteen years ago there were no persian doctors who had become such from the study of books on medical science. there, were, however, many quack doctors who had a system of superstition which had been taught them orally by older men. blades of some kinds of grasses which are known to medical science as having no medicinal properties were the chief remedies prescribed for disease. internal diseases were called supernatural, and it was believed they were inflicted by evil spirits. none of the doctors could do anything for this form of disease, as they considered it out of their realm. a patient with an internal disease was sent to the priest who would diagnose the case by looking into the koran or some other book in which he locates the particular demon that is afflicting the patient. writing something mystical on two slips of paper, the priest gives direction for their use: "this one soak in a cup of water and have the patient drink the water. the other, bind on the patient's arm. i find that it is demon so and so afflicting the sick man, and i have bound the mouth of that evil spirit so that he cannot do further harm." there are several remedies for fever. one is to tie seven knots in a white thread and fasten it around the wrist. wearing this fifteen or twenty days cures the fever, they say. another remedy is to remove the clothing and jump into cold water before breakfast. if a man has a severe attack of colic and cries, "i die, i die," his friends run for the nearest baldheaded man, as he is known to have power to remove the pains by firmly pressing the smooth surface of his cranium against the surface of the patient's body nearest the seat of pain. many baldheaded men in other countries laugh at this remedy, but persian doctors affirm that it will cure, and that skeptics should try it. pork is never used as food, but it is believed to remove rheumatism when bound on the parts afflicted. there are now some medical men in persia who have graduated in an american or european medical college. patients for whom they have prescribed often consult the mujtahid before taking the medicine. once a man with a diseased foot came to dr. cochran for treatment. the doctor told him that his life could be saved by amputating the foot. the patient consulted a mujtahid who told him that it was against religion to part with any member of the body. therefore the patient retained his foot and died. the modern midwife is greatly needed in persia as many women die for want of attention, and it is against the law for male doctors to give them treatment. the name hospital was unknown in persia before the missionaries came. but, thanks to god, we have to-day three missionary hospitals. the good they do cannot be expressed in words. they are open for all no matter what their beliefs. the largest one is in oroomiah. it is under the charge of dr. cochran, a godly man, who is known in all persia. the late shah appreciated his work so much that he gave him the highest degree that is possible to give to a foreigner. when patients enter these hospitals, lie down on clean beds, are given good food and kind treatment, they are surprised, and sometimes have said that heaven cannot be a nicer place. some wild kurds have been brought to the hospitals. they came in like roaring lions but went out meek as lambs. hundreds of people have been snatched from the mouth of the grave by treatment received here. they cure not only the body but the soul also. two wild kurds who were healed here became christians and are now active church-members. dr. cochran has from six to ten native students of medicine. they take a three years' course, and some of them have become such useful physicians that the shah gave them the title of count. the mohammedans have confidence in the christian doctors, and send for them to treat their children and wives in all cases except childbirth. country schools. there were no schools for common education among the people before the missionaries came. they met with some opposition in starting country schools from superstitious old men. they said the europeans and americans are a cunning people. they will fill our children's heads with notions that will take them away from us to foreign countries. on the other hand there were many parents eager to have their children get learning. so schools began. books and writing material were so expensive and scarce for a time, that a canvas with the alphabet printed on it was stretched on the wall. thirty or more children could stand before this canvas and study. for those who were learning to write boxes of sand were provided. herein written language was traced. there are to-day seventy schools for children in the district of oroomiah. the population of this district is nearly half a million. some of the schools are self-supporting, while in others the teacher's salaries are paid by the missionaries. these schools are like a garden of flowers in a desert. they have a very strong moral and elevating influence in a community. it is generally believed by christian workers there that there is no better foundation for the future of the church than these schools. in them are taught three languages, a little geography, mathematics and the bible. nearly all the students can repeat from memory the ten commandments, the lord's prayer, and creed of the apostles. the chief aim is to teach the fear of god. a good many students are converted in school. after school some of the students go among their neighbors in the evening to read the bible to them. the teachers are chosen by the board of education. one important rule governing the choice is that the applicant must be a regular member of the church. the teachers are very devoted and faithful to their work. they consider that their work among the children is similar to a pastor's work among his people. they watch after their pupils in school and out as a shepherd cares for his flock. a monthly meeting is held for teachers at which best methods of teaching are discussed. one of the principal subjects considered is, how to develop spirituality among the pupils. these meetings are refreshing to the teachers, and they return to their work full of the love of christ, zealous to spread his truth. sometimes a religious mid-week meeting is held in the schoolhouse for students only. these meetings often bear blessed fruit. in one such meeting in a preparatory school over which the writer held supervision, thirteen boys of ages from thirteen to sixteen years, were converted. these boys remained after the meeting closed and, touched with the spirit of god, they prayed with tears in their eyes. some of them have since become preachers of the gospel. in the country schools some of the teachers work more faithfully for the salvation of their pupils than pastors work for their flock. in one school two boys were attacked with a fatal disease. the teacher, accompanied with several pupils, visited the first sick boy and asked him if he was afraid to die. he replied that he did not want to give up his studies. the teacher asked if he did not know that christ was a teacher. the dying boy was gladdened by this thought, and, with a smile on his boyish face, he said: "i'm going away to christ and he will teach me." with these words his soul took its flight above. the other sick boy was then visited and comforted in the same way. he, too, soon died of the fatal disease. the missionaries are carrying on schools in persia and the kurdiston mountains. the number of teachers employed is and there are boys and girls; total . translation of books. when the missionaries first came to persia, ancient syriac was the language of literature; therefore the common people could not understand anything in the ceremonial words of the priests. dr. perkins, with the aid of native scholars, translated the bible into the common language, or modern syriac. after the new translation was printed the common people were surprised and rejoiced greatly at having the sacred word in a form that they could understand. from time to time other books were translated, such as parts of commentaries on the bible, pilgrim's progress, rest of saints, morning to morning, etc. these books are read in connection with the bible in the daily worship of the native christians. rev. benjamin larabee d.d., with some native scholars, greatly improved the translation of the bible into modern syriac, about two years ago, by a careful revision of the first translation. mrs. j. h. shedd who was known as the "mother in israel" did a great work for our people in translating books, and tracts and preparing the sunday lessons. chapter v. the gospel and temporal improvement. the assyrian houses were one story, low flat roof, and built of mud. mohammedan law was opposed to christians building houses of more than one story. the houses were poorly kept, dark and unfurnished. this was the case even when a man was well-to-do and could have afforded something better. families were large, numbering from ten to forty. it was the custom when sons married to raise their families, for a time at least, under the parental roof. the mother or father was supreme authority in the home, but they could not always control the sons, daughters and grandchildren, and there is much quarreling and frequently fighting. however, custom demands that a son bring his bride to the father's house. if he does not he is called mean. when the writer married his wedding ceremony was performed at the preparatory school where he was then teaching, and he did not take his bride to his father's home. he remembers that his good mother was grieved and shed tears at this breaking away from custom. men in the street were inclined to look upon him with scorn. the house that accommodates a large family is usually divided into several rooms. there are often four beds in one large room. the reader must understand that these large families do not give rise to immorality. men may be wicked in other ways, but this vice is very uncommon. christians were compelled by mohammedan law to wear poor grade clothing. they could not wear any garments commonly worn by lords. men wore coarse home-made clothing something like american blue jeans of earlier days. women dressed in plain cloth, usually colored red. lords objected to their subjects wearing nice clothing. they suspected the spirit of pride was growing underneath, and might some day resent their authority. christians were compelled to wear red braid on their clothing to distinguish them from mohammedans. it was a sin for a mohammedan to give the same salutation to a christian that was given to his own sect, so it was necessary to mark the christian's clothing. only bishops and some few prominent men were allowed to ride a horse, while other christians must walk or ride a donkey, for the moslems said: "god created horses for us and donkeys for you." if a christian, who was riding a horse, met a moslem, he should dismount, bow to him, and remain off the horse until the moslem had passed. the per cent. of death in infancy was very large. mothers did not understand how to nourish the delicate life during the most trying period. the infants were not dressed warm enough in many instances. in other instances the clothes about the child bound it helpless and injured it, sometimes causing death. ignorantly, they exposed them to contagious disease. before the missionaries introduced vaccination, hundreds died with smallpox. the women of the mission have taught the natives a great deal about caring for young children, and now many a mother dresses and cares for her babe after american custom. temperance. the assyrians were a great nation for drinking wine. many men owned vineyards and made from the fruit some of the best wine. one man was known who made barrels of wine one year for his own use. wine and not water was the drink. grapes were very cheap and the poor man could be supplied with wine. nearly all forms of industry and business were suspended in winter, and the time was spent in trying to get joy from the cup. they said wine was love and good fellowship, which is a common notion in many nations of the earth to-day. when a man had a guest from a distance, he would invite forty or fifty neighbors to his home where the entire day would be spent in eating and drinking. next day one of the neighbors would entertain the company, and so the feast would continue for a week or more. by the end of the debauch perhaps one or more of the number would have met death. falling by the wayside at a late hour, or tumbling from a housetop as he was journeying homeward, he would die from cold or from the shock. in those degenerate days idleness, extravagance and drunkenness were praised in a man. when such a one died, an engraving on his tombstone would show that his table was always spread and provided with wine for his friends. many a man was brought to poverty by these habits of extravagance and drunkenness. the women were required to let wine alone that they might cook much food for these degenerate christians. on such occasions the master of the house demanded that the very best food be put before his guest. the missionaries have completely broken up these customs. the evangelical church forbids its members to make or taste wine or to sit among drinkers. any who disobey this rule are dismissed from membership. rev. e. w. pierce, one of the most beloved of all missionaries, spent one winter in preaching temperance. many were converted to his views on the subject and brought their wines, many barrels, and poured it into the streets. they believed it would be a sin to even sell it. the old assyrian church-members have given up their former ways and are now temperate. formerly it was the glory of a man to be idle and drunken, but now public opinion has been entirely reversed. the drunkard is looked upon as an object of shame. the assyrians used to observe many saint's days. at times as many as four thousand men and women would gather in the yard of some building built in honor of an ancient saint and would there spend several days in eating, drinking and dancing. sometimes quarreling, fighting and even murder would result from these gatherings. moslems often mingled with the crowd and sometimes kidnaped some of their fairest daughters. instead of places of worship these gatherings became places of sin. all of these vicious customs have now vanished before the influence the true gospel. more than half the days of the year were days of fasting with the old assyrians. on these days they ate no meat, milk, butter, cheese, eggs or fish; some very religious old people would eat nothing before noon. all has now been changed. members of the evangelical church do not fast and but few of the old assyrians do. there is no longer faith in the virtue of fasting. conversion to mohammedanism. before the missionaries came many beautiful girls and ladies were converted by force to the faith of moslems. girls were often stolen when alone in the fields and vineyards. mothers feared for their daughters, and advised them not to wash their faces, nor put on nice clothes lest a mohammedan would be attracted by their beauty. when a mohammedan saw a beautiful girl he would say, "god created her for us and not for these infidels." when girls were converted by force, it was not much use to complain to the government, as the government is mohammedan and it is in the mohammedan doctrine that when a man converts a christian he has done a good thing and all his sins will be forgiven. the method of making the convert is not questioned. the conversions now as compared with the number when the missionaries came are very few. kidnaping is not easy now as parents can telegraph to the king, or the prime minister, or even to europe and cause much trouble. a few years ago a prince had a beautiful armenian stolen from her home, and tried to get her to consent to be a mohammedan and become his wife. but the woman stood firm, and denounced him and his faith. her friends, and the missionaries of all denominations, were making an angry search for the missing woman, and the prince ordered his servants to return her to her native village. when a girl has been stolen and complaint is made to the government, officers bring the girl into court, if she can be found, and ask her if she had been taken by force, or whether she was willing to become a moslem. if she says she was taken by force, she is returned to her parents. there are a few cases where women willingly go to the moslem but this is from their wickedness or their poverty. morals elevated. not many years ago a moslem would enter the private homes of the assyrians without an invitation. the husband and father did not want him there, but so long had his rights as a man been ignored that he did not have the manhood to drive him away. then, too, he feared if he offended the moslem, that the latter would secretly destroy some of his property. these uninvited visits gave the stranger an opportunity to become acquainted with the family, and perhaps an attempt to kidnap a daughter would follow. but this has changed. if a stranger enters an assyrian home to-day he behaves like a gentleman or he is ordered to leave. the manhood and independence of the old assyrian has been aroused. in a national conference of the protestants, catholics and old assyrian churches held a few months ago, rules and plans for the development of the nation and the uplifting of morality were adopted. among other things, christian girls and women are prohibited by these rules from working for mohammedans; second, no girl nor woman can go to a city of mohammedan merchants to do trading. this is the first conference of this kind that has been held by assyrians for years. many of the native young men who have been educated by the missionaries have become able men and influential citizens. there are some of them who can stand before the king and speak with greater power than any of the government officers. this is in great contrast with the condition of assyrians before the missionaries came. in those days leading assyrians could not stand before even a low court to plead their cause. in a general, third in the government, visited oroomiah college. when he saw the training of the young men he was impressed and afterwards, in a conference of lords, said: "the young men who are being educated in the mission schools would become leaders in the political affairs of our nation if they had a chance. i believe a time will come when they will hold high offices, and the sons of lords will be ruled by them, unless you do something for the future of your children." the shah has given the title of count to some of the graduates in medicine. he sees their useful work and says they are helping his people. the royal family and some officers favor indirectly if not directly, modern education; and they have confidence in christians. the occupation of selling merchandise is being entered by christians; they have much prejudice to overcome but will likely succeed gradually. thanks to god, many of the old oppressions have passed away. assyrians can now build any kind of house they want; moslems can no longer say that they must walk or ride a donkey; they can wear clothes of any style or quality they choose. no longer are christians required to trim their clothes in red to mark their inferiority. all these are the fruits of the blessed gospel. chapter vi. mission work among moslems. mission work indirectly and slowly spreads among moslem. the koran forbids christians to preach to moslems, and no christian dared discuss questions of religion with moslems before the time of missionaries. to attempt to show christ's superiority of mohammed was forbidden. if a moslem should say, "mohammed was a greater prophet than christ. ours is the true religion. you are infidels." the christian with a timid, downward look would reply "yes sir, you are right." but the answer to this assertion to-day is a firm "no sir." the christian now sees truth clearly and feels it his duty to uphold it. there is now free discussion of religious questions. a christian discusses with moslem priest if he chooses. and sometimes they call at the homes of moslems and read the bible to them. the christian feels it his duty to discuss with any one who approaches him, as he possesses light which that one needs. there is in one city an evangelical church in which all of its members are mohammedan converts, while many other churches have a few. the spirit of these converts is that of martyrs. the koran teaches that any mohammedan who denounces the faith deserves death, and that one who kills the deserter has done a noble deed. some of these converts have suffered martyrdom and one who was killed after great torture, prayed as his last words: "o jesus we thank thee that thou hast made us worthy to be thy martyrs. our supplication is that our blood may become as seed to thy church." no doubt god will answer this prayer in due time. the seed is sown; the leaven is mingled and will in time, no doubt, leaven the , , mohammedans. the writer, a representative of the evangelical missions, wishes to express his deep gratitude to the american board who started mission work in persia, and to the presbyterian church, which, in , assumed the responsibility of the work and has since so nobly carried it on. none none faith--tendency of ancient and modern theories to lower the general estimate of man--the dignity with which the new testament invests him--the ethical tendency of the doctrine of evolution--the opinion expressed on the subject by goldwin smith--peschel's frank admission--the pessimistic tendency of all anti-biblical theories of man's origin, life, and destiny--buddha, schopenhauer, and the agnostics--the more hopeful influence of the bible--the tendency of all heathen religions and all anti-christian philosophies toward fatalism--pantheism and the philosophy of spinoza agreeing in this respect with the hindu vedantism--the late samuel johnson's "piety of pantheism," and his definition of fatalism--what saves the scriptural doctrine of fore-ordination from fatalism--the province of faith and of trust. lecture x. the divine supremacy of the christian faith the claim that christianity is the only true religion--the peculiar tendencies of modern times to deny this supremacy and monopoly--it is not enough in such times to simply ignore the challenge--the unique claim must be defended--first: christianity is differentiated from all other religions by the fact of a divine sacrifice for sin--mohammedanism, though founded on a belief in the true god and partly on the old testament teachings, offers no saviour--no idea of fatherhood is found in any non-christian faith--the gloom of buddhism and the terror of savage tribes--hinduism a system of self-help merely--the recognized grandeur of the principle of self-sacrifice as reflected from christ--augustine found a way of life only in his divine sacrifice--second: no other faith than christianity is made effectual by the power of a divine and omnipotent spirit--the well-attested fact of radical transformations of character--other systems have made converts only by warlike conquest or by such motives as might appeal to the natural heart--christianity rises above all other systems in the divine personality of christ--the contrast in this respect between him and the authors of the non-christian systems--his attractions and his power acknowledged by all classes of men--the inferiority of socrates as compared with christ--bushnell's tribute to the perfection of this divine personality--its power attested in the life of paul--the adaptation of christianity to all the circumstances and conditions of life--abraham and the vedic patriarchs, moses and manu, david's joy and gratitude, and the gloom of hindu or buddhist philosophy--only christianity brings man to true penitence and humility--the recognized beauty and the convincing lesson of the prodigal son--the contrast between mohammed's blasphemous suras, which justify his lust, and the deep contrition of david in the fifty-first psalm--the moral purity of the old and new testaments as contrasted with all other sacred books--the scriptures pure though written in ages of corruption and surrounded by immoral influences--christ belongs to no land or age--the gospel alone is adapted to all races and all time as the universal religion of mankind--only christianity recognizes the true relation between divine help and human effort--it encourages by omnipotent co-operation--the all-comprehensive presentation of the gospel. appendix oriental religions and christianity lecture i. the need of understanding the false religions it is said that the very latest among the sciences is the science of religion. without pausing to inquire how far it admits of scientific treatment, certain reasons which may be urged for the study of the existing religions of the world will be considered in this lecture. it must be admitted in the outset that those who have been the pioneers in this field of research have not, as a rule, been advocates of the christian faith. the anti-christian theory that all religions may be traced to common causes, that common wants and aspirations of mankind have led to the development of various systems according to environment, has until recently been the chief spur to this class of studies. accordingly, the religions of the world have been submitted to some preconceived philosophy of language, or ethnology, or evolution, with the emphasis placed upon such facts as seemed to comport with this theory. meanwhile there has been an air of broad-minded charity in the manner in which the apologists of oriental systems have treated the subject. they have included christ in the same category with plato and confucius, and have generally placed him at the head; and this supposed breadth of sentiment has given them a degree of influence with dubious and wavering christians, as well as with multitudes who are without faith of any kind. in this country the study of comparative religion has been almost entirely in the hands of non-evangelical writers. we have had "the ten great religions," from the pen of rev. james freeman clarke; "the oriental religions," written with great labor by the late samuel johnson; and mr. moncure d. conway's "anthology," with its flowers, gathered from the sacred books of all systems, and so chosen as to carry the implication that they all are equally inspired. many other works designed to show that christianity was developed from ancient sun myths, or was only a plagiarism upon the old mythologies of india, have been current among us. but strangely enough, the christian church has seemed to regard this subject as scarcely worthy of serious consideration. with the exception of a very able work on buddhism,[ ] and several review articles on hinduism, written by professor s.h. kellogg, very little has been published from the christian standpoint.[ ] the term "heathenism" has been used as an expression of contempt, and has been applied with too little discrimination. there is a reason, perhaps, why these systems have been underestimated. it so happened that the races among whom the modern missionary enterprise has carried on its earlier work were mostly simple types of pagans, found in the wilds of america, in greenland and labrador, in the west indies, on the african coast, or in the islands of the pacific; and these worshippers of nature or of spirits gave a very different impression from that which the apostles and the early church gained from their intercourse with the conquering romans or the polished and philosophic greeks. our missionary work has been symbolized, as sir william w. hunter puts it, by a band of half-naked savages listening to a missionary seated under a palm-tree, and receiving his message with child-like and unquestioning faith. but in the opening of free access to the great asiatic nations, higher grades of men have been found, and with these we now have chiefly to do. the pioneer of india's missions, the devoted ziegenbalg, had not been long in his field before he learned the mistake which the churches in europe had made in regard to the religion and philosophy of the hindus. he laid aside all his old notions when he came to encounter the metaphysical subtleties of hindu thought, when he learned something of the immense hindu literature, the voluminous ethics, the mystical and weird mythologies, the tremendous power of tradition and social customs--when, in short, he found his way hedged up by habits of thought wholly different from his own; and he resolved to know something of the religion which the people of india already possessed. for the benefit of others who might follow him he wrote a book on hinduism and its relations to christianity, and sent it to europe for publication. but so strong were the preconceived notions which prevailed among his brethren at home, that his manuscript, instead of being published, was suppressed. "you were not sent to india to study hinduism," wrote franke, "but to preach the gospel." but ziegenbalg certainly was not wanting in his estimate of the chief end in view, and his success was undoubtedly far greater for the intelligent plan upon which he labored. the time came when a change had passed over the society which had sent him forth. others, less friendly than he to the gospel of christ, had studied hinduism, and had paraded it as a rival of christianity; and in self-defence against this flank movement, the long-neglected work of ziegenbalg was brought forth from obscurity and published. it is partly in self-defence against similar influences, that the christian church everywhere is now turning increased attention to the study of comparative religion. in great britain a wider interest has been felt in the subject than in this country. and yet, even there the church has been far behind the enemies of evangelical truth in comparing christianity with false systems. dr. james stalker, of glasgow, said a few months since that, whereas it might be expected that the advocates of the true faith would be the first to compare and contrast it with the false systems of the world, the work had been left rather to those who were chiefly interested in disparaging the truth and exalting error. yet something has been done. such men as sir monier williams, sir william muir, professors rawlinson, fairbairn, and legge, bishop carpenter, canon hardwick, doctors caird, dodds, mitchell, and others, have given the false systems of the east a thorough and candid treatment from the christian standpoint. the church missionary society holds a lectureship devoted to the study of the non-christian religions as a preparation for missionary work. and the representatives of that society in the punjab have instituted a course of study on these lines for missionaries recently arrived, and have offered prizes for the best attainments therein. though we are later in this field of investigation, yet here also there is springing up a new interest, and it is safe to predict that within another decade the real character of the false religions will be more generally understood. the prejudice which has existed in regard to this subject has taken two different forms: first, there has been the broad assumption upon which franke wrote to ziegenbalg, that all knowledge of heathenism is worse than useless. good men are asking, "is not such a study a waste of energy, when we are charged with proclaiming the only saving truth? is not downright earnestness better than any possible knowledge of philosophies and superstitions?" and we answer, "yes: by all means, if only the one is possible." another view of the subject is more serious. may there not, after all, be danger in the study of false systems? will there not be found perplexing parallels which will shake our trust in the positive and exclusive supremacy of the christian faith? now, even if there were at first some risks to a simple, child-like confidence, yet a timid attitude involves far greater risks: it amounts to a half surrender, and it is wholly out of place in this age of fearless and aggressive discussion, when all truth is challenged, and every form of error must be met. moreover, in a thorough study there is no danger. sir monier williams tells us that at first he was surprised and a little troubled, but in the end he was more than ever impressed with the transcendent truths of the christian faith. professor s.h. kellogg assures us that the result of his careful researches in the oriental systems is a profounder conviction of the great truths of the gospel as divine. and even max müller testifies that, while making every allowance for whatever is good in the ethnic faiths, he has been the more fully convinced of the great superiority of christianity. really, those are in danger who receive only the superficial and misleading representations of heathenism which one is sure to meet in our magazine literature, or in works like "robert elsmere" and "the light of asia." one cannot fail to mark the different light in which we view the mythologies of the greeks and romans. if their religious beliefs and speculations had remained a secret until our time, if the high ethical precepts of seneca and marcus aurelius had only now been proclaimed, and socrates had just been celebrated in glowing verse as the "light of greece," there would be no little commotion in the religious world, and thousands with only weak and troubled faith might be disturbed. but simply because we thoroughly understand the mythology of greece and rome, we have no fear. we welcome all that it can teach us. we cordially acknowledge the virtues of socrates and assign him his true place. we enrich the fancy and awaken the intellectual energies of our youth by classical studies, and christianity shines forth with new lustre by contrast with the heathen systems which it encountered in the roman empire ages ago. and yet that was no easy conquest. the early church, when brought face to face with the culture of greece and the self-assertion of roman power, when confronted with profound philosophies like those of plato and aristotle, with the subtleties of the stoics, and with countless admixtures of persian mysticism, had, humanly speaking, quite as formidable a task as those that are presented in the heathen systems of to-day. very few of the champions of modern heathenism can compare with celsus, and there are no more subtle philosophies than those of ancient greece. evidently, the one thing needed to disenchant the false systems of our time is a clear and accurate knowledge of their merits and demerits, and of their true relation to christianity. it will be of advantage, for one thing, if we learn to give credit to the non-christian religions for the good which they may fairly claim. there has existed a feeling that they had no rights which christian men were bound to respect. they have been looked upon as systems of unmixed evil, whose enormities it were impossible to exaggerate. and all such misconceptions and exaggerations have only led to serious reactions. anti-christian writers have made great capital of the alleged misrepresentations which zealous friends of missions have put upon heathenism; and there is always great force in any appeal for fair play, on whichever side the truth may lie. where the popular christian idea has presented a low view of some system, scarcely rising above the grade of fetichism, the apologists have triumphantly displayed a profound philosophy. where the masses of christian people have credited whole nations with no higher notions of worship than a supreme trust in senseless stocks and stones, some skilful defender has claimed that the idols were only the outward symbols of an indwelling conception of deity, and has proceeded with keen relish to point out a similar use of symbols in the pictures and images of the christian church. from one extreme many people have passed to another, and in the end have credited heathen systems with greater merit than they possess. a marked illustration of this fact is found in the influence which was produced by sir edwin arnold's "light of asia." sentimental readers, passing from surprise to credulity, were ready to invest the "gentle indian saint" with christian conceptions which no real buddhist ever thought of. mr. arnold himself is said to have expressed surprise that people should have given to his poem so serious an interpretation, or should have imagined for a moment that he intended to compare buddhism with the higher and purer teachings of the new testament. in considering some of the reasons which may be urged for the study of false systems, we will first proceed from the standpoint of the candidate for the work of missions. and here there is a broad and general reason which seems too obvious to require much argument. the skilful general or the civil engineer is supposed, of course, to survey the field of contemplated operations ere he enters upon his work. the late dr. duff, in urging the importance of a thorough understanding of the systems which a missionary expects to encounter, illustrated his point by a reference to the great akbar, who before entering upon the conquest of india, twice visited the country in disguise, that he might gain a complete knowledge of its topography, its strongholds, and its points of weakness, and the best methods of attack. while all religious teachers must understand their tasks, the need of special preparation is particularly urgent in the foreign missionary, owing to his change of environment. many ideas and methods to which he has been trained, and which would serve him well among a people of his own race, might be wholly out of place in india or china, ram chandra bose, m.a.--himself a converted brahman--has treated with great discrimination the argument frequently used, that the missionary "need only to proclaim the glad tidings." he says: "that the simple story of christ and him crucified is, after all, the truth on which the regeneration of the christian and the non-christian lands must hang, no one will deny. this story, ever fresh, is inherently fitted to touch the dead heart into life, and to infuse vitality into effete nationalities and dead civilizations. but a great deal of rubbish has to be removed in heathen lands, ere its legitimate consequences can be realized. and a patient, persistent study of the false religions, and the complicated systems of philosophy associated with them, enables the missionary to throw out of the way those heaps of prejudices and errors which make it impossible for the story of the cross to reach and influence the heart."[ ] it has been very wisely said that "any fragment of truth which lies in a heathen mind unacknowledged is an insuperable barrier against conviction: recognized and used, it might prove a help; neglected and ignored, it is insurmountable."[ ] the late dr. mullens learned by careful observation, that the intellectual power of the hindus had been so warped by false reasoning, that "they could scarcely understand how, when two principles are contradictory, one must be given up as false. they are prepared to receive both sides of a contradiction as true, and they feel at liberty to adopt that which seems the most comfortable. and nothing but a full exposure of evil, with a clear statement of the antagonistic truth, will suffice to awaken so perverted an intellect."[ ] the missionary has often been surprised to find that the idea which he supposed was clearly understood, was wholly warped by the medium of hindu thought, as a rod is apparently warped when plunged into a stream, or as a beautiful countenance is distorted by the waves and irregularities of an imperfect mirror. to the preacher, sin, for example, is an enormity in the sight of god; but to his hindu listener it may be only a breach of custom, or a ceremonial uncleanness. the indwelling of the holy spirit, as it is set forth in paul's epistles, is to the missionary a union in which his personality is still maintained in blest fellowship with god, while to his audience it may be only that out and out pantheism in which the deity within us supplants all individual personality, and not only excludes all joy, but all responsibility. professor w.g.t. shedd has clearly pointed out the fact that the modern missionary has a harder task in dealing with the perversions of the heathen mind than that to which the apostles of the early church were called, owing to the prevalence in india and elsewhere of that pantheism which destroys the sense of moral responsibility. he says: "the greek and roman theism left the human will free and responsible, and thus the doctrine of sin could be taught. but the pantheistic systems of the east destroy free will, by identifying god and man; and hence it is impossible to construct the doctrine of sin and atonement except by first refuting the pantheistic ethics. the missionary can get no help from _conscience_ in his preaching, when this theory of god and the world has the ground. but st. paul appealed confidently 'to every man's conscience in the sight of god,' and called upon the ethics and theology of the greek and roman philosophers for a corroboration. the early apologists, tertullian and others, did the same thing." the testimonies which have been given within the last few years, by the most intelligent and observing missionaries in eastern lands, are of such peculiar significance and force, that i shall be justified in quoting a few at some length. rev. george william knox, d.d., of tokio, japan, in accepting an election to an honorary membership of the american society of comparative religion, wrote, december , : "i am deeply in sympathy with the objects of the society, as indeed every missionary must be. we have practical demonstrations of the value of research into the ethnic religions. even at home the value of such research has already been great, but in these non-christian lands it is indispensable. it is true that non-christian systems, as found among the people, rarely exhibit the forms or the doctrines which we learn from books, but i presume the same would be said by an intelligent asiatic, were he to study our sacred books and then compare results with much of the religion which calls itself christian in the west. and yet for the study even of the most debased forms of christianity in south america or mexico, let us say, we must needs begin with our sacred books. and so it is with debased buddhism in japan. the buddhism of ceylon and of the books is unknown to this people, and when it is used as the basis of argument or exposition we do not hit the mark. yet, after all, our debt is immeasurable to the societies and scholars that have made accessible the sources that have yielded at last such systems as are dominant here. "the study of non-christian systems is essential to the missionary, even though he does not refer to them in his preaching, but contents himself with delivering the gospel message. and that is the rule with missionaries, so far as i know. but a knowledge of the native systems is imperative, that we may properly present our own. otherwise we waste time in teaching over again that which is already fully known, or we so speak that our truth takes on the form of error, or we so underestimate the thought of those whom we address, that the preaching of the wisdom of god sounds in their ears the preaching of foolishness. the adaptation of preaching to the hearers of asiatic lands is a task that may well make us thankful for every help that may be furnished us.... the missionary is far too apt to come from the west with exalted notions of his own superiority, and with a feeling of condescending pity for men who, perhaps, have pondered the deep things of the universe far more than he. let him really master a philosophy like the confucian, and he will better illustrate the christian grace of humility, and be so much the better prepared for his work. his study will show him how astonishing is the light that has shone upon those men whom he has thought of as wholly in darkness. it will thus show him the true way of approach, and enable him to follow the lines of least resistance. it will also reveal to him what is the essential character of the divine message which he himself bears. he will separate that peculiar and spiritual truth which is the word of life, and will bring it as glad tidings of great joy. surely no man can study these ethnic faiths, no matter with what appreciation of their measure of truth, and rejoicing in it, without a constantly growing conviction that the one power that converts men and establishes god's kingdom on earth is the word that is eternal, the son of god. he gathers in himself all the truth of all the religions, and he adds that divine salvation and life for which all the nations have waited, and without which the highest and deepest thought remains unable to bring men into living communion with the god and father of us all." rev. martyn clark, d.d., missionary of the church missionary society at umritsur, india, has given thorough study to the sanscrit, and has thereby been enabled to expose the fallacies and misrepresentations which the arya somaj, in its bitter controversy with the gospel, has put forth as to the real character of the vedic literature. no man is better able to judge of the importance of a correct understanding of the errors of the non-christian systems than he. in a letter accepting an honorary membership of the above-named society he says: "the object of the society is one in which i am deeply interested, and i shall at all times do what i can to further its aims. i am convinced that there is much that is helpful to the cause of christ to be learned in this field of research." rev. h. blodgett, d.d., veteran missionary of the american board in peking, in accepting a similar honor, says: "my interest in these studies has been deep and growing. it is high time that such a society as you represent should be formed. the study of comparative religion has long enough been in the hands of those who hold all religions to be the outcome of the natural powers of the human mind, unaided by a revelation from god. it is time that those who believe in the revelation from god in the old testament, and in the new testament founded upon the old, should study the great ethnic religions in the light derived from the bible." rev. james s. dennis, d.d., long a missionary of the presbyterian mission in beyrout, syria, says in the same connection: "the great missionary movement of our age has brought us face to face with problems and conflicts which are far more deep and serious than those which confront evangelistic efforts in our own land, and it is of the highest importance that the church at home should know as fully as possible the peculiar and profound difficulties of work in foreign fields. these ancient religions of the east are behind intrenchments, and they are prepared to make a desperate resistance. those who have never come into close contact with their adherents, and discovered by experience the difficulty of dislodging them and convincing them of the truth of the gospel, may very properly misunderstand the work of the foreign missionary and wonder at his apparent failure, or at least his slow progress. but i wonder at the success attained in the foreign field, and consider it far more glorious and remarkable than it is generally accounted to be. a fuller acquaintance with the strength, and resources, and local éclat, and worldly advantages of these false religions, will give the church at home greater patience and faith in the great work of evangelizing the nations."[ ] a specific reason for the study of the non-christian religions is found in the changes which our intercourse with eastern nations has already wrought. with our present means of intercommunication we are brought face to face with them, and the contact of our higher vitality has aroused them from the comparative slumber of ages. even our missionary efforts have given new vigor to the resistance which must be encountered. we have trained up a generation of men to a higher intellectual activity, and to a more earnest spirit of inquiry, and they are by no means all won over to the christian faith. and there are thousands in india whom a government education has left with no real faith of any kind, but whose pride of race and venerable customs is raised to a higher degree than ever. they have learned something of christianity; they have also studied their own national systems; they have become especially familiar with all that our own sceptics have written against christianity; still further, they have added to their intellectual equipment all that western apologists have said of the superiority of the oriental faiths. they are thus armed at every point, and they are using our own english tongue and all our facilities for publication. how is the young missionary, who knows nothing of their systems or the real points of comparison, to deal with such men? it is very true that not all ranks of hindus are educated; there are millions who know nothing of any religion beyond the lowest forms of superstition, and to these we owe the duty of a simple and plain presentation of christ and him crucified; but in every community where the missionary is likely to live there are men of the higher class just named; and besides, professional critics and opposers are now employed to harass the bazaar preacher with perplexing questions, which are soon heard from the lips of the common people. a young missionary recently wrote of the surprise which he felt when a low caste man, almost without clothing, met him with arguments from professor huxley. missionary boards have sometimes sent out a specialist, and in some sense a champion, who should deal with the more intelligent classes of the heathen. but such a plan is fraught with disadvantages. what is needed is a thorough preparation in all missionaries, and that involves an indispensable knowledge of the forces to be met. the power of the press is no longer a monopoly of christian lands. the arya somaj, of india, is now using it, both in the vernacular and in the english, in its bitter and often scurrilous attacks. one of its tracts recently sent to me contained an english epitome of the arguments of thomas paine. the secular papers of japan present in almost every issue some discussion on the comparative merits of christianity, buddhism, evolution, and theosophy, and many of the young native ministry who at first received the truth unquestioningly as a child receives it from his mother, are now calling for men whom they can follow as leaders in their struggle with manifold error.[ ] even mohammedans are at last employing the press instead of the sword. newspapers in constantinople are exhorting the faithful to send forth missionaries to "fortify africa against the whiskey and gunpowder of christian commerce, by proclaiming the higher ethical principles of the koran." great institutions of learning are also maintained as the special propaganda of the oriental religions. el azar, established at cairo centuries ago, now numbers ten thousand students, and these when trained go forth to all arabic speaking countries.[ ] the sanskrit colleges and monasteries of benares number scarcely less than four thousand students,[ ] who are being trained in the sankhyan or the vedanta philosophy, that they may go back to their different provinces and maintain with new vigor the old faiths against the aggressions of christianity. and in kioto, the great religious centre of japan, we find over against the christian college of the american board of missions, a buddhist university with a japanese graduate of oxford as its president. in a great school at tokio, also, buddhist teachers, aided by new england unitarians, are maintaining the superiority of buddhism over western christianity as a religion for japan.[ ] another reason why the missionary should study the false systems is found in the greatly diversified forms which these systems present in different lands and different ages. and just here it will be seen that a partial knowledge will not meet the demand. it might be even misleading. buddhism, for example, has assumed an endless variety of forms--now appearing as a system of the baldest atheism, and now presenting an approximate theism. gautama was certainly atheistic, and he virtually denied the existence of the human soul. but in the northern development of his system, theistic conceptions sprang up. a sort of trinity had appeared by the seventh century a.d., and by the tenth century a supreme and celestial buddha had been discovered, from whom all other buddhas were emanations. to-day there are at least twelve buddhist sects in japan, of which some are mystical, others pantheistic, while two hold a veritable doctrine of salvation by faith.[ ] china has several types of buddhism, and mongolia, thibet, nepaul, ceylon, burmah, and siam present each some special features of the system. how important that one should understand these differences in order to avoid blundering, and to wisely adapt his efforts! in india, under the common generic name of hinduism, there are also many sects: worshippers of vishnu, worshippers of siva, worshippers of krishna. there are sikhs, and jains, and devil worshippers; among the dravidian and other pre-aryan tribes there are victims of every conceivable superstition. now, a missionary must know something of these faiths if he would fight with "weapons of precision." paul, in becoming all things to all men, knew at least the differences between them. he preached the gospel with a studied adaptation. he tells us that he so strove as to win, and "not as those who beat the air." how alert were the combatants in the arena from which his simile is borrowed! how closely each athlete scanned his man, watched his every motion, knew if possible his every thought and impulse! much more, in winning the souls of darkened and misguided men, should we learn the inmost workings of their minds, their habits of thought, and the nature of the errors which are to be dislodged. but how shall the false systems of religions be studied? first, there should be a spirit of entire candor. truth is to be sought always, and at any cost; but in this case there is everything to be gained and nothing to be lost by the christian teacher, and he can well afford to be just. our divine exemplar never hesitated to acknowledge that which was good in men of whatever nationality or creed. he could appreciate the faith of roman or syro-phoenician. he could see merit in a samaritan as well as in a jew, and could raise even a penitent publican to the place of honor. it was only the pharisees who hesitated to admit the truth, until they could calculate the probable effect of their admissions. the very best experience of missionaries has been found in the line of christ's example. "the surest way to bring a man to acknowledge his errors," says bishop bloomfield, "is to give him full credit for whatever he had learned of the truth."[ ] "what should we think," says a keen observer of the work of missions--"what should we think of an engineer who, in attempting to rear a light-house on a sandbar, should fail to acknowledge as a godsend any chance outcropping of solid rock to which he might fasten his stays?"[ ] but in urging the duty of candor, i assume that an absolute freedom from bias is impossible on either side. it is sometimes amusing to witness the assurance with which professed agnostics assume that they, and they alone, look upon questions of comparative religion with an unbiased and judicial mind. they have no belief, they say, in any religion, and are therefore entirely without prejudice. but are they? has the man who has forsaken the faith of his fathers and is deeply sensible of an antagonism between him and the great majority of those about him--has he no interest in trying to substantiate his position, and justify his hostility to the popular faith? of all men he is generally the most prejudiced and the most bitter. we freely admit that we set out with a decided preference for one religious system above all others, but we insist that candor is possible, though an absolutely indifferent judgment is out of the question. paul, who quoted to the athenians their own poet, was fair-minded, and yet no man ever arraigned heathenism so terribly as he, and none was so intensely interested in the faith which he preached. archbishop trench, in discussing the exaggerations from which a careful study of the oriental religions would doubtless save us, says, "there is one against which we are almost unwilling to say a word. i mean the exaggeration of those who, in a deep devotion to the truth as it is in christ jesus, count themselves bound, by their allegiance to him, to take up a hostile attitude to everything not distinctly and avowedly christian, as though any other position were a treachery to his cause, and a surrender of his exclusive right to the authorship of all the good which is in the world. in this temper we may dwell only on the guilt and misery and defilements, the wounds and bruises and putrefying sores of the heathen world; or if aught better is brought under our eye, we may look askant and suspiciously upon it, as though all recognition of it were a disparagement of something better. and so we may come to regard the fairest deeds of unbaptized men as only more splendid sins. we may have a short but decisive formula by which to try and by which to condemn them. these deeds, we may say, were not of faith, and therefore they could not please god; the men that wrought them knew not christ, and therefore their work was worthless--hay, straw, and stubble, to be utterly burned up in the day of the trial of every man's work. "yet there is indeed a certain narrowness of view, out of which alone the language of so sweeping a condemnation could proceed. our allegiance to christ, as the one fountain of light and life for the world, demands that we affirm none to be good but him, allow no goodness save that which has proceeded from him; but it does not demand that we deny goodness, because of the place where we find it, because we meet it, a garden tree, in the wilderness. it only requires that we claim this for him who planted, and was willing that it should grow there; whom it would itself have gladly owned as its author, if, belonging to a happier time, it could have known him by his name, whom in part it knew by his power. "we do not make much of a light of nature when we admit a righteousness in those to whom in the days of their flesh the gospel had not come. we only affirm that the word, though not as yet dwelling among us, yet being the 'light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,' had also lighted them. some glimpses of his beams gilded their countenances, and gave to these whatever brightness they wore; and in recognizing this brightness we are ascribing honor to him, and not to them; glorifying the grace of god, and not the virtues of man."[ ] in marked contrast with this, and tending to an extreme, is the following, from the pen of bishop beveridge. it is quoted by max müller, in the opening volume of "the sacred books of the east," as a model of candor. "the general inclinations which are naturally implanted in my soul to some religion, it is impossible for me to shift off; but there being such a multiplicity of religions in the world, i desire now seriously to consider with myself which of them all to restrain these my general inclinations to. and the reason of this my inquiry is not, that i am in the least dissatisfied with that religion i have already embraced; but because 'tis natural for all men to have an overbearing opinion and esteem for that particular religion they are born and bred-up in. that, therefore, i may not seem biased by the prejudice of education, i am resolved to prove and examine them all; that i may see and hold fast to that which is best.... indeed, there was never any religion so barbarous and diabolical, but it was preferred above all other religions whatsoever by them that did profess it; otherwise they would not have professed it.... and why, say they, may you not be mistaken as well as we? especially when there are, at least, six to one against your christian religion; all of which think they serve god aright; and expect happiness thereby as well as you.... and hence it is that in my looking out for the truest religion, being conscious to myself how great an ascendancy christianity holds over me beyond the rest, as being that religion whereunto i was born and baptized; that the supreme authority has enjoined and my parents educated me in; that which everyone i meet withal highly approves of, and which i myself have, by a long-continued profession, made almost natural to me; i am resolved to be more jealous and suspicious of this religion than of the rest, and be sure not to entertain it any longer without being convinced by solid and substantial arguments of the truth and certainty of it. that, therefore, i may make diligent and impartial inquiry into all religions and so be sure to find out the best, i shall for a time look upon myself as one not at all interested in any particular religion whatsoever, much less in the christian religion; but only as one who desires, in general, to serve and obey him that made me in a right manner, and thereby to be made partaker of that happiness my nature is capable of."[ ] second, in studying the false systems it is important to distinguish between religion and ethics. in the sphere of ethics the different faiths of men may find much common ground, while in their religious elements they may be entirely true or utterly false. the teachings of confucius, though agnostic, presented a moral code which places the relations of the family and state on a very firm basis. and the very highest precepts of buddhism belong to the period in which it was virtually atheistic. many great and noble truths have been revealed to mankind through the conscience and the understanding, and these truths have found expression in the proverbs or ethical maxims of all races. to this extent god has nowhere left himself without witness. but all this is quite apart from a divinely revealed religion which may be cherished or be wholly lost. the golden rule is found not only in the new testament, but negatively at least in the confucian classics;[ ] and the shastras of the hindus present it in both the positive and the negative form. and the still higher grace of doing good to those who injure us, was proclaimed by laotze, five hundred years before christ preached the sermon on the mount. the immense superiority of the ethical standard in christianity, lies in its harmony and completeness. confucius taught the active virtues of life, laotze those of a passive kind; christianity inculcates both. in heathenism ethical truths exist in fragments--mere half truths, like the broken and scattered remains of a temple once beautiful but now destroyed. they hold no relation to any high religious purpose, because they have no intelligent relation to god. christian ethics begin with our relations to god as supreme, and they embrace the present life and the world to come. the symmetry of the divine precept, "thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself," finds no counterpart in the false religions of the world. nowhere else, not even in buddhism, is found the perfect law of love. the great secret of power in christianity is god's unspeakable love to men in christ; and the reflex of that love is the highest and purest ever realized in human hearts. thirdly, the false systems should be studied by the christian missionary, not for their own sakes so much as for an ulterior purpose, and they should be studied in constant comparison with the religion which it is his business to proclaim. his aim is not that of a savant. let us not disguise it: he is mainly endeavoring to gain a more thorough preparation for his own great work. the professional scholar at oxford or leipsic might condemn this acknowledged bias--this pursuit of truth as a means and not as an end--but if he would be entirely frank, he would often find himself working in the interest of a linguistic theory, or a pet hypothesis of social science. it was in this spirit that spencer and darwin have searched the world for facts to support their systems.[ ] i repeat, it is enough for the missionary that he shall be thoroughly candid. he may exercise the burning zeal of paul for the gospel which he proclaims, if he will also exercise his clear discrimination, his scrupulous fairness, his courtesy, and his tact. let him not forget that he is studying religions comparatively; he should proceed with the bible in one hand, and should examine the true and the false together. contrasts will appear step by step as he advances, and the great truths of christianity will stand out in brighter radiance, for the shadows of the background. if the question be asked, when and where shall the missionary candidate study the false systems, i answer at once; before he leaves his native land; and i assign three principal reasons. first: the study of a new and difficult language should engross his attention when he reaches his field. this will prove one of the most formidable tasks of his life, and it will demand resolute, concentrated, and prolonged effort. second: in gaining access to the people, studying their ways and winning their confidence, the missionary will find great advantage in having gained some previous knowledge of their habits of thought and the intricacies of their beliefs. third: the means and appliances of study are far greater here at home than on the mission fields. a very serious difficulty with most missionaries is the want of books on special topics; they have no access to libraries, and if one has imagined that he can best understand the faiths of the people by personal contact with them, he will soon learn with surprise how little he can gain from them, and how little they themselves know of their own systems. those who do know have learned for the purpose of baffling the missionary instead of helping him. the accumulation and the arrangement of anything like a systematic knowledge of heathen systems has cost the combined effort of many missionaries and many oriental scholars; and now, after three generations have pursued these studies, it is still felt that very much is to be learned from literatures yet to be translated. such as there are, are best found in the home libraries. let us for a few moments consider the question how far those who are not to become missionaries may be profited by a study of false systems. to a large extent, the considerations already urged will apply to them also, but there are still others which are specially important to public teachers here at home. dean murray, in an able article published in the "homiletic review" of september, , recommended to active and careworn pastors a continued study of the greek classics, as calculated to refresh and invigorate the mind, and increase its capacity for the duties of whatever sphere. all that he said of the greek may also be said of the hindu classics, with the added consideration that in the latter we are dealing with the living issues of the day. sir monier williams, in comparing the two great epics of the hindus with those of homer, names many points of superiority in the former.[ ] it is safe to say that no poems of any other land have ever exercised so great a spell over so many millions of mankind as the ramayana and the mahabharata, of india, and no other production is listened to with such delight as the story of rama as it is still publicly read at the hindu festivals. of philosophies, no system of india has approached so near to veritable divine revelation as that of plato, but in variety and subtlety, and in their far-reaching influence upon human life, the indian schools, especially the vedanta, are scarcely excelled to this day. and they are _applied_ philosophies; they constitute the religion of the people. max müller has said truly that no other line of investigation is so fascinating as that which deals with the long and universal struggle of mankind to find out god, and to solve the mystery of their relations to him. unfortunately, human history has dealt mainly with wars and intrigues, and the rise and fall of dynasties; but compared with these coarse and superficial elements, how much more interesting and instructive to trace in all races of men the common and ceaseless yearnings after some solution of life's mysteries! one is stirred with a deeper, broader sympathy for mankind when he witnesses this universal sense of dependence, this fear and trembling before the powers of an unseen world, this pitiful procession of unblest millions ever trooping on toward the goal of death and oblivion. and from this standpoint, as from no other, may one measure the greatness and glory of the gospel of jesus christ. to my mind there is nothing more pathetic than the spectacle of world-wide fetichism. it is not to be contemplated with derision, but with profoundest sympathy. we all remember the pathos of scott's picture of his highland heroine, with brain disordered by unspeakable grief, beguiling her woes with childish ornaments of "gaudy broom" and plumes from the eagle's wing. but sadder far is the spectacle of millions of men made for fellowship with god, building their hopes on the divinity dwelling in an amulet of tiger's teeth or serpent's fangs or curious shells. and it ought to enlarge our natures with a christ-like sympathy when we contemplate those dark and desperate faiths which are but nightmares of the soul, which see in all the universe only malevolent spirits to be appeased, which, looking heavenward for a father's face, see, as richter expressed it, "only a death's head with bottomless, empty sockets" instead of a loving smile.[ ] and what a field do the greater but equally false systems present for the study of the human mind and heart! how was it that the simple nature worship of the indo-aryans grew into the vast deposit of modern hinduism, and developed those social customs which have become walls of adamant? how could buddhism grow out of such a soil and finally cast its spell over so many peoples? what were the elements of power which enabled the great sage of china to rear a social and political fabric which has survived for so many centuries? how was it that islam gained its conquests, and what is the secret of that dominion which it still holds? these surely are questions worthy of those who are called to deal with human thought and human destiny. and when by comparison we find the grand differentials which raise christianity infinitely above them all, we shall have gained the power of presenting its truths more clearly and more convincingly to the minds and hearts of men. there are some specific advantages flowing from the study of other religions of which i will give little more than an enumeration. . it impresses us with the universality of some more or less distinct conception of god. i am aware that from time to time explorers imagine that they have found a race of men who have no notion of god, but in almost every instance subsequent investigation has found a religious belief. such mistakes were made concerning the aborigines of australia, the dyaks of borneo, the papuans, the patagonians, and even the american indians. the unity of the race finds a new and striking proof in the universality of religion. . the study of false systems brings to light an almost unanimous testimony for the existence of a vague primeval monotheism, and thus affords a strong presumptive corroboration of the scriptural doctrine of man's apostasy from the worship of the true god. . the clearest vindication of the severities of the old testament theocracy, in its wars of extermination against the canaanites and phoenicians, is to be found in a careful study of the foul and cruel types of heathenism which those nations carried with them wherever their colonies extended. a religion which enjoined universal prostitution, and led thus to sodomy and the burning of young children in the fires of moloch, far exceeded the worst heathenism of africa or the islands of the pacific. the phoenician settlements on the mediterranean have not even yet recovered from the moral blight of that religion; and had such a cultus been allowed to spread over all europe and the world, not even a second deluge could have cleansed the earth of its defilement. the extermination of the canaanites, when considered as a part of one great scheme for establishing in that same palestine a purer and nobler faith, and sending forth thence, not phoenician corruption, but the gospel of peace to all lands, becomes a work of mercy to the human race. . the ethics of the heathen will be found to vindicate the doctrines of the bible. this is a point which should be more thoroughly understood. it has been common to parade the high moral maxims of heathen systems as proofs against the exclusive claims of christianity. but when carefully considered, the lofty ethical truths found in all sacred books and traditions, corroborate the doctrines of the scriptures. they condemn the nations "who hold the truth in unrighteousness." they enforce the great doctrine that by their own consciences all mankind are convicted of sin, and are in need of a vicarious righteousness,--a full and free salvation by a divine power. my own experience has been, and it is corroborated by that of many others, that very many truths of the gospel, when seen from the stand-point of heathenism, stand out with a clearness never seen before. many prudential reasons like those which we have given for the study of false systems by missionaries, pertain also to those who remain at home. both are concerned in the same cause, and both encounter the same assailments of our common faith. we are all missionaries in an important sense: we watch the conflict from afar, but we are concerned in all its issues. the bulletins of its battle-fields are no longer confined to missionary literature; they are found in the daily secular press, and they are discussed with favorable or unfavorable comments in the monthly magazines. the missionary enterprise has come to attract great attention: it has many friends, and also many foes, here at home; it is misrepresented by scoffers at our doors. the high merits of heathen systems, set forth with every degree of exaggeration, pass into the hands of christian families, in books and magazines and secular papers. apostles of infidelity are sent out to heathen countries to gather weapons against the truth. natives of various oriental lands, once taught in our mission schools perhaps, but still heathen, are paraded on our lecture platforms, where they entertain us with english and american arguments in support of their heathen systems and against christianity. young pastors, in the literary clubs of their various communities, are surprised by being called to discuss plausible papers on buddhism, which some fellow-member has contributed, and they are expected to defend the truth. or some young parishioner has been fascinated by a plausible theosophist, or has learned from robert elsmere that there are other religions quite as pure and sacred as our own. or some chance lecturer has disturbed the community with a discourse on the history of religious myths. and when some anxious member of a church learns that his religious instructor has no help for him on such subjects, that they lie wholly outside of his range, there is apt to be something more than disappointment: there is a loss of confidence. it is an unfortunate element in the case that error is more welcome in some of our professedly neutral papers than the truth: an article designed to show that christianity was borrowed from buddhism or was developed from fetichism will sometimes be welcomed as new sensation, while a reply of half the length may be rejected. there is something ominous in these facts. whether the secular press (not all papers are thus unfair) are influenced by partisan hatred of the truth or simply by a reckless regard for whatever is most popular, the facts are equally portentous. and if it be true that such publications are what the people most desire, the outlook for our country is dark indeed. the saddest consideration is that the power of the secular press is so vast and far reaching. when celsus wrote, books were few. when voltaire, hume, and thomas paine made their assailments on the christian faith, the means of spreading the blight of error were comparatively few. but now the accumulated arguments of german infidels for the last half-century may be thrown into a five-cent sunday paper, whose issue will reach a quarter of a million of copies, which perhaps a million of men and women may read. these articles are copied into a hundred other papers, and they are read in the villages and hamlets; they are read on the ranches and in the mining camps where no sermon is ever heard. it is perfectly evident that in an age like this we cannot propagate christianity under glass. it must grow in the open field where the free winds of heaven shall smite and dissipate every cloud of error that may pass over it, and where its roots shall only strike the deeper for the questionings and conflicts that may often befall it. error cannot be overcome either by ignoring it or by the cheap but imbecile scolding of an ignorant pulpit. i cannot express the truth on this point more forcibly than by quoting the trenchant words of professor ernest naville, in his lectures on "modern atheism." after having admitted that one, who can keep himself far from the strifes and struggles of modern thought, will find solitude, prayer, and calm activity, pursued under the guidance of conscience, most conducive to unquestioning faith and religious peace, he says: "but we are not masters of our own ways, and the circumstances of the present times impose on us special duties. the barriers which separate the school and the world are everywhere thrown down; everywhere shreds of philosophy, and very often of very bad philosophy, scattered fragments of theological science, and very often of a deplorable theological science, are insinuating themselves into the current literature. there is not a literary review, there is scarcely a political journal, which does not speak on occasion, or without occasion, of the problems relating to our eternal interests. the most sacred beliefs are attacked every day in the organs of public opinion. at such a juncture can men, who preserve faith in their own souls, remain like dumb dogs, or keep themselves shut up in the narrow limits of the schools? assuredly not. we must descend to the common ground and fight with equal weapons the great battles of thought. for this purpose it is necessary to state questions which run the risk of startling sincerely religious persons. but there is no help for it if we are to combat the adversaries on their own ground; and because it is thus only that we can prove to all that the torrent of negations is but a passing rush of waters, which, fret as they may in their channels, shall be found to have left not so much as a trace of their passage upon the rock of ages." the fact that professor naville's lectures were delivered in geneva and lausanne, to audiences which together numbered over two thousand five hundred people, affords abundant proof that the people are prepared to welcome the relief afforded by a clear and really able discussion of these burning questions. in the ordinary teaching of the pulpit they would be out of place, but every public teacher should be able to deal with them on suitable occasions. in a single concluding word, the struggle of truth and error has become world-wide. there are no ethnic religions now. there is christianity in calcutta, and there is buddhism in boston. the line of battle is the parallel that belts the globe. it is not a time for slumber or for mere pious denunciation. there must be no blundering: the warfare must be waged with weapons of precision, and then victory is sure. it is well if our missionary effort of a century has drawn the fire of the enemy; it is well if the time has come to hold up the truth face to face with error, and to fight out and over again the conflict of elijah and the priests of baal. footnotes: [footnote : _the light of asia and the light of the world_. macmillan & co.] [footnote : the late professor moffat, of princeton theological seminary, published a _comparative history of religions_, but its field was too broad for a thorough treatment.] [footnote : _methodist quarterly_.] [footnote : quoted in _manual of india missions_.] [footnote : _manual of india missions._] [footnote : similar views, though in briefer terms, have been presented by rev. william a.p. martin, d.d., of peking; rev. john l. nevins, d.d., of chefou; rev. a.p. happer, d.d., and rev. b.c. henry, d.d., of canton; professor john wortabet, m.d., of beyrout; rev. jacob chamberlain, d.d., missionary of the reformed church in madras; rev. z.j. jones, d.d., missionary of the american m.e. church at bareilly, india; rev. k.c. chattergee and ram chandra bose, both converts from high caste hinduism and both eminent ministers of the gospel in india; and rev. e.w. blyden, d.d., the accomplished african scholar of liberia.] [footnote : the _japan mail_ of september , , in reviewing the progress of religious and philosophic discussion as carried on by the native press of the empire, says: "the buddhist literature of the season shows plainly the extent to which the educated members of the (buddhist) priesthood are seeking to enlarge their grasp by contact with western philosophy and religious thought. we happen to know that a prominent priest of the shinsu sect is deeply immersed in comte's humanitarianism. in _kyogaku-roushu_ (a native paper) are published instalments of spencer's philosophy. another paper, the _hauseikwai_, has an article urging the desirability of a general union of all the (buddhist) sects, such as colonel olcott brought about in india between the northern and the southern buddhists."] [footnote : _leaves from an egyptian note-book._] [footnote : papers of rev. mr. hewlett in the _indian evangelical review_.] [footnote : in an address given in tokio, by rev. mr. knapp, of boston, buddhists in japan were advised to build their religion of the future upon their own foundations, and not upon the teachings of western propagandists.] [footnote : _the twelve buddhist sects of japan_, by bunyiu nanjio, oxon.] [footnote : quoted in _manual of india missions_.] [footnote : quoted in _manual of india missions_.] [footnote : _hulsean lectures_, .] [footnote : private thoughts on religion, part i., article .] [footnote : confucius not only taught that men should not do to others what they would not have done to them, but when one of his disciples asked him to name one word which should represent the whole duty of man, he replied "reciprocity."] [footnote : whoever will read the preface of mr. spencer's work on sociology will be surprised at the means which have been used in collecting and verifying supposed facts; a careful perusal of the book will show that all classes of testimony have been accepted, so far as they were favorable. adventurers, reporters, sailors, and that upon the briefest and most casual observation, have been deemed capable of interpreting the religious beliefs of men. even peschel doubts many of their conclusions.] [footnote : see _indian wisdom_.] [footnote : archbishop trench, after speaking in his hulsean lectures of the advantages which we may gain from an earnest study of the struggles of thoughtful men, who amid heathen darkness have groped after a knowledge of the true god, and of the gratitude which we ought to feel who have received a more sure word of prophecy, adds in words of rare beauty: "and perhaps it shall seem to us as if that star in the natural heavens which guided those eastern sages from their distant home, was but the symbol of many a star which, in the world's mystical night, such as, being faithfully followed, availed to lead humble and devout hearts from far-off regions of superstition and error, till they knelt beside the cradle of the babe of bethlehem, and saw all their weary wanderings repaid in a moment, and all their desires finding a perfect fulfilment in him."] lecture ii. the methods of the early christian church in dealing with heathenism the coincidences of our present conquest of the non-christian races with that to which the apostolic church was called are numerous and striking. not even one hundred years ago was the struggle with heathen error so similar to that of the early church. to a great extent the missionary efforts of the mediæval centuries encountered only crude systems, which it was comparatively easy to overcome. the rude tribes of northern europe were converted by the christianity of the later roman empire, even though they were conquerors. their gods of war and brute force did not meet all the demands of life. as a source of hope and comfort, their religion had little to be compared with the christian faith, and as to philosophy they had none. they had inherited the simple nature worship which was common to all branches of the aryan race, and they had expanded it into various ramifications of polytheism; but they had not fortified it with subtle speculations like those of the indo-aryans, nor had their mythologies become intrenched in inveterate custom, and the national pride which attends an advanced civilization. at a later day christian missionaries in britain found the norse religion of the saxons, jutes, and angles, scarcely holding the confidence of either rulers or subjects. they had valued their gods chiefly for the purposes of war, and they had not always proved reliable. the king of northumbria, like clovis of france, had vowed to exchange his deities for the god of the christians if victory should be given him on a certain battle-field; and when he had assembled his thanes to listen to a discussion between the missionary paulinus and the priests of woden on the comparative merits of their respective faiths, the high priest frankly admitted his dissatisfaction with a religion which he had found utterly disappointing and useless; and when other chief counsellors had given the same testimony, and a unanimous vote had been taken to adopt the christian faith, he was the first to commence the destruction of the idols.[ ] the still earlier missionaries among the druid celts of britain and france, though they found in druidism a more elaborate faith than that of the norsemen, encountered no such resistance as we find in the great religious systems of our day. where can we point to so easy a conquest as that of patrick in ireland, or that of the monks of iona among the picts and scots? the druids claimed that they already had many things in common with the christian doctrines,[ ] and what was a still stronger element in the case, they made common cause with the christians against the wrongs inflicted on both by pagan rome. the roman emperors were not more determined to extirpate the hated and, as they thought, dangerous influences of christianity, than they were to destroy every vestige of druidism as their only hope of conquering the invincible armies of boadicea. and thus the mutual experience of common sufferings opened a wide door for the advancement of christian truth. the conquests of welsh and irish missionaries in burgundy, switzerland, and _germany_, encountered no elaborate book religions, and no profound philosophies. they had to deal with races of men who were formidable only with weapons of warfare, and who, intent chiefly on conquest and migration, had few institutions and no written historic records. the peaceful sceptre of the truth was a new force in their experience, and the sympathetic and self-denying labors of a few missionaries tamed the fierce vikings to whom britain had become a prey, and whose incursions even the armies of charlemagne could not resist. how different is our struggle with the races now under the sceptre of islam, for example--inflated as they are with the pride of wide conquest, and looking contemptuously upon that christian faith which it was their early mission to sweep away as a form of idolatry! how different is our task in india, which boasts the antiquity of the noble sanskrit and its sacred literature, and claims, as the true representative of the aryan race, to have given to western nations their philosophy, their religion, and their civilization! how much more difficult is our encounter with confucianism, which claims to have laid the foundations of the most stable structure of social and political institutions that the world has ever known, and which to-day, after twenty-five centuries of trial, appeals to the intellectual pride of all intelligent classes in a great empire of four hundred millions! and finally, how different is our task with buddhism, so mystical and abstruse, so lofty in many of its precepts, and yet so cold and thin, so flexible and easily adapted, and therefore so varied and many sided! the religious systems with which we are now confronted find their counterparts only in the heathenism with which the early church had to deal many centuries ago; and for this reason the history of those early struggles is full of practical instruction for us now. how did the early church succeed in its great conquest? what methods were adopted, and with what measures of success? in one respect there is a wide difference in the two cases. the apostles were attempting to convert their conquerors. they belonged to the vanquished race; they were of a despised nationality. the early fathers also were subjects of pagan powers. insomuch as the roman emperors claimed divine honors, there was an element of treason in their propagandism. the terrible persecutions which so long devastated the early church found their supposed justification in the plea of self-defence against a system which threatened to subvert cherished and time-honored institutions. candid writers, like archdeacon farrar, admit that christianity did hasten the overthrow of the roman empire. but we find no conquering powers in our pathway. christianity and christian civilization have become dominant in the earth. the weakness of the christian church in its conquests now is not in being baffled and crippled by tyranny and persecution, but rather in the temptation to arrogance and the abuse of superior power, in the overbearing spirit shown in the diplomacy of christian nations and the unscrupulous aggressions of their commerce. there is also a further contrast in the fact that in the early days the advantages of frugality and simple habits of life were on the side of the missionaries. roman society especially was beginning to suffer that decay which is the inevitable consequence of long-continued luxury, while the church observed temperance in all things and excelled in the virtues which always tend to moral and social victory.[ ] on the other hand, we who are the ambassadors to the heathen of to-day, are ourselves exposed to the dangers which result from wealth and excessive luxury. our grade of life, our scale of expenditure, even the style in which our missionaries live, excites the amazement of the frugal heathen to whom they preach. and as for the church at home, it is hardly safe for a persian or a chinaman to see it. everyone who visits this wonderful eldorado carries back such romantic impressions as excite in others, not so much the love of the gospel as the love of mammon. when the church went forth in comparative poverty, and with an intense moral earnestness, to preach righteousness, temperance, and the judgment to come; when those who were wealthy gave all to the poor--like anthony of egypt, jerome, ambrose, and francis of assisi--and in simple garments bore the gospel to those who were surfeited with luxuries and pleasures, and were sick of a life of mere indulgence, then the truth of the gospel conquered heathenism with all that the world could give. but whether a church in the advanced civilization of our land and time, possessed of enormous wealth, enjoying every luxury, and ever anxious to gain more and more of this present world, can convert heathen races who deem themselves more frugal, more temperate, and less worldly than we, is a problem which remains to be solved. we have rare facilities, but we have great drawbacks. god's grace can overcome even our defects, and he has promised success. but in the proud intellectual character of the systems encountered respectively by the ancient and by the modern church, there are remarkable parallels. the supercilious pride of brahminism, or the lofty scorn of mohammedanism, is quite equal to that self-sufficient greek philosophy in whose eyes the gospel was the merest foolishness. and the immovable self-righteousness of the stoics has its counterpart in the confucianism of the chinese literati. a careful comparison of the six schools of hindu philosophy with the various systems of greece and rome, will fill the mind with surprise at the numerous correspondences--one might almost say identities. and that surprise is the greater from the fact that no proof exists that either has been borrowed from the other. the atomic theory of creation advanced by lucretius is found also in the nyaya philosophy of the hindus. the pessimism of pliny and marcus aurelius was much more elaborately worked out by gautama. the hindus had their categories and their syllogisms as well as aristotle. the conception of a dual principle in deity which the early church traced in all the religious systems of egypt, phoenicia, and assyria, and whose influence poisoned the life of the phoenician colonies, and was so corrupting to the morals of greece and rome, was also elaborated by the sankhya philosophy of kapila, and it has plunged hindu society into as deep a degradation as could be found in pompeii or herculaneum.[ ] the indian philosophy partook far more of the pantheistic element than that of greece. plato and aristotle had clearer conceptions of the personality of the deity and of the distinct and responsible character of the human soul than any school of hindu philosophers--certainly clearer than the vedantists, and their ethics involved a stronger sense of sin. german philosophy has borrowed its pantheism from india rather than from greece, and in its most shadowy developments it has never transcended the ancient vedantism of vyasa. as in the early centuries, so in our time, different systems of religion have been commingled and interwoven into protean forms of error more difficult to understand and dislodge than any one of the faiths and philosophies of which they were combined. as the alexandrian jews intertwined the teachings of judaism and platonism; as manichæans and gnostics corrupted the truths of the old and new testaments with ideas borrowed from persian mysticism; as various eclectic systems gathered up all types of thought which the wide conquests of the roman empire brought together, and mingled them with christian teachings; so now the increased intercommunication, and the quickened intellectual activity of our age have led to the fusion of different systems, ancient and modern, in a negative and nerveless religion of humanity. we now have in the east not only indian, but anglo-indian, speculations. the unbelieving calcutta graduate has hegel and spinoza interwoven with his vedantism, and the eclectic leader of the brahmo somaj, while placing christ at the head of the prophets and recognizing the authority of all sacred bibles of the races, called on christians, hindus, buddhists and mohammedans to unite in one theistic church of the new dispensation in india. not even the old gnostics could present so striking an admixture as that of the arya somaj. it has appropriated many of those christian ethics which have been learned from a century of contact with missionaries and other christian residents. it has approved the more humane customs and reforms of christendom, denouncing caste, and the degradation of woman. it has repudiated the corrupt rites and the degrading superstitions of hinduism. at the same time its hatred of the christian faith is most bitter and intense. and there are other alliances, not a few, between the east and the west. in india and japan the old buddhism is compounded with american spiritualism and with modern evolution, under a new application of the ancient name of theosophy. in japan representatives of advanced unitarianism are exhorting the japanese buddhists to build the religion of the future on their old foundations, and to avoid the propagandists of western christianity. the bland and easy-going catholicity which professes so much in our day, which embraces all faiths and unfaiths in one sweet emulsion of meaningless negations, which patronizes the christ and his doctrines, and applies the nomenclature of christianity to doctrines the very opposite of its teachings, finds a counterpart in the smooth and vapid compromises of the old gnostics. "gnosticism," says uhlhorn, "combined greek philosophies, jewish theology, and ancient oriental theosophy, thus forming great systems of speculative thought, all with the object of displaying the world's development. from a pantheistic first cause, gnosticism traced the emanation of a series of æons--beings of light. the source of evil was supposed to be matter, which in this material world holds light in captivity. to liberate the light and thus redeem the world, christ came, and thus christianity was added as the crowning and victorious element in this many-sided system of speculation. but christ was regarded not so much as a saviour of individual souls as an emancipator of a disordered kosmos, and the system which seemed to accord great honor to christianity threatened to destroy its life and power." so, according to some of our modern systems, men are to find their future salvation in the grander future of the race.[ ] not only do we encounter mixtures of truth and error, but we witness similar attempts to prove that whatever is best in christianity was borrowed from heathenism. porphyry and others maintained that pythagoras and theosebius had anticipated many of the attributes and deeds of christ, and philostratus was prompted by the wife of severus to write a history of appolonius of tyana which should match the life of christ. and in precisely the same way it has been variously claimed in our time that the story of christ's birth, childhood, and ministry were borrowed from buddha and from krishna, and that the whole conception of his vicarious suffering for the good of men is a clever imitation of prometheus bound. now, in the earlier conflict it was important to know the facts on both sides in order to meet these allegations of porphyry, marinus, and others, and it is equally important to understand the precise ground on which similar charges are made with equal assurance now.[ ] the very same old battles are to be fought over again, both with philosophy and with legend. and it is very evident that, with so many points of similarity between the early struggle of christianity with heathenism and that of our own time, it is quite worth our labor to inquire what were the general methods then pursued. then victory crowned the efforts of the church. that which humanly speaking seemed impossible, was actually accomplished. from our finite standpoint, no more preposterous command was ever given than that which christ gave to his little company of disciples gathered in the mountains of galilee, or that last word before his ascension on mt. olivet, in which he placed under their responsible stewardship, not only jerusalem, but all judea and samaria, and the "uttermost parts of the earth." the disciples were without learning or social influence, or political power. they had no wealth and few facilities, and so far as they knew there were no open doors. they were hated by their jewish countrymen, ridiculed by the ubiquitous and cultured greeks, and frowned upon by the conquering powers of rome. how then did they succeed? how was it that in three or four centuries they had virtually emptied the roman pantheon of its heathen deities, and had gained the sceptre of the empire and the world? it is easy to misapprehend the forces which won the victory. the disciples first chosen to found the church were fishermen, but that affords no warrant for the belief that only untutored men were employed in the early church, or for the inference that the salvation army are to gain the conquest now. they were inspired; these are not; and a few only were chosen, with the very aim of setting at naught the intolerant wisdom of the pharisees. but when the gospel was to be borne to heathen races, to the great nations whose arrogance was proportionate to their learning and their power, a very different man was selected. saul of tarsus had almost every needed qualification seen from a human point of view. standing, as he must, between the stiff bigotry of judaism and the subtleties of greek philosophy, he was fortunately familiar with both. he was a man of rare courtesy, and yet of matchless courage. whether addressing a jewish governor or the assembled philosophers and counsellors of athens, he evinced an unfailing tact. he knew how to conciliate even a common mob of heathen idolators and when to defy a high priest, or plead the immunities of his roman citizenship before a roman proconsul. in tracing the methods of the early church in dealing with heathenism, we begin, therefore, with paul; for although he was differentiated from all modern parallels by the fact that he was inspired and endowed with miraculous power, yet that does not invalidate the force of those general principles of action which he illustrated. he was the first and greatest of all missionaries, and through all time it will be safe and profitable to study his characteristics and his methods. he showed the value of thorough training in his own faith, and of a full understanding of all the errors he was to contend with. he could reason with jews out of their own scriptures, or substantiate his position with greeks by citing their own poets. he was certainly uncompromising in maintaining the sovereignty of the one god, jehovah, but he was not afraid to admit that in their blind way the heathen were also groping after the same supreme father of all. the unknown god at athens he accepted as an adumbration of him whom he proclaimed, and every candid reader must admit that in quoting the words of aratus, which represent zeus as the supreme creator whose offspring we are, he conveys the impression of a real resemblance, if not a partial and obscured identity. the essential principle here is that paul frankly acknowledged whatever glimpses of truth he found in heathen systems, and made free use of them in presenting the fuller and clearer knowledge revealed in the gospel. no man ever presented a more terrible arraignment of heathenism than that which he makes in the first chapter of his epistle to the romans, and yet, with marvellous discrimination he proceeds, in the second chapter, to show how much of truth god has imparted to the understandings and the consciences of all men. and he seems to imply the holy spirit's regenerative work through christ's atonement, when he maintains that whoever shall, "by patient continuance in well doing, seek glory and immortality," to him shall "eternal life" be given; but "tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil, to the jew first, and also to the gentile." peter was not prepared to be a missionary till he had been divested of his jewish narrowness by witnessing the power of grace in the roman centurion at cesarea. that widened out his horizon immensely. he saw that god in his ultimate plan was no respecter of persons or of races. there has been great difference of opinion as to whether the annual worship of the supreme god of heaven in the great imperial temple at peking is in any degree a relic of the worship of the true god once revealed to mankind. such chinese scholars as martin and legge and douglass think that it is; others deny it. some men raise a question whether the allah of the mohammedan faith is identical with the jehovah of the old testament. sales, the profoundest expositor of islam, considers him the same. moslems themselves have no doubt of it: the intent of the koran is that and nothing else; old testament teachings are interwoven with almost every sura of its pages. i think that paul would have conceded this point at once, and would the more successfully have urged the claims of jesus, whom the koran presents as the only sinless prophet. of course mohammedans do not recognize the triune god as we now apprehend him, from the new testament standpoint; neither did ancient believers of israel fully conceive of god as he has since been more fully revealed in the person and the sacrifice of his son--jesus christ. both the teachings and the example of paul seem to recognize the fact that conceptions of god, sometimes clear and sometimes dim, may exist among heathen nations; and many of the great christian fathers evidently took the same view. they admitted that plato's noble teachings were calculated to draw the soul toward god, though they revealed no real access to him such as is found in christ. archbishop trench, in his hulsean lectures on "christ the desire of the nations," dwells approvingly upon augustine's well-known statement, that he had been turned from vice to an inspiring conception of god by reading the "hortensius" of cicero. augustine's own reference to the fact is found in the fourth book of his "confessions," where he says: "in the ordinary course of study i fell upon a certain book of cicero whose speech almost all admire--not so his heart. this book contains an exhortation to philosophy, and is called 'hortensius.' but this book altered my affections and turned my prayers to thyself, o lord, and made me have other purposes and desires. every vain hope at once became worthless to me, and i longed with an incredible burning desire for an immortality of wisdom, and began now to arise that i might return to thee. for not to sharpen my tongue did i employ that book: nor did it infuse into me its style, but its matter." the "hortensius" of cicero has not survived till our time, and we know not what it contained; but we cannot fail to notice this testimony of a mature and eminent saint to the spiritual benefit which he had received at the age of thirty-one, from reading the works of a heathen philosopher. and a most interesting proof is here furnished for the freedom with which the spirit of god works upon the hearts of men, and the great variety of means and agencies which he employs,--and that beyond the pale of the christian church, and even beyond the actual knowledge of the historic christ. it would be interesting to know whether the regeneration of augustine occurred just then, when he says in such strong language, that this book altered his affections and turned his prayers unto god, and made him "long with an indescribable burning desire for an immortality of wisdom." all men are saved, if at all, by the blood of christ through the renewing of the holy ghost; but what was the position of such men as augustine and cornelius of cesarea before they fully and clearly saw jesus as the actual messiah, and as the personal representative of that grace of god in which they had already reposed a general faith, is at least an interesting question. not less positive is the acknowledgment which augustine makes of the benefits which he had received from plato. and he mentions many others, as virgininus, lactantius, hilary, and cyprian, who, like himself, having once been heathen and students of heathen philosophy, had, as he expresses it, "spoiled the egyptians, bringing away with them rich treasures from the land of bondage, that they might adorn therewith the true tabernacle of the christian faith." augustine seems to have been fond of repeating both this argument and this his favorite illustration. in his "doctrine of christ" he expands it more fully than in his "confessions." he says: "whatever those called philosophers, and especially the platonists, may have said conformable to our faith, is not only not to be dreaded, but is to be claimed from them as unlawful possessors, to our use. for, as the egyptians not only had idols and heavy burdens which the people of israel were to abhor and avoid, but also vessels and ornaments of gold and silver and apparel which that people at its departure from egypt privily assumed for a better use, not on its own authority but at the command of god, the very egyptians unwittingly furnishing the things which themselves used not well; so all the teaching of the gentiles not only hath feigned and superstitious devices, and heavy burdens of a useless toil, which we severally, as under the leading of christ we go forth out of the fellowship of the gentiles, ought to abhor and avoid, but it also containeth liberal arts, fitter for the service of truth, and some most useful moral precepts; as also there are found among them some truths concerning the worship of the one god himself, as it were their gold and silver which they did not themselves form, but drew from certain veins of divine providence running throughout, and which they perversely and wrongfully abuse to the service of demons. these, the christian, when he severs himself from their wretched fellowship, ought to take from them for the right use of preaching of the gospel. for what else have many excellent members of our faith done? see we not how richly laden with gold and silver and apparel that most persuasive teacher and most blessed martyr, cyprian, departed out of egypt? or lactantius, or victorinus, optatus, hilary, not to speak of the living, and greeks innumerable? and this, moses himself, that most faithful servant of god, first did, of whom it is written, that 'he was learned in all the wisdom of the egyptians.'" let us for a moment pause and see of what these treasures of egypt consisted, and especially what plato taught concerning god. like socrates, he ridiculed the absurd but popular notion that the gods could be full of human imperfections, could make war upon each other, could engage in intrigues, and be guilty of base passions. and he earnestly maintained that it was demoralizing to children and youth to hold up such beings as objects of worship. such was his condemnation of what he considered false gods. he was equally opposed to the idea that there is no god. "all things," he says, "are from god, and not from some spontaneous and unintelligent cause." "now, that which is created," he adds, "must of necessity be created by some cause--but how can we find out the father and maker of all this universe? if the world indeed be fair, and the artificer good, then he must have looked to that which is external--for the world is the fairest of creatures, as he is the best of causes." plato's representation of the mercy of god, of his providential care, of his unmixed goodness, of his eternal beauty and holiness--are well-nigh up to the new testament standard. so is also his doctrine of the immortality of the soul. the fatal deficiency is that he does not _know_. he has received no divine revelation. "we will wait," he said in another passage, "for one, be it a god or a god-inspired man, to teach us our religious duties, and as athene in homer says to diomede, to take away the darkness from our eyes." and in still another place he adds: "we must lay hold of the best human opinion in order that, borne by it as on a raft, we may sail over the dangerous sea of life, unless we can find a stronger boat, _or some word of god which will more surely and safely carry us_."[ ] there is a deep pathos in the question which i have just quoted, "how can we find out the father and maker of all this universe?" and in the last sentence quoted, plato seems to have felt his way to the very threshold of the revelation of christ.[ ] augustine shows a discrimination on this subject too important to be overlooked, when he declares that while the noble philosophy of the platonists turned his thoughts away from his low gratifications to the contemplation of an infinite god, it left him helpless. he was profited both by what philosophy taught him and by what it could not teach: it created wants which it could not satisfy. in short, he was prepared by its very deficiencies to see in stronger contrast the all-satisfying fulness of the gospel of eternal life. plato could tell him nothing of any real plan of redemption, and he confesses with tender pathos that he found no revealer, no divine sacrifice for sin, no uplifted cross, no gift of the transforming spirit, no invitation to the weary, no light of the resurrection.[ ] now, just here is the exact truth; and augustine has conferred a lasting benefit upon the christian church by this grand lesson of just discrimination. he and other christian fathers knew where to draw the lines carefully and wisely with respect to heathen errors. we often have occasion to complain of the sharpness of the controversies of the early church, but it could scarcely be otherwise in an age like that. it was a period of transitions and of rude convulsions. the foundations of the great deep of human error were being broken up. it was no time for flabby, jelly-fish convictions. the training which the great leaders had received in philosophy and rhetoric had made them keen dialectics. they had something of paul's abhorrence of heathen abominations, for they saw them on every hand. they saw also the specious admixtures of gnosticism, and they met them squarely. tertullian's controversy with marcion, augustine's sharp issue with pelasgius, ambrose's bold and uncompromising resistance to arianism, origen's able reply to celsus, all show that the great leaders of the church were not men of weak opinions. the discriminating concessions which they made, therefore, were not born of an easy-going indifferentism and the soft and nerveless charity that regards all religions alike. they found a medium between this pretentious extreme and the opposite evil of ignorant and narrow prejudgment; and nothing is more needed in the missionary work of our day than that intelligent and well-poised wisdom which considers all the facts and then draws just distinctions; which will not compensate for conscious ignorance with cheap misrepresentation or wholesale denunciation. . now, first of all, in considering the methods of the early church and its secret of power in overcoming the errors of heathenism, it must be borne in mind that the victory was mainly due to the _moral earnestness_ which characterized that period. in this category we must place the influence which sprang from the martyrdom of thousands who surrendered life rather than relinquish their faith. that this martyr spirit did not always produce a true symmetry of christian character cannot be denied. the tide of fanaticism swept in, sometimes, with the current of true religious zeal, and inconsistencies and blemishes marred even the saintliest self-sacrifice; but there was no resisting the mighty logic of the spirit of martyrdom as a whole. the high and the low, the wise and the unlettered, the rich and the poor, the old and the young, strong men and delicate women, surrendered themselves to the most cruel tortures for the love of christ. this spectacle, while it may have served only to enrage a nero and urge him on to even more satanic cruelty, could not be wholly lost upon the more thoughtful marcus aurelius and others like him. it was impossible to resist the moral force of so calm and resolute a surrender unto torture and death. moreover, an age which produced such relinquishment of earthly possessions as was shown by men like anthony and ambrose, who were ready to lay down the emoluments of high political position and distribute their large fortunes for the relief of the poor; and such women as paula and others of high position, who were ready to sacrifice all for christ and retire into seclusion and voluntary poverty--an age which could produce such characters and could show their steady perseverance unto the end, could not fail to be an age of resistless moral power; and it would be safe to say that no heathen system could long stand against the sustained and persistent force of such influences. were the christian church of to-day moved by even a tithe of that high self-renunciation, to say nothing of braving the fires of martyrdom, if it possessed in even partial degree the same sacrifice of luxury and ease, and the same consecration of effort and of influence, the conquest of benighted nations would be easy and rapid. the frugality of the early christians, the simplicity of life which the great body of the church observed, and to which even wealthy converts more or less conformed, was also, doubtless, a strong factor in the great problem of winning the heathen to christ. probably in no age could christian simplicity find stronger contrasts than were presented by the luxury and extravagance, the unbridled indulgence and profligacy, which characterized the later periods of the roman empire. universal conquest of surrounding nations had brought untold wealth. the government had hastened the process of decay by lavish distribution to the people of those resources which obviated the necessity of unremitting toil. it had devoted large expenditures to popular amusements, and demagogues had squandered the public funds for the purpose of securing their own preferment. over against the moral earnestness of the persecuted christian church, there was in the nation itself and the heathenism which belonged to it, an utter want of character or conviction. these conditions of the conquest, as i have already indicated, do not find an exact counterpart with us now. there is more of refined christian culture than existed in the early church; probably there is also more of organized christian effort. in many points the comparison is in our favor, but earnestness, and the spiritual power which attends it, are on a lower grade. there is no escape from the conviction that just here lies the reason why the christian church, with all her numbers, her vast material resources, and her unlimited opportunities, cannot achieve a greater success. . but, on the intellectual side, and as relating to the methods of direct effort, there are many points in which imitation of the early example is entirely practicable. and first, the wise discrimination which was exercised by augustine and other christian leaders is entirely practicable now. there has prevailed in our time an indiscriminate carelessness in the use of terms in dealing with this subject. the strong language which the old testament employed against the abominations of baalism, we have seemed to regard as having equal force against the ethics of confucius or gautama. "heathenism" is the one brand which we have put upon all the non-christian religions. i wish it were possible to exchange the term for a better.[ ] baalism was undoubtedly the most besotted, cruel, and diabolical religion that has ever existed on the earth. when we carefully study it we are not surprised at the strong language of denunciation which the old testament employs. but as i have already shown, we find in the new testament a different spirit exercised toward the types of error which our saviour and his disciples were called to meet. there is only gentleness in our lord's dealings with those who were without the jewish church. his strongest denunciations were reserved for hypocrites who knew the truth and obeyed it not. he declared that the men of nineveh would rise up in judgment against those who rejected the clear message of god's own son. the man who goes forth to the great mission fields with the feeling that it is his province to assail as strongly as possible the deeply-rooted convictions of men, instead of winning them to a more excellent way, is worse than one who beats the air; he is doing positive harm; he is trifling with precious souls. he does not illustrate the spirit of christ. the wisest of the early fathers sometimes differed widely from each other in their methods; some were denunciatory, others were even too ready to excuse. the great african controversialist, tertullian, was unsparing in his anathemas, not only against heathen customs, which were vile indeed, but against the teachings of the noblest philosophy. he had witnessed the former; he had not candidly studied the latter. with a blind zeal, which has too often been witnessed in the history of good causes, he denounced plato, aristotle, and even socrates with a violence which marred the character of so great a man. on the other hand, justin martyr and clement of alexandria were perhaps excessively broad. of two noted alexandrines, archdeacon farrar says: "they were philosophers in spirit; they could enforce respect by their learning and their large, rounded sympathy, where rhetorical denunciation and ecclesiastical anathemas would only have been listened to with a frown of anger, or a look of disdain. pagan youths would have listened to clement when he spoke of plato as 'the truly noble and half-inspired,' while they would have looked on tertullian as an ignorant railer, who could say nothing better of socrates than to call him the 'attic buffoon,' and of aristotle than to characterize him as the 'miserable aristotle.'" tatian and hermes also looked upon greek philosophy as an invention of the devil. irenæus was more discriminating. he opposed the broad and lax charity of the alexandrines, but he read the greek philosophy, and when called to the bishopric of lyons, he set himself to the study of the gallic druidism, believing that a special adaptation would be called for in that remote mission field.[ ] basil was an earnest advocate of the greek philosophy as giving a broader character to christian education. there were among the fathers many different types of men, some philosophically inclined, others better able to use practical arguments. some were more successful in appealing to the signs of the times, the clear evidences of that corruption and decay to which heathenism had led. they pointed to the degradation of women, the prevalence of vice, the inordinate indulgence in pleasures, the love of excitement, the cruel frenzy of the gladiatorial shows, the unrest and pessimism and despair of all society. one of the most remarkable appeals of this kind is found in a letter of cyprian to his friend donatus. "he bids him seat himself in fancy on some mountain top and gaze down upon what he has abandoned (for he is a christian), on the roads blocked by brigands, the sea beset by pirates, the camps desolated by the horrors of many wars, on the world reeking with bloodshed, and the guilt which, in proportion to its magnitude, was extolled as a glory. then, if he would turn his gaze to the cities, he would behold a sight more gloomy than all solitudes. in the gladiatorial games men were fattened for mutual slaughter, and publicly murdered to delight the mob. even innocent men were urged to fight in public with wild beasts, while their mothers and sisters paid large sums to witness the spectacle. in the theatres parricide and infanticide were dealt with before mixed audiences, and all pollution and crimes were made to claim reverence because presented under the guise of religious mythology. in the homes was equal corruption; in the forum bribery and intrigue ran rife; justice was subverted, and innocence was condemned to prison, torture, and death. luxury destroyed character, and wealth became an idol and a curse."[ ] arguments of this kind were ready enough to hand whenever christian teachers were disposed to use them, and their descriptions found a real corroboration in society as it actually appeared on every hand. none could question the counts in the indictment. . while the christian fathers and the missionaries differed in their estimates of heathenism, and in their methods of dealing with it, one thing was recognized by all whom we designate as the great leaders, namely, the imperative necessity of a thorough knowledge of it. they understood both the low superstition of the masses and the loftier teaching of the philosophers. on the other hand, they had the same estimate of the incomparable gospel of christ that we have; they realized that it was the wisdom of god and the power of god unto salvation as clearly as the best of us, but they did not claim that it was to be preached blindly and without adaptation. the verities of the new testament teachings, the transforming power of the holy ghost, the necessity for a new birth and for the preternatural influence of grace, both in regeneration and in sanctification, were as strongly maintained as they have ever been in any age of the church; but the fathers were careful to know whether they were casting the good seed upon stony places, or into good ground where it would spring up and bear fruit. the liberal education of that day was, in fact, an education along the old lines of heathen philosophy, poetry, history, and rhetoric; and a broad training was valued as highly as it has been in any subsequent period. it was thoroughly understood that disciplined intellect, other things being equal, may expect a degree of influence which can never fall to the lot of ignorance, however sanctified its spirit. there has never been a stronger type of men than the christian fathers. they were learned men, for the age in which they lived, and their learning had special adaptations to the work assigned them. many of them, like cyprian, clement, hilary, martin of tours, had been born and educated in heathenism; while others, like basil, gregory, origen, athanasius, jerome, and augustine, though born under gospel influences, studied heathen philosophy and poetry at the instance of their christian parents. . some of the leaders familiarized themselves with the speculations of the day, not merely for the sake of a wider range of knowledge, but that they might the more successfully refute the assailants of the faith, many of whom were men of great power. they were fully aware that it behooved them to know their ground, for their opponents studied the points of comparison carefully. the infidel celsus studied christianity and its relation to the old testament histories and prophecies, and he armed himself with equal assiduity with all the choicest weapons drawn from greek philosophy. how was such a man to be met? his able attack on christianity remained fifty years unanswered. to reply adequately was not an easy task. doubtless there were many, then as now, who thought that the most comfortable way of dealing with such things was to let them alone. but a wiser policy prevailed. origen was requested to prepare an answer, and, although such work was not congenial to him, he did so because he felt that the cause of the truth demanded it. his reply outlived the attack which it was designed to meet, and in all subsequent ages it has been a bulwark of defence.[ ] origen was not of a pugnacious spirit--it was well that he was not--but with wide and thorough preparation he summoned all his energies to meet the foe. archdeacon farrar says of him, that he had been trained in the whole circle of science. he could argue with the pupils of plato, or those of zeno, on equal terms, and he deems it fortunate that one who was called, as he was, to be a teacher at alexandria, where men of all nations and all creeds met, had a cosmopolitan training and a cosmopolitan spirit. no less resolute was the effort of ambrose in resisting the errors of arianism, and he also adapted himself to the work in hand. he had not been afraid of platonism. on the other hand, we are told that plato, next to his bible, constituted a part of his daily reading, and that, too, in the period of his ripest christian experience, and when he carried his studies and his prayers far into the hours of the night. but in dealing with arianism he needed a special understanding of all its intricacies, and when among its advocates and supporters he encountered a powerful empress as well as her ablest advocates, he had need of all the powers within him--that power of moral earnestness which had led him to give all his property to the poor--that power of strong faith, which prepared him, if need be, to lay down his life--the power of a disciplined intellect, and a thorough knowledge of the whole issue. . the early fathers not only studied the heathen philosophies of plato and aristotle, but they learned to employ them, and their successors continued to employ them, even to the middle ages, and the period of the reformation. as an intellectual framework, under which truth should be presented in logical order, it became a strong resource of the early christian teachers. let me refer you on this point to the clear statements of professor shedd.[ ] he has well said that "when christianity was revealed in its last and beautiful form by the incarnation of the eternal world, it found the human mind already occupied by human philosophy. educated men were platonists, or stoics, or epicureans. during the age of apologetics, which extended from the end of the apostolic age to the death of origen, the church was called to grapple with these systems, to know as far as possible what they contained, and to discriminately treat their contents, rejecting some things, utilizing others." "we shall see," he continues, "that plato, aristotle, and cicero exerted more influence than all other philosophic minds united upon the greatest of christian fathers, upon the greatest of the school men, and upon the greatest of the theologians of the reformation, calvin and melancthon; and if we look at european philosophy, as it has been unfolded in england, germany, and france, we can perceive that all the modern philosophic schools have discussed the principles of human reason in very much the same manner in which plato and aristotle discussed them twenty-two centuries ago." i need hardly say, in closing, that it is not necessary to borrow from the heathen systems of to-day as extensively as the fathers did from the systems of greece and rome, and it would be discordant with good taste to illustrate our sermons with quotations from the hindu poets as lavishly as good jeremy taylor graced his discourses with gems from the poets of greece. but i think that we may so far heed the wise examples furnished by church history as to face the false systems of our time with a candid and discriminating spirit, and by a more adequate knowledge to disenchant the bugbears with which their apologists would alarm the church. we are entering upon the broadest and most momentous struggle with heathen error that the world has ever witnessed. again, in this later age, philosophy and multiform speculation are becoming the handmaids of hindu pantheism and buddhist occultism, as well as of christian truth. the resources of the east and the west are combined and subsidized by the enemy as well as by the church. as in old rome and alexandria, so now in london and calcutta all currents of human thought flow together, and truth is in full grapple with error. it is no time to be idle or to take refuge in pious ignorance, much less to fear heathen systems as so many haunted houses which superstitious people dare not enter--as if the gospel were not as potent a talisman now as it was ages ago. let us fearlessly enter these abodes of darkness, throw open the shutters, and let in the light of day, and the hobgoblins will flee. let us explore every dark recess, winnow out the miasma and the mildew with the pure air of heaven, and the sun of righteousness shall fill the world. footnotes: [footnote : _the norsemen_, maclear.] [footnote : the druid bard taliesen says: "christ, the word from the beginning, was from the beginning our teacher, and we never lost his teaching. christianity was a new thing in asia, but there never was a time when the druids of britain held not its doctrines."--_st. paul in britain_, p. .] [footnote : uhlhorn's _conflict of christianity with heathenism_.] [footnote : the same dualism of the male and the female principle is found in the shinto of japan. see chamberlain's translation of the _kojiki_.] [footnote : the late george eliot has given expression to this grim solace, and mr. john fiske, in his _destiny of man_, claims that the goal of all life, from the first development of the primordial cell, is the perfected future man.] [footnote : voltaire found great delight in the so-called _ezour veda_, a work which claimed to be an ancient veda containing the essential truths of the bible. the distinguished french infidel was humbled, however, when it turned out that the book was the pious fraud of a jesuit missionary who has hoped thus to win the hindus to christianity.] [footnote : quoted by uhlhorn in _the conflict of christianity with heathenism_, p. . he also quotes seneca as saying: "oh, if one only might have a guide to truth!"] [footnote : plato showed by his writings and his whole life that he was a true seeker after the knowledge of god, whom he identified with the highest good. though he believed in an efficient creatorship, he held that matter is eternal. ideas are also eternal, but the world is generated. he was not a pantheist, as he clearly placed god outside of, or above, the universe. he regarded the soul of man as possessed of reason, moral sensibility, and appetite. on the doctrine of future immortality plato was most emphatic. he also believed that the soul in a previous state had been pure and sinless, but had fallen. he taught that recovery from this fallen condition is to be accomplished by the pursuit of philosophy and the practice of virtue (not as merit but as discipline), by contemplating the highest ideal which is the character of god, and by thinking of eternity. plato regarded suffering as disciplinary when properly improved. true philosophy may raise the soul above the fear of death. this was proved by socrates. both socrates and plato seemed to believe in a good demon (spirit) whose voice was a salutary and beneficent guide. as to eschatology, plato looked forward to a heaven where the virtuous soul shall dwell in the presence of god, and in the enjoyment of pure delights. aristotle's idea of god was scarcely less exalted than that of plato. he expressed it thus: "the principle of life is in god; for energy of mind constitutes life, and god is this energy. he, the first mover, imparts motion and pursues the work of creation as something that is loved. his course of life must be similar to what is most excellent in our own short career. but he exists forever in this excellence, whereas this is impossible for us. his pleasure consists in the exercise of his essential energy, and on this account vigilance, wakefulness, and perception are most agreeable to him. again, the more we examine god's nature the more wonderful does it appear to us. he is an eternal and most excellent being. he is indivisible, devoid of parts, and having no magnitude, for god imparts motion through infinite time, and nothing finite, as magnitude is, can have an infinite capacity. he is a being devoid of passions and unalterable."--quoted in _indian wisdom_, p. .] [footnote : "those pages present not the image of this piety, the tears of confession, thy sacrifice, a troubled spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, the salvation of the people, the bridal city, the earnest of the holy ghost, the cup of our redemption. no man sings there, 'shall not my soul be submitted unto god? for of him cometh my salvation, for he is my god and my salvation, my guardian, i shall no more be grieved.' no one there hears him call 'come unto me all ye that labor.'"--_confessions_, bk. vii., xxi. "but having then read those books of the platonists, and thence being taught to search for incorporeal truth, i saw thy invisible things, understood by the things which are made; and though cast back, i perceived what that was which, through the darkness of my mind, i was hindered from contemplating, being assured 'that thou wert and wert infinite, and yet not diffused in space, finite or infinite, and that thou truly art who art the same ever, in no part nor motion varying; and that all other things are from thee.... of these things i was assured, yet too insecure to enjoy thee. i prated as one skilled, but i had not sought thy way in christ our saviour; i had proved to be not skilled but killed."--_confessions_, bk. vii., xx.] [footnote : we may judge of the bearing of the common term heathen as applied to non-christian nations, when we consider that the greeks and romans characterized all foreigners as "barbarians," that mohammedans call all christians "infidels," and the chinese greet them as "foreign devils." the missionary enterprise as a work of conciliation should illustrate a broader spirit.] [footnote : _the celts_, maclear.] [footnote : _lives of the fathers_, farrar.] [footnote : "christianity," says max müller, "enjoyed no privileges and claimed no immunities when it boldly confronted and confounded the most ancient and the most powerful religions of the world. even at present it craves no mercy and it receives no mercy from those whom our missionaries have to meet face to face in every part of the world; and unless our religion has ceased to be what it was, its defenders should not shrink from this new trial of its strength, but should encourage rather than depreciate the study of comparative theology."--_science of religion_, p. .] [footnote : _history of christian theology_, vol. i., p. .] lecture iii. the successive developments op hinduism the religious systems of india, like its flora, display luxuriant variety and confusion. hinduism is only another banyan-tree whose branches have become trunks, and whose trunks have produced new branches, until the whole has become an intellectual and moral jungle of vast extent. the original stock was a monotheistic nature worship, which the hindu ancestors held in common with other branches of the aryan family when dwelling together on the high table-lands of central asia, or, as some are now claiming, in eastern russia. wherever may have been that historic "cradle" in which the infancy of our race was passed, it seems certain from similarities of language, that this aryan family once dwelt together, and had a common worship, and called the supreme deity by a common name. it was a worship of the sky, and at length of various powers of nature, _surya_, the sun: _agni_, fire: _indra_, rain, etc. it is maintained by many authors, in india as well as in europe, that these designations were only applied as names of one and the same potential deity. this is the ground held by the various branches of the modern somaj of india. yet we must not suppose that the monotheism of the early aryans was all that we understand by that term; it is enough that the power addressed was _one_ and personal. even henotheism, the last name which professor max müller applies to the early aryan faith, denotes oneness in this sense. the process of differentiation and corruption advanced more rapidly among the indo-aryans than in the iranian branch of the same race, and in all lands changes were wrought to some extent by differences of climate and by environment.[ ] the norsemen, for example, struggling with the wilder and sterner forces of storm and wintry tempest, would naturally differ in custom, and finally in faith, from the gentle hindu under his indian sky; yet there were common elements traceable in the earliest traditions of these races, and the fact that religions are not wholly dependent upon local conditions is shown by both christianity and buddhism, which have flourished most conspicuously and permanently in lands where they were not indigenous. "in the vedas," says sir monier williams, "unity in the conception of deity soon diverged into various ramifications. only a few of the hymns appear to contain the simple conception of one divine, self-existent, omnipresent being, and even in these, the idea of one god, present in all nature, is somewhat nebulous and undefined." one of the earliest deifications that we can trace was that of _varuna_, who represented the overhanging sky. the hymns addressed to varuna are not only the earliest, but they are the loftiest and most spiritual in their aspirations. they find in him an element of holiness before which sin is an offence; and in some vague sense he is the father of all things, like the zeus whom paul recognized in the poetry of greece. but, as already stated, this vague conception of god as one, was already in a transition toward separate impressions of the different powers of nature. if the idea of god was without any very clear personality and more or less obscure, it is not strange that it should come to be thus specialized as men thought of objects having a manifestly benign influence--as the life-quickening sun or the reviving rain. it is not strange that, without a knowledge of the true god, they should have been filled with awe when gazing upon the dark vault of night, and should have rendered adoration to the moon and her countless retinue of stars. if there must be idolatry, let it be that sublime nature worship of the early aryans, though even that was sure to degenerate into baser forms. one might suppose that the worship of the heavenly bodies would remain the purest and noblest; and yet the sun-worship of the assyrians and the phoenicians became unspeakably vile in its sensuousness, and finally the most wicked and abominable of all heathen systems. india in her darkest days never sank so low, and when her degradation came it was through other conceptions than those of nature worship. in the early vedic hymns are to be found many sublime passages which seem to suggest traces of those common traditions concerning the creation--the fall of man and the deluge, which we believe to have been the earliest religious heritage of mankind. they contrast strongly with the later and degrading cosmogonies of degenerate heathen systems, and especially with the grotesque fancies of the subsequent hindu mythology. in the xth mandala of the rig veda we find the following account of primeval chaos, which reminds one of the mosaic genesis: "in the beginning there was neither aught nor naught, there was neither sky nor atmosphere above. what then enshrouded all the teeming universe? in the receptacle of what was it contained? was it enveloped in the gulph profound of water? there was then neither death nor immortality. there was then neither day nor night, nor light nor darkness. only the _existing one_ breathed calmly self-contained, naught else but him there was, naught else above, beyond; then first came darkness hid in darkness, gloom in gloom, next all was water, chaos indiscreet in which the _one_ lay void, shrouded in nothingness, then turning inward by self-developed force of inner fervor and intense abstraction grew." in the early vedic period many of the corruptions of later times were unknown. there was no distinct doctrine of caste, no transmigration, no mist of pantheism, no idol-worship, no widow-burning, and no authorized infanticide. the abominable tyranny which was subsequently imposed upon woman was unknown; the low superstitions of the aboriginal tribes had not been adopted; nor, on the other hand, had philosophy and speculation taken possession of the hindu mind. the doctrine of the trimurti and the incarnations had not appeared.[ ] the faith of the hindus in that early period may be called _aryanism_, or _vedism_. it bore sway from the aryan migration, somewhere about one thousand five hundred, or two thousand, years before christ, to about eight hundred years before christ.[ ] by that time the priestly class had gained great power over all other ranks. they had begun to work over the vedas to suit their own purposes, selecting from them such portions as could be framed into an elaborate ritual--known as the brahmanas. the period during which they continued this ritualistic development is known as the brahmana period. this extended from about eight hundred to five hundred b.c.[ ] these, however, are only the approximate estimates of modern scholarship: such a thing as ancient history is unknown to the hindu race. this brahmana period was marked by the intense and overbearing sacerdotalism of the brahmans, and by an extreme development of the doctrine of caste. never was priestly tyranny carried to greater length than by these lordly brahmans of india. one of the chief abuses of their system was their depravation of sacrifice. the earliest conception of sacrifice represented in the vedas is that of a vicarious offering of parusha, a divine being. very obscure references to this are found in the oldest of the four vedas, dating probably not later than b.c. it is brought out still more clearly in a brahmana which was probably composed in the seventh century b.c. it is there said that the "lord of creatures offered himself a sacrifice for the gods." principal fairbairn finds vedic authority for the idea that the creation of the world was accomplished by the self-sacrifice of deity; and manu ascribes the creation of mankind to the austerities of the gods. sir monier williams, the late professor banergea, and many others, have regarded these references to a divine sacrifice for the benefit of gods and men as dim traces of a revelation once made to mankind of a promised atonement for the sins of the world.[ ] but so far as the actual observances of the early hindus were concerned, they seem to have made their offerings rather in the spirit of cain than in the faith of abel. they simply fed the gods with their gifts, and regaled them with soma juice, poured forth in libations; the savor of melted butter also was supposed to be specially grateful. still there is reason to believe that the piacular idea of sacrifice was never wholly lost, but that the hindus, in common with all other races, found occasion--especially when great calamities befell them--to appease the gods with the blood of sacrifice. in the early days human sacrifices were offered, and occasionally at least down to a late period.[ ] it was a convenient policy of the priesthood, however, to hypothecate the claim for a human victim by accepting the substitution of a goodly number of horses or cows. a famous tradition is given, in the aitareya brahmana, of a prince[ ] who had been doomed to sacrifice by a vow of his father, but who bought as a substitute the son of a holy brahman--paying the price of a hundred cows. when none could be found to bind the lad on the altar, the pious father offered to perform the task for another hundred cows. then there was no one found to slay the victim, and the father offered for still another hundred to do even that. as the victim was of high caste the gods interposed, and the brahman was still the possessor of a son plus the cattle. the incident will illustrate the greed of the priesthood and the depravation of sacrifice. it had become a system of bargaining and extortion. the sacrifices fed the priesthood more substantially than the gods. there was great advantage in starting with the human victim as the unit of value, and it is easy to see how substitution of animals became immensely profitable. the people were taught that it was possible, if one were rich enough in victims, even to bankrupt heaven. even demons by the value of their offerings might demand the sceptre of indra.[ ] hand in hand with this growth of the sacrificial system was the development of caste; the former was done away by the subsequent protest of buddhism and the philosophic schools; but the latter has remained through all the stages of hindu history.[ ] such was _brahmanism_. its thraldom has never been equalled. the land was deluged with the blood of slain beasts. all industries were paralyzed with discouragement. social aspiration was blighted, patriotism and national spirit were weakened, and india was prepared for those disastrous invasions which made her the prey of all northern races. it was in protest against these evils that gautama and many able philosophers arose about b.c. already the intellectual classes had matched the brahmans by drawing upon vedic authority for their philosophy. as the brahmans had produced a ritual from the vedas, so the philosophers framed a sort of philosophic veda in the _upanishads_. men had begun to ask themselves the great questions of human life and destiny, "whence am i? what is this mysterious being of which i am conscious?" they had begun to reason about nature, the origin of matter, the relation of mortals to the infinite. the school of the upanishads regarded themselves as an aristocracy of intellect, and held philosophy as their esoteric and peculiar prerogative. it was maintained that two distinct kinds of revelation had been made to men. first, that simple kind which was designed for priests and the common masses, for all those who regarded only effects and were satisfied with sacerdotal assumption and merit-making. but, secondly, there was a higher knowledge which concerned itself with the origin of the world and the hidden causes of things. even to this day the upanishads are the vedas of the thinking classes of india.[ ] as the brahmanas gave first expression to the doctrine of caste, so in the upanishads we find the first development of pantheism and the doctrine of transmigration. the conclusion had already been reached that "there is only one being who exists: he is within this universe and yet outside this universe: whoe'er beholds all living creatures as in him, and him the universal spirit, as in all, thenceforth regards no creature with contempt." the language of hindu speculation exhausts its resources in similes by which to represent personal annihilation. man's origin and relations are accounted for very tersely by such illustrations as these: "as the web issues from the spider, as little sparks proceed from fire, so from the one soul proceed all breathing animals, all worlds, all the gods, all beings." then as to destiny: "these rivers proceed from the east toward the west, thence from the ocean they rise in the form of vapor, and dropping again, they flow toward the south and merge into the ocean. and as the flowing rivers are merged into the sea, losing their names and forms, so the wise, freed from name and form, pass into the divine spirit, which is greater than the great."[ ] another favorite illustration is that of the moon's reflection in the water-jar, which disappears the moment the moon itself is hidden. "if the image in the water has no existence separate from that of the moon," says the hindu, "how can it be shown that the human soul exists apart from god?" the mundaka upanishad, based upon the atharva veda (one of the latest,--the upanishad being later still), contains this account of the universe: "as the spider spins and gathers back (its thread); as plants sprout on the earth; as hairs grow on a living person; so is this universe here produced from the imperishable nature. by contemplation the vast one germinates; from him food (or body) is produced; and thence successively, breath, mind, real (elements) worlds, and immortality resulting from (good) deeds. "the omniscient is profound contemplation consisting in the knowledge of him who knows all; and from that, the (manifested) vast one, as well as names, forms, and food proceed; and this is truth."[ ] it is a great blemish upon the upanishads, that while there are subtle, and in some respects sublime, utterances to be found here and there, the great mass is fanciful and often puerile, and in many instances too low and prurient to bear translation into the english language. this is clearly alleged by mr. bose, and frankly admitted by max müller.[ ] in the common protest which finally broke down the system of brahmanical sacrifice, and for a time relaxed the rigors of caste tyranny, buddhism then just appearing (say b.c.), joined hand in hand with the philosophies. men were tired of priestcraft, and by a natural reaction they went to an opposite extreme; they were tired of religion itself. buddha became an undoubted atheist or agnostic, and six distinct schools of philosophy arose on the basis of the upanishads--some of which were purely rationalistic, some were conservative, others radical. some resembled the greek "atomists" in their theory,[ ] and others fought for the authority, and even the supreme divinity, of the vedas.[ ] all believed in the eternity of matter, and the past eternity of the soul; all accepted the doctrine of transmigration, and maintained that the spiritual nature can only act through a material body. all were pessimistic, and looked for relief only in absorption. but the progress of hindu thought was marked by checks and counter-checks. as the tyranny of the priesthood had led to the protest of philosophy, so the extreme and conflicting speculations of philosophic rationalism probably gave rise to the conservatism of the code of manu. no adequate idea of the drift of hindu thought can be gained without assigning due influence to this all-important body of laws. they accomplished more in holding fast the power of the brahmans, and enabling them to stem the tide of intellectual rebellion, and finally to regain the sceptre from the hand of buddhism, than all other literatures combined. their date cannot be definitely known. they were composed by different men and at different times. they probably followed the upanishads, but antedated the full development of the philosophic schools. many of the principles of manu's code had probably been uttered as early as the seventh century b.c.[ ] the ferment of rationalistic thought was even then active, and demanded restraint. the one phrase which expresses the whole spirit of the laws of manu is intense conservatism. they stand for the definite authority of dogma; they re-assert in strong terms the authority of the vedas; they establish and fortify by all possible influences, the institution of caste. they enclose as in an iron framework, all domestic, social, civil, and religious institutions. they embrace not only the destiny of men upon the earth, but also the rewards and punishments of the future life. whatever they touched was petrified. abuses which had crept in through the natural development of human depravity--for example, the oppression of woman--the laws of manu stamped with inflexible and irreversible authority. the evils which grow up in savage tribes are bad enough, the tyranny of mere brute force is to be deplored, but worst of all is that which is sanctioned by statute, and made the very corner-stone of a great civilization. probably no other system of laws ever did so much to rivet the chains of domestic tyranny.[ ] the code of manu has been classified as, st, sacred knowledge and religion; d, philosophy; d, social rules and caste organization; th, criminal and civil laws; th, systems of penance; th, eschatology, or the doctrine of future rewards. no uninspired or non-vedic production has equal authority in india. we can only judge of its date by its relative place among other books. it applies vedic names to the gods, though it mentions brahma and vishnu, but it makes no reference to the trimurti. pantheism was evidently in existence and was made prominent in the code. the influence of manu over the jurisprudence of india was a matter of growth. at first the code appears to have been a guide in customs and observances, but as it gained currency it acquired the force of law, and extended its sway over all the tribes of india. it was not, however, maintained as a uniform code throughout the land, but its principles were found underlying the laws of all the provinces. its very merits were finally fruitful of evil. human weal was sacrificed to the over-shadowing power of a system of customs cunningly wrought and established by brahmanical influence. the author was evidently a brahman, and the whole work was prepared and promulgated in the interests of brahmanism as against all freedom of thought. its support of the vedas was fanatical. thus: "a brahman by retaining the rig veda in his memory incurs no guilt, though he should destroy the three worlds." again: "when there is contradiction of two precepts in the veda, both are declared to be law; both have been justly promulgated by known sages as valid law." the laws of manu make no mention of the doctrine of _bakti_ or faith, and there is no reference to the worship of the _sakti_; both of these were of later date. the doctrine of transmigration, however, is fully stated, and as a consequence of this the hells described in the code, though places of torture, resolve themselves into merely temporary purgatories, while the heavens become only the steps on the road to a union with deity. there is reason to believe that the practice of employing idols to represent deity was unknown at the time the code was compiled. there is no allusion to public services or to teaching in the temples, the chief rites of religion were of a domestic kind, and the priests of that age were nothing more than domestic chaplains. manu's theory of creation was this: "the self-existent, having willed to produce various beings from his own substance, first with a thought created the waters and placed on them a productive seed or egg. then he himself was born in that egg in the form of brahma. next he caused the egg to divide itself, and out of its two divisions there came the heaven above and the earth beneath. afterward, having divided his own substance he became half male, half female. from that female was produced viraj, from whom was created the secondary progenitor of all beings. then from the supreme soul he drew forth manu's intellect." this mixed cosmogony is supposed to indicate a diversity of authorship. it will be seen that this is much less philosophical than the theory of creation quoted above from the mundaka upanishad.[ ] if we compare manu's account with the description of the "beginning" found in one of the hymns of the rig veda,[ ] we shall see that there has been a downward trend of hinduism from the simple and sublime conceptions of the early poets to that which is grotesque, and which has probably been worked over to suit the purposes of the brahmans. no mythological legend was too absurd if it promoted the notion of the divine origin of the manus (sages) and the brahmans. manu makes much of the vedic passage which refers to the origin of caste.[ ] he maintained that this distinction of caste was as much a law of nature and divine appointment as the separation of different classes of animals. the prominence accorded to the brahmans was nothing short of divine. "even when brahmans employ themselves in all sorts of inferior occupations (as poverty often compels them to do) they must under all circumstances be honored, for they are to be regarded as supreme divinities." "a brahman's own power is stronger than the power of the king, therefore by his own might he may chastise his foes." "he who merely assails a brahman with intent to kill him, will continue in hell for a hundred years, and he who actually strikes him must endure a thousand years." it is always the truth that is mingled with the errors of any system which constitutes its life and gives it perpetuity, and there is much in the code of manu to be admired. like the confucian ethics, it laid its foundations in the respect due from childhood to parents, and in guarding the sanctities of the home. it aimed at fairness between ruler and subject, in an age when over most of the asiatic continent the wildest caprice of rulers was the law of their respective realms. manu taught the duty of kings toward their subjects in most emphatic terms. they were to regard themselves as servants, or rather as fathers, of the people; and rules were prescribed for their entire conduct. they were the representatives of deity in administering the affairs of mortals, and must realize their solemn responsibility.[ ] it must ever be acknowledged that the hindu laws respecting property were characterized by wisdom and equity. taxation was not subject to caprice or injustice; where discriminations occurred they were in favor of the poor, and the heaviest burdens were laid where they should be laid, upon the rich. there were wise adaptations, calculated to develop the industry and self-help of the weakest classes, and care was taken that they never should become oppressive. no political or civic tyranny could be allowed; but that of the priesthood in its relations to all ranks, and that of the householder toward his wife and toward all women, were quite sufficient. in this last regard we scarcely know which was the greater--the heartless wickedness of the code, or its blind and bigoted folly. how it was that laws could be framed which indicated such rare sagacity, which in many other respects were calculated to build up the very highest civilization, and which, at the same time, failed to foresee that this oppression of woman must result in the inevitable degeneracy of succeeding generations of men, must ever remain a mystery.[ ] we have glanced at the purer and simpler aryanism of the early period, at the bigoted, tyrannical brahmanism, with its ritual, its sacrifices, its caste. we have merely alluded to the rationalistic reaction of the philosophers and the buddhists. we shall now see that the brahman power is not broken, but that it will regain all and more than it has lost, that it will prove elastic enough to embrace all that has gone before; that while buddhism will be banished, many of its elements will be retained, and the whole woven into one marvellous texture which we will call _hinduism_.[ ] even during the period of buddhism's greatest triumphs, say, two or three centuries before christ, changes of great moment were going on in the brahmanical faith. the old sacrificial system had lost its power, but the flexible and inexhaustible resources of brahmanical cunning were by no means dormant. in the border wars of the aryans, with rival invaders on the one hand, and with the conquered but ever restless aborigines on the other, great and popular heroes had sprung up. the exploits of these heroes had been celebrated in two great epics, the ramayana and the mahabharata, and the popularity of these poems was immense. the heroes were of the soldier caste, and gave to that caste a prestige which seemed to the brahmans formidable and dangerous.[ ] the divine prerogatives of their order were all in jeopardy. the remedy chosen by the brahmans was a bold and desperate one. these heroes must be raised out of the soldier caste by making them divine. as such they would hold a nearer relation to the divine brahmans than to the soldiers. the legends were therefore worked over--brahmanized--so to speak.[ ] rama, who had overcome certain chieftains of ceylon, and krishna, who had won great battles in rajputana, were raised to the rank of gods and demi-gods. by an equal exaggeration the hostile chiefs of rival invaders were transformed to demons, and the black, repulsive hill tribes, who were involved as allies in these conflicts, were represented as apes. as a part of this same brahmanizing process, the doctrine of the trimurti was developed, and also the doctrine of incarnation. most conspicuous were the incarnations of vishnu; rama and krishna were finally placed among the ten incarnations of that deity. this was a skilful stroke of policy, for it was now no longer the heroes of the soldier caste who had won victory for the aryans; it was vishnu, the preserver, the care-taker, and sympathizer with all the interests of mankind. the development of the doctrines of the trimurti and of incarnation undoubtedly followed both the rise of buddhism and the promulgation of the laws of manu. meanwhile the brahmans were shrewd enough to adapt themselves to certain other necessities. the influence of buddhism was still a force which was not to be disregarded. it had demonstrated one thing which had never been recognized before, and that was the need of a more human and sympathetic element in the divine objects of worship. men were weary of worshipping gods who had no kindly interest in humanity. they were weary of a religion which had no other element than that of fear or of bargaining with costly sacrifices. they longed for something which had the quality of mercy. buddha had demonstrated the value of this element, and by an adroit stroke of policy the brahmans adopted gautama as the ninth avatar of vishnu. meanwhile they adopted the heroic krishna as the god of sympathy--the favorite of the lower masses who were not too critical toward his vices. we have now reached the fully developed form of _hinduism_.[ ] the brahmans had embraced every element that could give strength to their broad, eclectic, and all-embracing system.[ ] the doctrine of the trimurti had become a strong factor, as it furnished a sort of framework, and gave stability. as compared with the early aryanism, it removed the idea of deity from merely natural forces to that of abstract thoughts, principles, and emotions, as active and potent in the world. at the same time it retained the old vedic deities under new names and with new functions, and it did not abate its professed regard for vedic authority. the brahmans had rendered their system popular in a sense with the intellectual classes by adopting all the philosophies. they had stopped the mouth of buddhist protest by embracing the buddha among their incarnations. they had shown an advance in the succession of incarnations from the early embodiments of brute force, the fish, the tortoise, the boar, up to heroes, and from these to the ninth avatar, the buddha, as a moralist and philosopher.[ ] they left on record the prediction that a tenth should come--and he is yet to come--who, in a still higher range of moral and spiritual power, should redeem and renovate the earth, and establish a kingdom of righteousness. meanwhile, in this renaissance of the hindu faith, this wide, politic, self-adapting system, we find not only buddhism, philosophy, the early aryanism, and the stiff cultus of brahmanism, but there is also a large infusion of the original superstitions of the dravidians, kohls, santals, and other nature worshippers of the hill tribes. much of the polytheism of the modern hindus--the worship of hills, trees, apes, cattle, the sun, the moon, unseen spirits, serpents, etc.--has been adopted from these simple tribes, so that the present system embraces all that has ever appeared on the soil of india--even mohammedanism to some extent; and as some contend, very much also has been incorporated from the early teachings of the so-called st. thomas christians of malabar. such is the immense composite which is called hinduism. it continued its development through the early centuries of the christian era, and down even to the middle ages. since then there has been disintegration instead of growth. the brahmans have not only retained the aryan deities, and extended vishnu's incarnate nature over the epic heroes, but in the puranas they have woven into the alleged lives of the incarnate gods the most grotesque mythologies and many revolting vices. it may be interesting to trace for a moment the influence of the different lines of hindu literature upon the general development of national character. of course, the early vedic literature has never lost its influence as the holy and inspired source of all knowledge to the hindu race; but we have seen how much more potential were the brahmanas and the upanishad philosophy drawn from the vedas, than were those sacred oracles themselves; how the brahmanas riveted the chains of priestcraft and caste, and how the philosophies invigorated the intellect of the people at a time when they were most in danger of sinking into the torpor of ignorance and base subserviency to ritual and sacrifice; how it gave to the better classes the courage to rise up in rebellion and throw off every yoke, and think for themselves. we have seen how buddhism by its protest against sacerdotalism crippled for a time the power of the brahmans and raised a representative of the soldier caste to the chief place as a teacher of men; how its inculcation of pity to man and beast banished the slaughter and cruelty of wholesale and meaningless sacrifice, and how its example of sympathy changed hinduism itself, and brought it into nearer relations with humanity. driven from india, though it was, it left an immense deposit of influence and of power. we have seen how, as a counter-check to philosophy and buddhism, the code of manu reasserted the authority of the vedas, and riveted anew the chains of caste, and how it compensated for its oppressiveness by many wholesome and benign regulations--accomplishing more, perhaps, than all other literatures combined to maintain the stability of hinduism, through its many vicissitudes, and in spite of the heterogeneous elements which it received and incorporated. scarcely less important was the influence of the great epics--the ramayana and the mahabharata--with their doctrine of trimurti and the incarnations of vishnu in the national heroes. this conciliated the soldier caste, subsidized the most popular characters in hindu tradition, at the same time that it made them tenfold more glorious than before. the epics widened out the field of hindu mythology immensely. never before had there been such a boundless range for the imagination. the early brahmans had cramped all intellectual growth, and held mankind by the leash of priestly ritual. the philosophies had been too strait and lofty for any but the higher class; manu's laws had been a stern school-master to keep the people under curbs and restraints; even the brahmans themselves were the slaves of their own ritual. but all the people could understand and admire rama's wonderful victories over the demon ravana. all could appreciate the devotion of the lovely sita, and weep when she was kidnapped and borne away, like grecian helen, to the demon court in ceylon; and they could be thrilled with unbounded joy when she was restored--the truest and loveliest of wives--to be the sharer of a throne. the epics took such hold of the popular heart that any fact, any theory, any myth that could be attached to them found ready credence. the mahabharata especially became a general texture upon which any philosophy, or all the philosophies, might be woven at will. and for a long period, extending from three or four centuries b.c. onward far into the christian era, it was ever ready to receive modifications from the fertile brain and skilful hand of any devout brahman. a striking example of this was the introduction of the bhagavad gita. when this was composed, somewhere about the second or third century of our era, there was no little conflict between the different schools of philosophy; and its unknown author attempted to unite them all in a poem which should harmonize their contradictions and exalt the virtues of each, and at the same time reiterate all the best maxims of hinduism. some centuries later, the pronounced vedantist sancarakarya revamped the poem and gave its philosophy a more pantheistic character; later still the demigod krishna was raised to full rank as the supreme vishnu--the creator and upholder of all things.[ ] it is important to notice that in the trend of hindu literature through so many ages there has been no upward movement, but rather a decline. nowhere do we find hymns of so pure and lofty a tone as in the early vedas. no philosophy of the later times has equalled that of the upanishads and the six darsanas. no law-giver like manu has appeared for twenty-four centuries. no sanskrit scholarship has equalled that of the great grammarian panini, who lived in the fourth century b.c. and although no end of poetry has succeeded the great epics, it has shown deterioration. the puranas, written at a later day, reveal only a reckless zeal to exalt the incarnate deities. they may properly be called histories of the incarnations of brahma, vishnu, siva, and glorifications of krishna. and the very nature of the subjects with which they deal gives free scope to an unbridled imagination and to the most reckless exaggeration. if anything more were wanting to insure their extravagance, it may be found in the fact that they were inspired by the rivalry of the respective worshippers of different gods. the puranas mark the development of separate sects, each of which regarded its particular deity as the supreme and only god. the worshippers of vishnu and the worshippers of siva were in sharp rivalry, and they have continued their separation to this day.[ ] those who came to worship vishnu as incarnate in krishna, gained an advantage in the popular element associated with a favorite hero. yet this was matched by the influence of the sankhya philosophy, which assigned to siva a male and female dualism, a doctrine which finally plunged hinduism into deepest degradation. it brought about a new development known as saktism, and the still later and grosser literature of the tantras. in these, hinduism reached its lowest depths. the modern "aryas" discard both the tantras and the puranas, and assert that the popular incarnations of vishnu were only good men. they take refuge from the corruptions of modern hinduism in the purer teachings of the early vedas. _the contrasts of hinduism and christianity._ hinduism has some elements in common with christianity which it is well to recognize. it is theistic; it is a religion, as distinguished from the agnostic and ethical systems of india and china.[ ] hinduism always recognized a direct divine revelation which it regards with profound reverence; and through all its variations and corruptions it has inculcated in the minds of the indian races a deeply religious feeling. it has been claimed that it has made the hindus the most devotional people in the world. like christianity, hinduism appeals to man's intellectual nature, and it is inwrought with profound philosophy. it does not, however, like some modern systems, teach that divine truth has been revealed to man by natural processes; rather it regards the early revelation as having suffered obscuration.[ ] it also has its trinity, its incarnations, and its predictions of a messiah who shall restore the truth and establish righteousness. the hindu traditions maintain that mankind descended from a single pair;[ ] that the first estate of the race was one of innocence; that man was one of the last products of creation; that in the first ages he was upright, and consequently happy. "the beings who were thus created by brahma are said to have been endowed with righteousness and perfect faith; they abode wherever they pleased, unchecked by any impediment; their hearts were free from guile; they were pure, made exempt from toil by observance of sacred institutes. in their sanctified minds hari dwelt; they were filled with perfect wisdom by which they contemplated the glory of vishnu." hartwell has pointed out the fact that the early hindu traditions here unite with the scriptural account in virtually denying all those theories of evolution which trace the development of man from lower animals.[ ] but compared with christianity, its contrasts are far greater than its resemblances. first, as to the nature of god, there is an infinite difference between the cold and unconscious brahman, slumbering for ages without thought or emotion or any moral attribute, and the god of israel, whose power and wisdom and goodness, whose mercy and truth and tender compassion, are so constantly set forth in the bible. the latter compares himself to a father who cares for his children, and who has redeemed the world by an infinite sacrifice. even in the most popular emanation of brahman--even in vishnu--there is nothing of a fatherly spirit, no appeal as to children, no kindly remonstrance against sin, no moral instruction, or effort to encourage and establish character, no promise of reward, no enkindling of immortal hope. second, there is a striking contrast in the comparative estimates which hinduism and christianity place upon the human soul. unlike buddhism, hinduism does recognize the existence of a soul, but it is only a temporary emanation, like the moon's reflection in the water. it resembles its source as does the moon's image, but coldly and in a most unsatisfactory sense; there is no capacity for fellowship, and the end is absorption.[ ] on the other hand, christianity teaches us that we are created in god's image, but not that we _are_ his image. we are separate, though dependent, and if reunited to him through christ we shall dwell in his presence forever. third, the two systems are in strong contrast in the comparative hopes which they hold out for the future. the doctrine of transmigration casts a gloom over all conscious being; it presents an outlook so depressing as to make life a burden, and the acme of all possible attainment is individual extinction, or what amounts to the same thing, absorption into deity. the logic of it is that it would be better still not to have been born at all. christianity promises an immediate transfer to a life of unalloyed blessedness, and an endless growth of all our powers and capacities; but why should hinduism urge the cultivation of that whose real destiny is "effacement?" hinduism finds the explanation of life's mysteries and inscrutable trials in the theory of sins committed in a previous existence. christianity, while recognizing the same trials, relieves them with the hope of solutions in a future life of compensating joy. the one turns to that which is past, unchangeable and hopeless, and finds only sullen despair; the other anticipates an inheritance richer than eye hath seen, or ear heard, or heart conceived. fourth, hinduism has no saviour and no salvation. it is not a religion in the highest sense of _rescue_ and reconciliation. it avails us of no saving power higher than our own unaided effort. it implies the ruin of sin, but provides no remedy. it presents no omnipotent arm stretched forth to save. its fatalism places man under endless disabilities, and then bids him to escape from the nexus if he can; but it reveals no divine helper, no sacrifice, no mediator, no regenerating spirit. it has no glad tidings to proclaim, no comfort in sorrow, no victory over the sting of death, no resurrection unto life. though at a period subsequent to the preaching of the gospel in india--perhaps the seventh or eighth century a.d.--a doctrine of faith (_bakti_) was engrafted upon hinduism, yet it had no hint of a saviour from sin and death.[ ] fifth, in hinduism there is no liberty for the free action of the human spirit. though the life of a brahman is intensely religious, yet it is cramped with exactions which are not only abortive but positively belittling. the code of brahmanism never deals with general principles in the regulation of conduct, but fills the whole course of life with punctilious minutiæ of observances. instead of prescribing, as christ did, an all-comprehensive law of supreme love to god and love to our neighbor as ourselves, it loads the mind with petty exactions, puerile precepts, inane prohibitions. "unlike christianity, which is all spirit and life," says dr. duff, "hinduism is all letter and death." repression takes the place of inspiration and the encouragement of hope. there are a thousand subtle principles in hinduism whose influence is felt in society and in the state, and to which the faith and power of the gospel present the very strongest contrasts. for example, while christianity has raised woman to a position of respect and honor, and made her influence felt as something sacred and potential in the family and in all society, hinduism has brought her down even from the place which she occupied among the primitive aryans, to an ever-deepening degradation. it has made her life a burden and a curse. pundita ramabai, in her plea for high-caste hindu women, quotes a prayer of a child widow in which she asks, "o father of the world, hast thou not created us? or has perchance some other god made us? dost thou only care for men? o almighty one, hast thou not power to make us other than we are, that we too may have some part in the blessings of life?" even in this last decade of the nineteenth century the priesthood of bengal are defending against all humane legislation those old customs which render the girlhood of hindu women a living death.[ ] in its broad influence christianity has raised the once savage tribes of europe to the highest degree of culture, and made them leaders and rulers of the world; but hinduism has so weakened and humbled the once conquering aryans that they have long been an easy prey to every invading race. christianity shows in its sacred book a manifest progress from lower to higher moral standards--from the letter to the spirit, from the former sins that were winked at to the perfect example of christ, from the narrow exclusiveness of judaism to the broad and all-embracing spirit of the gospel, from prophecy to fulfilment, from types and shadows to the full light of redemption; the sacred books of hinduism have degenerated from the lofty aspirations of the vedic nature-worship to the vileness of saktism, from the noble praises of varuna to the low sensuality of the tantras, from vedic conceptions of the creation, sublime as the opening of st. john's gospel, to the myths of the divine turtle or the boar, or the escapades of the supreme and "adorable krishna."[ ] christianity breaks down all barriers which divide and alienate mankind, and establishes a universal brotherhood in christ; hinduism has raised the most insurmountable barriers and developed the most inexorable social tyranny ever inflicted on the human race. the hebrew economy also recognized a priestly class, but they were chosen from among their brethren and were only a distinct family; they made no claim to divine lineage, and they were guiltless of social tyranny. christianity enjoins a higher and purer ethic than it has ever found in the natural moral standards of any people; it aims at perfection; it treats the least infraction as a violation of the whole law; it regards even corrupt thoughts as sins; it bids us be holy even as he is holy in whose sight the heavens are unclean. hinduism, on the other hand, is below the ethical standard of respectable hindu society. the better classes are compelled to apologize for it by asserting that that which is debasing in men may be sinless in the gods. the offences of krishna and arjuna would not be condoned in mortals; the vile orgies of the "left-handed worshippers" of siva would not be tolerated but for their religious character. the murders committed by the thugs in honor of kali were winked at only because a goddess demanded them. the naked processions of chaitanya's followers would be dispersed by the police anywhere but in india. it is the peculiar distinction of india that it has been the theatre of nearly all the great religions. brahmanism, buddhism, and mohammedanism have all made trial of their social and political power and have failed. last of all came christianity. the systems which preceded it had had centuries of opportunity; and yet christianity has done more for the elevation of hindu society in the last fifty years than they had accomplished in all the ages of their dominion. neither buddhism nor mohammedanism had made any serious impression on caste; neither had been able to mitigate the wrongs which brahmanism had heaped upon woman--mohammedanism had rather increased them. the horrors of the satti and the murder of female infants--those bitterest fruits of priestly tyranny--were left unchecked until the british government, inspired by missionary influence and a general christian sentiment, branded them as infamous and made them crimes. but now even the native sentiment of the better classes in india is greatly changed by these higher influences, and the conventional morality is rising above the teachings of the national religion. widow-burning and infanticide belong almost wholly to the past. child-marriage is coming into disrepute, and caste, though not destroyed, is crippled, and its preposterous assumptions are falling before the march of social progress. perhaps the very highest tribute which hinduism has paid to christianity is seen in the fact that the modern arya somaj has borrowed its ethics and some of its religious doctrines, and is promulgating them under vedic labels and upon vedic authority.[ ] it has renounced those corruptions of hinduism which can no longer bear the light--such as enforced widowhood and the general oppression of woman. it denounces the incarnations of vishnu as mere inventions, and therefore cuts up by the roots the whole krishna cult and dissipates the glory of the bhagavad gita. it abhors polytheism, and not only proclaims the supremacy of one only true god, self-existent, the creator and upholder of all things, but it maintains that such was the teaching of the vedas. but although this modern eclectic system adopts the whole ethical outcome of christian civilization in india for its own purposes, it shows a most uncompromising hostility to christianity. though it claims to be positively theistic, it seems ready to enter into alliance with any form of atheism or agnosticism, eastern or western, against the spread of christian influence in india. in speaking of the movement of revived aryanism i assume that with the more intelligent and progressive classes of india the old hinduism is dead. of course, millions of men still adhere to the old corruptions. millions in the remoter districts would retain the festival of juggernaut, the hook-swinging, even infanticide and widow-burning, if they dared. the revolting orgies of kali and doorga, and the vilest forms of siva worship, even the murderous rites of the thugs, might be revived by the fanatical, if foreign influence were withdrawn; but, taking india as a whole, these things are coming to be discarded. the people are ashamed of them; they dare not undertake to defend them in the open day of the present civilization. all intelligent hindus are persuaded to accept the situation, and look to the future instead of the past. the country is full of new influences which must be counted as factors. british rule is there, and is there to stay. education has come--good, bad, and indifferent. english university training is bringing forward a host of acute thinkers of native blood. but the forces of western infidelity are also there, grappling with western christianity on indian soil, and before the eyes of the conquered and still sullen people. the vilest of english books and the worst of french novels in english translations are in the markets. all the worst phases of european commerce are exhibited. the opium monopoly, the liquor traffic, and all the means and methods of unscrupulous money-getting, with the wide-spread example of drinking habits, and unbounded luxury and extravagance. and, in opinions, the war of aggression is no longer on one side only. while the foreigner speaks and writes of superstition, of heathenism, of abominable rites now passing away, the native hindu press is equally emphatic in its condemnation of what it calls the swinish indulgence of the anglo-saxon, his beer-drinking and his gluttony, his craze for money and material power, his disgust at philosophy and all intellectual aspiration, his half-savage love for the chase and the destruction of animal life. educated hindus throw back against the charge of idolatry our idolatry of pelf, which, as they claim, eclipses every other thought and aspiration, leads to dishonesty, over-reaching, and manifold crime, and sinks noble ethics to the low level of expediency or self-interest; the conquest is not yet won. a hundred varieties of creed have sprung up beneath this banyan-tree which i have called hinduism. there are worshippers of vishnu, of siva, of kali, of krishna as bacchus, and of krishna as the supreme and adorable god. there are sikhs, and jains, and buddhists; theosophists, vedantic philosophers, mohammedans, brahmos, parsees, evolutionists, and agnostics; devil-worshippers, and worshippers of ghosts and serpents; but in considering these as forces to be met by christian influence, we must regard them all as in virtual alliance with each other. they are all one in pride of race and of venerable custom. they are all one in their hatred of foreign dominion, and of the arrogance and overbearing assumption of the european.[ ] the hindu religions, therefore, however divided, and however weak and moribund they may be taken singly, find a real vitality in the union of common interests, in the sentiments of patriotism, in the pride of their philosophy, in the glory of their ancient history as the true and original aryans, compared with whom western nations are mere offshoots. their religious faith is mixed and involved with patriotism, politics, and race prejudice, and on the other hand christianity in india is handicapped by political and commercial interest and a hated domination. on both sides these combined influences must be considered in estimating the future issues of the great conflict. the question is not how christianity and hinduism would fare in a conflict pure and simple, unembarrassed by complications, but how christianity with its drawbacks is likely to succeed against hinduism with its manifold intrenchments. but, while weighing well the obstacles, how great are the encouragements! what an auspicious fact that even a hostile organization has appropriated the christian cultus bodily, and can find no better weapons than its blessed truths. christianity is felt as a silent power, even though under other names. it is, after all, the leaven that is working all-powerfully in india to-day. there was a period in the process of creation when light beamed dimly upon the earth, though the sun, its source, had not yet appeared. so through the present hinduism there is a haze of christian truth, though the sun of righteousness is not yet acknowledged as its source. but the spirit of god broods over the waters, and the true light of the world will break on india. footnotes: [footnote : the fact that environment has to a certain extent affected the religions of mankind is entirely overworked, when men like buckle make it formative and controlling.] [footnote : instead of the later and universal pessimism, there was in the vedic religion a simple but joyous sense of life.] [footnote : _hinduism_, p. .] [footnote : _chips from a german workshop_, vol. i., p. .] [footnote : _aryan witness_, p. ; also _hinduism_, p. .] [footnote : ibid., p. .] [footnote : a son of hariscandra. _hinduism_, p. .] [footnote : this is in strong contrast with the old testament precepts, which everywhere had greater respect to the heart of the offerer than to the gifts.] [footnote : the brahmans had found certain grades of population marked by color lines, shaded off from the negroid aborigines to the dravidians, and from them to the more recent and nobler aryans, and they were prompt also to seize upon a mere poetic and fanciful expression found in the rig veda, which seemed to give countenance to their fourfold caste distinction by representing one class as having sprung from the head of brahma, another from the shoulders, the third from his thighs, and a fourth from his feet. altogether they founded a social system which has been the wonder of the ages, and which has given to the _brahmans_ the prestige of celestial descent. the _kshatreych_ or soldier caste stands next, and as it has furnished many military leaders and monarchs who disputed the arrogant claims of the brahmans, conflicts of the upper castes have not been infrequent. the _vaishya_, or farmer caste, has furnished the principal groundwork of many admixtures and subdivisions, until at the present time there are endless subcastes, to each of which a particular kind of employment is assigned. the _sudras_ are still the menials, but there are different grades of degradation even among them.] [footnote : _hindu philosophy_, bose, p. .] [footnote : _indian wisdom_ on the brahmanas and upanishads. also _hindu philosophy_, bose.] [footnote : _colebrook's essays_, foot-note, p. .] [footnote : see _introduction to the sacred books of the east_, vol. i.] [footnote : vaiseshika philosophy, in _indian wisdom_.] [footnote : mimansa philosophy. ibid.] [footnote : sir monier williams assigns the code of manu _in its present form_ to the sixth century b.c. _indian wisdom_, p. . other oriental scholars consider it older.] [footnote : these tendencies were more intensely emphasized in some of the later codes, which, however, were only variations of the greater one of manu.] [footnote : see p. .] [footnote : quoted on p. .] [footnote : see note, p. .] [footnote : sir monier williams declares that some of mann's precepts are worthy of christianity. _indian wisdom_, p. .] [footnote : it should be set down to the credit of the code of manu that with all its relentless cruelty toward woman it nowhere gives countenance to the atrocious custom of widow-burning which soon afterward became an important factor in the hindu system and desolated the homes of india for more than two thousand years. there would seem to be some dispute as to whether or not widow-burning is sanctioned in the rig veda. colebrooke, in his _essays_ (vol. i., p, ), quotes one or two passages which authorize the rite, but sir monier williams (_indian wisdom_, p. , note) has shown that changes were made in this text at a much later day for the purpose of gaining vedic authority for a cruel system, of which even so late a work as the code of manu makes no mention, and (page ibid.) he quotes another passage from the rig veda which directs a widow to ascend the pyre of her husband as a token of attachment, but to leave it before the burning is begun.] [footnote : as the spread of buddhism had owed much to the political triumph of king ashoka, so the revival of hinduism was greatly indebted to the influence of a new dynasty about a century b.c.] [footnote : _indian wisdom_, p. .] [footnote : ibid., p. .] [footnote : brahmanism and hinduism are often used interchangeably, but all confusion will be avoided by confining the former to that intense sacerdotalism which prevailed during the brahmana period, while the latter is used more comprehensively, or is referred particularly to the later and fully developed system.] [footnote : _hinduism_, pp. , .] [footnote : the brahmans were careful, however, to brand the buddha, while admitting him as an avatar. their theory was that vishnu appeared in gautama for the purpose of deluding certain demons into despising the worship of the gods, and thus securing their destruction. this affords an incidental proof that gautama was regarded as an atheist.--see _indian wisdom_, p. .] [footnote : see _aryan witness_, closing chapter; also _christ and other masters_, p. , notes , , and .] [footnote : see _brahmanism and hinduism_, monier williams.] [footnote : hardwick traces similarities between hindu traditions and christianity in such points as these: , the primitive state of man; , his fall by transgression; , his punishment in the deluge; , the rite of sacrifice; , the primitive hope of restoration.--_christ and other masters_, p. .] [footnote : the hindus hold that "truth was originally deposited with men, but gradually slumbered and was forgotten; the knowledge of it returns like a recollection."--_humboldt's kosmos_, ii., p. .] [footnote : _professor wilson's lectures_, p. .] [footnote : _vishnu puranas_, p. , note .] [footnote : buddhism is still more disheartening, since it denies the separate conscious existence of the ego. there cannot be divine fellowship, therefore, but only the current of thoughts and emotions like the continuous flame of a burning candle. not our souls will survive, but our karma.] [footnote : _christ and other masters_, p. .] [footnote : yet in spite of manu and the inveteracy of old custom, there gleams here and there in hindu literature and history a bright ideal of woman's character and rank; while the _ramayana_ has its model sita, the _mahabharata_, i., , has this peerless sketch: "a wife is half the man, his truest friend; a loving wife is a perpetual spring of virtue, pleasure, wealth; a faithful wife is his best aid in seeking heavenly bliss; a sweetly-speaking wife is a companion in solitude; a father in advice; a mother in all seasons of distress; a rest in passing through life's wilderness." this, however, is a pathetic outburst: the tyranny of the ages remains.] [footnote : even in the later development of the doctrine of faith (bakti) hinduism fails to connect with it any moral purification or elevation. see quotations from elphinstone and wilson in _christ and other masters_, p. .] [footnote : see a recent _catechism_ published by the arya somaj.] [footnote : the following hymn, quoted from the arya _catechism_, reveals the proud spirit of revived aryanism: "we are the sons of brave aryas of yore, those sages in learning, those heroes in war. they were the lights of great nations before, and shone in that darkness like morning's bright star, a beacon of warning, a herald from far. have we forgotten our rama and arjun, yudistar or bishma or drona the wise? are not we sons of the mighty duryodani? where did shankar and great dayananda arise? 'in india, in india!' the echo replies. ours the glory of giving the world its science, religion, its poetry and art. we were the first of the men who unfurled the banner of freedom on earth's every part, brought tidings of peace and of love to each heart."] lecture iv. the bhagavad gita and the new testament no other portion of hindu literature has made so great an impression on western minds as the bhagavad gita, "the lord's lay," or the "song of the adorable." it has derived its special importance from its supposed resemblance to the new testament. and as it claims to be much older than the oldest of the gospels or the epistles, it carries the inference that the latter may have borrowed something from it. a plausible translation has been published in boston by mr. mohini m. chatterji, who devoutly believes this to be the revealed word of the supreme creator and upholder of the universe.[ ] he admits that at a later day "the same god, worshipped alike by hindus and christians, appeared again in the person of jesus christ," and that "in the bible he revealed himself to western nations, as the bhagavad gita had proclaimed him to the people of the east." and he draws the inference that "if the scriptures of the brahmans and the scriptures of the jews and christians, widely separated as they are by age and nationality, are but different names for one and the same truth, who can then say that the scriptures contradict each other? a careful and reverent collation of the two sets of scriptures will show forth the conscious and intelligent design of revelation." the fact that the bhagavad gita is thoroughly pantheistic, while the bible emphasizes the personality of god in fellowship with the distinct personality of human souls, seems to interpose no serious difficulty in mr. chatterji's view, since he says "'the lord's lay' is for philosophic minds, and therefore deals more at length with the mysteries of the being of god." "in the bhagavad gita," he says, "consisting of seven hundred and seventy verses, the principal topic is the being of god, while scarcely the same amount of exposition is given to it in the whole bible;" and he adds, "the explanation of this remarkable fact is found in the difference between the genius of the hebrew and the brahman race, and also in the fact that the teachings of jesus christ were addressed to 'the common people.'"[ ] the air of intellectual superiority which is couched in these words is conspicuous. mr. chatterji also finds an inner satisfaction in what he considers the broad charity of the brahmanical scriptures. he quotes a passage from the narada pancharata which speaks of the buddha as "the preserver of revelation for those outside of the vedic authority." and he concludes that when one such revealer is admitted there can be no reason for excluding others; therefore christianity also should be allowed a place. he declares on vedic authority that whosoever receives the true knowledge of god, however revealed, attains eternal life. and for a parallel to this he quotes the saying of christ, that "this is eternal life that they might know thee the only true god, and jesus christ whom thou hast sent." "the brahmanical scriptures," he says, "are of one accord in teaching that when the heart is purified god is seen; so also jesus christ declares that the pure in heart are blessed, for they shall see god." our translator discards the often-repeated theory that the christian scriptures have copied the wise sayings of krishna; and it is very significant that an argument to which superficial apologists constantly resort is discarded by this real hindu, as he supports the theory that as both were direct revelations from vishnu, there was in his view no need of borrowing. his contention is that god, who "at sundry times and in divers manners" has spoken to men in different ages, made known his truth, and essentially the same truth, both on the plains of india and in judea. and he reminds hindus and christians alike, that this knowledge of truth carries with itself an increased responsibility. he says: "the man who sees the wonderful workings of the spirit among the nations of the earth, bringing each people to god by ways unknown to others, is thereby charged with a duty. to him with terrible precision applies the warning given by gamaliel to the pharisees, 'take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do ... lest ye be found to fight even against god.' if one be a brahman, let him reflect when opposing the religion of jesus what it is that he fights. the truths of christianity are the same as those on which his own salvation depends. how can he be a lover of truth, which is god, if he knows not his beloved under such a disguise? and if he penetrates behind the veil, which should tend only to increase the ardor of his love, he cannot hate those who in obedience to the same truth are preaching the gospel of christ to all nations. indeed he ought to rejoice at his brothers' devotion to the self-same god, and to see that he is rendering service to him by helping others to carry out the behests given to them by the divine master. if, on the other hand, he be a christian, let him remember that while he is commanded to preach repentance and remission of sins in the saviour jesus, he is also warned against 'teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.'" all this seems like charity, but really it is laxity. and here is the very essence of hinduism. its chief characteristic, that which renders it so hard to combat, is its easy indifference to all distinctions. to reason with it is like grasping a jelly-fish. its pantheism, which embraces all things, covers all sides of all questions. it sees no difficulties even between things which are morally opposites. contradictions are not obstacles, and both sides of a dilemma may be harmonized. and to a great extent this same vagueness of conviction characterizes all the heathen systems of the east. the buddhists and the shintoists in japan justify their easy-going partnership by the favorite maxim that, while "there are many paths by which men climb the sides of fusyama, yet upon reaching the summit they all behold the same glorious moon." the question whether all do in fact reach the summit is one which does not occur to an oriental to ask. this same pantheistic charity is seen in the well-known appeal of the late chunder sen, which as an illustration is worth repeating here: "cheshub chunder sen, servant of god, called to be an apostle of the church of the new dispensation, which is in the holy city of calcutta; to all the great nations of the world and to the chief religious sects in the east and west, to the followers of moses and of jesus, of buddha, confucius, zoroaster, mohammed, nanak, and of the various hindu sects; grace be to you and peace everlasting. whereas sects, discords, and strange schisms prevail in our father's family; and whereas this setting of brother against brother has proved the prolific source of evil, it has pleased god to send into the world a message of peace and reconciliation. this new dispensation he has vouchsafed to us in the east, and we have been commanded to bear witness to the nations of the earth ... thus saith the lord: 'i abominate sects and desire love and concord ... i have at sundry times spoken through my prophets and my many dispensations. there is unity. there is one music but many instruments, one body but many members, one spirit but many gifts, one blood but many nations, one church but many churches. let asia and europe and america and all nations prove this new dispensation and the true fatherhood of god and the brotherhood of men.'" this remarkable production--so pauline in style and so far from paul in doctrine--seems to possess everything except definite and robust conviction. and its limp philosophy was not sufficient to withhold even chunder sen himself from the abandonment of his principles not long afterward. this sweet perfume of false charity, with which he thus gently sprayed the sects and nations of mankind, lost its flavor ere the ink of his message was fairly dry; while he who in similar language announced his call to an apostleship eighteen centuries ago, is still turning the world upside down. "charity" is the watchword of indifferentism in the west as well as in the east; and the east and the west are joining hands in their effort to soothe the world into slumber with all its sins and woes unhealed. some months ago an advanced unitarian from boston delivered a farewell address to the buddhists of japan, in which he presented three great unitarians of new england--channing, emerson, and parker--in a sort of transfiguration of gentleness and charity. he maintained that the lives of these men had been an unconscious prophecy of that mild and gentle buddhism which he had found in japan, but of which they had died without the sight.[ ] thus the transcendentalism of new england joins hands with the buddhism and the shintoism of japan, and the brahmanism of calcutta, and all are in accord with mr. chatterji and the bhagavad gita. even the theosophists profess their sympathy with the sermon on the mount, and claim christ as an earlier prophet. the one refrain of all is "charity." all great teachers are avatars of vishnu. the globe is belted with this multiform indifferentism, and i am sorry to say that it is largely the gospel of the current literature and of the daily press. in it all there is no saviour and no salvation. religions are all ethnic and local, while the _ignis fatuus_ of a mystic pantheism pervades the world. mr. chatterji's preface closes with a prayer to the "merciful father of humanity to remove from all races of men every unbrotherly feeling in the sacred name of religion, which is but one." the prayer were touching and beautiful on the assumption that there were no differences between truth and error. and there are thousands, even among us, who are asking, "why may not christians respond to this broad charity, and admit this hindu eclectic poem to an equal place with the new testament?" more or less indifferent to all religions, and failing to understand the real principles on which they severally rest, they are ready to applaud a challenge like that which we are considering, and to contrast it with the alleged narrowness and intolerance of christian theism. i have dwelt thus at length upon mr. chatterji's introduction, and have illustrated it by references to similar specious claims of other faiths, in order that i might bring into clearer view the main issue which this book now presents to the american public. it is the softest, sweetest voice yet given to that gospel of false charity which is the fashion of our times. emerson and others caught it from afar and discoursed to a generation now mostly gone of the gentle maxims of confucius, krishna, and gautama. but now krishna is among us in the person of his most devout apostle, and a strange hand of fellowship is stretched out toward us from the land of the vedas. it behooves us to inquire, first, into the pantheistic philosophy which underlies these sayings, and to ask for their meaning as applied in real life; and second, we shall need to know something of krishna, and whether he speaks as one having authority. it should be borne in mind that pantheism sacrifices nothing whatever by embracing all religions, since even false religions are a worship of vishnu in their way, while christianity by its very nature would sacrifice everything. according to pantheism all things that exist, and all events that transpire, are expressions of the divine will. the one only existent being embraces all causes and all effects, all truth and all falsehood. he is no more the source of good than of evil. "i am immortality," says krishna. "i am also death." man with all his thoughts and acts is but the shadow of god, and moves as he is moved upon. arjuna's divine counsellor says to him: "the soul, existing from eternity, devoid of qualities, imperishable, abiding in the body, yet supreme, acts not nor is by any act polluted. he who perceives that actions are performed by prakriti alone, and that the soul is not an actor, sees the truth aright." now, if this reasoning be correct, it is not we that sin; not we that worship; and in the last analysis all religions are alike; they are only the varied expressions of the thought of god. as he manifests his power in nature in a thousand forms, producing some objects that are beautiful to the eye and others that are repulsive, so in his spiritual manifestations he displays a like variety. the ignorance and degradation of fetichism are his, as well as the highest revelations of spiritual truth. a certain class of evolutionists tell us that god contrived the serpent's poison-fang and the mother's tender instinct with "the same creative indifference." and the broad pantheism which overrides the distinctions of eternal right and wrong, and divests god of all moral discriminations, puts vedantism and fetichism, christianity and witchcraft, upon the same basis. the bhagavad gita and the gospel both enjoin the brotherhood of men, but what are the meanings which they give to this term? what are their aims, respectively? one is endeavoring to enforce the rigid and insurmountable barriers of caste; the other commends a mission of love which shall regard neither jew nor greek, barbarian, scythian, bond nor free. it will become apparent, i think, that there may be parallels or similarities which relate to mere phrases while their meanings are wide apart. judging from mr. chatterji's own stand-point, his work has been well done. he has shown a careful study not only of his own literatures and philosophies, but also of the scriptures of the old and new testament--in this respect setting us an example worthy to be followed by christian scholars. such a man has in the outset an immense advantage over those who know nothing of the enemies' positions, but regard them only with disdain. before the high court of public opinion, as represented by our current literature, mere ex-parte assumption will go to the wall, even though it has the better cause, while adroit error, intelligently put and courteously commended, will win the day. this is a lesson which the christian church greatly needs to learn. mr. chatterji's work is the more formidable for its charming graces of style. he has that same facility and elegance in the use of the english language for which so many of his countrymen, sheshadri, bose, banergea, chunder sen, mozoomdar, and others have been distinguished. he is a model of courtesy, and he seems sincere. but turning from the translator to the book itself, we shall now inquire who was krishna, arjuna's friend, what was the origin of the "lord's lay," and what are its real merits as compared with the new testament? krishna and arjuna--like rama chandra--were real human heroes who distinguished themselves in the wars of the indo-aryans with rival tribes who contested the dominion of northern india. they did not live three thousand years before christ, as our translator declares, for they belonged to the soldier caste, and according to the consensus of oriental scholarship the system of caste did not exist till about the beginning of the brahmanic period--say eight hundred years before christ. krishna was born in the punjab, near merut, and it was near there that his chief exploits were performed. the legends represent him as a genial but a reckless forester, brave on the battle-field, but leading a life of low indulgence. the secret of his power lay in his sympathy. his worship, even as a heroic demi-god, brought a new and welcome element into hinduism as contrasted with the remorselessness of siva or the cold indifference of brahma. it was the dawn of a doctrine of faith, and in this character it was probably of later date than the rise of buddhism. indeed, the brahmans learned this lesson of the value of divine sympathy from the buddha. the supernatural element ascribed to krishna, as well as to rama, was a growth, and had its origin in the jealousy of the brahmans toward the warrior caste. his exaltation as the supreme was an after-thought of the inventive brahmans. as stated in a former lecture, these heroes had acquired great renown; and their exploits were the glory and delight of the dazzled populace. in raising them to the rank of deities, and as such appropriating them as kindred to the divine brahmans, the shrewd priesthood saved the prestige of their caste and aggrandized their system by a fully developed doctrine of incarnations. thus, by a growth of centuries, the krishna cult finally crowned the hindu system. the mahabharata, in which the bhagavad gita was incorporated by some author whose name is unknown, is an immense literary mosaic of two hundred and twenty thousand lines. it is heterogeneous, grotesque, inconsistent, and often contradictory--qualities which are scarcely considered blemishes in hindu literature. the bhagavad gita was incorporated as a part of this great epic probably as late as the second or third century of our era, and by that time krishna had come to be regarded as divine, though his full and extravagant deification as the "adorable one" probably did not appear till the author of "narada pancharata" of the eighth century had added whatever he thought the original author should have said five centuries before. as it now stands the poem very cleverly weaves into one fabric many lofty aphorisms borrowed from the upanishads and the later philosophic schools, upon the groundwork of a popular story of which arjuna is the hero. arjuna and his four brothers are about to engage in a great battle with their cousins for the possession of an hereditary throne. the divine krishna, once himself a hero, becomes arjuna's charioteer, that in that capacity he may act as his counsellor. as the battle array is formed, arjuna is seized with misgivings at the thought of slaughtering his kindred for the glory of a sceptre. "i cannot--will not fight," he says; "i seek not victory, i seek no kingdom; what shall we do with regal pomp and power? what with enjoyments, or with life itself, when we have slaughtered all our kindred here?" krishna then enters upon a long discourse upon the duties of caste and the indwelling of the infinite, showing that the soul, which is a part of deity, cannot be slain though the body may be hewn to pieces. "the wise," he says, "grieve not for the departed nor for those who yet survive. never was the time when i was not, nor thou, nor yonder chiefs, and never shall be the time when all of us shall not be. as the embodied soul in this corporeal frame moves swiftly on through boyhood, youth, and age, so will it pass through other forms hereafter; be not grieved thereat.... as men abandon old and threadbare clothes to put on others new, so casts the embodied soul its worn-out frame to enter other forms. no dart can pierce it; flame cannot consume it, water wet it not, nor scorching breezes dry it--indestructible, eternal, all-pervading, deathless."[ ] it may seem absurd to western minds that a long discourse, which constitutes a volume of intricate pantheistic philosophy, should be given to a great commander just at the moment when he is planning his attack and is absorbed with the most momentous responsibilities; it seems to us strangely inconsistent also to expatiate elaborately upon the merits of the yoga philosophy, with its asceticism and its holy torpor, when the real aim is to arouse the soul to ardor for the hour of battle. but these infelicities are no obstacle to the hindu mind, and the consistency of the plot is entirely secondary to the doctrine of caste and of philosophy which the author makes krishna proclaim. gentle as many of its precepts are, the bhagavad gita, or the "lord's lay," is a battle-song uttered by the supreme being while the contending hosts awaited the signal for fratricidal carnage. the grotesqueness which characterizes all hindu literature is not wanting in this story of krishna and arjuna, as given in the great poem of which the bhagavad gita forms a part. the five sons of pandu are representatives of the principle of righteousness, while the hundred brothers of the rival branch are embodiments of evil. yet, when the victory had been gained and the sceptre was given to the sons of pandu, they despised it and courted death, though the "adorable one" had urged them on to strife. bishma, the leader of the hostile force, in a personal encounter with arjuna, had been filled so full of darts that he could neither stand nor lie down. every part of his body was bristling with arrows, and for fifty-eight days he lingered, leaning on their sharp points. meanwhile the eldest of the victors, finding his throne only a "delusion and a snare," and being filled with remorse, was urged by krishna to visit his unfortunate adversary and receive instruction and comfort. bishma, lying upon his bed of spikes, edified him with a series of long and tedious discourses on pantheistic philosophy, after which he asked the tender-hearted krishna for permission to depart. he is no longer the embodiment of evil: the cruel arrows with which the ideal of goodness had pierced him fall away, the top of his head opens, and his spirit soars to heaven shining like a meteor. how strange a reversal is here! how strange that he who had been the representative of all evil should have been transformed by his suffering, and should have been made to instruct and comfort the man of success. mr. chatterji falls into a fatal inconsistency when, in spite of his assumption that this poem is the very word of krishna spoken at a particular time, in a particular place, he informs us that "all indian authorities agree in pronouncing it to be the essence of all sacred writings. they call it an upanishad--a term applied to the wisdom, as distinguished from the ceremonial, part of the vedas, and to no book less sacred." more accurately he might have said that it is a compend of all hindu literatures, the traditional as well as the inspired, and with a much larger share of the former than of the latter. pantheism, which is its quintessence, did not exist in the early vedic times. krishna was not known as a god even in the period of the buddha.[ ] and the epics, which are so largely drawn upon, are later still. and it is upon the basis of the epics, and the still later puranas, that the common people of india still worship him as the god of good-fellowship and of lust. the masses longed for a god of human sympathies, even though he were a bacchus. in the bhagavad gita as we now have it, with its many changes, krishna has become the supreme god, though according to lassen his actual worship as such was not rendered earlier than the sixth century; and professor banergea claims that it "was not at its zenith till the eighth century, and that it then borrowed much from christian, or at least hebrew, sources." webber and lorinser have maintained a similar view. krishna as the supreme and adorable one has never found favor except with the pantheists, and to this day the worship of the real krishna as a bacchus is the most popular of all hindu festivals, and naturally it is the most demoralizing. we are now prepared to assume that the pantheistic groundwork of the poem on the one hand, and its borrowed christian conceptions and christian nomenclature on the other, will explain its principal alleged parallels with the new testament. with his great familiarity with our bible, and his rare ability in adjusting shades of thought and expression, mr. chatterji has presented no less than two hundred and fourteen passages which he matches with texts from the bible. many of these are so adroitly worded that one not familiar with the peculiarities of hindu philosophy might be stumbled by the comparisons. mr. r.c. bose tells us that this poem has wrought much evil among the foreign population of india; and in this country there are thousands of even cultivated people with whom this new translation will have great influence. men with unsettled minds who have turned away with contempt from the crudities of spiritualism, who are disgusted with the rough assailments of ingersoll, and who find only homesickness and desolation on the bleak and wintry moor of agnostic science, may yet be attracted by a book which is so elevated and often sublime in its philosophy, and so chaste in its ethical precepts, and which, like christianity, has bridged the awful chasm between unapproachable deity and our human conditions and wants by giving to the world a god-man. if the original author and the various expositors of the bhagavad gita have not borrowed from the christian revelation, they have rendered an undesigned tribute to the great christian doctrine of a divine and human mediator: they have given striking evidence of a felt want in all humanity of a _god with men_. if it was a deeply conscious want of the human heart which led the heathen of distant india to grope their way from the cheerless service of remorseless deities to one who could be touched with a feeling of their infirmities, and could walk these earthly paths as a counsellor by their side, how striking is the analogy to essential christian truth! let us examine some of the alleged parallels. they may be divided into three classes: . those which are merely fanciful. nine-tenths of the whole number are of this class. they are such as would never occur to a hindu on hearing the gospel truth. only one who had examined the two records in the keen search for parallels, and whose wish had been the father of his thought, would have seen any resemblance. i shall not occupy much time with these. . those resemblances which are only accidental. it may be an accident of similar circumstances or similar causes; it may be a chance resemblance in the words employed, while there is no resemblance in the thoughts expressed. . those coincidences which spring from natural causes. for an example of these, the closing chapter of the apocalypse speaks of christ as "the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end." it is a natural expression to indicate his supreme power and glory as creator and final judge of all things. in a similar manner krishna is made to say, "i am beginning, middle, end, eternal time, the birth and the death of all. i am the symbol a among the characters. i have created all things out of one portion of myself." there are two meanings in krishna's words. he is in all things pantheistically, and he is the first and best of all things. in the tenth chapter he names with great particularity sixty-six classes of things in which he is always the first: the first of elephants, horses, trees, kings, heroes, etc. "among letters i am the vowel a." "among seasons i am spring." "of the deceitful i am the dice." the late dr. mullens calls attention to the fact that the orphic hymns declare "zeus to be the first and zeus the last. zeus is the head and zeus the centre." in these three similar forms of description one common principle of supremacy rules. the difference is that in the christian revelation and in the orphic hymns there is dignity, while in krishna's discourse there is frivolous and vulgar particularity. let us notice a few examples of the alleged parallels more particularly. in chapter ix. krishna says: "whatever thou doest, whatever thou eatest, whatever thou offerest in sacrifice, etc., commit that to me." this is compared with corinthians x. : "whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of god." also to colossians x. : "whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the lord jesus." even if there were no pantheistic differential at the foundation of these utterances, it would not be at all strange if exhortations to an all-embracing devotion should thus in each case be made to cover all the daily acts of life. but aside from this there is a wide difference in the fundamental ideas which these passages express. paul's thought is that of loving devotion to an infinite friend and saviour; it is such an offering of loyalty and love as one conscious being can make to another and a higher. but krishna identifies the giver with the receiver, and arjuna is taught to regard the gift itself as an act of god. the phrase "commit that to me" is equivalent to "ascribe that to me." in the context we read: "of those men, who thinking of me in identity (with themselves), worship me, for them always resting in me, i bear the burden of acquisition and preservation of possessions. even those the devotees of other gods, who worship in faith, they worship me in ignorance." in other words, the worshipper is to make no difference between himself and the infinite. he is to refer all his daily acts to the infinite as the real actor, his own personal ego being ignored. this is not paul's idea; it is the very reverse of it. it could give comfort only to the evil-doer who desired to shift his personal responsibility. let us consider another alleged resemblance. in the fifth chapter krishna declares that whoever knows him "attains rest." this is presented as a parallel to the words in christ's prayer: "this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true god, and jesus christ whom thou hast sent." in both passages the knowledge of god is made the chief blessing to be sought, but in the one case knowledge means only a recognition of the infinite ego as existing in one's personal ego: it is a mere acceptance of that philosophic theory of life. thus one of the upanishads declares that "whoever sees all things in god, and god in all things, sees the truth aright;" his philosophy is correct. on the other hand, what christ meant was not the recognition of a pantheistic theory, but a real heart-knowledge of the father's character, a loving experience of his divine mercy, his fatherly love, his ineffable glory. the one was cold philosophy, the other was experience, fellowship, gratitude, filial love. what pantheism taught was that god cannot be known practically--that he is without limitations or conditions that we can distinguish him from our finiteness only by divesting our conception of him of all that we are wont to predicate of ourselves. he is subject to no such limitations as good or evil. in chapter ix., krishna says: "as air existing in space goes everywhere and is unlimited, so are all things in me.... i am the vedic rite, i am the sacrifice, i am food, i am sacred formula, i am immortality, i am also death; also the latent cause and the manifest effect." to know the god of the bhagavad gita is to know that he cannot be known. "god is infinite in attributes," says mr. chatterji, "and yet devoid of attributes. this is the god whom the bhagavad gita proclaims." by a similar contradiction the more the devout worshipper knows of god the less he knows, because the process of knowledge is a process of "effacement;" the closer the gradual union becomes the fainter is the self-personality, till at length it fades away entirely, and is merged and lost as a drop in the illimitable sea. this is the so-called "rest" which krishna promises as the reward of knowing him. it is rest in the sense of extinction; it is death; while that which christ promises is eternal life with unending and rapturous activity, with ever-growing powers of fellowship and of love. take another alleged parallel. chapter vi. commends the man who has reached such a measure of indifference that "his heart is _even_ in regard to friends and to foes, to the righteous and to evil-doers;" and this is held up as a parallel to the sermon on the mount, which commends love to enemies that we may be children of the heavenly father who sendeth rain upon the just and upon the unjust. in the one case the apathy of the ascetic, the extinction of susceptibility, the ignoring of moral distinctions, the crippling and deadening of our noblest powers; in the other the use of these powers in all ways of beneficence toward those who injure us, even as god, though his heart is by no means "even" as between the righteous and the wicked, stills shows kindness to both. now, in view of the great plausibility of the parallels which are thus presented to the public--parallels whose subtle fallacy the mass of readers are almost sure to overlook--one can hardly exaggerate the importance of thoroughly sifting the philosophy that underlies them, and especially on the part of those who are, or are to become, the defenders of the truth.[ ] but turning from particular parallels to a broader comparison, there is a general use of expressions in the new testament in regard to which every christian teacher should aim at clear views and careful discriminations; for example, when we are said to be "temples of the holy ghost," or when christ is said to be "formed in us the hope of glory," or it is "no longer we that live, but christ that liveth in us." it cannot be denied that defenders of the bhagavad gita, and of the whole indo-pantheistic philosophy, might make out a somewhat plausible case along these lines. i recall an instance in which an honored pastor had made such extravagant use of these new testament expressions that some of his co-presbyters raised the question of a trial for pantheism. but it is one thing to employ strong terms of devotional feeling, as is often done, especially in prayer, and quite another to frame theories and philosophies, and present them as accurate statements of truth. the new testament nowhere speaks of the indwelling spirit in such a sense as implies an obliteration or absorption of the conscious individual ego, while "effacement" instead of fellowship is a favorite expression in the bhagavad gita. paul in his most ecstatic language never gives any hint of extinction, but, on the contrary, he magnifies the conception of a separate, conscious, ever-growing personality, living and rejoicing in divine fellowship for evermore. in the new testament the expressions of our union with christ are often reversed: instead of speaking of christ as abiding in the hearts and lives of his people, they are sometimes said to abide in him, and that not in the sense of absorption. paul speaks of the "saints in christ," of his own "bonds in christ," of being "baptized in christ," of becoming "a new creature in christ," of true christians as being one body in christ, of their lives being "hid with christ in god." believers are spoken of as being "buried with christ," "dead with christ." every form of expression is used to represent fellowship, intimacy, spiritual union with him, but always in a rational and practical sense, and with full implication of our distinct and separate personality. the essential hope of the gospel is that those who believe in christ shall never die, that even their mortal bodies shall be raised in his image, and that they shall be like him and shall abide in his presence. on the other hand, "the essence of this pantheistic system," says mr. chatterji, "is the denial of real existence to the individual spirit, and the insistance upon its true identity with god" (chapter iv.). it only remains to be said that, whatever may be the similarities of expression between this bible of pantheism and that of christianity, however they may agree in the utterance of worthy ethical maxims, that which most broadly differentiates the christian faith from hindu philosophy is the salient presentation of great fundamental truths which are found in the word of god alone. . the doctrine that god in christ is "made sin" for the redemption of sinful man--that he is "the end of the law for righteousness" for them that believe; this is indeed divine help: this is salvation. divinity does not here become the mere charioteer of human effort, for the purpose of coaching it in the duties of caste and prompting it to fight out its destiny by its own valor. christ is our expiation, takes our place, for our sakes becomes poor that we through his poverty may become rich. what a boon to all fakirs and merit-makers of the world if they could feel that that law of righteousness which they are striving to work out by mortifications and self-tortures had been achieved for them by the son of god, and that salvation is a free gift! this is something that can be apprehended alike by the philosopher and by the unlettered masses of men. . another great truth found in our scriptures is that the pathway by which the human soul returns to god is not the way of knowledge in the sense of philosophy, but the way of intelligent confidence and loving trust. "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made." man by wisdom has never known god. this has been the vain effort of hindu speculation for ages. the author of the nyaya philosophy assumed that all evil springs from misapprehension, and that the remedy is to be found in correct methods of investigation, guided by skilfully arranged syllogisms. this has been in all ages the chief characteristic of speculative hinduism. and the bhagavad gita furnishes one of its very best illustrations. of its eighteen chapters, fifteen are devoted to "eight knowledge." and by knowledge is meant abstract speculation. it is a reaching after oneness with the deity by introspection and metaphysical analysis. "even if thou wert the greatest evil-doer among all the unrighteous," says krishna, "thou shalt cross over all sins even by the ark of knowledge." "oh, arjuna, as blazing fire reduces fuel to ashes, so the fire of knowledge turns all action into ashes." but in the first place a knowledge of the infinite within us is unattainable, and in the second place it could not avail us even if attainable. it is not practical knowledge; it is not a belief unto righteousness. faith is not an act of the brain merely, but of the whole moral nature. the wisdom of self must be laid aside, self-righteousness cast into the dust, the pride and rebellion of the will surrendered, and the whole man become as a little child. this is the way of knowledge that can be made experimental; this is the knowledge that is unto eternal life. . another great differential of the new testament is found in its true doctrine of divine co-operation with the human will. our personality is not destroyed that the absolute may take its place, but the two act together. "for men of renunciation," says the bhagavad gita, "whose hearts are at rest from desire and anger, and knowing the only self, there is on both sides of death effacement (of the individual) in the supreme spirit." in such a person, therefore, even on this side of death, there is a cessation of the individual in the supreme. over against this the gospel presents the doctrine of co-operative grace, which instead of crippling our human energies arouses them to their highest and best exertion. "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is god that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." the divine acts with and through the human, but does not destroy it. it imparts the greatest encouragement, the truest inspiration. . we notice but one more out of many points of contrast between the doctrines of the hindu and the christian bibles, viz., the difference between ascetic inaction and the life of christian activity as means of religious growth. i am aware that in the earlier chapters of the bhagavad gita, krishna urges arjuna to valiant activity on the battle-field, but that is for a special purpose, viz., the establishment of caste distinctions. it is wholly foreign to hindu philosophy; it is even contradictory. the author of the poem, who seems to be aware of the inconsistency of arousing arjuna to the mighty activities of the battle-field, and at the same time indoctrinating him in the spirit of a dead and nerveless asceticism, struggles hard with the awkward task of bridging the illogical chasm with three chapters of mystification. but we take the different chapters as they stand, and in their obvious meaning. "the man of meditation is superior to the man of action," says chapter i., , "therefore, arjuna, become a man of meditation." how the man of meditation is to proceed is told in chapter vi., - . "let him who has attained to meditation always strive to reduce his heart to rest in the supreme, dwelling in a secret place alone, with body and mind under control, devoid of expectation as well as of acceptance. having placed in a clean spot one's seat, firm, not very high nor very low, formed of the skins of animals, placed upon cloth and cusa grass upon that, sitting on that seat, strive for meditation, for the purification of the heart, making the mind one-pointed, and reducing to rest the action of the thinking principle as well as that of the senses and organs. holding the body, neck, and head straight and unmoved, perfectly determined, and not working in any direction, but as if beholding the end of his own nose, with his heart in supreme peace, devoid of fear, with thought controlled and heart in me as the supreme goal, he remains." how different from all this is that prayer of christ, "i pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil." or those various words spoken to his disciples: "let your light so shine before men that others seeing your good works shall glorify your father which is in heaven." "work while the day lasts, for the night cometh in which no man can work." who can imagine paul spending all those years of opportunity in sitting on a leopard skin, watching the end of his nose instead of turning the world upside down! in that true sense in which christ lived within him, he filled every avenue of his being with the aggressive spirit of god's own love for dying men. the same spirit which brought christ from heaven to earth sent paul out over the earth. he was not even content to work on old foundations, but regarding himself as under sentence of death he longed to make the most of his votive life, to bear the torch of the truth into all realms of darkness. he was none the less a philosopher because he preferred the simple logic of god's love, nor did he hesitate to confront the philosophy of athens or the threatenings of roman tyrants. he was ready for chains and imprisonment, for perils of tempests or shipwreck, or robbers, or infuriate mobs, or death itself. no hindu fakir was ever more conscious of the struggle with inward corruption than he, and at times he could cry out, "oh, wretched man that i am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" but he did not seek relief in idleness and inanity, but in what dr. chalmers called "the expulsive power of new affections," in new measures of christlike devotion to the cause of truth and humanity. in a word, christ and his kingdom displaced the power of evil. he could do all things through christ who strengthened him. nor was the peace which he felt and which he commended to others the peace of mere negative placidity and indifference. it was loving confidence and trust. "be careful for nothing"--we hear him saying to his friends at philippi--"be careful for nothing; but in all things by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make known your requests unto god: and the peace of god, which passeth understanding, shall keep your minds and hearts through christ jesus." and yet to show how this consists with devout activity, he commends, in immediate connection with it, the cultivation of every active virtue known to men. thus, "_whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things._" footnotes: [footnote : houghton, mifflin & co., .] [footnote : the author seems to overlook the fact that the chief excellence of an evangel to lost men is that it appeals to the masses.] [footnote : address published in the _japan mail_, .] [footnote : there is scarcely another passage in all hindu literature which is so full of half-truths as this, or which turns the sublime powers of the human soul to so unworthy a purpose.] [footnote : in an enumeration of hindu gods made in buddha's time krishna does not appear.] [footnote : never before has there been so much danger as now that the lines of truth will be washed out by the flood-tides of sentimental and semi christian substitutes and makeshifts. as with commodities, so with religion, dilution and adulteration are the order of the day and a little christianity is made to flavor a thousand shams.] lecture v. buddhism and christianity new interest has recently been awakened in old controversies concerning the relations of christianity and buddhism. the so-called theosophists and esoteric buddhists are reviving exploded arguments against christianity as means of supporting their crude theories. the charge of german sceptics, that christianity borrowed largely from buddhism, is made once more the special stock in trade of these new and fanatical organizations. to this end books, tracts, and leaflets are scattered broadcast, and especially in the united states and great britain. professor max müller says, in a recent article published in _longman's new review_: "who has not suffered lately from theosophy and esoteric buddhism? journals are full of it, novels overflow with it, and one is flooded with private and confidential letters to ask what it all really means. many people, no doubt, are much distressed in their minds when they are told that christianity is but a second edition of buddhism. 'is it really true?' they ask. 'why did you not tell us all this before? surely, you must have known it, and were only afraid to tell it.' then follow other questions: 'does buddhism really count more believers than any other religion?' 'is buddhism really older than christianity, and does it really contain many things which are found in the bible?'" and the learned professor proceeds to show that there is no evidence that christianity has borrowed from buddhism. in this country these same ideas are perhaps more widely circulated than in england. they are subsidizing the powerful agency of the secular press, particularly the sunday newspapers, and thousands of the people are confronting these puzzling questions. there is occasion, therefore, for a careful and candid review of buddhism by all leaders of thought and defenders of truth. in the brief time allotted me, i can only call attention to a few salient points of a general character. in the outset, a distinction should be drawn between buddhist history and buddhist legend, for just at this point the danger of misrepresentation lies. it is true that the buddha lived before the time of christ, and therefore anything of the nature of real biography must be of an earlier date than the teachings of jesus; but whether the _legends_ antedate his life and doctrines is quite another question. the buddhist apologists all assume that they do, and it is upon the legends that most of the alleged parallelisms in the two records are based. how, then, shall we draw the line between history and legend? the concensus of the best scholarship accepts those traditions in which the northern and southern buddhist records agree, which the council of patna, b.c. , adopted as canonical, and which are in themselves credible and consistent with the teachings of gautama himself. according to this standard of authority gautama was born about the sixth century b.c., as the son and heir of a rajah of the sakya tribe of aryans, living about eighty miles north by northwest of benares. his mother, the principal wife of kajah suddhodana, had lived many years without offspring, and she died not long after the birth of this her only son, siddartha. in his youth he was married and surrounded by all the allurements and pleasures of an oriental court. he, too, appears to have remained without an heir till he was twenty-nine years of age, when, upon the birth of a son, certain morbid tendencies came to a climax, and he left his palace secretly and sought true comfort in a life of asceticism. for six years he tried diligently the resources of hindu self-mortification, but becoming exhausted by his austerities, almost unto death, he abandoned that mode of life, having apparently become atheistic. he renounced the idea of merit-making as a means of spiritual attainment, and he was sorely tempted, no doubt, to return to his former life of ease. but he withstood the temptation and resolved to forego earthly pleasure, and teach mankind what he conceived to be the way of life, through self-control. he had tried pleasure; next he had tried extreme asceticism; he now struck out what he called "the middle path," as between self-indulgence on the one hand, and extreme bodily mortification as a thing of merit on the other. this middle ground still demanded abstinence as favorable to the highest mental and moral conditions, but it was not carried to such extremes as to weaken the body or the mind, or impair the fullest operation of every faculty.[ ] there can be no doubt that gautama's relinquishment of hinduism marked a great and most trying crisis. it involved the loss of all confidence in him on the part of his disciples, for when he began again to take necessary food they all forsook him as a failure. it was while sitting under the shade of an indian fig-tree (boddhi-tree) that this struggle occurred and his victory was gained. there his future course was resolved upon; there was the real birth-place of buddhism as a system. he thenceforth began to preach the law, or what he regarded as the way of self-emancipation, and therefore the way of life. he first sought his five followers, who had abandoned him, and succeeded in winning them back. he gathered at length a company of about sixty disciples, whom he trained and sent forth as teachers of his new doctrines. yet, still influenced by the old hindu notions of the religious life, he formed his disciples into an order of mendicants, and in due time he established an order of nuns. it was when gautama rose up from his meditation and his high resolve under the bo-tree, that he began his career as "the enlightened." he was now a buddha, and claimed to have attained nirvana. all that has been written of his having left his palace with the purpose of becoming a saviour of mankind, is the sheer assumption of the later legends and their apologists. buddhism was an after-thought, only reached after six years of bootless asceticism. there is no evidence that when siddartha left his palace he had any thought of benefiting anybody but himself. he entered upon the life of the recluse with the same motives and aims that have influenced thousands of other monks and anchorets of all lands and ages--some of them princes like himself. nevertheless, for the noble decision which was finally reached we give him high credit. it seems to have been one of the noblest victories ever gained by man over lower impulses and desires. the passions of youth were not yet dead within him; worldly ambition may be supposed to have been still in force; but he chose the part of a missionary to his fellow-men, and there is no evidence that he ever swerved from his purpose. he had won a great victory over himself, and that fact constituted a secret of great power. gautama was about thirty-five years of age when he became a buddha, and for forty-five years after that he lived to preach his doctrines and to establish the monastic institution which has survived to our time. he died a natural death from indigestion at the age of eighty--greatly venerated by his disciples, and the centre of what had already become a wide-spread system in a large district of india. the legends of buddhism are a very different thing from the brief sketch which i have given, and which is based upon the earlier buddhist literature. these sprang up after gautama's death, and their growth extended through many centuries--many centuries even of the christian era. the legends divide the life of the buddha into three periods: . that of his pre-existent states. . that part of his life which extended from his birth to his enlightenment under the bo-tree. . the forty-five years of his buddhaship. the legends have no more difficulty in dealing with the particular experiences of the pre-existent states than in enriching and adorning the incidents of his earthly life; and both are doubtless about equally authentic. gautama discarded the idea of a divine revelation; he rejected the authority of the vedas totally. he denied that he was divine, but distinctly claimed to be a plain and earnest man. all that he knew, he had discovered by insight and self-conquest. to assume that he was pre-existently divine and omniscient subverts the whole theory of his so-called "discovery," and is at variance with the idea of a personal conquest. the chief emphasis and force of his teachings lay in the assumption that he did simply what other men might do; for his mission was that of a teacher and exempler merely. he was a saviour only in that he taught men how to save themselves. the pre-existent states are set forth in the "jatakas," or birth stories of ceylon, which represent him as having been born five hundred and thirty times after he became a bodisat (a predestined buddha). as a specimen of his varied experience while becoming fitted for buddaship, we read that he was born eighty-three times as an ascetic, fifty-eight as a monarch, forty-three as a deva, twenty-four as a brahman, eighteen as an ape; as a deer ten, an elephant six, a lion ten; at least once each as a thief, a gambler, a frog, a hare, a snipe. he was also embodied in a tree. but as a bodisat he could not be born in hell, nor as vermin, nor as a woman! says spence hardy, with a touch of irony: "he could descend no lower than a snipe." northern legends represent buddha as having "incarnated" for the purpose of bringing relief to a distressed world. he was miraculously conceived--his mother's side in the form of a white elephant. all nature manifested its joy on the occasion. the ocean bloomed with flowers; all beings from many worlds showed their wonder and sympathy. many miracles were wrought even during his childhood, and every part of his career was filled with marvels. at his temptation under the bo-tree, mara (satan) came to him mounted on an elephant sixteen miles high and surrounded by an encircling army of demons eleven miles deep.[ ] finding him proof against his blandishments, he hurled mountains of rocks against him, and assailed him with fire and smoke and ashes and filth--all of which became as zephyrs on his cheek or as presents of fragrant flowers. last of all, he sent his three daughters to seduce him. their blandishments are set forth at great length in the "romantic legend." in the northern buddhist literature--embracing both the "romantic legend"[ ] and the "lalita vistara"--many incidents of buddha's childhood are given which show a seeming coincidence with the life of christ. it is claimed that his birth was heralded by angelic hosts, that an aged sage received him into his arms and blessed him, that he was taken to the temple for consecration, that a jealous ruler sought to destroy him, that in his boyhood he astonished the doctors by his wisdom, that he was baptized, or at least took a bath, that he was tempted, transfigured, and finally received up into heaven. these will be noticed farther on; it is only necessary to say here that the legends giving these details are first at variance with the early canonical history, and second, that they are of such later dates as to place most of them probably within the christian era. _the four peculiar and characteristic doctrines of buddhism._ . its peculiar conception of the soul. . its doctrine of trishna and upadana. . its theory of kharma. . its doctrine of nirvana. . the skandas, five in number, constitute in their interaction what all others than buddhists regard as the soul. they consist of material properties; the senses; abstract ideas; tendencies or propensities; and the mental powers. the soul is the result of the combined action of these, as the flame of a candle proceeds from the combustion of its constituent elements. the flame is never the same for two consecutive moments. it seems to have a perpetuated identity, but that is only an illusion, and the same unreality pertains to the soul. it is only a succession of thoughts, emotions, and conscious experiences. we are not the same that we were an hour ago. in fact, there is no such thing as being--there is only a constant _becoming_. we are ever passing from one point to another throughout our life; and this is true of all beings and all things in the universe. how it is that the succession of experiences is treasured up in memory is not made clear. this is a most subtle doctrine, and it has many points of contact with various speculations of modern times. it has also a plausible side when viewed in the light of experience, but its gaps and inconsistencies are fatal, as must be seen when it is thoroughly examined. . the second of the cardinal doctrines is that of trishna. trishna is that inborn element of desire whose tendency is to lead men into evil. so far, it is a misfortune or a form of original sin. whatever it may have of the nature of guilt hangs upon the issues of a previous life. upadana is a further stage in the same development. it is trishna ripened into intense craving by our own choice and our own action. it then becomes uncontrollable and is clearly a matter of guilt. now, the momentum of this upadana is such that it cannot be arrested by death. like the demons of gadara it must again become incarnate, even though it should enter the body of a brute. and this transitional something, this restless moral or immoral force which must work out its natural results somehow and somewhere, and that in embodied form projects into future being a residuum which is known as kharma. . what, then, is kharma? literally it means "the doing." it is a man's record, involving the consequences and liabilities of his acts. it is a score which must be settled. a question naturally arises, how the record of a soul can survive when the soul itself has been "blown out." the illustration of the candle does not quite meet the case. if the flame were something which when blown out immediately seized upon some other substance in which the work of combustion proceeded, it would come nearer to a parallel. one candle may light another before itself is extinguished, but it does not do it by an inherent necessity. but this flame of the soul, this kharma, must enter some other body of god, or man, or beast. again, the question arises, how can responsibility be transferred from one to another? how can the heavy load of a man's sin be laid upon some new-born infant, while the departing sinner has himself no further concern in his evil kharma, but sinks into non-existence the moment his "conformations" are touched with dissolution? buddhism acknowledges a mystery here; no real explanation can be given, and none seems to have been attempted by buddhist writers. to be consistent, gautama, in denying the existence of god and of the soul as an entity, should have taught the materialistic doctrine of annihilation. this, however, he could not do in the face of that deep-rooted idea of transmigration which had taken entire possession of the hindu mind. gautama was compelled therefore to bridge a most illogical chasm as best he could. kharma without a soul to cling to is something in the air. it alights like some winged seed upon a new-born set of skandas with its luckless boon of ill desert, and it involves the fatal inconsistency of investing with permanent character that which is itself impermanent. but the question may be asked, "do we not admit a similar principle when we speak of a man's influence as something that survives him?" we answer, "no." influence is a simple radiation of impressions. a man may leave an influence which men are free to accept or not, but it is quite a different thing if he leaves upon a successor the moral liabilities of a bankrupt character. gautama's own kharma, for example, ceased to exist upon his entering nirvana; there was no re-birth; but his influence lives forever, and has extended to millions of his fellow-men. the injustice involved in the doctrine of kharma is startling. the new-born soul that inherits its unsettled score has no memory or consciousness that connects it with himself; it is not heredity; it is not his father's character that invests him. this kharma may have crossed the ocean from the death-bed of some unknown man of another race. the doctrine is the more astonishing when we consider that no supreme being is recognized as claiming this retribution. there is no god; it is a vague law of eternal justice, a law without a law-giver or a judge. there can therefore be no pardon, no commutation of sentence, no such thing as divine pity or help. the only way in which one can disentangle himself is by breaking forever the connection between spirit and matter which binds him with the shackles of conscious being. . nirvana. no doctrine of buddhism has been so much in dispute as this. it has been widely maintained that nirvana means extinction. but t.w. rhys davids and others have held that it is "the destruction of malice, passion, and delusion," and that it may be attained in this life. the definition is quoted from comparatively recent pali translations.[ ] gautama, therefore, reached nirvana forty-five years before his death. it is claimed, however, that insomuch as it cuts off kharma, or re-birth, it involves entire extinction of being upon the dissolution of the body.[ ] it is held by still others that nirvana is a return to the original and all-pervading boddhi-essence. this theory, which is really a concession to the brahmanical doctrine of absorption into the infinite brahma, has a wide following among the modern buddhists in china and japan. it is a form of buddhist pantheism. as to the teaching of gautama on this subject, professor max müller, while admitting that the meta-physicians who followed the great teacher plainly taught that the entire personal entity of an arhat (an enlightened one) would become extinct upon the death of the body, yet reasons, in his lecture on buddhistic nihilism, that the buddha himself could not have taught a doctrine so disheartening. at the same time he quotes the learned and judicial bishop bigandet as declaring, after years of study and observation in burmah, that such is the doctrine ascribed to the great teacher by his own disciples. gautama is quoted as closing one of his sermons in these words: "mendicants, that which binds the teacher to existence is cut off, but his body still remains. while his body still remains he shall be seen by gods and men, but after the termination of life, upon the dissolution of the body, neither gods nor men shall see him." t.w. rhys davids expresses the doctrine of nirvana tersely and correctly when he says: "utter death, with no new life to follow, is, then, a result of, but it is not, nirvana."[ ] professor oldenberg suggests, with much plausibility, that the buddha was more reticent in regard to the doctrine of final extinction in the later periods of his life; that the depressing doctrine had been found a stumbling-block, and that he came to assume an agnostic position on the question. in his "buddha,"[ ] professor oldenberg, partly in answer to the grounds taken by professor max müller in his lecture on buddhistic nihilism, has very fully discussed the question whether the ego survives in nirvana in any sense. he claims that certain new translations of pali texts have given important evidence on the subject, and he sums up with the apparent conclusion that the buddha, moved by the depressing influence which the grim doctrine of nirvana, in the sense of extinction, was producing upon his disciples, assumed a position of reticence as to whether the ego survives or not. the venerable malukya (see p. ) is said to have plied the master with questions. "does the perfect buddha live on beyond death, or does he not? it pleases me not that all this should remain unanswered, and i do not think it right. may it please the master to answer me if he can. but when anyone does not understand a matter, then a straightforward man says, 'i do not know that.'" the buddha replies somewhat evasively that he has not undertaken to decide such questions, because they are not for spiritual edification. the question, what is nirvana? has been the object of more extensive discussion than its importance demands. practically, the millions of buddhists are not concerned with the question. they find no attraction in either view. they desire neither extinction nor unconscious absorption into the boddhi essence (or brahm). what they anticipate is an improved transmigration, a better birth. the more devout may indulge the hope that their next life will be spent in one of the buddhist heavens; others may aspire to be men of high position and influence. the real heaven to which the average buddhist looks forward is apt to be something very much after his own heart, or at least something indicated by the estimate which he himself places upon his own character and life. there may be many transmigrations awaiting him, but he is chiefly concerned for the next in order. the very last object to excite his interest is that far-off shadow called nirvana. in estimating the conflict of christianity with buddhism we must not take counsel merely of our own sense of the absurdity of gautama's teachings; we are to remember that in christian lands society is made up of all kinds of people; that outside of the christian church there are thousands, and even millions, who, with respect to faith, are in utter chaos and darkness. the church therefore cannot view this subject from its own stand-point merely. let us glance at certain features of buddhism which render it welcome to various classes of men who dwell among us in western lands. first of all, the system commends itself to many by its intense individualism. paul's figure of the various parts of the human frame as illustrating the body of christ, mutual in the interdependence of all its members, would be wholly out of place in buddhism. even the buddhist monks are so many units of introverted self-righteousness. and individualism differently applied is the characteristic of our age, and therefore a bond of sympathy is supplied. "every man for himself," appeals to modern society in many ways. again, gautama magnified the human intellect and the power of the human will. "o ananda," he said, "be lamps unto yourselves; depend upon no other." he claimed to have thought out, and thought through every problem of existence, to have penetrated every secret of human nature in the present, and in the life to come, and his example was commended to all, that they might follow in their measure. so also our transcendental philosophers have glorified the powers and possibilities of humanity, and have made genius superior to saintliness.[ ] there are tens of thousands who in this respect believe in a religion of humanity, and who worship, if they worship at all, the goddess of reason. all such have a natural affinity for buddhism. another point in common between this system and the spirit of our age is its broad humanitarianism--beneficence to the lower grades of life. when love transcends the bounds of the human family it does not rise up toward god, it descends toward the lower orders of the animal world. "show pity toward everything that exists," is its motto, and the insect and the worm hold a larger relative place in the buddhist than in the christian view. the question "are ye not of more value than many sparrows?" might be doubtful in the buddhist estimate, for the teacher himself, in his pre-existent states, had often been incarnate in inferior creatures. it is by no means conceded that jesus, in asking his disciples this question, had less pity for the sparrows than the buddha, or that his beneficence was less thoughtful of the meanest thing that glides through the air or creeps upon the earth; but the spirit of christianity is more discriminating, and its love rises up to heaven, where, beginning with god, it descends through every grade of being. yet it is quite in accordance with the spirit and aim of thousands to magnify the charity that confines itself to bodily wants and distresses, to sneer at the relief which religion may bring to the far greater anguish of the spirit, and to look upon love and loyalty to god as superstition. is it any wonder that such persons have a warm side toward buddhism? again, this system has certain points in common with our modern evolution theories. it is unscientific enough certainly in its speculations, but it gets on without creatorship or divine superintendence, and believes in the inflexible reign of law, though without a law-giver. it assigns long ages to the process of creation, if we may call it creation, and in development through cycles it sees little necessity for the work of god. it can also join hands cordially with many social theories of the day. the pessimism of buddhists, ancient or modern, finds great sympathy in the crowded populations of the western as well as the eastern world. and, almost as a rule, esoteric buddhism, american buddhism, neo-buddhism, or whatever we may call it, is a cave of adullam to which all types of religious apostates and social malcontents resort. the thousands who have made shipwreck of faith, who have become soured at the unequal allotments of providence, who have learned to hate all who are above them and more prosperous than they, are just in the state of mind to take delight in buddha's sermon at kapilavastu, as rehearsed by sir edwin arnold. there all beings met--gods, devas, men, beasts of the field, and fowls of the air--to make common cause against the relentless fate that rules the world, and to bewail the sufferings and death which fill the great charnel-house of existence, while buddha voiced their common complaint and stood before them as the only pitying friend that the universe had found. it was the first great communist meeting of which we have any record.[ ] the wronged and suffering universe was there, and all "took the promise of his piteous speech, so that their lives, prisoned in the shape of ape, tiger or deer, shagged bear, jackal or wolf, foul-feeding kite, pearled dove or peacock gemmed, squat toad or speckled serpent, lizard, bat, yea, or fish fanning the river waves, touched meekly at the skirts of brotherhood with man, who hath less innocence than these: and in mute gladness knew their bondage broke whilst buddha spoke these things before the king." there was no mention of sin, but only of universal misfortune! in contrast with the deep shadows of a brooding and all-embracing pessimism like this, we need only to hint at that glow of hope and joy with which the sun of righteousness has flooded the world, and the fatherly love and compassion with which the old testament and the new are replete, the divine plan of redemption, the psalms of praise and thanksgiving, the pity of christ's words and acts, and his invitations to the weary and heavy-laden. in one view it is strange that pessimism should have comfort in the fellowship of pessimism, but so it is; there is luxury even in the sympathy of hate, and so buddhist pessimism is a welcome guest among us, though our communistic querulousness is more bitter. once more, buddhist occultism has found congenial fellowship in american spiritualism. of late we hear less of spirit-rappings and far more of theosophy. but this is only the same crude system with other names, and rendered more respectable by the cast-off garments of old indian philosophy. there is a disposition in the more intellectual circles to assume a degree of disdain toward the crudeness of spiritualism and its vulgar familiarity with departed spirits, who must ever be disturbed by its beck and call; but it is confidently expected that the thousands, nay, as some say, millions, of american spiritualists will gladly welcome the name and the creed of buddha.[ ] it will be idle therefore to assume that the old sleepy system of gautama has no chance in this wide-awake republic of the west.[ ] i have already called attention to the special tactics of buddhists just now in claiming that christianity, having been of later origin, has borrowed its principal facts and its teachings. let us examine the charge. it is a real tribute to the character of christ that so many sects of false religionists have in all ages claimed him either as a follower or as an incarnation of their respective deities. others have acknowledged his teachings as belonging to their particular style and grade. the bitter and scathing calumny of celsus, in the first centuries of our era, did not prevent numerous attempts to prove the identity of christ's teachings with some of the most popular philosophies of the heathen world. porphyry claimed that many of christ's virtues were copied from pythagoras. with like concession mohammedanism included jesus as one of the six great prophets, and confessedly the only sinless one among them all. many a fanatic in the successive centuries has claimed to be a new incarnation of the son of god. hindus have named him as an incarnation of vishnu for the western, as was krishna for the eastern world. as was indicated in the opening of this lecture, the theosophists are making special claim to him,[ ] and are reviving the threadbare theory that he was a follower of buddha. so strong an effort is made to prove that christianity has borrowed both its divine leader and its essential doctrines from india, that a moment's attention may well be given to the question here. one allegation is that the evangelists copied the buddhist history and legends in their account of christ's early life. another is that the leaders of the alexandrian church worked over the gospel story at a later day, having felt more fully the influence of india at that great commercial centre. the two theories are inconsistent with each other, and both are inconsistent with the assumption that christ himself was a buddhist, and taught the buddhist doctrines, since this supposition would have obviated the need of any manipulation or fraud at any point. in replying as briefly as possible i shall endeavor to cover both allegations. in strong contrast with these cheap assertions of alexandrian corruption and plagiarism is the frank admission of such keen critics as renan, weiss, volkmar, schenkel, and hitzig,[ ] that the gospel record as we have it, was written during a generation in which some of the companions of jesus still lived. renan says of mark's gospel that "it is full of minute observations, coming doubtless from an eye-witness," and he asserts that matthew, mark, and luke were written "in substantially their present form by the men whose names they bear." these gospels were the work of men who knew jesus. matthew was one of the twelve; john in his epistle speaks of himself as an eye-witness. they were written in a historic age and were open to challenge. they were nowhere contradicted in contemporary history. they fit their environment. how is it with the authenticity of buddhist literature? oldenberg says, "for the _when_ of things men of india have never had a proper organ," and max müller declares to the same effect, that "the idea of a faithful, literal translation seems altogether foreign to oriental minds." he also informs us that there is not a single manuscript in india which is a thousand years old, and scarcely one that can claim five hundred years. for centuries after gautama's time nothing was written; all was transmitted by word of mouth. buddhists themselves say that the pali canonical texts were written about b.c.[ ] any fair comparison of the two histories should confine itself to the writings which are regarded as canonical respectively, and whose dates can be fixed. no more importance should be attached to the later buddhist legends than to the "apocryphal gospels," or to the absurd "christian legends" which appeared in the middle ages. the buddhist canon was adopted by the council of patna b.c. the legends which are generally compared with the canonical story of christ are not included in that canon, or at most very few of them. they are drawn from certain poetical books written much later, and holding about the same relation to the buddhist canon that the "paradise lost" and "paradise regained" of milton bear to the scriptures of the old and new testaments. who would think of quoting "paradise lost" in any sober comparison of biblical truth with the teachings of other religions?[ ] even the canonical literature, that which is supposed to contain the true history and teachings of buddha, is far from authoritative, owing to the acknowledged habit--acknowledged even by the author of the "dhammapada" of adding commentaries, notes, etc., to original teachings. not only was this common among buddhist writers, but even more surprising liberties were taken with the narrative. for example: the legend describing buddha's leave-taking of his harem is clearly borrowed from an earlier story of yasa, a wealthy young householder of benares, who, becoming disgusted with his harem, left his sleeping dancing girls and fled to the buddha for instruction. davids and oldenberg, in translating this legend from the "mahavagga," say in a note, "a well-known incident in the life of buddha has evidently been shaped after the model of this story;" and they declare that "_nowhere in the 'pali pitakas' is this scene of buddha's leave-taking mentioned_." as another evidence of the way in which fact and fiction have been mixed and manipulated for a purpose, one of the legends, which has often been presented as a parallel to the story of christ, represents the buddha as repelling the temptation of mara by quoting texts of "scripture," and the scripture referred to was the "dhammapada." but the "dhammapada" was compiled hundreds of years after buddha's death. besides, there were no "scriptures" of any kind in his day, for nothing was written till two or three centuries later; and worse still, buddha is made to quote his own subsequent teachings; for the "dhammapada" claims to consist of the sacred words of the "enlightened one." most of the legends of buddhism were wholly written after the beginning of the christian era, and it cannot be shown that any were written in their present form until two or three centuries of that era had elapsed. t.w. rhys davids says of the "lalita vistara" which contains a very large proportion of them, and one form of which is said to have been translated into chinese in the first century a.d., "that there is no real proof that it existed in its present form before the year a.d." the "romantic legend" cannot be traced farther back than the third century a.d. oldenberg says: "no biography of buddha has come down to us from ancient times, from the age of the pali texts, and we can safely say that no such biography was in existence then." beal declares that the buddhist legend, as found in the various epics of nepaul, thibet, and china, "is not framed after _any_ indian model of any date, but is to be found worked out, so to speak, among northern peoples, who were ignorant of, or indifferent to, the pedantic stories of the brahmans. in the southern and primitive records the terms of the legend are wanting. _buddha is not born of a royal family; he is not tempted before his enlightenment; he works no miracles, and he is not a universal saviour._" the chances are decidedly that if any borrowing has been done it was on the side of buddhism. it has been asserted that thirty thousand buddhist monks from alexandria once visited ceylon on the occasion of a great festival. this is absurd on the face of it; but that a christian colony settled in malabar at a very early period is attested by the presence of thousands of their followers even to this day. in discussing the specific charge of copying buddhist legends in the gospel narratives, we are met at the threshold by insurmountable improbabilities. to some of these i ask a moment's attention. i shall not take the time to discuss in detail the alleged parallels which are paraded as proofs. to anyone who understands the spirit of judaism and its attitude toward heathenism of all kinds, it is simply inconceivable that the christian disciples, whose aim it was to propagate the faith of their master in a jewish community, should have borrowed old indian legends, which, by the terms of the supposition, must have been widely known as such. and buddhist apologists must admit that it is a little strange that the scribes and pharisees, who were intelligent, and as alert as they were bitter, should never have exposed this transparent plagiarism. the great concern of the apostles was to prove to jews and gentiles that jesus was the christ of old testament prophecy. the whole drift of their preaching and their epistles went to show that the gospel history rested squarely and uncompromisingly on a jewish basis. peter and john, stephen and paul, constantly "reasoned with the jews out of their own scriptures." how unspeakably absurd is the notion that they were trying to palm off on those keen pharisees a messiah who, though in the outset at nazareth he publicly traced his commission to old testament prophecy, was all the while copying an atheistic philosopher of india! it is equally inconceivable that the christian fathers should have copied buddhism. they resisted persian mysticism as the work of the devil, and it was in that mysticism, if anywhere, that buddhist influence existed in the levant. whoever has read tertullian's withering condemnation of marcion may judge how far the fathers of the church favored the heresies of the east. augustine had himself been a manichean mystic, and when after his conversion he became the great theologian of the church, he must have known whether the teachings of the buddha were being palmed off on the christian world. the great leaders of that age were men of thorough scholarship and of the deepest moral earnestness. many of them gave up their possessions and devoted their lives to the promotion of the truths which they professed. scores of them sealed their faith by martyr deaths. but even if we were to accept the flippant allegation that they were all impostors, yet we should be met by an equally insurmountable difficulty in the utter silence of the able and bitter assailants of christianity in the first two or three centuries. celsus prepared himself for his well-known attack on christianity with the utmost care, searching history, philosophy, and every known religion from which he could derive an argument against the christian faith. why did he not strike at the very root of the matter by exposing those stupid plagiarists who were attempting to play off upon the intelligence of the roman world a clumsy imitation of the far-famed buddha? it was the very kind of thing that the enemies of christianity wanted. why should the adroit porphyry attempt to work up a few mere scraps of resemblance from the life of pythagoras, when all he had to do was to lay his hand upon familiar legends which afforded an abundance of the very thing in demand? again, it is to be remembered that christianity has always been restrictive and opposed to admixtures with other systems. it repelled the neo-platonism of alexandria, and it fought for two or three centuries against gnosticism, manichæism, and similar heresies: and the assumption, in the face of all this, that the christian church went out of its way to copy indian buddhism, must be due either to gross ignorance or to reckless misrepresentation. on the other hand, it is in accordance with the very genius of buddhism to borrow. it has absorbed every indigenous superstition and entered into partnership with every local religious system, from the devil worship of burmah and ceylon to the taouism of china and the shinto of japan. in its long-continued contact with christianity it has changed from the original atheism of gautama to various forms of theism, and in some of its sects, at least, from a stanch insistance on self-help alone to an out-and-out doctrine of salvation by faith. this is true of the shin and yodo sects of japan. from recognizing no god at all at first, buddhism had, by the seventh century a.d., a veritable trinity, with attributes resembling those of the triune god of the christians, and by the tenth century it had five trinities with one supreme adi-buddha over them all. everyone may judge for himself whether these later interpolations of the system were borrowed from the new testament trinity, which had been proclaimed through all the east ten centuries before. buddhism is still absorbing foreign elements through the aid of its various apologists. sir edwin arnold has greatly added to the force of its legend by the christian phrases and christian conceptions which he has read into it. toward the close of the "light of asia" he also introduces into the buddha's sermon at kapilavastu the teachings of herbert spencer and others of our own time. but altogether the most stupendous improbability lies against the whole assumption that christ and his followers based their "essential doctrines" on the teachings of the buddha. the early buddhism was atheistic: this is the common verdict of davids, childers, sir monier williams, kellogg, and many others. the buddha declared that "without cause and unknown is the life of man in this world," and he recognized no higher being to whom he owed reverence. "the buddhist catechism," by subhadra, shows that modern buddhism has no recognition of god. it says (page ): "buddhism teaches the reign of perfect goodness and wisdom _without a personal god_, continuance of individuality _without an immortal soul_, eternal happiness without a local heaven, the way of salvation without a vicarious saviour, redemption worked out by each one himself without any prayers, sacrifices, and penances, without the ministry of ordained priests, without the intercession of saints, _without divine mercy_." and then, by way of authentication, it adds: "these, and many others which have become the fundamental doctrines of the buddhist religion, were recognized by the buddha in the night of his enlightenment under the boddhi-tree." and yet we are told that this is the system which christ and his followers copied. compare this passage with the lord's prayer, or with the discourse upon the lilies, and its lesson of trust in god the father of all! i appeal not merely to christian men, but to _any_ man who has brains and common-sense, was there ever so preposterous an attempt to establish an identity of doctrines? but what is the evidence found in the legends themselves? several leading oriental scholars, and men not at all biased in favor of christianity, have carefully examined the subject, and have decided that there is no connection whatever. professor seydel, of leipsic, who has given the most scientific plea for the so-called coincidences, of which he claims there are fifty-one, has classified them as: , those which may have been merely accidental, having arisen from similar causes, and not necessarily implying any borrowing on either side; , those which seem to have been borrowed from the one narrative or the other; and , those which he thinks were clearly copied by the christian writers. in this last class he names but five out of fifty-one. kuenen, who has little bias in favor of christianity, and who has made a very thorough examination of seydel's parallels, has completely refuted these five.[ ] and speaking of the whole question he says: "i think we may safely affirm that we must abstain from assigning to buddhism the smallest direct influence on the origin of christianity." he also says of similar theories of de bunsen: "a single instance is enough to teach us that inventive fancy plays the chief part in them."[ ] rhys davids, whom subhadra's "buddhist catechism" approves as the chief exponent of buddhism, says on the same subject: "i can find no evidence of any actual or direct communication of these ideas common to buddhism and christianity from the east to the west." oldenberg denies their early date, and beal denies them an indian origin of any date. _contrasts between buddhism and christianity._ rhys davids has pointed out the fact that, while buddhism in some points is more nearly allied to christianity than any other system, yet in others it is the farthest possible from it in its spirit and its tendency. if we strike out those ethical principles which, to a large extent, are the common heritage of mankind, revealed in the understanding and the conscience, we shall find in what remains an almost total contrariety to the christian faith. to give a few examples only. . christ taught the existence and glory of god as supreme, the creator and father, the righteous judge. his supreme mission to reconcile all men to god was the key-note of all his ministry. by his teaching the hearts of men are lifted up above all earthly conceptions to the worship of infinite purity, and to the comforting assurance of more than a father's care and love. buddhism, on the contrary, knows nothing of god, offers no heavenly incentive, no divine help. leading scholars are agreed that, whatever it may be now, the original orthodox buddhism was essentially atheistic. it despised the idea of divine help, and taught men to rely upon themselves. while, therefore, buddhism never rose above the level of earthly resources, and contemplated only lower orders of being, christianity begins with god as supreme, to be worshipped and loved with all the heart, mind, and strength, while our neighbors are to be loved as ourselves. . christ represented himself as having pre-existed from the foundation of the world, as having been equal with god in the glory of heaven, all of which he resigned that he might enter upon the humiliation of our earthly state, and raise us up to eternal life. he distinctly claimed oneness and equality with the father. buddha claimed no such antecedent glory; he spoke of himself as a man merely; the whole aim of his teaching was to show in himself what every man might accomplish. later legends ascribe to him a sort of pre-existence, in which five hundred and thirty successive lives were passed, sometimes as a man, sometimes as a god, many times as an animal. but even these claims were not made by buddha himself--except so far as was implied by the common doctrine of transmigration. furthermore, in relation to the alleged pre-existences, according to strict buddhist doctrine it was not really he who had gone before, it was only a kharma or character that had exchanged hands many times before it could be taken up by the real and conscious buddha born upon the earth. still further, even after the beginning of his earthly life he lived for many years in what, according to his own teaching, was heinous sin, all of which is fatal to the theory of pre-existent holiness. . christ is a real saviour; his atonement claimed to be a complete ransom from the penalty of sin, and by his teaching and example, and by the power of the holy spirit, he overcomes the power of sin itself, transforming the soul into his own image. buddha, on the other hand, did not claim to achieve salvation for any except himself, though mr. arnold and others constantly use such terms as "help" and "salvation." nothing of the kind is claimed by the early buddhist doctrines; they plainly declare that purity and impurity belong to one's self, and that no one can purify another. . christ emphatically declared himself a helper, even in this life: "come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest." he promised also to send his spirit as a comforter, as a supporter of his disciples' faith, as a guide and teacher, at all times caring for their need; in whatever exigency his grace would be sufficient for them. on the contrary, buddha taught his followers that no power in heaven or earth could help them; the victory must be their own. "how can we hope to amend a life," says bishop carpenter, "which is radically bad, by the aid of a system which teaches that man's highest aim should be to escape from life? all that has been said against the ascetic and non-worldly attitude of christianity might be urged with additional force against buddhism. it is full of the strong, sweet, pathetic compassion which looks upon life with eyes full of tears, but only to turn them away from it again, as from an unsolved and insoluble riddle." and he substantiates his position by quoting réville and oldenberg. réville reaches this similar conclusion: "buddhism, born on the domain of polytheism, has fought against it, not by rising above nature in subordinating it to a single sovereign spirit, but by reproving nature in principle, and condemning life itself as an evil and a misfortune. buddhism does not measure itself against this or that abuse, does not further the development or reformation of society, either directly or indirectly, for the very simple reason that it turns away from the world on principle." oldenberg, one of the most thorough of pali scholars, says: "for the lower order of the people, for those born to toil in manual labor, hardened by the struggle for existence, the announcement of the connection of misery with all forms of existence was not made, nor was the dialectic of the law of the painful concatenation of causes and effects calculated to satisfy 'the poor in spirit.' 'to the wise belongeth this law,' it is said, 'not to the foolish.' very unlike the work of that man who 'suffered little children to come unto him, for of such is the kingdom of god.' for children, and those who are like children, the arms of buddha are not opened." . christ and his disciples set before men the highest motives of life. the great end of man was to love god supremely, and one's neighbor as himself. every true disciple was to consider himself an almoner and dispenser of the divine goodness to his race. it was this that inspired the sublime devotion of paul and of thousands since his time. it is the secret principle of all the noblest deeds of men. gautama had no such high and unselfish aim. he found no inspiring motive above the level of humanity. his system concentrates all thought and effort on one's own life--virtually on the attainment of utter indifference to all things else. the early zeal of gautama and his followers in preaching to their fellow-men was inconsistent with the plain doctrines taught at a later day. if in any case there were those who, like paul, burned with desire to save their fellow-men, all we can say is, they were better than their creed. such was the spirit of the gospel, rather than the idle and useless torpor of the buddhist order. "here, according to buddhists," says spence hardy, "is a mere code of proprieties, an occasional opiate, a plan for being free from discomfort, a system for personal profit." buddhism certainly taught the repression of human activity and influence. instead of saying, "let your light so shine before men that they, seeing your good works, may glorify your father who is in heaven," or "work while the day lasts," it said, "if thou keepest thyself silent as a broken gong, thou hast attained nirvana." "to wander about like the rhinoceros alone," was enjoined as the pathway of true wisdom. . christ taught that life, though attended with fearful alternatives, is a glorious birthright, with boundless possibilities and promise of good to ourselves and others. buddhism makes life an evil which it is the supreme end of man to conquer and cut off from the disaster of re-birth. christianity opens a path of usefulness, holiness, and happiness in this life, and a career of triumph and glory in the endless ages to come. both buddhism and hinduism are worse than other pessimistic systems in their fearful law of entailment through countless transmigrations, each of which must be a struggle. . christ, according to the new testament, "ever liveth to make intercession for us," and the holy spirit represents him constantly as an ever-living power in the world, to regenerate, save, and bless. but buddha is dead, and his very existence is a thing of the past. only traditions and the influence of his example can help men in the struggle of life. said buddha to his disciples: "as a flame blown by violence goes out and cannot be reckoned, even so a buddha delivered from name and body disappears and cannot be reckoned as existing." again, he said to his order, "mendicants, that which binds the teacher (himself) is cut off, but his body still remains. while this body shall remain he will be seen by gods and men, but after the termination of life, upon the dissolution of the body, neither gods nor men shall see him." . christ taught the sacredness of the human body. "know ye not that your body is the temple of the holy ghost which is in you?" said his great apostle. but buddhism says: "as men deposit filth upon a dungheap and depart regretting nothing, wanting nothing, so will i depart leaving this body filled with vile vapors." christ and his disciples taught the triumphant resurrection of the body in spiritual form and purity after his own image. the buddhist forsakes utterly and forever the deserted, cast-off mortality, while still he looks only for another habitation equally mortal and corruptible, and possibly that of a lower animal. thus, through all these lines of contrast, and many others that might be named, there appear light and life and blessedness on the one hand, and gloom and desolation on the other. the gloomy nature of buddhism is well expressed in hardy's "legends and theories of buddhism" as follows: "the system of buddhism is humiliating, cheerless, man-marring, soul-crushing. it tells me that i am not a reality, that i have no soul. it tells me that there is no unalloyed happiness, no plenitude of enjoyment, no perfect unbroken peace in the possession of any being whatever, from the highest to the lowest, in any world. it tells me that i may live myriads of millions of ages, and that not in any of those ages, nor in any portion of any age, can i be free from apprehension as to the future, until i attain to a state of unconsciousness; and that in order to arrive at this consummation i must turn away from all that is pleasant, or lovely, or instructive, or elevating, or sublime. it tells me by voices ever repeated, like the ceaseless sound of the sea-wave on the shore, that i shall be subject to sorrow, impermanence, and unreality so long as i exist, and yet that i cannot cease to exist, nor for countless ages to come, as i can only attain nirvana in the time of a supreme buddha. in my distress i ask for the sympathy of an all-wise and all-powerful friend. but i am mocked instead by the semblance of relief, and am told to look to buddha, who has ceased to exist; to the dharma that never was in existence, and to the sangha, the members of which are real existences, but like myself are partakers of sorrow and sin." how shall we measure the contrast between all this and the ecstacies of christian hope, which in various forms are expressed in the epistles of paul; the expected crown of righteousness, the eternal weight of glory; heirship with christ in an endless inheritance; the house not made with hands; the general assembly of the first born? even in the midst of earthly sorrows and persecutions he could say, "nay, in all things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. for i am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of god which is in christ jesus, our lord." footnotes: [footnote : it is by no means certain that buddha's followers, in carrying out his system, have not lapsed into the old notions of merit-making asceticism to greater or less extent, and have become virtually very much like the torpid and useless fakirs of the old hinduism.] [footnote : the _jataka_ legends of ceylon, dating in their present form about a.d., greatly enlarge the proportions of this northern legend, making the elephant over seven thousand miles high, and widening out the surrounding army to one hundred and sixty four miles.] [footnote : of the _romantic legend_ found in nepaul, beall's translation is probably the best.] [footnote : see appendix of _origin and growth of religion as illustrated in buddhism_.] [footnote : see _buddhism_, pp. - .] [footnote : _buddhism_, p. .] [footnote : pp. - .] [footnote : it is the boast of the author of _esoteric buddhism_, that strange mixture of western spiritualism with oriental mysticism, that his system despises the tame "goody, goody" spirit of christianity, and deals with the endless growth of mind.] [footnote : _light of asia_.] [footnote : mr. sinnett, in his _esoteric buddhism_, expressed the idea that it was high time that the crudities of spiritualism should be corrected by the more philosophic occultism of the east.] [footnote : the points of contact between buddhism and certain forms of western thought have been ably treated by professor s.h. kellogg, in the _light of asia and light of the world_.] [footnote : a recent tract has appeared, entitled _theosophy the religion of jesus_.] [footnote : cited by professor kellogg.] [footnote : professor t.w. rhys davids, in his introduction to _buddhism_, enumerates the following sources of knowledge concerning the early buddhism: . the _lalita vistara_, a sanscrit work of the northern buddhists "full of extravagant fictions" concerning the early portion of gautama's life. davids compares it to milton's _paradise regained_, as a source of history, and claims that although parts of it were translated into chinese in the first century of our era, there is no proof of its existence in its present form earlier than the sixth century a.d. . two thibetan versions, based chiefly on the _lalita vistara_. . the _romantic legend_, from the sanscrit of the northern buddhists, translated into chinese in the sixth century a.d.; english version by beal published in . this also is an extravagant poem. this and the _lalita vistara_ embrace most of the alleged parallels to the life of christ. . the original pali text of the _commentary on the jatakas_, written in ceylon probably about the fifth century of our era. davids considers its account down to the time of gautama's return to kapilavastu, "the best authority we have." it contains word for word almost the whole of the life of gautama given by turnour, from a commentary on the _buddhavansa_, "which is the account of the buddhas contained in the second pitaka." . an account taken by spence hardy from cingalese books of a comparatively modern date. . an english translation by bigandet of a burmese account, which was itself a translation of unknown date made from a pali version. . an account of the death of gautama, given in pali and said to be the oldest of all the sources. it is full of wonders created by the fancy of the unknown author, but differs widely from the fancy sketches of the _lalita vistara_ of the north. . a translation by mr. alabaster of a siamese account. it does not claim to be exact.] [footnote : t.w. rhys davids illustrates the worthlessness of poetic narrations as grounds of argument by quoting from milton's _paradise regained_ this mere fancy sketch of the accompaniments of christ's temptation: "and either tropic now 'gan thunder and both ends of heaven; the clouds from many a horrid rift abortive poured fierce rain with lightning mixed, water with fire in ruin reconciled; nor slept the winds within their stony caves, but rush'd abroad from the four hinges of the world, and fell on the vex'd wilderness; whose tallest pines tho' rooted deep as high and sturdiest oaks, bowed their stiff necks, loaden with stormy blasts or torn up sheer. ill wast thou shrouded then, o patient son of god, yet stood'st alone unshaken! nor yet staid the terror there; infernal ghosts and hellish furies round environed thee; some howl'd, some yell'd, some shriek'd, some bent at thee their fiery darts, while thou sat'st unappall'd in calm and sinless peace." book iv.] [footnote : see _national religion and universal religion_, p. .] [footnote : _hibbert lectures_, .] lecture vi. mohammedanism past and present it has been the fate of every great religious teacher to have his memory enveloped in a haze of posthumous myths. even the gospel history was embellished with marvellous apocryphal legends of the childhood of christ. buddhism very soon began to be overgrown with a truly indian luxuriance of fables, miracles, and pre-existent histories extending through five hundred past transmigrations. in like manner, the followers of mohammed traced the history of their prophet and of their sacred city back to the time of adam. and mohammedan legends were not a slow and natural growth, as in the case of most other faiths. there was a set purpose in producing them without much delay. the conquests of islam over the eastern empires had been very rapid. the success of mohammed's cause and creed had exceeded the expectations of his most sanguine followers. in the first half of the seventh century--nay, between the years and a.d.--jerusalem, damascus, and aleppo had fallen before the arms of omar and his lieutenant "khaled the invincible," and in egypt was added to the realm of the khalifs. persia was conquered in a.d. . it seemed scarcely possible that achievements so brilliant could have been the work of a mere unlettered arab and his brave but unpretentious successors. the personnel of the prophet must be raised to an adequate proportion to such a history. special requisition was made therefore for incidents. the devout fancy of the faithful was taxed for the picturesque and marvellous; and the system which mohammed taught, and the very place in which he was born, must needs be raised to a supernatural dignity and importance. accordingly, the history of the prophet was traced back to the creation of the world, when god was said to have imparted to a certain small portion of earthy dust a mysterious spark of light. when adam was formed this particular luminous dust appeared in his forehead, and from him it passed in a direct line to abraham. from abraham it descended, not to isaac, but to ishmael; and this was the cause of sarah's jealousy and the secret of all abraham's domestic troubles. of course, this bright spark of heavenly effulgence reappearing on the brow of each lineal progenitor, was designed ultimately for mohammed, in whom it shone forth with tenfold brightness. there is real historic evidence of the fact that the vale of mecca had for a long time been regarded as sacred ground. it was a sort of forest or extensive grove, a place for holding treaties among the tribes, a common ground of truce and a refuge from the avenger. it was also a place for holding annual fairs, for public harangues, and the competitive recitation of ballads and other poems. but all this, however creditable to the culture of the arab tribes, was not sufficient for the purposes of islam. the kaaba, which had been a rude heathen temple, was raised to the dignity of a shrine of the true god, or rather it was restored, for it was said to have been built by adam after a divine pattern. the story was this: at the time of the fall, adam and eve had somehow become separated. adam had wandered away to ceylon, where a mountain peak still bears his name. but having been divinely summoned to mecca to erect this first of earthly temples, he unexpectedly found eve residing upon a hill near the city, and thenceforward the valley of mecca became their paradise regained. at the time of the deluge the kaaba was buried in mud, and for centuries afterward it was overgrown with trees. when hagar and her son ishmael were driven out from the household of abraham, they wandered by chance to this very spot, desolate and forsaken. while hagar was diligently searching for water, more anxious to save the life of her son than her own, ishmael, boy-like, sat poking the sand with his heel; when, behold, a spring of water bubbled up in his footprint. and this was none other than the sacred well zemzem, whose brackish waters are still eagerly sought by every moslem pilgrim. as ishmael grew to manhood and established his home in the sacred city, abraham was summoned to join him, that they together might rebuild the kaaba. but in the succeeding generations apostacy again brought ruin upon the place, although the heathen koreish still performed sacred rites there--especially that of sevenfold processions around the sacred stone. this blackened object, supposed to be an aërolite which fell ages ago, is still regarded as sacred, and the sevenfold circuits of mohammedan pilgrims take the place of the ancient heathen rites. laying aside these crude legends, and confining our attention to probable history, i can only hope, in the compass of a single lecture, to barely touch upon a series of prominent points without any very careful regard to logical order. this will perhaps insure the greatest clearness as well as the best economy of time. and first, we will glance at the personal history of mohammed--a history, it should be remembered, which was not committed to writing till two hundred years after the prophet's death, and which depends wholly on the enthusiastic traditions of his followers. born in the year a.d., of a recently widowed mother, he appears to have been from the first a victim of epilepsy, or some kindred affection whose paroxysms had much to do with his subsequent experiences and his success. the various tribes of arabia were mostly given to a form of polytheistic idolatry in which, however, the conception of a monotheistic supremacy was still recognized. most scholars, including renan, insist on ascribing to the arabians, in common with all other shemitic races, a worship of one god as supreme, though the arabian allah, like the baal of canaan and phoenicia, was supposed to be attended by numerous inferior deities. though islam undoubtedly borrowed the staple of its truths from the old testament, yet there was a short confession strikingly resembling the modern creed of to-day, which had been upon the lips of many generations of arabians before mohammed's time. thus it ran: "i dedicate myself to thy service, o allah. thou hast no companion except the companion of whom thou art master and of whatever is his." a society known as the "hanifs" existed at the time of mohammed's early manhood, and we know not how long before, whose aim was to bring back their countrymen from the degrading worship and cruel practices of heathenism to the purity of monotheistic worship. the old faith had been reinforced in the minds of the more intelligent arabs by the truths learned from jewish exiles, who, as early as the babylonish captivity, had found refuge in arabia; and it is a striking fact that the four hanif leaders whom the young mohammed found on joining their society, were pleading for the restoration of the faith of abraham. all these leaders refused to follow his standard when he began to claim supremacy as a prophet; three of them were finally led to christianity, and the fourth died in a sort of quandary between the christian faith and islam. the first two, waraka and othman, were cousins of mohammed's wife, and the third, obadulla, was his own cousin. zaid, the last of the four, presents to us a very pathetic picture. he lived and died in perplexity. banished from mecca by those who feared his conscientious censorship, he lived by himself on a neighboring hillside, an earnest seeker after truth to the last; and he died with the prayer on his lips, "o god, if i knew what form of worship is most pleasing to thee, so would i serve thee, but i know it not." it is to the credit of mohammed that he cherished a profound respect for this man. "i will pray for him," he said; "in the resurrection he also will gather a church around him."[ ] in spite of his maladies and the general delicacy of his nervous organization, mohammed evinced in early youth a degree of energy and intellectual capacity which augured well for his future success in some important sphere. fortune also favored him in many ways. his success as manager of the commercial caravans of a wealthy widow led to his acceptance as her husband. she was fourteen years his senior, but she seems to have entirely won his affections and to have proved indispensable, not only as a patroness, but as a wise and faithful counsellor. so long as she lived she was the good spirit who called forth his better nature, and kept him from those low impulses which subsequently wrought the ruin of his character, even in the midst of his successes. on the one hand, it is an argument in favor of the sincerity of mohammed's prophetic claims, that this good and true woman was the first to believe in him as a prophet of god; but, on the other hand, we must remember that she was a loving wife, and that that charity which thinketh no evil is sometimes utterly blind to evil when found in this tender relation. we have no reason to doubt that mohammed was a sincere "hanif." having means and leisure for study, and being of a bright and thoughtful mind, he doubtless entered with enthusiasm into the work of reforming the idolatrous customs of his countrymen. from this high standpoint, and free from superstitious fear of a heathen priesthood, he was prepared to estimate in their true enormity the degrading rites which he everywhere witnessed under the abused name of religion. that hatred of idolatry which became the main spring of his subsequent success, was thus nourished and strengthened as an honest and abiding sentiment. he was, moreover, of a contemplative--we may say, of a religious--turn of mind. his maladies gave him a tinge of melancholy, and, like the buddha, he showed a characteristic thoughtfulness bordering upon the morbid. becoming more and more a reformer, he followed the example of many other reformers by withdrawing at stated times to a place of solitude for meditation; at least such is the statement of his followers, though there are evidences that he took his family with him, and that he may have been seeking refuge from the heat. however this may have been, the place chosen was a neighboring cave, in whose cool shade he not only spent the heated hours of the day, but sometimes a succession of days and nights. perhaps the confinement increased the violence of his convulsions, and the vividness and power of the strange phantasmagorias which during his paroxysms passed through his mind. it was from one of these terrible attacks that his alleged call to the prophetic office was dated. the prevailing theories of his time ascribed all such experiences to the influence of supernatural spirits, either good or evil, and the sufferer was left to the alternative of assuming either that he had received messages from heaven, or that he had been a victim of the devil. after a night of greater suffering and more thrilling visions than he had ever experienced before, mohammed chose the more favorable interpretation, and announced to his sympathizing wife kadijah that he had received from gabriel a solemn call to become the prophet of god. there has been endless discussion as to how far he may have been self-deceived in making this claim, and how far he may have been guilty of conscious imposture. speculation is useless, since on the one hand we cannot judge a man of that age and that race by the rigid standards of our own times; and on the other, we are forbidden to form a too favorable judgment by the subsequent developments of mohammed's character and life, in regard to which no other interpretation than that of conscious fraud seems possible.[ ] aside from the previous development and influence of a monotheistic reform, and the favoring circumstance of a fortunate marriage, he found his way prepared by the truths which had been made known in arabia by both jews and christians. the jews had fled to the arabian peninsula from the various conquerors who had laid waste jerusalem and overrun the territories of the ten tribes. at a later day, many christians had also found an asylum there from the persecutions of hostile bishops and emperors. sir william muir has shown how largely the teachings of the koran are grounded upon those of the old and new testaments.[ ] all that is best in mohammedanism is clearly borrowed from judaism and christianity. mohammed was illiterate and never claimed originality. indeed, he plead his illiteracy as a proof of direct inspiration. a far better explanation would be found in the knowledge derived from inspired records, penned long before and under different names. the prophet was fortunate not only in the possession of truths thus indirectly received, but in the fact that both jews and christians had lapsed from a fair representation of the creeds which they professed. the jews in arabia had lost the true spirit of their sacred scriptures, and were following their own perverted traditions rather than the oracles of god. they had lost the vitality and power of the truths revealed to their fathers, and were destitute of moral earnestness and all spiritual life. on the other hand, the christian sects had fallen into low superstitions and virtual idolatry. the trinity, as they represented it, gave to mohammed the impression that the virgin mary, "mother of god," was one of the three persons of the trinity, and that the promise of the coming paraclete might very plausibly be appropriated by himself.[ ] the prevailing worship of pictures, images, and relics appeared in his vision as truly idolatrous as the polytheism of the heathen koreish. it was clear to him that there was a call for some zealous iconoclast to rise up and deliver his country from idolatry. the whole situation seemed auspicious. arabia was ripe for a sweeping reformation. it appears strange to us, at this late day, that the churches of christendom, even down to the seventh century, should have failed to christianize arabia, though they had carried the gospel even to spain and to britain on the west, and to india and china on the east. if they had imagined that the deserts of the peninsula were not sufficiently important to demand attention, they certainly learned their mistake; for now the sad day of reckoning had come, when swarms of fanatics should issue from those deserts like locusts, and overrun their christian communities, humble their bishops, appropriate their sacred temples, and reduce their despairing people to the alternatives of apostacy, tribute, slavery, or the sword. it seems equally strange that the great empires which had carried their conquests so far on every hand had neglected to conquer arabia. it was, indeed, comparatively isolated; it certainly did not lie in the common paths of the conquerors; doubtless it appeared barren, and by no means a tempting prize; and withal it was a difficult field for a successful campaign. but from whatever reason, the tribes of arabia had never been conquered. various expeditions had won temporary successes, but the proud arab could boast that his country had never been brought into permanent subjection.[ ] meanwhile the heredity of a thousand years had strengthened the valor of the arab warrior. he was accustomed to the saddle from his very infancy; he was almost a part of his horse. he was trained to the use of arms as a robber, when not engaged in tribal wars. his whole activity, his all-absorbing interest, was in hostile forays. he knew no fear; he had no scruples. he had been taught to feel that, as a son of ishmael every man's hand was turned against him, and of simple right his hand might be turned against every man. nor was this all. the surrounding nations, east and west, had long been accustomed to employ these sons of the desert as mercenary soldiers. they had all had a hand in training them for their terrible work, by imparting to them a knowledge of their respective countries, their resources, their modes of warfare, and their points of weakness. how many nations have thus paved the way to their own destruction by calling in allies, who finally became their masters![ ] on mohammed's part, there is no evidence that at the outset he contemplated a military career. at first a reformer, then a prophet, he was driven to arms in self-defence against his persecutors, and he was fortunate in being able to profit by a certain jealousy which existed between the rival cities of mecca and medina. fleeing from mecca with only one follower, abu bekr, leaving the faithful ali to arrange his affairs while he and his companion were hidden in a cave, he found on reaching medina a more favorable reception. he soon gathered a following, which enabled him to gain a truce from the meccans for ten years; and when they on their part violated the truce, he was able to march upon their city with a force which defied all possible resistance, and he entered mecca in triumph. medina had been won partly by the supposed credentials of the prophet, but mainly by jealousy of the rival city. mecca yielded to a superior force of arms, but in the end became the honored capital and shrine of islam. from this time the career of mohammed was wholly changed. he was now an ambitious conqueror, and here as before, the question how far he may have sincerely interpreted his remarkable fortune as a call of god to subdue the idolatrous nations, must remain for the present unsettled. possibly further light may be thrown upon it as we proceed. let us consider some of the changes which appear in the development of this man's character. if we set out with that high ideal which would seem to be demanded as a characteristic of a great religious teacher, and certainly of one claiming to be a prophet of god, we ought to expect that his character would steadily improve in all purity, humanity, truthfulness, charity, and godlikeness. the test of character lies in its trend. if the founder of a religion has not grown nobler and better under the operation of his own system, that fact is the strongest possible condemnation of the system. a good man generally feels that he can afford to be magnanimous and pitiful in proportion to his victories and his success. but mohammed became relentless as his power increased. he had at first endeavored to win the arabian jews to his standard. he had adopted their prophets and much of the old testament teachings; he had insisted upon the virtual identity of the two religions. but having failed in his overtures, and meanwhile having gained superior power, he waged against them the most savage persecution. on one occasion he ordered the massacre of a surrendered garrison of six hundred jewish soldiers. at another time he put to the most inhuman torture a leader who had opposed his cause; in repeated instances he instigated the crime of assassination.[ ] in early life he had been engaged in a peaceful caravan trade, and all his influence had been cast in favor of universal security as against the predatory habits of the heathen arabs; but on coming to power he himself resorted to robbery to enrich his exchequer. sales mentions twenty-seven of these predatory expeditions against caravans, in which mohammed was personally present.[ ] the biographers of his early life represent him as a man of a natural kindness of disposition, and a sensitive temperament almost bordering on timidity. though not particularly genial, he was fond of children, and had at first, as his recorded utterances show, frequent impulses of pity and magnanimity. but he became hardened as success crowned his career. the temperateness which characterized his early pleadings and remonstrances with those who differed from him, gave place to bitter anathemas; and there was rooted in his personal character that relentless bigotry which has been the key-note of the most intolerant system known upon the earth. a still more marked change occurred in the increasing sensuality of mohammed. such lenient apologists as e. bosworth smith and canon taylor have applied their most skilful upholstery to the defects of his scandalous morals. mr. smith has even undertaken to palliate his appropriation of another man's wife, and the blasphemy of his pretended revelation in which he made god justify his passion.[ ] these authors base their chief apologies upon comparisons between mohammed and the worse depravity of the heathen arabs, or they balance accounts with some of his acknowledged virtues. but the case baffles all such advocacy. the real question is, what was the _drift_ of the prophet's character? what was the influence of his professed principles on his own life? it cannot be denied that his moral trend was downward. if we credit the traditions of his own followers, he had lived a virtuous life as the husband of one wife,[ ] and that for many years. but after the death of kadijah he entered upon a career of polygamy in violation of his own law. he had fixed the limit for all moslems at four lawful wives; and in spite of the arguments of r. bosworth smith, we must regard it as a most damning after-thought that made the first and only exception to accommodate his own weakness. by that act he placed himself beyond the help of all sophistry, and took his true place in the sober judgment of mankind. and by a law which is as unerring as the law of gravitation, he became more and more sensual as age advanced. at the time of his death he was the husband of eleven wives. we are not favored with a list of his concubines:[ ] we only know that his system placed no limit upon the number.[ ] now, if a prophet claiming direct inspiration could break his own inspired laws for his personal accommodation; if, when found guilty of adultery, he could compel his friend and follower to divorce his wife that he might take her; if upon each violation of purity and decency he did not shrink from the blasphemy of claiming a special revelation which made god the abettor of his vices, and even represented him as reproving and threatening his wives for their just complaints--if all this does not stamp a man as a reckless impostor, what further turpitude is required? at the same time it is evident that constant discrimination is demanded in judging of the character of mohammed. it is not necessary to assume that he was wholly depraved at first, or to deny that for a time he was the good husband that he is represented to have been, or that he was a sincere and enthusiastic reformer, or even that he may have interpreted some of his _early_ hallucinations as mysterious messages from heaven. at various times in his life he doubtless displayed noble sentiments and performed generous acts. but when we find him dictating divine communications with deliberate purpose for the most villainous objects, when we find the messages of gabriel timed and graded to suit the exigencies of his growing ambition, or the demands of his worst passions, we are forced to a preponderating condemnation. the mohammed of the later years is a remorseless tyrant when occasion requires, and at all times the slave of unbridled lust. refined and cultivated mohammedan ladies--i speak from testimony that is very direct--do not hesitate to condemn the degrading morals of their prophet, and to contrast him with the spotless purity of jesus; "but then," they add, "god used him for a great purpose, and gave him the most exalted honor among men." alas! it is the old argument so often employed in many lands. success, great intellect, grand achievements gild all moral deformity, and win the connivance of dazzled minds. in this case, however, it is not a hero or a statesman, but an alleged prophet of god, that is on trial. it is a question difficult to decide, how far mohammed made mohammedanism, and how far the system moulded him. the action of cause and effect was mutual, and under this interaction both the character and the system were slow growths. the koran was composed in detached fragments suited to different stages of development, different degrees and kinds of success, different demands of personal impulse or changes of conduct. the suras, without any claim to logical connection, were written down by an amanuensis on bits of parchment, or pieces of wood or leather, and even on the shoulder-bones of sheep. and they were each the expression of mohammed's particular mood at the time, and each entered in some degree into his character from that time forth. the man and the book grew together, the system, through all its history, fairly represents the example of the man and the teaching of the book. let us next consider the historic character and influence of the system of islam. in forming just conclusions as to the real influence of mohammedanism, a judicial fairness is necessary. in the first place, we must guard against the hasty and sweeping judgments which are too often indulged in by zealous christians; and on the other hand, we must certainly challenge the exaggerated statements of enthusiastic apologists. it is erroneous to assert that islam has never encouraged education, that it has invariably been adverse to all progress, that it knows nothing but the koran, or that omar, in ordering the destruction of the alexandrian library, is the only historical exponent of the system. such statements are full of partial truths, but they are also mingled with patent errors. the arab races in their original home were naturally inclined to the encouragement of letters, particularly of poetry, and mohammed himself, though he had never been taught even to read, much less to write, took special pains to encourage learning. "teach your children poetry," he said; "it opens the mind, lends grace to wisdom, and makes the heroic virtues hereditary."[ ] according to sprenger, he gave liberty to every prisoner who taught twelve boys of mecca to write. the abbasside princes of a later day offered most generous prizes for superior excellence in poetry, and bagdad, damascus, alexandria, bassora, and samarcand were noted for their universities.[ ] cordova and seville were able to lend their light to the infant university of oxford. the fine arts of sculpture and painting were condemned by the early caliphs, doubtless on account of the idolatrous tendencies which they were supposed to foster; but medicine, philosophy, mathematics, chemistry, and astronomy were especially developed, and that at a time when the nations of europe were mostly in darkness.[ ] yet it cannot be denied that on the whole the influence of islam has been hostile to learning and to civilization.[ ] the world will never forget that by the burning of the great library of alexandria the rich legacy which the old world had bequeathed to the new was destroyed. by its occupation of egypt and constantinople, and thus cutting off the most important channels of communication, the mohammedan power became largely responsible for the long eclipse of europe during the middle ages. moreover, when zealous advocates of the system contrast the barbarism of richard coeur de lion with the culture and humanity of saladin, they seem to forget that the race of richard had but just emerged from the savagery of the northmen, while saladin and his race had not only inherited the high moral culture of judaism and christianity, but had virtually monopolized it. it was chiefly by the wars of the crusaders that western europe became acquainted with the civilization of the orient. instead of ignoring the advantages which the east had over the west at that period, it would be more just to inquire what comparative improvements of their respective opportunities have been made by western christianity and eastern mohammedanism since that time. it would be an interesting task, for example, to start with the period of saladin and coeur de lion, and impartially trace on the one hand the influence of christianity as it moulded the savage conquerors of the roman empire, and from such rude materials built up the great christian nations of the nineteenth century; and on the other hand, follow the banner of the crescent through all the lands where it has borne sway: persia, arabia, northern india, egypt, the barbary states, east africa, and the soudan, and then draw an unbiased conclusion as to which system, as a system, has done more to spread general enlightenment, foster the sentiments of kindness and philanthropy, promote human liberty, advance civilization, increase and elevate populations, promote the purity and happiness of the family and the home, and raise the standards of ethics and true religion among mankind.[ ] one of the brilliant dynasties of mohammedan history was that of the moors of spain. we can never cease to admire their encouragement of arts and their beautiful architecture, but is it quite certain that all this was a direct fruit of islam? the suggestion that it may have been partly due to contact with the gothic elements which the moors vanquished, finds support in the fact that nothing of the kind appeared on the opposite coast of africa. and while the mohammedan empire in india has left the most exquisite architectural structures in the world, it is well known that they were the work of european architects. but in considering the influence which islam has exerted on the whole, lack of time compels me to limit our survey to africa, except as other lands may be referred to incidentally.[ ] that the first african conquests, extending from egypt to morocco, were simple warlike invasions in which the sword was the only instrument of propagandism, no one will deny. but it is contended that in later centuries a great work has been accomplished in western soudan, and is still being accomplished, by missionary effort and the general advance of a wholesome civilization. any fair estimate of mohammedan influence must take account of the elements which it found in northern africa at the time of its conquests. the states which border on the mediterranean had once been powerful and comparatively enlightened. they had been populous and prosperous. the phoenician colony in carthage had grown to be no mean rival of rome's military power. egypt had been a great centre of learning, not only in the most ancient times, but especially after the building of alexandria. more western lands, like numidia and mauritania, had been peopled by noble races. after the introduction of christianity, alexandria became the bright focus into which the religions and philosophies of the world poured their concentrated light. some of the greatest of the christian fathers, like augustine, tertullian, and cyprian, were africans. the foundations of latin christianity were laid by these men. the bishopric of hippo was a model for all time in deep and intelligent devotion. the grace and strength, the sublime and all-conquering faith of monica, and others like her, furnished a pattern for all christian womanhood and motherhood. i do not forget that before the time of the mohammedan invasion the vandals had done their work of devastation, or that the african church had been woefully weakened and rent by wild heresies and schisms, or that the defection of the monophysite or coptic church of egypt was one of the influences which facilitated the mohammedan success. but making due allowance for all this, vandalism and schism could not have destroyed so soon the ancient civilization or sapped the strength of the north african races. the process which has permanently reduced so many once populous cities and villages to deserts, and left large portions of the barbary states with only the moldering ruins of their former greatness, has been a gradual one. for centuries after the arab conquest those states were virtually shut off from communication with europe, and for at least three centuries more, say from down to the generation which immediately preceded our own, they were known chiefly by the piracies which they carried on against the commerce of all maritime nations. even the government of the united states was compelled to pay a million of dollars for the ransom of captured american seamen, and it paid it not to private corsairs, but to the mohammedan governments by which those piracies were subsidized, as a means of supplying the public exchequer. these large amounts were recovered only when our navy, in co-operation with that of england, extirpated the riff piracies by bombarding the moslem ports. the vaunted civilizations of the north african states would have been supported by wholesale marauding to this day, had not their piratical fleets been thus summarily swept from the seas by other powers. if egypt has shown a higher degree of advancement it has been due to her peculiar geographical position, to the inexhaustible fertility of the delta, and, most of all, to the infusion of foreign life and energy into the management of her affairs. ambitious adventurers, like the albanian mehamet ali, have risen to power and have made egypt what she is, or rather what she was before the more recent intervention of the european powers. even canon taylor admits that for centuries it has been necessary to import more vigorous foreign blood for the administration of egyptian affairs.[ ] it will be admitted that mohammedan conquests have been made in mediæval times, and down to our own age, in central africa, and that along the southern borders of sahara a cordon of more or less prosperous states has been established; also, that the civilization of those states contrasts favorably with the savagery of the cannibal tribes with which they have come in contact. probably the best--that is to say, the least objectionable--exemplifications of islam now to be found in the world are seen in some of the older states of western soudan. the mandingo of the central uplands furnished a better material than the "unspeakable turk," and it would not be quite fair to ascribe all his present virtues to the moslem rule. but _how_ have these conquests in central africa been made? the contention of the apologists for islam is that recently, at least, and probably more or less in the past, a quiet missionary work has greatly extended monotheism, temperance, education, and general comfort, and that it has done more than all other influences for the permanent extinction of the slave trade! dr. e.w. blyden, in answer to the charge that mohammedan arabs are now, and long have been, chiefly responsible for the horrors of that trade, and that even when americans bought slaves for their plantations, moslem raiders in the interior instigated the tribal quarrels which supplied the markets on the coast, contends that the moslem conquests do most effectually destroy the trade, since tribes which have become moslem can no longer be enslaved by moslems.[ ] it is a curious argument, especially as it seems to ignore the fact that at the present time both the supply and the demand depend on mohammedan influence. as to the means by which the soudanese states are now extending their power we may content ourselves with a mere reference to the operations of the late "el mahdi" in the east and the notorious samadu in the west. their methods may be accepted as illustrations of a kind of tactics which have been employed for ages. the career of el mahdi is already well known. samadu was originally a prisoner, captured while yet a boy in one of the tribal wars near the headwaters of the niger. partly by intrigue and partly by the aid of his religious fanaticism he at length became sufficiently powerful to enslave his master. soon afterward he proclaimed his divine mission, and declared a _jehad_ or holy war against all infidels. thousands flocked to his banner, influenced largely by the hope of booty; and ere long, to quote the language of a lay correspondent of the london _standard_, written in sierra leone september , , "he became the scourge of all the peaceable states on the right bank of the upper niger." since he has attempted to dispute the territorial claims of the french on the upper, and of the english on the lower niger, though without success. but he has seemed to avenge his disappointment the more terribly on the native tribes. the letter published in the _standard_ gives an account of an official commission sent by the governor of sierra leone to the headquarters of samadu in , and in describing the track of this western mahdi in his approaches to the french territories it says: "the messengers report that every town and village through which they passed was in ruins, and that the road, from the borders of sulimania to herimakono, was lined with human skeletons, the remains of unfortunates who had been slain by samadu's fanatical soldiery, or had perished from starvation through the devastation of the surrounding country. some of these poor wretches, to judge from the horrible contortions of the skeletons, had been attacked by vultures and beasts of prey while yet alive, and when too near their lingering death to have sufficient strength to beat them off. around the ruined towns were hundreds of doubled-up skeletons, the remains of prisoners who, bound hand and foot, had been forced upon their knees, and their heads struck off. keba, the heroic bambara king, is still resisting bravely, but he has only one stronghold (siaso) left, and the end cannot now be far off." samadu's career in this direction having been arrested, he next turned his attention toward the tribes under english protection on the southeast, "where, unfortunately, there was no power to take up the cause of humanity and arrest his progress. before long he entirely overran and subjected kouranko, limbah, sulimania, kono, and kissi. the most horrible atrocities were committed; peaceable agriculturists were slaughted in thousands, and their women and children carried off into slavery. falaba, the celebrated capital of sulimania, and the great emporium for trade between sierra leone and the niger, was captured and destroyed; and all the inhabitants of that district, whom every traveller, from winwood reade down to dr. blyden, has mentioned with praise for their industry and docility, have been exterminated or carried off. sulimania, which was the garden of west africa, has now become a howling wilderness." and the writer adds: "the people of the states to the south of futa djallon are pagans, and samadu makes their religion a pretext for his outrages. he is desirous, he says, of converting them to the 'true faith,' and his modes of persuasion are murder and slavery. what could be more horrible than the story just brought down by the messengers who were with major festing? miles of road strewn with human bones; blackened ruins where were peaceful hamlets; desolation and emptiness where were smiling plantations. what has become of the tens of thousands of peaceful agriculturists, their wives and their innocent children? gone; converted, after samadu's manner, to the 'true faith.' and thus the conversion of west africa to islamism goes merrily on, while _dilettante_ scholars at home complacently discuss the question as to whether that faith or christianity is the more suitable for the negro; and the british people, dead to their generous instincts of old, make no demand that such deeds of cruelty and horror shall be arrested with a strong hand."[ ] similar accounts of the african _propagandism_ of islam might be given in the very words of numerous travellers and explorers, but one or two witnesses only shall be summoned to speak of the mohammedan dominion and civilization in east africa. professor drummond, in giving his impressions of zanzibar, says: "oriental in its appearance, mohammedan in its religion, arabian in its morals, a cesspool of wickedness, it is a fit capital to the dark continent." and it is the great emporium--not an obscure settlement, but the consummate flower of east african civilization and boasting in the late sultan bargash, an unusually enlightened moslem ruler. of the interior and the ivory-slave trade pursued under the auspices of arab dominion the same author says: "arab encampments for carrying on a wholesale trade in this terrible commodity are now established all over the heart of africa. they are usually connected with wealthy arab traders at zanzibar and other places on the coast, and communication is kept up by caravans, which pass at long intervals from one to the other. being always large and well-supplied with the material of war, these caravans have at their mercy the feeble and divided native tribes through which they pass, and their trail across the continent is darkened with every aggravation of tyranny and crime. they come upon the scene suddenly; they stay only long enough to secure their end, and disappear only to return when a new crop has arisen which is worth the reaping. sometimes these arab traders will actually settle for a year or two in the heart of some quiet community in the remote interior. they pretend perfect friendship; they molest no one; they barter honestly. they plant the seeds of their favorite vegetables and fruits--the arab always carries seeds with him--as if they meant to stay forever. meantime they buy ivory, tusk after tusk, until great piles of it are buried beneath their huts, and all their barter goods are gone. then one day suddenly the inevitable quarrel is picked. and then follows a wholesale massacre. enough only are spared from the slaughter to carry the ivory to the coast; the grass huts of the village are set on fire; the arabs strike camp; and the slave march, worse than death, begins. the last act in the drama, the slave march, is the aspect of slavery which in the past has chiefly aroused the passions and the sympathy of the outside world, but the greater evil is the demoralization and disintegration of communities by which it is necessarily preceded. it is essential to the traffic that the region drained by the slaver should be kept in perpetual political ferment; that, in order to prevent combination, chief should be pitted against chief, and that the moment any tribe threatens to assume a dominating strength it should either be broken up by the instigation of rebellion among its dependencies or made a tool of at their expense. the inter-relation of tribes is so intricate that it is impossible to exaggerate the effect of disturbing the equilibrium at even a single centre. but, like a river, a slave caravan has to be fed by innumerable tributaries all along its course, at first in order to gather a sufficient volume of human bodies for the start, and afterward to replace the frightful loss by desertion, disablement, and death." next to livingstone, whose last pathetic appeal to the civilized world to "heal the open sore of africa" stands engraved in marble in westminster abbey, no better witness can be summoned in regard to the slave trade and the influence of islam generally in eastern and central africa than henry m. stanley. from the time when he encountered the mohammedan propagandists at the court of uganda he has seen how intimately and vitally the faith and the traffic are everywhere united. i give but a single passage from his "congo free state," page . "we discovered that this horde of banditti--for in reality and without disguise they were nothing else--was under the leadership of several chiefs, but principally under karema and kibunga. they had started sixteen months previously from wane-kirundu, about thirty miles below vinya njara. for eleven months the band had been raiding successfully between the congo and the lubiranzi, on the left bank. they had then undertaken to perform the same cruel work between the biyerré and wane-kirundu. on looking at my map i find that such a territory within the area described would cover superficially , square geographical miles on the left bank, and , miles on the right, all of which in statute mileage would be equal to , square miles, just , square miles greater than the island of ireland, inhabited by about , , people. "the band when it set out from kirundu numbered fighting men, armed with flint-locks, double-barrelled percussion guns, and a few breech-loaders; their followers, or domestic slaves and women, doubled this force.... within the enclosure was a series of low sheds extending many lines deep from the immediate edge of the clay bank inland, yards; in length the camp was about yards. at the landing-place below were long canoes, varying in carrying capacity. each might convey from to people.... the first general impressions are that the camp is much too densely peopled for comfort. there are rows upon rows of dark nakedness, relieved here and there by the white dresses of the captors. there are lines or groups of naked forms--upright, standing, or moving about listlessly; naked bodies are stretched under the sheds in all positions; naked legs innumerable are seen in the perspective of prostrate sleepers; there are countless naked children--many mere infants--forms of boyhood and girlhood, and occasionally a drove of absolutely naked old women bending under a basket of fuel, or cassava tubers, or bananas, who are driven through the moving groups by two or three musketeers. on paying more attention to details, i observe that mostly all are fettered; youths with iron rings around their necks, through which a chain, like one of our boat anchor-chains, is rove, securing the captives by twenties. the children over ten are secured by these copper rings, each ringed leg brought together by the central ring." by a careful examination of statistics mr. stanley estimates that counting the men killed in the raids and those who perish on the march or are slain because supposed to be worthless, every , slaves actually sold cost over , lives. but there are arabs and arabs we are told. the slave-dealers of east africa and the barbarous chieftains who push their bloody conquests in western soudan are bad enough, it is admitted, but they are "exceptions." yet we insist that they illustrate the very spirit of mohammed himself, who authorized the taking of prisoners of war as slaves. their plea is that they save the souls of those they capture; many of these traders are mollahs--pharisees of the pharisees. canon taylor, dr. blyden, and others have given us glowing accounts of "arab missionaries going about without purse or scrip, and disseminating their religion by quietly teaching the koran;" but the venerable bishop crowther, who has spent his whole life in that part of africa where these conquests are supposed to be made, declares that the real vocation of the quiet apostles of the koran is that of fetish peddlers.[ ] if it be objected that this is the biased testimony of a christian missionary, it may be backed by the explorer lander, who, in speaking of this same class of men, says: "these mollahs procure an easy subsistence by making fetishes or writing charms on bits of wood which are washed off carefully into a basin of water, and drank with avidity by the credulous multitude." and he adds: "those who profess the mohammedan faith among the negroes are as ignorant and superstitious as their idolatrous brethren; nor does it appear that their having adopted a new creed has either improved their manners or bettered their condition in life." dr. schweinfurth also describes the mohammedan missionaries whom he found at khartoum as "polluted with every abominable vice which the imagination of man can conceive of." in answer to various statements which had been published in regard to the rapid missionary progress made by mohammedans in west central africa, bishop crowther wrote a letter to the church missionary society at the beginning of , giving the results of his own prolonged observation. he describes the methods used as: . war upon the heathen tribes. "if the chief of a heathen tribe accepts the koran his people are at once counted as converts and he is received into favor, and is thus prepared to become an instrument in conquering other tribes. but on the refusal to accept the koran war is declared, the destruction of their country is the consequence, and horrible bloodshed. the aged, male and female, are massacred, while the salable are led away as slaves. one half of the slaves are reserved by the chief, the other half is divided among the soldiers to encourage them to future raids." . another cause of large increase is polygamy. "for although but four lawful wives are allowed, there is unlimited license for concubinage." . the sale of charms is so conducted as to prove not only a means of profit but a shrewd propaganda. "when childless women are furnished with these, they are pledged, if successful, to dedicate their children to islam." and bishop crowther verifies the statement made by others in reference to east africa, that the priests "besides being charm-makers are traders both in general articles and more largely in slaves."[ ] we have only time to consider one question more, viz., what is the character of islam as we find it to-day, and what are its prospects of development? it is a characteristic of our age that no religion stands wholly alone and uninfluenced by others. it is especially true that the systems of the east are all deeply affected by the higher ethics and purer religious conceptions borrowed from christianity. thus many mohammedans of our day, and especially those living in close contact with our christian civilization, are rising to higher conceptions of god and of religious truth than have been entertained by moslems hitherto. canon taylor, in a little volume entitled "leaves from an egyptian note-book," has drawn a picture of islam which omar and othman would hardly have recognized. in the first place it should be remembered that, as he confesses, his reputation as a defender of mohammed and his system had gone before him to cairo, and that he was understood to be a seeker after facts favorable to his known views. this opened the hearts of friendly pashas and served to bring out all the praises that they could bestow upon their own faith. it appears accordingly that he was assured by them that polygamy is widely discarded and condemned by prominent moslems in such cities as cairo and alexandria, that many leading men are highly intelligent and widely read, that they profess belief in most of the doctrines held by the christian church, that they receive the inspired testimony of the old and new testaments--except in so far as they have been corrupted by christian manipulation. this exception, however, includes all that is at variance with the koran. they advocate temperance and condemn the slave trade. they encourage the general promotion of education, and what seems to the credulous canon most remarkable of all is that they express deep regret that christians do not feel the same charity and fellowship toward moslems that they feel toward christians! now, making all due abatement for the _couleur de rose_ which these easy-going and politic pashas may have employed with their english champion, it is undoubtedly true that a class of mohammedans are found in the great cosmopolitan cities of the levant who have come to recognize the spirit of the age in which they live. many of them have been educated in europe; they speak several languages; they read the current literature; they are ashamed of the old fanatical mohammedanism. though they cherish a partisan interest in the recognized religion of their country, their faith is really eclectic; it comes not from old mecca, but is in part a product of the awakened thought of the nineteenth century. but canon taylor's great fallacy lies in trying to persuade himself and an intelligent christian public that this is islam. he wearies himself in his attempts to square the modern cairo with the old, and to trace the modern gentlemanly pasha, whose faith at least sits lightly upon his soul, as a legitimate descendant of the fanatical and licentious prophet of arabia. when he strives to convince the world that because these courteous pashas feel kindly enough toward the canon of york and others like him, therefore islam is and always has been a charitable and highly tolerant system, he simply stultifies the whole testimony of history. he tells us that his egyptian friends complain that "whereas they regard us as brother-believers and accept our scriptures, they are nevertheless denounced as infidels. and they ask why should an eternal coldness reign in our hearts." probably they are not acquainted with samadu of western soudan and his methods of propagandism. they have forgotten the career of el mahdi; they are not familiar with the terrible oppression of the jews in morocco--with which even that in russia cannot compare; they have not read the dark accounts of the extortion practised by the wahábees of arabia, even upon moslems of another sect on their pilgrimages to mecca,[ ] nor do they seem to know that syrian converts from islam are now hiding in egypt from the bloodthirsty moslems of beyrut. finally, he forgets that the very "children are taught formulas of prayer in which they may compendiously curse jews and christians and all unbelievers."[ ] a more plausible case is made out by canon taylor, dr. blyden, and others on the question of temperance. it is true that moslems, as a rule, are not hard drinkers. men and races of men have their besetting sins. drinking was not the special vice of the arabs. their country was too arid; but they had another vice of which mohammed was the chief exemplar. canon taylor is doubtless correct also in the statement that the english protectorate in egypt has greatly increased the degree of intemperance, and that in this respect the presence of european races generally has been a curse. certainly too much cannot be said in condemnation of the wholesale liquor trade carried on in africa by unscrupulous subjects of christian nations. but it should be remembered that the whiskey of cairo and of the west coast does not represent christianity any more than the greek assassin or the italian pickpocket in cairo represents islam. christian philanthropists in europe and america are seeking to suppress the evil. if christian missionaries in west africa were selling rum as moslem mollahs are buying and selling slaves in uganda, if the bible authorized the system as the koran encourages slavery and concubinage, as means of propagandism, a parallel might be presented; but the very reverse is true. as a rule nomadic races are not as greatly inclined to the use of ardent spirits as are the descendants of the ancient tribes of northern europe. the difference is due to climate, temperament, heredity, and the amount of supply. the koran discourages intemperance and so does the bible; both are disregarded when the means of gratification are abundant. the moguls of india were sots almost as a rule. wealthy persian moslems are the chief purchasers of the native wines. lander, schweinfurth, and even mungo parke all speak of communities in central africa as wholly given to intemperance.[ ] egyptians even, according to canon taylor, find the abundant supplies afforded by europeans too tempting for the restraints of the koran. one of the most significant indications that the sober judgment of all enlightened men favors the immense superiority of the christian faith over all ethnic systems is the fact that even those zealous apologists who have most plausibly defended the non-christian religions have subsequently evinced some misgivings and have even become advocates of the superior light of christianity. sir edwin arnold, seeing how seriously some ill-grounded christian people had interpreted "the light of asia," has since made amends by writing "the light of the world." and e. bosworth smith, on reading the extravagant glorification given to islam by canon isaac taylor, whom he accuses of plagiarism and absurd exaggeration, has come to the stand as a witness against his extreme views. without acknowledging any important modification of his own former views he has greatly changed the place of emphasis. he has not only recorded his condemnation of canon taylor's extravagance but he has made a strong appeal for the transcendent superiority of the christian faith as that alone which must finally regenerate africa and the world. he has called public attention to the following pointed criticism of canon taylor's plea for islam, made by a gentleman long resident in algeria, and he has given it his own endorsement: "canon isaac taylor," says the writer, "has constructed at the expense of christianity a rose-colored picture of islam, by a process of comparison in which christianity is arraigned for failures in practice, of which christendom is deeply and penitently conscious, no account being taken of christian precept; while islam is judged by its better precepts only, no account being taken of the frightful shortcomings in mohammedan practice, even from the standard of the koran."[ ] no indictment ever carried its proofs more conspicuously on its face than this. e. bosworth smith's subsequent tribute to the relative superiority of the christian faith was given in an address before the fellows of zion's college, february , . i give his closing comparison entire; also his eloquent appeal for christian missions in africa. "the resemblances between the two creeds are indeed many and striking, as i have implied throughout; but, if i may, once more, quote a few words which i have used elsewhere in dealing with this question, the contrasts are even more striking than the resemblances. the religion of christ contains whole fields of morality and whole realms of thought which are all but outside the religion of mohammed. it opens humility, purity of heart, forgiveness of injuries, sacrifice of self, to man's moral nature; it gives scope for toleration, development, boundless progress to his mind; its motive power is stronger even as a friend is better than a king, and love higher than obedience. its realized ideals in the various paths of human greatness have been more commanding, more many-sided, more holy, as averroes is below newton, harun below alfred, and ali below st. paul. finally, the ideal life of all is far more elevating, far more majestic, far more inspiring, even as the life of the founder of mohammedanism is below the life of the founder of christianity. "if, then, we believe christianity to be truer and purer in itself than islam, and than any other religion, we must needs wish others to be partakers of it; and the effort to propagate it is thrice blessed--it blesses him that offers, no less than him who accepts it; nay, it often blesses him who accepts it not. the last words of a dying friend are apt to linger in the chambers of the heart till the heart itself has ceased to beat; and the last recorded words of the founder of christianity are not likely to pass from the memory of his church till that church has done its work. they are the marching orders of the christian army; the consolation for every past and present failure; the earnest and the warrant, in some shape or other, of ultimate success. the value of a christian mission is not, therefore, to be measured by the number of its converts. the presence in a heathen or a muslim district of a single man who, filled with the missionary spirit, exhibits in his preaching and, so far as may be, in his life, the self-denying and the christian virtues, who is charged with sympathy for those among whom his lot is cast, who is patient of disappointment and of failure, and of the sneers of the ignorant or the irreligious, and who works steadily on with a single eye to the glory of god and the good of his fellow-men, is, of itself, an influence for good, and a centre from which it radiates, wholly independent of the number of converts he is able to enlist. there is a vast number of such men engaged in mission work all over the world, and our best indian statesmen, some of whom, for obvious reasons, have been hostile to direct proselytizing efforts, are unanimous as to the quantity and quality of the services they render. "nothing, therefore, can be more shallow, or more disingenuous, or more misleading, than to attempt to disparage christian missions by pitting the bare number of converts whom they claim against the number of converts claimed by islam. the numbers are, of course, enormously in favor of islam. but does conversion mean the same, or anything like the same, thing in each? is it _in pari materia_, and if not, is the comparison worth the paper on which it is written? the submission to the rite of circumcision and the repetition of a confession of faith, however noble and however elevating in its ultimate effect, do not necessitate, they do not even necessarily tend toward what a christian means by a change of heart. it is the characteristic of mohammedanism to deal with batches and with masses. it is the characteristic of christianity to speak straight to the individual conscience. "the conversion of a whole pagan community to islam need not imply more effort, more sincerity, or more vital change, than the conversion of a single individual to christianity. the christianity accepted wholesale by clovis and his fierce warriors, in the flush of victory, on the field of battle, or by the russian peasants, when they were driven by the cossack whips into the dnieper, and baptized there by force--these are truer parallels to the tribal conversions to mohammedanism in africa at the present day. and, whatever may have been their beneficial effects in the march of the centuries, they are not the christianity of christ, nor are they the methods or the objects at which a christian missionary of the present day would dream of aiming. "a christian missionary could not thus bring over a pagan or a muslim tribe to christianity, even if he would; he ought not to try thus to bring them over, even if he could. 'missionary work,' as remarked by an able writer in the _spectator_ the other day, 'is sowing, not reaping, and the sowing of a plant which is slow to bear.' at times, the difficulties and discouragements may daunt the stoutest heart and the most living faith. but god is greater than our hearts and wider than our thoughts, and, if we are able to believe in him at all, we must also believe that the ultimate triumph of christianity--and by christianity i mean not the comparatively narrow creed of this or that particular church, but the divine spirit of its founder, that spirit which, exactly in proportion as they are true to their name, informs, and animates, and underlies, and overlies them all--is not problematical, but certain, and in his good time, across the lapse of ages, will prove to be, not local but universal, not partial but complete, not evanescent but eternal."[ ] footnotes: [footnote : sprenger's _life of mohammed_, pp. , .] [footnote : it is a suspicious fact that the first chapter of the _koran_ begins with protestations that it is a true revelation, and with most terrible anathemas against all who doubt it. this seems significant, and contrasts strongly with the conscious truthfulness and simplicity of the gospel narrators.] [footnote : nor have later defenders of the system failed to derive alleged proofs of their system from biblical sources. mohammedan controversialists have urged some very specious and plausible arguments; for example, deut. xviii. - , promises that the lord shall raise up unto israel a prophet from _among their brethren_. but israel had no brethren but the sons of ishmael. there was also promised a prophet like unto moses; but deut. xxxiv. declares that "_there arose no prophet in israel like unto moses_." when john the baptist was asked whether he were the christ, or elijah, or "_that prophet_," no other than mohammed could have been meant by "_that prophet_."] [footnote : rev. mr. bruce, missionary in persia, states that pictures of the father, the son, and mary are still seen in eastern churches.--_church missionary intelligencer_, january, .] [footnote : sales, in his _preliminary discourse_, section st, enumerates the great nations which have vainly attempted the conquest of arabia, from the assyrians down to the romans, and he asserts that even the turks have held only a nominal sway.] [footnote : china owes her present dynasty to the fact that the hardy manchus were called in as mercenaries or as allies.] [footnote : dr. koelle: quoted in _church missionary intelligencer_.] [footnote : sales: _koran and preliminary discourse_, wherry's edition, p. . one of the chief religious duties under the _koran_ was the giving of alms (zakat), and under this euphonious name was included the tax by which mohammed maintained the force that enabled him to keep up his predatory raids on the caravans of his enemies.] [footnote : _mohammed and mohammedanism_, p. .] [footnote : dr. koelle gravely questions this.] [footnote : one of the most wicked and disastrous of all mohammed's laws was that which allowed the free practice of capturing women and girls in war, and retaining them as lawful chattels in the capacity of concubines. it has been in all ages a base stimulus to the raids of the slave-hunter. sir william muir has justly said, that so long as a free sanction to this great evil stands recorded on the pages of the _koran_, mohammedans will never of their own accord cease to prosecute the slave-trade.] [footnote : according to dr. koelle, the number of women and children who fell to the prophet's share of captives at the time of his great slaughter of the surrendered jewish soldiers, was two hundred.] [footnote : _mohammed, buddha, and christ_, p. .] [footnote : _mohammed, buddha, and christ_.] [footnote : ibid, p. .] [footnote : says sir william muir: "three radical evils flow from the faith, in all ages and in every country, and must continue to flow _so long as the koran is the standard of belief_. _first_, polygamy, divorce, and slavery are maintained and perpetuated, striking at the root of public morals, poisoning domestic life, and disorganizing society. _second_, freedom of thought and private judgment in religion is crushed and annihilated. the sword still is, and must remain, the inevitable penalty for the denial of islam. toleration is unknown. _third_, a barrier has been interposed against the reception of christianity. they labor under a miserable delusion who suppose that mohammedanism paves the way for a purer faith. no system could have been devised with more consummate skill for shutting out the nations over which it has sway from the light of truth. _idolatrous_ arabia (judging from the analogy of other nations) might have been aroused to spiritual life and to the adoption of the faith of jesus. _mohammedan_ arabia is to the human eye sealed against the benign influences of the gospel.... the sword of mohammed and the koran are the most stubborn enemies of civilization, liberty, and truth which the world has yet known."--_church missionary intelligencer_, november, .] [footnote : osborne, in his _islam under the arabs_, and marcus dodds, in _mohammed, buddha, and christ_, have emphasized the fact that islam, however favorably it might compare with the arabian heathenism which it overthrew, was wholly out of place in forcing its semi-barbarous cultus upon civilizations which were far above it. it might be an advance upon the rudeness and cruelty of the koreish, but the misfortune was that it stamped its stereotyped and unchanging principles and customs upon nations which were in advance of it even then, and which, but for its deadening influence, might have made far greater progress in the centuries which followed. its bigoted founder gave the _koran_ as the sufficient guide for all time. it arrested the world's progress as far as its power extended. very different was the spirit of judaism. "it distinctly disclaimed both finality and completeness. every part of the mosaic religion had a forward look, and was designed to leave the mind in an attitude of expectation." mohammedanism, in claiming to be the one religion for all men and all time, is convicted of absurdity and imposture by its failures; by the retrograde which marks its whole history in western asia. as a universal religion it has been tried and found wanting.] [footnote : it has been claimed that the spread of mohammedanism in india is far more rapid than that of christianity. if this were true in point of fact, it would be significant; for india under british rule furnishes a fair field for such a contest. but it so happens that there, where islam holds no sword of conquest, and no arbitrary power to compel the faith of men, its growth is very slow, it only keeps pace with the general increase of the population. it cannot compare with the advancement of christianity. i subjoin an extract from sir w. hunter's paper in the _nineteenth century_ for july, : "the official census, notwithstanding its obscurities of classification and the disturbing effects of the famine of , attests the rapid increase of the christian population. so far as these disturbing influences allow of an inference for all british india, the normal rate of increase among the general population was about per cent, from to , while the actual rate of the christian population was over per cent. but, taking the lieutenant-governorship of bengal as the greatest province outside the famine area of , and for whose population, amounting to one-third of the whole of british india, really comparable statistics exist, the census results are clear. the general population increased in the nine years preceding at the rate of . per cent., the mohammedans at the rate of . per cent., the hindus at some undetermined rate below . per cent., christians of all races at the rate of . per cent., and the native christians at the rate of . per cent."] [footnote : _leaves from an egyptian note-book._] [footnote : _christianity, islam, and the negro race_, p. .] [footnote : for the full text of the letter to the _standard_, see _church missionary intelligencer_, december, .] [footnote : _church missionary intelligencer_, , p. .] [footnote : see _church missionary intelligencer_, april, .] [footnote : over against canon taylor's glowing accounts of this broad and gentle charity we may place the testimony of palgrave in regard to the remorseless rapacity practised by the wahábees upon the shiyaées of persia while passing through their territory in their pilgrimages to a common shrine. he tells us that "forty gold tománs were fixed as the claim of the wahábee treasury on every persian pilgrim for his passage through r'ad, and forty more for a safe conduct through the rest of the empire--eighty in all.... "every local governor on the way would naturally enough take the hint, and strive not to let the 'enemies of god' (for this is the sole title given by wahábees to all except themselves) go by without spoiling them more or less.... "so that, all counted up, the legal and necessary dues levied on every persian shiyaée while traversing central arabia, and under wahábee guidance and protection, amounted, i found, to about one hundred and fifty gold tománs, equalling nearly sixty pounds sterling, english, no light expenditure for a persian, and no despicable gain to an arab."--palgrave's _central and eastern africa_, p. .] [footnote : dodds: _mohammed, buddha, and christ_, p. .] [footnote : _church missionary intelligencer_, november, .] [footnote : _church missionary intelligencer_, february, , p. .] [footnote : _church missionary intelligencer_, april, .] lecture vii. the traces of a primitive monotheism there are two conflicting theories now in vogue in regard to the origin of religion. the first is that of christian theists as taught in the old and new testament scriptures, viz., that the human race in its first ancestry, and again in the few survivors of the deluge, possessed the knowledge of the true god. it is not necessary to suppose that they had a full and mature conception of him, or that that conception excluded the idea of other gods. no one would maintain that adam or noah comprehended the nature of the infinite as it has been revealed in the history of god's dealings with men in later times. but from their simple worship of one god their descendants came gradually to worship various visible objects with which they associated their blessings--the sun as the source of warmth and vitality, the rain as imparting a quickening power to the earth, the spirits of ancestors to whom they looked with a special awe, and finally a great variety of created things instead of the invisible creator. the other theory is that man, as we now behold him, has been developed from lower forms of animal life, rising first to the state of a mere human animal, but gradually acquiring intellect, conscience, and finally a soul;--that ethics and religion have been developed from instinct by social contact, especially by ties of family and the tribal relation; that altruism which began with the instinctive care of parents for their offspring, rose to the higher domain of religion and began to recognize the claims of deity; that god, if there be a god, never revealed himself to man by any preternatural means, but that great souls, like moses, isaiah, and plato, by their higher and clearer insight, have gained loftier views of deity than others, and as prophets and teachers have made known their inspirations to their fellow-men. gradually they have formed rituals and elaborated philosophies, adding such supernatural elements as the ignorant fancy of the masses was supposed to demand. according to this theory, religions, like everything else, have grown up from simple germs: and it is only in the later stages of his development that man can be said to be a religious being. while an animal merely, and for a time even after he had attained to a rude and savage manhood, a life of selfish passion and marauding was justifiable, since only thus could the survival of the fittest be secured and the advancement of the race attained.[ ] it is fair to say that there are various shades of the theory here presented--some materialistic, some theistic, others having a qualified theism, and still others practically agnostic. some even who claim to be christians regard the various religions of men as so many stages in the divine education of the race--all being under the direct guidance of god, and all designed to lead ultimately to christianity which is the goal. that god has overruled all things, even the errors and wickedness of men, for some wise object will not be denied; that he has implanted in the human understanding many correct conceptions of ethical truth, so that noble principles are found in the teachings of all religious systems; that god is the author of all truth and all right impulses, even in heathen minds, is readily admitted. but that he has directly planned and chosen the non-christian religions on the principle that half-truths and perverted truths and the direct opposites of the truth, were best adapted to certain stages of development--in other words, that he has causatively led any nation into error and consequent destruction as a means of preparing for subsequent generations something higher and better, we cannot admit. the logic of such a conclusion would lead to a remorseless fatalism. everything would depend on the age and the environment in which one's lot were cast. we cannot believe that fetishism and idolatry have been god's kindergarten method of training the human race for the higher and more spiritual service of his kingdom. turning from the testimony of the scriptures on the one hand and the _à priori_ assumptions of evolution on the other, what is the witness of the actual history of religions? have they shown an upward or a downward development? do they appear to have risen from polytheism toward simpler and more spiritual forms, or have simple forms been ramified into polytheism?[ ] if we shall be able to establish clear evidence that monotheistic or even henotheistic types of faith existed among all, or nearly all, the races at the dawn of history, a very important point will have been gained. the late dr. henry b. smith, after a careful perusal of ebrard's elaborate presentation of the religions of the ancient and the modern world, and his clear proofs that they had at first been invariably monotheistic and had gradually lapsed into ramified forms of polytheism, says in his review of ebrard's work: "we do not know where to find a more weighty reply to the assumptions and theories of those writers who persist in claiming, according to the approved hypothesis of a merely naturalistic evolution, that the primitive state of mankind was the lowest and most debased form of polytheistic idolatry, and that the higher religions have been developed out of these base rudiments. dr. ebrard shows conclusively that the facts all lead to another conclusion, that gross idolatry is a degeneration of mankind from antecedent and purer forms of religious worship.... he first treats of the civilized nations of antiquity, the aryan and indian religions, the vedas, the indra period of brahmanism and buddhism; then of the religion of the iranians, the avesta of the parsees; next of the greeks and romans, the egyptians, the canaanites, and the heathen semitic forms of worship, including the phoenicians, assyrians, and babylonians. his second division is devoted to the half-civilized and savage races in the north and west of europe, in asia and polynesia (tartars, mongols, malays, and cushites); then the races of america, including a minute examination of the relations of the different races here to the mongols, japanese, and old chinese immigrations."[ ] ebrard himself, in summing up the results of these prolonged investigations, says: "we have nowhere been able to discover the least trace of any forward and upward movement from fetichism to polytheism, and from that again to a gradually advancing knowledge of the one god; but, on the contrary, we have found among all the peoples of the heathen world a most decided tendency to sink from an earlier and relatively purer knowledge of god toward something lower."[ ] if these conclusions, reached by ebrard and endorsed by the scholarly dr. henry b. smith, are correct, they are of great importance; they bring to the stand the witness of the false religions themselves upon an issue in which historic testimony as distinguished from mere theories is in special demand in our time. of similar import are the well-considered words of professor naville, in the first of his lectures on modern atheism.[ ] he says: "almost all pagans seem to have had a glimpse of the divine unity over the multiplicity of their idols, and of the rays of the divine holiness across the saturnalia of their olympi. it was a greek (cleanthus) who wrote these words: 'nothing is accomplished on the earth without thee, o god, save the deeds which the wicked perpetrate in their folly.' it was in a theatre at athens, that the chorus of a tragedy sang, more than two thousand years ago: 'may destiny aid me to preserve, unsullied, the purity of my words, and of all my actions, according to those sublime laws which, brought forth in the celestial heights, have the raven alone for their father, to which the race of mortals did not give birth and which oblivion shall never entomb. in them is a supreme god, and one who waxes not old.' it would be easy to multiply quotations of this order and to show, in the documents of grecian and roman civilization, numerous traces of the knowledge of the only and holy god." with much careful discrimination, dr. william a.p. martin, of the peking university, has said: "it is customary with a certain school to represent religion as altogether the fruit of an intellectual process. it had its birth, say they, in ignorance, is modified by every stage in the progress of knowledge, and expires when the light of philosophy reaches its noon-day. the fetish gives place to a personification of the powers of nature, and this poetic pantheon is, in time, superseded by the high idea of unity in nature expressed by monotheism. this theory has the merit of verisimilitude. it indicates what might be the process if man were left to make his own religion; but it has the misfortune to be at variance with facts. a wide survey of the history of civilized nations (and the history of others is beyond reach) shows that the actual process undergone by the human mind in its religious development is precisely opposite to that which this theory supposes; in a word, that man was not left to construct his own creed, but that his blundering logic has always been active in its attempts to corrupt and obscure a divine original. the connection subsisting between the religious systems of ancient and distant countries presents many a problem difficult of solution. indeed, their mythologies and religious rites are generally so distinct as to admit the hypothesis of an independent origin; but the simplicity of their earliest beliefs exhibits an unmistakable resemblance, suggestive of a common source. "china, india, egypt, and greece all agree in the monotheistic type of their early religion. the orphic hymns, long before the advent of the popular divinities, celebrated the pantheos, the universal god. the odes compiled by confucius testify to the early worship of shangte, the supreme euler. the vedas speak of 'one unknown true being, all-present, all-powerful; the creator, preserver, and destroyer of the universe.' and in egypt, as late as the time of plutarch, there were still vestiges of a monotheistic worship. 'the other egyptians,' he says, 'all made offerings at the tombs of the sacred beasts; but the inhabitants of the thebaïd stood alone in making no such offerings, not regarding as a god anything that can die, and acknowledging no god but one, whom they call kneph, who had no birth, and can have no death. abraham, in his wanderings, found the god of his fathers known and honored in salem, in gerar, and in memphis; while at a later day jethro, in midian, and balaam, in mesopotamia, were witnesses that the knowledge of jehovah was not yet extinct in those countries.'"[ ] professor max müller speaks in a similar strain of the lapse of mankind from earlier and simpler types of faith to low and manifold superstitions: "whenever we can trace back a religion to its first beginning," says the distinguished oxford professor, "we find it free from many of the blemishes that offend us in its later phases. the founders of the ancient religions of the world, as far as we can judge, were minds of a high stamp, full of noble aspirations, yearning for truth, devoted to the welfare of their neighbors, examples of purity and unselfishness. what they desired to found upon earth was but seldom realized, and their sayings, if preserved in their original form, offered often a strange contrast to the practice of those who profess to be their disciples. as soon as a religion is established, and more particularly when it has become the religion of a powerful state, the foreign and worldly elements encroach more and more on the original foundation, and human interests mar the simplicity and purity of the plan which the founder had conceived in his own heart and matured in his communings with his god."[ ] but in pursuing our subject we should clearly determine the real question before us. how much may we expect to prove from the early history of the non-christian systems? not certainly that all nations once received a knowledge of the old testament revelation, as some have claimed, nor that all races possessed at the beginning of their several historic periods one and the same monotheistic faith. we cannot prove from non-scriptural sources that their varying monotheistic conceptions sprang from a common belief. we cannot prove either the supernatural revelation which professor max müller emphatically rejects, nor the identity of the well-nigh universal henotheisms which he professes to believe. we cannot prove that the worship of one god as supreme did not coexist with a sort of worship of inferior deities or ministering spirits. almost as a rule, the worship of ancestors, or spirits, or rulers, or the powers of nature, or even totems and fetishes has been rendered as subordinate to the worship of the one supreme deity who created and upholds all things. even the monotheism of judaism and of christianity has been attended with the belief in angels and the worship of intercessory saints, to say nothing of the many superstitions which prevail among the more ignorant classes. we shall only attempt to show that monotheism, in the sense of worshipping _one god as supreme_, is found in nearly all the early teachings of the world. that these crude faiths are one in the origin is only presumable, if we leave the testimony of the bible out of the account. when on a summer afternoon we see great shafts of light arising and spreading fan-shaped from behind a cloud which lies along the western horizon, we have a strong presumption that they all spring from one great luminary toward which they converge, although that luminary is hidden from our view. so tracing the convergence of heathen faiths with respect to one original monotheism, back to the point where the prehistoric obscurity begins, we may on the same principle say that all the evidence in the case, and it is not small, points toward a common origin for the early religious conceptions of mankind. professor robert flint, in his scholarly article on theism in "the britannica," seems to discard the idea that the first religion of mankind was monotheism; but a careful study of his position will show that he has in view those conceptions of monotheism which are common to us, or, as he expresses it, "monotheism in the ordinary or proper sense of the term," "monotheism properly so called," "monotheism which excludes polytheism," etc. moreover, he maintains that we cannot, from historical sources, learn what conceptions men first had of god. even when speaking of the old testament record, he says: "these chapters (of genesis), although they plainly teach monotheism and represent the god whose words and acts are recorded in the bible as no mere national god, but the only true god, they do not teach what is alone in the question--that there was a primitive monotheism, a monotheism revealed and known from the beginning. they give no warrant to the common assumption that god revealed monotheism to adam, noah, and others before the flood, and that the traces of monotheistic beliefs and tendencies in heathendom are derivable from the tradition of this primitive and antediluvian monotheism. the one true god is represented as making himself known by particular words and in particular ways to adam, but is nowhere said to have taught him that he only was god." it is plain that professor flint is here dealing with a conception of monotheism which is exclusive of all other gods. and his view is undoubtedly correct, so far as adam was concerned. there was no more need of teaching him that his god was the only god, than that eve was the only woman. with noah the case is not so plain. he doubtless worshipped god amid the surroundings of polytheistic heathenism. enoch probably had a similar environment, and there is no good reason for supposing that their monotheism may not have been as exclusive as that of abraham. but with respect to the gentile nations, the dim traces of this monism or henotheism which professor flint seems to accord to adam and to noah, is all that we are contending for, and all that is necessary to the argument of this lecture. we may even admit that heathen deities may sometimes have been called by different names while the one source of power was intended. different names seem to have been employed to represent different manifestations of the one god of the old testament according to his varied relations toward his people. there are those who deny this polyonomy, as max müller has called it, and who maintain that the names in the earliest veda represented distinct deities; but, by similar reasoning, professor tiele and others insist that three different hebrew gods, according to their respective names, were worshipped in successive periods of the jewish history. it seems quite possible, therefore, that a too restrictive definition of monotheism may prove too much, by opening the way for a claim that even the jewish and christian faith, with its old testament names of god, its angels, its theophanies, and its fully developed trinity, is not strictly monotheistic. for our present purpose, traces of the worship of one supreme god--call it monotheism or henotheism--is all that is required. with these limitations and qualifications in view, let us turn to the history of some of the leading non-christian faiths. looking first to india, we find in the th hymn of the rig veda, a passage which not only presents the conception of one only supreme and self-existing being, but at the same time bears significant resemblance to our own account of the creation from chaos. it reads thus: "in the beginning there was neither naught nor aught, then there was neither atmosphere nor sky above, there was neither death nor immortality, there was neither day nor night, nor light, nor darkness, only the existent one breathed calmly self-contained. naught else but he was there, naught else above, beyond. then first came darkness hid in darkness, gloom in gloom; next all was water, chaos indiscrete, in which one lay void, shrouded in nothingness."[ ] in the st hymn of the same veda occurs a passage which seems to resemble the opening of the gospel of st. john. it reads thus, as translated by sir monier williams: "him let us praise, the golden child that was in the beginning, who was born the lord, who made the earth and formed the sky." "the one born lord" reminds us of the new testament expression, "the only begotten son." both were "in the beginning;" both were the creators of the world. while there is much that is mysterious in these references, the idea of oneness and supremacy is too plain to be mistaken. professor max müller has well expressed this fact when he said: "there is a monotheism which precedes polytheism in the veda; and even in the invocation of their (inferior) gods, the remembrance of _a_ god, one and infinite, breaks through the mist of an idolatrous phraseology like the blue sky that is hidden by passing clouds."[ ] these monotheistic conceptions appear to have been common to the aryans before their removal from their early home near the sources of the oxus, and we shall see further on that in one form or another they survived among all branches of the migrating race. the same distinguished scholar traces the early existence of monotheism in a series of brief and rapid references to nearly all the scattered aryans not only, but also to the turanians on the north and east, to the tungusic, mongolic, tartaric, and finnic tribes. "everywhere," he says, "we find a worship of nature, and the spirits of the departed, but behind it all there rises a belief in some higher power called by different names, who is maker and protector of the world, and who always resides in heaven."[ ] he also speaks of an ancient african faith which, together with its worship of reptiles and of ancestors, showed a vague hope of a future life, "and a not altogether faded reminiscence of a supreme god," which certainly implies a previous knowledge.[ ] the same prevalence of one supreme worship rising above all idolatry he traces among the various tribes of the pacific islands. his generalizations are only second to those of ebrard. although he rejects the theory of a supernatural revelation, yet stronger language could hardly be used than that which he employs in proof of a universal monotheistic faith.[ ] "nowhere," he says, "do we find stronger arguments against idolatry, nowhere has the unity of god been upheld more strenuously against the errors of polytheism, than by some of the ancient sages of india. even in the oldest of the sacred books, the rig veda, composed three or four thousand years ago, where we find hymns addressed to the different deities of the sky, the air, the earth, the rivers, the protest of the human heart against many gods breaks forth from time to time with no uncertain sound." professor müller's whole position is pretty clearly stated in his first lecture on "the science of religion," in which he protests against the idea that god once gave to man "a _preternatural_ revelation" concerning himself; and yet he gives in this same lecture this striking testimony to the doctrine of an early and prevailing monotheistic faith: "is it not something worth knowing," he says, "worth knowing even to us after the lapse of four or five thousand years, that before the separation of the aryan race, before the existence of sanskrit, greek, or latin, before the gods of the veda had been worshipped, and before there was a sanctuary of zeus among the sacred oaks of dodona, one supreme deity had been found, had been named, had been invoked by the ancestors of our race, and had been invoked by a name which has never been excelled by any other name?" and again, on the same subject, he says: "if a critical examination of the ancient language of the jews leads to no worse results than those which have followed from a careful interpretation of the petrified language of ancient india and greece, we need not fear; we shall be gainers, not losers. like an old precious medal, the ancient religion, after the rust of ages has been removed, will come out in all its purity and brightness; and the image which it discloses will be the image of the father, the father of all the nations upon earth; and the superscription, when we can read it again, will be, not only in judea, but in the languages of all the races of the world, the word of god, revealed where alone it can be revealed--revealed in the heart of man."[ ] the late professor banergea, of calcutta, in a publication entitled "the aryan witness," not only maintained the existence of monotheism in the early vedas, but with his rare knowledge of sanskrit and kindred tongues, he gathered from iranian as well as hindu sources many evidences of a monotheism common to all aryans. his conclusions derive special value from the fact that he was a high caste hindu, and was not only well versed in the sacred language, but was perfectly familiar with hindu traditions and modes of thought. he was as well qualified to judge of early hinduism as paul was of judaism, and for the same reason. and from his hindu standpoint, as a pharisee of the pharisees, though afterward a christian convert, he did not hesitate to declare his belief, not only that the early vedic faith was monotheistic, but that it contained traces of that true revelation, once made to men.[ ] in the same line we find the testimony of the various types of revived aryanism of our own times. the brahmo somaj, the arya somaj, and other similar organizations, are not only all monotheistic, but they declare that monotheism was the religion of the early vedas. and many other hindu reforms, some of them going as far back as the twelfth century, have been so many returns to monotheism. a recent arya catechism published by ganeshi, asserts in its first article that there is one only god, omnipotent, infinite, and eternal. it proceeds to show that the vedas present but one, and that when hymns were addressed to agni, vayu, indra, etc., it was only a use of different names for one and the same being.[ ] it represents god as having all the attributes of supreme deity. he created the world by his direct power and for the revelation of his glory to his creatures. man, according to the aryas, came not by evolution nor by any of the processes known to hindu philosophy, but by direct creation from existing atoms. in all this it is easy to see that much has been borrowed from the christian conception of god's character and attributes, but the value of this aryan testimony lies in the fact that it claims for the ancient vedas a clear and positive monotheism. if we consult the sacred books of china, we shall find there also many traces of an ancient faith which antedates both confucianism and taouism. the golden age of the past to which all chinese sages look with reverence, was the dynasty of yao and shun, which was eighteen centuries earlier than the period of confucius and laotze. the records of the shu-king which confucius compiled, and from which unfortunately his agnosticism excluded nearly all its original references to religion, nevertheless retain a full account of certain sacred rites performed by shun on his accession to the full imperial power. in those rites the worship of one god as supreme is distinctly set forth as a "customary service," thereby implying that it was already long established. separate mention is also made of offerings to inferior deities, as if these were honored at his own special instance. it is unquestionably true that in china, and indeed in all lands, there sprang up almost from the first a tendency to worship, or at least to fear, unseen spirits. this tendency has coexisted with all religions of the world--even with the old testament cult--even with christianity. to the excited imaginations of men, especially the ignorant classes, the world has always been a haunted world, and just in proportion as the light of true religion has become dim, countless hordes of ghosts and demons have appeared. when confucius arose this gross animism had almost monopolized the worship of his countrymen, and universal corruption bore sway. he was not an original thinker, but only a compiler of the ancient wisdom, and in his selections from the traditions of the ancients, he compiled those things only which served his great purpose of building up, from the relations of family and kindred, the complete pyramid of a well-ordered state in which the emperor should hold to his subjects the place of deity. if such honor to a mortal seemed extravagant, yet in his view a wise emperor was far worthier of reverence than the imaginary ghosts of the popular superstitions. yet, even confucius could not quite succeed in banishing the idea of divine help, nor could he destroy that higher and most venerable worship which has ever survived amid all the corruptions of polytheism. professor legge, of oxford, has claimed, from what he regards as valid linguistic proofs, that at a still earlier period than the dynasty of yao and shun there existed in china the worship of one god. he says: "five thousand years ago the chinese were monotheists--not henotheists, but monotheists"--though he adds that even then there was a constant struggle with nature-worship and divination.[ ] the same high authority cites a remarkable prayer of an emperor of the ming dynasty ( a.d.) to show that in spite of the agnosticism and reticence of confucius, shangte has been worshipped in the centuries which have followed his time. the prayer is very significant as showing how the one supreme god stands related to the subordinate gods which polytheism has introduced. the emperor was about to decree a slight change in the name of shangte to be used in the imperial worship. he first addressed the spirits of the hills, the rivers, and the seas, asking them to intercede for him with shangte. "we will trouble you," said he, "on our behalf to exert your spiritual power and to display your vigorous efficacy, communicating our poor desires to shangte, and praying him graciously to grant us his acceptance and regard, and to be pleased with the title which we shall reverently present." but very different was the language used when he came to address shangte himself. "of old, in the beginning," he began,--"of old in the beginning, there was the great chaos without form, and dark. the five elements had not begun to revolve nor the sun and moon to shine. in the midst thereof there presented itself neither form nor sound. thou, o spiritual sovereign! earnest forth in thy presidency, and first didst divide the grosser parts from the purer. thou madest heaven: thou madest earth: thou madest man. all things got their being with their producing power. o te! when thou hadst opened the course for the inactive and active forces of matter to operate, thy making work went on. thou didst produce, o spirit! the sun and moon and five planets, and pure and beautiful was their light. the vault of heaven was spread out like a curtain, and the square earth supported all on it, and all creatures were happy. i, thy servant, presume reverently to thank thee." farther on he says: "all the numerous tribes of animated beings are indebted to thy favor for their being. men and creatures are emparadised in thy love. all living things are indebted to thy goodness. but who knows whence his blessings come to him? it is thou, o lord! who art the parent of all things."[ ] surely this prayer humbly offered by a monarch would not be greatly out of place among the psalms of david. its description of the primeval chaos strikingly resembles that which i have quoted from the rig veda, and both resemble that of the mosaic record. if the language used does not present the clear conception of one god, the creator and the upholder of all things, and a supreme and personal sovereign over kings and even "gods," then language has no meaning. the monotheistic conception of the second petition is as distinct from the polytheism of the first, as any prayer to jehovah is from a roman catholic's prayer for the intercession of the saints; and there is no stronger argument in the one case against monotheism than in the other. dr. legge asserts that both in the shu-king and in the shiking, "te," or "shangte," appears as a personal being ruling in heaven and in earth, the author of man's moral nature, the governor among the nations, the rewarder of the good and the punisher of the evil.[ ] there are proofs that confucius, though in his position with respect to god he fell short of the doctrine of the ancient sages, yet believed in the existence of shangte as a personal being. when in old age he had finished his writings, he laid them on an altar upon a certain hill-top, and kneeling before the altar he returned thanks that he had been spared to complete his work.[ ] max müller says of him: "it is clear from many passages that with confucius, tien, or the spirit of heaven, was the supreme deity, and that he looked upon the other gods of the people--the spirits of the air, the mountains, and the rivers,[ ] and the spirits of the departed, very much with the same feeling with which socrates regarded the mythological deities of greece."[ ] but there remains to this day a remarkable evidence of the worship of the supreme god, shangte, as he was worshipped in the days of the emperor shun, b.c. it is found in the great temple of heaven at peking. dr. martin and professors legge and douglas all insist that the sacrifices there celebrated are relics of the ancient worship of a supreme god. china is full of the traces of polytheism; the land swarms with taouist deities of all names and functions, with confucian and ancestral tablets, and with buddhist temples and dagobas; but within the sacred enclosure of this temple no symbol of heathenism appears. of the august imperial service dr. martin thus eloquently speaks:[ ] "within the gates of the southern division of the capital, and surrounded by a sacred grove so extensive that the silence of its deep shades is never broken by the noise of the busy world around it, stands the temple of heaven. it consists of a single tower, whose tiling of resplendent azure is intended to represent the form and color of the aerial vault. it contains no image; but on a marble altar a bullock is offered once a year as a burnt sacrifice, while the monarch of the empire prostrates himself in adoration of the spirit of the universe. this is the high place of chinese devotion, and the thoughtful visitor feels that he ought to tread its courts with unsandalled feet, for no vulgar idolatry has entered here. this mountain-top still stands above the waves of corruption, and on this solitary altar there still rests a faint ray of its primeval faith. the tablet which represents the invisible deity is inscribed with the name shangte, the supreme ruler, and as we contemplate the majesty of the empire before it, while the smoke ascends from his burning sacrifice, our thoughts are irresistably carried back to the time when the king of salem officiated as priest of the most high god. there is," he adds, "no need of extended argument to establish the fact that the early chinese were by no means destitute of the knowledge of the true god." dr. legge, the learned translator of the chinese classics, shares so fully the views here expressed, that he actually put his shoes from off his feet before ascending the great altar, feeling that amidst all the mists and darkness of the national superstition, a trace of the glory of the infinite jehovah still lingered there. and in many a discussion since he has firmly maintained that that is in a dim way an altar of the true and living god. laotze, like confucius, was agnostic; yet he could not wholly rid himself of the influence of the ancient faith. his conception of taou, or reason, was rationalistic, certainly, yet he invested it with all the attributes of personality, as the word "wisdom" is sometimes used in the old testament. he spoke of it as "the infinite supreme," "the first beginning," and "the great original." dr. medhurst has translated from the "taou teh king" this striking taouist prayer: "o thou perfectly honored one of heaven and earth, the rock, the origin of myriad energies, the great manager of boundless kalpas, do thou enlighten my spiritual conceptions. within and without the three worlds, the logos, or divine taou, is alone honorable, embodying in himself a golden light. may he overspread and illumine my person. he whom we cannot see with the eye, or hear with the ear, who embraces and includes heaven and earth, may he nourish and support the multitudes of living beings." if we turn to the religion of the iranian or persian branch of the aryan family, we find among them also the traces of a primitive monotheism; and that it was not borrowed from semitic sources, through the descendants of abraham or others, ebrard has shown clearly in the second volume of his "apologetics." max müller also maintains the identity of the iranian faith with that of the indo-aryans. the very first notices of the religion of the avesta represent it as monotheistic. ahura mazda, even when opposed by ahriman, is supreme, and in the oldest hymns or gathas of the yasna, ahriman does not appear; there are references to evil beings, but they have no formidable head; persian dualism, therefore, was of later growth. zoroaster, whom monier williams assigns to the close of the sixth century b.c.,[ ] speaks of himself as a reformer sent to re-establish the pure worship of ahura, and haug considers the conception of ahura identical with that of jehovah. high on a rocky precipice at behistun, rawlinson has deciphered an inscription claiming to have been ordered by darius hystaspes, who lived b.c., which is as clearly monotheistic as the song of moses. the vendidad, which rawlinson supposes to have been composed years b.c., is full of references to minor gods, but ahura is always supreme. the modern parsees of bombay claim to be monotheistic, and declare that such has been the faith of their fathers from the beginning. a parsee catechism published in bombay twenty-five years ago reads thus: "we believe in only one god, and do not believe in any besides him.... he is the god who created the heavens, the earth, the angels, the stars, the sun, the moon, the fire, the water, ... and all things of the worlds; that god we believe in, him we invoke, him we adore." and lest this should be supposed to be a modern faith, the confession further declares that "this is the religion which the true prophet zurthust, or zoroaster, brought from god." the shintoists of japan, according to their sacred book, the "kojiki," believe in one self-existent and supreme god, from whom others emanated. from two of these, male and female, sprang the goddess of the sun, and from her the royal line of the mikados. there was no creation, but the two active emanations stirred up the eternally existing chaos, till from it came forth the teeming world of animal and vegetable life. it has often been asserted that tribes of men are found who have no conception of god. the author of "two years in the jungle" declares that the hill dyaks of borneo are without the slightest notion of a divine being. but a government officer, who for two years was the guest of rajah brooke, succeeded after long delay in gaining a key to the religion of these dyaks. he gives the name of one supreme being among subordinate gods, and describes minutely the forms of worship. professor max müller, while referring to this same often-repeated allegation as having been applied to the aborigines of australia, cites one of sir hercules robinson's reports on new south wales, which contains this description of the singular faith of one of the lowest of the interior tribes:[ ] first a being is mentioned who is supreme and whose name signifies the "maker or cutter-out," and who is therefore worshipped as the great author of all things. but as this supreme god is supposed to be inscrutable and far removed, a second deity is named, who is the _revealer_ of the first and his mediator in all the affairs of men.[ ] rev. a.c. good, now a missionary among the cannibal tribes of west africa, stated in the presbyterian general assembly at saratoga in may, , that with all the fetishes and superstitions known among the tribes on the ogovie, if a man is asked who made him, he points to the sky and utters the name of an unknown being who created all things.[ ] when tschoop, the stalwart mohican chief, came to the moravians to ask that a missionary might be sent to his people, he said: "do not send us a man to tell us that there is a god--we all know that; or that we are sinners--we all know that; but send one to tell us about salvation."[ ] even buddhism has not remained true to the atheism of its founder. a thibetan lama said to abbé huc: "you must not confound religious truths with the superstitions of the vulgar. the tartars prostrate themselves before whatever they see, but there is one only sovereign of the universe, the creator of all things, alike without beginning and without end." but what is the testimony of the great dead religions of the past with respect to a primitive monotheism? it is admitted that the later developments of the old egyptian faith were polytheistic. but it has generally been conceded that as we approach the earliest notices of that faith, monotheistic features more and more prevail. this position is contested by miss amelia b. edwards and others, who lean toward the development theory. miss edwards declares that the earliest faith of egypt was mere totemism, while on the other hand ebrard, gathering up the results of the researches of lepsius, ebers, brugsch, and emanuel de rougé, deduces what seem to be clear evidences of an early egyptian monotheism. he quotes manetho, who declares that "for the first nine thousand years the god ptah ruled alone; there was no other." according to inscriptions quoted by de rougé, the egyptians in the primitive period worshipped "the one being who truly lives, who has made all things, and who alone has not been made." this one god was known in different parts of egypt under different names, which only in later times came to stand for distinct beings. a text which belongs to a period fifteen hundred years before moses says: "he has made all that is; thou alone art, the millions owe their being to thee; he is the lord of all that which is, and of that which is not." a papyrus now in paris, dating b.c., contains quotations from two much older records, one a writing of the time of king suffern, about b.c., which says: "the operation of god is a thing which cannot be understood." the other, from a writing of ptah hotep, about b.c., reads: "this is the command of the god of creation, the peaceable may come and issue orders.... the eating of bread is in conformity with the ordinance of god; can one forget that his blessing rests thereupon?... if thou art a prudent man teach thy son the love of god."[ ] professor ernest naville, in speaking of this same subject in a course of popular lectures in geneva, said: "listen now to a voice which has come forth actually from the recesses of the sepulchre: it reaches us from ancient egypt. "in egypt, as you know, the degradation of the religious idea was in popular practice complete. but under the confused accents of superstition the science of our age is succeeding in catching from afar the vibrations of a sublime utterance. in the coffins of a large number of mummies have been discovered rolls of papyrus containing a sacred text which is called 'the book of the dead.' here is the translation of some fragments which appear to date from a very remote epoch. it is god who speaks thus: 'i am the most holy, the creator of all that replenishes the earth, and of the earth itself, the habitation of mortals. i am the prince of the infinite ages. i am the great and mighty god, the most high, shining in the midst of the careering stars and of the armies which praise me above thy head.... it is i who chastise the evil-doers and the persecutors of godly men. i discover and confound the liars. i am the all-seeing avenger, ... the guardian of my laws in the land of the righteous.' these words are found mingled in the text, from which i extract them, with allusions to inferior deities; and it must be acknowledged that the translation of the ancient documents of egypt is uncertain enough; still this uncertainty does not appear to extend to the general sense and bearing of the recent discoveries of our _savans_."[ ] professor flint as against cudworth, ebrard, gladstone, and others, maintains that the egyptian religion at the very dawn of its history had "certain great gods," though he adds that "there were not so many as in later times." "ancestor worship, but not so developed as in later times, and animal worship, but very little of it compared with later times." on the other hand, as against professor tiele, miss amelia b. edwards, and others, he says: "for the opinion that its lower elements were older than the higher there is not a particle of properly historical evidence, not a trace in the inscriptions of mere propitiation of ancestors or of belief in the absolute divinity of kings or animals; on the contrary ancestors are always found propitiated through prayer to some of the great gods; kings worshipped as emanations and images of the sun god and the divine animals adored as divine symbols and incarnations." among the greeks there are few traces of monotheism, but we have reason for this in the fact that their earliest literature dates from so late a period. it began with homer not earlier than b.c., and direct accounts of the religion of the greeks are not traced beyond b.c. but welcker, whose examinations have been exhaustive, has, in the opinion of max müller, fairly established the primitive monotheism of the greeks. müller says: "when we ascend with him to the most distant heights of greek history the idea of god as the supreme being stands before us as a simple fact. next to this adoration of one god the father of men we find in greece a worship of nature. the powers of nature, originally worshipped as such, were afterward changed into a family of gods, of which zeus became the king and father. the third phase is what is generally called greek mythology; but it was preceded in time, or at least rendered possible in thought, by the two prior conceptions, a belief in a supreme god and a worship of the powers of nature.... the divine character of zeus, as distinguished from his mythological character, is most carefully brought out by welcker. he avails himself of all the discoveries of comparative philology in order to show more clearly how the same idea which found expression in the ancient religions of the brahmans, the sclavs, and the germans had been preserved under the same simple, clear, and sublime name by the original settlers of hellas."[ ] the same high authority traces in his own linguistic studies the important fact that all branches of the aryan race preserve the same name for the supreme being, while they show great ramification and variation in the names of their subordinate gods. if, therefore, the indo-aryans give evidence of a monotheistic faith at the time of their dispersion, there is an _à priori_ presumption for the monotheism of the greeks. "herodotus," says professor rawlinson, "speaks of god as if he had never heard of polytheism." the testimony of the greek poets shows that beneath the prevailing polytheism there remained an underlying conception of monotheistic supremacy. professor rawlinson quotes from an orphic poem the words: "ares is war, peace soft aphrodite, wine that god has made is dionysius, themis is the right men render to each. apollo, too, and phoebus and Æschlepius, who doth heal diseases, are the sun. all these are one." max müller traces to this same element of monotheism the real greatness and power of the hellenic race when he says: "what was it, then, that preserved in their hearts (the greeks), in spite even of the feuds of tribes and the jealousies of states, the deep feeling of that ideal unity which constitutes a people? it was their primitive religion; it was a dim recollection of the common allegiance they owed from time immemorial to the great father of gods and men; it was their belief in the old zeus of dodona in the pan-hellenic zeus."[ ] "there is, in truth, but one," says sophocles, "one only god, who made both heaven and long-extended earth and bright-faced swell of seas and force of winds." xenophanes says: "'mongst gods and men there is one mightiest god not mortal or in form or thought. entire he sees and understands, and without labor governs all by mind." aratus, whom paul quotes,[ ] says: "with zeus began we; let no mortal voice of men leave zeus unpraised. zeus fills the heavens, the streets, the marts. everywhere we live in zeus. zeus fills the sea, the shores, the harbors. _we are his offspring, too._" the reference made by paul evidently implies that this zeus was a dim conception of the one true god. that all branches of the semitic race were monotheistic we may call not only ebrard and müller, but renan, to witness. according to renan, evidences that the monotheism of the semitic races was of a very early origin, appears in the fact that all their names for deity--el, elohim, ilu, baal, bel, adonai, shaddai, and allah--denote one being and that supreme. these names have resisted all changes, and doubtless extend as far back as the semitic language or the semitic race. max müller, in speaking of the early faith of the arabs, says: "long before mohammed the primitive intuition of god made itself felt in arabia;" and he quotes this ancient arabian prayer: "i dedicate myself to thy service, o allah. thou hast no companion, except the companion of whom thou art master absolute, and of whatever is his." the book of job and the story of balaam indicate the prevalence of an early monotheism beyond the pale of the abrahamic church. in the records of the kings of assyria and babylonia there is a conspicuous polytheism, yet it is significant that each king worshipped _one god only_. and this fact suggests, as a wide generalization, that political and dynastic jealousies had their influence in multiplying the names and differentiating the attributes of ancient deities. this was notably the case in ancient egypt, where each invasion and each change of dynasty led to a new adjustment of the egyptian pantheon. rome had many gods, but jupiter was supreme. herodotus says of the scythians, that they had eight gods, but one was supreme, like zeus. the northmen, according to dr. dascent, had one supreme god known as the "all-fader." the druids, though worshipping various subordinate deities, believed in one who was supreme--the creator of all things and the soul of all things. though conceived of in a pantheistic sense, he was personal and exerted a moral control, as is shown by the famous triad: "fear god; be just to all men; die for your country." in the highest and purest period of the old mexican faith we read of the tezcucan monarch nezahualcoyotl, who said: "these idols of wood and stone can neither hear nor feel; much less could they make the heavens and the earth, and man who is the lord of it. these must be the work of the all-powerful unknown god, the creator of the universe, on whom alone i must rely for consolation and support."[ ] the incas of peru also, though sun-worshippers, believed in a supreme creator who made the sun. the oldest of their temples was reared to the supreme god "virachoca." and one of the greatest incas has left his declared belief that "there must be above the sun a greater and more powerful ruler, at whose behest the sun pursues his daily and untiring round."[ ] it has been assumed throughout this lecture, that instead of an advance in the religions of men, there has everywhere been decline. our proofs of this are not theoretic but historic. as an example, all writers are agreed, i believe, that during the historic period the religion of the egyptians steadily deteriorated until christianity and mohammedanism superseded it. in strong contrast with the lofty and ennobling prayer which we have quoted from an ancient egyptian record, is the degradation of the later worship. on a column at heliopolis, belonging to the fourth century before christ, is inscribed this petition: "o thou white cat, thy head is the head of the sun god, thy nose is the nose of thoth, of the exceeding great love of hemopolis." the whole prayer is on this low level. clement, of alexandria, after describing the great beauty of an egyptian temple, proceeds to say: "the innermost sanctuary is concealed by a curtain wrought in gold, which the priest draws aside, and there is seen a cat, or a crocodile, or a serpent, which wriggles on a purple cover."[ ] that the religions of india have degenerated is equally clear. the fact that all the medieval and modern reforms look back for their ideals to the earlier and purer aryan faith, might of itself afford sufficient proof of this, but we have also abundant evidence which is direct. in the rig veda there is little polytheism, and no idolatry. there is no doctrine of caste, no base worship of siva with the foul enormities of saktism.[ ] in the most ancient times there was no doctrine of transmigration, nor any notion that human life is an evil to be overcome by self-mortification. woman was comparatively free from the oppressions which she suffered in the later periods. infanticide had not then been sanctioned and enjoined by religious authority, and widow burning and the religious murders of the thugs were unknown. and yet so deeply were these evils rooted at the beginning of the british rule in india, that the joint influence of christian instruction and governmental authority for a whole century has not been sufficient to overcome them. buddhism in the first two or three centuries had much to commend it. king ashoka left monuments of practical beneficence and philanthropy which have survived to this day. but countless legends soon sprang up to mar the simplicity of gautama's ethics. corruptions crept in. compromises were made with popular superstitions and with hindu saktism.[ ] the monastic orders sank into corruption, and by the ninth century of our era the system had been wholly swept from india. the buddhism of ceylon was planted first by the devout son and daughter of a king, and for a time was characterized by great purity and devotion. but now it exists only in name, and a prominent missionary of the country declared, in the london missionary conference of , that nine-tenths of the cingalese were worshippers of serpents or of spirits.[ ] the prevailing buddhism in thibet, from the eighth to the tenth century, was an admixture with saktism and superstition. where the system has survived in any good degree of strength, it has been due either to government support or to an alliance with other religions. the history of taouism has shown a still worse deterioration. laotze, though impracticable as a reformer, was a profound philosopher. his teachings set forth a lofty moral code. superstition he abominated. his ideas of deity were cold and rationalistic, but they were pure and lofty. but the modern taouism is a medley of wild and degrading superstitions. according to its theodicy all nature is haunted. the ignorant masses are enthralled by the fear of ghosts, and all progress is paralyzed by the nightmare of "fung shuay." had not taouism been balanced by the sturdy common-sense ethics of confucianism, the chinese might have become a race of savages.[ ] the decline of mohammedanism from the sublime fanaticism of abu bekr and the intellectual aspirations of haroun al raschid, to the senseless imbecility of the modern turk, is too patent to need argument. the worm of destruction was left in the system by the vices of mohammed himself; and from the higher level of his early followers it has not only deteriorated, but it has dragged down everything else with it. it has destroyed the family, because it has degraded woman. it has separated her immeasurably from the status of dignity and honor which she enjoyed under the influence of the early christian church, and it has robbed her of even that freedom which was accorded to her by heathen rome. one need only look at northern africa, the land of cyprian and origen, of augustine and the saintly monica, to see what islam has done. and even the later centuries have brought no relief. prosperous lands have been rendered desolate and sterile, and all progress has been paralyzed. in the history of the greek religion it is granted that there were periods of advancement. the times of the fully developed apollo worship showed vast improvement over previous periods, but even professor tiele virtually admits that this was owing to the importation of foreign influences. it was not due to any natural process of evolution; and it was followed by hopeless corruption and decline. the last days of both greece and rome were degenerate and full of depression and despair. it is not contended that no revivals or reforms are possible in heathenism. there have been many of these, but with all allowance for spasmodic efforts, the general drift has been always downward.[ ] there is a natural disposition among men to multiply objects of worship. herbert spencer's principle, that development proceeds from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous, is certainly true of the religions of the world; but his other principle, that development proceeds from the incoherent to the coherent, does not apply. incoherency and moral chaos mark the trend of all man-made faiths. the universal tendency to deterioration is well summed up as follows by professor naville: "traces are found almost everywhere in the midst of idolatrous superstitions, of a religion comparatively pure and often stamped with a lofty morality. paganism is not a simple fact; it offers to view in the same bed two currents (like the arve and the arveiron)--the one pure, the other impure. what is the relation between these two currents? ... did humanity begin with a coarse fetishism, and thence rise by slow degrees to higher conceptions? do the traces of a comparatively pure monotheism first show themselves in the recent periods of idolatry? contemporary science inclines more and more to answer in the negative. it is in the most ancient historical ground that the laborious investigators of the past meet with the most elevated ideas of religion. cut to the ground a young and vigorous beech-tree, and come back a few years afterward. in place of the tree cut down you will find coppice-wood; the sap which nourished a single trunk has been divided among a multitude of shoots. this comparison expresses well enough the opinion which tends to prevail among our savants on the subject of the historical development of religions. the idea of one god is at the roots--it is primitive; polytheism is derivative."[ ] we have thus far drawn our proofs of man's polytheistic tendencies from the history of the non-christian religions. in proof of the same general tendency we now turn to the history of the israelites, the chosen people of god. we may properly appeal to the bible as history, especially when showing idolatrous tendencies even under the full blaze of the truth. in spite of the supernatural revelation which they claimed to possess--notwithstanding all their instructions, warnings, promises, deliverances, divinely aided conquests--they relapsed into idolatry again and again. ere they had reached the land of promise they had begun to make images of the gods of egypt. they made constant compromises and alliances with the canaanites, and not even severe judgments could withhold them from this downward drift. their wisest king was demoralized by heathen marriages, and his successors openly patronized the heathen shrines. the abominations of baal worship and the nameless vices of sodom were practised under the very shadow of the temple.[ ] judgments followed upon this miserable degeneracy. prophets were sent with repeated warnings, and many were slain for their faithful messages. tribe after tribe was borne into captivity, the temple was destroyed, and at last the nation was virtually broken up and scattered abroad. there was indeed a true development in the church of god from the abrahamic period to the apostolic day. there was a rising from a narrow national spirit to one which embraced the whole brotherhood of man, from type and prophecy to fulfilment, from the sins that were winked at, to a purer ethic and the perfect law of love; but these results came not by natural evolution--far enough from it. they were wrought out not by man, but we might almost say, in spite of man. divine interpositions were all that saved judaism from a total wreck, even as the national unity was destroyed. a new dispensation was introduced, a divine redeemer and an omnipotent spirit were the forces which saved the world from a second universal apostasy. we come nearer still to the church of god for proofs of man's inherent tendency to polytheism. even under the new dispensation we have seen the church sink into virtual idolatry. within six centuries from the time of christ and his apostles there had been a sad lapse into what seemed the worship of images, pictures, and relics, and a faith in holy places and the bones of saints. what mohammed saw, or thought he saw, was a christian idolatry scarcely better than that of the arabian koreish. and, as if by the judgment of god, the churches of the east were swept with a destruction like that which had been visited upon the ten tribes. in the christianity of to-day, viewed as a whole, how strong is the tendency to turn from the pure spiritual conception of god to some more objective trust--a saint, a relic, a ritual, an ordinance. in the old churches of the east or on the continent of europe, how much of virtual idolatry is there even now? it is only another form of the tendency in man to seek out many devices--to find visible objects of trust--to try new panaceas for the ailments of the soul--to multiply unto himself gods to help his weakness. this is just what has been done in all ages and among all races of the world. this explains polytheism. man's religious nature is a vine, and god is its only proper support. once fallen from that support, it creeps and grovels in all directions and over all false supports. we have not resorted to divine revelation for proofs except as history. but our conclusions drawn from heathen sources bring us directly, as one face answereth to another face in a glass, to the plain teachings of paul and other inspired writers, who tell us that the human race was once possessed of the knowledge of one supreme god, but that men apostatized from him, preferring to worship the creature rather than the creator. there are no traces of an upward evolution toward clearer knowledge and purer lives, except by the operation of outward causes, but there are many proofs that men's hearts have become darkened and their moral nature more and more depraved. in all lands there have been those who seemed to gain some glimpses of truth, and whose teachings were far above the average sentiment and character of their times, but they have either been discarded like socrates and the prophets of israel, or they have obtained a following only for a time and their precepts have fallen into neglect. it has been well said that no race of men live up to their religion, however imperfect it may be. they first disregard it, and then at length degrade it, to suit their apostate character. paul's estimate of heathen character was that of a man who, aside from his direct inspiration, spoke from a wide range of observation. he was a philosopher by education, and he lived in an age and amid national surroundings which afforded the broadest knowledge of men, of customs, of religious faiths, of institutions. trained as a jew, dealing constantly with the most enlightened heathen, persecuting the christians, and then espousing their cause, his preparation for a broad, calm, and unerring judgment of the character of the gentile nations was complete; and his one emphatic verdict was _apostasy_. footnotes: [footnote : fiske: _the destiny of man_, pp. - .] [footnote : we do not care to enter the field of pre-historic speculation where the evolution of religion from totemism or fetishism claims to find its chief support. we are considering only the traditional development of the ancient faiths of man.] [footnote : _introduction to christian theology_, appendix, pp. , .] [footnote : ebrard's _apologetics_, vols. ii. and iii.] [footnote : _modern atheism_, p. .] [footnote : _the chinese_, pp. , .] [footnote : _chips from a german workshop_, vol. i., p. .] [footnote : professor banergea (see _indian antiquary_, february, ) thinks that this hindu account of creation shows traces of the common revelation made to mankind.] [footnote : _science of religion_, p. .] [footnote : _science of religion_, p. .] [footnote : "the ancient relics of african faith are rapidly disappearing at the approach of mohammedan and christian missionaries; but what has been preserved of it, chiefly through the exertions of learned missionaries, is full of interest to the student of religion, with its strange worship of snakes and ancestors, its vague hope of a future life, and its not altogether faded reminiscence of a supreme god, the father of the black as well as of the white man."--_science of religion_, p. .] [footnote : while he maintains that the idea of god must have preceded that of _gods_, as the plural always implies the singular, he yet claims very justly that the exclusive conception of monotheism as against polytheism could hardly have existed. men simply thought of god as god, as a child thinks of its father, and does not even raise the question of a second.--see _chips from a german workshop_, vol. i., p. .] [footnote : st. augustine, in quoting cyprian, shows that the fathers of the church looked upon plato as a monotheist. the passage is as follows: "for when he (cyprian) speaks of the magians, he says that the chief among them, hostanes, maintains that the true god is invisible, and that true angels sit at his throne; and that plato agrees with this and believes in one god, considering the others to be demons; and that hermes trismegistus also speaks of one god, and confesses that he is incomprehensible." angus., _de baptismo contra donat_., lib. vi., cap. xliv.] [footnote : _the aryan witness_, passim.] [footnote : aristotle said, "god, though he is one, has many names, because he is called according to the states into which he always enters anew."] [footnote : _the religions of china_, p. .] [footnote : _the religions of china_, p. .] [footnote : "in the year the emperor of china declared in an edict that the chinese should adore, not the material heavens, but the _master_ of heaven."--cardinal gibbons: _our christian heritage_.] [footnote : martin: _the chinese_, p. .] [footnote : it has been related by rev. hudson taylor that the fishermen of the fukien province, when a storm arises, pray to the goddess of the sea; but when that does not avail they throw all the idols aside and pray to the "great-grandfather in heaven." father is a great conception to the chinese mind. great-grandfather is higher still, and stands to them for the supreme.] [footnote : _science of religion_, p. .] [footnote : _the chinese_, p. .] [footnote : other writers contend that he was probably contemporaneous with abraham. still others think zoroaster a general name for great prophets. darmestetter inclines to this view.] [footnote : _chips from a german workshop._] [footnote : archbishop vaughn, of sydney, emphatically declares that the aborigines of australia believe in a supreme being.] [footnote : rev. mr. johnson, of lagos, has expressed a belief that the pagan tribes of west africa were monotheists before the incursion of the mohammedans. rev. alfred marling, of gaboon, bears the same testimony of the fans.] [footnote : rev. a.c. thompson, d.d. _the moravians_. one of the early converts from among the ojibwas, said to the missionary, rev. s.g. wright: "a great deal of your preaching i readily understand, especially what you say about our real characters. we indians all know that it is wrong to lie, to steal, to be dishonest, to slander, to be covetous, and we always know that the great spirit hates all these things. all this we knew before we ever saw the white man. i knew these things when i was a little boy. we did not, however, know the way of pardon for these sins. in our religion there is nothing said by the wise men about pardon. we knew nothing of the lord jesus christ as a saviour."] [footnote : professor tiele, of leyden, asserts that "it is altogether erroneous to regard the egyptian religion as the polytheistic degeneration of a prehistoric monotheism. it was polytheistic from the beginning." but on one of the oldest of egyptian monuments is found this hymn, which is quoted by cardinal gibbons in _our christian inheritance_: "hail to thee, say all creatures; ... the gods adore thy majesty, the spirits thou has made exalt thee, rejoicing before the feet of their begetter. they cry out welcome to thee, father of the fathers of all the gods, who raises the heavens, who fixes the earth; we worship thy spirit who alone hast made us, we whom thou hast made thank thee that thou hast given us birth, we give to thee praises for thy mercy toward us."] [footnote : _modern atheism_, p. .] [footnote : _chips from a german workshop_, vol. ii., pp. , .] [footnote : _science of religion_, lecture iii., p. .] [footnote : acts xvii. .] [footnote : prescott's _conquest of mexico_.] [footnote : réville in his _hibbert lectures_ on mexican and peruvian religions asserts that polytheism existed from the beginning, but our contention is that one god was supreme and created the sun.] [footnote : de pressensé: _the ancient world and christianity_.] [footnote : bournouf found the tantras so obscene that he refused to translate them.] [footnote : t. rhys davids: _buddhism_, p. .] [footnote : _report of missionary conference_, vol. i, p. .] [footnote : buddhism, in the _britannica_.] [footnote : rev. s.g. wright, long a missionary among the american indians, says: "during the forty-six years in which i have been laboring among the ojibway indians, i have been more and more impressed with the evidence, showing itself in their language, that at some former time they have been in possession of much higher ideas of god's attributes, and of what constitutes true happiness, immortality, and virtue, as well as of the nature of the devil and his influence in the world, than those which they now possess. the thing which early in our experience surprised us, and which has not ceased to impress us, is, that, with their present low conceptions of spiritual things, they could have chosen so lofty and spiritual a word for the deity. the only satisfactory explanation seems to be that, at an early period of their history, they had higher and more correct ideas concerning god than those which they now possess, and that these have become, as the geologists would say, _fossilized_ in their forms of speech, and so preserved."--_bibliotheca sacra_, october, .] [footnote : _modern atheism_, p. .] [footnote : i. kings, xiv., and ii. kings, xxiii.] lecture viii. indirect tributes of heathen systems to the doctrines of the bible i am to speak of certain indirect tributes borne by the non-christian religions to the doctrines of christianity. one such tribute of great value we have already considered in the prevalence of early monotheism, so far corroborating the scriptural account of man's first estate, and affording many proofs which corroborate the scriptural doctrine of human apostasy. others of the same general bearing will now be considered. the history of man's origin, the strange traditions of his fall by transgression and his banishment from eden, of the conflict of good with evil represented by a serpent, of the deluge and the dispersion of the human race, have all been the subjects of ridicule by anti-christian writers:--though by turns they have recognized these same facts and have used them as proofs that christianity had borrowed them from old myths. the idea of sacrifice, or atonement, of divine incarnation, of a trinity, of mediation, of a salvation by faith instead of one's own merits, have been represented as unphilosophical, and therefore improbable in the nature of the case. it becomes an important question, therefore, whether other religions of mankind show similar traditions, however widely they have dwelt apart, and however diversified their languages, literatures, and institutions may have been in other respects. and it is also an important question, whether even under heathen systems, the consciousness of sin and the deepest moral yearnings of men have found expression along the very lines which are represented by the christian doctrines of grace. to these questions we now address ourselves. what are the lessons of the various ethnic traditions? and how are we to account for their striking similarities? the most obvious theory is, that a common origin must be assigned to them, that they are dim reminiscences of a real knowledge once clear and distinct. the fact that with their essential unity they differ from each other and differ from our scriptural record, seems to rather strengthen the theory that all--our own included--have been handed down from the pre-mosaic times--ours being divinely edited by an inspired and infallible author. their differences are such as might have been expected from separate transmissions, independently made. we have, first of all, the various traditions of the creation. in most heathen races there have appeared, in their later stages, grave and grotesque cosmogonies; and a too common impression is, that these represent the real teachings of their sacred books or their earliest traditions. but when one enters upon a careful study of the non-christian religions, and traces them back to their sources, he finds more rational accounts of the creation and the order of nature, and sees striking points of resemblance to the mosaic record. the story of genesis represents the "beginning" as formless, chaotic, and dark. the spirit of god moved upon the face of the waters. the heavens and the earth were separated. light appeared long before the sun and moon were visible, and the day and night were clearly defined. creation proceeded in a certain order from vegetable to animal life, and from lower animals to higher, and last of all man appeared. in heathen systems we find fragments of this traditional account, and, as a rule, they are more or less clear in proportion to their nearness to, or departure from, the great cradle of the human race.[ ] thus professor rawlinson quotes from an assyrian account of the creation, as found upon the clay tablets discovered in the palace of assur-bani-pal, a description of formlessness, emptiness, and darkness on the deep--of a separation between the earth and sky--and of the light as preceding the appearance of the sun. that account also places the creation of animals before that of man, whom it represents as being formed of the dust of the earth, and as receiving a divine effluence from the creator.[ ] according to an etruscan saga quoted by suidas, god created the world in six periods of , years each. in the first, the heavens and the earth; in the second, the firmament; in the third, the seas; in the fourth, the sun, moon, and stars; in the fifth, the beasts of the land, the air, and the sea; in the sixth, man. according to a passage in the persian avesta, the supreme ormazd created the visible world by his word in six periods or thousands of years: in the first, the heavens with the stars; in the second, the water and the clouds; in the third, the earth and the mountains; in the fourth, the trees and the plants; in the fifth, the beasts which sprang from the primeval beast; in the sixth, man.[ ] as we get farther away from the supposed early home of the race, the traditions become more fragmentary and indistinct. the rig veda, mandala, x., , tells us that: "in the beginning there was neither naught nor aught; there was neither day nor night nor light nor darkness; only the existent one breathed calmly. next came darkness, gloom on gloom. next all was water--chaos indiscrete."[ ] strikingly similar is the language quoted in a former lecture from the prayer of a chinese emperor of the ming dynasty. it runs thus: "of old, in the beginning, there was the great chaos without form and dark. the five elements had not begun to revolve, nor the sun and moon to shine. in the midst thereof there presented itself neither form nor sound. thou, o spiritual sovereign, didst divide the grosser parts from the purer. thou madest heaven: thou madest earth: thou madest man." there is a possibility that these conceptions may have come from christian sources instead of primitive chinese traditions, possibly from early nestorian missionaries, though this is scarcely probable, as chinese emperors have been slow to introduce foreign conceptions into their august temple service to shangte; its chief glory lies in its antiquity and its purely national character. buddhism had already been in china more than a thousand years, and these prayers are far enough from its teachings. may we not believe that the ideas here expressed had always existed in the minds of the more devout rulers of the empire? in similar language, the edda of the icelandic northmen describes the primeval chaos. thus: "'twas the morning of time when yet naught was, nor sand nor sea was there, nor cooling streams. earth was not formed nor heaven above. a yawning gap was there and grass nowhere." not unlike these conceptions of the "beginning" is that which morenhout found in a song of the tahitans, and which ran thus: "he was; toaroa was his name, he existed in space; no earth, no heaven, no men." m. goussin adds the further translation: "toaroa, the great orderer, is the origin of the earth: he has no father, no posterity."[ ] the tradition of the odshis, a negro tribe on the african gold coast, represents the creation as having been completed in six days. god created first the woman; then the man; then the animals; then the trees and plants; and lastly the rocks. god created nothing on the seventh day. he only gave men his commandments. the reversal of the order here only confirms the supposition that it is an original tradition. we find everywhere on the western hemisphere, north and south, plain recognition of the creation of the world by one supreme god, though the order is not given. how shall we account for the similarities above indicated, except on the supposition of a common and a very ancient source? still more striking are the various traditions of the fall of man by sin. in the british museum there is a very old babylonian seal which bears the figures of a man and a woman stretching out their hands toward a fruit-tree, while behind the woman lurks a serpent. a fragment bearing an inscription represents a tree of life as guarded on all sides by a sword. another inscription describes a delectable region surrounded by four rivers. professors rawlinson and delitzsch both regard this as a reference to the garden of eden. "the hindu legends," says hardwick, "are agreed in representing man as one of the last products of creative wisdom, as the master-work of god; and also in extolling the first race of men as pure and upright, innocent and happy. the beings who were thus created by brahma are all said to have been endowed with righteousness and perfect faith; they abode wherever they pleased, unchecked by any impediment; their hearts were free from guile; they were pure, made free from toil by observance of sacred institutes. in their sanctified minds hari dwelt; and they were filled with perfect wisdom by which they contemplated the glory of vishnu. "the first men were, accordingly, the best. the krita age, the 'age of truth,' the reign of purity, in which mankind, as it came forth from the creator, was not divided into numerous conflicting orders, and in which the different faculties of man all worked harmoniously together, was a thought that lay too near the human heart to be uprooted by the ills and inequalities of actual life. in this the hindu sided altogether with the hebrew, and as flatly contradicted the unworthy speculations of the modern philosopher, who would fain persuade us that human beings have not issued from one single pair, and also, that the primitive type of men is scarcely separable from that of ordinary animals...."[ ] spence hardy, in speaking on this subject, describes a buddhist legend of ceylon which represents the original inhabitants of the world as having been once spotlessly pure, and as dwelling in ethereal bodies which moved at will through space. they had no need of sun or moon. they lived in perfect happiness and peace till, at last, one of their number tasted of a strange substance which he found lying on the surface of the earth. he induced others to eat also, whereupon all knew good and evil, and their high estate was lost. they now had perpetual need of food, which only made them more gross and earthly. wickedness abounded, and they were in darkness. assembling together, they fashioned for themselves a sun, but after a few hours it fell below the horizon, and they were compelled to create a moon.[ ] an old mongolian legend represents the first man as having transgressed by eating a pistache nut. as a punishment, he and all his posterity came under the power of sin and death, and were subjected to toil and suffering.[ ] a tradition of the african odshis, already named, relates that formerly god was very near to men. but a woman, who had been pounding banana fruit in a mortar, inadvertently entering his presence with a pestle in her hands, aroused his anger, and he withdrew into the high heavens and listened to men no more. six rainless years brought famine and distress, whereupon they besought him to send one of his counsellors who should be their daysman, and should undertake their cause and care for them. god sent his chief minister, with a promise that he would give rain and sunshine, and he directed that his rainbow should appear in the sky.[ ] the inhabitants of tahiti have a tradition of a fall which is very striking; and humboldt, after careful study, reached the conclusion that it had not been derived through any communication with christian lands, but was an old native legend. the karens of burmah had a story of an early temptation of their ancestors by an evil being and their consequent apostasy. many other races who have no definite tradition of this kind have still some vague notion of a golden age in the past. there has been everywhere a mournful and pathetic sense of something lost, of degeneracy from better days gone by, of divine displeasure and forfeited favor. the baffled gropings of all false religions seem to have been so many devices to regain some squandered heritage of the past. all this is strikingly true of china. still more clear and wellnigh universal are the traditions of a flood. the hindu brahmanas and the mahabharata of a later age present legends of a deluge which strikingly resemble the story of genesis. vishnu incarnate in a fish warned a great sage of a coming flood and directed him to build an ark. a ship was built and the sage with seven others entered. attached to the horn of the fish the ship was towed over the waters to a high mountain top.[ ] the chinese also have a story of a flood, though it is not given in much detail. the iranian tradition is very fragmentary and seems to confound the survivor with the first man of the creation. yima, the noah of the story, was warned by the beginning of a great winter rain, by which the waters were raised , feet. yima was commanded to prepare a place of safety for a number of chosen men, birds, and beasts. it was to be three stories high, and to be furnished with a high door and window, but whether it was a ship or a refuge on the mountain top does not appear. the same tradition speaks of eden and of a serpent, but the account is suddenly cut short.[ ] the greek traditions of a flood varied according to the different branches of the greek nation. the arcadians traced their origin to dardanus, who was preserved from the great flood in a skin-covered boat. the pelasgians held the tradition of deucalion and his wife, who were saved in a ship which was grounded on the summit of pindus. as the water receded they sent out a dove to search for land. the assyrian account, which was found a few years ago on a tablet in the palace of assur-bani-pal, claims to have been related as a matter of personal experience by sisit, the chaldean noah, who was commanded to construct a ship cubits long, into which he should enter with his family and his goods. at the time appointed the earth became a waste. the very gods in heaven fled from the fury of the tempest and "huddled down in their refuge like affrighted dogs." the race of men was swept away. on the seventh day sisit opened a window and saw that the rain was stayed, but the water was covered with floating corpses; all men had become as clay. the ship rested on a mountain top, and sisit sent forth a dove, a swallow, and a raven. the dove and the swallow returned, but the raven was satisfied with the floating carcasses. sisit went forth and offered sacrifice, around which "the gods hovered like flies." professor rawlinson thinks that these accounts and those given in genesis were both derived from the earlier traditions, the assyrian version having been greatly corrupted. the chaldean tradition is slightly different. the noah of the chaldeans was commanded in a dream not only to build a ship, but to bury all important documents and so preserve the antediluvian history. as the flood subsided he, his family, and his pilot were transferred to heaven, but certain friends who were saved with them remained and peopled the earth. among the ancient peruvians we find a tradition of a great deluge which swept the earth. after it had passed, the aged man wiracotscha rose out of lake titicaca and his three sons issued from a cave and peopled the earth.[ ] hugh miller and others have named many similar traditions. the fact that in nearly every case those who were rescued from the flood immediately offered piacular sacrifices suggests the recognition in all human history of still another fundamental doctrine of christianity, the universal sense of sin. this conviction was especially strong when the survivors of a divine judgment beheld the spectacle of a race swept away for their transgressions; but there are abundant traces of it in all ages of the world. the exceptions are found in those instances where false systems of philosophy have sophisticated the natural sense of guilt by destroying the consciousness of personality. all races of men have shown a feeling of moral delinquency and a corresponding fear. the late c. loring brace, in his work entitled "the unknown god," quotes some striking penitential psalms or prayers offered by the akkadians of northern assyria four thousand years ago. the deep-seated conviction of guilt which is indicated by the old religion of the egyptians is well set forth by dr. john wortabet, of beyrut, in a pamphlet entitled "the temples and tombs of thebes." he says: "the immortality of the soul, its rewards and punishments in the next world, and its final salvation and return into the essence of the divinity were among the most cherished articles of the egyptian creed. here (in the tombs), as on the papyri which contain the 'ritual of the dead,' are represented the passage of the soul through the nether world and its introduction into the judgment hall, where osiris, the god of benevolence, sits on a throne, and with the assistance of forty-two assessors proceeds to examine the deceased. his actions are weighed in a balance against truth in the presence of thoth, the ibis-headed god of wisdom, and if found wanting he is hounded out in the shape of an unclean animal by anubis, the jackal-headed god of the infernal regions. the soul then proceeds in a series of transmigrations into the bodies of animals and human beings and thus passes through a purgatorial process which entitles it to appear again before the judgment-seat of osiris. if found pure it is conveyed to aalu, the elysian fields, or the 'pools of peace.' after three thousand years of sowing and reaping by cool waters it returns to its old body (the preserved mummy), suffers another period of probation, and is ultimately absorbed into the godhead. one of the most impressive scenes in the whole series is that where the soul, in the form of a mummified body, stands before osiris and the forty-two judges to be examined on the forty-two commandments of the egyptian religion. bearing on its face the signs of solemnity and fear, and carrying in its hand a feather, the symbol of veracity, it says among other things: 'i have not blasphemed the gods, i have defrauded no man, i have not changed the measures of egypt, i have not prevaricated at the courts of justice, i have not lied, i have not stolen, i have not committed adultery, i have done no murder, i have not been idle, i have not been drunk, i have not been cruel, i have not famished my family, i have not been a hypocrite, i have not defiled my conscience for the sake of my superiors, i have not smitten privily, i have lived on truth, i have made it my delight to do what men command and the gods approve, i have given bread to the hungry and drink to the thirsty and clothes to the naked, my mouth and hands are pure.' now what strikes one with great force in this remarkable passage from the walls of the old sand-covered tombs is the wonderful scope and fulness with which the laws of right and wrong were stamped upon the egyptian conscience. there is here a recognition, not only of the great evils which man shall not commit, but also of many of those positive duties which his moral nature requires. it matters not that these words are wholly exculpatory; they nevertheless recognize sin." but perhaps no one has depicted man's sense of guilt and fear more eloquently than dean stanley when speaking of the egyptian sphinx. proceeding upon the theory that that time-worn and mysterious relic is a couchant lion whose projecting paws were long since buried in the desert sands, and following the tradition that an altar once stood before that mighty embodiment of power, he graphically pictures the transient generations of men, in all the sin and weakness of their frail humanity, coming up with their offerings and their prayers "between the paws of deity." it is a grim spectacle, but it emphasizes the sense of human guilt. only the revealed word of god affords a complete and satisfactory explanation of the remarkable fact that the human race universally stand self-convicted of sin. there is also a tribute to the truth of christianity in certain traces of a conception of divine sacrifice for sin found in some of the early religious faiths of men. all are familiar with the difference between the offerings of abel and those of cain--the former disclosing a faith in a higher expiation. in like manner there appear mysterious references to a divine and vicarious sacrifice in the early vedas of india. in the parusha sukta of the rig veda occurs this passage: "from him called parusha was born viraj, and from viraj was parusha produced, whom gods made their oblation. with parusha as a victim they performed a sacrifice." manu says that parusha, "the first man," was called brahma, and was produced by emanation from the "self-existent spirit." brahma thus emanating, was "the first male," or, as elsewhere called, "the born lord." by him the world was made. the idea is brought out still more strikingly in one of the brahmanas where the sacrifice is represented as voluntary and all availing. "surely," says sir monier williams, "in these mysterious allusions to the sacrifice of a representative man we may perceive traces of the original institution of sacrifice as a divinely appointed ordinance, typical of the one great offering of the son of god for the sins of the world." the late professor banergea, of calcutta, reaching the same conclusion, says: "it is not easy to account for the genesis of these ideas in the veda, of 'one born in the beginning lord of creatures,' offering himself a sacrifice for the benefit of deified mortals, except on the assumption that it is based upon the tradition of the 'lamb slain from the foundation of the world.'" no doubt modern scepticism might be slow to acknowledge any such inference as this; but as professor banergea was a high-caste hindu of great learning, and was well acquainted with the subtleties of hindu thought, his opinion should have great weight. and when we remember how easily scientific scepticism is satisfied with the faintest traces of whatever strengthens its theories--how thin are some of the generalizations of herbert spencer--how very slight and fanciful are the resemblances of words which philologists often accept as indisputable proofs--how far-fetched are the inferences sometimes drawn from the appearance of half-decayed fossils as proofs and even demonstrations of the law of evolution--we need not be over-modest in setting forth these traces of an original divine element in the institution of typical sacrifices among men. it is never safe to assume positively this or that meaning for a mysterious passage found in the sacred books of non-christian systems, but there are many things which seem at least to illustrate important precepts of the christian faith. thus the slain osiris of the egyptians was said to enter into the sufferings of mortals. "having suffered the great wound," so the record runs, "he was wounded in every other wound." and we read in "the book of the dead" that "when the lord of truth cleanses away defilement, evil is joined to the deity that the truth may expel the evil."[ ] this seems to denote an idea of vicarious righteousness. the onondaga indians had a tradition that the celestial hiawatha descended from heaven and dwelt among their ancestors, and that upon the establishment of the league of the iroquois he was called by the great spirit to sanctify that league by self-sacrifice. as the indian council was about to open, hiawatha was bowed with intense suffering, which faintly reminds one of christ's agony in gethsemane. he foresaw that his innocent and only child would be taken from him. soon after a messenger from heaven smote her to the earth by his side. then, having drank this cup of sorrow, he entered the council and guided its deliberations with superhuman wisdom.[ ] in citing this incident nothing more is intended than to call attention to some of the mysterious conceptions which seem to float dimly through the minds of the most savage races, and which show at the very least that the idea of vicarious sacrifice is not strange to mankind, but is often mysteriously connected with their greatest blessings. the legend of "prometheus bound," as we find it in the tragedies of Æschylus, is so graphic in its picture of vicarious suffering for the good of men that infidel writers have charged the story of the cross with plagiarism, and have applied to prometheus some of the expressions used in the fifty-third chapter of the prophecy of isaiah. we are often told that there is injustice in the very idea of vicarious suffering, as involved in the christian doctrine of salvation, or that the best instincts of a reasonable humanity revolt against it. but such criticisms are sufficiently met by these analogies which we find among all nations. let me next call attention to some of the predicted deliverers for whom the nations have been looking. nothing found in the study of the religious history of mankind is more striking than the universality of a vague expectation of coming messiahs. according to the teachings of hinduism there have been nine incarnations of vishnu, of whom buddha was admitted to be one. but there is to be a tenth avatar who shall yet come at a time of great and universal wickedness, and shall establish a kingdom of righteousness on the earth. some years ago the rev. dr. john newton, of lahore, took advantage of this prediction and wrote a tract showing that the true deliverer and king of righteousness had already come in the person of jesus christ. so striking seemed the fulfilment viewed from the hindu standpoint, that some hundreds in the city of rampore were led to a faith in christ as an avatar of vishnu. a remarkable illustration of a felt want of something brighter and more hopeful is seen in the legends and predictions of the teutonic and norse religions. the faiths of all the teutonic races were of the sternest character, and it was such a cultus that made them the terror of europe. they worshipped their grim deities in the congenial darkness of deep forest shades. there was no joy, no sense of divine pity, no peace. they were conscious of deep and unutterable wants which were never met. they yearned for a golden age and the coming of a deliverer. baldr, one of the sons of woden, had passed away, but prophecy promised that he should return to deliver mankind from sorrow and from death. "when the twilight of the gods should have passed away, then amid prodigies and the crash and decay of a wicked world, in glory and joy he should return, and a glorious kingdom should be renewed." or, in the words of one of their own poets: "then unsown the swath shall flourish and back come baldr; with him hoder shall dwell in hropter's palace, shrines of gods the great and holy, there the just shall joy forever, and in pleasure pass the ages." the well-known prediction of the sibyl of cumæ bears testimony to the same expectation of mankind. the genuine sibylline oracles were in existence anterior to the birth of christ. virgil died forty years before that event, and the well-known eclogue _pollio_ is stated by him to be a transcript of the prophetic carmen of the sibyl of cumæ. but for the fact that it has a roman instead of a jewish coloring, it might almost seem messianic. the oracle speaks thus: "the last era, the subject of the sibyl song of cumæ, has now arrived; the great series of ages begins anew. the virgin returns--returns the reign of saturn. the progeny from heaven now descends. be thou propitious to the infant boy by whom first the iron age shall expire, and the golden age over the whole world shall commence. whilst thou, o pollio, art consul, this glory of our age shall be made manifest, and the celestial months begin their revolutions. under thy auspices whatever vestiges of our guilt remain, shall, by being atoned for, redeem the earth from fear forever. he shall partake of the life of the gods. he shall reign over a world in peace with his father's virtues. the earth, sweet boy, as her first-fruits, shall pour thee forth spontaneous flowers. the serpent shall die: the poisonous and deceptive tree shall die. all things, heavens and earth and the regions of the sea, rejoice at the advent of this age. the time is now at hand."[ ] forty years later the christ appeared. whether virgil had been influenced by hebrew prophecy it is impossible to say. it may be that the so-called sibyl had caught something of the same hope which led the magi of the east to the cradle of the infant messiah, but in any case the eclogue voiced a vague expectation which prevailed throughout the roman empire. in modern as well as in ancient times nations and races have looked for deliverers or for some brighter hope. missionaries found the hawaiians dissatisfied and hopeless; their idols had been thrown away. the karens were waiting for the arrival of the messengers of the truth. the mexicans, at the time of the spanish conquest, were looking for a celestial benefactor. the very last instance of an anxious looking for a deliverer is that which quite recently has so sadly misled our sioux indians. mankind have longed not only for deliverers, but also for _mediators_. the central truth of the christian faith is its divine sympathy and help brought down into our human nature. in other words, mediation--god with man. the faith of the hindus, lacking this element, was cold and remorseless. siva, the god of destruction, and his hideous and blood-thirsty wives, had become chief objects of worship, only because destruction and death led to life again. but there was no divine help. the gods were plied with sharp bargains in sacrifice and merit; they were appeased; they were cajoled; but there was no love. but the time came when the felt want of men for something nearer and more sympathetic led to the doctrine of vishnu's incarnations: first grotesque deliverers in animal shapes, but at length the genial and sympathetic krishna. he was not the highest model of character, but he was human. he had associated with the rustics and frolicked around their camp-fires. he became arjuna's charioteer and rendered him counsel and help in that low disguise. he was a sharer of burdens--a counsellor and friend. and he became the most popular of all hindu deities. the important point in all this is that this old system, so self-sufficient and self-satisfied, should have groped its way toward a divine sympathizer in human form, a living and helpful god among men. hinduism had not been wanting in anthropomorphisms: it had imagined the presence of god in a thousand visible objects which rude men could appreciate. trees, apes, cattle, crocodiles, and serpents had been invested with an in-dwelling spirit, but it had found no mediator. men had been trying by all manner of devices to sublimate their souls, and climb godward by their own self-mortification; but they had realized no divine help. to meet this want they developed a veritable doctrine of faith. they had learned from buddhism the great influence and power of one who could instruct and counsel and encourage. some oriental scholars think that they had also learned many things from christian sources.[ ] however that may be--from whatever source they had gained this suggestion--they found it to accord with the deepest wants of the human heart. and the splendid tribute which that peculiar development bears to the great fundamental principles of the christian faith, is all the more striking for the fact that it grew up in spite of the adamantine convervatism of a system, all of whose teachings had been in a precisely opposite direction. it was old hinduism coming out of its intrenchments to pay honor to the true way of eternal life. probably the doctrine first sprang from a felt want, but was subsequently reinforced by christian influences. the late professor banergea, in his "aryan witness," gives what must be regarded as at least a very plausible account of the last development of the so-called krishna cult, and of this doctrine of faith. he thinks that it borrowed very much from western monotheists. he quotes a passage from the narada pancharata, which represents a pious brahman of the eighth century a.d., as having been sent to the far northwest, where "white-faced monotheists" would teach him a pure faith in the supreme vishnu or krishna. he quotes also, from another and later authority, a dialogue in which this same brahman reproved vyasa for not having celebrated the praises of krishna as supreme. this professor banergea regarded as proof that previously to the eighth century krishna has been worshipped only as a demigod. but the whole drift of the old brahmanical doctrines had been toward sacrifice as a debt and credit system, and that plan had failed. it had impoverished the land and ruined the people, and had brought no spiritual comfort. men had found that they could not buy salvation. moreover, buddhism and other forms of rationalistic philosophy, after prolonged and thorough experiment, had also failed. the hindu race had found that as salvation could not be purchased with sacrifices, neither could it be reasoned out by philosophy, nor worked out by austerities. it must come from a divine helper. thus, when narada had wearied himself with austerities--so we read in the narada pancharata--he heard a voice from heaven saying: "if krishna is worshipped, what is the use of austerities? if krishna is _not_ worshipped, what is the use of austerities? if krishna is within and without, what is the use of austerities? if krishna is _not_ within and without, what is the use of austerities? stop, o brahman; why do you engage in austerities? go quickly and get matured faith in krishna, as described by the sect of vishnu who snaps the fetters of the world." "we are thus led," says professor banergea, "to the very genesis of the doctrine of faith in connection with hinduism. and it was admittedly not an excogitation of the brahmanical mind itself. narada had brought it from the land of 'the whites,' where he got an insight into vishnu as the saviour which was not attainable elsewhere." and he then persuaded the author of one of the puranas to recount the "lord's acts"--in other words, the history of krishna, with the enforcement of faith in his divinity: "change the name," says banergea, "and it is almost christian doctrine."[ ] it is an interesting fact that buddhism, in its progress through the centuries, has also wrought out a doctrine of faith by a similar process. it began as a form of atheistic rationalism. its most salient feature was staunch and avowed independence of all help from gods or men. it emphasized in every way the self-sufficiency of one's own mind and will to work out emancipation. but when buddha died no enlightened counsellor was left, and another buddha could not be expected for four thousand years. the multitudes of his disciples felt that, theory or no theory, there was an awful void. the bald and bleak system could not stand on such a basis. the human heart cried out for some divine helper, some one to whom man could pray. fortunately there were supposed to be predestined buddhas.--"bodisats"--then living in some of the heavens, and as they were preparing themselves to become incarnate buddhas, they must already be interested in human affairs, and especially the maitreyeh, who would appear on earth next in order. so buddhism, in spite of its own most pronounced dogmas, began to pray to an unseen being, began to depend and trust, began to lay hold on divine sympathy, and look to heaven for help. by the seventh century of our era the northern buddhists, whether influenced in part by the contact of christianity, or not, had subsidized more than one of these coming buddhas. they had a complete trinity. one person of this trinity, the everywhere present avolokitesvara, became the chief object of worship, the divine helper on whom all dependence was placed. this mythical being was really the god of northern buddhism in the middle ages, and is the popular sympathizer of all mongolian races to the present day. in thibet he is supposed to be incarnate in the grand lama. in china he is incarnate in quanyen, the goddess of mercy. with sailors she is the goddess of the sea. in many temples she is invoked by the sick, the halt, the blind, the impoverished. her images are sometimes represented with a hundred arms to symbolize her omnipotence to save. beal says of this, as banergea says of the faith element of the krishna cult, that it is wholly alien to the religion whose name it bears: it is not buddhism. he thinks that it has been greatly affected by christian influences. another mythical being who is worshipped as god in china and japan, is amitabba, a dhyana or celestial buddha, who in long kalpas of time has acquired merit enough for the whole world. two of the twelve buddhist sects of japan have abandoned every principle taught by gautama, except his ethics, and have cast themselves upon the free grace of amitabba. they have exchanged the old atheism for theism. they have given up all dependence on merit-making and self-help; they now rely wholly on the infinite merit of another. their religious duties are performed out of gratitude for a free salvation wrought out for them, and no longer as the means of gaining heaven. they live by a faith which works by love. they expect at death an immediate transfer to a permanent heaven, instead of a series of transmigrations. their buddha is not dead, but he ever liveth to receive into his heavenly realm all who accept his grace, and to admit them to his divine fellowship forever. by a direct and complete imputation they are made sharers in his righteousness, and become joint heirs in his heavenly inheritance. whatever the genesis of these strange cults which now prevail as the chief religious beliefs among the mongolian races, they are marvellously significant. they have come almost to the very threshold of christianity. what they need is the true saviour and not a myth, a living faith and not an empty delusion. nevertheless, they prove that faith in a divine salvation is the only religion that can meet the wants of the human soul. there is something very encouraging in these approaches toward the great doctrines of salvation. i do not believe that these sects have come so near to the true messiah without the influence of the spirit of god, and without more or less light from christian sources. but partly they have been moved by those wants which hinduism and buddhism could not satisfy. the principle of their faith is worthy of recognition, and the missionary should say as paul said: "whom ye ignorantly worship, him declare i unto you." it is a very significant fact that most of the brahmo somajes of india have adopted jesus christ as the greatest of the world's prophets. chunder sen sometimes spoke of him as a devout christian would speak. the arya somaj would not own his name, but it has graced its hindu creed with many of his essential doctrines. quite recently a new organ of the brahmo somaj, published at hyderabad, has announced as its leading object, "to harmonize pure hinduism and pure christianity, with christ as the chief corner-stone." in the exact words of this paper, called _the harmony_, its aim is "to preach christ as the eternal son of god, as the logos in all prophets and saints before and after the incarnation, as the incarnate, perfect righteousness by whose obedience man is made righteous.... christ is the reconciliation of man with man, and of all men with god, the harmony of humanity with humanity, and of all humanity with divinity." this prospectus condemns the average christianity of foreigners in india--the over-reaching, "beef-eating, beer-drinking" anglo-saxon type, "which despises the hindu scriptures and yet belies its own;" but it exalts the spotless and exalted christ and builds all the hopes of humanity upon him. how will the mere philosopher explain this wonderful power of personality over men of all races, if it be not divine? but perhaps the most remarkable tribute to the transcendent character of christ is seen in the fact that _all_ sects of religionists, the most fanatical and irrational, seem to claim him as in some sense their own. mormonism, even when plunging into the lowest depths of degradation, has always claimed to rest on the redemption of jesus christ. mohammedanism--even the koran itself--has always acknowledged christ as the only sinless prophet. all the others, from adam to mohammed, stand convicted of heinous offences, and they will not reappear on earth; while he who knew no sin shall, according to mohammedan prophecy, yet come again to judge the earth. the worshippers of krishna, some of whom are found among us in this land, claim christ as one of the true avatars of vishnu, and heartily commend his character and his teachings. our western buddhists are just now emphasizing the idea that christ was the sacred buddha of palestine, that he studied and taught "the eight-fold path," became an arahat, and attained nirvana, and that the christian church has only misrepresented his transcendent wisdom and purity. the ablest tract on theosophy that i have yet seen is entitled "theosophy the religion of jesus." how marvellous is all this--that theosophists, aryas, brahmos, buddhists, moslems, though they hate christianity and fight it to the death--still bow before the mild sceptre of christ. as the central light of the diamond shines alike through every facet and angle, so his doctrine and character are claimed as the glory of every creed. many types of heathen faiths honor him, and many schools of philosophic scepticism. some of the noblest tributes to his unearthly purity have been given by men who rejected his divinity. in spite of itself the most earnest thought of many races, many systems, many creeds, has crystallized around him. history has made him its moral centre, the calendar of the nations begins with him, and the anniversary of his birth is the festival of the civilized world. the prediction that all nations should call him blessed is already fulfilled. footnotes: [footnote : it is worthy of note that both the pentateuch and most heathen traditions agree, as to the order or stages of creation, with the geological record of modern science.] [footnote : rawlinson: _ancient monarchies_.] [footnote : ebrard: _apologetics_, vol. ii.] [footnote : williams: _indian wisdom_, p. .] [footnote : de quatrefages: _the human species_, p. .] [footnote : _christ and other masters_, p. .] [footnote : _manual of buddhism_, p. .] [footnote : ebrard: _apologetics_, vol. ii.] [footnote : ibid.] [footnote : _indian wisdom_, pp. , .] [footnote : ebrard: _apologetics_, vol. ii.] [footnote : ebrard: _apologetics_, vol. iii.] [footnote : de pressensé: _the ancient world and christianity_, p. .] [footnote : schoolcraft: _notes on the iroquois_.] [footnote : quoted by morgan in _st. paul in britain_, p. .] [footnote : the full development of the doctrine was not reached till far on in the christian centuries. hardwick: _christ and other masters_, p. .] [footnote : _aryan witness_, closing chapter.] lecture ix. ethical tendencies of the eastern and the western philosophies it is not my purpose to discuss the comparative merits of philosophic systems, but only to consider some practical bearings of philosophy, ancient and modern, upon vital questions of morals and religion. there has been no lack of speculation in the world. for ages the most gifted minds have labored and struggled to solve the mysteries of the universe and of its author. but they have missed the all-important fact that with the heart, as well as with the intellect, men are to be learners of the highest wisdom, and that they are to listen to the voice of god not only in nature, but in the soul. so the old questions, still unsolved, are ever asked anew. the same wearying researches and the same confident assertions, to be replaced by others equally confident, are found both in the ancient and in the modern history of mankind. by wisdom the present generation has come no nearer to finding out god than men of the remotest times. the cheerless conclusion of agnosticism was reached in india twenty-four centuries ago, and confucius expressed it exactly when he said, with reference to the future, "we do not know life; how can we know death?" this same dubious negation probably has the largest following of all types of unbelief in our time. it is not atheism: that, to the great mass of men, is unthinkable; it is easier to assume simply that "we do not know." yet almost every form of agnosticism, ancient or modern, claims to possess a vast amount of very positive knowledge. speculative hypothesis never employed the language of dogmatic assurance so confidently as now. even theosophic occultism speaks of itself as "science." that which strikes one first of all in the history of philosophy is the similarity between ancient and modern speculations upon the great mysteries of the world. . notice with what accord various earlier and later theories dispense with real and personal creatorship in the origin of the universe. the atomic theory of creation is by no means a modern invention, and so far as evolution is connected with that hypothesis, evolution is very old. mr. herbert spencer states his theory thus: "first in the order of evolution is the formation of simple mechanical aggregates of atoms, e.g., molecules, spheres, systems; then the evolution of more complex aggregations or organisms: then the evolution of the highest product of organization, thought; and lastly, the evolution of the complex relations which exist between thinking organisms, or society with its regulative laws, both civil and moral." between these stages, he tells us, "there is no fixed line of demarcation.... the passage from one to the other is continuous, the transition from organization to thought being mediated by the nerve-system, in the molecular changes of which are to be found the mechanical correlates and equivalents of all conscious processes." it will be seen that this comprehensive statement is designed to cover, if not the creation, at least the creative processes of all things in the universe of matter and in the universe of thought. mr. spencer does not allude here to the question of a first cause back of the molecules and their movements, though he is generally understood to admit that such a cause may exist. he does not in express terms deny that at some stage in this development there may have been introduced a divine spark of immortal life direct from the creator's hand. he even maintains that "the conscious soul is not the product of a collocation of material particles, but is in the deepest sense a divine effluence."[ ] yet he seems to get on without any very necessary reliance upon such an intervention, since the development from the atom to the civilized man is "a continuous process," and throughout the whole course from molecule to thought and moral and social law, "there are no lines of demarcation." he leaves it for the believer in theistic evolution to show when and where and how the divine effluence is introduced. similar to this was the theory which the hindu kanada propounded more than two thousand years ago. as translated and interpreted by colebrook, kanada taught that two earthly atoms concurring by an unseen and peculiar virtue called "adrishta," or by the will of god, or by time, or by competent cause, constitute a double atom of earth; and by concourse of three binary atoms a tertiary atom is produced, and by concourse of four triple atoms a quaternary, and so on.[ ] thus the great earth is produced. the system of lucretius was much the same, though neither lucretius nor spencer has recognized any such force as adrishta.[ ] what seems to distinguish mr. spencer's theory is the extension of this evolutionary process to mind and spirit in the development of thought and feeling. he does not say that mind resides in the molecules, but that their movements attend (if they do not originate and control) the operation of the mind. professor leconte seems to go farther when he says that "in animals brain-changes are in all cases the cause of psychical phenomena; in man alone, and only in his higher activities, psychic changes precede and determine brain changes."[ ] we shall see farther on that mr. spencer, in his theory of intuition, admits this same principle by logical inference, and traces even man's highest faculties to brain or nerve changes in our ancestors. kanada also held that mind, instead of being a purely spiritual power, is atomic or molecular, and by logical deduction the mental activities must depend on the condition of the molecules. ram chandra bose, in expounding kanada's theory, says: "the general idea of mind is that _which is subordinate to substance_, being also found in intimate relations in an atom, and it is itself material." the early buddhist philosophers also taught that physical elements are among the five "skandas" which constitute the phenomenal soul. democritus and lucretius regarded the mind as atomic, and the primal "monad" of leibnitz was the living germ--smallest of things--which enters into all visible and invisible creations, and which is itself all-potential; it is a living microcosm; it is an immortal soul. these various theories are not parallels, but they have striking similarities. and i believe that professor tyndall, in his famous belfast address, virtually acknowledges lucretius as the father of the modern atomic theories. whether lucretius borrowed them from india, we shall not stop to inquire, but we may safely assert that modern philosophers, german, french or english, have borrowed them from one or both. it is not my purpose to discuss the truth or falsity of the atomic theory, or the relation of mind to the movements of molecules in the brain; i simply point out the fact that this is virtually an old hypothesis; and i leave each one to judge how great a degree of light it has shed upon the path of human life in the ages of the past, how far it availed to check the decline of greece and rome, and how much of real moral or intellectual force it has imparted to the hindu race. the credulous masses of men should not be left to suppose that these are new speculations, nor to imagine that that which has been so barren in the past can become a gospel of hope in the present and the future. the constant tendency with young students of philosophy, is to conclude that the hypotheses which they espouse with so much enthusiasm are new revelations in metaphysics and ethics as well as in physical science--compared with which the christian cultus of eighteen centuries is now effete and doomed. it is well, therefore, to know that so far from these speculations having risen upon the ruins of christianity, christianity rose upon the ruins of these speculations as, in modified forms, they had been profoundly elaborated in the philosophies of greece and rome. lucretius was born a century before the christian era, and democritus, whose disciple he became, lived earlier still. kanada, the atomist philosopher of india, lived three centuries before democritus. the early christian fathers were perfectly familiar with the theories of lucretius. we are indebted to jerome for many of the facts which we possess concerning him. nearly all the great leaders of the church, from origen to ambrose, had studied greek philosophy, some of them had been its devotees before their conversion to the christian faith. there is at least incidental evidence that the apostle paul was versed in the current philosophy as well as in the poetry of greece. these great men--great in natural powers and in philosophic training--had seen just what the speculations of democritus, lucretius, zeno, socrates, plato, and aristotle could do; they had indeed undermined the low superstitions of their time, but they had proved powerless to regenerate society, or even relieve the individual pessimism and despair of men like seneca, pliny, or marcus aurelius. lucretius, wholly or partially insane, died by his own hand. the light of philosophy left the roman empire, as uhlhorn and others have clearly shown, under the shadow of a general despair. and it was in the midst of that gloom that the light of christianity shone forth. augustine, who had fathomed various systems and believed in them, tells us that it was the philosophy which appeared in the writings and in the life of the apostle paul which finally wrought the great change in his career. plato had done much; paul and the cross of christ did infinitely more. the development of higher forms of life from lower by natural selection, as set forth by the late charles darwin, has been supposed to be an entirely new system. yet the chinese claim to have held a theory of development which represents the mountains as having once been covered by the sea. when the waters subsided small herbs sprang up, which in the course of ages developed into trees. worms and insects also appeared spontaneously, like lice upon a living body; and these after a long period became larger animals--beetles became tortoises; worms, serpents. the mantis was developed into an ape, and certain apes became at length hairless. one of these by accident struck fire with a flint. the cooking of food at length followed the use of fire, and the apes, by being better nourished, were finally changed into men. whether this theory is ancient or modern, it is eminently chinese, and it shows the natural tendency of men to ascribe the germs of life to spontaneous generation, because they fail to see the great first cause who produces them. the one thing which is noticeable in nearly all human systems of religion and philosophy, is that they have no clear and distinct idea of creatorship. they are systems of evolution; in one way or another they represent the world as having _grown_. generally they assume the eternity of matter, and often they are found to regard the present cosmos as only a certain stage in an endless circle of changes from life to death and from death to life. the world rebuilds itself from the wreck and débris of former worlds. it is quite consistent with many of these systems that there should be gods, but as a rule they recognize no god. while all races of men have shown traces of a belief in a supreme creator and ruler far above their inferior deities, yet their philosophers, if they had any, have sooner or later bowed him out. . most systems of philosophic speculation, ancient and modern, tend to weaken the sense of moral accountability. first, the atomic theory, which we have just considered, leads to this result by the molecular, and therefore purely physical, origin which it assigns to moral acts and conditions. we have already alluded to herbert spencer's theory of intuition. in the "data of ethics," page , he says: "i believe that the experiences of utility, organized and consolidated through all past generations of the human race, have been producing corresponding nervous modifications, which by continued transmission and accumulation _have become in us certain faculties of moral intuition_, certain emotions corresponding to right and wrong conduct which have no apparent basis in the individual experiences of utility." it appears from this statement that, so far as we are concerned, our moral intuitions are the results of "nervous modifications," if not in ourselves, at least in our ancestors, so that the controlling influence which rules, and which ought to rule, our conduct is a nervous, and therefore a physical, condition which we have inherited. it follows, therefore, that every man's conscience or inherited moral sense is bound by a necessity of his physical constitution. and if this be so, why is there not a wide door here opened for theories of moral insanity, which might come at length to cast their shield over all forms and grades of crime? it is easy to see that, whatever theory of creation may be admitted as to the origin of the human soul, this hypothesis rules out the idea of an original moral likeness of the human spirit to a supreme moral ruler of the universe, in whom righteousness dwells as an eternal principle; and it finds no higher source for what we call conscience than the accumulated experience of our ancestors. the materialistic view recently presented by dr. henry maudsley, in an article entitled, "the physical basis of mind"--an article which seems to follow mr. spencer very closely--would break down all moral responsibility. his theory that true character depends upon what he calls the reflex action of the nerve-cells; that acts of reason or conscience which have been put forth so many times that, in a sense, they perform themselves without any exercise of consciousness, are the best; that a man is an instinctive thief or liar, or a born poet, because the proper nervous structure has been fixed in his constitution by his ancestors; that any moral act, so long as it is conscious, is not ingrained in character, and the more conscious it is, the more dubious it is; and that "virtue itself is not safely lodged until it has become a habit"--in other words, till it has become an automatic and unconscious operation of the nerve-cells, such a doctrine, in its extreme logical results, destroys all voluntary and conscious loyalty to principle, and renders man a mere automatic machine. on the other hand mr. a.r. wallace, in combating the theory that the moral sense in man is based on the utility experienced by our ancestors, relates the following incident: "a number of prisoners taken during the santal insurrection were allowed to go free on parole, to work at a certain spot for wages. after some time cholera attacked them and they were obliged to leave, but everyone of them returned and gave up his earnings to the guard. two hundred savages with money in their girdles walked thirty miles back to prison rather than break their word. my own experience with savages has furnished me with similar, although less severely tested, instances; and we cannot avoid asking how it is that, in these few cases 'experience of utility' have left such an overpowering impression, while in others they have left none.... the intuitional theory which i am now advocating explains this by the supposition that there is a feeling--a sense of right and wrong--in our nature antecedent to, and independent of, experiences of utility."[ ] . theories which confound the origin of man with that of brutes, whether in the old doctrine of transmigration or in at least some of the theories of evolution, involve a contradiction in man's ethical history. the confusion shown in the buddhist jatakas, wherein buddha, in the previous existences which prepared him for his great and holy mission, was sometimes a saint and sometimes a gambler and a thief, is scarcely greater, from an ethical point of view, than that which evolution encounters in bridging the chasm between brute instinct and the lofty ethics of the perfected man. the lower grades of animal life know no other law than the instinct which prompts them to devour the types which are lower still. this destruction of the weaker by the stronger pervades the whole brute creation; it is a life of violence throughout. on the other hand, all weaker creatures, exposed to such ravages, protect themselves universally by deception. the grouse shields her young from hawks or other carnivora by running in the opposite direction, with the assumed appearance of a broken wing. the flat fish, to escape its mortal enemies, lies upon the bottom of the stream, scarcely distinguishable in color or appearance from the sand which constitutes its bed. nature seems to aid and abet its falsehood by the very form which has been assigned to it. and so also the gift of transparency helps the chameleon in seeming to be a part of the green plant, or the brown bark, upon which it lies. and professor drummond, in his interesting account of his african travels, describes certain insects which render themselves indistinguishable either in color or in form from the branchings and exfoliation of certain grasses upon which they feed. deception therefore becomes a chief resource of the weak, while violence is that of the strong. and those which are in the middle of the scale practise both. there are still other animals which are invested with attributes of all that is meanest and most contemptible in character. the sly and insinuating snake gliding noiselessly toward the victim of its envenomed sting--the spider which spreads forth its beautiful and alluring net, sparkling with morning dew, while it lurks in a secret corner, ready to fall upon its luckless prey--the sneaking and repulsive hyena, too cowardly to attack the strong and vigorous, but waiting for the crippled, the helpless, the sick, and dying--if all these are in the school of preparation for that noble stage of manhood when truth and righteousness shall be its crown of glory, then, where is the turning-point? where do violence, meanness, and deception gradually beam forth into benevolence and truth? "the spider kills the fly. the wiser sphinx stings the poor spider in the centre nerve, which paralyzes only; lays her eggs, and buries with them with a loving care the spider, powerless but still alive, to warm them unto life, and afterward to serve as food among the little ones. this is the lesson nature has to teach, 'woe to the conquered, victory to the strong.' and so through all the ages, step by step, the stronger and the craftier replaced the weaker, and increased and multiplied. and in the end the outcome of the strife was man, who had dominion over all, and preyed on all things, and the stronger man trampled his weaker brother under foot." mr. john fiske maintains that mankind, during the previous bestial period, were compelled like all other animals to maraud and destroy, as a part of the plan of natural selection in securing the survival of the fittest; the victories of the strong over the weak were the steps and stages of the animal creation in its general advancement. and he further states that, even after man had entered upon the heritage of his manhood, it was still for a time the true end of his being to maraud as before and to despoil all men whose weakness placed them in his power. it was only thus that the steady improvement of the race could be secured; and in that view it was man's duty to consult the dictates of selfishness and cruelty rather than those of kindness. to use mr. fiske's own words, "if we could put a moral interpretation upon events which antedated morality as we understand it, we should say it was their duty to fight; and the reverence accorded to the chieftain who murdered most successfully in behalf of his clansmen was well deserved."[ ] much to the same effect writes professor leconte. "in organic evolution the weak, the sick, the helpless, the unfit in anyway, perish, _and ought to perish_, because this is the most efficient way of strengthening the _blood or physical nature_ of the species, and thus of carrying forward evolution. in human evolution (which occurs at an advanced stage) the weak, the helpless, the sick, the old, the unfit in anyway, are sustained, _and ought to be sustained_, because sympathy, love, pity, strengthen the _spirit and moral nature_ of the race."[ ] there is this difference, however, between this statement and that of mr. fiske, that it does not indicate at what point "human evolution" begins; it does not expressly declare that the subject of evolution, even after he has become a man, is still for a time in duty bound to fight in the interest of selfishness and natural selection. still he reverses the "ought" as he advances from organic to human evolution. according to both authors, when, in view of new environments and new social requirements, it became more advantageous to each individual man that he should cease to maraud, should learn to regard the rights of others, should respect the family relation, and subordinate his selfish interest to the general good; then altruism dawned upon the world, moral principle appeared, and the angel of benevolence and love became enshrined in the human breast. step by step this favored being, the ideal of natural selection in all her plans, advanced to a stage in which it became incumbent to even subordinate self to the good of others, not only to spare the weak but to tenderly care for them, and even to love those who have treated him with unkindness and abuse. while in the early stages the law of life and progress had been the sacrifice of others for selfish good; now the crowning glory consists in self-sacrifice for the good of all but self. the logical result of this reasoning cannot escape the notice of any who carefully consider it. if, for any reason, any community of human beings should decline in moral and intellectual character until they should finally reach the original state of savagery, it would again become their duty to lay aside all high ethical claims as no longer suited to their condition. the extraneous complications which had grown out of mere social order having passed away, rectitude also would pass away; benevolence, philanthropy, humanity, would be wholly out of place, and however lovely christian charity might appear from a sentimental point of view, it would be ill adapted to that condition of society. in such a state of things the strong and vigorous, if sacrificing themselves to the weak, would only perpetuate weakness, and it would be their duty rather to extirpate them, and by the survival only of the fittest to regain the higher civilization. i state the case in all its naked deformity, because it shows the confusion and darkness of a world in which god is not the moral centre. and here, as already stated, modern speculation joins hands with the old heathen systems. according to hindu as well as buddhist philosophy, this retrograde process might not only carry civilized man back to savagery, but might place him again in the category of brutes. if tendencies control all things and have no limit, why might they not remand the human being to lower and lower forms, until he should reach again the status of the mollusk? now, over against all the systems which make mind either a product or a phenomenon of matter, we have the scriptural doctrine that man was created in the image of god. this fact explains the differences which distinguish him from the beasts of the field; for even in his lowest estate he is amenable to the principle of right and wrong. paul taught, in the first chapter of his epistle to the romans, that when men descend to the grade of beasts--and he shows that they may descend even below the dignity of beasts--so far from becoming exempt from moral claims, they fall under increased condemnation. the old hindu systems taught that there can be no release from the consequences of evil acts. they traced them from one rebirth to another in kharma, as modern speculation traces them physically in heredity. the one saw no relief except in the changes of endless transmigrations, the other finds it only in the gradual readjustment of the nerve-cells. but we know by observation and experience that the spiritual power of the holy ghost can transform character at once. no fact in the history of christianity is more firmly or more widely established than this. the nerve-tissues to the contrary notwithstanding, the human soul may be born again. the persecuting saul may become at once a chief apostle. the blasphemer, the sot, the debauchee, the murderer, may be transformed to a meek and sincere christian. millions of the heathen, with thousands of years of savage and bestial heredity behind them, have become pure and loyal disciples of the spotless redeemer. the fierce heathen africaner, as well as the dissolute jerry mccauley, have illustrated this transforming power. professor huxley and others, in our time, are trying to elaborate some basis of ethics independently of religion. but, as a matter of fact, these very men are living on conventional moral promptings and restraints derived from the bible. the best basis of morals yet known is that of christianity, and it is from its high and ennobling cultus that even the enemies of the truth are deriving their highest inspiration. mr. goldwin smith, in an able article published in the _forum_ of april, , on the question, "will morality survive faith?" shows at least that the best ethics which the world now has are the outcome of religious belief and of christian belief, and he leads the minds of his readers to gravely doubt whether a gospel of agnostic evolution could ever produce those forces of moral prompting and restraint which the centuries of christianity have developed. he does not hesitate to assert that those who hold and advocate the modern anti-theistic speculations are themselves living upon the influence of a christian cultus which has survived their faith. a true test of their principles could only be made when a generation should appear upon which no influence of christian parents still remained, and in a society in which christian sentiment no longer survived.[ ] it may be said that the _truth_ must be received without regard to the results which may follow. this is admitted, but the same cannot be said of _theories_. if there is perfect harmony between all truths in the physical and the moral world, then all these should have their influence in reaching final conclusions. . the philosophies, ancient and modern, have agreed in lowering the common estimate of man as man; they have exerted an influence the opposite of that in which the new testament pleads for a common and an exalted brotherhood of the race. hinduism raised the brahman almost to the dignity of the gods, and debased the sudra to a grade but a little higher than the brute. buddha declared that his teachings were for the wise, and not for the simple. the philosophers of greece and rome, even the best of them, regarded the helot and the slave as of an inferior grade of beings--even though occasionally a slave by his superior force rose to a high degree. in like manner the whole tendency of modern evolution is to degrade the dignity and sacredness of humanity. it is searching for "missing links;" it measures the skulls of degraded races for proofs of its theories. it has travellers and adventurers on the lookout for tribes who have no conception of god, and no religious rites; it searches caves and dredges lakes for historical traces of man when he had but recently learned to "stand upright upon his hind legs." the lower the types that can be found, the more valuable are they for the purposes required. all this tends to the dishonoring of the inferior types of men. wherever christianity had changed the old estimates of the philosophers, and had led to the nobler sentiment that god had made of one blood all nations and races, and had stamped his own image on them all, and even redeemed them all by the sacrifice of his son, the speculations of sceptical biology have in a measure counteracted its benign influence. they have fostered the contempt of various classes for a dark skin or an inferior civilization. they indirectly encourage those who, with little merit of their own, speak contemptuously of the "buck indian," "the nigger," the "heathen chinee." they encourage the "hoodlum," and so far as they have any influence, give an implied sanction to much unrighteous legislation. even peschel, who will not be suspected of any bias toward christianity, has said on this subject: "this dark side of the life of uncivilized nations has induced barbarous and inhuman settlers in transoceanic regions to assume as their own a right to cultivate as their own the inheritance of the aborigines, and to extol the murder of races as a triumph of civilization. other writers, led away by darwinian dogmas, fancied that they had discovered populations which had, as it were, remained in a former animal condition for the instruction of our times." and he adds: "thus in the words of a 'history of creation,' in the taste now prevalent, 'in southern asia and the east of africa men live in hordes, mostly climbing trees and eating fruit, unacquainted with fire, and using no weapons but stones and clubs, after the manner of the higher apes.' it can be shown," he continues, "that these statements are derived from the writings of a learned scholar of bonn on the condition of savage nations, the facts of which are based either on the depositions of an african slave of the doko tribe, a dwarfish people in the south of shoa, or on the assertions of bengalese planters, or perhaps on the observations of a sporting adventurer, that a mother and daughter, and at another time a man and woman, were found in india in a semi-animal condition. on the other hand, not only have neither nations, nor even hordes, in an ape-like condition ever been encountered by any trustworthy traveller of modern times, but even those races which in the first superficial descriptions were ranked far below our grade of civilization have, on nearer acquaintance, been placed much nearer the civilized nations. no portion of the human race has yet been discovered which does not possess a more or less rich vocabulary, rules of language, artificially pointed weapons, and various implements, as well as the art of kindling fire.[ ]" the assertion has been made again and again that races are found which are possessed of no knowledge or conception of deity, but this assumption has been thoroughly refuted by max müller and many others. there is a very general assumption abroad in the world that bigotry and even bias of judgment belong exclusively to the advocates of religious truth, and that the teachers of agnostic science are, in the nature of the case, impartial and therefore authoritative. but the generalizations which have been massed by non-christian anthropologists and sociologists are often gleaned and culled under the strongest subserviency to some favorite hypothesis, and that on the most superficial observation and from the most unreliable authorities. de quatrefages, an anthropologist of profound learning, and certainly with no predilections for christian theism, in speaking of the alleged evidences given by sir john lubbock and saint-hilaire to show that many races of men have been found destitute of any conception of deity, says: "when the writers against whom i am now arguing have to choose between two evidences, the one attesting, and the other denying, the existence of religious belief in a population, it is always the latter which they seem to think should be accepted. more often than not, they do not even mention the contrary evidences, however definite, however authentic they may be. now, it is evidently much _easier not to see_ than to _discover_ that which may be in so many ways rendered inappreciable to our eyes. when a traveller states that he has proved the existence of religious sentiments in a population which by others has been declared destitute of them, when he gives precise details upon such a delicate question, he has unquestionably at least probability in his favor. i see nothing to authorize this rejection of _positive evidence_ and unconditional acceptance of _negative evidence_. this, however, is too often the case. i might justify this imputation by taking one by one almost all the examples of so-called atheist populations pointed out by different authors."[ ] de quatrefages then proceeds to show how, with respect to american tribes, robertson is quoted while d'orbigny is passed in silence, even though he has by the testimony of many authors disproved the statements of robertson; how baegert's negative and sweeping statements in regard to the california tribes are accepted, while the very specific testimony of de mofras in regard both to the fact and to the nature of their worship is rejected. in relation to the mincopies, mouat (negative) is adopted against symes and day. the hottentots are adjudged atheistic on the testimony of le vaillant, in spite of the united witness of kolben, saar, tachard, boeving, and campbell. the kaffirs are declared to be destitute of religion on the statements of burchel, while livingstone and cazalis have given clear accounts of the religion of the different kaffir tribes. in a similar manner professor flint, of edinburgh, arraigns sir john lubbock and certain other advocates of the atheistic theory concerning savage tribes, for the partiality of their selection of testimony and for the superficial evidence which they accept when favorable to their theories. after reviewing lubbock's wholesale quotations concerning the indian tribes of brazil, he says, "these are sir john lubbock's instances from south american tribes. but i find that they are all either erroneous or insufficiently established." and he gives many counter-proofs. "it will never do," he says, "to believe such sweeping statements--sweeping negatives--merely because they happen to be printed." farther on he adds: "but i think that he (lubbock) might have told us that humboldt, whose travels in south america were so extensive, whose explorations were so varied, scientific, and successful, and who certainly was uninfluenced by traditional theological beliefs, _found no tribes and peoples without a religion_; and that prince max von neuwied tells us that in all his many and wide wanderings in brazil he had found no tribes the members of which did not give manifest signs of religious feelings." in the appendix of the book from which these extracts are made, professor flint says: "no one, i think, who has not a theory to maintain can consider the circumstances in which most of the brazilian indian tribes are placed without coming to the conclusion that they must have sunk from a higher intellectual and religious level." i have dwelt at length upon these arraignments of the careless and biased utterances of supposed scientists, because it is so much the fashion of our times to support certain theories of anthropology by massing the supposed evidences of man's degradation found, even now, in the environments of savage life. many readers, apparently dazed by the vast accumulation of indiscriminate and heterogeneous statements which they have no time to examine, yield an easy and blind assent, based either on the supposed wisdom of the writer or upon the fact that so many others believe, and they imagine that no little courage is required on their part to risk the loss of intellectual caste. a vast amount of the thinking of our age, although it claims to be scientific, is really a matter of simple faith--faith in the opinions and dicta of distinguished leaders. and under such circumstances, is it not our privilege and our duty as christian men to at least challenge and cross-question those theories which depress and dishonor our common humanity before we yield them our assent? the majority of scientists now so confidently assume the certain derivation of man from lower orders of life, that, as max müller has expressed it, their intolerance greets "with a perfect howl of derision a man like virchow," who dares to declare that proof of man's derivation from animals is still wanting. nevertheless virchow, himself an evolutionist, maintains his ground, as the following passage quoted some months since from _the london tablet_ will show: "some sensation has been caused at the recent anthropological congress in vienna by the speech of the great berlin biologist, professor virchow. about a year ago virchow, on a similar occasion, made a severe attack on the darwinian position, and this year he is similarly outspoken. we make the following extracts from his long address to the congress: "'twenty years ago, when we met at innspruck, it was precisely the moment when the darwinian theory had made its first victorious mark throughout the world. my friend vogt at once rushed into the ranks of the champions of this doctrine. we have since sought in vain for the intermediate stages which were supposed to connect man with the apes; the proto-man, the pro-anthropos is not yet discovered. for anthropological science the pro-anthropos is not even a subject of discussion. the anthropologist may, perhaps, see him in a dream, but as soon as he awakes he cannot say that he has made any approach toward him. at that time in innspruck the prospect was, apparently, that the course of descent from ape to man would be reconstructed all at once, but now we cannot even prove the descent of the separate races from one another.[ ] at this moment we are able to say that among the peoples of antiquity no single one was any nearer to the apes than we are. at this moment i can affirm that there is not upon earth any absolutely unknown race of men. the least known of all are the peoples of the central mountainous districts of the malay peninsula, but otherwise we know the people of terra del fuego quite as well as the eskimo, bashkirs, polynesians, and lapps. nay! we know more of many of these races than we do of certain european tribes. i need only mention the albanians. every living race is still human; no single one has yet been found that we can designate as simian or quasi-simian. even when in certain ones phenomena appear which are characteristic of the apes--e.g., the peculiar ape-like projections of the skull in certain races--still we cannot on that account alone say that these men are ape-like. as regards the lake dwellings, i have been able to submit to comparative examination nearly every single skull that has been found. the result has been that we have certainly met with opposite characteristics among various races; but of all these there is not one that lies outside of the boundaries of our present population. it can thus be positively demonstrated that in the course of five thousand years no change of type worthy of mention has taken place. if you ask me whether the first man were white or black, i can only say i don't know.' "professor virchow thus summed up the question as to what anthropological science during the last forty years has gained, and whether, as many contend, it has gone forward or backward. "'twenty years ago the leaders of our science asserted that they knew many things which, as a matter of fact, they did not know. nowadays we know what we know. i can only reckon up our account in so far as to say that we have made no debts; that is, we have made no loan from hypotheses; we are in no danger of seeing that which we know over-turned in the course of the next moment. we have levelled the ground so that the coming generation may make abundant use of the material at their disposition. as an attainable objective of the next twenty years, we must look to the anthropology of the european nationalities.'" . another demoralizing type of speculation which has exerted a wide influence in many ages and on many nations is pantheism. by abdicating the place and function of the conscious ego, by making all things mere specialized expressions of infinite deity, and yet failing to grasp any clear conception of what is meant by deity, men have gradually destroyed that sense of moral responsibility which the most savage show to have been a common heritage. it is not among the lowest and most simple races that missionaries find the greatest degree of obtuseness and insensibility with respect to sin; it is among populations like those of india, where the natural promptings of conscience have been sophisticated by philosophic theories. the old vedantism, by representing all things as mere phenomenal expressions of infinite brahm, tended necessarily to destroy all sense of personal responsibility. the abdication of the personal ego is an easy way of shifting the burden of guilt. the late naryan sheshadri declared that one thing which led him to renounce hinduism was the fact that, when he came to trace its underlying principles to their last logical result he saw no ground of moral responsibility left. it plunged him into an abyss of intellectual and moral darkness without chart or compass. it paralyzed conscience and moral sensibility. it is equally impossible to reason ourselves into any consciousness of merit or demerit, if we are moved only by some vague law of nature whose behest, as described by mr. buckle, we cannot resist, whose operations within us we cannot discern, and whose drift or tendency we cannot foresee. it makes little difference whether we build our faith upon the god of pantheism or upon the unknowable but impersonal force which is supposed to move the world, which operates in the same ways upon all grades of existence from the archangel to the mote in the sunbeam, which moves the molecules of the human brain only as it stirs the globules of sap in the tree or plant. it is difficult to see how, upon any such hypothesis, we are any more responsible for our volitions and affections than we are for our heart-beats or respirations. and yet we are conscious of responsibility in the one case and not in the other. consciousness comes in with tremendous force at just this point, all theories and speculations to the contrary notwithstanding. and we dare not disregard its testimony or its claims. we know that we are morally responsible. . many philosophic systems, ancient and modern, have tended to fill the world with gloomy pessimism. pessimism is very old and very widespread. schopenhauer acknowledges his indebtedness to gautama for much of the philosophy which is known by his name. in hinduism and buddhism, as well as in the teachings of the german pessimists, the natural complainings of the human heart are organized into philosophical systems. there is in all human nature quite enough of querulousness against the unequal allotments of providence, but all these systems inculcate and foster that discontent by the sanctions of philosophy. the whole assumption of "the light of asia" is that the power that upholds and governs the world is a hard master, from whose leash we should escape if we can by annihilating our powers and faculties, and abdicating our conscious being; that the world and the entire constitution of things are all wrong; that misery is everywhere in the ascendant, and that man and beast can only make common cause against the tyranny of a reckless fate, and cry out with common voice for some sympathizing benefactor who can pity and deliver. there is no hint that sin has wrought the evil. man is not so much a sinner as the victim of a hard lot; he is unfortunate, and it is the world that is wrong. therefore the true end of life is to get rid of the recurrence of life. in much of our modern agnosticism there is the same dark outlook, and agnosticism naturally joins hands with pessimism. dr. noah porter, in one of the series of "present-day tracts," has shown it to be a doctrine of despair. a well-known lecturer who has loudly declaimed against what he considers the remorseless character of the old testament, has acknowledged that it is not more cruel than nature; that in the actual world about us we find the same dark mystery, the weak perishing before the strong, the wicked prosperous, the just oppressed, and the innocent given as a prey to the guilty; and his conclusion is that deism is no more defensible than christianity. his pessimistic estimate of the actual world drives him to a disbelief in a personal god. we do not ignore the sad facts of life; even the christian is often saddened by the mysteries which he cannot explain. bishop j. boyd carpenter, in speaking of the sad and cheerless spirit of buddhism, has said: "there are moments in which we are all buddhists; when life has disappointed us, when weariness is upon us, when the keen anguish born of the sight of human suffering appals and benumbs us, when we are frozen to terror, and our manhood flies at the sight of the medusa-like head of the world's unappeased and unappeasable agony; then we too are torn by the paroxysm of anguish; we would flee to the nirvana of oblivion and unconsciousness, turning our back upon what we cannot alleviate, and longing to lay down the burden of life, and to escape from that which has become insupportable."[ ] but these are only the dark and seemingly forsaken hours in which men sit in despair beneath the juniper-tree and imagine that all the world has gone wrong. the juniper-tree in christianity is the exception; the bo-tree of buddhism, with the same despondent estimate, is the rule. no divine message came to show the buddha a brighter side. and the agnostic stops his ears that no voice of cheer may be heard. the whole philosophy of buddhism and of modern agnosticism is pessimistic. the word and spirit of god do not deny the sad facts of human life in a world of sin, but they enable the christian to triumph over them, and even to rejoice in tribulation. . and this leads to one more common feature of all false systems, their fatalism. among the exaggerated claims which are made for heathen religions in our day, it is alleged that they rest upon a more humane philosophy than appears in the grim fatalism of our christian theology, especially that of the calvinistic type. without entering upon any defence of christian doctrines of one type or another, it would be easy to show that fatalism, complete and unmitigated, is at the foundation of all oriental religion and philosophy, all ancient or modern pantheism, and most of the various types of agnosticism. while this has been the point at which all infidel systems have assailed the christian faith, it has nevertheless been the goal which they have all reached by their own speculations. they have differed from christianity in that their predestinating, determining force, instead of being qualified by any play of free-will, or any feasible plan of ultimate and superabounding good, has been a real fatalism, changeless, hopeless, remorseless. that the distaff of the fates, and the ruthless sceptre of the erinnys, entered in full force into all the religions of the greeks and romans, scarcely needs to be affirmed. they controlled all human affairs, and even the gods were subject to them. the sagas of the northmen also were full of fatalism, and that principle still survives in the folk-lore and common superstitions of all scandinavian, teutonic, and celtic races. the fatalism of the hindus is plainly stated in the "code of manu," which declares that, "in order to distinguish actions, he (the creator) separated merit from demerit. to whatever course of action the lord appointed each kind of being, that alone it has spontaneously adopted in each succeeding creation. whatever he has assigned to each at the first creation, noxiousness or harmlessness, gentleness or ferocity, virtue or sin, truth or falsehood, that clings to it."[ ] the same doctrine is put in still more offensive form when it is declared that "manu (here used in the sense of creator) allotted to woman a love of her bed, of her seat, of ornament, also impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, and bad conduct."[ ] there would be some relief from this horrible doctrine if in subsequent chapters of manu there were kindly tokens of grace, or sympathy for woman, or any light of hope here or hereafter; but the whole teaching and spirit of the "code" rests as an iron yoke upon womanhood, and it is largely a result of this high authority that the female sex has for ages been subjected to the most cruel tyranny and degradation. it might well be said that, in spite of the horrors of infanticide, the most merciful element of hinduism with respect to woman is the custom by which so large a proportion of female children have been destroyed at birth. the same fatalistic principles affect all ranks and conditions of hindu society. the poor sudra is not only low-born and degraded, but he is immovably fixed in his degradation. he is cut off from all hope or aspiration; he cannot rise from the thraldom of his fate. in the bhagavad gita, krishna declares to arjuna that it is "better to do the duty of one's caste though bad or ill performed, and fraught with evil, than undertake the business of another, however good it be." thus even the laws of right and wrong are subordinate to the fatality of caste, and all aspiration is paralyzed. on the other hand, it has been acknowledged repeatedly that the sternest type of puritan theology, as a moral and political force, is full of inspiration; it does not deaden the soul; it stimulates the action of free-will; its moral earnestness has been a great power in molding national destinies. mr. bancroft has not hesitated to declare that the great charters of human liberty are largely due to its strong conception of a divine and all-controlling purpose. even matthew arnold admitted that its stern "hebraic" culture, as he called it, had wrought some of the grandest achievements of history. but hindu fatalists, noble aryans as they were at first, have been conquered by every race of invaders that has chosen to assail them. and no better result could have been expected from a philosophy whose _summum bonum_ is the renunciation of life as not worth living, and the loss of all personality by absorption into the one supreme existence. buddhism does not present the same fatalistic theory of creation as brahminism, but it introduces even a more aggravated fatalism into human life. both alike load down the newly-born with burdens of guilt and consequent suffering transmitted from previous existences. but in the case of buddhism there is no identity between the sinner, who incurred the guilt, and the recipient of the evil kharma, which demands punishment. every man comes into the world entangled in the moral bankruptcy of some one who has gone before, he knows not who nor where. there is no consciousness of identity, no remembrance, no possible sense of guilt, or notion of responsibility. it is not the same soul that suffers, for in either case there is no soul; there is only a bundle of so-called skandhas--certain faculties of mind and body newly combined whose interaction produces thought and emotion. yet there is conscious suffering. scoffers have long pointed with indignation at the christian doctrine that a child inherits a moral bias from his parents, but nowadays evolutionists carry the law of heredity to an extreme which no hyper-calvinist ever thought of, and many cavillers at "original sin" have become eloquent in their praises of buddhism, which handicaps each child with the accumulated demerit of pre-existent beings with whom he had no connection whatever.[ ] the christian doctrine imputes punishable guilt only so far as each one's free choice makes the sin his own: the dying infant who has no choice is saved by grace; but upon every buddhist, however short-lived, there rests an heir-loom of destiny which countless transmigrations cannot discharge. in mohammedanism the doctrine of fate--clear, express, and emphatic--is fully set forth. the koran resorts to no euphemism or circumlocution in declaring it. thus, in sura lxxiv. , , we read: "thus doth god cause to err whom he pleases, and directeth whom he pleases." again, sura xx. , says: "the fate of every man have we bound round his neck." as is well known, fatalism as a practical doctrine of life has passed into all mohammedan society. "kismet" (it is fated) is the exclamation of despair with which a moslem succumbs to adversity and often dies without an effort to recover. in times of pestilence missionaries in syria have sometimes found whole villages paralyzed with despair. yielding to the fatalism of their creed, the poor mountaineers have abandoned all means of cure and resigned themselves to their fate. the same fatal paralysis has affected all liberty of thought, all inventiveness and enterprise, all reform of evils, all higher aspiration of the oppressed people. with the lower forms of religious belief, fetishism, animism, serpent worship, demon worship, the case is still worse. the only deities that are practically recognized in these rude faiths are generally supposed to be malevolent beings, who have not only fixed an evil fate upon men, but whose active and continued function it is to torment them. though there is a lingering belief in a supreme being who created all things, yet he is far off and incomprehensible. he has left his creatures in the hands of inferior deities, at whose mercy they pass a miserable existence. looking at the dark facts of life and having no revelation of a merciful god they form their estimates of deity from their trials, hardships, fears, and they are filled with dread; all their religious rites have been devised for appeasing the powers that dominate and distress the world. and yet a pronounced agnostic has asked us to believe that even this wide-spread horror, this universal nightmare of heathen superstition, is more humane than the calvinistic creed. if we inquire into the tendency of all types of ancient or modern pantheism in this particular phase, we shall find them, without exception, fatalistic. they not merely make god the author of sin--they make him the sinner. our misdeeds are not our acts, but god's. thus the vaunted bhagavad gita, uniting the sankhyan and the vedanta philosophies, makes krishna say to arjuna: "all actions are incessantly performed by operation of the qualities of prakriti (the self-existing essence). deluded by the thought of individuality, the soul vainly believes itself to be the doer. the soul, existing from eternity, devoid of qualities, imperishable, abiding in the body, acts not, nor is by any act polluted. he who sees that actions are performed by prakriti alone, and that the soul is not an actor, perceives the truth."[ ] such is hindu pantheism. yet this most inconsistent system charges man with guilt. it represents his inexorable fate as pursuing him through endless transmigrations, holding over him the lash of retribution, while it exacts the very last farthing. still, from first to last, it is not he that acts, but some fractional part of the one only existence which fills all space. the philosophy of spinoza was quite as fatalistic as the hindu vedanta. he taught, according to schwegler, that "the finite has no independent existence in itself: it exists because the unrestrained productive energy of the (infinite) substance spontaneously produced an infinite variety of particular forms. it has, however, no proper reality; it exists only in and through the substance. finite things are the most external, the last, the most subordinate forms of existence into which the universal life is specialized, and they manifest their finitude in that they are without resistance, subject to the infinite chain of causality which binds the world. the divine substance works freely according to the inner essence of its own nature; individuals, however, are not free, but are subject to the influence of those things with which they come into contact. it follows from these metaphysical grounds," schwegler continues, "that what is called free-will cannot be admitted. for, since man is only a mode, he, like any other mode, stands in an endless series of conditioning causes, and no free-will can, therefore, be predicated of him." further on he adds: "evil, or sin, is, therefore, only relative and not positive, for nothing happens against god's will. it is only a simple negation or deprivation, which only seems to be a reality in our representation."[ ] the late samuel johnson, in his chapter on "the morality and piety of pantheism," undertakes to defend both the vedantic and the spinozan philosophy by pointing out a distinction between an "external compulsion and an inner force which merges us in the infinite. though both are equally efficient as to the result, and both are inconsistent with individual freedom, yet real fate is only that which is external.... while destiny or fate in the sense of absolute external compulsion would certainly be destructive, not only of moral responsibility but of personality itself, yet religion or science without fate is radically unsound." again he adds: "we cannot separate perfection and fate. deity whose sway is not destiny is not venerable, nor even reliable. it would be a purpose that did not round the universe, a love that could not preserve it. theism without fate is a kind of atheism, and a self-dominated atheism. but holding justice to be the true necessity or fate, is properly theism, though it refuses the name."[ ] the reasoning here reminds one of the conclusions of a still more recent writer, who while condemning what he considers the fatalism of calvinistic theology, still asserts that its logic leaves no alternative but the denial of a personal god. and an early buddhist philosopher has left a fragment which gives the very same reason for agnosticism. thus he says: "if the world was made by god (isvara) there should be no such thing as sorrow or calamity, nor doing wrong, nor doing right; for all, both pure and impure, deeds must come from isvara.... if he makes without a purpose he is like a suckling child, or with a purpose, he is not complete. sorrow and joy spring up in all that lives; these, at least, are not alike the works of isvara, for if he causes love and joy he must himself have love and hate. but if he loves and hates, he is not rightly called self-existent. 'twere equal, then, the doing right or doing wrong. there should be no reward of works; the works themselves being his, then all things are the same to him, the maker." this was a buddhist's answer to the hindu pantheism, and there follows a reply also to the oriental dualism which attempted to solve the difficulty by assigning two great first causes, one good and the other evil. "nay," says this buddhist philosopher, "if you say there is another cause beside this isvara, then he is not the end or sum of all, and therefore all that lives may, after all, be uncreated, and so you see the thought of isvara is overthrown."[ ] thus the same problems of existence have taxed human speculation in all lands and all ages. the same perplexities have arisen, and the same cavils and complaints. there is an important sense in which all forms of materialism are fatalistic in their relation to moral responsibility. james büchner assures us that "what is called man's soul or mind is now almost universally conceded as equivalent to a function of the substance of the brain." walter bagehot, like maudsley, suggests that the newly born child has his destiny inscribed on his nervous tissues.[ ] mr. buckle assures us that certain underlying but indefinable laws of society, as indicated by statistics, control human action irrespective of choice or moral responsibility. even accidents, the averages of forgetfulness or neglect, are the subjects of computation. to support his position he cites the averages of suicides, or the number of letters deposited yearly in a given post-office, the superscription of which has been forgotten. thus, underlying all human activity there is an unknown force, a vague something--call it deity, or call it fate--which controls human affairs irresistibly. it would be amusing, if it were not sad, to see what devices and what names have been resorted to in order to get rid of a personal god. the hindu sankhyans ascribed all things to the "eternally existing essence." the greek atomists called it an "inconceivable necessity;" anaxagoras, "the world-forming intelligence;" hegel, "absolute idea;" spinoza, "absolute substance;" schopenhauer, "unconscious will." spencer finds only "the unknowable;" darwin's virtual creator is "natural selection;" matthew arnold recognize a "stream of tendency not our own which makes for righteousness." nothing can be more melancholy than this dreary waste of human speculation, this weary and bootless search after the secret of the universe. at the same time a deaf ear is turned to those voices of nature and revelation which speak of a benevolent creator. but the point to which i call particular attention in this connection is, that these vague terms, whatever else they may mean, imply in each case some law of necessity which moulds the world. they are only the names of the fates whom all philosophies have set over us. if we have been correct in tracing an element of fatalism through all the heathen faiths, and all ancient and modern philosophies, how is it that the whole army of unbelief concentrate their assailments against divine sovereignty in the word of god, and yet are ready to laud and approve these systems which exhibit the same things in greater degree and without mitigation? that which differentiates christianity is the fact that, while it does represent god as the originator and controller of all things, it yet respects the freedom of the human will, which mohammedanism does not, which hinduism does not, which ancient or modern buddhism does not, which materialism does not. not only the word of god but our own reason tells us that the creator of this world must have proceeded upon a definite and all-embracing plan; and yet at the same time, not only the word of god, but our own consciousness, tells us that we are free to act according to our own will. how these things are to be reconciled we know not, simply because we are finite and god is infinite. i once stood before the great snowy range of the himalayas, whose lofty peaks rose twenty-five thousand feet above the sea. none could see how those gigantic masses stood related to each other, simply because no mortal ever has explored, or ever can explore, their awful and unapproachable recesses. so with many great truths concerning the being, attributes, and works of god. one may say that god predetermined and then foresaw what he had ordained; another that he foresaw and then resolved to effect what he had foreseen. neither is correct, or at least neither can know that he is correct. god is not subject to our conditions of time and space. it is impossible that he, whose knowledge and will encompass all things, should be affected by our notions of order and sequence; there is with him no before and after. the whole universe, with all its farthest extended history, stood before him from all eternity as one conception and as one purpose; and the conception and the purpose were one. the too frequent mistake of human formulas is that they undertake to reason out infinite mysteries on our low anthropomorphic lines, one in one extreme and another in another. we cannot fit the ways of god to the measure of our logic or our metaphysics. what we have to do with many things is simply to believe and trust and wait.[ ] on the other hand, there are many things of a practical nature which god has made very plain. he has brought them down to us. the whole scheme of grace is an adaptation of the mysteries of the godhead to our knowledge, faith, obedience, and love. and this leads directly to the chief differential which christianity presents in contrast with the fatalisms of false systems, viz., that while sin and death abound, as all must see, the gospel alone reveals a superabounding grace. it is enough for us that the whole scheme is one of redemption, that the lamb was slain from the foundation of the world--nay, that he made the world, and made it for an infinitely benevolent purpose. if dark mysteries appear in the word or in the world, we are to view them in the light of calvary, and wait till we can see as we are seen; for this world is christ's, and will surely subserve his ends, which are those of infinite compassion. our position, therefore, as before the abettors of heathen or agnostic philosophy, is impregnable: the fatalism is all theirs, the union of sovereign power with infinite love is ours. we have reason as well as they. we realize the facts and mysteries of life as fully as they, but are not embittered by them. we see nothing to be gained by putting out the light we have. we prefer faith to pessimism, incarnate love to the tyranny of "unconscious will." footnotes: [footnote : quoted in fiske's _destiny of man_, p. .] [footnote : see _indian wisdom_, p. .] [footnote : what kanada meant by adrishta was a sort of habit of matter derived from its past combinations in a previous cosmos, one or more. the rod which has been bent will bend again, and so matter which has once been combined will unite again.] [footnote : _evolution and its relation to religious thought_, p. .] [footnote : _on natural selection_, p. .] [footnote : _the destiny of man_, p. .] [footnote : _evolution and its relation to religious thought_, p. .] [footnote : some of goldwin smith's utterances are such as these: "if morality has been based on religion there must be reason to fear that the foundation being removed the superstructure will fall. that it has rested on religion so far as the great majority are concerned will hardly be doubted." ... "the presence of this theistic sanction has been especially apparent in all acts and lives of all heroic self-sacrifice and self-devotion." ... "all moral philosophers whose philosophy has been practically effective, from socrates down, have been religious. many have tried to find an independent basis but have not been successful--at least have not arrived at any agreement." ... "thucydides ascribed the fall of greece to the fall of religion. machiavelianism followed the fall of the catholic faith." ... "into the void left by religion came spiritual charlatanry and physical superstition, such as the arts of the hierophant of isis, the soothsayer, the astrologer--significant precursors of our modern mediums." ... "conscience as a mere evolution of tribal experience may have importance, but it can have no authority, and 'nature' is an unmeaning word without an author of nature--or rather it is a philosophic name for god." ... "evolution is not moral, nor can morality be educed from it. it proclaims as its law the survival of the fittest, and the only proof of fitness is survival." ... "we must remember that whatever may be our philosophic school we are still living under the influence of theism, and most of us under christianity. there is no saying how much of christianity still lingers in the theories of agnostics." ... "the generation after the next may perhaps see agnosticism, moral as well as religious, tried on a clear field." these utterances are weighty, though detached. we only raise a doubt whether "the generation after the next" will see agnosticism tried on a clear field. on the contrary, it will be surrounded as now, and more and more, by christian influences, and will still depend on those influences to save it from the sad results of its own teachings.] [footnote : _the races of man_, pp. , .] [footnote : _the human species_, p. .] [footnote : mr. john fiske declares that man is descended from the catarrhine apes.--_destiny of man_, p. . professor le conte maintains that no existing animal could ever be developed into man. he traces all existing species up from a common stock, of which man is the head. the common line of ancestors are all extinct.--_evolution in relation to religious thought_, p. .] [footnote : _the permanent elements in religion_, p. ] [footnote : book ii., .] [footnote : book ix., .] [footnote : development by "heredity" and the buddhist doctrine of transmigration, though both fatalistic, reach that result in different ways; they are, in fact, contradictory. character, according to buddhism, is inherited not from parents: it follows the line of affinity.] [footnote : _indian wisdom_, p. .] [footnote : _history of philosophy_, pp. , .] [footnote : _oriental religions_--_india_. part ii., p. .] [footnote : beal, _buddhism in china_, p. .] [footnote : _physics and politics_.] [footnote : "probably no more significant change awaits the theology of the future than the recognition of this province of the unknown, and the cessation of controversy as to matters that come within it, and therefore admit of no dogmatic settlement."--tulloch's _religious thought in britain_, p. .] lecture x. the divine supremacy of the christian faith. we have in previous lectures instituted brief and partial comparisons between christianity and particular faiths of the east, but i now propose a general comparative survey. never before has the christian faith been so boldly challenged to show cause for its supreme and exclusive claims as in our time. the early christians encountered something of the same kind: it seemed very preposterous to the proud roman that an obscure sect, coming out of despised nazareth, should refuse to place a statue of its deified founder within the pantheon, in the goodly company of renowned gods from every part of the roman empire; but it did so refuse and gave its reasons, and it ultimately carried its point. it gained the pantheon and rome itself for christ alone. he was proclaimed as the one redeemer of the world, and this claim has been maintained from that day to this. "there can be no diversity," said his followers, "for there is no other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved. the very genius of christianity means supremacy and monopoly, for the reason that it is divine and god cannot be divided against himself." but in our time the whole world is brought very closely together. the religions of men, like their social customs and political institutions, are placed in contact and comparison. the enemies of the christian faith here, in western lands, naturally make the most of any possible alliances with other systems supposed to antagonize christianity; while a multitude of others, having no particular interest in any religion, and rather priding themselves upon a broad charity which is but a courteous name for indifference, are demanding with a superior air that fair play shall be shown to all religions alike. the church is therefore called upon to defend her unique position and the promulgation of her message to mankind. why does she refuse to admit the validity of other religions, and why send her missionaries over the earth to turn the non-christian races from those faiths which are their heritage by birth, and in which they honestly put their trust? why not respect everywhere that noblest of all man's instincts which prompts him to inquire after god, who hath made of one blood all nations that dwell upon the earth? if the old hindu pantheism of the bhagavad gita taught that the worshippers of other gods were only worshipping the one supreme vishnu unawares; if buddhism forbids its followers to assert that theirs is the only religion, or even that it is the best religion;[ ] is it not time that christians should emulate this noble charity? this plausible plea is urged with such force and volume, it is so backed by the current literature and the secular newspaper press that it cannot be ignored. the time has come when the church must not only be able to give a reason for the faith she professes, but must assign reasons why her faith should supplant every other. i am aware that many are insisting that her true course is to be found in an intensive zeal in the promulgation of her own doctrines without regard to any other. "preach the gospel," it is said, "whether men will hear or whether they forbear." but it must be borne in mind that paul's more intelligent method was to strive as one who would win, and not as they who beat the air. the salvation army will reach a certain class with their mere unlettered zeal. the men who purposely read only one book, but read that on their knees, doubtless have an important work to do, but the church as a whole cannot go back to the time when devout zealots sneered at the idea of an educated ministry. the conflict of truth and error must be waged intelligently. there are sufficient reasons for claiming a divine supremacy for the gospel over all heathen faiths, and the sooner we thoroughly understand the difference, the more wisely and successfully shall we accomplish our work. wherein, then, consists the unique supremacy of the christian faith? . it alone offers a real salvation. we are not speaking of ethics, or conceptions of god, or methods of race culture, but of that one element which heals the wounds of acknowledged sin and reconciles men to god. and this is found in christianity alone. there is no divine help in any other. systems of speculation, theories of the universe, and of our relation to the infinite are found in all sacred books of the east. there are lofty ethical teachings gathered from the lips of many masters, and records of patient research, cheerful endurance of ascetic rigors, and the voluntary encounter of martyrs' deaths. and one cannot but be impressed by this spectacle of earnest struggles in men of every land and every age to find some way of peace. but in none of the ethnic religions has there been revealed a divine and heaven-wrought salvation. they have all begun and ended with human merit and human effort. broken cisterns have everywhere taken the place of the one fountain of eternal life. though all these systems recognize the sin and misery of the world, and carry their estimate of them to the length of downright pessimism, they have discovered no eye that could pity and no arm that could bring salvation. in the silence and gloom of the world's history only one voice has said, "lo, i come! in the volume of the book it is written of me." and although men have in all ages striven to rid themselves of sin by self-mortification, and even mutilation, yet the ever-recurring question, "who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" was never answered till paul answered it in his rapturous acknowledgment of victory through the righteousness of christ. mohammed never claimed to be a saviour or even an intercessor. he was the sword of god against idolators, and the ambassador of god to believers; but beyond the promise of a sensuous heaven, he offered no salvation. he had no remedy for sin--except that in his own case he claimed a special revelation of clemency and indulgence. many a wholesome truth derived from the old testament scriptures was promulgated to the faithful, but self-righteousness, and especially valor in mohammedan conquest, was offered as the key to paradise.[ ] doubtless we should view the false systems with discrimination. like the sublime philosophy of plato, mohammedanism does teach an exalted idea of god, and there is, accordingly, a dignity and reverence in its forms of worship. i once witnessed a very imposing spectacle in the great mosque at delhi, on the moslem sabbath. several hundred indian mohammedans were repeating their prayers in concert. they were in their best attire, and fresh from their ablutions, and their concerted genuflections, the subdued murmur of their many voices, and the general solemnity of their demeanor, rendered the whole service most impressive. it contrasted strongly with the spectacle which i witnessed a little later in the temple of siva, in benares. the unspeakable worship of the linga, the scattering of rice and flowers and the pouring of libations before this symbol; the hanging of garlands on the horns of sacred bulls, and that by women; the rushing to and fro, tracking the filth of the sacred stables into the trodden ooze of rice and flowers which covered the temple pavements; the drawing and sipping of water from the adjacent cesspool, known as the sacred well; the shouting and striking of bells, and the general frenzy of the people--all this could be considered as nothing short of wild and depraved orgies. if we must choose, give us islam, whether in contrast with the siva worship of india or with the tyranny of the witch doctors of interior africa. yet, i repeat, islam has no salvation, no scheme of grace, no great physician. in visiting any mohammedan country one is impressed with this one defect, the want of a mediator. i once stood in the central hall of an imposing mansion in damascus, around the frieze of which were described, in arabic letters of gold, "the hundred names of allah." they were interpreted to me by a friend as setting forth the lofty attributes of god--for example, "the infinite," "the eternal," "the creator," "the all-seeing," "the merciful," "the just." no one could help being impressed by these inspiring names. they were the common heritage of judaism and christianity before islam adopted them, and they are well calculated to fill the soul with reverence and awe. but there is another class of names which were predicted by judaism and rejoiced in by christianity, but which islam rejects; for example, "messiah," "immanuel," or god with us, "the son of god," "the son of man," "the redeemer," "the elder brother." in a word, islam has nothing to fill the breach between a holy and just god and the conscience-smitten souls of men. these honored names of allah are as sublime as the snow-peaks of the himalayas and as inaccessible. how can we attain unto them? without a daysman how shall we bridge the abyss that lies between? even israel plead for moses to speak to them in place of the infinite, and they voiced a felt want of all human hearts. yet no religious system but christianity reveals a mediator. there is in other faiths no such conception as the fatherhood of god. though such names as dyauspater, zeuspiter or jupiter, and others bearing the import of father are sometimes found, yet they imply only a common source, as the sun is the source of life. they lack the elements of love and fostering care. there can be no real fatherhood and no spirit of adoption except through union with the son of god. the idea that re-birth and remission of sin may be followed by adoption and heirship, and joint heirship with the son of the infinite, belongs to the christian faith alone; and the hope and inspiration of such a heritage, seen in contrast with the endless and disheartening prospects of countless transmigrations, are beyond the power of language to describe. it was with infinite reason that paul was taught to regard his work among the gentiles as a rescue or a deliverance "from darkness unto light, and from the power of satan unto god," and it was a priceless boon which enabled him to offer at once the full remission of sins and a part in the glorious inheritance revealed through faith in christ. mere ethical knowledge cannot comfort the human soul. contrast the gloom of marcus aurelius with the joy of david in psalm cxix.; and seneca, also, with all his discernment, and his eloquent presentation of beautiful precepts, was one of the saddest, darkest characters of roman history. he was the man who schemed with catiline, and who at the same time that he wrote epigrams urged nero onward with flattery and encouragement to his most infamous vices and his boldest crimes. knowledge of ethical maxims and the power of expressing them, therefore, is one thing, religion is another. religion is a device, human or divine, for raising up men by a real or a supposed supernatural aid. it ought to reveal god as a helper and a saviour. it ought to be a provision of grace by which the just can yet be a justifier of them that are weak and wounded by sin. the ethical systems of the heathen world corroborate the scriptural diagnosis of man's character and condition, but they fail as prescriptions. so far as divine help and regenerative power are concerned, they leave the race helpless still. christianity is a system of faith in a moral as well as in an intellectual sense. it inculcates a spirit of loving, filial trust instead of a querulous self-righteousness which virtually chides the unknown ruler of the universe. according to "the light of asia" when the buddha preached at kapilavastu there were assembled men and devils, beasts and birds, all victims alike of the cruel fate that ruled the world. existence was an evil and only the buddha could be found to pity. but that pity offered no hope except in the destruction of hope, and the destruction of all desire, all aspiration, even all feeling; while christianity offers a hope which maketh not ashamed, even an immortal inheritance.[ ] hinduism also, like islam and buddhism, lacks every element of divine salvation. it is wholly a thing of merit. the infinite brahm is said to be void of attributes of all kinds. no anthropomorphic conception can be predicated of him. the three gods of the trimurti are cold and distant--though for vishnu in his alleged incarnation of krishna, a sympathetic nature was claimed at a later day--borrowed, some say, from buddhism, or, according to others, from christianity. in the hindu saint all spiritual power in this life is the merit power of ascetic austerities, all hope for the future world lies in the cleansing efficacy of endless transmigrations of which the goal is absorption into deity. but the difficulty with both buddhism and hinduism is that transmigration cannot regenerate. it is only a vague postponement of the moral issues of the soul. there is recognized no future intervention that can effect a change in the downward drift, and why should a thousand existences prove better than one? according to a law of physics known as the persistence of force, a body once set in motion will never stop unless through the intervention of some other resisting force. and this is strikingly true of moral character and the well-known power and momentum of habit. who shall change the leopard's spots or deflect the fatal drift of a human soul? remorselessly these oriental systems exact from kharma the uttermost farthing. they emphasize the fact that according to the sowing shall be the reaping, and that in no part of the universe can ill desert escape its awards. even if change were possible, therefore, how shall the old score be settled? what help, what rescue can mere infinitude of time afford, though the transmigrations should number tens of thousands? there is no hint that any pitying eye of god or devil looks upon the struggle, or any arm is stretched forth to raise up the crippled and helpless soul. time is the only saviour--time so vast, so vague, so distant, that the mind cannot follows its cycles or trace the relations of cause and effect. in contrast with all this, christianity bids the hindu ascetic cease from his self-mortification and become himself a herald of glad tidings. it invites the hook-swinger to renounce his useless torture and accept the availing sacrifice of him who hung upon the cross. it relieves woman from the power of satan, as exercised in those cruel disabilities which false systems have imposed upon her, and assigns her a place of honor in the kingdom of god. the world has not done scoffing at the idea of a vicarious sacrifice for the sins of men, and yet it has advanced so far that its best thinkers, even without any religious bias, are agreed that the principle of self-sacrifice is the very highest element of character that man can aspire to. and this is tantamount to an acknowledgment that the great principle which the cross illustrates, and on which the salvation of the race is made to rest, is the crowning glory of all ethics and must be therefore the germinal principle of all true religion. christianity with its doctrine of voluntary divine sacrifice was no after-thought. paul speaks of it as "the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations but now is made manifest." it was the one great mystery which angels had desired to look into and for which the whole world had waited in travail and expectation. christ was "the lamb slain from the foundation of the world," and the entire world-history has proceeded under an economy of grace. and i repeat, its fundamental principle of sacrifice, exemplified as it has been through the christian centuries, has won the recognition even of those who were not themselves the followers of christ. "the history of self-sacrifice during the last eighteen hundred years," says lecky, "has been mainly the history of the action of christianity upon the world. ignorance and error have no doubt often directed the heroic spirit into wrong channels, and sometimes even made it a cause of great evil to mankind; but it is the moral type and beauty, the enlarged conception and persuasive power of the christian faith that have chiefly called it into being; and it is by their influence alone that it can be permanently maintained."[ ] speaking of the same principle carlyle says: "it is only with renunciation that life, properly speaking, can be said to begin.... in a valiant suffering for others, not in a slothful making others suffer for us, did nobleness ever lie." and george sand in still stronger terms has said, "there is but one sole virtue in the world--the eternal sacrifice of self." while we ponder these testimonies coming from such witnesses we remember how the great apostle traces this wonder-working principle back to its divine source, and from that source down into all the commonest walks of life when he says, "let this mind be in you which was also in christ, who, being in the form of god, thought it not robbery to be equal with god; but made himself of no reputation, and took on him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." or when he reminds the corinthians that, though christ was rich, yet for their sake he became poor, that they through his poverty might be rich. in all the oriental systems there is nothing like this, either as a divine source of all-availing help and rescue, or as a celestial spring of human action. it is through this communicable grace that christ becomes the way, the truth, the life. well might augustine say that while the philosophy of plato led him to lofty conceptions of god, it could not show him how to approach him or be reconciled unto him. "for it is one thing," he says, "from the mountain's shaggy top to see the land of peace and to find no way thither; and in vain to essay through ways impossible, opposed and beset by fugitives and deserters, under their captain the lion and the dragon; and another to keep on the way that leads thither guarded by the host of the heavenly general, where they spoil not that have deserted the heavenly army; for they avoid it as very torment. these things did wonderfully sink into my bowels when i read that _least of thy apostles_, and had meditated upon thy works and trembled exceedingly." while christianity is wholly unique in providing an objective salvation instead of attempting to work out perfection from "beggarly elements" within the soul itself, as all heathen systems do, and as all our modern schemes of mere ethical culture do, it at the same time implants in the heart the most fruitful germs of subjective spiritual life. its superior transformation of human character, as compared with all other cults, is not only a matter of doctrine but also a matter of history. it is acknowledged that christianity has wrought most powerfully of all faiths in taming savage races as well as individual men, in moulding higher civilizations and inspiring sentiments of humanity and brotherly love. "christ," says one of the bampton lecturers, "is the light that broods over all history.... all that there is upon earth of beauty, truth, and goodness, all that distinguishes the civilized man from the savage is this gift." and if it be asked how the leaven of christ's influence has pervaded all society, the answer is that the work is presided over by a divine and omnipotent spirit who represents christ, who carries out what he began, who by a direct and transforming power renews and enlightens and prompts the soul. christianity, then, is not a record, a history of what was said and done eighteen centuries ago: it is not a body of doctrines and precepts: it is the living power of god in the soul of man. the written word is the sword of this divine spirit. the renewed soul is begotten of the spirit and it is instinct with the indwelling of the spirit. no other system makes any claim to such an influence as that of the holy ghost. sacred books, written systems of law or ethics would all prove a dead letter--the bible itself, as well as the veda, would be a dead letter but for the co-operation of this divine spirit. sacred scriptures might be venerated, they would not be obeyed. the dead heart must be quickened and renewed and only christianity reveals the transforming power. _verily, verily, i say unto thee, except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of god._ instantaneous renewal of the character and the life is not even claimed by other faiths; there is in them nothing like the conversion of saul of tarsus, or that of thousands of others well known in the history of christian experience. there are no such changes in men who, from having led lives of profligacy and irreligion, have turned at once into paths of righteousness--have tamed their wild propensities and submitted themselves to the gentle law of love. but under christian influence we have seen africaner the savage transformed to a tractable, humane, and loving disciple. we have seen the wild and bloodthirsty koord subdued and made as a little child. we have seen the cannibal king thokambo, of fiji, turned from his cruelty to a simple, childlike faith, and made to prefer the good of his people to the glory of a powerless sceptre. whole races, like the northmen, have been tamed from savagery and made peaceable and earnest followers of christ. in our own time it has been said of a missionary in the south pacific islands, "that when he arrived on his field there were no christians, and when he closed his labors there were no heathen." the religion of gautama has won whole tribes of men, hinduism and mohammedanism are even now winning converts from fetish-worshipping races, but, so far as i know, none of these faiths have ever made converts except either by war or by the presentation of such motives as might appeal to the natural heart of man; there has been no spiritual transformation. if it be said that the buddhist nirvana and the hindu doctrine of final absorption cannot attract the natural heart, the ready answer is that nirvana and absorption are not the real inspiration of their respective systems. they are so far removed into the dim future as to exert no practical influence on the great mass of men. the future estate that is really expected and desired is a happy ideal transmigration, and perhaps many of them; and the chief felicity of the hindu is that no particular estate is prescribed. while the christian is promised a heaven to which the natural heart does not aspire, the hindu may imagine and prefigure his own heaven. his next life may be as carnal as the celestial hunting-ground of the indian or the promised paradise of the moslem. it may be only the air-castle of a day-dreamer. there is no moral transformation. there is no expulsive power of a new and higher aspiration. old things have not passed away; nothing has become new. but the grace of god in christ claims to work an entire change in the desires and aspirations of the heart by the power of the holy ghost. paul found the men of ephesus highly civilized in a sense, but "dead in trespasses and sins," "walking according to the course of this world, and having their conversation in the lusts of the flesh." but god by his spirit so "quickened" them that they were able to understand and appreciate one of the most spiritual of all his epistles. he addressed them as "new creatures," as god's "workmanship," "_created in christ jesus unto good works_." as has already been noticed, all theories of moral transformation found in heathen systems require time. the process is carried on by intensive and long-continued thought, or by gradual accumulations of merit. only the buddha was enlightened _per sallum_,[ ] so to speak. and quite in accord with this view are those modern forms of materialism which maintain that mental and moral habits consist in gradual impressions made in the molecules of the nerve-tissues--that these impressions come at length to determine our acts without the necessity of either purpose or conscious recognition, and that only when right action becomes thus involuntary can character strictly be said to exist.[ ] but such theories certainly do not harmonize with the known facts of christian conversion already alluded to. we do not refuse to recognize a certain degree of truth hidden in these speculations. we are aware that continued thought or emotion promotes a certain habit, and that in the christian life such habit becomes an element of strength. we also admit that high and pure thought and emotion stamp themselves at length upon our physical nature, and appear in the very expression of the countenance, but when we look for the transforming impulse that can begin and sustain such habitual exercises in spite of the natural sinfulness and corruption which all systems admit, we find it only in the christian doctrine of the new birth by the power of the holy ghost. on these two doctrines of a divine vicarious sacrifice and of the transforming power of a divine spirit we might rest our case. it should be sufficient to show, first, that christianity alone provides a divine salvation in which god is made sin for us; and second, that its power alone, though objective, works in us the only effectual subjective transformation by a direct influence from on high. but there are many other points of contrast in which the transcendent character of christianity appears. first, an important differential lies in the completeness of the divine personality of jesus. buddhism, confucianism, and mohammedanism, were strongly supported by the personality of their founders. we also cheerfully accord to such men as socrates and plato great personal influence. they have impressed themselves upon the millions of mankind more deeply than statesmen, or potentates, or conquerors; but not one of these presents to us a complete and rounded character, judged even from a human stand-point. mohammed utterly failed on the ethical side.[ ] his life was so marred by coarse sensuality, weak effeminacy, heartless cruelty, unblushing hypocrisy, and heaven-defying blasphemy, that but for his stupendous achievements, and his sublime and persistent self-assertion, he would long since have been buried beneath the contempt of mankind.[ ] confucius appears to have been above reproach in morals, and that amid universal profligacy; but he was cold in temperament, unsympathetic, and slavishly utilitarian in his teachings. his ethics lacked symmetry and just proportion. the five relations which constituted his ethico-political system were everything. they were made the basis of inexorable social customs which sacrificed some of the tenderest and noblest promptings of the human heart. confucius mourned the death of his mother, for filial respect was a part of his system, but for his dying wife there is no evidence of grief or regret, and when his son mourned the death of his wife the philosopher reproved him. in all things he reasoned upward toward the throne; his grand aim was to build up an ideal state. he therefore magnified reverence for parents and all ancestors even to the verge of idolatry, but he utterly failed in that symmetry in which paul makes the duties of parents and children mutual. under his system a father might exercise his caprice almost to the power of life or death, and a chinese mother-in-law is proverbially a tyrant. the beautiful sympathy of christ, shown in blessing little children and in drawing lessons from their simple trust, would have been utterly out of place in the great sage of china. confucius seems to have troubled himself but slightly, if at all, about the wants of the poor and the suffering; he taught no doctrine of self-sacrifice for the ignorant and the unworthy. his ideal of the "superior man" would have been tarnished by that contact with the lowly and degraded which was the glory of the christ. and when his cotemporary, laotze, taught the duty of doing good, even to enemies, he repudiated the principle as uncalled for in the relative duties which should govern mankind.[ ] with respect to personality, probably a higher claim has been made for gautama than for either of the characters who have been named. sir edwin arnold, in his preface to the "light of asia," has assigned to him a virtual sinlessness, and such is doubtless the character which his followers would claim for him. but as a model for the great masses of men gautama was very far from perfection. he had little of the genial sunlight of humanity; in every fibre of his nature he was a recluse; his views of life were pessimistic; he had no glad tidings for the sorrowing; no encouragement for the weary and the heavy laden.[ ] his agnosticism was ill adapted to the irrepressible wants of mankind, for they must place their trust in a higher power, real or imagined.[ ] but while he cast a cloud over the being of god he drove his despairing countrymen to the worship of serpents and evil spirits. in ceylon, which is _par eminence_ an orthodox buddhist country, ninety per cent. of the population are said to be devil worshippers, and the devil jugglers are patronized even by the buddhist monks.[ ] as the philosophy of gautama was above the comprehension of the common people, so his example was also above their reach. it utterly lacked the element of trust, and involved the very destruction of society. to "wander apart like a rhinoceros" and "be silent as a broken gong" might be practicable for a chosen few, if only self were to be considered, but silence and isolation are not worthy ideals in a world of mutual dependence and where all life's blessings are enhanced by the ministries of the strong to the necessities of the weak. infinitely higher was the example of him who said, "my father worketh hitherto, and i work;" and who accordingly exhorted his disciples to work while the day lasts. christ prayed not that they should be taken out of the world, but that they should be kept from the evil. again the buddha's life furnished but a poor example in the domestic duties. his abandonment of his wife and child cannot be justified upon any sound theory of life. whatever may be said of the merits of celibacy in those who are under no marriage vows, the abandonment of sacred relations once formed must be considered a crime against all society. as mohammed's example of impurity has cast a blight over all moslem lands, so gautama's withdrawal from his home has borne, and is still bearing, its evil fruit. in burmah it is common for a buddhist who desires a change of wives to abandon his family for the sacred life of a monastery, where, if he remains but a single month, he sunders the old relation and is at liberty to form a new one. good men are disgusted, but there is the example of "the blessed one!" it will be admitted that in comparison with hinduism the buddhist ethics advanced woman to a higher social condition, but when modern apologists compare gautama with christ there are many contrasts which cannot be disguised. in some respects socrates stands highest among great philosophers. mohammed's career cost him nothing but gained for him everything that man's earthly nature could desire. gautama made only a temporary sacrifice; he changed lower indulgences for honor and renown, and died at a ripe old age surrounded by loving friends. but socrates resolutely and calmly suffered martyrdom for his principles. the sublime dignity and self-control of his dying hours will never cease to win the admiration of mankind; yet socrates was by no means a complete character. he died unto himself merely. he left no gospel of peace to humanity. his influence, however pure, could not, and in fact did not, become a diffusive and transforming leaven, either in his own or in any subsequent generation. the late matthew arnold has said, "the radical difference between jesus and socrates is that such a conception as paul's (conception of faith) would, if applied to socrates, be out of place and ineffective. socrates inspired boundless friendship and esteem, but the inspiration of reason and conscience is the one inspiration which comes from him and which impels us to live righteously as he did. a penetrating enthusiasm of love, sympathy, pity, adoration, reinforcing the inspiration of reason and duty does not belong to socrates. with jesus it is different. on this point it is needless to argue: history has proved. in the midst of errors the most prosaic, the most immoral, the most unscriptural, concerning god, christ, and righteousness, the immense emotion of love and sympathy inspired by the person and character of jesus has had to work almost by itself alone for righteousness, but it has worked wonders."[ ] this tribute to the completeness and power of christ's personality is calculated to remind one of a memorable chapter in the well-known work of the late dr. horace bushnell, entitled, "nature and the supernatural." with a wonderful power it portrays christ as rising above the plane of merely human characters--as belonging to no age or race or stage of civilization--as transcendent not in some of the virtues, but in them all--as never subject to prejudice, or the impulse of passion, never losing that perfect poise which it has been impossible for the greatest of men to achieve--as possessed of a mysterious magnetism which carried conviction to his hearers even when claiming to be one with the infinite--as inspiring thousands with a love which has led them to give their lives for his cause.[ ] i have often thought that one of the most striking evidences of the divine reality of the christian faith is found in the reflection of christ's personality in the character and life of the apostle paul.[ ] no one can doubt that paul was a real historic personage, that from having been a strict and influential jew he became a follower of jesus and gave himself to his service with a sublime devotion; that he sealed the sincerity of his belief by a life of marvellous self-denial. he had no motive for acting a false part at such cost; on the contrary, an unmistakable genuineness is stamped upon his whole career. how shall we explain that career? where else in the world's history have we seen a gifted and experienced man, full of strong and repellant prejudices, so stamped and penetrated by the personality of another? on what theory can we account for such a change in such a life, except that his own story of his conversion was strictly true, that he had felt in his inmost soul a power so overwhelming as to sweep away his prejudices, humble his pride, arm him against the derision of his former friends, and prepare him for inevitable persecution and for the martyr death of which he was forewarned? so vivid were his impressions of this divine personality that it seemed almost to absorb his own. christ, though he had ascended, was still with him as a living presence. all his inspiration, all his strength came from him. his plans and purposes centred in his divine master, and his only ambition was to be found well-pleasing in his sight. he saw all types and prophecies fulfilled in him as the son of god, the fulness of his glory, and the express image of his person. paul never indulged in any similes by which to express the glory of heaven; it was enough that we should be like christ and be with him where he is. the writings of all the apostles differ from the books of other religions in the fact that their doctrines, precepts, and exhortations are so centred in their divine teacher and saviour. buddha's disciples continued to quote their master, but buddha was dead. theoretically not even his immortal soul survived. he had declared that when his bodily life should cease there would be nothing left of which it could be said "i am." but to the vivid and realizing faith of christ's followers he is still their living head, their intercessor, their guide. his resurrection is the warrant of their future life. he has gone before and will come again to receive his own. christianity is christ: all believers are members of his mystic body: the church is his bride. he is the alpha and the omega of the world's history. in the contemplation of his personality as the chief among ten thousand his people are changed into his image as from glory to glory. the ground of salvation in christianity is not in a church, nor a body of doctrines, not even in the teachings of the master: it is in christ himself as a humiliated sacrifice and a triumphant saviour. second, the religion of the bible differs from every other in its completeness and scope--its adaptation to all the duties and experiences of life and to all races and all conditions of men. it alone is able to meet all the deep and manifold wants of mankind. hardwick has very aptly pointed out a contrast in this respect between the faith of abraham and that of the early indo-aryan chiefs as portrayed in the rig veda. the pressing wants of humanity necessitate a faith that is of the nature of a heartfelt trust. no other can be regarded as strictly religious. now abraham's faith was something more than a speculation or a creed. it was an all-embracing confidence in god. he had an abiding sense of his presence and he confided in him as his constant guide, defender, and friend. his family, his flocks, his relations to the hostile tribes who surrounded him, the promised possession of the land to which he journeyed--all these were matters which he left in the hands of an unseen but ever-faithful friend. his was a practical faith--a real and complete venture, and it involved gratitude and loyalty and love. abraham's childhood had been spent in the home of an idolatrous father; for shemite as well as aryan had departed from the worship of the true god. in chaldea, as in india, men had come to worship the sun and moon and the forces of nature. but while the hindu wandered ever farther away from jehovah, abraham restored the faith which his ancestors had lost. he had no recourse to indra or varuna, he sought no help from devas or departed spirits. he looked to god alone, for he had heard a voice saying, "i am the almighty god, walk before me and be thou perfect."[ ] under the inspiration of such a summons abraham became "the father of the faithful." he was the representative and exemplar of real and practical faith, not only to the hebrew race but to all mankind. he staked his all upon a promise which he regarded as divine and therefore sure. he believed in the lord and he counted it to him for righteousness. he left home and country and ventured among hostile tribes in an assured confidence that he should gain a possession, though empty-handed, and a countless posterity, though yet childless, and that all this would be granted him not for his own glory, but that all nations might be blest in him. and this subordination of self and this uplifting of his soul to a sublime hope rendered him patient when fulfilment seemed postponed, and strong against temptation when spoils and emoluments were offered him; for in some sense, vague perhaps, he foresaw a messiah and a kingdom of righteousness, and he was girded with confidence to the last, though he died without the sight. we look in vain for anything to be compared with this in the vedic literature, still less in that of the period of brahmanical sacerdotalism, or in the still later speculations of the philosophic schools. real hinduism is wanting in the element of trust. its only faith is a belief, a theory, a speculation. it receives nothing and expects nothing as a free gift of god. sacrificial rites survived in the early vedic period, but they had lost all prophetic significance. they terminated in themselves and rested upon their own value. there was no remembered promise and no expectation of any specific fulfilment. the hindu gained simply what he bought with his merit or his offerings, and he had no greater sense of gratitude to deity than to the tradesman of whom he made a purchase in the bazaar. there are, indeed, traces in some of the earliest vedic hymns of a feeling of dependence upon superior powers, yet the brahmanical priesthood taught men that he who was rich enough to offer a sacrifice of a hundred horses might bankrupt heaven, and by his simple right of purchase even rob indra of his throne.[ ] as stated in a previous lecture, so far was this system from "the faith which works by love" that even demons, by costly sacrifices might dispute the supremacy of the universe. there is an equally significant contrast between the legislation of moses and that of manu. the life and experience of the former are interwoven with his statutes. they are illustrated with references to actual events in the history of the people. the blessings, the trials, the punishments, the victories, the defeats of israel enter into the texture of the whole mosaic record: it is full of sympathetic feeling; it takes hold on the actual life of men and therefore is able to reform and elevate them. it brings not only moses, but jehovah himself into personal sympathy with the people. but manu presents statutes only. many of these are wholesome as laws, but they are destitute of tenderness or compassion. no indication is given of the author's own experience, and we are left in doubt whether there were not many authors to whom the general name of manu was applied. there is no inculcation of gratitude and love to god, or any hint of his love to men. no prayer, no song, no confession of dependence, no tribute of praise, no record of trembling, yet trustful, experience. it is all cold, lifeless precept and prohibition, with threats of punishment here and hereafter. religious exaction is most strict, but there are few religious privileges except for brahmans, and these they possess by divine birthright. no particular favor is asked from any being in heaven or on earth. with respect to this same element of personal trust, and real, heartfelt experience, contrast david also with any author whose name is given in hindu literature. he was full of humanity, large-hearted, loving, grateful, and though stained by sin, yet he was so penitent and humble and tender that he was said to be a man after god's own heart. he was a successful warrior and a great king, but he held all his honor and his power as a divine gift and for the divine glory. compare the th psalm with the upanishads, or with any of the six schools of philosophy. the one deals with moral precepts and spiritual aspirations, all the others with subtle theories of creation or problems of the universe. the one is the outflowing of joyous experience found in obedience to god's moral law, and only out of the heart could such a psalm have been written. the law of god had become not a barrier or a hamper, but a delight. evidently david had found a religion which filled every avenue and met every want of his whole being. again, only the religion of christ brings man into his proper relation of penitence and humility before god. it is necessary to the very conception of reconciliation to a higher and purer being that wrong-doing shall be confessed. all the leading faiths of the world have traditions of the fall of man from a higher and holier estate, and most of them--notably hinduism, buddhism, ancient druidism, and the druse religion of mount lebanon--declare that the fall was the result of pride and rebellion of spirit. and of necessity the wrong, if it cannot be undone, must at least be confessed. self-justification is perpetuation. the offender must lay aside his false estimate of self and admit the justice whose claims he has violated. even in the ordinary intercourse of men this principle is universally recognized. there can be no reconciliation without either actual reparation or at least a frank acknowledgment. governmental pardon always implies repentance and promised reform, and between individuals a due concession to violated principle is deemed the dictate of the truest honor. how can there be reconciliation to god, then, without repentance and humiliation? of what value can heathen asceticism and merit-making be while the heart is still barred and buttressed with self-righteousness? the longer a man approaches the holiness of deity with the offerings of his own self-consequence the greater does the enormity of his offence become and the wider the breach which he attempts to close. even if he could render a perfect obedience and service for the future, he could never overtake the old unsettled score. the prodigal cannot recover the squandered estate or wipe out the record of folly and sin, and if there be no resource of free remission on the one hand, and no deep and genuine repentance on the other, there can be no possible adjustment. the universal judgment and conscience of men so decide. philosophers may present this method and that of moral culture and assimilation to the character of the infinite, but practically all men will approve the philosophy taught in christ's touching parable of the prodigal son. the beauty, the force, the propriety of its principles strike the human understanding, whether of the sage or of the savage, like a flash of sunlight, and no human heart can fail to be touched by its lessons. yet where in all the wide waste of heathen faiths or philosophies is there anything which even remotely resembles the story of the prodigal? where is the system in which such an incident and such a lesson would not be wholly out of place? in that ancient book of the egyptian religion known as "the book of the dead," the souls of the departed when arraigned before the throne of osiris are represented as all joining in one refrain of self-exculpation, uttering such pleas as these: "i have not offended or caused others to offend." "i have not snared ducks illegally on the nile." "i have not used false weights or measures." "i have not defrauded my neighbor by unjustly opening the sluices upon my own land!" any sense of the inward character of sin or any conception of wrong attitudes of mind or heart toward god is utterly wanting. it is simply the plea of "not guilty," which even the most hardened culprit may make in court. in one of the vedic hymns to varuna there is something which looks like confession of sin, but it really ends in palliation. "it was not our doing, o varuna, it was necessity; an intoxicating draught, passion, dice, thoughtlessness. the old is there to mislead the young. even sleep brings unrighteousness." and the remission sought for is not one involving a change of character but only release from an external bond. "absolve us from the sins of our fathers and from those which we committed with our own bodies. release vasishtha, o king, like a thief who has feasted on stolen oxen. release him like a calf from the rope."[ ] in the penitential psalms of the ancient akkadians, who inhabited northern assyria in the times of abraham, and who may have retained something of that true faith from which abraham's father had declined, we find a nearer approach to true penitence, but that also lacks the inner sense of sin and seeks merely an exemption from punishments. only in the old and new testaments is sin recognized as of the nature of personal guilt. accordingly, christianity alone recognizes the fact that right thoughts and motives and a worthy character are the gifts of god. cicero has truly remarked[ ] that men justly thank god for external blessings, but never for virtue, or talent, or character. all that is regarded as their own. and such is the conceit of human self-righteousness in all man-made religions, whether hindu or greek, ancient or modern. philosophy is in its very nature haughty and aristocratic. even plato betrays this element. it is only the christian apostle that is heard to say, with heartfelt emotion, "by the grace of god i am what i am." the buddha declared that he recognized no being in any world to whom he owed any special reverence; and especially in his later years, when his disciples had come to look upon him as in a sense divine, he regarded himself as the highest of all intelligences on the earth or in the various heavens. such assumptions in both buddha and confucius will explain the fact that for ages both have been virtually worshipped. "at fifteen," said confucius, "i had my mind bent on learning. at thirty i stood firm. at forty i had no doubt. at fifty i knew the decrees of heaven. at sixty my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth. at seventy i could follow what my heart desired without transgressing what was right."[ ] yet neither of these great teachers claimed to be a divine saviour. they were simply exemplars; their self-righteousness was supposed to be attainable by all. i cannot do better in this connection than point out a striking contrast in the recorded experiences of two well-known historic characters. islam honors david, king of israel, and accords him a place among its accredited prophets. both david and mohammed were guilty of adultery under circumstances of peculiar aggravation. mohammed covered his offence by a blasphemous pretence of special revelations from god, justifying his crime and chiding him for such qualms of conscience as he had. david lay in dust and ashes while he bemoaned not only the consequences of his sin and the breach of justice toward his neighbor, but also the deep spiritual offence of his act. "against thee, and thee only, o god, have i sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." profoundest penitence on the one hand and heaven-daring blasphemy on the other, the bible and the koran being witnesses! another marked distinction is seen in the moral purity of the christian scriptures as contrasted with the so-called sacred books of all other religions. that which is simply human will naturally be expected to show the moral taint of lapsed humanity. the waters cannot rise higher than the fountain-head, nor can one gather figs from thistles. in our social intercourse with men we sooner or later find out their true moral level. and so in what is written, the exact grade of the author will surely appear. and it is by this very test that we can with tolerable accuracy distinguish the human from the divine in religious records. it is not difficult to determine what is from heaven and what is of the earth. no enlightened reader of greek mythology can proceed far without discovering that he is dealing with the prurient and often lascivious imaginings of semi-barbarous poets. he finds the poetry and the art of greece both reflecting the character of a passionate people, bred under a southern sun and in an extremely sensuous age. if he ventures into the lowest depths of the popular religious literature of greece or rome, or ancient egypt or phoenicia, he finds unspeakable vice enshrined among the mysteries of religion, and corruptions which an age of refinement refuses to translate or depict abound on every hand. or apply the same test to the literature of hinduism, even in its earliest and purest stages. the sacred vedas, which are supposed to have been breathed into the souls of ancient rishis by direct divine effluence, are tainted here and there by debasing human elements, and that not incidentally but as the very soul of the hindu system. for example, when the vedic hymns promise as future rewards the lowest sensual indulgences[ ] none can doubt the earthly source of their inspiration. as for the upanishads, which are regarded as _sruti_ or inspired, professor max müller, in his introduction to the first volume of "the sacred books of the east," virtually admits the impropriety of translating them for english readers without expurgation. mr. ram chandra bose, of lucknow, declares himself unable, for the same reason, to give a full and unabridged account of the ancient hindu sacrifices.[ ] the later literatures of the puranas and the tantras are lower still. anti-christian orientalists have so generally conveyed the popular impression that their culled and expurgated translations were fair representations of hindu literature that wilson finally felt called upon in the interest of truth and honesty to lift the veil from some of the later revelations of the puranas, and it is sufficient to say that the greek mythology is fairly outdone by the alleged and repeated escapades of the chief hindu deities. the traditions of all ancient religions found on either hemisphere, and the usages observed among savage tribes of to-day all conform to the same low moral gauge. all are as deplorably human as the degraded peoples who devised them. in mexico and peru, as well as in egypt and in babylonia, base human passion was mingled with the highest teachings of religion.[ ] buddhism has generally been considered an exception to this general rule, and it will be confessed that its influence has been vastly higher than that of the old hinduism, or the religions of canaan, or greece, or rome, and immeasurably higher in morals than that of islam; yet even buddhism has been colored by its european advocates with far too roseate a hue. sir edwin arnold was not the first biographer of gautama to glorify incidentally the seductive influences of his indian harem, and to leave on too many minds the impression that, after all, the luxurious palace of sidartha was more attractive than the beggars' bowl of the enlightened "tathagata." the bishop of colombo, in an able article on buddhism, arraigns the apologetic translators of buddhistic literature for having given to the world an altogether erroneous impression of the moral purity of the sacred books of ceylon.[ ] the vaunted claim that the early buddhist records, and especially the early rock inscriptions found in caves, are pure, whatever corruptions may have crept into more modern manuscripts, is well met by letters from a recent traveller, which speak of certain buddhist inscriptions so questionable in character that they cannot be translated or described.[ ] it is scarcely necessary for me to speak of the base appeal to man's low passions found in the koran. it is only necessary to trace its unmistakable influence in the moral degeneracy of mohammedan populations in all lands and all ages--destroying the sacredness of the home, degrading woman, engendering unnatural vices, and poisoning all society from generation to generation. it is indeed a hard task for its apologists, by any kind of literary veneering to cover the moral deformity and the blasphemous wickedness which, side by side with acknowledged excellences, mar the pages of the koran. the soiled finger-marks of the sensual arab everywhere defile them. like the blood of banquo, they defy all ocean's waters to wash them out. it was easy enough for mohammed to copy many exalted truths from judaism and christianity, and no candid mind will deny that there are many noble precepts in the koran; but after all has been said, its ruling spirit is base. even its promised heaven is demoralizing. it is characteristically a human book, and very low in the ethical scale at that. let us now turn to the bible; let us remember that the old testament represents those early centuries when the people of israel were surrounded by the corruptions of baal worship, which transcended the grovelling wickedness of all other heathen systems, ancient or modern. let us bear in mind the kind of training which the nation had received amid the corruptions of egypt, all rendered more effective for evil by their degrading bondage; and with all these disadvantages in view, let us search everywhere, from genesis to malachi, and see if there be one prurient utterance, one sanction for, or even connivance at, impurity in all those records, written by men in different lands and ages, men representing all social grades, all vocations in life, and chosen from among all varieties of association. who will deny that these men appear to have been raised by some unaccountable power to a common level of moral purity which was above their age, their social standards, their natural impulses, or any of the highest human influences which could have been exerted upon them? they were often called to deal plainly with moral evils. they record instances of grievous dereliction, in some cases the writers were themselves the offenders. but there is always reproof. the story always has a salutary moral. sin is always shown to be a losing game, a sowing to the wind and a reaping of the whirlwind. it is either followed by severe judgments, or it is repented of with a contrition which bows even a great monarch in dust and ashes. the books of the new testament were also written in an age of great moral corruption. judaism was virtually dead; the current religion in the holy city was "a sad perversion of the truth." hypocrisy sat in high places when john baptist came with his protest and his rebukes. the herods, who held the sceptres of provincial authority, were either base time-servers, or worse, they were monsters of lust and depravity. in the far-off capitals of the dominant heathen races vice had attained its full fruitage and was already going to seed and consequent decay. athens, corinth, ephesus, and antioch were steeped in iniquity, while the emperors who wielded the sceptre of the roman empire were hastening the ruin of the existing civilization. it was in such an age and amid such surroundings that the gospels and the epistles came forth as the lotus springs, pure and radiant from the foul and fetid quagmire. what could have produced them? the widely accepted rule that religions are the products of their environments is surely at fault here. neither in the natural impulses of a dozen judean fishermen and peasants, nor in the bigoted breast of saul of tarsus, could these unique and sublime conceptions have found their genesis. they are manifestly divine. how exalted is the portraiture of the christ! what human skill could have depicted a character which no ideal of our best modern culture can equal? in all the new testament there are none but the highest and purest ethical teachings, and even the most poetical descriptions of heaven are free from any faintest tinge of human folly. the apocalypse is full of images which appeal to the senses, but there is nothing which does not minister to the most rigid purity; while the representations which paul makes of eternal felicity are strictly and conspicuously spiritual and elevating. everywhere, from matthew to revelations, it is the pure in heart who shall see god, and the inducement held out is to be pure because he is pure. and although the gift of eternal life is a free gift, yet it affords no excuse for laxity. the sixth chapter of the epistle to the romans is a remonstrance against all presumption in those that are "under grace." "reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto god through our lord jesus christ. let not sin therefore rule in your mortal body that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto god as those that are alive from the dead."[ ] the religion of the new testament is a spiritual religion, the resurrection body is a spiritual body; heaven is not an indian hunting-ground, nor a vikings valhalla of shield-clad warriors, nor a moslem harem. it is a spiritual abode, and its companionships are with god and the lamb, with the church of the first-born and of saints made perfect. now, all that we can say of these lofty and pure conceptions is that flesh and blood never revealed them. they are divine. they are out of the range of our native humanity; they are not the things that human nature desires, and it is only by the high culture of transforming grace that human aspirations are raised to their level. in conclusion, there are many points in which christianity asserts its unique supremacy over all other systems of which there is time but for the briefest mention. it presents to man the only cultus which can have universal adaptation. christ only, belongs to all ages and all races. buddha is but an asiatic, mohammed is an arab and belongs only to the east. the religion or philosophy of confucius has never found adaptation to any but mongolian races; his social and political pyramid would crumble in contact with republican institutions. on the other hand, the religion of christ is not only adapted to all races, but it aims at their union in one great brotherhood. again, christianity alone presents the true relation between divine help and human effort. it does not invest marred and crippled human nature with a false and impossible independence, neither does it crush it. whenever heathen systems have taught a salvation by faith they have lost sight of moral obligation. weitbrecht and others state this as a fact with the hindu doctrine of bakti (faith) adopted in the later centuries; de quatrefages asserts the same of the tahitans. but the faith of the new testament everywhere supposes a divine and effectual co-operation. "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is god that worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure." it bids men serve not as hirelings, but as sons and heirs; it stimulates hope without engendering pride; it administers discipline, but with a father's love; it teaches that trials are not judgments, but wholesome lessons. of all religions it alone inculcates a rational and consoling doctrine of providence. it declares that to the righteous death is not destruction, but a sleep in peace and hope. it bids the christian lay off his cares and worries--in all things making his requests known unto god with thanksgivings; and yet it enjoins him not to rest in sloth, but to aspire after all that is pure and true and honorable and lovely and of good report in human life and conduct. it saves him from sin not by the stifling and atrophy of any god-given power, but by the expulsive influence of new affections; it bids him be pure even as god is pure. there is in the brief epistle of paul to titus a passage which in a single sentence sets forth the way of salvation in its fulness. it traces redemption to the grace of god, and it makes it a free provision for all men; yet it insists upon carefulness and sobriety. salvation is shown to begin _now_ in the laying aside of all sin and the living of a godly life. meanwhile it cheers the soul with expectation that christ shall dwell with the redeemed in triumph, as he once came in humiliation, and it keeps ever in mind the great truth that his mission is not merely to secure for man future exemptions and possessions, but to build up character--character that shall continue to rise and expand forever. _for the grace of god that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great god and our saviour jesus christ; who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works._ footnotes: [footnote : _holy bible and sacred books of the east_, p. .] [footnote : mohammed was once asked whether he trusted in his own merit or in the mercy of god, and he answered, "the mercy of god." but the whole drift of his teaching belied this one pious utterance.] [footnote : of the terrible darkness and bewilderment into which benighted races are often found schoolcraft furnishes this graphic and painful picture in the condition of the iroquois: "their notions of a deity, founded apparently on some dreamy tradition of original truth, are so subtile and divisible, and establish so heterogeneous a connection between spirit and matter of all imaginable forms, that popular belief seems to have wholly confounded the possible with the impossible, the natural with the supernatural. action, so far as respects cause and effect, takes the widest and wildest range, through the agency of good or evil influences, which are put in motion alike for noble or ignoble ends--alike by men, beasts, devils, or gods. seeing something mysterious and wonderful, he believes all things mysterious and wonderful; and he is afloat without shore or compass, on the wildest sea of superstition and necromancy. he sees a god in every phenomenon, and fears a sorcerer in every enemy. life, under such a system of polytheism and wild belief, is a constant scene of fears and alarms. fear is the predominating passion, and he is ready, wherever he goes, to sacrifice at any altar, be the supposed deity ever so grotesque. he relates just what he believes, and unluckily he believes everything that can possibly be told. a beast, or a bird, or a man, or a god, or a devil, a stone, a serpent, or a wizard, a wind, or a sound, or a ray of light--these are so many causes of action, which the meanest and lowest of the series may put in motion, but which shall in his theology and philosophy vibrate along the mysterious chain through the uppermost, and life or death may at any moment be the reward or the penalty."--_notes on the iroquois_, p. .] [footnote : _history of rationalism_.] [footnote : and even the buddha had spent six years in self-mortification and in the diligent search for what he regarded as the true wisdom.] [footnote : henry maudsley, in _the arena_ of april, .] [footnote : "barren mohammedanism has been in all the higher and more tender virtues, because its noble morality and its pure theism have been united with no living example."--lecky, _history of morals_, vol. ii., p. .] [footnote : the most intelligent mohammedans, as we have shown in a former lecture, admit the moral blemishes of his character as compared with the purity of jesus and only revere him as the instrument of a great divine purpose. his only element of greatness was success. even the koran convicts him of what the world must regard as heinous sin, and presents jesus as the only sinless prophet.] [footnote : douglass, _confucianism and taouism_.] [footnote : the apologists of buddhism have made much of the story of a distressed young mother who came to the "master" bearing in her arms the dead body of her first-born--hoping for some comfort or help. he bade her bring him some mustard seed found in a home where no child had died. after a wearisome but vain search he only reminded her of the universality of death. no hope of a future life and a glad recovery of the lost was given. as an illustration of buddhism the example is a good one.] [footnote : "men wanted a father in heaven, who should take account of their efforts and assure them a recompense. men wanted a future of righteousness, in which the earth should belong to the feeble and the poor; they wanted the assurance that human suffering is not all loss, but that beyond this sad horizon, dimmed by tears, are happy plains where sorrow shall one day find its consolation."--renan, _hibbert lectures_, p. .] [footnote : see report of missionary conference, london, , vol. i., p. .] [footnote : _st. paul and protestantism_, p. , quoted by bishop carpenter.] [footnote : it is hardly necessary to remind the reader of the well-known tribute which napoleon, in his conversations with his friends on the island of st. helena, paid to the transcendent personality of christ. he drew a graphic contrast between the so-called glory which had been won by great conquerors like alexander, cæsar, and himself, and that mysterious and all-mastering power which in all lands and all ages continues to attach itself to the person, the name, the memory of christ, for whom, after eighteen centuries of time, millions of men would sacrifice their lives.] [footnote : augustine appears to have been greatly moved by the life as well as by the writings of paul. in an account given of his conversion to his friend romanianus, he says, "so then stumbling, hurrying, hesitating, i seized the apostle paul, 'for never,' said i, 'could they have wrought such things, or lived as it is plain they did live, if their writings and arguments were opposed to this so high a good.'"--_confessions_, bk. vii., xxi., note.] [footnote : genesis, xvii. .] [footnote : the doctrine of human merit-making was carried to such an extreme under the brahmanical system that the gods became afraid of its power. they sometimes found it necessary to send apsaras (nymphs), wives of genii, to tempt the most holy ascetics, lest their austerities and their merit should proceed too far.--_see article brahmanism, in the britannica._] [footnote : müller, _chips from a german workshop_, vol. i., p. .] [footnote : de nat. deorum, iii., .] [footnote : _chips from a german workshop_, p. .] [footnote : see murdock's _vedic religion_, p. .] [footnote : _hindu philosophy_.] [footnote : the most sacred of human victims offered by the aztecs were prepared by a month of unbridled lust. see prescott's _conquest_.] [footnote : _nineteenth century_, july, .] [footnote : letters of rev. pentecost in _the christian at work_, .] [footnote : the same principles are set forth with great emphasis in isaiah, chap. iii.] appendix books of reference the books relating directly or indirectly to the wide range of topics discussed in the following lectures are too numerous for citation here; but there are some which are so essential to a thorough knowledge of comparative religion and comparative philosophy, that a special acknowledgment is due. "the sacred books of the east" are indispensable to one who would catch the real spirit of the oriental religions. the translations from hindu, buddhist, mohammedan, confucian, and zoroastrian literatures, by max müller, rhys davids, oldenberg, fausbôll, palmer, darmesteter, mills, legge, buhler, west, beal, and other able scholars, are invaluable. the various other works of max müller, "the science of religion," "chips from a german workshop," "the origin and growth of religion," "physical religion," etc., fill an important place in all study of these subjects. "indian wisdom," by sir monier williams, is the most comprehensive, and in many ways the best, of all compends of hindu religion and philosophy. his abridged work, "hinduism," and the larger volume entitled "brahmanism and hinduism," are also valuable. r.c. bose has given to the public an able treatise entitled "hindu philosophy." other books on hinduism to which more or less reference is made, are: "the vedic religion," by mcdonald; "india and the indians," by duff; "the life and letters of colbrooke;" "the bhagavad gita," as translated by chatterji; "the vishnu puranas," by wilson; "the ramayana," by griffiths; "brahmoism," by bose; "the oriental christ," by mozoomdar; "christianity and hindu philosophy," by ballantyne. among the ablest books on buddhism are: "buddhism;" "the growth of religion as illustrated by buddhism," and the able article on the same subject in the "britannica"--all by rhys davids. "buddha: his life, character, and order," by professor oldenberg, is a scarcely less important contribution to buddhist literature. "the light of asia," by sir edwin arnold, has done more than any other work to interest western nations in the legends of gautama; perhaps no other oriental character has been more successfully popularized. of the many efforts to correct the misleading impressions given by this fanciful but really poetic story, "the light of asia and the light of the world," by dr. s.h. kellogg, is probably the ablest. dr. edkins, in "chinese buddhism," and professor beal, in "buddhism in china," have very successfully shown the characteristics of the chinese types of the system. spence hardy, in his "manual of buddhism," has rendered a similar service in relation to the buddhism of ceylon, while bigandet has set forth that of burmah, and alabaster that of siam. sir monier williams, in his more recent work, "buddhism," has done much to counteract the fashionable tendency of most orientalists to idealize the buddhist system. other works relating to buddhism are, "mohammed, buddha, and christ," by dodds; "buddhism (modern)," by subhadra; and "esoteric buddhism," by sinnett. maurice, bishop carpenter, brace, the bishop of colombo, martin, and many others have ably discussed the subject. of all works on mohammedanism, sale's translation of the koran, with a "preliminary discourse," is the most comprehensive and important. sprenger's "life of mohammed, from original sources," is perhaps next in rank. "islam and mahomet," by samuel johnson; "mohammed and mohammedanism," by e. bosworth smith; "christianity, islam, and the negro race," by e.w. blyden; and "leaves from an egyptian note-book," by canon isaac taylor, are among the principal apologies for islam. gibbon's fifth volume of the "decline and fall of the roman empire" has at least done ample justice to the glory of the mohammedan conquest. of those who have ably controverted the claims of islam, the late dr. pfander, of northern india, will perhaps hold the first rank. of the three moulvies who were selected to meet him in public discussion, two are said to have been converted to christianity by his arguments. the concessions of the koran to the truths of the old and new testaments have been ably pointed out by sir william muir in "the koran," and dr. e.m. wherry, in his "commentary," has established the striking fact, that of all the prophets named in the koran, including mohammed, jesus alone is represented as sinless. the modern apologists of mohammed and his system have been well answered by knox in current numbers of the _church missionary intelligencer_. other works upon the subject are "islam," by stobart; "islam as a missionary religion," by haines; "essays on eastern questions," by palgrave. sir william muir's "history of the caliphate" is an important and recent work. confucianism and taouism may be fairly understood, even by those who have not the time for a careful study of legge's translations of the chinese classics, by reference to the following works: "china and the chinese," by medhurst; "the religions of china," by legge; "the chinese," by martin; "confucianism and taouism," by douglass; "religion in china," by edkins. the late samuel johnson, in his "oriental religions," has devoted a large volume to the religions of china, principally to the ethics and political economy of the confucian system; and james freeman clark has given considerable attention to confucianism as one of "the ten great religions." zoroastrianism is ably treated by darmesteter in the introduction to his translation of the "zend avesta." instructive lectures on the religion and literature of persia may be found in the first volume of max müller's "chips from a german workshop;" also in "the religion of the iranians," found in ebrard's "apologetics," vol. ii. west's and darmesteter's translations of "pahlavi texts," in the "sacred books of the east," are also suggestive. in the following discussions, relating broadly to the ancient as well as the modern religions and philosophies of the world, and their contrasts to christian truth, reference is made directly or indirectly to the following works: "christ and other masters," by hardwick; "the ancient world and christianity," by edward de pressensé; "the religions of the world," by maurice; "the aryan witness," by banergea; "the unknown god," by brace; "the permanent elements in religion," by boyd carpenter; "oriental and linguistic studies," by a.d. whitney; "the doomed religions," by reid; "the idea of god," by fiske; "the destiny of man," by fiske; "the races of man," by peschel; "introduction to the philosophy of religion," by caird; "national religions and universal religions," by kuenen; "some elements of religion," by liddon; "outlines of the history of ancient religions," by tiele; "the philosophy of religion," by pfleiderer; "our christian heritage," by cardinal gibbons; "hulsean lectures, - ," by trench; "hibbert lectures, ," by renan; "origins of english history," by elton; "st. paul in britain" (druidism), by morgan; "fossil men and their modern representatives," by dawson; "modern ideas of evolution," by dawson; "marcus aurelius," by renan; "epictetus," bonn's library; "confessions," by st. augustine; "history of the egyptian religion," by tiele; "lucretius," bonn's library; "lives of the fathers," by farrar; "the vikings of western christendom," by keary; "principles of sociology," by spencer; "the descent of man," by darwin; "evolution and its relation to christian thought," by le conte; "history of european morals," by lecky; "the kojiki" (sacred books of shinto), chamberlain's translation; "the witness of history to christ," by farrar; "anti-theistic theories," by flint; "the human species," by de quatrefages. christianity and islam by c.h. becker, ph.d. professor of oriental history in the colonial institute of hamburg translated by rev. h.j. chaytor, m.a. headmaster of plymouth college table of contents the subject from different points of view: limits of treatment the nature of the subject: the historical points of connection between christianity and islam a. christianity and the rise of islam: . muhammed and his contemporaries . the influence of christianity upon the development of muhammed . muhammed's knowledge of christianity . the position of christians under muhammedanism b. the similarity of christian and muhammedan metaphysics during the middle ages: . the means and direction by which christian influence affected islam . the penetration of daily life by the spirit of religion; asceticism, contradictions and influences affecting the development of a clerical class and the theory of marriage . the theory of life in general with reference to the doctrine of immortality . the attitude of religion towards the state, economic life, society, etc. . the permanent importance to islam of these influences: the doctrine of duties . ritual . mysticism and the worship of saints . dogma and the development of scholasticism c. the influence of islam upon christianity: the manner in which this influence operated, and the explanation of the superiority of islam the influence of muhammedan philosophy the new world of european christendom and the modern east conclusion. the historical growth of religion bibliography christianity and islam a comparison of christianity with muhammedanism or with any other religion must be preceded by a statement of the objects with which such comparison is undertaken, for the possibilities which lie in this direction are numerous. the missionary, for instance, may consider that a knowledge of the similarities of these religions would increase the efficacy of his proselytising work: his purpose would thus be wholly practical. the ecclesiastically minded christian, already convinced of the superiority of his own religion, will be chiefly anxious to secure scientific proof of the fact: the study of comparative religion from this point of view was once a popular branch of apologetics and is by no means out of favour at the present day. again, the inquirer whose historical perspective is undisturbed by ecclesiastical considerations, will approach the subject with somewhat different interests. he will expect the comparison to provide him with a clear view of the influence which christianity has exerted upon other religions or has itself received from them: or he may hope by comparing the general development of special religious systems to gain a clearer insight into the growth of christianity. hence the object of such comparisons is to trace the course of analogous developments and the interaction of influence and so to increase the knowledge of religion in general or of our own religion in particular. a world-religion, such as christianity, is a highly complex structure and the evolution of such a system of belief is best understood by examining a religion to which we have not been bound by a thousand ties from the earliest days of our lives. if we take an alien religion as our subject of investigation, we shall not shrink from the consequences of the historical method: whereas, when we criticise christianity, we are often unable to see the falsity of the pre-suppositions which we necessarily bring to the task of inquiry: our minds follow the doctrines of christianity, even as our bodies perform their functions--in complete unconsciousness. at the same time we possess a very considerable knowledge of the development of christianity, and this we owe largely to the help of analogy. especially instructive is the comparison between christianity and buddhism. no less interesting are the discoveries to be attained by an inquiry into the development of muhammedanism: here we can see the growth of tradition proceeding in the full light of historical criticism. we see the plain man, muhammed, expressly declaring in the qoran that he cannot perform miracles, yet gradually becoming a miracle worker and indeed the greatest of his class: he professes to be nothing more than a mortal man: he becomes the chief mediator between man and god. the scanty memorials of the man become voluminous biographies of the saint and increase from generation to generation. yet more remarkable is the fact that his utterances, his _logia_, if we may use the term, some few of which are certainly genuine, increase from year to year and form a large collection which is critically sifted and expounded. the aspirations of mankind attribute to him such words of the new testament and of greek philosophers as were especially popular or seemed worthy of muhammed; the teaching also of the new ecclesiastical schools was invariably expressed in the form of proverbial utterances attributed to muhammed, and these are now without exception regarded as authentic by the modern moslem. in this way opinions often contradictory are covered by muhummed's authority. the traditions concerning jesus offer an analogy. our gospels, for instance, relate the beautiful story of the plucking of the ears of corn on the sabbath, with its famous moral application, "the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath." a christian papyrus has been discovered which represents jesus as explaining the sanctity of the sabbath from the judaeo-christian point of view. "if ye keep not the sabbath holy, ye shall not see the father," is the statement in an uncanonical gospel. in early christian literature, contradictory sayings of jesus are also to be found. doubtless here, as in muhammedan tradition, the problem originally was, what is to be my action in this or that question of practical life: answer is given in accordance with the religious attitude of the inquirer and jesus and muhammed are made to lend their authority to the teaching. traditional literary form is then regarded as historical by later believers. examples of this kind might be multiplied, but enough has been said to show that much and, to some extent, new light may be thrown upon the development of christian tradition, by an examination of muhammedanism which rose from similar soil but a few centuries later, while its traditional developments have been much more completely preserved. such analogies as these can be found, however, in any of the world-religions, and we propose to devote our attention more particularly to the influences which christianity and islam exerted directly upon one another. while muhammedanism has borrowed from its hereditary foe, it has also repaid part of the debt. by the very fact of its historical position islam was at first indebted to christianity; but in the department of christian philosophy, it has also exerted its own influence. this influence cannot be compared with that of greek or jewish thought upon christian speculation: christian philosophy, as a metaphysical theory of existence, was however strongly influenced by arabian thought before the outset of the reformation. on the other hand the influence of christianity upon islam--and also upon muhammed, though he owed more to jewish thought--was so extensive that the coincidence of ideas upon the most important metaphysical questions is positively amazing. there is a widespread belief even at the present day that islam was a complete novelty and that the religion and culture of the muhammedan world were wholly alien to western medievalism. such views are entirely false; during the middle ages muhammedanism and western culture were inspired by the same spirit. the fact has been obscured by the contrast between the two religions whose differences have been constantly exaggerated and by dissimilarities of language and nationality. to retrace in full detail the close connection which unites christianity and islam would be the work of years. within the scope of the present volume, all that can be done is to explain the points of contact between christian and muhammedan theories of life and religion. such is the object of the following pages. we shall first treat of muhammed personally, because his rise as a religious force will explain the possibility of later developments. this statement also explains the sense in which we shall use the term christianity. muhammedanism has no connection with post-reformation christianity and meets it only in the mission field. practical questions there arise which lie beyond the limits of our subject, as we have already indicated. our interests are concerned with the mediaeval church, when christianity first imposed its ideas upon muhammedanism at the time of its rise in the east, and afterwards received a material extension of its own horizon through the rapid progress of its protégé. our task is to analyse and explain these special relations between the two systems of thought. the religion now known as islam is as near to the preaching of muhammed or as remote from it, as modern catholicism or protestant christianity is at variance or in harmony with the teaching of jesus. the simple beliefs of the prophet and his contemporaries are separated by a long course of development from the complicated religious system in its unity and diversity which islam now presents to us. the course of this development was greatly influenced by christianity, but christian ideas had been operative upon muhammed's eager intellectual life at an even earlier date. we must attempt to realise the working of his mind, if we are to gain a comprehension of the original position of islam with regard to christianity. the task is not so difficult in muhammed's case as in that of others who have founded religious systems: we have records of his philosophical views, important even though fragmentary, while vivid descriptions of his experiences have been transmitted to us in his own words, which have escaped the modifying influence of tradition at second hand. muhammed had an indefinite idea of the word of god as known to him from other religions. he was unable to realise this idea effectively except as an immediate revelation; hence throughout the qoran he represents god as speaking in the first person and himself appears as the interlocutor. even direct commands to the congregation are introduced by the stereotyped "speak"; it was of primary importance that the qoran should be regarded as god's word and not as man's. this fact largely contributed to secure an uncontaminated transmission of the text, which seems also to have been left by muhammed himself in definite form. its intentional obscurity of expression does not facilitate the task of the inquirer, but it provides, none the less, considerable information concerning the religious progress of its author. here we are upon firmer ground than when we attempt to describe muhammed's outward life, the first half of which is wrapped in obscurity no less profound than that which veils the youth of the founder of christianity. muhammed's contemporaries lived amid religious indifference. the majority of the arabs were heathen and their religious aspirations were satisfied by local cults of the old semitic character. they may have preserved the religious institutions of the great south arabian civilisation, which was then in a state of decadence; the beginnings of islam may also have been influenced by the ideas of this civilisation, which research is only now revealing to us: but these points must remain undecided for the time being. south arabian civilisation was certainly not confined to the south, nor could an organised township such as mecca remain outside its sphere of influence: but the scanty information which has reached us concerning the religious life of the arabs anterior to islam might also be explained by supposing them to have followed a similar course of development. in any case, it is advisable to reserve judgment until documentary proof can replace ingenious conjecture. the difficulty of the problem is increased by the fact that jewish and especially christian ideas penetrated from the south and that their influence cannot be estimated. the important point for us to consider is the existence of christianity in southern arabia before the muhammedan period. nor was the south its only starting-point: christian doctrine came to arabia from the north, from syria and babylonia, and numerous conversions, for the most part of whole tribes, were made. on the frontiers also arabian merchants came into continual contact with christianity and foreign merchants of the christian faith could be found throughout arabia. but for the arabian migration and the simultaneous foundation of a new arabian religion, there is no doubt that the whole peninsula would have been speedily converted to christianity. the chief rival of christianity was judaism, which was represented in northern as in southern arabia by strong colonies of jews, who made proselytes, although their strict ritualism was uncongenial to the arab temperament which preferred conversion to christianity (naturally only as a matter of form). in addition to jewish, christian, and old semitic influences, zoroastrian ideas and customs were also known in arabia, as is likely enough in view of the proximity of the persian empire. these various elements aroused in muhammed's mind a vague idea of religion. his experience was that of the eighteenth-century theologians who suddenly observed that christianity was but one of many very similar and intelligible religions, and thus inevitably conceived the idea of a pure and natural religious system fundamental to all others. judaism and christianity were the only religions which forced themselves upon muhammed's consciousness and with the general characteristics of which he was acquainted. he never read any part of the old or new testament: his references to christianity show that his knowledge of the bible was derived from hearsay and that his informants were not representative of the great religious sects: muhammed's account of jesus and his work, as given in the qoran, is based upon the apocryphal accretions which grew round the christian doctrine. when muhammed proceeded to compare the great religions of the old and new testaments with the superficial pietism of his own compatriots, he was especially impressed with the seriousness of the hebrews and christians which contrasted strongly with the indifference of the heathen arabs. the arab was familiar with the conception of an almighty god, and this idea had not been obscured by the worship of trees, stones, fire and the heavenly bodies: but his reverence for this god was somewhat impersonal and he felt no instinct to approach him, unless he had some hopes or fears to satisfy. the idea of a reckoning between man and god was alien to the arab mind. christian and jewish influence became operative upon muhammed with reference to this special point. the idea of the day of judgment, when an account of earthly deeds and misdeeds will be required, when the joys of paradise will be opened to the good and the bad will be cast into the fiery abyss, such was the great idea, which suddenly filled muhammed's mind and dispelled the indifference begotten of routine and stirred his mental powers. polytheism was incompatible with the idea of god as a judge supreme and righteous, but yet merciful. thus monotheism was indissolubly connected with muhammed's first religious impulses, though the dogma had not assumed the polemical form in which it afterwards confronted the old arabian and christian beliefs. but a mind stirred by religious emotion only rose to the height of prophetic power after a long course of development which human knowledge can but dimly surmise. christianity and judaism had their sacred books which the founders of these religions had produced. in them were the words of god, transmitted through moses to the jews and through jesus to the christians. jesus and moses had been god's ambassadors to their peoples. who then could bring to the arabs the glad tidings which should guide them to the happy fields of paradise? among primitive peoples god is regarded as very near to man. the arabs had, their fortune-tellers and augurs who cast lots before god and explained his will in mysterious rhythmical utterances. muhammed was at first more intimately connected with this class of arab fortune-tellers than is usually supposed. the best proof of the fact is the vehemence with which he repudiates all comparison between these fortune-tellers and himself, even as early christian apologetics and polemics attacked the rival cults of the later classical world, which possessed forms of ritual akin to those observed by christianity. the existence of a fortune-telling class among the arabs shows that muhammed may well have been endowed with psychological tendencies which only awaited the vivifying influence of judaism and christianity to emerge as the prophetic impulse forcing him to stand forth in public and to stir the people from their indifference: "be ye converted, for the day of judgment is at hand: god has declared it unto me, as he declared it unto moses and jesus. i am the apostle of god to you, arabs. salvation is yours only if ye submit to the will of god preached by me." this act of submission muhammed calls islam. thus at the hour of islam's birth, before its founder had proclaimed his ideas, the influence of christianity is indisputable. it was this influence which made of the arab seer and inspired prophet, the apostle of god. muhammed regarded judaism and christianity as religious movements purely national in character. god in his mercy had announced his will to different nations through his prophets. as god's word had been interpreted for the jews and for the christians, so there was to be a special interpretation for the benefit of the arabs. these interpretations were naturally identical in manner and differed only as regards place and time. muhammed had heard of the jewish messiah and of the christian paraclete, whom, however, he failed to identify with the holy ghost and he applied to himself the allusions to one who should come after moses and jesus. thus in the qoran . we read, "jesus, the son of mary, said: children of israel, i am god's apostle to you. i confirm in your hands the thora (the law) and i announce the coming of another apostle after me whose name is ahmed." ahmed is the equivalent of muhammed. the verse has been variously interpreted and even rejected as an interpolation: but its authenticity is attested by its perfect correspondence with what we know of muhammed's pretensions. to trace in detail the development of his attitude towards christianity is a more difficult task than to discover the growth of his views upon judaism; probably he pursued a similar course in either case. at first he assumed the identity of the two religions with one another and with his own doctrine; afterwards he regarded them as advancing by gradations. adam, abraham, moses, jesus, and muhammed, these in his opinion were the chief stages in the divine scheme of salvation. each was respectively confirmed or abolished by the revelation which followed it, nor is this theory of muhammed's shaken by the fact that each revelation was given to a different nation. he regards all preceding prophets in the light of his own personality. they were all sent to people who refused them a hearing at the moment. punishment follows and the prophet finds a body of believers elsewhere. these temporary punishments are confused with the final judgment; in fact muhammed's system was not clearly thought out. the several prophets were but men, whose earthly careers were necessarily crowned with triumph: hence the crucifixion of jesus is a malicious invention of the jews, who in reality crucified some other sufferer, while jesus entered the divine glory. thus muhammed has no idea of the importance of the crucifixion to the christian church, as is shown by his treatment of it as a jewish falsehood. in fact, he develops the habit of characterising as false any statement in contradiction with his ideas, and this tendency is especially obvious in his dealings with judaism, of which he gained a more intimate knowledge. at first he would refer sceptics to christian and jewish doctrine for confirmation of his own teaching. the fact that with no knowledge of the old or new testament, he had proclaimed doctrines materially similar and the fact that these scriptures referred to himself, were proofs of his inspired power, let doubters say what they would. a closer acquaintance with these scriptures showed him that the divergencies which he stigmatised as falsifications denoted in reality vast doctrinal differences. in order to understand muhammed's attitude towards christianity, we will examine in greater detail his view of this religion, the portions of it which he accepted or which he rejected as unauthentic. in the first place he must have regarded the trinity as repugnant to reason: he considered the christian trinity as consisting of god the father, mary the mother of god, and jesus the son of god. in the qoran, god says, "hast thou, jesus, said to men, regard me and my mother as gods by the side of god?" jesus replies, "i will say nothing but the truth. i have but preached, pray to god, who is my lord and your lord" ( . , f). hence it has been inferred that muhammed's knowledge of christianity was derived from some particular christian sect, such as the tritheists or the arab female sect of the collyridians who worshipped the virgin mary with exaggerated reverence and assigned divine honours to her. it is also possible that we have here a development of some gnostic conception which regarded the holy ghost as of feminine gender, as semites would do;[a] instances of this change are to be found in the well-known hymn of the soul in the acts of thomas, in the gospel to the egyptians and elsewhere. i am inclined, however, to think it more probable that muhammed had heard of mariolatry and of the "mother of god," a title which then was a highly popular catchword, and that the apotheosis of jesus was known to him and also the doctrine of the trinity by name. further than this his knowledge did not extend; although he knows the holy ghost and identifies him with jesus, none the less his primitive reasoning, under the influence of many old beliefs, explained the mysterious triad of the trinity as husband, wife, and son. this fact is enough to prove that his theory of christianity was formed by combining isolated scraps of information and that he cannot have had any direct instruction from a christian knowing the outlines of his faith. [footnote a: the word for "spirit" is of the feminine gender in the semitic languages.] muhammed must also have denied the divinity of christ: this is an obvious result of the course of mental development which we have described and of his characteristically semitic theory of the nature of god. to him, god is one, never begetting and never begotten. denying the divinity of jesus, muhammed naturally denies the redemption through the cross and also the fact of the crucifixion. yet, strangely enough he accepted the miraculous birth; nor did he hesitate to provide this purely human jesus with all miraculous attributes; these were a proof of his divine commission, and marvellous details of this nature aroused the interest of his hearers. mary the sister of ahron--an obvious confusion with the old testament miriam--had been devoted to the service of god by her mother's vow, and lives in the temple under the guardianship of zacharias, to whom a later heir is born in answer to his prayers, namely john, the forerunner of the holy ghost. the birth is announced to mary and she brings forth jesus under a palm-tree, near which is a running spring and by the dates of which she is fed. on her return home she is received with reproaches by her family but merely points in reply to the new-born babe, who suddenly speaks from his cradle, asserting that he is the prophet of god. afterwards jesus performs all kinds of miracles, forms birds out of clay and makes them fly, heals the blind and lepers, raises the dead, etc., and even brings down from heaven a table ready spread. the jews will not believe him, but the youth follow him. he is not killed, but translated to god. christians are not agreed upon the manner of his death and the jews have invented the story of the crucifixion. muhammed's knowledge of christianity thus consists of certain isolated details, partly apocryphal, partly canonical, together with a hazy idea of the fundamental dogmas. thus the influence of christianity upon him was entirely indirect. the muhammedan movement at its outset was influenced not by the real christianity of the time but by a christianity which muhammed criticised in certain details and forced into harmony with his preconceived ideas. his imagination was profoundly impressed by the existence of christianity as a revealed religion with a founder of its own. certain features of christianity and of judaism, prayer, purification, solemn festivals, scriptures, prophets and so forth were regarded by him as essential to any religious community, because they happened to belong both to judaism and to christianity. he therefore adopted or wished to adopt these institutions. during the period of his life at medina, muhammed abandoned his original idea of preaching the doctrines which moses and jesus had proclaimed. this new development was the outcome of a struggle with judaism following upon an unsuccessful attempt at compromise. in point of fact judaism and christianity were as widely different from one another as they were from his own teaching and he was more than ever inclined to regard as his special forerunner, abraham, who had preceded both moses and jesus, and was revered by both religions as the man of god. he then brought abraham into connection with the ancient meccan ka'ba worship: the ka'ba or die was a sacred stone edifice, in one corner of which the "black stone" had been built in: this stone was an object of reverence to the ancient arabs, as it still is to the muhammedans. thus islam gradually assumed the form of an arab religion, developing universalist tendencies in the ultimate course of events. muhammed, therefore, as he was the last in the ranks of the prophets, must also be the greatest. he epitomised all prophecy and islam superseded every revealed religion of earlier date. muhammed's original view that earlier religions had been founded by god's will and through divine revelation, led both him and his successors to make an important concession: adherents of other religions were not compelled to adopt islam. they were allowed to observe their own faith unhindered, if they surrendered without fighting, and were even protected against their enemies, in return for which they had to pay tribute to their muslim masters; this was levied as a kind of poll-tax. thus we read in the qoran (ix. ) that "those who possess scriptures," i.e. the jews and christians, who did not accept islam were to be attacked until they paid the _gizja_ or tribute. thus the object of a religious war upon the christians is not expressed by the cry "death or islam"; such attacks were intended merely to extort an acknowledgment of muhammedan supremacy, not to abolish freedom of religious observance. it would be incorrect for the most part to regard the warrior bands which started from arabia as inspired by religious enthusiasm or to attribute to them the fanaticism which was first aroused by the crusades and in an even greater degree by the later turkish wars. the muhammedan fanatics of the wars of conquest, whose reputation was famous among later generations, felt but a very scanty interest in religion and occasionally displayed an ignorance of its fundamental tenets which we can hardly exaggerate. the fact is fully consistent with the impulses to which the arab migrations were due. these impulses were economic and the new religion was nothing more than a party cry of unifying power, though there is no reason to suppose that it was not a real moral force in the life of muhammed and his immediate contemporaries. anti-christian fanaticism there was therefore none. even in early years muhammedans never refused to worship in the same buildings as christians. the various insulting regulations which tradition represents christians as forced to endure were directed not so much against the adherents of another faith as against the barely tolerated inhabitants of a subjugated state. it is true that the distinction is often difficult to observe, as religion and nationality were one and the same thing to muhammedans. in any case religious animosity was a very subordinate phenomenon. it was a gradual development and seems to me to have made a spasmodic beginning in the first century under the influence of ideas adopted from christianity. it may seem paradoxical to assert that it was christian influence which first stirred islam to religious animosity and armed it with the sword against christianity, but the hypothesis becomes highly probable when we have realised the indifferentism of the muhammedan conquerors. we shall constantly see hereafter how much they owed in every department of intellectual life to the teaching of the races which they subjugated. their attitude towards other beliefs was never so intolerant as was that of christendom at that period. christianity may well have been the teaching influence in this department of life as in others. moreover at all times and especially in the first century the position of christians has been very tolerable, even though the muslims regarded them as an inferior class, christians were able to rise to the highest offices of state, even to the post of vizier, without any compulsion to renounce their faith. even during the period of the crusades when the religious opposition was greatly intensified, again through christian policy, christian officials cannot have been uncommon: otherwise muslim theorists would never have uttered their constant invectives against the employment of christians in administrative duties. naturally zealots appeared at all times on the muhammedan as well as on the christian side and occasionally isolated acts of oppression took place: these were, however, exceptional. so late as the eleventh century, church funeral processions were able to pass through the streets of bagdad with all the emblems of christianity and disturbances were recorded by the chroniclers as exceptional. in egypt, christian festivals were also regarded to some extent as holidays by the muhammedan population. we have but to imagine these conditions reversed in a christian kingdom of the early middle ages and the probability of my theory will become obvious. the christians of the east, who had broken for the most part with the orthodox church, also regarded islam as a lesser evil than the byzantine established church. moreover islam, as being both a political and ecclesiastical organisation, regarded the christian church as a state within a state and permitted it to preserve its own juridical and at first its own governmental rights. application was made to the bishops when anything was required from the community and the churches were used as taxation offices. this was all in the interests of the clergy who thus found their traditional claims realised. these relations were naturally modified in the course of centuries; the crusades, the turkish wars and the great expansion of europe widened the breach between christianity and islam, while as the east was gradually brought under ecclesiastical influence, the contrast grew deeper: the theory, however, that the muhammedan conquerors and their successors were inspired by a fanatical hatred of christianity is a fiction invented by christians. we have now to examine this early development of islam in somewhat greater detail: indeed, to secure a more general appreciation of this point is the object of the present work. the relationship of the qoran to christianity has been already noted: it was a book which preached rather than taught and enounced isolated laws but no connected system. islam was a clear and simple war-cry betokening merely a recognition of arab supremacy, of the unity of god and of muhammed's prophetic mission. but in a few centuries islam became a complex religious structure, a confusion of greek philosophy and roman law, accurately regulating every department of human life from the deepest problems of morality to the daily use of the toothpick, and the fashions of dress and hair. this change from the simplicity of the founder's religious teaching to a system of practical morality often wholly divergent from primitive doctrine, is a transformation which all the great religions of the world have undergone. religious founders have succeeded in rousing the sense of true religion in the human heart. religious systems result from the interaction of this impulse with pre-existing capacities for civilisation. the highest attainments of human life are dependent upon circumstances of time and place, and environment often exerts a more powerful influence than creative power. the teaching of jesus was almost overpowered by the graeco-oriental culture of later hellenism. dissensions persist even now because millions of people are unable to distinguish pure religion from the forms of expression belonging to an extinct civilisation. islam went through a similar course of development and assumed the spiritual panoply which was ready to hand. here, as elsewhere, this defence was a necessity during the period of struggle, but became a crushing burden during the peace which followed victory, for the reason that it was regarded as inseparable from the wearer of it. from this point of view the analogy with christianity will appear extremely striking, but it is something more than an analogy: the oriental hellenism of antiquity was to christianity that which the christian oriental hellenism of a few centuries later was to islam. we must now attempt to realise the nature of this event so important in the history of the world. a nomadic people, recently united, not devoid of culture, but with a very limited range of ideas, suddenly gains supremacy over a wide and populous district with an ancient civilisation. these nomads are as yet hardly conscious of their political unity and the individualism of the several tribes composing it is still a disruptive force: yet they can secure domination over countries such as egypt and babylonia, with complex constitutional systems, where climatic conditions, the nature of the soil and centuries of work have combined to develop an intricate administrative system, which newcomers could not be expected to understand, much less to recreate or to remodel. yet the theory has long been held that the arabs entirely reorganised the constitutions of these countries. excessive importance has been attached to the statements of arab authors, who naturally regarded islam as the beginning of all things. in every detail of practical life they regarded the prophet and his contemporaries as their ruling ideal, and therefore naturally assumed that the constitutional practices of the prophet were his own invention. the organisation of the conquering race with its tribal subordination was certainly purely arab in origin. in fact the conquerors seemed so unable to adapt themselves to the conditions with which they met, that foreigners who joined their ranks were admitted to the muhammedan confederacy only as clients of the various arab tribes. this was, however, a mere question of outward form: the internal organisation continued unchanged, as it was bound to continue unless chaos were to be the consequence. in fact, pre-existing administrative regulations were so far retained that the old customs duties on the former frontiers were levied as before, though they represented an institution wholly alien to the spirit of the muhammedan empire. those muhammedan authors, who describe the administrative organisation, recognise only the taxes which islam regarded as lawful and characterise others as malpractices which had crept in at a later date. it is remarkable that these so-called subsequent malpractices correspond with byzantine and persian usage before the conquest: but tradition will not admit the fact that these remained unchanged. the same fact is obvious when we consider the progress of civilisation in general. in every case the arabs merely develop the social and economic achievements of the conquered races to further issues. such progress could indeed only be modified by a general upheaval of existing conditions and no such movement ever took place. the germanic tribes destroyed the civilisations with which they met; they adopted many of the institutions of christian antiquity, but found them an impediment to the development of their own genius. the arabs simply continued to develop the civilisation of post-classical antiquity, with which they had come in contact. this procedure may seem entirely natural in the department of economic life, but by no means inevitable where intellectual progress is concerned. yet a similar course was followed in either case, as may be proved by dispassionate examination. islam was a rising force, a faith rather of experience than of theory or dogma, when it raised its claims against christianity, which represented all pre-existing intellectual culture. a settlement of these claims was necessary and the military triumphs are but the prelude to a great accommodation of intellectual interests. in this christianity played the chief part, though judaism is also represented: i am inclined, however, to think that jewish ideas as they are expressed in the qoran were often transmitted through the medium of christianity. there is no doubt that in medina muhammed was under direct jewish influence of extraordinary power. even at that time jewish ideas may have been in circulation, not only in the qoran but also in oral tradition, which afterwards became stereotyped: at the same time muhammed's utterances against the jews eventually became so strong during the medina period, for political reasons, that i can hardly imagine the traditions in their final form to have been adopted directly from the jews. the case of jewish converts is a different matter. but in christianity also much jewish wisdom was to be found at that time and it is well known that even the eastern churches regarded numerous precepts of the old testament, including those that dealt with ritual, as binding upon them. in any case the spirit of judaism is present, either directly or working through christianity, as an influence wherever islam accommodated itself to the new intellectual and spiritual life which it had encountered. it was a compromise which affected the most trivial details of life, and in these matters religious scrupulosity was carried to a ridiculous point: here we may see the outcome of that judaism which, as has been said, was then a definite element in eastern christianity. together with jewish, greek and classical ideas were also naturally operative, while persian and other ancient oriental conceptions were transmitted to islam by christianity: these instances i have collectively termed christian because christianity then represented the whole of later classical intellectualism, which influenced islam for the most part through christianity. it seems that the communication of these ideas to muhammedanism was impeded by the necessity of translating them not only into a kindred language, but into one of wholly different linguistic structure. for muhammedanism the difficulty was lessened by the fact that it had learned christianity in syria and persia through the semitic dialect known as aramaic, by which greek and persian culture had been transmitted to the arabs before the rise of islam. in this case, as in many others, the history of language runs on parallel lines with the history of civilisation. the necessities of increasing civilisation had introduced many aramaic words to the arabic vocabulary before muhammed's day: these importations increased considerably when the arabs entered a wider and more complex civilisation and were especially considerable where intellectual culture was concerned. even greek terms made their way into arabic through aramaic. this natural dependency of arabic upon aramaic, which in turn was connected with greek as the rival christian vernacular in these regions, is alone sufficient evidence that christianity exerted a direct influence upon muhammedanism. moreover, as we have seen, the qoran itself regarded christians as being in possession of divine wisdom, and some reference both to christianity and to judaism was necessary to explain the many unintelligible passages of the qoran. allusions were made to texts and statements in the thora and the gospels, and god was represented as constantly appealing to earlier revelations of himself. thus it was only natural that interpreters should study these scriptures and ask counsel of their possessors. of primary importance was the fact that both christians and jews, and the former in particular, accepted muhammedanism by thousands, and formed a new intellectual class of ability infinitely superior to that of the original muslims and able to attract the best elements of the arab nationality to their teaching. it was as impossible for these apostate christians to abandon their old habits of thought as it was hopeless to expect any sudden change in the economic conditions under which they lived. christian theories of god and the world naturally assumed a muhammedan colouring and thus the great process of accommodating christianity to muhammedanism was achieved. the christian contribution to this end was made partly directly and partly by teaching, and in the intellectual as well as in the economic sphere the ultimate ideal was inevitably dictated by the superior culture of christianity. the muhammedans were thus obliged to accept christian hypotheses on theological points and the fundaments of christian and muhammedan culture thus become identical. i use the term hypotheses, for the reason that the final determination of the points at issue was by no means identical, wherever the qoran definitely contradicted christian views of morality or social laws. but in these cases also, christian ideas were able to impose themselves upon tradition and to issue in practice, even when opposed by the actual text of the qoran. they did not always pass unquestioned and even on trivial points were obliged to encounter some resistance. the theory of the sunday was accepted, but that day was not chosen and friday was preferred: meetings for worship were held in imitation of christian practice, but attempts to sanctify the day and to proclaim it a day of rest were forbidden: except for the performance of divine service, friday was an ordinary week-day. when, however, the qoran was in any sort of harmony with christianity, the christian ideas of the age were textually accepted in any further development of the question. the fact is obvious, not only as regards details, but also in the general theory of man's position upon earth. * * * * * muhammed, the preacher of repentance, had become a temporal prince in medina; his civil and political administration was ecclesiastical in character, an inevitable result of his position as the apostle of god, whose congregation was at the same time a state. this theory of the state led later theorists unconsciously to follow the lead of christianity, which regarded the church as supreme in every department of life, and so induced muhammedanism to adopt views of life and social order which are now styled mediaeval. the theological development of this system is to be attributed chiefly to groups of pious thinkers in medina: they were excluded from political life when the capital was transferred from medina to damascus and were left in peace to elaborate their theory of the muhammedan divine polity. the influence of these groups was paramount: but of almost equal importance was the influence of the proselytes in the conquered lands who were christians for the most part and for that reason far above their arab contemporaries in respect of intellectual training and culture. we find that the details of jurisprudence, dogma, and mysticism can only be explained by reference to christian stimulus, nor is it any exaggeration to ascribe the further development of muhammed's views to the influence of thinkers who regarded the religious polity of islam as the realisation of an ideal which christianity had hitherto vainly striven to attain. this ideal was the supremacy of religion over life and all its activities, over the state and the individual alike. but it was a religion primarily concerned with the next world, where alone real worth was to be found. earthly life was a pilgrimage to be performed and earthly intentions had no place with heavenly. the joy of life which the ancient world had known, art, music and culture, all were rejected or valued only as aids to religion. human action was judged with reference only to its appraisement in the life to come. that ascetic spirit was paramount, which had enchained the christian world, that renunciation of secular affairs which explains the peculiar methods by which mediaeval views of life found expression. asceticism did not disturb the course of life as a whole. it might condemn but it could not suppress the natural impulse of man to propagate his race: it might hamper economic forces, but it could not destroy them. it eventually led to a compromise in every department of life, but for centuries it retained its domination over men's minds and to some material extent over their actions. such was the environment in which islam was planted: its deepest roots had been fertilised with christian theory, and in spite of muhammed's call to repentance, its most characteristic manifestations were somewhat worldly and non-ascetic. "islam knows not monasticism" says the tradition which this tendency produced. the most important compromise of all, that with life, which christianity only secured by gradual steps, had been already attained for islam by muhammed himself and was included in the course of his development. as islam now entered the christian world, it was forced to pass through this process of development once more. at the outset it was permeated with the idea of christian asceticism, to which an inevitable opposition arose, and found expression in such statements as that already quoted. but muhammed's preaching had obviously striven to honour the future life by painting the actual world in the gloomiest colours, and the material optimism of the secular-minded was unable to check the advance of christian asceticism among the classes which felt a real interest in religion. hence that surprising similarity of views upon the problem of existence, which we have now to outline. in details of outward form great divergency is apparent. christianity possessed a clergy while islam did not: yet the force of christian influence produced a priestly class in islam. it was a class acting not as mediator between god and man through sacraments and mysteries, but as moral leaders and legal experts; as such it was no less important than the scribes under judaism. unanimity among these scholars could produce decisions no less binding than those of the christian clergy assembled in church councils. they are representatives of the congregation which "has no unanimity, for such would be an error." islam naturally preferred to adopt unanimous conclusions in silence rather than to vote in assemblies. as a matter of fact a body of orthodox opinion was developed by this means with no less success than in christendom. any agreement which the quiet work of the scholars had secured upon any question was ratified by god and was thus irrevocably and eternally binding. for instance, the proclamation to the faithful of new ideas upon the exposition of the qoran or of tradition was absolutely forbidden; the scholars, in other words the clergy, had convinced themselves, by the fact of their unanimity upon the point, that the customary and traditional mode of exposition was the one pleasing to god. ideas of this kind naturally remind us of roman catholic practice. the influence of eastern christianity upon islam is undoubtedly visible here. this influence could not in the face of muhammedan tradition and custom, create an organised clergy, but it produced a clerical class to guard religious thought, and as religion spread, to supervise thought of every kind. christianity again condemned marriage, though it eventually agreed to a compromise sanctifying this tie; islam, on the contrary, found in the qoran the text "ye that are unmarried shall marry" ( , ). in the face of so clear a statement, the condemnation of marriage, which in any case was contrary to the whole spirit of the qoran, could not be maintained. thus the muhammedan tradition contains numerous sayings in support of marriage. "a childless house contains no blessing": "the breath of a son is as the breath of paradise"; "when a man looks upon his wife (in love) and she upon him, god looks down in mercy upon them both." "two prayers of a married man are more precious in the sight of god than seventy of a bachelor." with many similar variations upon the theme, muhammed is said to have urged marriage upon his followers. on the other hand an almost equally numerous body of warnings against marriage exists, also issued by muhammed. i know no instance of direct prohibition, but serious admonitions are found which usually take the form of denunciation of the female sex and were early interpreted as warnings by tradition. "fear the world and women": "thy worst enemies are the wife at thy side and thy concubine": "the least in paradise are the women": "women are the faggots of hell"; "pious women are rare as ravens with white or red legs and white beaks"; "but for women men might enter paradise." here we come upon a strain of thought especially christian. muhammed regarded the satisfaction of the sexual instincts as natural and right and made no attempt to put restraint upon it: christian asceticism regarded this impulse as the greatest danger which could threaten the spiritual life of its adherents, and the sentences above quoted may be regarded as the expression of this view. naturally the social position of the woman suffered in consequence and is so much worse in the traditional muhammedanism as compared with the qoran that the change can only be ascribed to the influence of the civilisation which the muhammedans encountered. the idea of woman as a creature of no account is certainly rooted in the ancient east, but it reached islam in christian dress and with the authority of christian hostility to marriage. with this hostility to marriage are probably connected the regulations concerning the covering of the body: in the ancient church only the face, the hands and the feet were to be exposed to view, the object being to prevent the suggestion of sinful thoughts: it is also likely that objections to the ancient habit of leaving the body uncovered found expression in this ordinance. similar objections may be found in muhammedan tradition; we may regard these as further developments of commands given in the qoran, but it is also likely that muhammed's apocryphal statements upon the point were dictated by christian religious theory. they often appear in connection with warnings against frequenting the public baths, which fact is strong evidence of their christian origin. "a bad house is the bath: much turmoil is therein and men show their nakedness." "fear that house that is called the bathhouse and if any enter therein, let him veil himself." "he who believes in god and the last judgment, let him enter the bath only in bathing dress." "nakedness is forbidden to us." there is a story of the prophet, to the effect that he was at work unclothed when a voice from heaven ordered him to cover his nakedness! * * * * * we thus see, that an astonishing similarity is apparent in the treatment even of questions where divergency is fundamental. divergency, it is true, existed, but pales before the general affinity of the two theories of life. our judgment upon christian medievalism in this respect can be applied directly and literally to muhammedanism. either religion regards man as no more than a sojourner in this world. it is not worth while to arrange for a permanent habitation, and luxurious living is but pride. hence the simplicity of private dwellings in mediaeval times both in the east and west. architectural expense is confined to churches and mosques, which were intended for the service of god. these christian ideas are reflected in the inexhaustible storehouse of muhammedan theory, the great collections of tradition, as follows. "the worst use which a believer can make of his money is to build." "every building, except a mosque, will stand to the discredit of its architect on the day of resurrection." these polemics which islam inherited from christianity are directed not only against building in general, but also against the erection and decoration of lofty edifices: "should a man build a house nine ells high, a voice will call to him from heaven, whither wilt thou rise, most profane of the profane?" "no prophet enters a house adorned with fair decoration." with these prohibitions should be connected the somewhat unintelligible fact that the most pious caliphs sat upon thrones (_mimbar_, "president's chair") of clay. the simplest and most transitory material thus serves to form the symbol of temporal power. a house is adorned not by outward show, but by the fact that prayer is offered and the qoran recited within its walls. these theories were out of harmony with the worldly tendencies of the conquerors, who built themselves castles, such as qusair amra: they belong to the spirit of christianity rather than to islam. upon similar principles we may explain the demand for the utmost simplicity and reserve in regard to the other enjoyments of life. to eat whenever one may wish is excess and two meals a day are more than enough. the portion set apart for one may also suffice for two. ideas of this kind are of constant recurrence in the muhammedan traditions: indispensable needs alone are to be satisfied, as indeed thomas aquinas teaches. similar observations apply to dress: "he who walks in costly garments to be seen of men is not seen of the lord." gold and silver ornaments, and garments of purple and silk are forbidden by both religions. princes live as simply as beggars and possess only one garment, so that they are unable to appear in public when it is being washed: they live upon a handful of dates and are careful to save paper and artificial light. such incidents are common in the oldest records of the first caliphs. these princes did not, of course, live in such beggary, and the fact is correspondingly important that after the lapse of one or two generations the muhammedan historians should describe their heroes as possessing only the typical garment of the christian saint. this one fact speaks volumes. every action was performed in god or with reference to god--an oft-repeated idea in either religion. there is a continual hatred of the world and a continual fear that it may imperil a man's soul. hence the sense of vast responsibility felt by the officials, a sense which finds expression even in the ordinary official correspondence of the authorities which papyri have preserved for us. the phraseology is often stereotyped, but as such, expresses a special theory of life. this responsibility is represented as weighing with especial severity upon a pious caliph. upon election to the throne he accepts office with great reluctance protesting his unworthiness with tears. the west can relate similar stories of gregory the great and of justinian. exhortations are frequent ever to remember the fact of death and to repent and bewail past sins. when a mention of the last judgment occurs in the reading of passages from the bible or qoran, the auditors burst into tears. upon one occasion a man was praying upon the roof of his house and wept so bitterly over his sins, that the tears ran down the waterspout and flooded the rooms below. this hyperbolical statement in a typical life of a saint shows the high value attributed to tears in the east. it is, however, equally a christian characteristic. the gracious gift of tears was regarded by mediaeval christianity as the sign of a deeply religious nature. gregory vii is said to have wept daily at the sacrifice of the mass and similar accounts are given to the credit of other famous christians. while a man should weep for his own sins, he is not to bewail any misfortune or misery which may befall him. in the latter case it is his duty to collect his strength, to resign himself and to praise god even amid his sufferings. should he lose a dear relative by death, he is not to break out with cries and lamentations like the heathen. lamentation for the dead is most strictly forbidden in islam. "we are god's people and to god we return" says the pious muslim on receiving the unexpected news of a death. resignation and patience in these matters is certainly made the subject of eloquent exhortation in the qoran, but the special developments of tradition betray christian influence. generally speaking, the whole ethical system of the two religions is based upon the contrast between god and the world, though muhammedan philosophy will recognize no principle beside that of god. as a typical example we may take a sentence from the spanish bishop isidor who died in : "good are the intentions directed towards god and bad are those directed to earthly gain or transitory fame." any muhammedan theologian would have subscribed to this statement. on the one hand stress is laid upon motive as giving its value to action. the first sentence in the most famous collection of traditions runs, "deeds shall be judged by their intentions." on the other hand is the contrast between god and the world, or as islam puts it, between the present and the future life. the christian gains eternal life by following christ. imitation of the master in all things even to the stigmata, is the characteristic feature of mediaeval christianity. nor is the whole of the so-called sunna obedience anything more than the imitation of muhammed which seeks to repeat the smallest details of his life. the infinite importance attached by islam to the sunna seems to me to have originated in christian influence. the development of it betrays original features, but the fundamental principle is christian, as all the leading ideas of islam are christian, in the sense of the term as paraphrased above. imitation of christ in the first instance, attempts to repeat his poverty and renunciation of personal property: this is the great christian ideal. muhammed was neither poor nor without possessions: at the end of his life he had become a prince and had directly stated that property was a gift from god. in spite of that his successors praise poverty and their praises were the best of evidence that they were influenced not by the prophet himself but by christianity. while the traditions are full of the praises of poverty and the dangers of wealth, assertions in praise of wealth also occur, for the reason that the pure muhammedan ideas opposed to christianity retained a certain influence. j. goldziher has published an interesting study showing how many words borrowed from this source occur in the written muhammedan traditions: an almost complete version of the lord's prayer is quoted. even the idea of love towards enemies, which would have been unintelligible to muhammed, made its way into the traditions: "the most virtuous of acts is to seek out him who rejects thee, to give to him that despises thee and to pardon him that oppresses thee." the gospel precept to do unto others as we would they should do unto us (matt. vii. , luke vi. ) is to be found in the arab traditions, and many similar points of contact may be noticed. a man's "neighbour" has ever been, despite the teaching of jesus, to the christian and to the muhammedan, his co-religionist. the whole department of muhammedan ethics has thus been subjected to strong christian influence. naturally this ecclesiasticism which dominated the whole of life, was bound to assert itself in state organisation. an abhorrence of the state, so far as it was independent of religion, a feeling unknown in the ancient world, pervades both christianity and muhammedanism, christianity first struggled to secure recognition in the state and afterwards fought with the state for predominance. islam and the state were at first identical: in its spiritual leaders it was soon separated from the state. its idea of a divine polity was elaborated to the smallest details, but remained a theory which never became practice. yet this ideal retained such strength that every muhammedan usurper was careful to secure his investiture by the caliph, the nominal leader of this ecclesiastical state, even if force were necessary to attain his object. for instance, saladin was absolutely independent of the nominal caliph in bagdad, but could not feel that his position was secure until he had obtained his sultan's patent from the caliph. only then did his supremacy rest upon a religious basis and he was not regarded by popular opinion as a legitimate monarch until this ceremony had been performed. this theory corresponds with constitutional ideals essentially christian. "the tyranny," wrote innocent iv to the emperor frederick ii, "which was once generally exercised throughout the world, was resigned into the hands of the church by constantine, who then received as an honourable gift from the proper source that which he had formerly held and exercised unrighteously." the long struggle between church and state in this matter is well known. in this struggle the rising power of islam had adopted a similar attitude. the great abhorrence of a secular "monarchy" in opposition to a religious caliphate, as expressed both by the dicta of tradition and by the abbassid historians, was inspired, in my opinion, by christian dislike of a divorce between church and state. the phenomenon might be explained without reference to external influence, but if the whole process be considered in connection, christian influence seems more than probable. a similar attitude was also assumed by either religion towards the facts of economic life. in either case the religious point of view is characteristic. the reaction against the tendency to condemn secular life is certainly stronger in islam, but is also apparent in christianity. thomas aquinas directly stigmatises trade as a disgraceful means of gain, because the exchange of wares does not necessitate labour or the satisfaction of necessary wants: muhammedan tradition says, "the pious merchant is a pioneer on the road of god." "the first to enter paradise is the honourable merchant." here the solution given to the problem differs in either case, but in christian practice, opposition was also obvious. common to both religions is the condemnation of the exaction of interest and monetary speculation, which the middle ages regarded as usury. islam, as usual, gives this christian idea the form of a saying enounced by muhammed: "he who speculates in grain for forty days, grinds and bakes it and gives it to the poor, makes an offering unacceptable to god." "he who raises prices to muslims (by speculation) will be cast head downwards by god into the hottest fire of hell." many similar traditions fulminate against usury in the widest sense of the word. these prohibitions were circumvented in practice by deed of gift and exchange, but none the less the free development of commercial enterprise was hampered by these fetters which modern civilisation first broke. enterprise was thus confined to agriculture under these circumstances both for christianity and islam, and economic life in either case became "mediaeval" in outward appearance. methods of making profit without a proportional expenditure of labour were the particular objects of this aversion. manual labour was highly esteemed both in the east and west. a man's first duty was to support himself by the work of his own hands, a duty proclaimed, as we know, from the apostolic age onwards. so far as islam is concerned, this view may be illustrated by the following utterances: "the best of deeds is the gain of that which is lawful": "the best gain is made by sale within lawful limits and by manual labour." "the most precious gain is that made by manual labour; that which a man thus earns and gives to himself, his people, his sons and his servants, is as meritorious as alms." thus practical work is made incumbent upon the believer, and the extent to which manufacture flourished in east and west during the middle ages is well known. a similar affinity is apparent as regards ideas upon social position and occupation. before god man is but a slave: even the mighty caliphs themselves, even those who were stigmatised by posterity as secular monarchs, included in their official titles the designation, "slave of god." this theory was carried out into the smallest details of life, even into those which modern observers would consider as unconcerned with religion. thus at meals the muslim was not allowed to recline at table, an ancient custom which the upper classes had followed for centuries: he must sit, "as a slave," according to the letter of the law. all are alike slaves, for the reason that they are believers: hence the humiliation of those whom chance has exalted is thought desirable. this idealism is undoubtedly more deeply rooted in the popular consciousness of the east than of the west. in the east great social distinctions occur; but while religion recognises them, it forbids insistence upon them. as especially distinctive of social work in either religion we might be inclined to regard the unparalleled extent of organizations for the care of the poor, for widows and orphans, for the old, infirm and sick, the public hospitals and almshouses and religious foundations in the widest sense of the term; but the object of these activities was not primarily social nor were they undertaken to make life easier for the poor: religious selfishness was the leading motive, the desire to purify self by good works and to secure the right to pre-eminence in heaven. "for the salvation of my soul and for everlasting reward" is the formula of many a christian foundation deed. very similar expressions of hope for eternal reward occur in muhammedan deeds of gift. a foundation inscription on a mosque, published by e. littmann, is stated in terms the purport of which is unmistakable. "this has been built by n or m: may a house be built for him in paradise (in return)." here again, the idea of the house in paradise is borrowed from christian ideas. we have already observed that in islam the smallest trivialities of daily life become matters of religious import. the fact is especially apparent in a wide department of personal conduct. islam certainly went to further extremes than christianity in this matter, but these customs are clearly only further developments of christian regulations. the call to simplicity of food and dress has already been mentioned. but even the simplest food was never to be taken before thanks had been given to god: grace was never to be omitted either before or after meals. divine ordinances also regulated the manner of eating. the prophet said, "with one finger the devils eat, with two the titans of antiquity and with three fingers the prophets." the application of the saying is obvious. similar sayings prescribe the mode of handling dishes and behaviour at a common meal, if the blessing of god is to be secured. there seems to be a christian touch in one of these rules which runs, in the words of the prophet: "he who picks up the crumbs fallen from the table and eats them, will be forgiven by god." "he who licks the empty dishes and his fingers will be filled by god here and in the world to come." "when a man licks the dish from which he has eaten, the dish will plead for him before god." i regard these words as practical applications of the text, "gather up the pieces that remain, that nothing be lost" (matt. xiv. : john vi. ). even to-day south italians kiss bread that has fallen to the ground, in order to make apology to the gift of god. volumes might be filled with rules of polite manners in this style: hardly any detail is to be found in the whole business of daily life, even including occupations regarded as unclean, which was not invested with some religious significance. these rules are almost entirely dictated by the spirit of early christianity and it is possible to reconstruct the details of life in those dark ages from these literary records which are now the only source of evidence upon such points. however, we must here content ourselves with establishing the fact that islam adopted christian practice in this as in other departments of life. the state, society, the individual, economics and morality were thus collectively under christian influence during the early period of muhammedanism. conditions very similar in general, affected those conceptions which we explain upon scientific grounds but which were invariably regarded by ancient and mediaeval thought as supernatural, conceptions deduced from the phenomena of illness and dreams. islam was no less opposed than christianity to the practice of magic in any form, but only so far as these practices seemed to preserve remnants of heathen beliefs. such beliefs were, however, continued in both religions in modified form. there is no doubt that ideas of high antiquity, doubtless of babylonian origin, can be traced as contributing to the formation of these beliefs, while scientific medicine is connected with the earlier discoveries of greece. common to both religions was the belief in the reality of dreams, especially when these seemed to harmonise with religious ideas: dreams were regarded as revelations from god or from his apostles or from the pious dead. the fact that man could dream and that he could appear to other men in dreams after his death was regarded as a sign of divine favour and the biographies of the saints often contain chapters devoted to this faculty. these are natural ideas which lie in the national consciousness of any people, but owe their development in the case of islam to christian influence. the same may be said of the belief that the prayers of particular saints were of special efficacy, and of attempts by prayer, forms of worship and the like to procure rain, avert plague and so forth: such ideas are common throughout the middle ages. thus in every department we meet with that particular type of christian theory which existed in the east during the seventh and eighth centuries. this mediaeval theory of life was subjected, as is well known, to many compromises in the west, and was materially modified by teutonic influence and the revival of classicism. it might therefore be supposed that in islam christian theory underwent similar modification or disappeared entirely. but the fact is not so. at the outset, we stated, as will be remembered, that muhammedan scholars were accustomed to propound their dicta as utterances given by muhammed himself, and in this form christian ideas also came into circulation among muhammedans. when attempts were made to systematise these sayings, all were treated as alike authentic, and, as traditional, exerted their share of influence upon the formation of canon law. thus questions of temporary importance to mediaeval christianity became permanent elements in muhammedan theology. one highly instructive instance may be given. during the century which preceded the byzantine iconoclastic controversy, the whole of nearer asia was disturbed by the question whether the erection and veneration of images was permissible. that constantinople attempted to prohibit such veneration is well known: but after a long struggle the church gained its wishes. islam was confronted with the problem and decided for prohibition, doubtless under jewish influence. sayings of muhammed forbid the erection of images. this prohibition became part of canon law and therefore binding for all time: it remains obligatory at the present day, though in practice it is often transgressed. thus the process of development which was continued in christendom, came to a standstill in islam, and many similar cases might be quoted. here begins the development of muhammedan jurisprudence or, more exactly, of the doctrine of duty, which includes every kind of human activity, duties to god and man, religion, civil law, the penal code, social morality and economics. this extraordinary system of moral obligations, as developed in islam, though its origin is obscure, is doubtless rooted in the ecclesiastical law of christendom which was then first evolved. i have no doubt that the development of muhammedan tradition, which precedes the code proper, was dependent upon the growth of canon law in the old church, and that this again, or at least the purely legal part of it, is closely connected with the pre-justinian legislation. roman law does not seem to me to have influenced islam immediately in the form of justinian's _corpus juris_, but indirectly from such ecclesiastical sources as the romano-syrian code. this view, however, i would distinctly state, is merely my conjecture. for our present purpose it is more important to establish the fact that the doctrine of duty canonised the manifold expressions of the theory that life is a religion, with which we have met throughout the traditional literature: all human acts are thus legally considered as obligatory or forbidden when corresponding with religious commands or prohibitions, as congenial or obnoxious to the law or as matters legally indifferent and therefore permissible. the arrangement of the work of daily life in correspondence with these religious points of view is the most important outcome of the muhammedan doctrine of duties. the religious utterances which also cover the whole business of life were first made duties by this doctrine: in practice their fulfilment is impossible, but the theory of their obligatory nature is a fundamental element in muhammedanism. where the doctrine of duties deals with legal rights, its application was in practice confined to marriage and the affairs of family life: the theoretical demands of its penal clauses, for instance, raise impossible difficulties. at the same time, it has been of great importance to the whole spiritual life of islam down to the present day, because it reflects muhammedan ideals of life and of man's place in the world. even to-day it remains the daily bread of the soul that desires instruction, to quote the words of the greatest father of the muhammedan church. it will thus be immediately obvious to what a vast extent christian theory of the seventh and eighth centuries still remains operative upon muhammedan thought throughout the world. considerable parts of the doctrine of duties are concerned with the forms of muhammedan worship. it is becoming ever clearer that only slight tendencies to a form of worship were apparent under muhammed. the mosque, the building erected for the special purpose of divine service, was unknown during the prophet's lifetime; nor was there any definite church organisation, of which the most important parts are the common ritual and the preaching. tendencies existed but no system, was to be found: there was no clerical class to take an interest in the development of an order of divine service. the caliphs prayed before the faithful in the capital, as did the governors in the provinces. the military commanders also led a simple service in their own stations. it was contact with foreign influence which first provided the impulse to a systematic form of worship. both christians and jews possessed such forms. their example was followed and a ritual was evolved, at first of the very simplest kind. no detailed organisation, however, was attempted, until christian influence led to the formation of the class which naturally took an interest in the matter, the professional theologians. these soon replaced the military service leaders. this change denoted the final stage in the development of ritual. the object of the theologians was to subject the various occupations of life to ritual as well as to religion. the mediatorial or sacramental theories of the priestly office were unknown to islam, but ritual customs of similar character were gradually evolved, and are especially pronounced in the ceremonies of marriage and burial. more important, however, was the development of the official service, the arrangement of the day and the hour of obligatory attendance and the introduction of preaching: under muhammed and his early followers, and until late in the omajjad period, preaching was confined to addresses, given as occasion demanded, but by degrees it became part of the regular ritual. with it was afterwards connected the intercession for the caliphs, which became a highly significant part of the service, as symbolising their sovereignty. it seems to me very probable that this practice was an adoption, at any rate in theory, of the christian custom of praying for the emperor. the pulpit was then introduced under christian influence, which thus completely transformed the chair (_mimbar_) of the ancient arab judges and rulers and made it a piece of church furniture; the christian _cancelli_ or choir screens were adopted and the mosque was thus developed. before the age of mosques, a lance had been planted in the ground and prayer offered behind it: so in the mosque a prayer niche was made, a survival of the pre-existing custom. there are many obscure points in the development of the worship, but one fact may be asserted with confidence: the developments of ritual were derived from pre-existing practices, which were for the most part christian. but the religious energy of islam was not exclusively devoted to the development and practice of the doctrine of duties; at the same time this ethical department, in spite of its dependency upon christian and jewish ideas, remains its most original achievement: we have pursued the subject at some length, because its importance is often overlooked in the course of attempts to estimate the connection between christianity and islam. on the other hand, affinities in the regions of mysticism and dogma have long been matter of common knowledge and a brief sketch of them will therefore suffice. if not essential to our purpose within the limits of this book, they are none the less necessary to complete our treatment of the subject. by mysticism we understand the expression of religious emotion, as contrasted with efforts to attain righteousness by full obedience to the ethical doctrine of duties, and also in contrast to the hair-splitting of dogmatic speculation: mysticism strove to reach immediate emotional unity with the godhead. no trace of any such tendency was to be found in the qoran: it entered islam as a complete novelty, and the affinities which enabled it to gain a footing have been difficult to trace. muhammedan mysticism is certainly not exclusively christian: its origins, like those of christian mysticism, are to be found in the pantheistic writings of the neoplatonist school of dionysius the areopagite: but islam apparently derived its mysticism from christian sources. in it originated the idea, with all its capacity for development, of the mystical love of god: to this was added the theory and practice of asceticism which was especially developed by christianity, and, in later times, the influence of indian philosophy, which is unmistakable. such are the fundamental elements of this tendency. when the idea of the nirwana, the arab _fan[=a]_, is attained, muhammedanism proper comes to an end. but orthodoxy controls the divergent elements: it opposes any open avowal of the logical conclusion, which would identify "god" and the "ego," but in practice this group of ideas, pantheistic in all but name, has been received and given a place side by side with the strict monotheism of the qoran and with the dogmatic theology. any form of mysticism which is pushed to its logical consequences must overthrow positive religion. by incorporating this dangerous tendency within itself, islam has averted the peril which it threatens. creed is no longer endangered, and this purpose being secured, thought is free. union with god is gained by ecstasy and leads to enthusiasm. these terms will therefore show us in what quarter we must seek the strongest impulses to mysticism. the concepts, if not the actual terms, are to be found in islam: they were undoubtedly transmitted by christianity and undergo the wide extension which results in the dervish and fakir developments. _dervish_ and _fakir_ are the persian and arabic words for "beggar": the word _sufi_, a man in a woollen shirt, is also used in the same sense. the terms show that asceticism is a fundamental element in mysticism; asceticism was itself an importation to islam. dervishes are divided into different classes or orders, according to the methods by which they severally prefer to attain ecstasy: dancing and recitation are practised by the dancing and howling dervishes and other methods are in vogue. it is an institution very different from monasticism but the result of a course of development undoubtedly similar to that which produced the monk: dervishism and monasticism are independent developments of the same original idea. among these muhammedan companies attempts to reach the point of ecstasy have developed to a rigid discipline of the soul; the believer must subject himself to his master, resigning all power of will, and so gradually reaches higher stages of knowledge until he is eventually led to the consciousness of his absolute identity with god. it seems to me beyond question that this method is reflected in the _exercitiis spiritualibus_ of ignatius loyola, the chief instrument by which the jesuits secured dominion over souls. any one who has realised the enormous influence which arab thought exerted upon spanish christianity so late as the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, will not regard the conjecture as unfounded. when a man's profession or position prevented him from practising these mystical exercises, he satisfied his religious needs by venerating persons who were nearer to the deity and whose intercession was effectual even after their death and sometimes not until they were dead: hence arose the veneration of saints, a practice as alien as pantheistic dogma to primitive islam. the adoption of christian saint worship was not possible until the person of muhammed himself had been exalted above the ordinary level of humanity. early muhammedans observed that the founder of christianity was regarded by popular opinion as a miracle worker of unrivalled power: it was impossible for the founder of islam to remain inferior in this respect. thus the early biographies of the prophet, which appeared in the first century of muhammedanism, recount the typical miracles of the gospels, the feeding of multitudes, healing the sick, raising the dead and so forth. two methods of adoption may be distinguished. special features are directly borrowed, or the line of advance is followed which had introduced the worship of saints and relics to christianity a short time before. the religious emotions natural to any people produced a series of ideas which pass from one religion to another. outward form and purport may be changed, but the essential points remain unaltered and are the living expression of that relation to god in which a people conceives itself to stand. higher forms of religion--a fact as sad as it is true--require a certain degree not only of moral but of intellectual capacity. thus we have traversed practically the whole circle of religious life and have everywhere found islam following in the path of christian thought. one department remains to be examined, which might be expected to offer but scanty opportunity for borrowings of this kind; this is dogma. here, if anywhere, the contrast between the two religions should be obvious. the initial divergencies were so pronounced, that any adoption of christian ideas would seem impossible. yet in those centuries, christianity was chiefly agitated by dogmatic questions, which occupied men's minds as greatly as social problems at the present day. here we can observe most distinctly, how the problems at least were taken over by islam. muhammedan dogmatic theology is concerned only with three main questions, the problem of free-will, the being and attributes of god, and the eternal uncreated nature of god's word. the mere mention of these problems will recall the great dogmatic struggles of early christianity. at no time have the problems of free-will and the nature of god, been subjects of fiercer dispute than during the christological and subsequent discussions. upholders of freedom or of determinism could alike find much to support their theories in the qoran: muhammed was no dogmatist and for him the ideas of man's responsibility and of god's almighty and universal power were not mutually exclusive. the statement of the problem was adopted from christianity as also was the dialectical subtlety by which a solution was reached, and which, while admitting the almighty power of god, left man responsible for his deeds by regarding him as free to accept or refuse the admonitions of god. thus the thinkers and their demands for justice and righteous dealing were reconciled to the blind fatalism of the masses, which again was not a native muhammedan product, but is the outcome of the religious spirit of the east. the problem of reconciling the attributes of god with the dogma of his unity was solved with no less subtlety. the mere idea that a multiplicity of attributes was incompatible with absolute unity was only possible in a school which had spent centuries in the desperate attempt to reconcile the inference of a divine trinity with the conception of absolute divine unity. finally, the third question, "was the qoran, the word of god, created or not?" is an obvious counterpart of the logos problem, of the struggle to secure recognition of the logos as eternal and uncreated together with god. islam solved the question by distinguishing the eternal and uncreated qoran from the revealed and created. the eternal nature of the qoran was a dogma entirely alien to the strict monotheism of islam: but this fact was never realised, any more than the fact that the acceptance of the dogma was a triumph for graeco-christian dialectic. there can be no more striking proof of the strength of christian influence: it was able to undermine the fundamental dogma of islam, and the muhammedans never realised the fact. in our review of these dogmatic questions, we have met with a novel tendency, that to metaphysical speculation and dialectic. it was from christendom, not directly from the greek world, that this spirit reached islam: the first attitude of muhammedanism towards it was that which christianity adopted towards all non-religious systems of thought. islam took it up as a useful weapon for the struggle against heresy. but it soon became a favourite and trusted implement and eventually its influence upon muhammedan philosophy became paramount. here we meet with a further christian influence, which, when once accepted, very largely contributed to secure a similar development of mediaeval christian and muhammedan thought. this was scholasticism, which was the natural and inevitable consequence of the study of greek dialectic and philosophy. it is not necessary to sketch the growth of scholasticism, with its barrenness of results in spite of its keen intellectual power, upon ground already fertilised by ecclesiastical pioneers. it will suffice to state the fact that these developments of the greek spirit were predominant here as in the west: in either case important philosophies rise upon this basis, for the most part professedly ecclesiastical, even when they occasionally struck at the roots of the religious system to which they belonged. in this department, islam repaid part of its debt to christianity, for the arabs became the intellectual leaders of the middle ages. thus we come to the concluding section of this treatise; before we enter upon it, two preliminary questions remain for consideration. if islam was ready to learn from christianity in every department of religious life, what was the cause of the sudden superiority of muhammedanism to the rising force of christianity a few centuries later? and secondly, in view of the traditional antagonism between the christian and muhammedan worlds, how was christianity able to adopt so large and essential a portion of muhammedan thought? the answer in the second case will be clear to any one who has followed our argument with attention. the intellectual and religious outlook was so similar in both religions and the problem requiring solution so far identical that nothing existed to impede the adoption of ideas originally christian which had been developed in the east. the fact that the west could accept philosophical and theological ideas from islam and that an actual interchange of thought could proceed in this direction, is the best of proofs for the soundness of our argument that the roots of muhammedanism are to be sought in christianity. islam was able to borrow from christianity for the reason that muhammed's ideas were derived from that source: similarly christianity was able to turn arab thought to its own purposes because that thought was founded upon christian principles. the sources of both religions lie in the east and in oriental thought. no less is true of judaism, a scholastic system which was excellently adapted by its international character, to become a medium of communication between christianity and muhammedanism during those centuries. in this connection special mention must be made of the spanish jews; to their work, not only as transmitting but also as originating ideas a bare reference must here suffice. but of greater importance was the direct exchange of thought, which proceeded through literary channels, by means of translations, especially by word of mouth among the christians and muhammedans who were living together in southern italy, sicily, and spain, and by commercial intercourse. the other question concerns the fundamental problem of european medievalism. we see that the problems with which the middle ages in europe were confronted and also that european ethics and metaphysics were identical with the muhammedan system: we are moreover assured that the acceptance of christian ideas by islam can only have taken place in the east: and the conclusion is obvious that mediaeval christianity was also primarily rooted in the east. the transmission of this religious philosophy to the non-oriental peoples of the west at first produced a cessation of progress but opened a new intellectual world when these peoples awoke to life in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. but throughout the intermediate period between the seventh and thirteenth centuries the east was gaining political strength and was naturally superior to the west where political organisation and culture had been shattered by the germanic invasions; in the east again there was an organic unity of national strength and intellectual ideals, as the course of development had not been interrupted. though special dogmatic points had been changed, the general religious theory remained unaltered throughout the nearer east. thus the rising power of islam, which had high faculties of self-accommodation to environment, was able to enter upon the heritage of the mixed graeco-oriental civilisation existing in the east; in consequence it gained an immediate advantage over the west, where eastern ideas were acclimatised with difficulty. the preponderance of muhammedan influence was increased by the fact that islam became the point of amalgamation for ancient eastern cultures, in particular for those of greece and persia: in previous centuries preparation had been made for this process by the steady transformation of hellenism to orientalism. persia, however, had been the main source of eastern civilisation, at any rate since the sassanid period: the debt of byzantine culture to persia is well known. unfortunately no thorough investigation has been made of these various and important changes, but it is clear that persian civilisation sent its influence far westward, at first directly and later through the medium of muhammedanism. the same facts hold good with regard to the diffusion of intellectual culture from persia. how far persian ideas may have influenced the development of muhammedan and even of christian eschatology, we need not here discuss: but the influence of the great graeco-christian schools of persia was enormous: they made the arabs acquainted with the most important works in greek and persian literature. to this fact was due the wide influence of islam upon christian civilisation, which is evidenced even to-day by the numerous words of arab origin to be found in modern european languages; it is in fact an influence the strength of which can hardly be exaggerated. not only the commercial products of the east, but important economic methods, the ideals of our so-called european chivalry and of its love poetry, the foundations of our natural sciences, even theological and philosophical ideas of high value were then sent to us from the east. the consequences of the crusades are the best proof of the enormous superiority of the muhammedan world, a fact which is daily becoming more obvious. here we are concerned only with the influence exerted by muhammedan philosophy. it would be more correct to speak of post-classical than of muhammedan philosophy. but as above, the influence of christianity upon islam was considered, so now the reverse process must be outlined. in either case it was the heir to the late classical age, to the mixed graeco-oriental culture, which influenced islam at first in christian guise. islam is often able to supplement its borrowings from christianity at the original sources, and when they have thus been deepened and purified, these adaptations are returned to christianity in muhammedan form. christian scholasticism was first based upon fragments of aristotle and chiefly inspired by neo-platonism: through the arabs it became acquainted with almost the whole of aristotle and also with the special methods by which the arabs approach the problem of this philosophy. to give any detailed account of this influence would be to write a history of mediaeval philosophy in its relation to ecclesiastical doctrine, a task which i feel to be beyond my powers. i shall therefore confine myself to an abstract of the material points selected from the considerable detail which specialists upon the subject have collected: i consider that arab influence during the first period is best explained by the new wealth of greek thought which the arabs appropriated and transmitted to europe. these new discoveries were the attainments of greece in the natural sciences and in logic: they extended the scope of dialectic and stimulated the rise of metaphysical theory: the latter, in combination with ecclesiastical dogma and greek science, became such a system of thought as that expounded in the summa of thomas aquinas. philosophy remained the handmaid of religion and arab influence first served only to complete the ecclesiastical philosophy of life. eventually, however, the methods of interpretation and criticism, peculiar to the arabs when dealing with aristotle became of no less importance than the subject matter of their inquiries. this form of criticism was developed from the emphasis which islam had long laid upon the value of wisdom, or recognition of the claims of reason. muhammedan tradition is full of the praises of wisdom, which it also originally regarded as the basis of religion. reason, however, gradually became an independent power: orthodoxy did not reject reason when it coincided with tradition, but under the influence of aristotelianism, especially as developed by averroës, reason became a power opposed to faith. the essential point of the doctrine was that truth was twofold, according to faith and according to reason. any one who was subtle enough to recognise both kinds of truth could preserve his orthodoxy: but the theory contained one great danger, which was immediately obvious to the christian church. the consequent struggle is marked by the constant connection of arab ideas with the characteristic expressions of christian feeling; these again are connected with the outset of a new period, when the pioneers of the renaissance liberate the west from the chains of greek ecclesiastical classicism, from oriental metaphysical religion and slowly pave the way for the introduction of germanic ideals directly derived from true classicism. not until that period does the west burst the bonds in which orientalism had confined it. christianity and islam then stand upon an equal footing in respect both of intellectual progress and material wealth. but as the west emerges from the shadow-land of the middle ages the more definite becomes its superiority over the east. western nations become convinced that the fetters which bind them were forged in the east, and when they have shaken off their chains, they discover their own physical and intellectual power. they go forth and create a new world, in which orientalism finds but scanty room. the east, however, cannot break away from the theories of life and mind which grew in it and around it. even at the present day the oriental is swathed in mediaevalism. a journalist, for instance, however european his mode of life, will write leaders supported by arguments drawn from tradition and will reason after the manner of the old scholasticism. but a change may well take place. islam may gradually acquire the spirit as well as the form of modern europe. centuries were needed before mediaeval christianity learned the need for submission to the new spirit. within christendom itself, it was non-christian ideas which created the new movement, but these were completely amalgamated with pre-existing christianity. thus, too, a renaissance is possible in the east, not merely by the importation and imitation of european progress, but primarily by intellectual advancement at home even within the sphere of religion. our task is drawing to its close. we have passed in review the interaction of christianity and islam, so far as the two religions are concerned. it has also been necessary to refer to the history of the two civilisations, for the reason that the two religions penetrate national life, a feature characteristic both of their nature and of the course of development which they respectively followed. this method of inquiry has enabled us to gain an idea of the rise and progress of muhammedanism as such. an attempt to explain the points of contact and resemblance between the two religions naturally tends to obscure the differences between them. had we devoted our attention to islam alone, without special reference to christianity, these differences, especially in the region of dogmatic theology, would have been more obvious. they are, however, generally well known. the points of connection are much more usually disregarded: yet they alone can explain the interchange of thought between the two mediaeval civilisations. the surprising fact is the amount of general similarity in religious theory between religions so fundamentally divergent upon points of dogma. nor is the similarity confined to religious theory: when we realise that material civilisation, especially when european medievalism was at its height, was practically identical in the christian west and the muhammedan east, we are justified in any reference to the unity of eastern and western civilisation. my statements may tend to represent islam as a religion of no special originality; at the same time, christianity was but one of other influences operative upon it; early arabic, zoroastrian, and jewish beliefs in particular have left traces on its development. may not as much be said of christianity? inquirers have seriously attempted to distinguish greek and jewish influences as the component elements of christianity: in any case, the extent of the elements original to the final orthodox system remains a matter of dispute. as we learn to appreciate historical connection and to probe beneath the surface of religions in course of development, we discover points of relationship and interdependency of which the simple believer never even dreams. the object of all this investigation is, in my opinion, one only: to discover how the religious experience of the founder of a faith accommodates itself to pre-existing civilisation, in the effort to make its influence operative. the eventual triumph of the new religion is in every case and at every time nothing more than a compromise: nor can more be expected, inasmuch as the religious instinct, though one of the most important influences in man, is not the sole determining influence upon his nature. recognition of this fact can only be obtained at the price of a breach with ecclesiastical mode of thought. premonitions of some such breach are apparent in modern muhammedanism: for ourselves, they are accomplished facts. if i correctly interpret the signs of the times, a retrograde movement in religious development has now begun. the religion inspiring a single personality, has secured domination over the whole of life: family, society, and state have bowed beneath its power. then the reaction begins: slowly religion loses its comprehensive force and as its history is learned, even at the price of sorrow, it slowly recedes within the true limits of its operation, the individual, the personality, in which it is naturally rooted. conclusion and bibliography the purpose of the present work has been to show not so much the identity of christian and muhammedan theories of life during the middle ages, as the parallel course of development common to both, and to demonstrate the fact that ideas could be transferred from one system to the other. detail has been sacrificed to this general purpose. the brief outline of muhammedan dogmatics and mysticism was necessary to complete the general survey of the question. any one of these subjects, and the same is true as regards a detailed life of muhammed, would require at least another volume of equal size for satisfactory treatment. the oriental scholar will easily see where i base my statements upon my own researches and where i have followed goldziher and snouck. my chief source of information, apart from the six great books of tradition, has been the invaluable compilation of soj[=u]t[=i], the great kanz el-'umm[=a]l (hyderabad, ). to those who do not read arabic may be recommended the french translation of the boch[=a]r[=i], of which two volumes are now published: _el-bokâhri, les traditions islamiques traduites ... par_ o. houdas and w. marçais. paris, . of general works dealing with the questions i have touched, the following, to which i owe a considerable debt, may be recommended:-- j. goldziher. muhammedanische studien, halle, and following year. die religion des islams (kult. d. gegenw., i, iii. ). c. snouck hurgronje. de islam (de gids, , us. f.). mekka. the hague, . une nouvelle biographie de mohammed (rev. hist. relig., ). leone caetani di teano. annali dell' islam. milan, and following years. f. buhl. muhammed's liv. copenhagen, . h. grimme. muhammed. munich, . j. wellhausen. das arabische reich und sein sturz. berlin, . th. nöldeke. geschichte des qoräns. gottingen, . (new edition by f. schwally in the press.) c.h. becker. die kanzel im kultus des alten islam. giessen, . papyri. schott-reinhardt, i. heidelberg, . th. w. juynboll. handleidung tot de kennis van de mohammedaansche wet. leyden, . t.j. de boer. geschichte der philosophie in islam. stuttgart, (also an english edition). d.b. macdonald. development of muslim theology, jurisprudence and constitutional theory. new york, . a. merx. idee und grundlinien einer allgemeinen geschichte der mystik. heidelberg, . a. müller. der islam im morgen- und abendland (oncken's collection). w. riedel. die kirchenrechtsquellen des patriarchats alexandrien. leipsic, . g. bruns and e. sachau. syrisch-römisches rechtsbuch. leipsic, . e. sachau. syrische rechtsbücher, i. berlin, . e. zachariae v. lingenthal. geschichte des griechisch-römischen rechts. rd ed., berlin, . h. v. eicken. geschichte und system der mittelalterlichen weltanschauung. stuttgart, . w. windelband. lehrbuck der geschichte der philosophie. th ed., tübingen, . c. baeumker und g. v. hertling. beiträge zur geschichte der philosophie des mittelalters (collected papers). g. gothein. ignatius von loyola und die gegenreformation. halle, . in conclusion, i may mention two works, which deal with the subject of this volume, but from a different standpoint:-- h.p. smith. the bible and islam (the ely lectures for ). w.a. shedd. islam and the oriental churches (philadelphia, ). mahomet founder of islam by g. m. draycott contents introduction i. mahomet's birthplace ii. childhood iii. strife and meditation iv. adventure and security v. inspiration vi. severance vii. the chosen city viii. the flight to medina ix. the consolidation of power x. the secession of the jews xi. the battle of bedr xii. the jews at medina xiii. the battle of ohod xiv. the tyranny of war xv. the war of the ditch xvi. the pilgrimage to hodeibia xvii. the fulfilled pilgrimage xviii. the triumphal entry xix. mahomet, victor xx. iconoclasm xxi. last rites xxii. the genesis of islam index "il estimait sincèrement la force.... jetée dans le monde, son âme se trouva à la mesure du monde et l'embrassa tout.... c'est l'état prodigieux des hommes d'action. ils sont tout entiers dans la moment qu'ils vivent et leur génie se ramasse sur un point." anatole france mahomet introduction the impetus that gave victory to islam is spent. since its material prosperity overwhelmed its spiritual ascendancy in the first years of triumph its vitality has waned under the stress of riches, then beneath lassitude and the slow decrease of power. the prophet mahomet is at once the glory and bane of his people, the source of their strength and the mainspring of their weakness. he represents more effectively than any other religious teacher the sum of his followers' spiritual and worldly ideas. his position in religion and philosophy is substantially the position of all his followers; none have progressed beyond the primary thesis he gave to the arabian world at the close of his career. he closes a long line of semi-divine teachers and monitors. after him the curtains of heaven close, and its glory is veiled from men's eyes. he is the last great man who imposed enthusiasm for an idea upon countless numbers of his fellow-creatures, so that whole tribes fought and died at his bidding, and at the command of god through him. now that the vital history of islam has been written, some decision as to the position and achievements of its founder may be formulated. mahomet conceived the office of prophet to be the result of an irresistible divine call. verily the angel gabriel appeared to him, commanding him to "arise and warn." he was the vehicle through whom the will of allah was revealed. the inspired character of his rule was the prime factor in its prevailing; by virtue of his heavenly authority he exercised his sway over the religious actions of his followers, their aspirations and their beliefs. in order to promulgate the divine ordinances the kuran was sent down, inspired directly by the angel gabriel at the bidding of the lord. upon all matters of belief and upon all other matters dealt with, however cursorily, in the kuran mahomet spoke with the power of god himself; upon matters not within the scope of religion or of the sacred book he was only a human and fallible counsellor. "i am no more than man; when i order you anything with respect to religion, receive it, and when i order you about the affairs of the world, then am i nothing more than man." there is no question of his equality with the godhead, or even of his sharing any part of the divine nature. he is simply the instrument, endowed with a power and authority outside himself, a man who possesses one cardinal thesis which all those within his faith must accept. the idea which represents at once the scope of his teaching and the source of his triumphs is the unity and indivisibility of the godhead. this is the sole contribution he has made to the progressive thought of the world. though he came later in time than the culture of greece and rome, he never knew their philosophies or the sum of their knowledge. his religion could never he built upon such basic strength as christianity. it sprang too rapidly into prominence, and had no foundation of slowly developed ideas upon which to rest both its enthusiasm and its earthly endeavour. mahomet bears closer resemblance to the ancient hebrew prophets than to any christian leader or saint. his mind was akin to theirs in its denunciatory fury, its prostration before the might and majesty of a single god. the evolution of the tribal deity from the local wonderworker, whose shrine enclosed his image, to the impersonal and distant but awful power who held the earth beneath his sway, was mahomet's contribution to the mental development of his country, and the achievement within those confines was wonderful. but to the sum of the world's thought he gave little. his central tenet had already gained its votaries in other lands, and, moreover, their form of belief in one god was such that further development of thought was still possible to them. the philosophy of islam blocks the way of evolution for itself, because its system leaves no room for such pregnant ideas as divine incarnation, divine immanence, the fatherhood of god. it has been content to formulate one article of faith: "there is no god but god," the corollary as to mahomet's divine appointment to the office of prophet being merely an affirmation of loyalty to the particular mode of faith he imposed. therefore the part taken by islam in the reading of the world's mystery ceased with the acceptance of that previously conceived central tenet. in the sphere of ideas, indeed, mahomet gave his people nothing original, for his power did not lie in intellect, but in action. his mind had not passed the stage that has just exchanged many fetishes for one spiritual god, still to be propitiated, not alone by sacrifices, but by prayers, ceremonies, and praise. in the world of action lay the strength of islam and the genius of its founder; it is therefore in the impress it made upon events and not in its theology and philosophy that its secret is to be found. but besides the acceptance of one god as lord, islam forced upon its devotees a still more potent idea, whose influence is felt both in the spheres of thought and action. as an outcome of its political and military needs mahomet created and established its unassailable belief in fatality--not the fatalism of cause and effect, bearing within itself the essence of a reason too vast for humanity to comprehend, but the fatalism of an omnipotent and capricious power inherent in the mahomedan conception of god. with this mighty and irresponsible being nothing can prevail. before every event the result of it is irrevocably decreed. mankind can alter no tiniest detail of his destined lot. the idea corresponds with mahomet's vision of god--an awful, incomprehensible deity, who dwells perpetually in the terrors of earth, not in its gentleness and compassion. the doctrine of fatalism proved islam's greatest asset during its first hard years of struggle, for it gave to its battlefields the glory of god's surveillance: "death is a favour to a muslim." but with prosperity and conquest came inaction; then fatalism, out of the weakening of endurance, created the pessimism of islam's later years. being philosophically uncreative, it descended into the sloth of those who believe, without exercise of reason or will, in the uselessness of effort. before islam decayed into inertia it had experienced a fierce and flaming life. the impulse bestowed upon it by its founder operated chiefly in the religious world, and indirectly in the realm of political and military power. how far the religion of islam is indebted to mahomet's knowledge of the jewish and christian systems becomes clear upon a study of the kuran and the muslim institutions. that mahomet was familiar with jewish scriptures and tradition is beyond doubt. the middle portion of the kuran is filled to the point of weariness with reiterations of jewish legend and hero-myths. it is evident that mahomet took the god of the jews to be his own deity, combining in his conception also the traditional connection of jehovah and his chosen people with the ancient faith and ceremonies of mecca, purged of their idolatries. from the jews he took his belief in the might and terror of the lord and the admonitory character of his mission. from them also he took the separatist nature of his creed. the jewish teachers postulated a religion distinct from every other belief, self-sufficient, owning no interpreter save the law and the scriptures. mahomet conceived himself also as the sole vehicle during his lifetime and after his death for the commands of the most high. he aimed at the superseding of rabbinical power, and hoped to win the jews into recognition of himself as successor to their own teachers and prophets. but his claims were met by an unyielding reliance upon the completed law. if the jewish religion had rejected a redeemer from among its own people, it was impossible that it should accept a leader from an alien and despised race. mahomet, finding coalition impossible, gave free play to his separatist instinct, so that in this respect, and also in its fundamental conception of the deity, as well as in its reliance upon inspired scriptures and oral traditions, mahomedanism approximates to the jewish system. it misses the influence of an immemorial history, and receives no help in its campaign of warfare from the traditional glories of long lines of warrior kings. chief of all, it lacks the inspiration of the matchless jewish scriptures and sacred books, depending for instruction upon a document confined to the revelation of one man's personality and view of life. still the narrowness of the mahomedan system provoked its power; its rapid rush to the heights of dominion was born of the straitening of its impulse into the channel of conquest and the forcible imposition of its faith. of christianity mahomet knew far less than of judaism. he went to the christian doctrines as they were known in heterodox syria, far off from the main stream of christian life and teaching. he went to them with a prejudiced mind, full of anger against their exponents for declaring the messiah to be the son of god. the whole idea of the incarnation and the dogma of the trinity were thoroughly abhorrent to him, and the only conception he entertains as to the personality of jesus is that of a prophet even as he is himself, the receiver of divine inspiration, but having no connection in essence with god, whom he conceived pre-eminently as the one supreme being, indivisible in nature. certainly he knew far less of the christian than of the jewish scriptures, and necessarily less of the inner meaning of the christian faith, still in fluid state, unconsidered of its profoundest future exponents. his mind was assuredly not attuned to the reception of its more revolutionary ideas. very little compassion and no tenderness breathe from the pages of the kuran, and from a religion whose founder had laboured to bring just those two elements into the thorny ways of the world, mahomet could only turn away baffled and uncomprehending. the doctrine of the non-resistance to evil, and indeed all the wisdom of the sermon on the mount, he passed by unseeing. it is useless and indeed unfair to attempt the comparison of mahomedanism with christianity, seeing that without the preliminary culture of greece and rome modern christian doctrines would not exist in their present form, and of the former mahomet had no cognisance. he stands altogether apart from the christian system, finding no affinity in its doctrines or practices, scorning its monasticism no less than its conception of the trinity. his position in history lies between the warriors and the saints, at the head of the prophets, who went, flail in hand, to summon to repentance, but unlike the generality, bearing also the sword and sceptre of a kingdom. no other religious leader has ever bound his creed so closely to definite political conceptions, mahomet was not only the instrument of divine revelation, but he was also at the end of his life the head of a temporal state with minutest laws and regulations--chaotic it may be, but still binding so that islamic influence extended over the whole of the lives of its adherents. this constitutes its strength. its leader swayed not only the convictions but the activities of his subjects. his position with regard to the political institution of other countries is unique. his temporal power grew almost in spite of himself, and he unconsciously adopted ideas in connection with it which arose out of the circumstances involved. any form of government except despotism was impossible among so heterogeneous and unruly a people; despotism also bore out his own idea as to the nature of god's governance. political ideas were largely built upon religious conceptions, sometimes outstripping, sometimes lagging behind them, but always with some irrefragable connection. despotism, therefore, was the form best suited to islam, and becomes its chief legacy to posterity, since without the religious sanction islam politically could not exist. together with despotism and inextricably mingled with it is the second great islamic enthusiasm--the belief in the supremacy of force. with violence the muslim kingdom was to be attained. mahomet gave to the battle lust of arabia the approval of his puissant deity, bidding his followers put their supreme faith in the arbitrament of the sword. he knew, too, the value of diplomacy and the use of well-calculated treachery, but chief of all he bade his followers arm themselves to seize by force what they could not obtain by cunning. in the insistence upon these two factors, complete obedience to his will as the revelation of allah's decrees and the justification of violence to proclaim the merits of his faith, we gain the nearest approach to his character and beliefs; for these, together with his conception of fate, are perhaps the most personal of all his institutions. mahomet has suffered not a little at the hands of his immediate successors. they have sought to record the full sum of his personality, and finding the subject elude them, as the translation of actions into words must ever fall short of finality, they have overloaded their narrative with minutest and almost always apocryphal details which leave the main outlines blurred. only two biographies can be said to be in the nature of sources, that of muhammad ibn hischam, written on the model of an earlier biography, undertaken about for the abbasside caliph mansur, and of wakidi, written about , which is important as containing the text of many treaties made by mahomet with various tribes. al-tabari, too, included the life of mahomet in his extensive history of arabia, but his work serves only as a check, consisting, as it does, mainly of extracts from wakidi. by far the more valuable is the kuran and the sunna of tradition. but even these are fragmentary and confused, bearing upon them the ineradicable stamp of alien writers and much second-hand thought. in the dim, pregnant dawn of religions, by the transfusing power of a great idea, seized upon and made living by a single personality, the world of imagination mingles with the world of fact as we perceive it. the real is felt to be merely the frail shell of forces more powerful and permanent. legend and myth crowd in upon actual life as imperfect vehicles for the compelling demand made by that new idea for expression. moreover, personality, that subtle essence, exercises a kind of centripetal force, attracting not only the devotion but the imaginations of those who come within its influence. mahomet, together with all the men of action in history, possessed an energy of will so vast as to bring forth the creative faculties of his adherents, and the legends that cluster round him have a special significance as the measure of his personality and influence. the story, for instance, of his midnight journey into the seven heavens is the symbol of an intense spiritual experience that, following the mental temper of the age in which he lived, had to be translated into the concrete. all the affirmations as to his intercourse with djinn, his inspiration by the angel gabriel, are inherent factors in the manifestation of his ceaseless mental activity. his marvellous birth and the myths of his childhood are the sum of his followers' devotion, and reveal their reverence translated into terms of the imagination. character was the mysterious force that his co-religionists tried unconsciously to portray in all those legends relative to his life at medina, his ruthlessness and cruelty finding a place no less than his humility, and steadfastness under discouragement. but beneath the weight of the marvellous the real man is almost buried. he has stood for so long with the mists of obscure imaginings about him that his true lineaments are almost impossible to reproduce. the western world has alternated between the conception of him as a devil, almost antichrist himself, and a negligible impostor whose power is transient. it has seldom troubled to look for the human energy that wrought out his successes, the faith that upheld them, and the enthusiasm that burned in the prophet himself with a sombre flame, lighting his followers to prayer and conquest. and indeed it is difficult, if not impossible, to re-create effectively the world in which he lived. it is so remote from the seas of the world's progression, an eddy in the tide of belief which loses itself in the larger surging, that it makes no appeal of familiarity. but that a study of the period and mahomet's own personality operating no less through his deeds, faith, and institutions than in the one doubtfully reliable record of his teachings, will result in the perception of the prophet of islam as a man among men, has been the central belief during the writing of this biography. mahomet's personality is revealed in his dealing with his fellows, in the belief and ritual that he imposed upon arabia, in the mighty achievement of a political unity and military discipline, and therein he shows himself inexorable, cruel, passionate, treacherous, bad, subject to depression and overwhelming doubt, but never weak or purposeless, continually the master of his circumstances, whom no emergency found unprepared, whose confidence in himself nothing could shake, and who by virtue of enthusiasm and resistless activity wrested his triumphs from the hands of his enemies, and bequeathed to his followers his own unconquerable faith and the means wherewith they might attain wealth and sovereignty. chapter i mahomet's birthplace "and how many cities were mightier in strength than thy city that hath cast thee forth?"--_the kuran_. in arabia nature cannot be ignored. pastures and cornland, mountain slopes and quiet rivers may be admired, even reverenced; but they are things external to the gaze, and make no insistent demand upon the spirit for penetration of their mystery. arabia, and mecca as typical of arabia, is a country governed by earth's primal forces. it has not yet emerged from the shadow of that early world, bare and chaotic, where a blinding sun pours down upon dusty mountain ridges, and nothing is temperate or subdued. it fosters a race of men, whose gods are relentless and inscrutable, revealing themselves seldom, and dwelling in a fierce splendour beyond earthly knowledge. to the spirit of a seeker for truth with senses alert to the outer world, this country speaks of boundless force, and impels into activity under the spur of conviction; by its very desolation it sets its ineradicable mark upon the creed built up within it. mahomet spent forty years in the city of mecca, watching its temple services with his grandfather, taking part in its mercantile life, learning something of christian and jewish doctrine through the varied multitudes that thronged its public places. in the desert beyond the city boundaries he wandered, searching for inspiration, waiting dumbly in the darkness until the angel gabriel descended with rush of wings through the brightness of heaven, commanding: "cry aloud, in the name of the lord who created thee. o, thou enwrapped in thy mantle, arise and warn!" mecca lies in a stony valley midway between yemen, "the blessed," and syria, in the midst of the western coast-chain of arabia, which slopes gradually towards the red sea. the height of abu kobeis overlooks the eastern quarter of the town, whence hills of granite stretch to the holy places, mina and arafat, enclosed by the ramparts of the jebel kora range. beyond these mountains to the south lies taif, with its glory of gardens and fruit-trees. but the luxuriance of taif finds no counterpart on the western side. mecca is barren and treeless; its sandy stretches only broken here and there by low hills of quartz or gneiss, scrub-covered and dusty. the sun beats upon the shelterless town until it becomes a great cauldron within its amphitheatre of hills. during the greater pilgrimage the cauldron seethes with heat and humanity, and surges over into mina and arafat. in the daytime mecca is limitless heat and noise, but under the stars it has all the magic of a dream-city in a country of wide horizons. the shadow of its ancient prosperity, when it was the centre of the caravan trade from yemen to syria, still hung about it in the years immediately before the birth of mahomet, and the legends concerning the founding of the city lingered in the native mind. hagar, in her terrible journey through the desert, reached mecca and laid her son in the midst of the valley to go on the hopeless quest for water. the child kicked the ground in torment, and god was merciful, so that from his heel marks arose a spring of clear water--the well zemzem, hallowed ever after by meccans. in this desolate place part of the amalekites and tribes from yemen settled; the child ishmael grew up amongst them and founded his race by marrying a daughter of the chief. abraham visited him, and under his guidance the native temple of the kaaba was built and dedicated to the true god, but afterwards desecrated by the worship of idols within it. such are the legends surrounding the foundation of mecca and of the kaaba, of which, as of the legends concerning the early days of rome, it may be said that they are chiefly interesting as throwing light upon the character of the race which produced them. in the case of mecca they were mainly the result of an unconscious desire to associate the city as far as possible with the most renowned heroes of old time, and also to conciliate the jewish element within arabia, now firmly planted at medina, kheibar, and some of the adjoining territory, by insisting on a jewish origin for their holy of holies, and as soon as abraham and ishmael were established as fathers of the race, legends concerning them were in perpetual creation. the kaaba thus reputed to be the work of abraham bears evidence of an antiquity so remote that its beginnings will be forever lost to us. from very early times it was a goal of pilgrimage for all arabia, because of the position of mecca upon the chief trade route, and united in its ceremonies the native worship of the sun and stars, idols and misshapen stones. the black stone, the kissing of which formed the chief ceremonial, is a relic of the rites practised by the stone-worshippers of old; while the seven circuits of the kaaba, obligatory on all pilgrims, are probably a symbol of the courses of the planets. arab divinities, such as alilat and uzza, were associated with the kaaba before any records are available, and at the time of mahomet, idolatry mingled with various rites still held sway among the meccans, though the leaven of jewish tradition was of great help to him in the establishment of the monotheistic idea. at mahomet's birth the kaaba consisted of a small roofless house, with the black stone imbedded in its wall. near it lay the well zemzem, and the reputed grave of ishmael. the holy place of arabia held thus within itself traces of a purer faith, that were to be discovered and filled in by mahomet, until the kaaba became the goal of thousands, the recipient of the devotion and longings of that mighty host of muslim who went forth to subdue the world. mahomet's ancestors had for some time held a high position in the city. he came of the race of hashim, whose privilege it was to give service to the pilgrims coming to worship at the kaaba. the hashim were renowned for generosity, and mahomet's grandfather, abd al muttalib, was revered by the kureisch, inhabitants of mecca, as a just and honourable man, who had greatly increased their prosperity by his rediscovery of the holy well. its healing waters had been choked by the accumulations of years, so that even the knowledge of its site was lost, when an angel appeared to abd al muttalib, as he slept at the gate of the temple, saying: "dig up that which is pure!" three times the command fell on uncomprehending ears, until the angel revealed to the sleeper where the precious water might be found. and as he dug, the well burst forth once more, and behold within its deeps lay two golden gazelles, with weapons, the treasure of former kings. and there was strife among the kureisch for the possession of these riches, until they were forced to draw lots. so the treasure fell to abd al muttalib, who melted the weapons to make a door for the kaaba, and set up the golden gazelles within it. abd al muttalib figures very prominently in the early legends concerning mahomet, because he was sole guardian of the prophet during very early childhood. these legends are mainly later accretions, but the kernel of truth within them is not difficult to discover. like all forerunners of the great teachers, he stands in communion with heavenly messengers, the symbol of his purity of heart. he is humble, compassionate, and devout, living continually in the presence of his god--a fitting guardian for the renewer of the faith of his nation. most significant of the legends is the story of his vow to sacrifice a son if ten were born to him, and of the choice of abdullah, mahomet's father, and the repeated staying of the father's hand, so that the sacrifice could not be accomplished until is son's life was bought with the blood of a hundred camels. this and all allied legends are fruit of a desire to magnify the divine authority of mahomet's mission by dwelling on the intervention of a higher power in the disposal of his fate. of abd al muttalib's ten sons, abdallah was the most handsome in form and stature, so that the fame of his beauty spread into the harems of the city, and many women coveted him in their hearts. but he, after his father had sacrificed the camels in his stead, went straightway to the house of amina, a maiden well-born and lovely, and remained there to complete his nuptials with her. then, after some weeks, he departed to gaza for the exchange of merchandise, but, returning, was overtaken by sickness and died at medina. amina, left thus desolate, sought the house of abd al muttalib, where she stayed until her child was born. visions of his future greatness were vouchsafed to her before his birth by an angel, who told her the name he was to bear, and his destiny as prophet of his people. long before the child's eyes opened to the light, a brightness surrounded his mother, so that by it might be seen the far-off towers of the castles in syrian bostra. a tenderness hangs over the story of mahomet's birth, akin to that immortal beauty surrounding the coming of christ. we have faint glimpses of amina, in the dignity of her sorrow, waiting for the birth of her son, and in the house of mecca's leading citizen, hearing around her not alone the celestial voices of her spirit-comforters, but also rumours of earthly strife and the threatenings of strange armies from the south. at sana, capital of yemen, ruled abraha, king of the southern province. he built a vast temple within its walls, and purposed to make sana the pilgrim-city for all arabia. but the old custom still clove to mecca, and finding he could in nowise coerce the people into forsaking the kaaba, he determined to invade mecca itself and to destroy the rival place of worship. so he gathered together a great army, which numbered amongst it an elephant, a fearful sight to the meccans, who had never seen so great an animal. with this force he marched upon mecca, and was about to enter the city after fruitless attempts by abd al muttalib to obtain quarter, when god sent down a scourge of sickness upon his army and he was forced to retreat, returning miserably to sana with a remnant of his men. but so much had the presence of the elephant alarmed the meccans that the year (a.d. ) was called ever after "the year of the elephant," and in august thereof mahomet was born. then amina sent for abd al muttalib and told him the marvels she had seen and heard, and his grandfather took the child and presented him in the kaaba, after the manner of the jews, and gave him the name mahomet (the praised one), according as the angel had commanded amina. the countless legends surrounding mahomet's birth, even to the physical marvel that accompanied it, cannot be set aside as utterly worthless. they serve to show the temper of the nation producing them, deeply imaginative and incoherently poetical, and they indicate the weight of the personality to which they cling. all the devotion of the east informs them; but since the spirit that caused them to be is in its essence one of relentless activity, neither contemplative nor mystic, they lack that subtle sweetness that belongs to the buddhist and christian histories, and dwell rather within the region of the marvellous than of the spiritually symbolic. neither mahomet's father nor mother are known to us in any detail; they are merely the passive instruments of mahomet's prophetic mission. his real parents are his grandfather and his uncle abu talib; but more than these, the desert that nurtured him, physically and mentally, that bounded his horizon throughout his life and impressed its mighty mysteries upon his unconscious childhood and his eager, imaginative youth. chapter ii childhood "paradise lies at the feet of mothers."--mahomet. no more beautiful and tender legends cluster round mahomet than those which grace his life in the desert under the loving care of his foster-mother hailima. she was a woman of the tribe of beni sa'ad, who for generations had roamed the desert, tent-dwellers, who visited cities but rarely, and kept about them the remoteness and freedom of their adventurous life beneath the sun and stars. about the time of mahomet's birth a famine fell upon the beni sa'ad, which left nothing of all their stores, and the women of the tribe journeyed,[ ] weary and stricken with hunger, into the city of mecca that they might obtain foster-children whose parents would give them money and blessings if they could but get their little ones taken away from that unhealthy place. among these was hailima, who, according to tradition, has left behind her the narrative of that dreadful journey across the desert with her husband and her child, and with only an ass and a she-camel for transport. famine oppressed them sorely, together with the heat of desert suns, until there was no sustenance for any living creature; then, faint and travel-weary, they reached the city and began their quest. mahomet was offered to every woman of the tribe, but they rejected him as he had no father, and there was little hope of much payment from the mothers of these children. those of rich parents were eagerly spoken for, but no one would care for the little fatherless child. and it happened that hailima also was unsuccessful in her search, and was like to have returned to her people disconsolate, but when she saw mahomet she bethought herself and said to her husband: "by the god of my fathers, i will not go back to my companions without foster-child. i will take this orphan." and her husband replied: "it cannot harm thee to do this, and if thou takest him it may be that through him god will bless us." so hailima took him, and she relates how good fortune attended her from that day. her camels gave abundant milk during the homeward journey, and in the unfruitful land of the beni sa'ad her cattle were always fattest and yielded most milk, until her neighbours besought her to allow them to pasture their cattle with hers. but, adds the chronicler naively, in spite of this their cattle returned to them thin and yielding little, while hailima's waxed fat and fruitful. these legends are the translation into poetic fact of the peace and love surrounding mahomet during the five years he spent with hailima; for in all primitive communities every experience must pass through transmutation into the definite and tangible and be given a local habitation and a name. when mahomet was two years old and the time had come to restore him to his mother, hailima took him back to mecca; but his mother gave him to her again because he had thriven so well under desert skies, and she feared the stifling air of mecca for her only son. so hailima returned with him and brought him up as one of her children until he was five, when the first signs of his nervous, highly-strung nature showed themselves in a kind of epileptic fit. the arabians, unskilled as they were in any medical science, attributed manifestations of this kind to evil spirits, and it is not surprising that we find hailima bringing him back to his grandfather in great alarm. so ended his fostering by the desert and by hailima. of these five years spent among the beni sa'ad chroniclers have spoken in much detail, but their confused accounts are so interwoven with legend that it is impossible to re-create events, and we can only obtain a general idea of his life as a tiny child among the children of the tribe, sharing their fortunes, playing and quarrelling with them, and at moments, when the spirit seemed to advance beyond its dwelling-place, gazing wide-eyed upon the limitless desert under the blaze of sun or below the velvet dark, with swift, half-conscious questionings uttering the universal why and how [ ] of childhood. legend regards even this early time as one of preparation for his mission, and there are stories of the coming of two men clothed in white and shining garments, who ripped open his body, took out his heart, and having purged it of all unrighteousness, returned it, symbolically cleansing him of sin that he might forward the work of god. it was an imaginative rightness that decreed that mahomet's most impressionable years should be spent in the great desert, whose twin influences of fierceness and fatalism he felt throughout his life, and which finally became the key-notes of his worship of allah. hailima, convinced that her foster-son was possessed by evil spirits, resolved to return him to abd al muttalib, but as she journeyed through upper mecca, the child wandered away and was lost for a time. hailima hurried, much agitated, to his grandfather, who immediately sent his sons to search, and after a short time they returned with the boy, unharmed and unfrightened by his adventure. the legend--it is quite a late accretion--is interesting, as showing an acquaintance with, and a parallelism to, the story of the losing of jesus among the passover crowds, and the search for him by his kindred. mahomet was at last lodged with his mother, who indignantly explained to hailima the real meaning of his malady, and spoke of his future glory as manifested to her by the light that enfolded her before his birth. not long after, amina decided to visit her [ ] husband's tomb at medina, and thither mahomet accompanied her, travelling through the rocky, desolate valleys and hills that separate the two, with just his mother and a slave girl. mahomet was too young to remember much about the journey to medina, except that it was hot and that he was often tired, and since his father was but a name to him, the visit to his tomb faded altogether from his mind. but on the homeward journey a calamity overtook him which he remembered all his life. amina, weakened by journeying and much sorrow, and perhaps feeling her desire for life forsake her after the fulfillment of her pilgrimage, sickened and died at abwa, and mahomet and the slave girl continued their mournful way alone. amina is drawn by tradition in very vague outline, and mahomet's memory of her as given in the kuran does not throw so much light upon the woman herself as upon her child's devotion and affectionate memory of the mother he lost almost before he knew her. his grief for her was very real; she remained continually in his thoughts, and in after years he paid tribute at her tomb to her tenderness and love for him. "this is the grave of my mother ... the lord hath permitted me to visit it.... i called my mother to remembrance, and the tender memory of her overcame me and i wept." the sensitive, over-nervous child, left thus solitary, away from all his kindred, must have brought back with him to mecca confused but vivid impressions of the long journey and of the catastrophe which lay at the end of it. the uncertainty of his future, and the joys of gaining at last a foster-father in abd al muttalib, finds reflection in the kuran in one little burst of praise to god: "did he not find thee an orphan, and furnish thee with a refuge?" life for two years as the foster-child of abd al muttalib, the venerable, much honoured chief of the house of hashim, passed very pleasantly for mahomet. he was the darling of his grandfather's last years of life; for, perhaps having pity on his defencelessness, perhaps divining with that prescience which often marks old age, something of the revelation this child was to be to his countrymen, he protected him from the harshness of his uncles. a rug used to be placed in the shadow of the kaaba, and there the aged ruler rested during the heat of the day, and his sons sat around him at respectful distance, listening to his words. but the child mahomet, who loved his grandfather, ran fearlessly up, and would have seated himself by abd al muttalib's side. then the sons sought to punish him for his lack of reverence, but their father prevented them: "leave the child in peace. by the god of my fathers, i swear he will one day be a mighty prophet." so mahomet remained in close attendance upon the old man, until he died in the eighth year after the year of the elephant, and there was mourning for him in the houses of his sons. when abd al muttalib knew his end was near he sent for his daughters, and bade them make lamentation over him. we possess traditional accounts of these funeral songs; they are representative of the wild rhetorical eloquence of the poetry of the day. they lose immensely in translation, and even in reading with the eye instead of hearing, for they were never meant to find immortality in the written words, but in the speech of men. "when in the night season a voice of loud lament proclaimed the sorrowful tidings i wept, so that the tears ran down my face like pearls. i wept for a noble man, greater than all others, for sheibar, the generous, endowed with virtues; for my beloved father, the inheritor of all good things, for the man faithful in his own house, who never shrank from combat, who stood fast and needed not a prop, mighty, well-favoured, rich in gifts. if a man could live for ever by reason of his noble nature--but to none is this lot vouchsafed--he would remain untouched of death because of his fair fame and his good deeds." the songs furnish ample evidence as to the high position which abd al muttalib held among the kureisch. his death was a great loss to his nation, but it was a greater calamity to his little foster-child, for it brought him from ease and riches to comparative poverty and obscurity with his uncle, abu talib. none of abd al muttalib's sons inherited the nature of their father, and with his death the greatness of the house of hashim diminished, until it gave place to the omeyya branch, with harb at its head. the offices at mecca were seized by the omeyya, and to the descendants of abd al muttalib there remained but the privilege of caring for the well zemzem, and of giving its water for the refreshment of pilgrims. only two of his sons, except abu talib, who earns renown chiefly as the guardian of mahomet, attain anything like prominence. hamza was converted at the beginning of mahomet's mission, and continued his helper and warrior until he died in battle for islam; abu lahab (the flame) opposed mahomet's teaching with a vehemence that earned him one of the fiercest denunciations in the early, passionate suras of the kuran: "blasted be the hands of abu lahab; let himself perish; his wealth and his gains shall avail him not; burned shall he be with the fiery flame, his wife shall be laden with firewood-- on her neck a rope of palm fibre." mahomet, bereft a second time of one he loved and on whom he depended, passed into the care of his uncle, abu talib. this was a man of no great force of character, well-disposed and kindly, but of straitened means, and lacking in the qualities that secure success. later, he seems to have attained a more important position, mainly, one would imagine, through the lion courage and unfaltering faith in the prophet of his son, the mighty warrior ali, of whom it is written, "mahomet is the city of knowledge, and ali is the gate thereof." but although abu talib was sufficiently strong to withstand the popular fury of the kureisch against mahomet, and to protect him for a time on the grounds of kinship, he never finally decided upon which side he would take his stand. had he been a far-seeing, imaginative man, able to calculate even a little the force that had entered into arabian polity, the history of the foundation of islam would have been continued, with mecca as its base, and have probably resolved itself into the war of two factions within the city, wherein the new faith, being bound to the more powerful political party, would have had a speedier conquest. with abu talib mahomet spent the rest of his childhood and youth--quiet years, except for a journey to syria, and his insignificant part in the war against the hawazin, a desert tribe that engaged the kureisch for some time. in abu talib's house there was none of the ease that had surrounded him with abd al muttalib. but mahomet was naturally an affectionate child, and was equally attached to his uncle as he had been to his grandfather. two years later abu talib set out on a mercantile journey, and was minded to leave his small foster-child behind him, but mahomet came to him as he sat on his camel equipped for his journey, and clinging to him passionately implored his uncle not to go without him. abu talib could not resist his pleading, and so mahomet accompanied him on that magical journey through the desert, so glorious yet awesome to an imaginative child, bostra was the principal city of exchange for merchandise circulating between yemen, northern arabia, and the cities of upper palestine, and mahomet must thus have travelled on the caravan route through the heart of syria, past jerash, ammon, and the site of the fated cities of the plain. in syria, too, he first encountered the christian faith, and planted those remembrances that were to be revived and strengthened upon his second journey through that wonderful land--in religion, and in a lesser degree in polity, a law unto itself, forging out its own history apart from the main stream of christian life and thought. legends concerning this journey are rife, and all emphasise the influence christianity had upon his mind, and also the ready recognition of his coming greatness by all those christians who saw him. on the homeward journey the monk bahirah is fabled to have met the party and to have bidden them to a feast. when he saw the child was not among them he was wroth, and commanded his guests to bring "every man of the company." he interrogated mahomet and abu talib concerning the parentage of the boy, and we have here the first traditional record of mahomet's speech. "ask what thou wilt," he said to bahirah, "and i will make answer." so bahirah questioned him as to the signs that had been vouchsafed him, and looking between his shoulders found the seal of the prophetic office, a mole covered with hair. then bahirah knew this was he who was foretold, and counselled abu talib to take him to his native land, and to beware [ ] of the jews, for he would one day attain high honour. at this time mahomet was little more than a child, but although few thoughts of god or of human destiny can have crossed his mind, he retained a vivid impression of the storied places through which he passed--jerash, ammon, the valley of hejr, and saw in imagination the mighty stream of the tigris, the ruinous cities, and palmyra with its golden pillars fronting the sun. the tribes which the caravan encountered were rich in legend and myth, and their influence, together with the more subtle spell of the desert vastness, wrought in him that fervour of spirit, a leaping, troubled flame, which found mortal expression in the poetry of the early part of the kuran, where the vision of god's majesty compels the gazer into speech that sweeps from his mind in a stream of fire: "by the sun and his noonday brightness, by the moon when she followeth him, by day when it revealeth his glory, by the night when it enshroudeth him, by the heaven and him who built it, by the earth and him who spread it forth, by the soul and him who balanced it, breathed into its good, yea, and its evil-- verily man's lot is cast amid destruction save those who believe and deal justly, and enjoin upon each other steadfastness and truth." chapter iii strife and meditation "god hath treasuries beneath the throne, the keys whereof are the tongues of poets."--mahomet. the arabian calendar has always been in a distinctive manner subject to the religion of the people. before mahomet imposed his faith upon mecca, there were four sacred months following each other, in which no war might be waged. for four months, therefore, the tumultuous arab spirit was restrained from that most precious to it; pilgrimages to holy places were undertaken, and there was a little leisure for the cultivation of art and learning. the greater pilgrimage to mecca, comprising the sevenfold circuit of the kaaba and the kissing of the sacred black stone, and culminating in a procession to the holy places of mina and arafat, could only be undertaken in dzul-higg, corresponding in the time of mahomet to our march. the month preceding, dzul-cada, was occupied in a kind of preparation and rejoicing, which took the form of a fair at ocatz, three days' journey east of mecca, when representatives of all the surrounding nations used to assemble to exchange merchandise, to take part in the games, to listen to the contests in poetry and rhetoric, and sometimes to be roused into sinister excitement at the proximity of so many tribes differing from them in nationality, and often in their religion and moral code. into this vast concourse came mahomet, a lad of fifteen, eager to see, hear, and know. he was present at the poetic contests, and caught from the protagonists a reflection of their vivid, fitful eloquence, with its ceaseless undercurrent of monotony. romance, in so far as it represents the love of the strange, is a product of the west. there is a rigidity in the eastern mind that does not allow of much change or seeking after new things. wild and beautiful as this poetry of arabia is, its themes and their manner of treatment seldom vary; as the desert is changeless in contour, filled with a brilliant sameness, whirling at times into sombre fury and as suddenly subsiding, so is the literature which it fostered. the monotony is expressed in a reiteration of subject, barbarous to the intellect of the west; endurance is born of that monotony, and strength, and the acquiescence in things as they are, but not the discovery and development of ideas. arabia does not flash forth a new presentment of beauty, following the vivid apprehension of some lovely form, but broods over it in a kind of slumbering enthusiasm that mounts at last into a glory of metaphor, drowning the subject in intensest light. the rival poets assembled to discover who could turn the deftest phrases in satire of the opposing tribe, or extol most eloquently the bravery and skill of his own people, the beauty and modesty of their women, and from these wild outpourings mahomet learnt to clothe his thoughts in that splendid garment whose jewels illumine the earlier part of the kuran. perhaps more important than the poetical contests was the religious aspect of the fair at ocatz. here were gathered jew, christian, and arabian worshipper of many gods, in a vast hostile confusion. mahomet was familiar with jewish cosmogony from his knowledge of their faith within his own land, and he had heard dimly of the christian principles during his syrian journey. but here, though both jews and christians claimed to be worshippers of a single god, and although the jews took for their protector abraham, the mighty founder of mahomet's own city, yet there was nothing between all the sects but fruitless strife. he saw the jews looking disdainfully upon the christian dogs, and the christians firmly convinced that an irrevocable doom would shortly descend upon every jew. both united in condemning to eternal wrath the idol-worshippers of the kaaba. it was a fiercely outspoken, remorseless enmity that he saw around him, and the impotence born of distrust he saw also. it is not possible that any hint of his future mission enlightened him as to the part he was to play in eliminating this conflict, but may it not be that there was sown in his mind a seed of thought concerning the uselessness of all this strife of religions, and the limitless power that might accrue to his nation if it could but be persuaded to become united in allegiance to the one true god? for even at that early stage mahomet, with the examples of judaism and christianity before him, must have rejected, even if unthinkingly, the polytheistic idea. the poetic and warlike contests partook of the fiery earnestness characteristic of the combatants, and it was seldom that the fair at ocatz passed by without some hostile demonstration. the greatest rivals were the kureisch and the hawazin, a tribe dwelling between mecca and taif. the hawazin were tumultuous and unruly, and the kureisch ever ready to rouse their hostility by numerous small slights and taunts. we read traditionally of an insult by some kureisch youths towards a girl of the hawazin; this incident was closed peaceably, but some years later the kureisch (always the aggressive party because of their stronghold in mecca) committed an outrage that could not be passed over. as the fair progressed, news came of the murder of a hawazin, chief of a caravan, and the seizure of his treasure by an ally of the kureisch. that tribe, knowing themselves at a disadvantage and fearing vengeance, fled back to mecca. the hawazin pursued them remorselessly to the borders of the sacred precincts, beyond which it was sacrilegious to wage war. some traditions say they followed their foe undaunted by fear of divine wrath, and thus incurred a double disgrace of having fought in the sacred month and within the sacred territory. but their pursuit cannot have lasted long, because we find them challenging the kureisch to battle at the same time the next year. all mahomet's uncles took part in the sacrilegious war that followed, and stirring times continued for mahomet until a truce was made after four years. he attended his uncles in warfare, and we hear of his collecting the enemy's arrows that fell harmlessly into their lines, in order to reinforce the kureisch ammunition. a vivid picture by the hand of tradition is this period in mahomet's life, for he was between eighteen and nineteen, just at the age when fighting would appeal to his wild, yet determined nature. he must have learned resource and some of the stratagem of war from this attendance upon warriors, if he did not become filled with much physical daring, never one of his characteristics, nor, indeed, of any man of his nervous temperament, and his imagination was certainly kindled by the spectacle of the horrors and triumphs of strife. several battles were fought with varying success, until at the end of about five years' fighting both sides were weary and a truce was called. it was found that twenty more hawazin had been killed than kureisch, and according to the simple yet equitable custom of the time, a like number of hostages was given to the hawazin that there might not be blood feud between them. the kureisch passed as suddenly into peace as they had plunged into strife. after the sacrilegious war, a period of prosperity began for the city of mecca. it was wealthy enough to support its population, and trade flourished with the marts of bostra, damascus, and northern syria. its political condition had never been very stable, and it seems to have preserved during the omeyyad ascendancy the same loose but roughly effective organisation that it possessed under the hashim branch. the intellect that could see the potentialities of such a polity, once it could be knit together by some common bond, had not arisen; but the scene was prepared for his coming, and we have to think of the mecca of that time as offering untold suggestions for its religious, and later for its political, salvation to a mind anxious to produce, but uncertain as yet of its medium. mahomet returned with abu talib, and passed with him into obscurity of a poverty not too burdensome, and to a quiet, somewhat reflective household. he lived under the spell of that tranquillity until he was twenty-five, and of this time there is not much notice in the traditions, but its contemplation is revealed to us in the earlier chapters of the kuran. at one time mahomet acted as shepherd upon the meccan hills--low, rocky ranges covered with a dull scrub, and open to the limitless vaults of sky. here, whether under sun or stars, he learned that love and awe of nature that throbs through the early chapters of the kuran like a deep organ note of praise, dominated almost always with fear. "consider the heaven--with his hand has he built it up, and given it its vastness--and the earth has he stretched out like a carpet, smoothly has he spread it forth! verily, god is the sole sustainer, possessed of might, the unshaken! fly then to god." indeed, a haunting terror broods over all those souls who know the desert, and this fear translated into action becomes fierce and terrible deeds, and into the world of the spirit, angry dogmatic commands. it is the result of the knowledge that to those who stray from the well-known desert track comes death; equally certain is the destruction of the soul for those who transgress against the law of the ruler of the earth. the god of the early kuran is the spiritual representative of the forces surrounding mahomet, whether of nature or government. the country around mecca conveys one central thought to one who meditates--the sense of power, not the might of one kindly and familiar, but the unapproachable sovereignty of one alien and remote, a dweller in far-off places, who nevertheless fills the earth with his dominion. mahomet passing by, as he did, the gaieties and temptations of youth, had his mind alert for the influences of this nature, full of awful power, and for the contemplation of life and the universe around him. in common with many enthusiasts and men of action, certain sides of his nature, especially the sexual and the practical, awoke late, and were preceded by a reflective period wherein the poet held full sway. he never desired the companionship of those of his own age and their rather debased pleasures. there are legends of his being miraculously preserved from the corruption of the youthful vices of mecca, but the more probable reason for his shunning them is that they made no appeal to his desires. some minds and tastes unfold by imperceptible degrees--flowers that attain fruition by the shedding of their earlier petals. mahomet was of this nature. at this time the poet was paramount in his mental activities he loved silence and solitude, so that he might use those imaginative and contemplative gifts of which he felt himself to possess so large a share. it is not possible at this distance of time to attempt to estimate the importance of this period in mahomet's mental development. there are not sufficient data to enable history to fill in any detailed sketch, but the outlines may be safely indicated by the help of his later life and the testimony of that commentary upon his feelings and actions, the kuran. his nature now seems to be in a pause of expectation, whose vain urgency lasted until he became convinced of his prophetic mission. he must have been at this time the seeker, whose youth, if not his very eagerness, prevented his attaining what he sought. he was earnest and sincere, grave beyond his years, and so gained from his fellows the respect always meted out, in an essentially religion-loving community, to any who give promise of future "inspiration," before its actuality has rendered him too uncomfortable a citizen. he received from his comrades the title of al-amin (the faithful), and continued his life apart from his kind, performing his duties well, but still remaining aloof from others as one not of their world. from his sojourn in the mountains came the inspiration that created the poetry of the kuran and the reflective interest in what he knew of his world and its religion; both embryos, but especially the latter, germinated in his mind until they emerged into full consciousness and became his fire of religious conviction, and his zeal for the foundation and glory of islam. chapter iv adventure and security "women are the twin-halves of men."--mahomet. abu talib's straitened circumstances never prevented him from treating his foster-child with all the affection of which his kindly but somewhat weak character was capable. but the cares of a growing family soon became too much for his means, and when mahomet was about twenty-five his uncle suggested that he should embark upon a mercantile journey for some rich trader in mecca. we can imagine mahomet, immersed in his solitudes, responding reluctantly to a call that could not be evaded. he was not by nature a trader, and the proposal was repugnant to him, except for his desire to help his uncle, and more than this, his curiosity to revisit at a more assimilative age the lands that he remembered dimly from childhood. khadijah, a beautiful widow, daughter of an honoured house and the cousin of mahomet, rich and much sought after by the kureisch, desired someone to accompany her trading venture to bostra, and hearing of the wisdom and faithfulness of mahomet, sent for him, asking if he would travel for her into syria and pursue her bargains in that northern city. she was willing to reward him far more generously than most merchants. mahomet, anxious to requite his uncle in some way, and with his young imagination kindled at the prospect of new scenes and ideas, prepared eagerly for the journey. with one other man-servant, meisara, he set out with the merchandise to bostra, traversing as a young man the same desert path he had journeyed along in boyhood. he was of an age to appreciate all that this experience could teach, in the regions both of nature and religion. the lonely desert only increased his pervading sense of the mystery lying beyond his immediate knowledge, and its vastness confirmed his vague belief in some kind of a power who alone controlled so mighty a creation as the abounding spaces around him, and the "star-bespangled" heaven above. on this journey, too, he first saw with conscious eyes the desert storms in all the splendour and terror of their fury, and caught the significance of those sudden squalls that urge the waters of the upper syrian lakes into a tumult of destruction. frequent allusions to sea and lake storms are to be found in the earlier part of the kuran: "when the seas shall be commingled, when the seas shall boil, then shall man tremble before his creator." "by the swollen sea, verily a chastisement from thy lord is imminent." in every natural manifestation that struck mahomet's imagination in these early days, god appeared to him as the sovereign of power, as terrible and as remote as he was in the lightnings on sinai. what wonder, then, that when the call came to him to take up his mission it became a command to "arise and warn"? the chroniclers would have us believe that his contact with christianity was more important than his communion with nature. most of the legends surrounding his relations with christian syria may be safely accepted as later additions, but it is certain that he paid some attention to the religion of those people through whose country he passed. a syrian monk is said to have seen mahomet sitting beneath a tree, and to have hailed him as a prophet; there is even a traditional account of an interview with nestorius, but this must be set aside at once as pure fiction. the kernel of these legends seems to be the desire to show that mahomet had studied christianity, and was not imposing a new religion without having considered the potentialities of those already existing. however that may be, christianity certainly interested mahomet, and must have influenced him towards the monotheistic idea. the arabians themselves were not entirely ignorant of it; they witnessed the worship of one god by the jews and christians on the borders of their territory, and although it is a very debatable point how far the idea of one god had progressed in arabia when mahomet began his mission, it may fairly be accepted that dissatisfaction with the old tribal gods was not wanting. mahomet saw the countries through which he passed in a state of religious flux, and heard around him diverse creeds, detecting doubtless an undercurrent of unrest and a desire for some religion of more compelling power. with the single slave he reached bostra in safety with the merchandise, and having concluded his barter very successfully, and retaining in his mind many impressions of that crowded city, returned to mecca by the same desert route. meisara, the slave, relates (in what is doubtless a later addition) of the fierce noonday heat that beset the travellers, and how, when mahomet was almost exhausted, two angels sat on his camel and protected him with their wings. when they reached mecca, khadijah sold the merchandise and found her wealth doubled, so careful had mahomet been to ensure the prosperity of his client, and before long love grew up in her heart for this tall, grave youth, who was faithful in small things as well as in great. khadijah had been much sought after by the men of mecca, both for her riches and for her beauty, but she had preferred to remain independent, and continued her orderly life among her maidens, attending to her household, and finding enough occupation in the supervision of her many mercantile ventures. she was about forty, fair of countenance, and gifted with a rich nature, whose leading qualities were affection and sympathy. she seems to have been pre-eminently one of those receptive women who are good to consult for the clarification of ideas. her intelligence was quick to grasp another's thought, if she did not originate thought within herself. she was a woman fitted to be the helper and guide of such a man as mahomet, eager, impulsive, prone to swiftly alternating extremes of depression and elation. a subtle mental attraction drew them together, and khadijah divined intuitively the power lying within the mind of this youth and also his need of her, both mentally and materially, to enable him to realise his whole self. therefore as she was the first to awaken to her desire for him, the first advances come from her. she sent her sister to mahomet to induce him to change his mind upon the subject of marriage, and when he found that the rich and gracious khadijah offered him her hand, he could not believe his good fortune, and assured the sister that he was eager to make her his wife. the alliance, in spite of its personal suitability, was far from being advantageous to khadijah from a worldly point of view, and the traditions of how her father's consent was obtained have all the savour of contemporary evidence. the father was bidden to a feast, and there plied right royally with wine. when his reason returned he asked the meaning of the great spread of viands, the canopy, and the chapleted heads of the guests. thereupon he was told it was the marriage-feast of mahomet and khadijah, and his wrath and amazement were great, for had he not by his presence given sanction to the nuptials? the incident throws some light upon the marriage laws current at the time. khadijah, though forty and a widow, was still under the guardianship of her father, having passed to him after the death of her husband, and his consent was needed before she married again. the marriage contracted by mutual desire was followed by a time of leisure and happiness, which mahomet remembered all his life. never did any man feel his marriage gift (in mahomet's case twenty young camels) more fitly given than the youth whom khudijah rescued from poverty, and to whom she gave the boon of her companionship and counsel. the marriage was fruitful; two sons were born, the eldest kasim, wherefore mahomet received the title of abu-el-kasim, the father of kasim, but both these died in infancy. there were also four daughters born to mahomet--zeineb, rockeya, umm kolthum, and fatima. these were important later on for the marriages they contracted with mahomet's supporters, and indeed his whole position was considerably solidified by the alliances between his daughters and his chief adherents. ten years passed thus in prosperity and study. mahomet was no longer obscure but the chief of a wealthy house, revered for his piety, and looked upon already as one of those "to whom god whispers in the ear." his character now exhibited more than ever the marks of the poet and seer; the time was at hand when all the subdued enthusiasm of his mind was to break forth in the opening suras of the kuran. the inspiration had not yet descended upon him, but it was imminent, and the shadow of its stern requirements was about him as he attended to his work of supervising khadijah's wealth or took part in the religious life of mecca. in a.d. , when mahomet was thirty-five years old, the chief men of mecca decided to rebuild the kaaba. the story of its rebuilding is perhaps the most interesting of the many strange, naive tales of this adventurous city. valley floods had shattered the house of the gods. it was roofless, and so insecure that its treasury had already been rifled by blasphemous men. it stood only as high as the stature of a man, and was made simply of stones laid one above the other. rebuilding was absolutely necessary, but materials were needed before the work could begin, and this delayed the kureisch until chance provided them with means of accomplishing their design. a grecian ship had been driven in a red sea storm upon the coast near mecca and was rapidly being broken up. when the kureisch heard of it, they set out in a body to the seashore and took away the wood of the ship to build a roof for the kaaba. it is a significant fact that tradition puts a greek carpenter in mecca who was able to advise them as to the construction. the meccans themselves were not sufficiently skilled in the art of building. but now a great difficulty awaited them. who was to undertake the responsibility of demolishing so holy a place, even if it were only that it might be rebuilt more fittingly? many legends cluster round the demolition. it would seem that the gods only understood gradually that a complete destruction of the kaaba was not intended. their opposition was at first implacable. the loosened stones flew back into their places, and finally none could be induced to make the attempt to pull down the kaaba. there was a pause in the work, during which no one dared venture near the temple, then al-welid, being a bold and god-fearing spirit, took an axe, and crying: "i will make a beginning, let no evil ensue, o lord!" he began to dislodge the stones. then the rest of the kureisch rather cravenly waited until the next day, but seeing that no calamity had befallen al-welid, they were ready to continue the work. the rebuilding prospered until they came to a point where the black stone must be embedded in the eastern wall. at this juncture a vehement dispute arose among the kureisch as to who was to have the honour of depositing the black stone in its place. they wrangled for days, and finally decided to appeal to mahomet, who had a reputation for wisdom and resource. mahomet, after carefully considering the question, ordered a large cloth to be brought, and commanded the representatives of the four chief meccan houses to hold each a corner. then he deposited the black stone in the centre of it, and in this manner, with the help of every party in the quarrel, the sacred object was raised to the proper height. when this was done mahomet conducted the black stone to its niche in the wall with his own hand. the building of the kaaba was ultimately completed, and a great festival was held in honour. many hymns of praise were sung at the accomplishment of so difficult and important a work. the kaaba has remained substantially the same as it was when it was first rebuilt. it is a small place of no architectural pretensions, merely a square with no windows, and a tiny door raised from the ground, by which the faithful, duly prepared, are allowed to enter upon rare occasions. the sacred black stone lies embedded about three feet from the ground in the eastern wall, at first a dark greenish stone of volcanic or aerolitic origin, now worn black and polished by thousands of kisses. there is little in the kaaba to account for the reverence bestowed upon it, and its insignificance bears witness to the eastern capacity for worshipping the idea for which its symbols stand. this was the sacred temple of abraham and ishmael, therefore its exterior mattered little. mahomet's share in the construction of the kaaba brought him further honour among the kureisch. from this time until the beginning of his mission he lived a quiet, easeful domestic life, interrupted only by mental storms and depressions. he found leisure to meditate and observe, and of this necessarily uneventful time there is little or no mention in the histories. he certainly gained an opportunity of examining somewhat closely the tenets of christianity by the entrance into his household of zeid, a christian slave, cultured and well-informed as to the doctrines of his religion, and his presence doubtless influenced mahomet in the spiritual battles he encountered at a time when as yet he was certain neither of god nor himself. besides zeid another important personage entered mahomet's household, ali, son of abu talib, and future convert and pride of islam, "the lion of the faith." the adoption of ali was mahomet's small recompense to abu talib for his care of him, and the advantages there from to islam were inestimable. ali was no statesman, but he was an indomitable fighter, with whose aid mahomet founded his religion of the sword. in such quiet manner mahomet passed the years immediately preceding the discovery of his mission, and as religious doubts and fears alternated in him with fervour and hopefulness, so signs were not wanting of a spirit of inquiry found abroad in arabia, discontented with the old religions, seeking for a clearer enthusiasm and withheld from its goal. legends gather round the figures of four inquirers who are reputed to have come to mahomet for enlightenment, and the story is but the primitive device of rendering concrete and material all those vague stirrings of the communal spirit towards a more convincing conception of the world-- legends that embody ideas in personalities, mainly because their language has no words for the expression of the abstract, and also that, clothed in living garments, they may capture the hearts of men. the time for the coming of a prophet and a teacher could not be long delayed, and a foreboding of his imperious destiny, dark with war and aflame with god's judgment, had already begun to steal across mahomet's hesitant soul. chapter v inspiration "recite thou in the name of thy lord who created, yan, who hath made man from clots of blood, recite thou, for thy lord, he is most bounteous." _the kuran_. the mental growth by which mahomet attained the capacity of prophet and ruler will always have spread about it a misty veil, wherein strange shapes and awful visions are dimly discerned. did his soul face the blankness that baffles and entices the human spirit with any convictions, the gradual products of thought and experience, or was it with an unmeaning chaos within him that he stumbled into faith and evolved his own creed? his knowledge of christianity and judaism undoubtedly helped to foster in him his central idea of the indivisibility of god. but how was this faith wrought out into his conception of himself as the prophet of his people? it is impossible for any decision to be made as to the mainspring of his beliefs, except in the light of his character and development of mind. he was passionate and yet practical, holding within himself the elements of seer and statesman, prophet and law-giver, as yet doubtful of the voice which inspired him, but spurred on in his quest for the truth by an intensity of spirit that carried him forward resistlessly as soon as conviction came to him. the man who imposed his dauntless determination upon a whole people, who founded a system of religious and social laws, who moved armies to fight primarily for an idea, could not lightly gain is right to exhort and control. his nature is almost cataclysmic, and once filled with the fire of the lord, he bursts forth among his fellow-men "with the right hand striking," to use his own vivid metaphor, but before this evidence of power has come an agonising period of doubt. traces of his mental turmoil are seen abundantly in his physical nature. we read of his exhaustion after the inspiration comes, and of "the terrific suras" that took their toll of his vitality afterwards. the mission imposed upon him was no light burden, and demanded of him strength both of body and mind. the successive stages by which he became convinced of his divine call are only detailed in the histories with the concurrence of the supernatural; he sees material visions and dreams fervent dreams. with the ecstacy of heaven about him, according to legend, he holds converse with the angel gabriel, arch-messenger of god, and the divine injunctions must be translated into mental enthusiasms before the true evolution of mahomet's mind can be dimly conceived. when he was forty he sought solitude more constantly than formerly. there were deeps in his own nature of which he was only now becoming aware. a restlessness of mind beset him, and continually he retired to a cave at the base of mount hira, where he could meditate undisturbed. this mountain, hallowed for ever by the followers of islam, is now called somewhat ironically, considering its natural barrenness, jebel nur, the mountain of light. mahomet was of a nervous temperament, the nature that suffers more intensely through its imaginative foresight than in actual experience. he was of those who see keenly and feel towards their beliefs. his faith in god produced none of that self-abnegating rapture to be found in the devotions of many early christians; it was a personal passion, sweeping up his whole nature within its folds, and rousing the enfolded not to meditation but to instant action. through all the legendary accounts there beats that excitement that tells of a mind wrought to the highest pitch, afire with visions, alive with desire. then, when his fervour attained its zenith, gabriel came to him in sleep with a silken cloth in his hand covered with writing and said to mahomet: "read!" "i cannot read." then the angel wrapped the cloth about him and once more commanded, "read!" again came the answer, "i cannot read," and again the angel covered him, still repeating, "read!" then his mouth was opened and he read the first sura of the kuran: "recite thou in the name of thy lord who created thee," and when he awoke it seemed to him that these words were graven upon his heart. mahomet went immediately up into the mountain, and there gabriel appeared to him waking and said: "thou art god's prophet, and i am gabriel." the archangel vanished, but mahomet remained rooted to the spot, until khadijah's messengers found him and brought him to her. the simple story of mahomet's call to the prophetic office from the lips of the old chroniclers is peculiarly fragrant, but it leaves us in considerable doubt as to the real means by which he attained his faith and was emboldened to preach to his people. it is certain that he had no idea at the time when he received his inspiration, of the ultimate political role in store for him. he was now simply the man who warned the people of their sins, and who insisted upon the sovereignty of one god. very little argument is ever used by mahomet to spread his faith. he spoke a plain message, and those who disregarded it were infallibly doomed. he saw himself in the forefront as the man who knew god, and strove to win his countrymen to right ways of life; he did not see himself at the head of earthly armies, controlling the nucleus of a mighty and united arabia, and until his flight from mecca to medina he regarded himself merely as a religious teacher, the political side of his mission growing out of the exigencies of circumstance, almost without his own volition. his exaltation upon the mountain of light soon faded into uncertainty and fearfulness before the influence of the world's harsh wisdom. mahomet entered upon a period of hesitation and dreariness, doubtful of himself, of his vision, and of the divine favour. his soul voyaged on dark and troubled seas and gazed into abysmal spaces. at one time he would receive the light of the seven heavens within his mind, and feel upon him the fervour of the hebrew prophets of old, and again he would call in vain upon god, and, and seeking, would be flung back upon a darkness of doubt more terrible than the lightnings of divine wrath. in all those exaltations and glooms khadijah had part; she comforted his distress and shared his elation until the sorrowful period of the fattrah, the pause in the revelation, was past. the period is variously estimated by the chroniclers, and there are many nebulous and spurious legends attaching to it, but whatever its length it seems certain that mahomet gained within it a fuller knowledge of jewish and christian tenets, probably through zeid, the christian slave in his household, and most accounts agree that the fattrah was ended by the revelation of the sura entitled "the enwrapped," the mandate of the angel gabriel: "o thou enwrapped in thy mantle, arise and warn!" the explanation of the term "enwrapped in thy mantle" shows the prevailing belief in good and evil spirits characteristic of mahomet's time. wandering on the mountain, he saw in a vision the angel gabriel seated on a throne between heaven and earth, and afraid before so much glory, ran to khadijah, beseeching her to cover him with his mantle that the evil spirits whom he felt so near him might be avoided. thereupon gabriel came down to earth and revealed the sura of admonition. this supernatural command would appear to be the translation into the imaginative world of the peace of mind that descended upon mahomet, and the conviction as to the reality of his inspiration following on a time of despair. the command fell to one who was peculiarly fitted by nature and circumstance to obey it effectively. to mahomet, who knew somewhat the chaos of religions around him--pagan, jewish, and christian struggling together in unholy strife--the conception of god's unity, once it attained the strength of a conviction, necessarily resolved itself into an admonitory mission. "there is no god but god," therefore all who believe otherwise have incurred his wrath; hasten then to warn men of their sins. so his conviction passed out of the region of thought into action and received upon it the stamp of time and place, becoming thereby inevitably more circumscribed and intense. from now onwards the course of mahomet's life is rendered indisputably plainer by our possession of that famous and much-maligned document, the kuran, virtually a record of his inspired sayings as remembered and written down by his immediate successors. apart from its intrinsic value as the universally recognised vehicle of the islamic creed, it is of immense importance as a commentary upon mahomet's career. when allowance has been made for its numberless contradictions and repetitions, it still remains the best means of tracing mahomet's mental development, as well as the course of his religious and political dominance. although the original document was compiled regardless of chronology, expert scholarship has succeeded in determining the order of most of it contents, and if we cannot say the precise sequence of every sura, at least we can classify each as belonging to one of the two great periods, the meccan and medinan, and may even distinguish with comparative accuracy three divisions within the former. after mahomet's mandate to preach and warn his fellow-men of their peril, the suras continue intermittently throughout his life. those of the first period, when his mission was hardly accepted outside his family, bear upon them the stamp of a fiery nature, obsessed with its one idea; but behind the wild words lies a store of energy as yet undiscovered, which will find no fulfilment but in action. that zeal for an idea which caused the kuran to be, expressed itself at first in words alone, but later was translated into political action, and it is the emptying of this vitality from his words into his works that is responsible for the contrasting prose of the later suras. but no lack of poetic fire is discernible in the suras immediately following his call to the prophetic office, and from them much may be gathered as to the depth and intensity of his faith. they are almost strident with feeling; his sentences fall like blows upon an anvil, crude in their emphasis, and so swiftly uttered forth from the flame of his zeal, that they glow with reflected glory: "say, he is god alone, god the eternal, he begetteth not and is not begotten, there is none like to him." "verily, we have caused it (the kuran) to descend on the night of power, and who shall teach thee what the night of power is? the night of power excelleth a thousand months, therein descend the angels and the spirit by permission of the lord." "by the snorting chargers, by those that breathe forth sparks of fire and those that rush to the attack at morn! and stir therein the dust aloft, cleaving their midmost passage through a host! truly man is to his lord ungrateful, and of this is himself a witness; and truly he is covetous in love of this world's good. ah, knoweth he not, that when what lies in the grave shall be bared and that brought forth that is in men's breasts, verily in that day shall the lord be made wise concerning them?" after the first fire of prophetic zeal had illuminated him, mahomet devoted himself to the conversion of his own household and family. khadijah was the first convert, as might have been expected from the close interdependence of their minds. she had become initiated into his prophetship almost equally with her husband, and it was her courage and firm trust in his inspiration that had sustained him during the terrible period of negation. zeid, the christian slave who had helped to mould mahomet's thought by his knowledge of christian doctrine, was his next convert, but both of these were eclipsed by the devotion to mahomet's gospel of ali, the future warrior, son of abu talib, and one destined to play a foremost part in the foundation of islam. mahomet's gospel then penetrated beyond the confines of his household with the conversion of his friend abu bekr, a successful merchant living in the same quarter of the town as the prophet. abu bekr, whose honesty gained him the title of al-siddick (the true), and ali were by far the most important of mahomet's "companions." they helped to rule islam during mahomet's lifetime, and after his death took successive charge of its fortunes. ali was too young at this time to manifest his qualities as warrior and ruler, but abu bekr was of middle age, and his nature remained substantially the same as at the inception of islam. he was of short stature, with deep-seated eyes and a thoughtful, somewhat undecided mouth, by nature he was shrewd and intelligent, but possessed little of that original genius necessary to statesmanship in troublous times. his mild, sympathetic character endured him to his fellow-men, and his calm reasonableness earned the gratitude of all who confided in him. he was never ruled by impulse, and of the fire burning almost indestructibly within mahomet he knew nothing. it is strange to consider what agency brought these two dissimilar souls into such close relationship. for the rest of his life mahomet found a never-failing friend in abu bekr, and the attachment between the two, apart from their common fount of zeal for islam, must have been such as is inspired by those of contrasting nature for each other. mahomet saw a kindly, almost commonplace man, in whose sweet sanity his troubled soul could find a little peace. he was burdened at times with over-resolve that ate into his mind like acid. in abu bekr he could find the soothing influence he so often needed, and after the death of khadijah this friend might be said in a measure to take her place. abu bekr, on the other hand, revered his leader as a man of finer, subtler stuff than himself, more alive to the virtue of speed, filled with a greater daring and a profounder impulse than he was. mahomet, in common with most men meriting the title of great, had a capacity for lifelong friendships as well as the power of inspiring belief and devotion in others. through abu bekr five converts were gained for the new religion, of whom othman is the most important. his part in the establishment of the islamic dominion was no slight one, but at the present he remains simply one of the early enthusiastic converts to mahomet's evangel, while he enwound himself into the fortunes of his teacher by marrying rockeya, one of mahomet's daughters. the conversion to islam proceeded slowly but surely among the kureisch; several slaves were won over, but at the end of four years only forty converts had been made, among whom, however, was bilal, a slave, who later became the first muaddzin, or summoner to prayer. during these four years the suras of the first meccan period were revealed, and enough may be gathered from them to judge both the limits of mahomet's preaching and the attitude towards it on the part of the kureisch. mahomet was content at this time to emphasise in eloquent, almost incoherent words his central theme--the unity of god. he calls upon the people to believe, and warns them of their fate if they refuse. the suras indicate the attitude of indifference borne by the kureisch towards mahomet's mission at its inception. wherever there are denunciatory suras, they are either for the chastisement of unbelievers or, as in sura cxi, in revenge for the refusal of his relations to believe in his inspiration. prophecies of bliss in store for the faithful are frequent, and of the corresponding woe for unbelievers. the whole is permeated with the spirit of the poet and visionary, a poetry tumultuous but strong, a vision lurid but inspiring. the little band of converts under guidance of this fierce rhetoric became united and strengthened in its faith, prepared to defend it, and to spread it as far as possible throughout their kindred. about three years after mahomet's receipt of his mission, in a.d. , an important change came over the attitude of the kureisch towards islam. hitherto they had jeered or remained indifferent. mahomet's uncles, abu talib and abu lahab, represented the two poles of kureischite feeling. abu talib remained untouched by the new faith, but his kindly nature did not allow him to adopt any severe measures for its repression, and, moreover, mahomet was of his kindred, and he was willing to afford him protection in case of need. abu lahab jeered openly, and manifested his scorn by definite speeches. but as the bands of converts grew, the kureisch found it undesirable to maintain their indifferent attitude. they began to persecute, first refusing to allow the believers to meet, and then seeking them out individually to endeavour to torture them into recanting. from this time dates the creation of one of the foremost principles in the creed of the prophet. if a believer is in danger of torture, he may dissemble his faith to save himself from infamy and death. though in striking contrast to the christian tenets, this exhortation was neither cowardly nor imprudent. in his eyes reckless courting of death would not avail the propagation of islam, and though a man might die to some good service on the battlefield, smiting his enemies, no wise end could be served when his death would merely gratify the lust of his murderers. the persecution continued in spite of mahomet's attempts to withstand it, until he was forced to go to abu talib for protection. this was accorded willingly, on account of kindred ties, but there can have been little cordiality between uncle and nephew on the subject, for mahomet was more than ever determined upon the maintenance and growth of his principles. still the conversions to islam continued, and the persecution of its adherents, until there came to the kureisch a sharp intimation that this new sect arisen in their midst was not an ephemeral affair of a few weeks, but a prolonged endeavour to pursue the ideal of a single god. in the first company of muslim converts broke from the confined religious area of mecca and journeyed into abyssinia, where they could practice their faith in peace. this move convinced the kureisch of the sincerity of their opponents, for they were almost strong enough to merit the name, and compelled them to believe a little in the force lying behind this strange manifestation of religious zeal in their midst. mahomet does not at this time seem to have been definitely ranged against the kureisch. he was still on negotiable terms with them, and they were a little distrustful of his capacity and ignorant of his power. the stages by which he developed from a discredited citizen, obsessed by one idea, into a political opponent worthy of their best steel and bravest men was necessarily gradual, and indeed the prophet himself had no knowledge of the role marked out for him by his own personality and the destinies of arabia. the cause of islam stood as yet in parlous condition, half-formulated, unwieldy, awaiting the moulding hand of persecution to develop it into a political and social system. chapter vi severance "do you see al-lat and al-ozza and manat the third idol beside? these are the exalted females, and truly their intercession is to be expected."--_the kuran_ (last two lines excised later by mahomet). the little band of converts, driven by the kureisch to seek peace and freedom in abyssinia, remained for two years in their country of refuge, but in returned to mecca for reasons which have never been fully explained, though it is easy, in the light of future events, to discover the motive behind such a move. mahomet was not yet convinced of the impossibility of compromise, neither was the powerful party among the kureisch utterly indifferent to mahomet's ancestry as a member of the house of hashim, and his position as the husband of khadijah. he had been respected among men for his uprightness before he affronted their prejudices by scorning their gods. his power was daily becoming a source of strife and faction within the city, and the kureisch were not averse from attempting to come to terms. mahomet for his part, as far as the scanty evidence of history unfolds his state of mind, seems to have been almost desperately anxious to effect an understanding with the kureisch. his cause still journeyed by perilous ways, and at the time hopes of his future achievement were apparently dependent upon the goodwill of the dominant meccan party. the story runs that the chief men of mecca were discussing within the kaaba the affairs of the city. mahomet came to them and recited sura liii--the star--a fulgent psalm in praise of god and heavenly joys. when he came to the verses: "do you see al-lat and al-ozza and manat the third beside," he inserted: "verily these are the exalted females, and truly their intercession may be expected." they kureisch were rejoiced at this homage to their deities, and speedily welcomed mahomet's change of front; but he, disquieted, returned moodily to his house, where gabriel appeared to him in stern rebuke: "thou hast repeated before the people words i never gave to thee." and mahomet, whether conscience-stricken by his lapse from the muslim faith, or convinced that compromise with the kureisch was impossible and also undesirable in face of his growing power, quickly repudiated the whole affair, which had been unquestionably born of impulse, or possibly an adventurous mood that prompted him "to see what would happen" if he ministered to the prejudices of the kureisch. it must be acknowledged, however, that repentance for his homage to heathen idols was the mainspring of his recantation, for the period immediately following was one of hardship and persecution for him, and his transitory lapse injured his cause appreciably with the brethren of his faith. the attempt was honourably made, and only failed by mahomet's swift realisation that his acknowledgment of lat and ozza as spirits sanctioned the worship of their images by his fellow-citizens, and this his stern monotheism could not for a moment entertain. the muslim, with numbers that increased very slowly, were harried afresh by the kureisch as soon as mahomet had withdrawn his concessions, and most of them were forced at length to return to abyssinia. his pathetic little band, wandering from city to city, doubtful of ever attaining security and uncertain of its ultimate destiny, was the prototype in its vagrancy of that larger and confident band which cast aside its traditions and the city of its birth, headed by a spirit heroic in disaster and supreme in faith, to find its goal in the foundation of a new order for arabia. chief among them were othman and rockeya, and these were the only ones who returned to mecca, for the rest remained in abyssinia until after the migration to medina, in fact until after mahomet had carried out the expedition to kheibar. left without any supporters within the city, mahomet was exposed to all the vituperations and insults which his recent refusal of compromise had brought him. the kureisch now directed all their energies towards persuading abu talib to repudiate his nephew. if once this could be effected, the kureisch would have a free hand to pursue their desire to exterminate the muslim and to overthrow the prophet's power. he was immune from bodily attack, chiefly because of abu talib's position in the city as nominal head of the house of hashim. no kureisch could run the risk of alienating so great a number of fellow-citizens, and a personal attack upon abu talib's nephew could but have that result. dark and stormy as the muslim destiny appeared during this period of transition from religious to political conceptions, nevertheless it was now enriched by the conversion of two of the most influential characters upon its later fortunes--hamza and omar. many stories have been woven round their discovery of the truth of islam, and by reading between the lines later commentators may discover the forces at work to induce them to take this dubious step. it is beyond question that mahomet's personality was the moving factor in the conversion of each, for each relates an incident which serves peculiarly to illustrate the prophet's magnetism. hamza, "the lion of god," and a son of abd-al-muttalib in his old age, was accosted by a slave girl as he passed on his way through the city she told him breathlessly that she had seen "the lord mahomet" insulted and reviled by abu jahl, and being unprotected and alone, he could only suffer in silence. hamza listened to her story with indignation, and determined to revenge the insult to his uncle and foster-brother, for by the ties of kinship they were one. in the kaaba he publicly declared his allegiance to islam, and revenged upon abu jahl the injuries he had inflicted upon his kinsman. hamza never repented of his championship of mahomet. the adventurous fortunes of islam satisfied his warrior-spirit, and under mahomet's guidance he helped to control and direct its military zeal, until it had perforce established its religion through the sword. mahomet's personal magnetism had drawn him irresistibly to the religion he upheld so steadfastly, and in the face of revilement and danger. omar was mahomet's bitterest enemy, and had proved his ability by his persistent opposition to islam. he was feared by all the company of religionists that had taken up their precarious quarters near mahomet. he was visiting the house of his sister fatima when he heard murmurs of someone reciting. he inquired what it was, and learned with anger that it was the sacred book of the abhorred muslim sect. his sister and zeid, her husband, tremblingly confessed their adherence to islam, and awaited in terror the probable result. omar was about to fall upon zeid, but his wife interposed and received the blow herself. at the sight of his sister's blood omar paused and then asked for the volume, so that he might judge the message for himself, for he was a writer of no mean standing. fatima insisted that he should first perform ablutions, so that his touch might not defile the sacred book. then omar took it and read it, and the strength and beauty of it smote him. he felt upon him the insistence of a divine command, and straightway asked to be led before mahomet that he might unburden his conviction to him. he girt on his sword and came to the prophet's house. as he rapped upon the door a companion of mahomet's looked through the lattice, and at the sight of omar with buckled sword fled in despair to his master. but mahomet replied: "let him enter; if he bring good tidings we will reward him; if he bring bad news, we will smite him, yea, with his own sword." so the door was opened and mahomet advanced, asking what was his mission. omar answered: "o prophet of god, i am come to confess that i believe in allah and in his prophet." "allah akbar!" (god is great) replied mahomet gravely, and all the household knew that omar had become one of themselves. the conversion of omar was infinitely important to islam, and the adherence of this impetuous and dauntless mind was directly due to the strength and steadfastness of mahomet's faith in himself and his message. omar was an influential personage among the kureisch, quick-tempered, but keen as steel, and rejoicing in strife; he stands out among the many warrior-souls to whom islam gave the opportunity of tasting in its fullness "the splendour of spears." mahomet had indeed gathered around him a group of men who were remarkable for their character and influence upon islam. ali, the warrior par excellence, abu bekr, statesman and counsellor, othman the soldier, hamza and omar, are not merely blind followers, but forceful personalities, contributing each in his own manner towards those assets of endurance, leadership, and unshaken faith which ensured the continuance of the medinan colony and its ultimate victory over the kureisch. omar's conversion did not have the effect of softening the kureischite fury. on the contrary, the event seems to have stimulated them to further persecution, as if they had some foreshadowings of their waning power, and had determined with a desperate energy to quell for ever, if it might be, this discord in their midst. their next step was to try an introduce the political element into this conflict of faiths by putting a ban upon the house of hashim and confining it to abu talib's quarter of sheb. this act, instigated mainly by abu jahl, who now becomes prominent as the most terrible of mahomet's persecutors, had a very notable effect upon his position as well as upon the qualities of the cause for which his party was contending. for the first time the political aspect of islam obtrudes itself. mahomet's followers are now not only the opponents of the kureischite faith and the enemies of their idols, but they are also their political foes, and have drawn the whole house of hashim into faction against the ruling power--the omeyyad house. moreover, mahomet and his companions, now shut up and almost besieged within a definite quarter of the city, were precluded from all attempts to spread their faith. mahomet had secured his little company of followers, but cut off from the rest of the city his cause remained stationary, neither gaining nor losing adherents, during the years - . the suras of this period show some of the discouragement he felt at the time, but through them all beats a note of endurance and confidence: god is continually behind his cause, therefore that cause will prevail against all obstacles. mahomet has become more familiar with the jewish scriptures, and many of the suras are recapitulations of the lives of jewish heroes, especial preference being given to abraham as mythical founder of his race, and to lot as the typical example of one righteous man sent to warn the iniquitous. the style has certainly matured, and in so doing has lost much of its primal fire. it is still stirring and vibrant, but passages of almost bald narrative are interposed, shadows upon the shining floor of his original zeal. he has become increasingly reiterative, too,--a quality easily attained by those who have but one message, in this case a message of warning and exhortation, and are feverishly anxious to brand its urgency upon the hearts of their fellow-men. confined within so limited an area, his energy recoiled upon itself, and the despondency that so easily besets men of action when that necessity is denied them, overcame his mind. only at the yearly pilgrimage was he able to gain a hearing from his meccan brethren, and then, says the chronicler bitterly, "none would believe." the hashim could not trade or intermarry with any outside their clan, and there seemed no chance of circumstances removing their disabilities. mahomet's hopes of embracing all mecca in his faith wavered and fled, until it seemed as if allah no longer protected his chosen. but after two years of negation and impotence, an end to the persecution of the muslim was in sight, and in the ban was removed. legend has it that when the chiefs of the kaaba went to look upon the document they found it devoured by ants, and took this as a sign of the displeasure of their gods. the ban was thus removed by supernatural agency when its prolongation would have meant final disaster for mahomet. in the light of later knowledge it is evident that the removal of the ban was the result of the exertions of abu talib, and it was owing to his high reputation among the kureisch that they pardoned his turbulent and blasphemous nephew. at the end of two years also, the muslim were considerably weakened, both in staying powers and reputation. they were now allowed to go freely in the city, and the immediate prospect seemed certainly brighter for mahomet when there fell the greatest blow that could have afflicted his sensitive spirit. khadijah, his companion and sustainer through so many troublous years, died in , having borne with him all his revilings and discouragements, his source of strength even when there appeared no prospect of the abatement of his hardships, much less for the success of his cause. mahomet's grief was too profound for the passing shadow of it even to darken the pages of the kuran. he paid her the compliment of silence; but her memory was continually with him, even when he had taken many fairer women to wife. ayesha, in all the insolence of beauty, scoffed at khadijah's age and lack of comeliness: "am i not dearer to thee than she was?" "no, by allah!" cried mahomet; "for she believed when no one else believed." it was her strength of character and sweetness of mind that impelled him to utter the amazing words--amazing for his time and environment, seventh-century arabia--"women are the twin-halves of men." but fortune or allah had not finished the "strong affliction" whereby mahomet was forced to cast off from his moorings and venture into strange and perilous seas. five weeks after the death of his wife came the death of his uncle, abu talib. if the first had been a catastrophe affecting his courage and quietude of mind, this was calculated to crush both himself and his companions. abu talib was well loved by mahomet, who manifested throughout his life the strongest capacity for friendship. but more important than the personal grief was the loss of the one man whose efforts bridged over the widening gulf between himself and the kureisch. as such, his death was irreparable damage to mahomet's safety from their hostilities. abu lahab, it is true, touched a little by the sorrows crowding so thickly upon his nephew, protected him for a time, but very soon withdrew his support and joined the opposition. ranged against abu lahab and abu jahl, with their influential following, and lacking the support hitherto provided by abu talib, mahomet perceived that a crisis was fast approaching. his band was too numerous to be ignored or even tolerated by the kureisch, but against such odds as mecca's most powerful citizens, mahomet was too wise to attempt to resist. there seemed no other way but the withdrawal of his little concourse to such place of safety as would enable them to strengthen themselves and prepare for the inevitable struggle for supremacy. no more conversions of importance had taken place since omar's and hamza's allegiance to islam, and now three years had passed. mahomet felt increasingly the need for their exodus from the city of his birth. it is not evident from the chroniclers that he had any definite political aims whatever when he first considered the plan of evacuation. his motive was simply to obtain peace in which he might worship in his own fashion, and win others to worship with him. with this idea in mind he cast about for a suitable resting-place for his small flock, and discovered what he imagined his goal in taif, a village south-east of mecca, upon the eastern slopes of jhebel kora. taif is situated on the fertile side of this mountain range, the side remote from the sea. it stands amid a wealth of gardens, and is renowned for its fruits and flowers. thither in mahomet set out, filled with the knowledge of his invincible mission, strong in his power to conquer and persuade. zeid, his slave and foster-child, was his only companion, and together they had resolved to convert taif to the one true religion. but their adventure was doomed to failure, and though we have necessarily brief descriptions of it, all mahomet's biographers naturally passing quickly over so painful a scene, there is sufficient evidence to show how really disastrous their venture proved. the chief men of the city remained unconvinced, and at last the populace, in one of those blind furies that attack crowds at the sight of impotence, egged on the rabble to stone them. chased from the city, sore, bleeding and despairing, mahomet found shelter in one of the hill gardens of the locality. there he was solaced with fruit by some kindly owners of the place, and there he remained, meditating in profound dejection at his failure, but still with supreme trust in the support of his god. "o lord, i seek refuge in the light of thy countenance; it is thine to cleanse away the darkness, and to give peace both for this world and the next." in this valley of nakhla, too, so runs the tale, he was consoled by genii, who refreshed him, after the fashion of angels upholding the weary prophets in the wilderness. mahomet was now in dire straits; he could not return to mecca at once, because the object of his taif journey was known; as taif had spurned him, so he was forced to halt in hira until he obtained the protection of mutaim, an influential man in mecca, and after some difficulty made his way back to the city, discredited and solitary, except for his former followers. for some months he rested in obscurity and contempt at mecca, gaining none to his cause, but still filled with the fervent conviction of his future triumph, which neither wavered nor faltered. the divine fire which upheld him during the period of his violent persecution burned within his soul, and never was his steadfastness of character and faith in himself and his mission more fully manifested than during these despondent months. he now began to seek in greater measure the society of women, although the consuming sexual life of his later years had hardly awakened. while khadijah was with him he remained faithful to her, but her bright presence once withdrawn, he was impelled by a kind of impassioned seeking to the quest for her substitute, and not finding it in one woman, to continue his search among others. he now married sawda, a nonentity with a certain physical charm but no personality, and sued for the hand of ayesha, the small daughter of abu bekr. mahomet at this time was not blessed with many riches. his frugal, anxious life led him to perform many small duties of his household for himself. his food was coarse and often scanty, and he lived among his followers as one of themselves. it is no small tribute to his singleness of mind and lofty character that in the "dreary intercourse of daily life," lived in that primitive, communal fashion, which admits of no illusions and scarcely any secrets, he retained by the force of personality the reverence of the faithful, and ever in this hour of defeat and negation remained their leader and lord--the symbol, in fact, of their loyalty to allah, and their supreme belief in his guidance and care. chapter vii the chosen city medina, city of exile and despairing beginnings, destined to achieve glory by difficult ways, only to be eclipsed finally by its mightier neighbour and mistress, became, rather by chance than by design, the scene of mahomet's struggles for temporal power and his ruthless wielding of the sword for god and islam. the city lies north-east of mecca, on the opposite side of the mountain spur that skirts the eastern boundary. always weakly peopled, it remained from immemorial time an arena of strife, for it was on the borderland, the boundary of several tribes, and was far enough north for the outer waves of syrian disturbances to fling their varying tides upon its shores--a meagre city, always fiercely at civil warfare, impotent, unfertile. in the dark days of judaea's humiliation at the hands of titus, two jewish tribes, the kainukua and the koreitza, outcast and desolate, even as they had been warned in their time of dominion, lighted upon medina in desperate search for a dwelling-place and a respite from persecution, and forthwith took possession of the little hill-girt town. they settled there, driving out or conciliating the former inhabitants, until in the fourth century their tenuous prosperity was disturbed by the inroads of two bedouin tribes, the beni aus and the beni khazraj. the desert was wide, and these tribes were familiar with its manifold opportunities and devious ways. against such a foe, who swooped down suddenly upon the city, plundered and then escaped into the limitless unknown, the jews had no chance of reprisal. before long the beni aus and khazraj had subjugated the jewish communities, and their dominion in medina was only weakened by their devastating quarrels among themselves. the city therefore offered a peculiar opening for the teaching of islam within it. its religious life indeed was varied and chaotic. jews, arabian idolaters, immigrants from christian syria, torn by schisms, thronged its public places, and this confusion of faiths sharpened the religious and debating instincts of its people. the ground was thus broken up for the reception of the new creed of one god and of his messenger, who had already divided mecca into believers and heretics, and who was spoken of in the city with that awe that attaches itself to distant marvels. intercourse with mecca was chiefly carried on at the time of the yearly pilgrimage; the greater pilgrimage, only undertaken during dzul hijj, corresponding then to our march, and in dzul hijj, , came a band of strangers over the hills, along the toilsome caravan route to the kaaba, the goal of their intentions, the shrine of all their prayers. they performed all the necessary ceremonies at mecca, and were proceeding to mina, a small valley just east of mecca, for the completion of their sacred duties, when they were accosted by mahomet. the prophet was despondent and sceptical of his power to persuade, though his belief in allah's might never wavered. he had failed so far to produce any decisive impression upon the meccan people, but might there not be another town in arabia which would receive his message? the little band of pilgrims seemed to him sent in answer to his self-distrust, and his failure at taif as eclipsed by this sudden success. the caravan returned to its native city, and there remained little for mahomet to do except to wait for the arrival of next year's pilgrims, and to keep shining and ambient the flame of his religious fervour. he remained in mecca virtually on sufferance, and rapidly recognised the uselessness of attempting any further conversions. his hopes were now definitely set on medina, and to this end he seems to devoted himself more than ever to the perusal and interpretation of the jewish scriptures. the portion of the kuran written at this time contains little else than bible stories told and retold to the point of weariness. lot, of course, is the characteristic figure; but we also have the life stories of abraham, moses, jonah, joseph, and many others. the style has suffered a marked diminution in poetic qualities. it has become reiterative and even laboured. he continues his practice of alluding to current events, which at medina he was to pursue to the extent of making the kuran a kind of spasmodic history of his time, as well as an elementary text-book of law and morality. in one of the suras--"the cow"--mahomet makes first mention of that comfortable doctrine of "cancelling," by which later verses of the kuran cancel all previous revelations dealing with the same subject if these prove contradictory: "whatever verses we cancel or cause thee to forget, we bring a better or its like; knowest thou not that god hath power over all things?" there is not much record in the kuran of the influence of christian thought upon islam. we have a few stories of elizabeth and mary, and scattered allusions to the despised "prophet of the jews." but the great body of christian thought, its central dogmas of incarnation and redemption, passed mahomet entirely by, for his mind was practical and not speculative, and indeed to himself no less than to his followers the fundamentals of christianity were of necessity too philosophic to be realised with any intensity of belief. the christian virtues of meekness and resignation, too, might be respected in the abstract--passages in the kuran and tradition assure us they were--but they were so utterly antagonistic to the fierce, free nature of the arab that they never entered into his religious life. mahomet revered the founder of christianity, and placed him with john in the second heaven of his immortals, but though he is secure among the teachers of the world, he can never compete with the omnipotence and glory of the prophet. during the period of mahomet's life immediately preceding his departure to medina, we have his personal appearance described in detail by ali. he is a man of medium stature, with a magnificent head and a thick, flowing beard. his eyes were black and ardent, his jaw firm but not prominent. he looked an upstanding man of open countenance, benignant and powerful, bearing between his shoulders the sign of his divine mission. he had great patience, says ali, and "in nowise despised the poor for their poverty, nor honoured the rich for their possessions. nor if any took him by the hand to salute him was he the first to relinquish his grasp." he lived openly among his disciples, holding frequent converse with them, mending his own clothes and even shoes, a frugal liver and a fervent preacher of the flaming faith within him. he became at this time betrothed to ayesha, the splendid woman, now just a merry child, who was to keep her reigning place in his affections until the end of his life. daughter of abu bekr, she united in herself for mahomet both policy and attractiveness, for by this betrothal he became of blood-kin with abu bekr, and thereby strengthened his friend's allegiance. the union marks the inauguration of his policy of marriage alliances by which he bound the supporters of his faith more closely to him, either through his own marriage with their daughters, or the bestowal of his offspring upon them. ayesha was lovely and imperious, with a luxurious but shrewd nature, and her counsel was always sought by mahomet. other women appeared frequently like comets in his sky, flamed for a little into brightness and disappeared into conjugal obscurity, but ayesha's star remained fixed, even if it was transitorily eclipsed by the brilliance of a new-comer. sexual relations held for mahomet towards the end of his life a peculiar potency, born of his intense energetic nature. he sought the society of woman because of the mental clarity that for him followed any expression of emotion. he was one of those men who must express--the artist, in fact; but an artist who used the medium of action, not that of literature, painting, or music. "poète, il ne connut que la poésie d'action," and like napoleon, his introspection was completely overshadowed by his consuming energy. therefore emotion was to him unconsciously the means by which this immortal energy of mind could be conserved, and he used it unsparingly. ayesha has revealed for us the most intimate details of mahomet's life, and it is due to her that later traditions are enabled to represent him as a man among men. he appears to us fierce and subtle, by turns impetuous and calculating, a man who never missed an opportunity, and gauged exactly the efforts needed to compass any intention. to him "every fortress had its key, and every man his price." he was as keen a politician us he was a religious reformer, but before all he paid homage to the sword, prime artificer in his career of conquest. but in those confidently intimate traditions handed down to us from his immediate entourage, and especially from ayesha, we find him alternately passionate and gentle, wearing his power with conscious authority, mild in his treatment of the poor, terrible to his enemies, autocratic, intolerant, with a strange magnetism that bound men to him. the mystery enveloping great men even in their lifetime, among primitive races, creeps down in these documents to hide much of his personality from us, but his works proclaim his energy and tireless organising powers, even if the mythical, allegoric element predominates in the earlier traditions. the man who undertook and achieved the gigantic task of organising a new social and political as well as religious order may be justly credited with calling forth and centering in himself the vivid imaginations of that most credulous age. the year - passed chiefly in expectation of the greater pilgrimage, when the disciples from medina were to come to report progress and to confirm their faith. the momentous time arrived, and mahomet went almost fearfully to meet the nucleus of his future kingdom in acaba, a valley near mina. but his fears were groundless, for the little party had been faithful to their leader, and had also increased their numbers. they met in secret, and we may picture them a little diffident in so strange a place, ever expectant of the swift descent of the kureisch and their own annihilation. withal they were enthusiastic and confident of their leader. one is irresistibly reminded, in reading of this meeting, of that little outcast band from judea which ultimately prevailed over cæsar imperator through its mighty quality of faith. the accredited words of the first pledge given at acaba are traditionally extant; they combine curiously religious, moral, and social covenants, and assert even at that early stage the headship of the prophet over his servants: "we will not worship any but god; we will not steal, neither will we commit adultery nor kill our children; we will not slander in any wise, nor will we disobey the prophet in anything that is right." the converts then departed to their native city, for mahomet did not deem the time yet ripe enough for migration thither. he possessed the difficult art of waiting until the effectual time should arrive, and there is no doubt that by now he had formed definite plans to set up his rule in medina when there should be sufficient supporters there to guarantee his success. musab, a meccan convert of some learning, was deputed to accompany the medinan citizens to their city and give instruction therein to all who were willing to study the muslim creed. for yet another year mahomet was to possess his soul in patience, but it was with feelings of far greater confidence that he awaited the passing of time. more than ever he became sure of the guiding hand of allah, that pointed indisputably to the stranger city as the goal of his strivings. this city held a goodly proportion of jews, therefore the connection between his faith and that of judaism must be continually emphasised. we have seen how large a space jewish legend and history fill in the contemporary suras of the kuran, and mahomet's friendship with israel increased noticeably during his last two years at mecca. he paid them the honour of taking jerusalem as his kibla, or holy place, to which all believers turn in prayer, and the starting-place for his immortal midnight journey was the sacred city encompassing the temple of the lord. no account of this journey appears except in the traditions crystallized by al bokharil, but there is one short mention of it in the kuran, sura xviii. "glory be to him who carried his servant by night from the sacred temple of mecca to the temple that is more remote, i.e. jerusalem." the vision, however, looms so large in his followers' minds, and exercised so profound an influence over their regard for mahomet, that it throws some light, upon the measure of his ascendancy during his last years at mecca, and establishes beyond dispute the inspired character of his prophetship in the imaginations of the few believers. there have been solemn and wordy disputes by theologians as to whether he made the journey in the flesh, or whether his spirit alone crossed the dread portals dividing our night from the celestial day. he was lying in the kaaba, so runs the legend, when the angel of the lord appeared to him, and after having purged his heart of all sin, carried him to the temple at jerusalem. he penetrated its sacred enclosure and saw the beast borak, "greater than ass, smaller than mule," and was told to mount. the faithful still show the spot at jerusalem where his steed's hoof marked the ground as he spurned it with flying feet. with gabriel by his side, mounted on a beast mighty in strength, mahomet scaled the appalling spaces and came at last to the outer heaven, before the gate that guards the celestial realms. the angel knocked upon the brazen doors and a voice within cried: "who art thou, and who is with thee?" "i am gabriel," came the answer, "and this is mahomet." and behold, the brazen gates that may not be unclosed for mortal man were flung wide, and mahomet entered alone with the angel. he penetrated to the first heaven and saw adam, who interrogated him in the same words, and received the same reply. and all the heavenly hierarchies, even unto the seventh heaven, john and jesus, joseph, enoch, aaron, moses, abraham, acknowledged mahomet in the same words, until the two came to "the tree called sedrat," beyond which no man may pass and live, whose fruits are shining serpents, and whose leaves are great beasts, round which flow four rivers, the nile and the euphrates guarding it without, and within these the celestial streams that water paradise, too wondrous for a name. awed but undaunted, mahomet passed alone beyond the sacred tree, for even the angel could not bear any longer so fierce a glory, and came to al-m'amur, even the hall of heavenly audience, where are seventy thousand angels. he mounted the steps of the throne between their serried ranks, until at the touch of allah's awful hand he stopped and felt its icy coldness penetrate to his heart. he was given milk, wine, or honey to drink, and he chose milk. "hadst thou chosen honey, o mahomet," said allah, "all thy people would be saved, now only a part shall find perfection." and mahomet was troubled. "bid my people pray to me fifty times a day." at the resistless mandate mahomet turned and retraced his steps to the seventh heaven, where dwelt abraham. "the people of the earth will be in nowise constrained to pray fifty times a day. return thou and beg that the number be lessened." so mahomet returned again and again at abraham's command, until he had reduced the number to five, which the father of his people considered was sufficient burden for his feeble subjects to bear. wherefore the five periods set apart for prayer in the muslim faith are proportionately sacred, and with this divine mandate the vision ceased. with his hopes now set on founding an earthly dominion with the help of allah, he had perforce to consider the political situation, and to mature his policy for dealing with it as soon as events proved favourable. the achievements of the persians on the greek frontier had already attracted his attention in ; there is an allusion to the battle and the greek defeat in the kuran, and a vague prophecy of their ultimate success, for mahomet was in sympathy with the greek empire, seeing that, from the point of view of arabia, it was the less formidable enemy. but really the events of such outlying territories only troubled him in regard to medina, for his whole thoughts were centred now upon the chosen city of his dreams. his followers became less aggressive in mecca when they knew that the prophet had the nucleus of a new colony in another city. persecution within mecca therefore died down considerably, and the period is one of pause upon either side, the kureisch watching to see what the next move was to be, mahomet carefully and secretly maturing his plans. during this year there fell a drought upon mecca, followed by a famine, which the devout attributed directly to divine anger at the rejection of the prophet's heavenly message, and which mahomet interpreted as the punishment of god, and this doubtless added to the sum of reasons which impelled him to relinquish his native town. from this time until the hegira, or flight from the city, events in the world of action move but slowly for mahomet. he was careful not to excite undue suspicion among the kureisch, and we can imagine him silent and preoccupied, fulfilling his duties among them, visiting the kaaba, and mingling somewhat coldly with their daily life. still keeping his purpose immutable, he sought to strengthen the faith of his followers for the trials he knew must come. the kuran thus became more important as the mouthpiece of his exhortations. the suras of this time resound with words of encouragement and confidence. he is about to become the leader of a perilous venture in honour of god. the reflex of the expectancy in the hearts of the muslim may be traced in his messages to them. their whole world, as it were, waited breathless, quiet, and tense for the record of the year's achievements in medina, and for the time appointed by god. but how far their leader's actions were the result of painstaking calculations, an insight into the qualities and energies of men, a prevision startling in its range and accuracy, they never suspected; but, serene in their confidence, they held their magnificent faith in the divine guidance and in the inspiration of their prophet. chapter viii the flight to medina "knowest thou not that the dominion of the heavens and of the earth is god's? and that ye have neither patron nor helper save god?"--_the kuran_. the expectancy which burned like revivifying fire in the hearts of the meccan muslim, kindled and nourished by their leader himself, was to culminate at the time of the yearly pilgrimage in . in that month came the great concourse of pilgrims from yathreb to mecca, among them seventy of the "faithful" who had received the faith at medina, headed by their teacher musab and strengthened by the knowledge that they were before long to stand face to face with their prophet. musab had reported to mahomet the success of his mission in the city, and had prepared him for the advent of the little band of followers secured for islam. secrecy was essential, for the muslim from medina were in heart strangers among their own people, in such a precarious situation that any treachery would have meant their utter annihilation, if not at the hands of their countrymen, who would doubtless throw in their lot with the stronger, certainly at the hands of the kureisch, the implacable foes of islam, in whose territory they fearfully were. the rites of pilgrimage were accordingly performed faithfully, though many breathed more freely as they departed for the last ceremony at mina. all was now completed, and the medinan party prepared to return, when mahomet summoned the faithful by night to the old meeting-place in the gloomy valley of akaba. about seventy men and two women of both medinan tribes, the beni khazraj and the beni aus, assembled thus in that barren place, under the brilliant night skies of arabia, to pledge themselves anew to an unseen, untried god and to the service of his prophet, who as yet counted but few among his followers, and whose word carried no weight with the great ones of their world. to this meeting mahomet brought abbas, his uncle, younger son of abd-al-muttalib, a weak and insignificant character, who had endeared himself to mahomet chiefly because of his doglike devotion. he was not a convert, but he revered his energetic nephew too highly and was also too greatly in awe of him to imagine such a thing as treachery. he was in part a guarantee to the khazraj of mahomet's good faith, in part an asset for him against the kureisch, for his family were still influential in mecca. the two made their way from the city unaccompanied, by steep and stony ways, until they came to akaba, and mahomet saw awaiting him that concourse summoned by his persistence and tireless faith--a concourse part of himself, almost his own child, upon which all his hopes were now set. coming thus into that circle of faces, illumined dimly by the torches, which prudence even now urged them to extinguish, he could not but feel some foreshadowing of the mighty future that awaited this little gathering, as yet impotent and tremulous, but bearing within itself the seeds of that loyalty and courage that were to spread "the faith" over half the world. when the greetings were over, abbas stepped forward and spoke, while the lines of dark faces closed around him in earnest scrutiny. "ye men of the beni khazraj, this my kinsmen dwelleth amongst us in honour and safety; his clan will defend him, but he preferreth to seek protection from you. wherefore, ye khazraj, consider the matter well and count the cost." then answered bara, who stood for them in position of chief: "we have listened to your words. our resolution is unshaken. our lives are at the prophet's service. it is now for him to speak." mahomet stepped forward into the circle of their glances, and with the solemnity of the occasion urgent within him recited to them verses of the kuran, whose fire and eloquence kindled those passionate souls into an enthusiasm glowing with a sombre resolve, and prompted them to stake all upon their enterprise. at the end of those tumultuous words he assured them that he would be content if they would pledge themselves to defend him. "and if we die in thy defence, what reward have we?" "paradise!" replied mahomet, exalted, raising his hand in token of his belief in allah and the certitude of his cause. then arose a murmur deep and long, the protestation of loyalty that threatened to rise into triumphant acclamation, but abbas, the fearful of the party, stayed them in dread of spies. so the tumult died down, and bara, taking upon himself the authority of his fellows, stretched forth his hand to mahomet, and with their clasping the second pledge of the akaba was sealed. they broke up swiftly, dreading to prolong their meeting, for danger was all around them and the air heavy with suspected treacheries. and their apprehension was not groundless, for the kureisch had heard of their assembly through some secret messenger, though not until the medinan caravan with its concourse of the faithful and the unbelievers was well on its homeward way across the dreary desert paths which lead to mecca from medina. their wrath was intense, and in fury they pursued it; but either they were ignorant as to which road the party had taken, or the medinans eluded them by greater speed, for they returned disconsolate from the pursuit, having only succeeded in finding two luckless men, one of whom escaped, but the other, sa'd ibn obada, was dragged back to mecca and subjected to much brutality before he ultimately made his escape to his native city. the kureisch were not content with attempting reprisals against medina, or possibly they were enraged because they had effected so little, for they recommenced the persecution of islam at mecca with much violence. from march until april they harassed the believers in their city, imposing restrictions upon them, and in many cases inflicting bodily harm upon mahomet's unfortunate and now defenceless followers. the renewed persecution doubtless gave an added impetus to the prophet's resolve to quit mecca. indeed, the time was fully ripe, and with the prescience that continually characterised him in his role of leader of a religious state, he felt that now the ground was prepared at medina, emigration of the muslim from mecca could not fail to be advantageous to him. the command was given in april , and found immediate popularity, except with a few malcontents who had large interests in their native city. then began the slow removal of a whole colony. the families of abu talib's quarter of mecca tranquilly forsook their birthplace in orderly groups, taking with them their household treasures, until the neighbourhood showed tenantless houses falling into the swift decay accompanying neglect in such a climate, barricaded doors and gaping windows, filled only with an immense feeling of desolation and the blankness which overtakes a city when its humanity has deputed to another abiding place. weeds grew in the deserted streets, and over all lay a fine film of dust, the almost impalpable effort of the desert to merge once more into itself the territory wrung from it by human will. the effect of this emigration upon the kureisch can hardly be estimated. they were amazed and helpless before it; for with their wrath hot against mahomet, it was as if their antagonist had melted into insubstantial vapours to leave them enraged and breathless, pursuing a phantom continually elusive. so silent was the emigration that they were only made aware of it when the quarter was almost deserted. scattered groups of travellers journeying along the desert tracks had evoked no hostilities, and no treachery broke the loyalty to islam at mecca. the kureisch were indeed outwitted, and only became conscious of the subtleties of their antagonist when his plan was accomplished. but in spite of the seemingly favourable situation, the leader tarried because "the lord had not as yet given him command to emigrate." the very natural hesitation of mahomet is only characteristic of him. he knew very well what issues were at stake, and was not anxious to burn his boats rashly; indeed, he bore upon his shoulders at this time all the responsibility of the future of his little flock, who so confidently resigned their fortunes into his hands. if his scheme at medina should fail, he knew that nothing would save him from kureischite fury, and he also felt great reluctance in leaving mecca himself, for at that time it could not but mean the knell of his hopes of gaining his native city to his creed. he must have foreseen his establishment of power in medina, and possibly he had visions of its extension to neighbouring tribes, but he could not have foreseen the humiliation of his native city at his feet, glad at last to receive the faith of one whom she now regarded as the sovereign potentate of arabian territory. and with their friend and guide remained abu bekr and ali--abu bekr because he would not leave his companion in prayer and persecution, and ali because his valour and enthusiasm made him a protector against possible attacks. here was the opportunity for the kureisch. they knew the extent of the emigration, and that abu bekr and ali were the only muslim of importance left except the prophet. they determined to make one last attempt to coerce into submission this fantastic but resolute leader, who possessed in supreme measure the power of winning the faith and devotion of men. tradition has it that mahomet's assassination was definitely planned, and mahomet assuredly thought so too, when he discovered that a man from each tribe had been chosen to visit his home at night. the motive can hardly have been assassination, but doubtless the chiefs were prepared to take rather strong measures to restrain mahomet, and this action finally decided the prophet that delay was dangerous. at this crisis in his fortunes he had two staunch helpers, who did not hesitate to risk their lives in his service, and with them he anticipated his foes. ali was chosen to represent his beloved master before the menaces of the kureisch. mahomet put him into his own bed and arrayed him in his sacred green mantle; then, as legend has it, taking a handful of dust, he recited the sura "ya sin," which he himself reverenced as "the heart of the kuran," and scattering the dust abroad, he called down confusion upon the heads of the unbelievers. with abu bekr he then fled swiftly and silently from the city and made his way unseen to the cave of thaur, a few miles outside its boundaries. around the cave of thaur cluster as many and as beautiful legends as surround the stable at bethlehem. the wild pigeons flew out and in unharmed, screening the prophet by their untroubled presence from the searchings of the kureisch, and a thorn tree spread her branches across the mouth of the cave supporting a spider's frail and glistening web, which was renewed whenever a friend visited the two prisoners to bring food and tidings. here mahomet and abu bekr, henceforward known as the "second of two," remained until the fierceness of the pursuit slackened. asma, abu bekr's daughter, brought them food at sundown, and what news she could glean from the rumours that were abroad, and from the lips of ali. there was very real danger of their surprise and capture, but once more mahomet's magnificent faith in god and his cause never wavered. abu bekr was afraid for his master: "we are but two, and if the kureisch find us unarmed, what chance have we?" "we are but two," replied mahomet, "but god is in the midst a third." he looked unflinchingly to allah for succour and protection, and his faith was justified. his thanksgiving is contained in the kuran: "god assisted your prophet formerly, when the unbelievers drove him forth in company with a second only; when they two were in the cave; when the prophet said to his companion, 'be not distressed; verily god is with us.' and god sent down his tranquillity upon him and strengthened him with hosts ye saw not, and made the word of those who believed not the abased, and the word of god was the exalted." at the end of three days the kureischite search abated, and that night mahomet and abu bekr decided to leave the cave. two camels were brought, and food loaded upon them by asma and her servants. the fastenings were not long enough to tie on the food wallet; wherefore asma tore her girdle in two and bound them round it, so that she is known to this day among the faithful as "she of two shreds." after a prayer to allah in thanks for their safety, mahomet and abu bekr mounted the camels and sallied forth to meet what unknown destiny should await them on the road to medina. they rapidly gained the sea-coast near asfan in comparative safety, secure from the attacks of the kureisch, who would not pursue their quarry so far into a strange country. the kureisch had indeed considerably abated their anger against mahomet. he was now safely out of their midst, and possibly they thought themselves well rid of a man whose only object, from their point of view, was to stir up strife, and they felt that any resentment against either himself or his kin would be unnecessary and not worth their pains. with remarkable tolerance for so revengeful an age, they left the families of mahomet and abu bekr quite free from molestation, nor did they offer any opposition to ali when they found he had successfully foiled them, and he made his way out of the city three days after his leader had quitted it. mahomet and abu bekr journeyed on, two pilgrims making their way, solitary but unappalled, to a strange city, whose temper and disposition they but faintly understood. but evidences as to its friendliness were not wanting, and these were renewed when abu bekr's cousin, a previous emigrant to medina, met them half-way and declared that the city waited in joy and expectation for the coming of its prophet. after some days they crossed the valley of akik in extreme heat, and came at last to coba, an outlying suburb at medina, where, weary and apprehensive, mahomet rested for a while, prudently desiring that his welcome at medina might be assured before he ventured into its confines. his entry into coba savoured of a triumphal procession; the people thronged around his camel shouting, "the prophet; he is come!" mingling their cries with homage and wondering awe, that the divine servant of whom they had heard so much should appear to them in so human a guise, a man among them, verily one of themselves. mahomet's camel stopped at the house of omm kolthum, and there he elected to abide during his stay in coba, for he possessed throughout his life a reverence for the instinct in animals that characterises the eastern races of all time. there, dismounting, he addressed the people, bidding them be of good cheer, and giving them thanks for their joyous welcome: "ye people, show your joy by giving your neighbours the salvation of peace; send portions to the poor; bind close the ties of kinship, and offer up your prayers whilst others sleep. thus shall ye enter paradise in peace." for four days mahomet dwelt in coba, where he had encountered unfailing support and friendship, and there was joined by ali. his memories of coba were always grateful, for at the outset of his doubtful and even dangerous enterprise he had received a good augury. before he set out to medina he laid the foundations of the mosque at coba, where the faithful would be enabled to pray according to their fashion, undisturbed and beneath the favour of allah, and decreed that friday was to be set apart as a special day of prayer, when addresses were to be given at the mosque and the doctrines of islam expounded. even as early as this mahomet felt the mantle of sovereignty descending upon him, for we hear now of the first of those ordinances or decrees by which in later times he rules the lives and actions of his subjects to the last detail. clearly he perceived himself a leader among men, who had it within his power to build up a community following his own dictates, which might by consolidation even rival those already existent in arabia. he was taking command of a weak and factious city, and he realised that in his hands lay its prosperity or downfall; he was, in fact, the arbiter of its fate and of the fate of his colleagues who had dared all with him. but he could not stay long in coba, while the final assay upon the medinans remained to be undertaken, and so we find him on the fourth day of his sojourn making preparations for the entry into the city. it was undertaken with some confidence of success from the messages already sent to coba, and proved as triumphal an entry as his former one. the populace awaited him in expectation and reverence, and hailed him as their prophet, the mighty leader who had come to their deliverance. they surrounded his camel al-caswa, and the camels of his followers, and when al-caswa stopped outside the house of abu ayub, mahomet once more received the beast's augury and sojourned there until the building of the mosque. as al-caswa entered the paved courtyard, mahomet dismounted to receive the allegiance of abu ayub and his household; then, turning to the people, he greeted them with words of good cheer and encouragement, and they responded with acclamations. for seven months the prophet lodged in the house of abu ayub, and he bought the yard where al-caswa halted as a token of his first entry into medina, and a remembrance in later years of his abiding place during the difficult time of his inception. the decisive step had been taken. the die was now cast. it was as if the little fleet of human souls had finally cast its moorings and ventured into the unpathed waters of temporal dominion under the command of one whose skill in pilotage was as yet unknown. many changes became necessary in the conduct of the enterprise, of which not the least was the change of attitude between the leader and his followers. mahomet, heretofore religious visionary and teacher, became the temporal head of a community, and in time the leader of a political state. the changed aspect of his mission can never be over-emphasised, for it altered the tenor of his thoughts and the progress of his words. all the poetry and fire informing the early pages of the kuran departs with his reception at medina, except for occasional flashes that illumine the chronicle of detailed ordinances that the book has now become. this apparent death of poetic energy had crept gradually over the kuran, helped on by the controversial character of the last two meccan periods, when he attempted the conciliation of the jewish element within arabia with that long-sightedness which already discerned medina as his possible refuge. in reality the whole energy of his nature was transmuted from his words to his actions and therein he found his fitting sphere, for he was essentially the doer, one whose works are the expression of his secret, whose personality, in fact, is only gauged by his deeds. as a result of his political leadership, the despotism of his nature, inherent in his conception of god, inevitably revealed itself; he had postulated a being who held mankind in the hollow of his hand, whose decrees were absolute among his subjects; now that he was to found an earthly kingdom under the guidance of allah, the majesty of divine despotism overshadowed its prophet, and enabled him to impose upon a willing people the same obedience to authority which fostered the military idea. we must perforce believe in mahomet's good faith. there is a tendency in modern times to think of him as a man who knowingly played upon the credulity of his followers to establish a sovereignty whereof he should be head. but no student of psychology can support this conception of the prophet of islam. there is a subtle _rapprochement_ between leader and people in all great movements that divines instinctively any imposture. mahomet used and moulded men by reason of his faith in his own creed. the establishment of the worship of allah brought in its train the aggrandisement of his prophet, but it was not achieved by profanation of the source whence his greatness came. mahomet is the last of those leaders who win both the religious devotion and the political trust of his followers. he wrought out his sovereignty perforce and created his own _milieu_; but more than all, he diffused around him the tradition of loyalty to one god and one state with sword for artificer, which outlived its creator through centuries of arabian prosperity. stone by slow stone his empire was built up, an edifice owing its contour to his complete grasp of detail and his dauntless energy. the last days at mecca had shown him a careful schemer, the early days at medina proved his capacity as leader and his skill in organisation and government. chapter ix the consolidation of power "the infidels, moreover, will say: thou art not sent of god. say: god is witness enough betwixt me and you, and whoever hath knowledge of the book."--_the kuran_. mahomet, now established at medina, at once began that careful planning of the lives of his followers and the ceaseless fostering of his own ideas within them that endeared him to the believers as leader and lord, and enabled him in time to prosecute his designs against his opponents with a confidence in their faith and loyalty. his grasp of detail was wonderful; without haste and without coercion he subdued the turbulent factions within medina, and his own perfervid followers to discipline as despotic as it was salutary; mahomet became what circumstances made him; by reason of his mighty gift of moulding those men and forces that came his way, he impressed his personality upon his age; but the material fashioning of his energy, the flower of his creative art, drew its formative sustenance from the soil of his surroundings. the time for admonition, with the voice of one crying in the wilderness, the time for praise and poesy, for the expression of that rapt immortal passion filling his mind as he contemplated god, all these were past, and had become but a lingering brightness upon the stormy urgency of his later life. now his flock demanded from him organisation, leadership, political and social prevision. therefore the full force of his nature is revealed to us not so much as heretofore in the kuran, but rather in his institutions and ordinances, his enmities and conciliations. he has become not only the prophet, but the lawgiver, the statesman, almost the king. his first act, after his establishment in the house of abu ayub, was the joining together in brotherhood of the muhajerim and ansar. these were two distinct entities within medina; the muhajerim (refugees) had either accompanied their master from mecca or had emigrated previously; the ansar (helpers) comprised all the converts to islam within the city itself. these parties were now joined in a close bond, each individual taking another of the opposite party into brotherhood with himself, to be accorded the rights and privileges of kinship. mahomet took as his brother ali, who became indeed not only his kinsman, but his military commander and chief of staff. the wisdom of this arrangement, which lasted about a year and a half--until, in fact, its usefulness was outworn by the union of both the medinan tribes under his leadership --was immediate and far-reaching. it enabled mahomet to keep a close surveillance over the medinan converts, who might possibly recant when they became aware of the hazards involved in partnership with the muslim. it also gave a coherence to the two parties and allowed the muhajerim some foothold in an alien city, not as yet unanimously friendly. and the muhajerim had need of all the kindliness and help they could obtain, for the first six months in medina were trying both to their health and endurance, so that many repented their venture and would have returned if the ansar had not come forward with ministrations and gifts, and also if their chances of reaching mecca alive had not been so precarious. the climate at medina is damp and variable. hot days alternate with cold nights, and in winter there is almost continuous rain. the meccans, used to the dry, hot days and nights of their native city, where but little rain fell, and even that became absorbed immediately in the parched ground, endured much discomfort, even pain, before becoming acclimatised. fever broke out amongst them, and it was some months before the epidemic was stayed with the primitive medical skill at their command. nevertheless, in spite of their weakness and the difficulties of their position, in these first seven months the mosque of mahomet was built legend says that the prophet himself took a share in the work, carrying stones and tools with the humblest of his followers, and we can well believe that he did not look on at the labour of his fellow-believers, and that his consuming zeal prompted him to forward, in whatever way was necessary, the work lying to his hand. the medinan mosque, built with fervent hearts and anxious prayers by the muslim and their leader, contains the embryo of all the later masterpieces of arabian architecture--that art unique and splendid, which developed with the islamic spirit until it culminated in the glorious temple at delhi, whose exponents have given to the world the palaces of southern spain, the mysterious, remote beauty of ancient granada. in its embryo minarets and domes, its slender arches and delicate traceries, it expressed the latent poetry in the heart of islam which the claims of allah and the fiercely jealous worship of him had hitherto obscured; for like jahweh of old, allah was an exacting spirit, who suffered no emotion but worship to be lord of his people's hearts. the mosque was square in design, made of stone and brick, and wrought with the best skill of which they were capable. the kibla, or direction of prayer, was towards jerusalem, symbolic of mahomet's desire to propitiate the jews, and finally to unite them with his own people in a community with himself as temporal head. opposite this was the bab rahmah, the gate of mercy, and general entrance to the holy place. ranged round the outer wall of the mosque were houses for the prophet's wives and daughters, little stone buildings, of two or three rooms, almost huts, where mahomet's household had its home--rockeya, his daughter, and othman, her husband; fatima and ali, sawda and ayesha, soon to be his girl-bride, and who even now showed exceeding loveliness and force of character. mahomet himself had no separate house, but dwelt with each of his wives in turn, favouring ayesha most, and as his harem increased a house was added for each wife, so that his entourage was continually near him and under his surveillance. on the north side the ground was open, and there the poorer followers of mahomet gathered, living upon the never-failing hospitality of the east and its ready generosity in the necessities of life. as soon as the mosque was built, organised religious life at medina came into being. a daily service was instituted in the mosque itself, and the heaven-sent command to prayer five times a day for every muslim was enforced. five times in every turn of the world allah receives his supplicatory incense; at dawn, at noon, in the afternoon, at sunset, and at night the muslim renders his due reverence and praise to the lord of his welfare, thanking allah, his supreme guide and votary, for the gift of the prophet, guide and protector of the faithful. lustration before prayer was instituted as symbolic of the believers' purification of heart before entering the presence of god, and provision for the ceremony made inside the mosque. the public service on friday, instituted at coba, was continued at medina, and consisted chiefly of a sermon given by mahomet from a pulpit, erected inside the mosque, whose sanctity was proverbial and unassailed. thus the seed was sown of a corporate religious life, the embryo from which the arabian military organisation, its polity, even its social system, were to spring. in spite of the increasing numbers of the ansar, there still remained a party in medina, "the disaffected," who had not as yet accepted the prophet or his creed. over these mahomet exercised a strict surveillance, in accordance with his conviction that a successful ruler leaves nothing to providence that he can discover and regulate for himself. "trust in god, but tie your camel." by this means, as well as by personal influence and exhortation, "disaffected" were controlled and ultimately converted into good muslim; for the more cautious of them--those who waited to see how events would shape--soon assured themselves of mahomet's capacity, and the weakly passive were caught in the swirl of enthusiasm surrounding the prophet that continually drew unto itself all conditions of men within its ever-widening circle. having organised his own followers, and secured their immunity from internal strife, mahomet was forced to turn his attention to the jewish element within his adopted city, and to decide swiftly his policy towards the three israelite tribes who comprised the wealthier and trading population of medina. from the first, mahomet's desires were in the direction of a federal union, wherein each party would follow his own faith and have control of his own tribal affairs and finances, save when the necessity of mutual protection against enemies called for a union of forces. again mahomet framed his policy upon the doctrine of opportunism. his ultimate aim was beyond doubt to unite both jews and medinans under his rule in a common religious and political bond, but he recognised the present impossibility of such action in view of the jews' greater stability and the weakness of his party within the city. his negotiations and conciliations with the jews offer one of the many examples of his supreme skill as a statesman. the jews themselves, taken almost unawares by the suddenness of mahomet's entry into their civic life, agreed to the treaty he proposed, and acquiesced unconsciously in his subtle attempts to merge the two faiths into a whole wherein islam would be the dominant factor. when mahomet made jerusalem his kibla, or direction of prayer, and emphasised the connection between jewish and arabian history, they suffered these advances, and agreed to a treaty which would have formed the foundations of a political and social convergence and ultimate absorption of their own nation. mahomet knew that federalism with the jews was a necessary step to his desired end, and therefore he drew up a treaty wherein mutual protection against outward enemies, as well as against internal sedition, was assured. hospitality was to be freely rendered and demanded, and neither party was to support an infidel against a believer. guarantees for mutual security were exchanged, and it was agreed that each should be free to worship in his own fashion. the treaty throws light upon the clan-system still obtaining in seventh-century arabia. the jews were their own masters in the ordering of their lives, as were the medinan tribes, even after many years of neighbourhood and frequent interchange of commerce and mutual assurances. the most significant political work achieved by mahomet, the planting of the federal, and later, the national idea in arabia in place of the tribal one, was thus inaugurated, and throughout the development of his political power it will be seen that the struggles between himself and the surrounding peoples virtually hinged upon the acceptance or rejection of it. the jews, with their narrow conception of the political unit, could acquiesce neither in federalism nor in union, and as soon as mahomet perceived their incapacity he became implacable, and either drove them forth or compelled their submission by terror and slaughter. but for the present his policy and prudence dictated compromise, and he was strong enough to achieve his will. the political and social problems of his embryo state had found temporary solution, and mahomet was free to turn his attention to external foes. in his attitude towards those who had persecuted him he evinced more than ever his determination to build up not only a religious society, but a powerful temporal state. the meccans would have been content to leave matters as they stood, and were quite prepared to let mahomet establish his power at medina unmolested, provided they were given like immunity from attacks. but from the beginning other plans filled the prophet's thoughts, and though revenge for his privations was declared to be the instigator of his attacks on the kureisch trade, the determining motive must be looked for much more deeply. the great project of the harassment and final overthrow of the kureisch was dimly foreshadowed in mahomet's mind, and he became ever more deeply aware of the part that must be played therein by the sword. as yet he hesitated to acclaim war as the supreme arbiter in his own and his followers' destinies, for the valour of his levies and the skill of his leaders was unproved. the forays undertaken before the battle of bedr are really nothing more than essays by the muslim in the game of war, and it was not until proof of their power against the kureisch had been given that mahomet gave up his future policy into the keeping of that bright disastrous deity that lures all sons of men. in a measure it was true that the clash between mahomet and the kureisch was unavoidable, but that it loomed so large upon the horizon of medina's policy is due to the prophet's determination to strike immediately at the wealth and security of his rival. lust for plunder, too, added its weight to mahomet's reprisals against mecca; even if that city was content to leave him in peace, still the kureischite caravans to bostra and syria, passing so near to medina, were too tempting to be ignored. along these age-old routes meccan merchandise still travelled its devious way, at the mercy of sun and desert storms and the unheeding fierceness of that cataclysmic country, a prey to any marauding tribes, and dependent for its existence upon the strength of its escort. and since plunder is sweeter than labour, every chief with swift riders and good spearmen hoped to gain his riches at meccan expense. but their attempts were for the most part abortive, chiefly because of the lack of cohesion and generalship; until mahomet none really constituted a serious menace to the kureischite wealth. in muharram (april) the hegira took place, and six months sufficed mahomet to establish his power securely enough to be able to send out his first expedition against the kureisch in ramadan (december) of the same year. the party was led by hamza, whose soldier qualities were only at the beginning of their development, and probably consisted of a few muslim horsemen on their beautiful swift mounts and one or two spearmen, and possibly several warriors skilled in the use of arrows. they sallied forth from medina and went to meet the caravan as it prepared to pass by their town. the kureisch had placed abu jahl in command--a man whose invincible hatred for islam and the prophet had manifested itself in the persecution at mecca, and whose hostility increased as the muslim power advanced. the caravan was guarded, but none too strongly, and hamza's troop pursued and had almost attacked it when a bedouin chief of the desert more powerful than either party interposed and compelled the muslim to withdraw, while he forbade abu jahl to pursue them or attempt revenge. so the caravan continued its way unmolested into syria and there exchanged its gums, leather, and frankincense for the silks and precious metals, the fine stuffs and luxurious draperies which made the syrian markets a vivid medley of sheen and gloss, stored with bright colours and burnished surfaces shimmering in the hot radiance of the east. in jan. the caravan set out homeward "on its lone journey o'er the desert," and again the muslim sent out an attacking party in the hope of securing this larger prize. but the kureisch were wise and had provided themselves with a stronger escort before which the muslim could do nothing but retreat--not, however, before they had sent a few tentative arrows at the cavalcade. obeida, their leader and a cousin of mahomet, gave the command to shoot, and is renowned henceforth as "he who shot the first arrow for islam." after a month another essay was made upon a northward-bound caravan by sa'd, again without success, for he had miscalculated dates and missed his quarry by some days. each leader on his return to medina was received with honour by mahomet as one who had shown his prowess in the cause of isalm and presented with a white banner. so far the prophet himself had not taken the field; now, however, in the summer and autumn of , in spite of signs that all was not well with the jewish alliance at home, mahomet took the field in person and conducted three larger but still unsuccessful expeditions; the last attacking levy of october consisted of men, but even then mahomet was able to effect nothing against the kureischite escort. the attempted raid had nevertheless an important outcome, for by this exhibition of strength mahomet succeeded in convincing a neighboring desert tribe, hitherto friendly to mecca, of the advisability of seeking alliance with the muslim. the treaty between mahomet and the bedouin tribe marks the beginning of a significant development in his foreign polity. like the romans, and all military nations, he knew the worth of making advantageous alliances, while he was clear-sighted enough to realise that the struggle with mecca was inevitable. during the months preceding the battle of bedr he concluded several treaties with desert tribes, and it is to this policy he owes in part his power to maintain his aggressive attitude towards the kureisch, for with the alliance of the tribes around the caravan routes mahomet could be sure of hampering the meccan trade. while the prophet was in the field he left representatives to care for the affairs of his city. these representatives were designated by him, and were always members of his personal following. ali and abu bekr were most often chosen until all proved his worth as a warrior, and so usually accompanied or commanded the expeditionary force. the representatives held their authority direct from mahomet, and had in all matters the identical power of the prophet during his absence. it speaks well for the loyalty and acumen of these ministers that mahomet was enabled to leave the city so often and so confidently, and that the government continued as if under his personal supervision. whether the jews were overbold because of mahomet's frequent absences, or whether they now became conscious of the trend of mahomet's policy towards the absorption of the jewish element within the city into islam, will never be made clear, beyond the fact that the jewish tribes were not enthusiastic in their union with the muslim, and that their national character precluded them from accepting an alliance that threatened the autonomy of their religion. it is, however, certain that the discontent of the jews voiced itself more and more loudly as the year advanced. the suras of the period are full of revilings and threats against them, and form a greater contrast coming after the later meccan suras wherein israel was honoured and its heroes held up as examples. a few jews had been won over to his cause, but the mass showed themselves either hostile or indifferent to the federal idea. as yet no definite sundering of relationships had occurred, but everything pointed to a speedy dissolution of the treaty unless one side or the other moderated its views. the autumn of saw mahomet fully established in medina. he had made his worth known by his energy and organising power, by his devotion to allah and his zeal for the faith he had founded. the medinans regarded him already as their natural leader, and he had definitely adopted their city as his headquarters. through his skill as a statesman and his loyalty to an idea he wrought out, the foundations of his future state, and if the latter months of saw him not yet strong enough to overcome the meccans, at least he was so firmly established that he could afford to dispense with any overtures to the increasingly hostile jews, and he had gained sufficient adherents to allow him to contemplate with equanimity the prospect of a sharp and prolonged struggle with the kureisch. chapter x the secession of the jews _"even though thou shouldst bring every kind of sign to those who have received the scriptures, yet thy kibla they will not adopt; nor shalt thou adopt their kibla; nor will one part of them adopt the kibla of the other."--the kuran_. mahomet realised the position of affairs at medina too acutely to allow of his undertaking in person any predatory expeditions against the kureisch during the autumn and winter of . the jews were chafing under his tacit assumption of state control, and although their murmurings had not reached the recklessness of strife, still both their leaders and the muslim perceived that their disaffection was inevitable. insecurity at home, however, did not prevent him from sending out an expedition in rajab (october) of that year under abdallah. rajab is a sacred month in the mohamedan calendar, one in which war is forbidden. strictly, therefore, in sending out an expedition at all just then mahomet was transgressing against the laws of that religion which, purged of its idolatries, he claimed as his own. but it was a favourable opportunity to attack the kureischite caravan on its way to taif, and therefore mahomet recked nothing of the prohibition. taif was a very distant objective for an expeditionary band from medina, and that mahomet contemplated attack upon his enemy by a company so far removed from its base is convincing proof, should any be needed, of his confidence in his followers' prowess and his conciliation of the tribes lying between the two hostile cities. sealed orders were given to abdallah, with instructions not to open the parchment until he was two days south of medina. at sunset on the second day he came with his eight followers to a well in the midst of the desert. there under the few date palms, which gave them rough shelter, he broke the seal and read: "when thou readest this writing depart unto nakhla, between taif and mecca; there lie in wait for the kureisch, and bring thy comrades news concerning them." as abdallah read his mind alternated between apprehension and daring, and turning to his companions he took counsel of them. "mahomet has commanded me to go to nakhla and there await the kureisch; also he has commanded me to say unto you whoever desireth martyrdom for islam let him follow me, and whoever will not suffer it, let him turn back. as for me, i am resolved to carry out the commands of god's prophet" then one and all the eight companions assured him they would not forsake him until the quest was achieved. at dawn they resumed their march and arrived at length at nakhla, where they encountered the kureisch caravan laden with spice and leather. now, it was the last day of the month of rajab, wherein it was unlawful to fight, wherefore the muslim took counsel, saying: "if we fight not this day, they will elude us and escape." but the prophet's implied command was strong enough to induce initiative and hardihood in the small attacking party. they bore down upon the kureisch, showering arrows in their path, so that one man was killed and several wounded. the rest forsook their merchandise and fled, leaving behind them two prisoners, whose retreat had been cut off. abdallah was left in possession of the field, and joyfully he returned to medina, bearing with him the first plunder captured by the muslim. but his return led mahomet into a quandary from which there seemed no escape. politically, he was bound to approve abdallah's deed; religiously, he could neither laud it nor share the fruits of it. for days the spoils remained undivided, but abdallah was not punished or even reprimanded. meanwhile, the jews and the kureisch vied with one another in execrating mahomet, and even his own people murmured against him. it was clearly time that an authoritative sanction should be given to the deed, and accordingly in the sura, "the cow," we have the revelation from allah proclaiming the greater culpability of the infidels and of those who would stir up civil strife: "they will ask thee concerning war in the sacred month. say: to war therein is bad, but to turn aside from the cause of god, and to have no faith in him, and in the sacred temple, and to drive out its people, is worse in the sight of god; civil strife is worse than bloodshed." no possible doubt must be cast in this and similar cases upon mahomet's sincerity. the kuran was the vehicle of the lord; he had used it to proclaim his unity and power and his warnings to the unrighteous. now that islam had recognised his august and indissoluble majesty, and had accorded the throne of heaven and the governance of earth to him indivisibly, the world was split up into believers and unbelievers. the kuran, therefore, must of necessity cease to be merely the proclamation of divine unity that it had been and become the vehicle for definite orders and regulations, the outcome of those theocratic ideas upon which mahomet's creed was founded. the justification would not appeal to the people unless allah's sanction supported it, and mahomet realised with all his ardour of faith that the transgression was slight compared with the result achieved towards the progress of islam. the prophet therefore received, with allah's approval, a fifth of the spoil, but the captives he released after receiving ransom. "this," says the historian, "was the first booty that mahomet obtained, the first captives they seized, and the first life they took." the significance of the event was vividly felt throughout islam, and abdallah, its hero, received at mahomet's hands the title of "amir-al- momirim," commander of the faithful--a title which recalls inseparably the cruelty and magnificence, the glamour and rapacity, of arabian bagdad under haroun-al-raschid. the valorous enterprise had now been achieved, the kureisch caravan was despoiled, and the kureisch themselves wrought into fury against the prophet's insolence; but more than all, the channel of mahomet's policy of warfare became thereby so deeply carved that he could not have effaced it had he desired. henceforth his creative genius limited itself to the deepening of its course and the direction of its outlet. the jews had not rested content with murmuring against mahomet's rule, they sought to embarrass him by active sedition. one of their first attempts against mahomet's regime was to stir up strife between the refugees and helpers. in this they would have been successful but for mahomet's efficient system of espionage, a method upon which he relied throughout his life. failing to foment a rebellion in secret they proceeded to open hostilities, and the muslim, jealous for their faith, retaliated by contempt and estrangement. during the winter of personal attack was made by the mob upon mahomet. the people were hounded on by their leaders to stone the prophet, but he was warned in time and escaped their assaults. the popular fury was merely the reflex of a fundamental division of thought between the opposing parties. the jewish and muslim systems could never coalesce, for each claimed the dominance and ignored all compromise. the age-long, hallowed traditions of the jews which supported a theocracy as unyielding as any conception of divine sovereignty preached by mahomet, found themselves faced with a new creative force rapidly evolving its own legends, and strong enough in its enthusiasm to overwhelm their own. the rabbis felt that mahomet and his warrior heroes--ali, omar, othman, and the rest--would in time dislodge from their high places their own peculiar saints, just as they saw mahomet with abu bekr and his personnel of administrators and informers already overriding their own councillors in the civil and military departments of their state. the old regime could not amalgamate with the new, for that would mean absorption by its more vigorous neighbour, and the jewish spirit is exclusive in essence and separatist perforce. mahomet took no pains to conciliate his allies; they had made a treaty with him in the days of his insecurity and he was grateful, but now his position in medina was beyond assailment, and he was indifferent to their goodwill. as their aggression increased he deliberately withdrew his participation in their religious life, and severed his connection with their rites and ordinances. the kibla of the muslim, whither at every prayer they turned their faces, and which he had declared to be the temple at jerusalem, scene of his embarkation upon the wondrous "midnight journey," was now changed to the kaaba at mecca. what prevision or prophetic inspiration prompted mahomet to turn his followers' eyes away from the north and fix them upon their former home with its fierce and ruthless heat, the materialisation, it seemed, of his own inexorable and passionate aims? henceforth mecca became unconsciously the goal of every muslim, the desired city, to be fought for and died for, the dwelling-place of their prophet, the crown of their faith. the jewish fast of atonement, which plays so important a part in semite faith and doctrine, had been made part of the muslim ritual in , while a federal union still seemed possible, but the next year such an amalgamation could not take place. in ramadan (dec. to january), therefore, mahomet instituted a separate fast for the faithful. it was to extend throughout the sacred month in which the kuran had first been sent down to men. its sanctity became henceforth a potent reminder for the muslim of his special duties towards allah, of the reverence meet to be accorded to the divine upholder of islam. during all the days of ramadan, no food or drink might pass a muslim lip, nor might he touch a woman, but the moment the sun's rim dipped below the horizon he was absolved from the fast until dawn. no institution in islam is so peculiarly sacred as ramadan, and none so scrupulously observed, even when, by the revolution of the lunar year, the fast falls during the bitter heat of summer. it is a characteristic ordinance, and one which emphasises the vivid muslim apprehension of the part played by abstention in their religious code. at the end of the fast--that is, upon the sight of the next new moon--mahomet proclaimed a festival, eed-al-fitr, which was to take the place of the great jewish ceremony of rejoicing. at this time, too, mahomet, evidently bent on consolidating his religious observances and regulating their conduct, decreed a fresh institution, with parallels in no religion--the adzan, or call to prayer. mahomet wished to summon the believers to the mosque, and there was no way except to ring a bell such as the christians use, which rite was displeasing to the faithful. indeed, mahomet is reported later to have said, "the bell is the devil's musical instrument." but abdallah, a man of profound faith and love for islam, received thereafter a vision wherein a "spirit, in the guise of man, clad in green garments," appeared to him and summoned him to call the believers to prayer from the mosque at every time set apart for devotion. "call ye four times 'god is great,' and then, 'i bear witness that there is no god but god, and mahomet is his prophet. come unto prayer, come unto salvation. god is great; there is no god but him.'" "a true vision," declared mahomet. "go and teach it to bilal, that he may call to prayer, for he has a better voice than thou." when bilal, a slave, received the command, he went up to the mosque, and climbing its highest minaret, he cried aloud his summons, adding at each dawn: "prayer is better than sleep, prayer is better than sleep." and when omar heard the call, he went to mahomet and declared that he had the previous night received the same vision. and mahomet answered him, "praise be to allah!" therewith was inaugurated the most characteristic observance in islam, the one which impresses itself very strongly upon the western traveller as he hears in the dimness of every dawning, before the sun's edge is seen in the east, the voices of the muezzin from each mosque in the city proclaiming their changeless message, their insistent command to prayer and praise. he sees the city leap into magical life, the dark figures of the muslim hurrying to the holy place that lies shimmering in the golden light of early day, and knows that, behind this outward manifestation, lies a faith, at root incomprehensible by reason of its aloofness from the advancing streams of modern thought, a faith spiritually impotent, since it flees from mysticism, generating an energy which has expended its vital force in conquest, only to find itself too intellectually backward and physically sluggish to gather in prosperity the fruits of its attainments. its lack of imagination, its utter ignorance of the lure of what is strange, have been responsible for its achievement of stupendous tasks, for the driving energy behind was never appalled by anticipation, nor checked by any realisation of coming stress and terror. and the same qualities that led the muslim to world-conquest thereafter caused their downfall, for their minds could not visualise that world of imagination necessary for any creative science, while they were not attuned in intellect for the reception of such generative ideas as have contributed to the philosophic and speculative development of the western world. all the characteristics which distinguish islam to the making and the blasting of its fortunes may be found in embryo in the small medinan community; for their leader, by his own creative ardour, imposed upon his flock every idea which shaped the form and content of its future career from its rising even to its zenith and decline. chapter xi the battle of bedr _"they plotted, but god plotted, and of plotters is god the best."--the koran_. mahomet's star, now continually upon the ascendant, flamed into sudden glory in ramadan of the second year of the hegira. its brilliance and the bewilderment caused by its triumphant continuance is reflected in all the chronicles and legends clustered around that period. if nakhlu had been an achievement worthy of god's emissary, the victory which followed it was an irrefutable argument in favour of mahomet's divinely ordained rulership of the arabian peoples. it appeared to the muslim, and even to contemporary hostile tribes, nothing less than a stupendous proof of their championship by god. muslim poets and historians are never weary of expatiating upon the glories achieved by their tiny community with little but abiding zeal and supreme faith with which to confound their foes. no military event in the life of the prophet called forth such rejoicings from his own lips as the triumph at bedr: "o ye meccans, if ye desired a decision, now hath the decision come to you. it will be better for you if ye give over the struggle. if ye return to it, we will return, and your forces, though they be many, shall never avail you aught, for god is with the faithful." through the whole of sura viii the strain of exultation runs, the presentment in dull words of fierce and splendid courage wrought out into victory in the midst of the storms and lightnings of heaven. such an earth-shaking event, the effects of which reached far beyond its immediate environment, received fitting treatment at the hands of all arabian chronicles, so that we are enabled to reconstruct the events preceding the battle itself, its action and result, with a vivid completeness that is often denied us in the lesser events. the caravan under abu sofian, about thirty or forty strong, which had eluded mahomet and reached syria, was now due to return to mecca with its bartered merchandise. mahomet was determined that this time it should not escape, and that he would exact from it full penalty of the vengeance he owed the meccans for his insults and final expulsion from their city. as soon as the time for its approach drew nigh, mahomet sent two scouts to hama, north of medina, who were to bring tidings to him the moment they caught sight of its advancing dust. but abu sofian had been warned of mahomet's activity and turned off swiftly to the coast, keeping the seaward route, while he sent a messenger to mecca with the news that an attack by the muslim was meditated. dhamdham, sent by his anxious leader, arrived in the city after three days' journey in desperate haste across the desert, and flung himself from his camel before the kaaba. there he beat the camel to its knees, cut off its ears and nose, and put the saddle hind foremost. then, rending his garments, he cried with a loud voice: "help, o kureisch, your caravan is pursued by mahomet!" with one accord the meccan warriors, angered by the news that spread wildly among the populace, assembled before their holy place and swore a great oath that they would uphold their dignity and avenge their loss upon the upstart followers of a demented leader. every man who could bear arms prepared in haste for the expedition, and those who could not fight found young men as their representatives. in the midst of all the tumult and eager resolutions to exterminate the muslim, so runs the tale, there were few who would listen to atikah, the daughter of abd-al-muttalib. "i have dreamed three nights ago, that the kureisch will be called to arms in three days and will perish. behold the fulfilment of my dream! woe to the kureisch, for their slaughter is foretold!" but she was treated as of no account, a woman and frail, and the army set out upon its expedition in all the bravery of that pomp-loving nation. with abu jahl at its head, and accompanied by slave girls with lutes and tabrets, who were to gladden the eyes and minister to the pleasure of its warriors, the kureisch army moved on through the desert towards its destined goal; but we are told by a recorder, "dreams of disaster accompanied it, nor was its sleep tranquil for the evil portents that appeared therein." thus, apprehensive but dauntless, the meccan army advanced to safra, one day's march from bedr, where it encountered messengers from abu sofian, who announced that the caravan had eluded the muslim and was safe. then arose a debate among the kureisch as to their next course. many desired to return to mecca, deeming their purpose accomplished now that the caravan was secure from attack, but the bolder amongst them were anxious to advance, and the more deliberative favoured this also, because by so doing they might hope to overawe mahomet into quietude. but before all there was the safety of their homes to consider, and they were fearful lest an attack by a hostile tribe, the beni bekr, might be made upon mecca in the absence of its fighting men. upon receiving assurances of good faith from a tribe friendly to both, they dismissed that fear and resolved to advance, so that they might compel mahomet to abandon his attacks upon their merchandise. this proceeding seemed a reasonable and politic measure, until it was viewed in the light of its consequences, and indeed, judging from ordinary calculation, such a host could have no other effect than a complete rout upon such a small and inefficient band as mahomet's followers. therefore, in estimating, if they did at all carefully, the forces matched against them, the kureisch found themselves materially invincible, though they had not reckoned the spiritual factor of enthusiasm which transcended their own physical superiority. these events had taken over nine days, and meanwhile mahomet had not been idle. his two spies had brought news of the approach of the caravan, but beyond that meagre information he knew nothing. the kureischite activity thereafter was swallowed up in the vastnesses of the desert, which drew a curtain as effective as death around the opposing armies. but news of the caravan's advance was sufficient for the prophet. with the greatest possible speed he collected his army--not, we are told, without some opposition from the fearful among the medinan population, who were anxious to avoid any act which might bring down upon them the ruthless meccan hosts. legend has counted as her own this gathering together of the muslim before bedr, and translating the engendered enthusiasm into imaginative fact, has woven a pattern of barbaric colours, wherein deeds are transformed by the spirit which prompts them. the heroes panted for martyrdom, and each craved to be among the first to pour forth his blood in the sacred cause. they crowded to battle on camels and on foot. abu bekr in his zeal walked every step of the way, which he regarded as the road to supreme benediction. mahomet himself led his valorous band, mounted on a camel with ali by his side, having before him two black flags borne by standard-bearers whose strength and bravery were the envy of the rest. he possessed only seventy camels and two horses, and the riders were chosen by lot. behind marched or rode the flower of islam's warriors and statesmen--abu bekr, omar, hamza, and zeid, whose names already resounded through islam for valiant deeds; abdallah, with mahomet's chosen leaders of expeditions; the rank and file, three hundred strong, regardless of what perils might overtake them, intent on plunder and the upholding of their vigorous faith, sallied forth from medina as soon as they could be equipped, and took the direct road to mecca. on reaching safra, for reasons we are not told, they turned west to bedr, a halting-place on the syrian road, possibly hoping to catch the caravan on its journey westwards towards the sea. but abu sofian was too quick for them. mahomet's scouts had only reached bedr, reconnoitered and retired, when abu sofian approached the well within its precincts and demanded of a man belonging to a neighbouring tribe if there were strangers in the vicinity. "i have seen none but two men, o chief," he replied; "they came to the well to water their camels." but he had been bribed by mahomet, and knew well they were muslim. abu sofian was silent, and looked around him carefully. suddenly he started up as he caught sight of their camels' litter, wherein were visible the small date stones peculiar to medinan palms. "camels from yathreb!" he cried quickly; "these be the scouts of mahomet." then he gathered his company together and departed hastily towards the sea. he despatched a messenger to mecca to tell of the caravan's safety, and a little later heard with joy of his countrymen's progress to oppose mahomet. "doth mahomet indeed imagine that it will be this time as in the affair of the hadramate (slain at nakhla)? never! he shall know that it is otherwise!" but the army that caused such joy to abu sofian created nothing but apprehension in mahomet's camp. he knew the caravan had eluded him, and now there was a greater force more than three times his own advancing on him. hurriedly he convened a council of war, whereat his whole following urged an immediate advance. the excitement had now fully captured their tumultuous souls, and there was more danger for mahomet in a retreat than in an attack. an immediate advance was therefore decided upon, and mahomet sent ali, on the day before the battle, to reconnoitre, as they were nearing bedr. the same journey which told abu sofian of the presence of the muslim also resulted for them in the capture of three water-carriers by ali, who dragged them before mahomet, where they were compelled to give the information he wanted, and from them he learned the disposition and strength of the enemy. the valley of bedr is a plain, with hills flanking it to the north and east. on the west are small sandy hillocks which render progress difficult, especially if the ground is at all damp from recent rains. through this shallow valley runs the little stream, having at its south-western extremity the springs and wells which give the place its importance as a halting stage. command of the wells was of the highest importance, but as yet neither army had obtained it, for the muslim had not taken up their final position, and the kureisch were hemmed in by the sandy ground in front of them. the wretched water-carriers being brought before mahomet at first declared they knew nothing, but after some time confessed they were abu jahl's servants. "and where is the abiding place of abu jahl?" "beyond the sand-hills to the east." "and how many of his countrymen abide with him?" "they are numerous; i cannot tell; they are as numerous as leaves." "on one day nine, the next ten." "then they number men," exclaimed the prophet to ali; "take the men away." mahomet now called a council of generals, and it was decided to advance up the valley to the farther side of the wells, so as to secure the water-supply, and destroy all except the one they themselves needed. this manoeuvre was carried out successfully, and the muslim army encamped opposite the kureisch, at the foot of the western hills and separated from their adversaries by the low sandy hillocks in front of them. a rough hut of palm branches was built for mahomet whence he could direct the battle, and where he could retire for counsel with abu bekr, and for prayer. both sides had now made their dispositions, and there remained nothing but to wait till daybreak. that night the rain descended upon the doomed kureisch like the spears of the lord, whelming their sandy soil and churning up the rising ground in front of the troops into a quagmire of bottomless mud. the clouds were tempered towards the higher muslim position, and the water drained off the hilly land. "see, the lord is with us; he has sent his heavy rain upon our enemies," declared mahomet, looking from his hut in the early dawn, weary with anxiety for the issue of this fateful hour, but strong in faith and confident in the favour of allah. then he retired to the hut for prayer and contemplation. "o allah, forget not thy promise! o lord, if this little band be vanquished idolatry will prevail and thy pure worship cease from off the earth." he set himself to the encouragement and instruction of his troops. he had no cavalry with which to cover an advance, and he therefore ordered his troops to remain firm and await the oncoming rush until the word to charge was given. but on no account were they to lose command of the wells. drawn up in several lines, their champions in front and mahomet with abu bekr to direct them from the rear, the little troop of muslim awaited the onslaught of their greater foes. but dissent had broken out among the kureisch generals. obi, one of their best warriors, perhaps feeling the confident carelessness of the kureisch was misplaced, wanted to go back without attacking. he was overruled after much discussion and some bad feeling by abu jahl, who declared that if they refrained from attack now all the land would ring with their cowardice. so a general advance was ordered, and the kureisch champions led the way. the battle began, as most battles of primitive times, by a series of single combats, one champion challenging another to fight. the glory of being the first muslim to kill a meccan in this encounter fell to hamza. aswad of the kureisch swore to drink of the water of those wells guarded by the muslim. hamza opposed, and his first sword stroke severed the leg of aswad; but he, undaunted, crawled on until at the fountain he was slain by hamza before its waters passed his lips. now three champions of the kureisch came forward to challenge three muslim of equal birth. hamza, ali, and obeida answered the charge, and in front of the opposing ranks three homeric conflicts raged. hamza, the lion of god, and ali, the sword of the faith, quickly overcame their opponents, but obeida was wounded before he could spear his man. the sight gave courage to the kureisch, and now the main body of them pressed on, seeking to overwhelm the muslim by sheer weight. the heavy ground impeded their movements, and they came on slowly with what anxious expectation on the part of mahomet's soldiers, whom their prophet had commanded to await his signal. when the kureisch were near enough mahomet lifted his hand: "ya mansur amit!" (ye conquerors, strike!) he cried, pointing with outstretched finger at the close ranks bearing down upon them; "paradise awaits him who lays down his life for islam." the muslim with a wild cry dashed forward against their foe. but the kureisch were brave and they were numerous, and the muslim were few and almost untutored. the battle raged, surging like foam within the narrow valley; its waves now roaring almost up to the prophet's vantage ground, now retreating in eddies towards the rear of the kureisch, under a lowering sky, whose wind-swept clouds seemed to reflect the strife in the heavens. "behold gabriel with a thousand angels charging down upon the infidels!" cried mahomet, as a blast of wind tore shrieking down the valley. "see muhail and seraphil with their troops rush to the help of god's chosen." then as the muslim seemed to waver, pressed back by the mass of their enemies, he appeared in their midst, and, taking a handful of dust, cast it in the face of the foe: "let their faces be confounded!" the muslim, caught by the magnetism of mahomet's presence, seized by the immortal energy which radiated from him, rallied their strength. with a shout they bore down upon the kureisch, who wavered and broke beneath this inspired onrush, within whose vigour dwelt all mahomet's surcharged ambition and indomitable aims. he commanded the attack to be followed up at once, and the kureisch, hampered in their retreat by the marshy ground, fell in confusion, their ranks shattered, their champions crushed in the welter of spears and horsemen, swords, armour, sand, blood, and the bodies of men. the order went forth from mahomet to spare as much as possible his own house of hashim, but otherwise the slaughter was as remorseless as the temper of the muslim ensured. of the prophet's army, so tell the chronicles, only fourteen were killed, but of the kureisch the dead numbered forty-nine, with a like haul of prisoners. abu jahl was among those sorely wounded; but when abdallah saw him lying helpless, he recognised him, and slew him without a word. then having cut off his head, he brought the prize to mahomet. "it is the head of god's enemy," cried the prophet as he gazed on it in exaltation; "it is more acceptable to me than the choicest camel in all arabia." the broken remnants of the kureisch army journeyed slowly back to mecca through the same desert that had seen all the bravery and splendour of their advance, and the news of their terrible fate preceded them. all the city was draped in cloths of mourning, for there was no distinguished house that did not bewail its dead. one alone did not weep--hind, wife of abu sofian, went forth to meet her husband. "what doest thou with unrent garments? knowest thou not the affliction that hath fallen on this thy city?" "i will not weep," replied hind, "until this wrong has been avenged. when thou hast gone forth, hast conquered this accursed, then will i mourn for those who are slain this day. nay, my lord, i will not deck myself, nor perfume my hair, nor come near thy couch until i see the avenging of this humiliation." then abu sofian swore a great oath that he would immediately collect men and take the field once more against islam. there remained now for the victors but the distribution of the spoil and the decision of the fate of the prisoners. the less valuable of these were put to death, their bodies cast into a pit, but the muslim took the rest with them, hoping for ransom. the spoil was taken up in haste, and the prophet repaired joyfully to safra, where he proposed to divide it. but there contention arose, as was almost inevitable, over the distribution of the wealth, and so acute did the disaffection become that mahomet revealed the will of allah concerning it: "and know ye, when ye have taken any booty, a fifth part belongeth to god and to the apostle, and to the near of kin and to orphans and to the poor, and to the wayfarer, if ye believe in god, and in that which we have sent down to our servant on the day of the victory, the day of the meeting of the hosts." as part of his due, mahomet took the famous sword dhul ficar, which has gathered around it as many legends as the weapons of classical heroes, and which hereafter never left him whenever he took command of his followers in battle. so the muslim, flushed with victory, laden with spoil, returned to medina, whose entire population assembled to accord them triumphal entry. "abu jahl, the sinner, is slain," cried the little children, catching the phrase from their parents' lips. "abu jahl, the sinner, is slain, and the foes of islam laid low!" was cried from the mosque and market-place, from minaret and house-top. "allah akbar islam!" the great testing day had come and was past. in open fight, before a host of their foes, the muslim with smaller numbers had prevailed. the effect upon medina and upon mahomet's later career cannot be overestimated. it was indeed a turning point, whence mahomet proceeded irrevocably upon the road to success and fame. reverses hereafter he certainly had, and at times the outlook was almost insuperably dark, but no misfortune or gloom could dull the splendour of that day at bedr, when besides his own slender following, the hosts of the lord, whose turbans glowed like crowns, led by gabriel in golden armour, had fought for him and vanquished his foes. the glory of this battle was the lamp by which he planned his future wins. at medina the disaffected were triumphantly gathered beneath his banner; his position became, for the time at least, established. no longer did he need to conciliate, flatter, spy upon the various factions within his walls. his prisoners were kindly treated, and some converted by these means to the faith he had vainly sought to impose upon them. affairs within the city were organised and consolidated. registers were prepared, the famous "registers of omar," which were to contain the names of all those who had given distinguished service to the cause of allah, and to confer upon them exalted rank. the three hundred names inscribed therein were the embryo of a muslim aristocracy, constituting, in fact, a peerage of islam. mahomet's religious ordinances were strengthened and confirmed, while his faith received that homage paid to success which had raised its founder from the commander of a small hand of religionists to the chief of a prosperous city, the leader of an efficient army, the head of a community which held within itself the future dominion of arabia, of western asia, southern europe, in fact, the greater part of the middle world. more than ever mahomet perceived that his success lay in the sword. bedr set the seal upon his acceptance of warfare as a means of propaganda. henceforth the sword becomes to him the bright but awful instrument through which the will of allah is achieved. in the measure that he trusted its power and confided to it his own destiny and that of his followers, so did war exact of him its ceaseless penalty, urging him on continually, through motives of policy and self-defence, until he became its slave, compelled to continue along the path appointed him, or perish by that very instrument by which his power had been wrought. henceforward his activities consist chiefly of wars aggressive and defensive, while the religion actuating them receives slighter notice, because the main thesis has been established in his own state and requires the force of arms to obtain its supremacy over alien races. after bedr, the poet and prophet becomes the administrator and prophet. the quietude and meditation of the meccan hill-slopes are exchanged for the council-chamber and the battlefield, and appear upon the background of his anxious life with the glamour and aloofness of a dream-country; the inevitable turmoil and preoccupation which accompanies the direction of affairs took hold upon his life. the fervour of his nature, its remorseless activity, compelled him to legislate for his followers with that minute attention to detail almost inconceivable to the modern mind with its conceptions of the various "departments" of state. we see him mainly through tradition, but also to a great extent in the kuran directing the humblest details in the lives of the muslim, organising their ritual, regulating their commerce, their usury laws, their personal cleanliness, their dietary, their social and moral relations. regarding the multifarious duties and cares of his growing state, its almost complete helplessness in its hands, for he alone was its guiding force, it is the clearest testimony to his vital energy, his strength and sanity of brain, that he was not overwhelmed by them, and that the creative side of his nature was not crushed beyond recovery; although confronted by the clamorous demands of government and warfare, these could not touch his spiritual enthusiasm nor his glowing and changeless devotion to allah and his cause. at the end of his long years of rule he could still say with perfect truth, "my chief delight is in prayer." chapter xii the jews at medina "and if the people of the book had believed, it had surely been better for them: believers there are among them, but most of them are perverse." --_the kuran_. the songs of triumph over bedr had scarcely left the lips of muslim poets when the voice of faction was heard again in medina. the jews, that "stiff-necked nation," unimpressed by mahomet's triumph, careful only of its probable effect on their own position, which effect they could not but regard as disastrous, seeing that it augured their own submission to a superior power, murmured against his success, and tried their utmost to sow dissension by the publication of contemptuous songs through the mouths of their poets and prophetesses. not only did the jews murmur in secret against him, but they tried hard to induce members of the original medinan tribes to join with them in a desperate effort to throw off the muslim yoke. chief among these defamers of mahomet's prestige was asma, a prophetess of the tribe of beni aus. she published abroad several libellous songs upon mahomet, but was quickly silenced by omeir, a blind man devoted to his leader, who felt his way to her dwelling-place at dead of night, and, creeping past her servant, slew her in the midst of her children. news of the outrage was brought to mahomet; it was expected he would punish omeir, but: "thou shalt not call him blind, but the seeing," replied the prophet; "for indeed he hath done me great service." the result of this ruthlessness was the official conversion of the tribe, for resistance was useless, and they had not, like the jews, the flame of faith to keep their resistance alive. "the only alternative to a hopeless blood feud was the adoption of islam." but the jews, with stubborn consciousness of their own essential autonomy, preferred the more terrible alternative, and so the defamatory songs continued. when it is remembered that these compositions took the place of newspapers, were as universal and wielded as such influence, it is not to be expected that mahomet could ignore the campaign against him. abu afak, a belated representative of the prophetic spirits of old, fired by the ancient glory of israel and its present threatened degradation at the hands of this upstart, continued, in spite of all warnings, to publish abroad his contempt and hatred for the prophet. it was no time for half-measures. with such a ferment as this universal abuse was creating, the whole of his hard-won power might crumble. victor though he was, it wanted only the torch of some malcontents to set alight the flame of rebellion. therefore mahomet, with his inexorable determination and force of will, took the only course possible in such a time. the singer was slain by his express command. "who will rid me of this pestilence?" he cried, and like all strong natures he had not long to wait before his will became the inspired act of another. so fear entered into the souls of the people at medina, and for a time there were no more disloyal songs, nor did the populace dare to oppose one who had given so efficient proof of his power. but it was not enough for mahomet to have silenced disaffection. he aimed at nothing less than the complete union of all medina under his leadership and in one religious belief. to this end he went in shawwal of the second year of the hegira (jan. ) unto the jewish tribe, the beni kainukaa, goldsmiths of medina, whose works lay outside the city's confines. there he summoned their chief men in the bazaar, and exhorted them fervently to become converted to islam. but the kainukaa were firm in their faith and refused him with contemptuous coldness. "o mahomet, thou thinkest we are men akin to thine own race! hitherto thou hast met only men unskilled in battle, and therefore couldst thou slay them. but when thou meetest us, by the god of israel, thou shalt know we are men!" therewith mahomet was forced to acknowledge defeat, and he journeyed back to the city, vowing that if allah were pleased to give him opportunity he would avenge this slight upon islam and his own divinely appointed mission. friction between him and the kainukaa naturally increased, and it was therefore not long before a pretext arose. the story of a jew's insult to a muslim girl and its avenging by one of her co-religionists is probably only a fiction to explain mahomet's aggression against this tribe. it is uncertain how the first definite breach arose, but it is easy to see that whatever the actual _casus belli,_ such a development was inevitable. the anger of the prophet was aroused, for were they not presuming to oppose his will and that of allah, whose instrument he was? he marshalled his army and put a great white banner at their head, gave the leadership to hamza, and so marched forth to attack the rebellious kainukaa. for fifteen days the tribe was besieged in its strongholds, until at last, beaten and discouraged, faced by scarcity of supplies, and the certainty of disease, it surrendered at discretion. then was shown in all its fullness the implacable despotism conceived by mahomet as the only possible method of government, which indeed for those times and with that nation it certainly was. the order went forth for the slaying and despoiling of the kainukaa, and the grim work began by the seizure of their armour, precious stones, gold, and goldsmith's tools. but abdallah, chief of the khazraj, and formerly leader of the disaffected, became suppliant for their release. he sought audience of mahomet, and there petitioned with many tears for the lives of his friends and kinsmen. but mahomet turned his back upon him. abdallah, in an ecstacy of importunity, grasped the skirt of mahomet's garment. "loose thou thy hand!" cried mahomet, while his face grew dark with anger. but abdallah in the boldness of desperation replied, "i will not let thee go until thou hast shown favour to my kinsmen." then said mahomet, "as thou wilt not be silent, i give thee the lives of those i have taken prisoner." nevertheless, the exile of the tribe was enforced, and mahomet compelled their immediate removal from the outskirts of medina. the prophet's later policy towards the jews was hereby inaugurated. he set himself deliberately to break up their strongholds one by one, and did not swerve from his purpose until the whole of the hated race had been removed either by slaughter or by enforced exile from the precincts of his adopted city. he would suffer no one but himself to govern, and uprooted, with his unwavering purpose, all who refused to accept him as lord. for about a month affairs took their normal and uninterrupted course in medina, but in the following month, dzul higg (march), the last of that eventful second year, a slight disturbance of his steady work of government threatened his followers. abu sofian's vow pressed sorely upon his conscience until, unable to endure inaction further, he gathered together horsemen and took the highway towards medina. he travelled by the inland road, and arrived at length at the settlements of the beni nadhir, one of the jewish tribes in the vicinity of medina. he harried their palm-gardens, burnt their cornfields, and killed two of their men. mahomet had plundered the meccan wealth, his allies should in turn be harassed by his victims. it was purely a private enterprise undertaken out of bravado and in fulfilment of a vow. as soon as the predatory attack had been made, abu sofian deemed himself absolved and prepared to return. but mahomet was on his traces. for five days he pursued the flying kureisch, whose retreat turned into such a headlong rout that they threw away their sacks of meal so as to travel more lightly. therefore the incident has been known ever since, according to the vivid arab method of description, as the battle of the meal-bags. but the foe was not worthy of his pursuit, and mahomet made no further attempt to come up with abu sofian, but returned at once to medina. the attack had ended more or less in fiasco, and as a trial of strength upon either side it was negligible. the sacred month, dzul higg, and the only one in which it was lawful to make the greater pilgrimage in far-off mecca, was now fully upon him, and mahomet felt drawn irresistibly to the ceremonies surrounding the ancient and now to him distorted faith. he felt compelled to acknowledge his kinship with the ancient ritual of arabia, and to this end appointed a festival, eed-al-zoha, to be celebrated in this month, which was not only to take the place of the jewish sacrificial ceremony, but to strengthen his connection with the rites still performed at mecca, of which the kaaba and the black stone formed the emblem and the goal. in commemoration of the ceremonial slaying of victims in the vale of mina at the end of the greater pilgrimage, mahomet ordered two kids to be sacrificed at every festival, so that his people were continually reminded that at mecca, beneath the infidel yoke, the sacred ritual, so peculiarly their own by virtue of the abrahamic descent and their inexorable monotheism, was being unworthily performed. the institution is important, as indicating the development of mahomet's religious and ritualistic conceptions. in the first days of his enthusiasm he was content to enjoin worship of one god by prayer and praise, taking secondary account of forms and ceremonies. then came the uprooting of his outward religious life and the demands of his embryo state for the manifestations essential to a communistic faith. he found israelite beliefs uncontaminated by the worship of many gods, and turned to their ritual in the hope of establishing with their aid a ceremonial which should incorporate their system with his own fervent faith. now, finding no middle road between separatism and absorption possible with such a people as the jews, and unconsciously divining that in no great length of time islam would be sufficient unto itself, he turned again to the practices of his native religion and ancestral ceremonies. henceforth he puts forward definitely his conception of islam as a purified and divinely regulated form of the worship followed by his arabian forbears, purged of its idol-worship and freed from numerous age-long corruptions. not only in ritual did his mind turn towards mecca. it looms before his eyes still as the chosen city, the city of his dreams, whose conquest and rendering back purified to the guidance of allah he sets before his mind as the ultimate, dim-descried goal of all his intermediary wars. the kibla had long since been changed to mecca; thither at prayer every muslim turned his face and directed his thoughts, and now every possible detail of ancient meccan ritual was performed in scrupulous deference to the one god, so that when the time came and in fulfilment of his desires he set foot on its soil, no part of the ceremonies, with the lingering enthusiasm of his youth still sweet upon them, might be omitted or be allowed to lose its savour through disuse. the third year of the hegira began favourably for mahomet. during the first month, muharram, there were three small expeditions against unruly desert tribes. the beni ghatafan on the eastern babylonian route were friendly to the kureisch. this was undesirable, because they might allow the meccan caravan to pass through in safety, and the prophet had resolved that it should be despoiled by whichever route it journeyed, coast road or arid tableland. when therefore he received news that they were assembling in force at carcarat-al-kadr, a desert oasis on the confines of their territory, he marched thither in haste, hoping to catch and overcome them before they dispersed. but the beni ghatafan were too wise to suffer this, and when mahomet came to the place he found it deserted, save for some camels, left behind in the flight, which he captured and brought to medina, deeming it useless to attempt the pursuit of his quarry through the trackless desert. the raid in jumad ii (september) by zeid was far more successful. since the victory at bedr the coast route had been entirely barred for the kureischite caravans, and they were forced to try the central desert, which road lay through the middle tableland leading on to babylonia and the syrian wastes. the meccan caravan had only reached carada when it was met by a muslim force under zeid, sent by the prescience and predatory instincts of mahomet. the guard was not strong, possibly because the meccans thought there was little fear of attack by this route, and so zeid was easily able to overcome his foe and secure the spoil, which amounted to many bales of goods, camels, trappings, and armour. the conquerer returned elated to medina, where he cast the spoil at the feet of the prophet. the usual division was made, and the whole city rejoiced over the wealth it had secured and the increasing discomfiture of its enemies. meanwhile matters were becoming urgent between the muslim and the jews. neither the murder of their singers, nor the expulsion of the kainukaa could silence the voice of jewish discontent, which found its most effective mouthpiece in the poet ka'b al' ashraf, son of a jewess of the tribe of the beni nadhir. this man had been righteously indignant at the slaughter of the kureischite champions at bedr. the story seemed to him so monstrous that he could not believe it. "is this true?" he asked the messenger; "has mahomet verily slain these men? by the lord, if he has done this, then is the innermost part of the earth better than the surface thereof!" he journeyed in haste to mecca, and when he heard the dreadful news confirmed he did his utmost to stir up the kureisch against the murderer. as soon as he returned he published verses lamenting the disgraceful victory purchased at such a price; moreover, he also addressed insulting love poems to the muslim women, always with the intent of causing as much disaffection as possible. at last mahomet waxed impatient and cried: "who will give me peace from this ka'b al' ashraf?" mahomet mosleima replied, "i, even i will slay him." the method of his accomplishment of this deed is instructive of the estimation in which individual life was then held. mosleima secured the assistance of ka'b's treacherous brother--how, we are not told, but most probably by bribes. together the two went to the poet's house by moonlight, and begged his company on a discussion of much importance. his young wife would have prevented ka'b, sensing treachery from the manner and time of the request, but he disregarded her prayers. in the gleam of moonbeams the three walked past the outskirts of the city in deepest converse, the subject of which was rebellion against the prophet. they came at length to the ravine adjuz, a lonely place overhung with ghastly silence and pallid under the white light. here they stopped, and soon his brother began to stroke the hair of ka'b until he had lulled him into drowsiness. then suddenly seizing the forelock he shouted: "let the enemy of god perish!" ka'b was pinioned, while four men of the beni aus slashed at him with their swords. but he was a brave man and strong, determined to sell his life dearly. the struggle became furious. "when i saw that," relates mosleima through the mouth of tradition, "i remembered my dagger, and thrust it into his body with such violence that it penetrated the entire bulk. the enemy of god gave one cry and fell to the ground." then they left him, and hastened to tell their master of the good news. mahomet rejoiced, and was at no pains to conceal his satisfaction. ka'b had made himself objectionable to the prophet and dangerous to islam; ka'b was removed; it was well; allah akbar islam. eastern nations have never been so careful of human life as western, and especially as the anglo-saxon peoples. to mahomet the security of his state came before all, and if a hundred poets had threatened to undermine his authority, he would have had them all slain with equal steadfastness. men were bound to die, and those who disturbed the progress of affairs merely suffered more swiftly the universal lot. it is obvious that no modern western standard can be set up for mahomet; the deed must be interpreted by that inflexible will and determination to achieve his aims, which lies at the root of all his crimes of state. but the unfortunate jews went in fear and trembling, and their panic was increased when mahomet issued an order to his followers with permission to kill them wherever they might be found. he very soon, however, allowed so drastic a command to lapse, but not before some had taken advantage of his savage policy, and after a time he made a new treaty with the jews, not at all on the old federal lines, but guaranteeing them some sort of security, provided they showed proper submission to his superior power. this treaty smoothed over matters somewhat, but nevertheless the jews were now thoroughly intimidated, and those who were left lived a restricted life, wherein fear played the greater part. but for the time being mahomet was satisfied, and no further punitive acts were attempted; not many months later he was faced with a far greater danger, the appearance in force of his old enemy the kureisch, burning for vengeance, fierce in their hatred of such a despoiler, and before them mahomet in the new-found arrogance of his dominion was forced to pause. chapter xiii the battle of ohod "if a wound hath befallen you, a wound like it hath already befallen others; we alternate these days (of good and evil fortune) among men, that god may know those who have believed and that he may take martyrs from among you."--_the kuran_. the jews had been alternately forced and cajoled into submission, the disaffected had been swept into temporary loyalty after the triumph at bedr, his own followers were magnificently proud of his dominance, the kureisch had made as yet no serious endeavours to avenge their humiliation at bedr; moreover, the religious and political affairs of the city had been regulated so that it was possible to carry on the usual business of life in security--a security which certainly possessed no guaranteed permanence, and which might at any moment crack beneath the feet of those who walked thereon and plunge them back into an anarchy of warring creeds and chiefs--still a security such as medina had seldom known, built up by the one strong personality within its walls. for a few months mahomet could live in peace among his followers, and the interest shifts not to his religious ordinances and work of government--these had been successfully started, and were now continuing almost automatically--but to his domestic life and his relations with his intimate circle of friends. as his years increased he felt the continual need of companionship and consolation, and while he sought for advice in government and counsel in war from such men as abu bekr, ali, and othman, he found solace and refreshment in the ministering hands of women. sawda he already possessed, and her slow softness and unimaginative mind had already begun to pall; ayesha, with her beauty and shrewdness, her jewel-like nature, bright and almost as hard, could lessen the continual strain of his life, and induce by a kind of reflex action that tireless energy of mind find body which was the secret of his power. but these were not enough, and now he sought fresh pleasure in haphsa, and in other and lesser women, though he never cast away his earlier loves, still with the same unformulated desire, to obtain some respite from the cares which beset him, some renewal of his vivid nature, burning with self-destroying fire. the emotional stimulus, whose agents women were, became for him as necessary as prayer, and we see him in later life adding experience after experience in his search for solace, nevertheless cleaving most to ayesha, whose vitality fulfilled his intensest need. secondary to the necessity of refreshment came the not inconsiderable duty of securing the permanence of his power by the foundation of a line of male successors. his earlier marriages had been productive only of daughters, while his later unions, and also his most recent with haphsa, had been unfruitful. but though so far no direct male issue had been vouchsafed him, he was careful to unite with himself the most important men in his state by marriage with his children, binding them thereby with the closest blood ties. rockeya, now dead, had married the warrior othman, and fatima, the prophet's youngest daughter, was bestowed upon the bright and impetuous ali, whose exploits in warfare had filled the muslim with pride and a wondering fear. of this marriage were born the famous hassan and hosein, names written indelibly upon the muslim roll of fame. as each inmate became added to his household, rough houses, almost huts, were built for their reception, but the prophet himself had no abiding place, only a council-chamber, where he conducted public business, and dwelt by turn in the houses of his wives, but delighted most to visit ayesha, who occupied the foremost position by virtue of her beauty and personality. mahomet's household grew up gradually near the mosque in this manner; together with the houses of his sons-in-law, not far away, and the sacred place itself, it constituted the centre of activity for the muslim world, witnessing the arrival and despatch of embassies, the administration of justice and public business, the performance of the muslim religious ceremonial, the kuranic revelations of allah's will. it radiated mahomet's personality, and concentrated for his followers all the enthusiasm and persistence that had gone to its creation, as well as the endurance and foresight ensuring its continuance. but such security was not permanently possible for mahomet; his spirit was doomed to perpetual sojourn amid tumult and effort. it was almost twelve months since the victory of bedr. the broken kureisch had had time to recover themselves, and they were now prepared for revenge. the wealth of abu sofian's caravan, so dearly acquired, had not been distributed after bedr. it remained inviolate at mecca, a weapon wherefrom was to be wrought their bitter vengeance. all their fighting men were massed into a great host. horses and armour, weapons and trappings were bought with their hoarded wealth, and at length, strong, including mailed warriors and well-mounted cavalry, they prepared to set forth upon their work of punishment. not only were their own citizens pressed into the service, but the fighting men from allied neighbouring tribes, who were very ready to take part in an expedition that promised excitement and bloodshed, with the hope of plunder. the wives of their chief men implored permission to go with the army, pointing out their usefulness and their great eagerness to share the coming triumph. but many warriors murmured against this, for the undertaking was a difficult one, and they knew the discomforts of a long march. at length fifteen specially privileged women were allowed to travel with the host, among them hind, the fierce wife of abu sofian, who brought in her train an immense negro, specially reserved for her crowning act of vengeance, the murder of hamza, in revenge for the slaying of her father. the army took the easier seaward route, travelling as before in all the pomp and gorgeousness of eastern warfare, and finally reached the valley of akik, five miles west of medina. thence they turned to the left, so as to command a more vulnerable place in the city's defences, and finally encamped at ohod at the base of the hill on a fertile plain, separated from the city to the north by several rocky ridges, impassable for such an army. mahomet's first news of the premeditated attack reached him through his uncle abbas, that weak doubter, who never could make up his mind to become either the friend or the foe of islam. he sent a messenger to coba to say that the kureiseh were advancing in force. mahomet was inevitably the leader of the city in spite of the bad feeling between himself and certain sections within it. jews and disaffected alike looked to him for leadership in such a crisis; by virtue of his former prowess his counsels were sought. mahomet knew perfectly well that this attacking force was unlike the last, which had been gathered together hurriedly and had underestimated its opposition. he knew that besides a better equipment they possessed the strongest incentive to daring and determination, the desire to avenge some wrong. it was with no false estimate of their foe that he counselled his followers to remain in their city and allow the enemy to waste his strength on their defences. abdallah agreed with the prophet's decision, but the younger section, and especially those who had not fought at bedr, were clamorously dissentient. they pointed out that if mahomet did not go forth to meet the kureisch he would lay himself open to the charge of cowardice, and they openly declared that their loyalty to the prophet would not endure this outrage, but would turn to contempt. against his will mahomet was forced into action. he might succeed in defeating his foe, and at all events his position would not endure the disloyalty and disaffection that his refusal would entail. after friday's service he retired to his chamber, and appeared before the people in armour. he called for three lances and fixed his banners to them, designing one for the leaders of the refugees, and the other two for the tribes of the beni aus and khazraj. he could muster in this year an army of men, but he had no cavalry, and fewer mailed warriors than the kureisch. abdallah tried his best to dissuade mahomet, but the prophet was firm. "it does not become me to lay aside my armour when once i have put it on, without meeting my foe in battle." at dawn the army moved to ohod, and he drew up his line of battle at the base of the hill directly facing the kureisch. but before he could take up his final position, abdallah with three hundred men turned their backs upon him and hastened again to medina, declaring that the enterprise was too perilous, and that it had been undertaken against their judgment. mahomet let them go with the same proud sufficiency that he had showed before the advancing host at bedr. "we do not need them, the lord is on our side." then he directed his attention to the disposition of his forces. he stationed fifty archers under a captain on the left of his line, with strict orders that they were to hold their ground whatever chance befell, so as to guard his rear and foil a kureischite flank movement. then, having provided for the enemy's probable tactics, he drew out his main line facing medina in rather shallow formation. the attack began as usual, by single combats, in which none of the champions seem to have taken part, and soon mahomet's whole line was engaged in a ruthless onward sweep, before which the kureisch wavered. but the muslim pressed too hotly, and unable to retain their ground at all points, were driven back here and there. again their long line recovered and pursued its foes, only to lose its coherence and discipline; for a section of them, counting the day already won, began plundering the kureisch camp. this was too much for the archers on the left. forgetting everything in one wild desire to share the enemy's wealth, they left their post and charged down into the struggling central mass. here was khalid's chance. the chief warrior and counsellor of the kureisch gathered his men together hastily, and circling round the now oblivious muslim, drove his force against their rear, which broke up and fled. mahomet instantly saw the fatal mistake, and commanded the archers across the sea of men and weapons to remember their orders and stand firm. but it was too late, and all he could do was to attempt to stay the muslim flight. "i am the apostle of god, return!" he called across the tumult. but even his magnetism failed to rally the stricken muslim, and they rushed in headlong flight towards the slopes of ohod. in the chaos that followed, hind saw her enemy standing against the press of his fellow-citizens, striving to encourage them, while with his sword he cut at the pursuing kureisch. she sent her giant negro, wahschi, to cleave his way to the abhorred one through the struggling men, and he crashed them asunder with spear uplifted to strike. hamza was felled to the ground, and with one despairing upward thrust, easily parried by his huge assailant, he succumbed to wahschi's spear and lay lifeless, the first martyr in the cause of islam, which still remembers with pride his glorious end. seven refugees and citizens gathered round their leader to defend him, but the battle raged in his vicinity, and his friends could not keep off the blows of his enemies. he was wounded, and some of his teeth were knocked out. then the cry arose that he was slain, and the evil tidings heightened the muslim disaster. a wretched remnant managed to gain the security of the hill slopes, and not the good news of mahomet's escape when they saw him amongst them could make of them aught but a vanquished and ignominious band. they lay hidden among the hills, while the kureisch worked their triumphant vengeance upon the corpses of their victims, which they mutilated before burying, after the barbarous fashion of the time, and the savage wrath of hind found appeasement in her destruction of hamza's body. at length the kureisch prepared to depart, and their spokesman, going to the base of the fatal hill, demanded the prophet's agreement to a fresh encounter in the following year. omar consented on behalf of the prophet and his followers, and mahomet remained silent, wishing to confirm the impression that he was dead. why the kureisch did not follow up their victory and attempt a raid upon medina, it is difficult to imagine. possibly they were apprehensive that mahomet might have fresh reserves and strong defences within the city; but more probably they felt they had accomplished their purpose and the muslim would now be cured of seeking to plunder their caravans. so they retreated again towards mecca, and the forlorn muslim crept silently from their hiding-places to discover the extent of their defeat. they found seventy-four bodies of their own following and twenty of the enemy. their ignominy was complete, and to the bitterness of their reverse was added the terrible fear that the kureisch would proceed further and attack their defenceless city. they returned to medina at sunset, a mournful and piteous band, bearing with them their leader, whose wounds had been hastily dressed on the field. mahomet was indeed in sore straits; himself maimed, the bulk of his army scattered, his foes victorious and his headquarters full of seething discontent, brought to the surface by his defeat, he felt himself in peril even at medina, and passed the night fearfully awaiting what events might bring fresh disaster. but his determination and foresight did not desert him, and once the tormenting night was passed he recovered his old resourcefulness and his wonderful energy. he commanded bilal to announce that he would pursue the kureisch, and put himself, stricken and suffering, at the head of the expedition. they reached safra, and remained there three days, returning then to medina with the announcement that the kureisch had eluded them. this sortie was nothing more than a manifestation of courage, and by it mahomet hoped to restore in a measure his shaken confidence in the city, and also to apprise the kureisch that he was not utterly crushed. but his defeat had damaged his prestige far more than a mere expedition could remedy, and his followers were aghast at his humiliation. their world was upturned. it was as if the lord himself, for whom they had suffered so much, had suddenly demonstrated his frailty and human weakness. and the malcontents in medina triumphed, especially the jews, who saw with joy some measure of the prophet's brutality towards them being meted to him in turn. the situation was grave, and mahomet's reputation must be at all costs re-established. he retired for some time to his own quarters, and received the revelation of part of sura iii, wherein he explains the whole matter, urging first that allah was pleased to make a selection between the brave and the cowardly, the weak and the steadfast, and then that the defeat was the punishment for disobeying his divine commands. the passage is written in mahomet's most forcible style, and stands out clearly as a reliable account, for neither the defeat of the muslim, nor their own culpability, are minimised. the martyrs at ohod receive at his hands their crown of praise. "and repute not those slain on god's path to be dead. nay, alive with their lord are they, and richly sustained. rejoicing in what god of his bounty hath vouchsafed, filled with joy at the favours of god, and at his mercy; and that god suffereth not the reward of the faithful to perish." he spends most time, however, in speaking for the encouragement of his sorely tried flock, and for the confusion of those who doubt him. the revelation came in answer to a direct need, and is inseparable from the events which called it forth. as far as was possible it achieved its purpose, for the faithful received it with humility, but it could not fully restore the shaken confidence in the prophet. the immediate result of the battle of ohod was to render mahomet free from any more threatenings from the kureisch, who had fulfilled the task of overawing him into quietude towards them, but its ultimate results were far-reaching and endured for many years; in fact, it was by reason of the reverse at ohod that the next period of his life is crowded with defensive and punitive expeditions, and attacks upon his followers by desert tribes. his position at medina had been rendered thoroughly insecure, and every tribe deemed it possible to accomplish some kind of demonstration against him. jew and arabian both pitted themselves against the embryo state, and the powerful desert allies of the kureisch constituted a perpetual menace to his own stronghold. it was only when he had murdered or exiled every jew, and carried out repeated campaigns against the tribes of the interior, that his position in medina was removed beyond possibility of assailment. ruthlessness and trust in the sword were his only chances of success. if he relaxed his vigilance or allowed any humane feelings to prevent the execution of severe measures upon any of his enemies, his very existence would be menaced. from now he may be said to pass under the tyranny of war, and its remorseless urging was never slackened until he had his own native city within his power. the god of battles exacted his pitiless toll from his devotee, compelling him to work out his destiny by the sword's rough means. the thinker has become irrevocably the man of action; prayer has been supplemented by the command, "fight, and yet again fight, that god may conquer and retain." reverses show the temper of heroes, and mahomet is never more fully revealed than in the first gloomy days after ohod, when he steadfastly set himself to retrieve what was lost, refusing to acknowledge that his position was impaired, impervious to the whispers that spoke of failure, supreme in his mighty asset of an impregnable faith. chapter xiv the tyranny of war "and we have sent down iron. dire evil resideth in it, as well as advantage to mankind."--_the kuran._ after the battle of ohod, two months passed quietly for mahomet. he was unable to undertake any aggressive expeditions, and both the jews at medina and the exterior desert tribes were lulled into tranquillity by the knowledge that his power was for the time considerably weakened. but the prophet knew that this security could not continue for long, and for the character of his future wars he was fully prepared--sufficient proof, if one were still necessary, of his skill as soldier and leader. he knew the kureisch had instituted a policy of alliance with the surrounding tribes, and that now their plan would be to crush him by a ceaseless pressure from the east, united to the inevitable disaffection within the city as its inhabitants witnessed the decline of their leader's power. watchfulness and severity were the only means of holding his position, and these two qualities he used with a tenacity which alone secured his ultimate success. the first threatenings came from the beni asad, a powerful tribe inhabiting the country directly east of medina. under their chief tuleiha, they planned a raid against mahomet. but his excellent system of espionage stood him, now as always, in good stead, so that he heard of their scheme before it was ripe, and despatched men to frustrate it. the beni asad were wise enough to give up the attempt after mahomet's men had found and plundered their camp. they dispersed for the time being, and the danger of an attack was averted. but scarcely had the expedition returned when news came of another gathering at orna, between mecca and taif. again mahomet lost no time, but sent a force large enough to disperse them in a skirmish, in which the chief of the lahyan tribe was killed. in the next month mahomet sent six of his followers to mecca, probably as spies, but they were not allowed to reach their goal in safety. at raja they fell in with a party of the beni lahyan proceeding the same way. the men were armed, and mahomet's followers were glad to accompany them, because of the additional security. at the oasis the party encamped for the night, and the muslim prepared unsuspectingly for sleep. at dead of night they were surrounded by their professed friends, who were resolved on revenge for the murder of their chief. four were killed, and two, zeid and khubeib, taken bound to mecca, whose citizens gloated over their prey. legends in plenty group themselves around these two figures--the first real martyrs for islam, and one of the most profound testimonies to the love which mahomet inspired in his followers is given traditionally in a few significant sentences dealing with the episode. the prisoners were kept a month before being led to the inevitable torture. abu sofian, the scoffer, came to zeid as he was preparing to face his death. "wouldst thou not, o zeid," he asked, "that thou wert once more with thy family, and that mahomet suffered in thy place?" "by allah! i would not that mahomet should suffer the smallest prick from a thorn; no, not even if by that means i could be safe once more among my kindred." then the enemy of islam marvelled at his words and said: "never have i seen among men such love as mahomet's followers bear towards him." and after that zeid was put to death. mahomet was powerless to retaliate, and was obliged to suffer from afar the murder of his fellow-believers. the fate of these six muslim gave courage to mahomet's enemies everywhere, and prompted even his friends to treachery. the beni aamir, a branch of the great hawazin tribe dwelling between the beni asad and the beni lahyan, were friendly towards medina, and sent mahomet gifts as a guarantee. these mahomet refused to receive unless the tribe became converts to islam. he knew the danger of compromise--his meccan experiences had not faded from his mind; moreover, he recognised that in his present weakened position firmness was essential. he could not open the gates of his fortress even a chink without letting in a flood before which it must topple into ruin. but their chief would not be so coerced, neither would he give up his ancestral faith without due examination of that offered in its stead. he demanded that a party of muslim should accompany him back to his own people and strive by reasoning and eloquence to convert them to islam. after much deliberation, for he was chary of sending any of his chosen to what would be swift death in the event of treachery, mahomet consented, and gave orders for a party of men skilled in their faith to accompany abu bera back to his people. the men were received in all honour, and were escorted as befitted their position as far as bir mauna, where they halted, and a muslim messenger was sent with a letter to the chief of another branch of the same tribe. this leader, aamir ibn sofail, immediately put the messenger to death, and called upon his allies to exterminate the followers of the blasphemous prophet. but the tribe refused to break abu bera's pledge, so aamir, determined to root them out, appealed to the beni suleim, mahomet's avowed enemies, and with their aid proceeded to bir mauna. there they fell upon the band of muslim and slaughtered them to a man, then returned to their desert fastnesses, proudly confident in their ability to elude pursuit. the news was carried to mahomet, and at first he was convinced that abu bera had betrayed him. his followers, who had brought the news, had fallen upon and killed some luckless members of the beni aamir in reprisal, and mahomet acclaimed their action. when, however, he heard from abu bera that he and his tribe had been faithful to their pledge, he paid blood money for the murdered men; then calling his people together he solemnly cursed each tribe by name who had dared to attack the faithful by treachery. but the incident did not end here. mahomet could not compass the destruction of the beni aamir; they were too powerful and dwelt too far off for his vengeance to assail them, but the beni nadhir, the second jewish tribe within the prophet's territory, were near, and they were confederate with the treacherous people. mahomet's action was swift and effective. force was his only temporal weapon; compulsion his only policy. the command went forth through the lips of mosleima: "thus saith the prophet of the lord: ye shall go forth out of my land within a space of ten days; whosoever that remaineth behind shall be put to death." the beni nadhir were aghast and trembling. they urged their former treaties with mahomet, and the antiquity of their settlements. it was impossible that they should break up their homesteads thus suddenly and depart forlorn into an unknown land. but mahomet was obdurate, with that same fixity of purpose which was everywhere the keynote of his dominance. "hearts are changed now," was the only reply to their prayers, their entreaties, and their throats. abdallah, leader of the beni aus and khazraj, sought desperately for a reconciliation, but to no purpose; the die was cast. then the jews, brought to bay and careless with the despair of impotence, refused to obey the command, and prepared to encounter the wrath of allah and the vengeance of his emissary. "behold the jews prepare to fight: great is the lord!" the prophet declared when the news was brought to him. he was sure of his victim, and ruthless in destruction. all things were made ready for the undertaking. the army was assembled and the march begun. ali carried the great green banner of the prophet towards the stronghold of his enemies. the beni nadhir were invested in their own quarters, the date trees lying outside their fort were burned, their fields were laid waste. for three weeks the siege endured, each day bringing the miserable garrison nearer to the inevitable privations and final surrender. at last the jews recognised the hopelessness of their lot and came to reluctant terms, submitting to exile and agreeing to depart immediately. then followed the terrible breaking up of homes, and the wandering forth of a whole tribe, as of old, to seek other dwelling-places. some went to kheibar, where they were to suffer later on still more severely at mahomet's hands; some went to jericho and the highlands south of syria, but all vanished from their ancient abiding places as suddenly as if a plague had reduced their land to silence. it was an important conquest for mahomet, and has found fitting notice in the kuran. the number of his enemies within the city was considerably reduced. he was gradually proving his power by breaking up the jewish federations, and thereby advancing far towards his goal, his unassailable, almost royal dominance of medina. moreover, he bound the refugees closer to him by dividing the despoiled country amongst them. it was an event worthy of incorporation into the record of divine favours, for by it the sacred cause of islam had been rendered more triumphant. "god is the mighty, the wise! he it is who caused the unbelievers among the people of the book to quit their homes. and were it not that god had decreed their exile, surely in this world would he have chastised them: but in the world to come the chastisement of the fire awaiteth them. this because they set them against god and his apostle, and whoso setteth him against god--! god truly is vehement in punishing." the sura ends in a mood of fierce exultation unrivalled by any ecstatic utterances of his early visions. it is the measure of his relief at his first great success since the humiliation of ohod. his fervour beats through it like the clamour of waters, in whose triumphant gladness no pauses are heard. "he is god, beside whom there is no god: he is the king, the holy, the peaceful, the faithful, the guardian, the mighty, the strong, the most high! far be the glory of god from that which they unite with him! he is god, the producer, the maker, the fashioner! to him are ascribed excellent titles. what ever is in the heavens and in the earth praiseth him. he is the mighty, the wise!" the expulsion of the beni nadhir was a brutal, but necessary act. the choice lay between their security and his future dominion, and he uprooted their dwellings as ruthlessly as any conqueror sets aside the obstacles in his path. half measures were impossible, even dangerous, and mahomet was not afraid to use terrible means to achieve his all-absorbing end. he had avowedly accepted the behests of the sword, and did not repudiate his master. the hated jews were enemies of his god, whose vicegerent he now ranked himself; their ruin was in the divinely appointed order of the world. the time was soon at hand when, by arrangement, the medinan army was to repair to bedr to meet the kureisch. the meccans sent a messenger in schaban (nov. ) to mahomet, saying that they were prepared to advance against him with foot and horse. this large army did in reality set out, but was soon forced to return, owing to lack of supplies and scarcity of food. the message was sent mainly in the hope of intimidating the muslim, but mahomet was probably as well informed of the kureisch movements as they were themselves, and knew that no real attack was possible. he therefore determined to show both friends and enemies that he was ready to meet his foes. the muslim were not very agreeable, knowing what fate had decreed at their last encounter with the meccans, but mahomet's stern determination prevailed. he declared that he would go to bedr even if he went alone, and so collected by sheer force of will men. he marched to bedr, held camp there for eight days, during which, of course, no demonstration was made, and the whole expedition was turned into a peaceable mercantile undertaking. when all their goods had been profitably sold or exchanged, mahomet broke up the camp and returned in triumph to medina. his prestige had certainly been much increased by this unmolested sortie. it was therefore in a glad and confident mood that he returned to his native city and prepared to enjoy his success. he took thereupon two wives, zeinab and omm salma, of whom very little is known, except that zeinab was the widow of mahomet's cousin killed at bedr. the incident of his marriage with zeinab finds allusion in the kuran in the briefest of passages. she was probably taken as much out of a desire to protect as a desire to possess, and she quickly became one of the many with whom mahomet was content to pass a few days and nights. there are also signs in the kuran at this time of disagreements between the different members of his household, and of their extravagant demands upon mahomet. it was evidently not so easy to rule his wives as to acquire them. moreover, he was beginning to feel the sting of jealousy towards every other man of the muslim. here really begins the insistence upon restrictive regulations for women which has been ever since the bane of islam. mahomet could not allow his wives to go abroad freely, decked in the ornaments he himself had bestowed, to become a mark for every envious gazer. they were not as other women, and his imperious nature regarded them as peculiarly inviolate, so that he fenced in their actions and secluded their lives. as early as his marriage with zeinab he imposed restrictions upon women's dress abroad. they are not to traverse the streets in jewels or beautiful robes, but are to cover themselves closely with a long sober garment. whereas his former sura regarding women had been confined to codifying and rendering fairer divorce and property laws, now the personal note sounds strongly, and continues throughout the whole of his later pronouncements, regarding muslim women. the next few months were to see dangers and disturbances in his domestic life which were to fix the position of women in islam throughout the coming centuries, but before he had long completed his latest marriage he was called away upon another necessary expedition. thus casually, almost from purely personal considerations, was the law regarding the status of women established in islam. his ordinances have the savour of their impetuous creator, who found in the subject sex no opposition against the writing down, in their most sacred book, of those decrees which rendered their inferior position permanent and authorised. it was allah speaking through the lips of his prophet, and they submitted with willing hearts with no shadow of the knowledge of all it was to mean to their descendants darkening their minds. in muharram of the beni ghatafan, always formidable on account of their size and their desert hinterland, assembled in force at dzat-al-rica. mahomet determinedly marched against them, and once more at the news of his approach their courage failed them, and they fled to the mountains. mahomet came unexpectedly upon their habitations, carried off some of their women as slaves, and returned to medina after fifteen days, having effectively crushed the incipient rising against him. the event is chiefly important as being the occasion which led mahomet to institute the service of danger described in the kuran, whereby half the army prayed or slept while the other watched. a body of men was therefore kept constantly under arms while the army was in the field, and public prayers were repeated twice. "and when ye go forth to war in the land, it shall be no crime in you to cut short your prayers.... and when thou, o apostle, shalt be among them and shalt pray with them, then let a party of them rise up with thee, but let them take their arms; and when they shall have made their prostrations, let them retire to your rear: then let another party that hath not prayed come forward, and let them pray with you; but let them take their precautions and their arms." the military organisation is being gradually perfected, so that the mahometan sword may finally be in the perpetual ascendant. this was the chief significance of a campaign which at best was only an interlude in the daily life of prayer, civil and domestic cares and regulations which took up mahomet's life in the breathing space before the great meccan attack. mahomet was absent from medina but fifteen days, and he returned home resolved to take advantage of the respite from war. not long after his return he happened to visit the house of zeid, his adopted son, and chanced not on zeid, but on his wife at her tiring. mahomet was filled with her beauty, for her loveliness was past praise, and he coveted her. zeinab herself was proud of the honour vouchsafed her, and was willing, indeed anxious, to become divorced for so mighty a ruler. zeid, her husband, with that measureless devotion which the prophet inspired in his followers, offered to divorce her for him. mahomet at first refused, declaring it was not meet that such a thing should be, but after a time his desire proved too strong for him, and he consented. so zeinab was divorced, and passed into the harem of the prophet. and he justified the proceedings in sura : "and when zeid had settled concerning her to divorce her, we married her to thee, that it might not be a crime in the faithful to marry the wives of their adopted sons, when they have settled the affair concerning them.... no blame attacheth to the prophet when god hath given him a permission." there follows the sum of mahomet's restrictions upon the dress and demeanour of women. they are to veil their faces when abroad, and suffer no man but their intimate kinsmen to look upon them. the faithful are forbidden to go near the dwelling-places of the prophet's wives without his permission, nor are they even to desire to marry them after the prophet is dead. by such casual means, by decrees born out of the circumstances of his age and personal temperament, did mahomet institute the customs which are more vital to the position and fate of muslim women than all his utterances as to their just treatment and his injunctions against their oppression. power was already taking its insidious hold upon him, and his feet were set upon the path that led to the despotism of the chalifate and the horrors of muslim conquests. allah is still omnipotent, but he is making continual and indispensable use of temporal means to achieve his ends, and his servant does likewise. after the interlude of peace, mahomet was called upon in july, , to undertake a punitive expedition to jumat-al-gandal, an oasis midway between the red sea and the gulf of persia. the expedition was successful, and the marauders dispersed. he had now reached the confines of syria, and, with the extension of his expeditionary activities, his political horizon widened. he began to conceive himself as the predatory chief of arabia, one who was regarded with awe and fear by the surrounding tribes, with the one exception of the stiff-necked city, mecca, whose inhabitants he longed in vain to subdue. the success fostered his love of plunder, and inclined him more than ever to hold out this reward of valour to his followers. his stern and wary policy was justified by its success, for by it he had recovered from the severe blow at ohod, but it threatened to become his master and set its perpetual seal upon his life. in december, , he heard of the defection of the beni mustalik, a branch of the khozaa tribe. they joined the kureisch for mixed motives, chiefly political, for they hoped to make themselves and their religion secure by alliance with mahomet's enemies. mahomet learnt of their desertion through his efficient spies, and determined to anticipate any disturbance. with ayesha and omm salma to accompany him, and an adequate army to support him, he set out for the quarters of the beni mustalik, and before long reached moraisi, where he encamped. the beni mustalik were deserted by their allies, and in the skirmish that followed mahomet was easily successful. their camp was plundered, their women and some of their men taken prisoner. the expedition was, however, provocative of two consequences which take up considerable attention in contemporary records, the quarrel between the citizens and the refugees, and the scandal regarding ayesha. the punishment of the beni mustalik had been effected, and nought remained but the division of the spoil. the captives had mostly been ransomed, but one, a girl, juweira, remained sorrowfully with the muslim, for her ransom was fixed so high that payment was impossible. mahomet listened to her tale, and the loveliness of her face and figure did not escape him. "wilt thou hearken to what may be better?" he asked her, "even that i should pay thy ransom and take thee myself?" juweira was thankful for her safety, and rejoiced at her good fortune. mahomet married her straightway, and for her bridal gift gave her the lives of her fellow tribesmen. "wherefore," says ayesha, "juweira was the best benefactress to her people in that she restored the captives to their kinsfolk." but the citizens and refugees were by no means so contented. their quarrel arose nominally out of the distribution of spoil, but really it was a long smouldering discontent that finally burst into flame. mahomet was faced with what threatened to be a serious revolt, and only his orders for an immediate march prevented the outbreak of desperate passions--greed and envy. abdallah, their ubiquitous leader, is chidden in the kuran, where the whole affair brings down the strength of mahomet's scorn upon his offending people. the camp broke up immediately, and through its hasty departure ayesha was faced with what might have been the tragedy of her life. her litter was carried away without her by an oversight on the part of the bearers, and she was left alone in the desert's velvet dusk with no alternative but to await its return. the dark deepened, adding its mysterious vastness and silence to trouble her already tremulous mind. in the first hours of the night safwan, one of mahomet's rear, came towards her as she sat forlorn, and was amazed to find the prophet's wife in such a position. he brought his mule near her, then turned his face away as she mounted, so as to keep her inviolate from his gaze. closely veiled, and trembling as to her meeting with mahomet, ayesha rode with safwan at her bridle until the next day they came up with the main column. now murmurs against her broke out on all sides. mahomet refused to believe her story, and remained estranged from her until she asked permission to return to her father as her word was thus doubted. ali was consulted by the prophet, and he, with that antagonism towards ayesha which germinated later into open hatred, was inclined to believe her defamers. at last the outcry became so great that mahomet called upon allah. entering his chamber in medina, he received the signs of divine inspiration. when the trance was over, he declared that ayesha was innocent, and revealed the passage dealing with divorce in sura : "they who defame virtuous women and bring not four witnesses, scourge them with fourscore stripes, and receive ye not their testimony forever, for these are perverse persons.... and they who shall accuse their wives, and have no witnesses but themselves, the testimony of each of them shall be a testimony by god four times repeated, that he is indeed of them that speak the truth." the revelation ends with a repetition of the restrictions imposed upon women and an injunction to the muslim not to enter each other's houses until they have asked leave. this was a necessary ordinance in that primitive community, where bolts were little used and there was virtually no privacy, and was designed, in common with most of his present utterances, to encourage the leading of decent, well-regulated lives by the followers of so magnificent a faith. ayesha's defamers were publicly scourged, and the matter dismissed from the muslim mind, save that regulations had once more been framed upon personal feelings and specific events, and were to constitute the whole future law regarding an important and difficult question. mahomet was justly content with the position of affairs after the dispersion of the beni mustalik. he had shown his strength to the surrounding desert tribes; by systematically crushing each rebellion as it arose, he had demonstrated to them the impossibility of alliance against him. he knew they were each prone to self-seeking and distrustful of each other, and he played unhesitatingly upon their jealousies and passions. thus he kept them disunited and fearful, afraid even to ally with his powerful enemy the kureisch. for after all, the meccans were his chief obstacle; their opposition was spirited and urged on by the memory of past humiliations and triumphs. they alone were really worthy of his steel, and he knew that, as far as the intermediary wars were concerned, they were but the prelude to another encounter in the year-long warfare with his native city. the drama closes in now upon the protagonists; save for the expulsion of the last jewish tribe in the neighbourhood of medina, there is little to compare with that central causal hatred. the final hour was not yet, but the struggle grew in intensity with the passage of time--the struggle wherein one fought for revenge and future freedom from molestation, but the other for the establishment of a faith in its rightful environment, the manifestation before men of that faith's determined achievement, the symbol of its destined conquests and divinely appointed power. chapter xv the war of the ditch "and god drove back the infidels in their wrath; they won no advantage; god sufficed the faithful in the fight, for god is strong, mighty."--_the kuran._ the kureischite plans for the annihilation of mahomet were now complete. they had achieved an alliance against him not only among the bedouin tribes of the interior, but also among the exiled and bitterly vengeful medinan jews. now in schawwal, , mahomet's unresting foes summoned all their confederates to warfare "against this man." the allied tribes, chief among whom were the beni suleim and ghatafan, always at feud with mahomet, hastened to mass themselves at mecca, where they were welcomed confidently by the kureiseh. the host was organised in three separate camps, and abu sofian was placed at the head of the entire army. each leader, however, was to have alternating command of the campaign; and this primitive arrangement--the only one, it seems, by which early nations, lacking an indisputable leader, can surmount the jealousy and self-will displayed by every petty chief--is responsible in great measure for their ultimate failure. in such fashion, still with the bravery and splendour of eastern warfare wrapped about them, an army of men, with horses, camels, countless stores, spears, arrows, armour and accoutrements, moved forward upon the small and factious city of the prophet, whose fighting strength was hampered by the exhaustion of many campaigns and the disloyalty of those within his very walls. the prophet was outwardly undismayed; whatever fears preyed upon his inner mind, they were dominated by his unshakable belief in the protection and favour of allah. he did not allow the days of respite to pass him idly by. as soon as he received the news of this fateful expedition, he called together a meeting of his wisest and bravest, and explained to them the position. he told them of the hordes massed against them, and dwelt upon the impossibility of opposing them in the open field and the necessity of guarding their own city. this time there were no dissentient voices; both the disaffected and the muslim had had a lesson at ohod that was not lightly forgotten. then salman, a persian, and one skilled in war, suggested that their stronghold should be further defended by a trench dug at the most vulnerable parts of the city's outposts. medina is built upon "an outcropping mass of rock" which renders attack impossible upon the north-west side. detached from it, and leaving a considerable vacant space between, a row of compactly built houses stood, making a very passable stone wall defence for that portion of the city. the trench was dug in that level ground between the rocks and the houses, and continued also upon the unsheltered south and east sides. there are many legends of the digging of the trench and the desperate haste with which it was accomplished. mahomet himself is said to have helped in the work, and it is almost certain that here tradition has not erred. the deed coincides so well with his eager and resolute nature, that never neglected any means, however humble, that would achieve his purpose. the faithful worked determinedly, devoting their whole days to the task, and never resting from their labours until the whole trench was dug. the hard ground was softened by water, and legendary accounts of mahomet's powers in pulverising the rocks are numerous. the great work was completed in six days, and on the evening of its achievement the muslim army encamped between the trench and the city in the open space thus formed. a tent of red leather was set up for mahomet, where zeinab and omm salma, as well as his favourite and companion, ayesha, visited him in turn. around him rested his chief warriors, ali, othman, zeid, omar, with his counseller abu bekr and his numerous entourage of heroes and enthusiasts. they were infused with the same exalted resolve as their leader, and waited undismayed for the infidel attack. but with the rest of the citizens, and especially with the disaffected, it was otherwise. ever since the rumour of the onrush of their foe reached medina, they had murmured openly against their leader's rule. they had refused to help in the digging of the ditch, and now waited in ill-concealed discontent mingled with a base panic fear for their own safety. the meccan host advanced as before by way of ohod, and pursued their way to the city rejoicing in the freedom from attack, and convinced thereby that their conquest of medina would be rapid and complete. they penetrated to the rampart wall of houses and marched past them to the level ground, intending to rush the city and pen the muslim army within its narrow streets, there to be crushed at will by the sheer mass of its foes. then as the whole army in battle array moved forward, strong in its might of numbers, the advance was checked and thrown into confusion by the opposing trench. abu sofian, hurrying up, learnt with anger of this unexpected barrier. finding he could not cross it, he waxed indignant, and declared the device was cowardly and "unlike an arab." the traditionalist, as usual, was disconcerted by the resourceful man of action, and the muslim obstinately remained behind their defence. the kureisch discharged a shower of arrows over the ditch among the entrenched muslim and then retired a little from their first position, so as to encamp not far from the city and try to starve it into surrender. mahomet was content that he had staved off immediate attack, and set to work to complete his defences and strengthen his fighting force, when grave news reached him from the immediate environs of the city. successful as he had been in extirpating two of the hated jewish tribes, mahomet was nevertheless forced to submit to the presence of the beni koreitza, whose fortresses were situated near the city on its undefended side. it is uncertain whether there was ever a treaty between this tribe and the prophet, or what its provisions were supposing such a document to have existed, but it is evident that there must have been some peaceable relations between the muslim and the koreitza, and that the latter were of some account politically. now, the jewish tribe, resentful at the treatment of their fellow-believers, and seeing the t me ripe for secession to the probable winning side, cast away even their nominal allegiance to mahomet and openly joined his enemies. a muslim spy was sent to their territory to discover their true feeling, and his report was so disquieting that the prophet immediately set a guard over his tent, fearing assassination, and ordered patrols to keep the medinan streets free from any attempts to disturb the peace and threaten his army from within the city's confines. the muslim were now in parlous state. the trench might avail to stop the enemy for a time, but an opportunity was sure to occur when they would attempt a crossing, and once within the city mahomet knew they would carry destruction before them, and irretrievable ruin to his cause. his jewish enemies made common enmity against him with the kureisch, and the disaffected declared their intention of joining the rest of his foes. but he would not yield, and continued unabashed to defend the trench and city with all the skill and energy he could command from his harassed followers. the kureisch remained several days inactive, but at last abu jahl discovered a weak spot in his enemies' line where the trench was narrow and undefended. he determined on immediate attack, and sent a troop of horsemen to clear the ditch and give battle on the opposite side. the move was noticed from within the defence. ali and a body of picked men were sent to frustrate it. ali reached the ground just as the foremost of the kureisch cleared the ditch and prepared to advance upon the city. swiftly he leapt from his horse, and challenged an aged chief of the kureisch to single combat. the gage was accepted, but the chieftain could stand up to ali no better than a reed stands upright before the wind that shakes it. the chief was slain before the eyes of his friend, and thereupon the general onslaught began. the muslim fought like those possessed, until in a little space there remained not one of the defiant party that had recently crossed the gulf between the armies. but the kureisch were undaunted; the order for a general attack upon the trench was now ordered. the assault began in the early morning and continued throughout the day. for long weary hours, without respite and with very little sustenance the muslin army kept the kureisch host at bay. the encounters were sharp and prolonged, and none of the men could be spared from the strife to make their daily devotions to allah. "they have kept us from our prayers," declared mahomet in wrath, as he watched the unresting attack, "god fill their bellies and their graves with fire!" he cursed the infidel dogs, while exhorting his men to stand firm, and before all things keep their lines unbroken. the attack was repulsed, but not without great loss and misery upon mahomet's side. his prestige was now entirely lost among the citizens, only the faithful still rallied round him out of their invincible trust in his personality. the disaffected began to foment agitation within the narrow streets, the bazaars and public places. there was great distress among the people of medina; scarcity of food mingled with their fears for the future to create an insecurity wherein crime finds its dwelling-place and brutality its fostering soil. "then were the faithful tried, and with strong quaking did they quake." nevertheless, they stood firm, and took no part in the murmuring of the disaffected, and presently allah sent them down succour for their steadfastness and high courage. mahomet, failing in direct warfare to drive back his enemies, resorted to strategy. he planned to send a secret embassy to buy off the beni ghatafan, and so strive to break up the kureisch alliance. but the rest of the city were unwilling to adopt this measure, preferring to trust more firmly in the strength of their defences. finally, mahomet determined to essay upon his own initiative some means of subtlety whereby he might force back this encompassing foe that hourly threatened his whole dominion. he sent an embassy to the jews outside the city with intent to sow dissension between them and the kureisch. "see now," he commanded his envoy, "whether thou canst not break up this confederacy, for war, after all, is but a game of deception." the muslim pursued his way unchecked to the camp of the koreitza, just outside the city, where he whispered his insidious messages into the ears of the chief, saying the kureisch were already weary of fighting and were even now planning a retreat, and would forsake their allies as soon as was expedient, leaving them to the mercy of a muslim revenge. he promised bribes of money, slave girls, and land from the prophet if they would betray their new-found allies. self-interest prevailed; at last the plan was agreed upon, and the messenger returned to mahomet with the good news of the breaking-up of the confederacy. the treachery of the koreitza spread discouragement among the arab chiefs. moreover, their supplies were already running short. they ceased to press the siege so severely; the attacks became weaker, and mahomet was easily able to prevent any further incursions beyond the trench. and now the weather broke up. the sunny country was transformed suddenly into a dreary, storm-swept wilderness. blasts of wind came skurrying down upon the kureisch camp, driving rain and sleet before them. to mahomet it was the wrath of the lord made manifest upon the presumptuous meccans. their camp-fires were blown out, their tents damp and draggled, their men dispirited, their forage scarce. suddenly abu sofian, weary of inaction, thoroughly disheartened by the hardships of his position, broke up the camp and ordered a retreat. the vast army faded away as magically as it had come. the morning after their departure the muslim awoke to see only a few scattered tents and the disorderly remains of human occupation as evidences of the presence of a foe that had accounted itself invincible. the meccans evidently accepted defeat, for they returned speedily to their own country, realising bitterly the impossibility of keeping together so heterogeneous an army in the face of a prolonged check. medina was free of its immediate menace, and great was the rejoicing when the camp was abandoned and islam returned in security to its sanctuary within the city. mahomet repaired immediately to ayesha's house, and was cleansing the stains of conflict from his body when the mandate came from heaven through the lips of gabriel: "hast thou laid aside thine arms? lo, the angels have not yet put down their weapons, and i am come to bid thee go against the beni koreitza to destroy their citadel." mahomet's swift nature, alive to the value of speed, had realised in a flash that now was the time to strike at the koreitza, the treacherous hebrew dogs, before they could grow strong and gather together any allies to help them ward off their certain chastisement. the enterprise was proclaimed at once to the weary muslim, and the great banner, still unfurled, placed in the hands of ali. the faithful were eager for rest, but at the command of their leader they forgot their exhaustion and rallied round him again with the same loving and invincible devotion that had sustained them during the terrible days of siege. the expedition marched to the koreitza fortress, and laid siege to it in march, . for twenty-five days it was besieged by islam, says the chronicler, until god put terror into the hearts of the jews, and they were reduced to sore straits. then they offered to depart as the kainukaa had departed, empty-handed, with neither gold nor cattle, into a strange land. but mahomet had not forgotten their treachery to him under the suasion of the kureisch, and he determined on sterner measures. the jews were now thoroughly terrified, and sent in haste to crave permission for a visit from abu lubaba, an ally of the beni aus, their former confederates. mahomet consented, as one who grants the trivial wish of a doomed man. in sorrow abu lubaba went into the camp of the koreitza, and when they questioned him he told them openly that they must abandon hope. their doom was decreed by the prophet, sanctioned by allah; it was irrevocable. when the koreitza heard the sentence they bowed their heads, some in wrath, some in despair, and charged abu lubaba with supplications for mahomet's clemency. the messenger returned and told the prophet what he had disclosed to the jews concerning their impending fate. "thou hast done ill," declared mahomet, "for i would not that mine enemies know their doom before it is accomplished." thereupon, says tradition, abu lubaba was filled with remorse at having displeased his master, and entering the mosque bound himself to one of its pillars, whence it is called the pillar of repentance to this day. at last the jews, worn out with the siege, without resources, allies, or any hope of relief, surrendered at discretion to the beni aus. immediately their citadel was seized and plundered, while their men were handcuffed and kept apart, their women and children given into the keeping of a renegade jew. their cattle were driven into medina before their eyes, and soon the whole tribe was withdrawn from its ancestral habitation, awaiting what might come from the hand of their terrible foe. then mahomet pronounced judgment. he sent for sa'ad ibn muadh, the chief of the beni aus, and into his hands he gave the fate of all those souls who belonged to the tribe of koreitza. sa'ad was elderly, fat, irritable, and vindictive. he had a long-standing grudge against this people, and knew nothing of the mercy which greater men bestow upon the fallen. "my judgment is that the men shall be put to death, the women and children sold into slavery, and the spoil divided among the army." mahomet was exultant at the sentence. "truly the judgment of sa'ad is the judgment of god pronounced on high from beyond the seventh heaven." it accorded with his mood of angry resentment against the earlier treachery of the koreitza, but why he deputed its pronouncement to sa'ad instead of taking it upon himself is not easy to discover. possibly he may have dreaded to acquire such a reputation for cruelty as this would bestow upon him, possibly he wished to make clear to the world that the jews had been doomed to death by a member of their allied tribe. certainly he welcomed the terrible sentence, and ensured its accomplishment. the koreitza were dragged pitilessly to medina, the men kept together under strict guard, the women and children made ready to be sold at the marts within the city. that night the outskirts of medina became the scene of grim activity. in the soft darkness of the arabian night mahomet's followers laboured with dreadful haste at the digging of many trenches. the day dawned upon their uncompleted work, and not until the sun was high did they return to the heart of the city. then the men of the koreitza were divided into companies and led out in turn to the trenches. the slaughter began. as they filed to the edge of the pits they were struck down by the waiting muslim, so that their bodies fell into the common grave, mingled with the blood and quivering flesh of those who followed. as one company after another marched out and did not return, their chief man asked the muslim soldier concerning his countrymen's fate: "seest thou not that each company departs and is seen no more? will ye never understand?" the doom of the koreitza was wrought out to its terrible end, which was not until set of sun. the number of butchered men is variously estimated, but it cannot have been less than between and . so the koreitza perished, each moving forward to meet the irremediable without fear, without supplication, and when the carnage was over, mahomet turned to the distribution of the spoil. his eyes lighted upon rihana, a beautiful jewess, and he desired her as solace after this ruthless but necessary punishment. he offered her marriage; she refused, and became of necessity and forthwith his concubine. then he took the possessions, slaves, and cattle of the vanquished tribe and divided them among the faithful, keeping a fifth part himself, and the land he partitioned also. a few women who had found favour in the eyes of muslim were retained, the rest were sent to be sold as slaves among the bedouin tribes of nejd. the koreitza no longer existed; their treachery had been visited again upon themselves. the massacre of the koreitza and the war of the ditch cannot be viewed apart. the ruthlessness of the former is the outcome of the success which made it possible. mahomet had defeated a most formidable attempt to overthrow him, an attempt which would have lost much of its potency if the koreitza had remained either friendly or neutral, and in the triumph which followed he sought to make such treachery henceforth impossible. he never lost an opportunity; he saw that the koreitza must be dealt with instantly after the failure of the meccan attack, and unhesitatingly he accomplished his work. his act is a plain proof of his increasing confidence in his mission and in himself as ruler and emissary from on high. it speaks not only of his barbarity and courage in the use of it when occasion arose, but also of his tireless energy and swift perception of the right moment to strike. his lack of compunction over the cruelty bears upon it the stamp of his age and environment. the koreitza were the enemies of allah and his prophet; they had dared to betray him. their doom was just. the result of the failure of the meccan attack was to restore in great measure mahomet's reputation, so that he had less trouble hereafter with the disaffected within medina and with the maraudings of desert tribes. for the moment his position within the city was comparatively secure; moreover, in exterminating the koreitza he had removed the last of the hated hebrew race from the precincts of his adopted city, and could regard himself as master of all its neighbouring territory. the disaffected, it is true, remained sufficiently at variance with him to resent, though impotently, his severity towards the koreitza, and to declare that sa'ad ibn muadh's death, which occurred soon after, was the direct result of his bloody judgment. but their resentment was confined to speech. the meccans had retired discredited, and were unlikely to attack again for some time at least. for a little space mahomet seemed secure in his city, whence active opposition had been driven out. the period after the war of the ditch shows him definitely the ruler of a rival city to mecca. the kureisch have made their last concerted attack and are now forced to recognise him as a permanent factor in their political world, though they would not name him equal until he had made further displays of strength. he takes his place now among the city chieftains of western arabia, and has next to reckon with the nomad bedouin tribes of the interior, in which position he is akin to the ruler of mecca himself. he is still never at rest from warfare. one expedition succeeds another, until there is some chance of the realisation of his dream, whose splendour even now beats with insistence upon his spirit, the establishment of his mighty faith within the mother-city which gave it birth, whence, purged of its idolatries and aflame with devotion, it shall make of that city the goal of its followers' prayers, the crown of its earthly sovereignty. chapter xvi the pilgrimage to hodeibia "and he it was who held their hands from you and your hands from them in the valley of mecca, after that he had given you the victory over them; for god saw what ye did."--_the kuran._ mahomet, now secure from immediate attack, counted himself permanently rid of the meccan menace and devoted his care to the strengthening of his position among the surrounding desert tribes. the year - is filled with minor expeditions to chastise or conquer his numerous enemies in the interior. his ceaseless vigilance, made effectual through his elaborate spy system, enabled him to keep the bedouin hordes in check, though he was by no means uniformly successful in his attacks upon them. the period is characterised by the absence of pitched battles, and by the employment of very small raiding parties, who go out simply to plunder and to disperse the hostile forces. his first expedition after the koreitza massacre in june was directed against the beni lahyan, in revenge for their slaughter of the faithful at radji. he took the north-west road to syria as a feint, then swiftly turning, marched along the sea-shore route to mecca, and the beni lahyan fled before him. mahomet was anxious to give battle, but as he found his foe was moving hastily towards the hostile city with intent to draw him on to his doom, he gave up the chase and contented himself with breaking up their encampments, plundering their wealth and women, and so returned to medina. he had been there only a few nights when he learnt that oyeina, chief of the fazara tribe, in concert with the beni ghatafan, had made a raid upon his milch camels at ghaba, killing their keeper and torturing his wife. mahomet pursued, but the raiders were too quick for him and got away with the spoil. mahomet did not follow them up, as nothing was to be gained from such a fruitless quest. in august of the same year another raid on his camels was attempted by the famished tribes of nejd, and mahomet sent an expedition under maslama to chastise them, but the muslim were overpowered by a superior force and most of their company slain. the prophet vowed vengeance upon the perpetrators of this defeat when he should have the power to carry it out. and now the meccan caravan, venturing once more to take the seaward road, so long barred to them, was plundered by zeid at al is, thereby confirming mahomet's hostile intentions towards the kureisch, and ensuring their continued enmity. but reprisals on their part were impossible after the failure before medina, and they suffered the outrage in silence. mahomet was not content to rest upon his newly won security, but now determined to send out messengers and embassies to the rulers of surrounding lands, exhorting them to embrace islam. this policy was to develop later into a regular system, but for the moment only one envoy was sent upon a hazardous mission to the roman emperor, whose recent conquests in persia had made him famous among the arabs. the envoy was not permitted a quiet journey. at wadi-al-cora he was seized and plundered by the beni judzam, but his property afterwards restored by the influence of a neighbouring tribe allied to mahomet, who knew something of the revenge meted out by the prophet. as it was, as soon as he heard of it he despatched zeid with men, who fell upon the beni judzam and slaughtered many. when the expedition returned to medina with the news, they found that the tribe in question had sent in its submission before the slaying of its members. the judzam envoys demanded compensation. "what can be done?" replied mahomet. "i cannot restore dead men to life, but the booty that has been taken i will return and give you safe escort hence." mahomet's next enterprise was to send one of his chief warriors and wise men to dumah to try and convert the tribe. they listened to his words and promises, and after a time, judging it was not alone to their spiritual, but also to their political welfare to follow this powerful leader, they embraced islam, and received the protectorship of the prophet. zeid returned from the plunder of the kureisch caravan and straightway set out upon several mercantile journeys, upon one of which he was set upon and plundered by the beni fazara, near wadi-al-cora. swift retribution followed at the hands of mahomet, who was not minded to see the expeditions that were securing the wealth of his land the prey of marauding tribes. many barbarities were practised at the overthrow of the beni fazara, possibly as a salutary lesson to neighbouring tribes, lest they should presume to attempt like attacks. but now a further menace threatened mahomet from the persecuted but still actively hostile jews at kheibar. they were suspected of stirring up revolt, and so the prophet, knowing the activity centred in their leader, slew him by treachery. still, his successor continued his father's work, only in the fullness of time to be removed from the prophet's path by the same effectual but illicit means. dark and tortuous indeed were some of the ways by which mahomet held his power. his cruelty and treachery were in a measure demanded of him as a necessity for his continued office. they were the price he paid for earthly dominion, and together with the avowed help of the sword they were the stern and pitiless means that secured the triumph of islam. as time went on the scope of his state-craft widened; its exigencies became more varied, and exacted new and often barbarous deeds, that the position won with years of thought and energy might be maintained. mahomet has now paid complete homage to the fickle goddesses force and craft. the sacred month dzul-cada of came round, bringing with it disturbing dreams and yearnings for mahomet. for long past, indeed ever since he had found himself the leader of a religious organisation and had taken the broad traditions of meccan ceremony half unconsciously to himself as the basis of his faith, he had longed to perform the pilgrimage to the holy city. he had upheld mecca before the eyes of his followers as the crown and cradle of their faith. he had preached of pilgrimage thereto as a sacred duty, the inalienable right of every muslim. six years had elapsed since he had himself performed the sacred rites; it is no wonder, therefore, that his whole being was seized with the fervent dream of accomplishing once more the ceremonies inseparable from his faith. political considerations also swayed his decision. if he were allowed to come peaceably to mecca and perform the pilgrimage, it was conceivable that a permanent truce might be agreed upon by the kureisch, and the deed itself could not but enhance his prestige among the bedouins. he was strong enough to resist the meccans in case of an attack, and if such a thing should occur the blame would attach to the kureisch as violators of the sacred month. with his thoughts attuned thus, it is not surprising that in dzul-cada a vision was vouchsafed him, wherein he saw himself within the sacred precincts, performing the rites of pilgrimage. the dream was communicated to the faithful, and instant preparations made for the expedition, mahomet called upon the surrounding tribes to join in his march to mecca, but they, fearing the kureisch hosts, for the most part declined, and earned thereby mahomet's fierce anger in the pages of the kuran. at length the cavalcade was ready; men in the garments of pilgrims, but with swords and armour accompanying them in the rear, journeyed over the desert track that had seen the migration to medina of a small hunted band six short years previously. with them were seventy camels devoted to sacrifice. the pilgrims marched as far as osfan, when a messenger came to them saying that the kureisch were opposing their advance. "they have withdrawn their milch camels from the outskirts, and now lie encamped, having girded themselves with leopard skins, a signal that they will fight like wild beasts. even now khalid with their cavalry has advanced to oppose thee." "curses upon the kureisch!" replied mahomet. "who will show me a way where they will not meet us?" a guide was quickly found, and mahomet turned his company aside, journeying by devious routes until he came to the place of hodeibia, a plain upon the verge of the sacred territory. here al-cawsa, mahomet's prized camel, halted, and would in nowise be urged farther. "she is weary," clamoured the populace, but mahomet knew otherwise. "al-caswa is not weary," he replied, "but that which restrained the armies in the year of the elephant now restraineth her." and he would go no farther into the sacred territory, fearing the doom that had afflicted abraha in that fateful year. so his pilgrim host encamped at hodeibia, and mahomet sent men to clear the wells of sand and dust, so that there might be ample supply of water. thereupon negotiations began between the prophet and mecca. the kureisch sent an ambassador to learn the reason of the appearance of mahomet. when the peaceable intent of the army had been explained to him he remained in earnest converse with the prophet, until at last he moved to catch at the sacred beard after the manner of his race when speaking. instantly one of mahomet's companions seized his hand: "come not near the sacred countenance of god's prophet." the enemy was amazed, and returning told the citizens that he had seen many kings in his lifetime but never a man so devotedly loved as mahomet. the negotiations, however, proceeded very tardily, and at last mahomet sent othman, his famous warrior and companion, to mecca to conduct the final overtures. he had been chosen because of his kinship with the most powerful men of mecca. he was invited to perform the sacred ceremony of encircling the kaaba, but this he refused to do until the prophet should accompany him. the kureisch then detained him at mecca to complete, if it might be, the negotiations. while othman tarried, the report spread among the muslim that he was treacherously slain. mahomet felt that a blow had been struck at his very heart. instantly he summoned the faithful to him beneath a tall tree upon that undulating plain of hodeibia, and enjoined upon them an oath that they would not forsake him but would stand by him till death. the muslim with one accord gave their solemn word in gladness and devotion, and the pledge of the tree was brought into being. mahomet felt the significance of their loyalty very deeply. it was the first oath he had enjoined upon the believers since the days of the pledge of acaba long ago when he was but a persecuted zealot fleeing before the menace of his foes. he was glad because of this proof of loyalty, and his joy finds expression in the muslim book of books: "well pleased hath god been now with the believers when they plighted fealty to thee under the tree; and he knew what was in their hearts; therefore did he send down upon them a spirit of secure repose, and rewarded them with a speedy victory." but rumour, as ever, proved untrustworthy, and before long othman returned with the news that the kureisch were undisposed to battle, and later they sent suheil of their own clan to make terms with mahomet, namely, that he was to return to medina that year, but that the next year he might come again as a pilgrim during the sacred month, and having entered mecca perform the pilgrimage. ali was commanded to write down the conditions of the treaty, and he began with the formula: "in the name of god, the compassionate, the merciful." suheil protested, "i know not that title, write, 'in thy name, o god.'" mahomet acquiesced, and ali continued, "the treaty of mahomet, prophet of god, with suheil ibn amr," but suheil interrupted again: "if i acknowledged thee as prophet of god i should not have made war on thee; write simply thy name and the name of thy father." and so the treaty was drawn up. the traditional text of it is simple and clear, and the only point requiring comment is the clause providing for the treatment of those who go over to islam and those of the believers who rejoin the kureisch. mahomet was sure enough of himself and his magnetism to allow the clause to stand, which allowed any backslider full permission to return to mecca. he knew there would not be many, who having come under the spell of islam would return again to idolatry. the text of the treaty stood substantially in these terms: "in thy name, o god! these are the conditions of peace between mahomet, son of abdallah and suheil, son of amr. war shall be suspended for ten years. whosoever wisheth to join mahomet or enter into treaty with him shall have liberty to do so; and likewise whoever wisheth to join the kureisch or enter into treaty with them. if one goeth over to mahomet without permission of his guardian he shall be sent back to his guardian; but should any of the followers of mahomet return to the kureisch they shall not be sent back. mahomet shall retire this year without entering the city. in the coming year mahomet may visit mecca, he and his followers, for three days, during which the kureisch shall retire and leave the city to them. but they may not enter it with any weapons save those of the traveller, namely, to each a sheathed sword." after the solemn pledging of the treaty mahomet sacrificed his victims, shaved his head and changed his raiment, as a symbol of the completed ceremonial in spirit, if not in fact, and ordered the immediate withdrawal to medina. his followers were crestfallen, for they had been led to expect his speedy entry into mecca, and they were disappointed too because their warlike desires had been curbed to stifling point. but the prophet was firm, and promised them fighting in plenty as soon as they should have reached medina again. so the host moved back to its city of origin, fortified by the treaty with its hitherto implacable foes, and exulting in the promise that next year the sacred ceremonies would be accomplished by all true believers. the depression that at first seized his followers at the conclusion of their enterprise found no reflex in the mind of mahomet. he was well aware of the significance of the transaction. in the kuran the episode has a sura inspired directly by it and entitled "victory," the burden of which is the goodness of god upon the occasion of the prophet's pilgrimage to hodeibia. "in truth they who plighted fealty to thee really plighted fealty to god; the hand of god was over their hands! whoever, therefore, shall break his oath shall only break it to his own hurt; but whoever shall be true to his engagements with god, he will give him a great reward." it was, in fact, a great step forward towards his ultimate goal. it involved his recognition by the kureisch as a power of equal importance with themselves. no longer was he the outcast fanatic for whose overthrow the kureisch army was not required to put forth its full strength. no longer even was he a rebel leader who had succeeded in establishing his precarious power by the sword alone. the treaty of hodeibia recognises him as sovereign of medina, and formally concedes to him by implication his temporal governance. it is not to be wondered at, therefore, that his mood on returning to the city was one of rejoicing and praise to allah who had made such a victory possible. henceforward the dream of universal sovereignty took ever more distinctive lineaments in his mind. he pictured first a great and united arabia, mighty because of its homage to the true god, and supreme because of its birthing of the world-subduing faith. to say that these thoughts had been with him since his first hazardous entry into medina is to grant him a long-sightedness which his opportunist rule does not warrant. the creator of them was his boundless energy, his force of personality, which kept steadily before him his unquenchable faith and led him from strength to strength. by diplomacy and the sword he had carved out his kingdom, and now he purposed to extend it by suasion and cunning, which nevertheless was to be supported by his soldier's skill and courage. the next phase in his career is one in which reliance is placed as much upon statecraft as warfare, in which he tries with varying success to array his state and his religion along with the great empires and principalities of his eastern world. chapter xvii the fulfilled pilgrimage "o ye to whom the scriptures have been given! believe in what we have sent down confirmatory of the scriptures which is in your hands, ere we efface your features and twist your head round backward, or curse you as we cursed the sabbath-breakers: and the command of god was carried into effect." the end of dzul-cada saw mahomet safe in his own city, but with his promises of booty and warfare for his followers unfulfilled. he remained a month at medina, and then sought means to carry out his pact. he had now determined upon a pure war of aggression, and for this the outcast jews of kheibar offered themselves as an acceptable sacrifice in his eyes. in muharram he prepared an expedition against them, important as being the first of any size that he had undertaken from the offensive. it is a greater proof of his renewed security and rapidly growing power than all the eulogies of his followers and the curses of his enemies. the white standard was placed in the hands of ali, and the whole host of strong went up against the fortresses of kheibar. the jews were taken completely off their guard. without allies and with no stores of food and ammunition they could make no prolonged resistance. one by one their forts fell before the muslim raiders until only the stronghold of kamuss remained. mahomet was exultant. "allah akbar! truly when i light upon the coasts of any people, woe unto them in that day." then he assembled all his men and put the sacred eagle standard at their head, the white standard with the black eagle embossed, wrought out of the cloak of his wife, ayesha. he bade them lead the assault upon kamuss and spare nothing until it should fall to them. in the carnage that followed marhab, chief of kheibar, was slain, and at length the jews were beaten back with terrible loss. there was now no hope left: the fortress kamuss must fall, and with it the last resistance of the jews. their houses, goods, and women were seized, their lands confiscated. kinana, the chief who had dared to try and originate a coalition previously against mahomet, was tortured by the burning brand and put to death, while safia, his seventeen year old bride, passed tranquilly into the hands of the conqueror. mahomet married her and she was content, indeed rejoiced at this sudden change; for, according to legend, she had dreamed that such honour should befall her. but all the women of the jews were not so complacent, and in zeinab, sister of marhab, burned all the fierceness and lust for revenge of which the proud hebrew spirit is capable. she would smite this plunderer of her nation, though it might be by treacherous means. had he not betrayed her kindred far more terribly upon the bloody slaughter ground of the koreitza? she prepared for his pleasure a young kid, dressed it with care, and placed it before him. in the shoulder she put the most effective poison she knew, and the rest of the meat she polluted also. when mahomet came to the partaking he took his favourite morsel, the shoulder, and set it to his lips. instantly he realised the tainted flavour. he cried to his companions: "this meat telleth me it is poisoned; eat ye not of it." but it was too late to save two of the faithful, who had swallowed mouthfuls of it. they died in tortures a few hours afterwards. mahomet himself was not immune from its poison. he had himself bled at once, and immediate evil was averted. but he felt the effects of it ever after, and attributed not a little of his later exhaustion to the poisoned meats he had eaten in kheibar. the woman was put to death horribly, and the muslim army hastened to depart from the ill-omened place. they returned to medina after several months absence, and there the spoil was divided. the land as usual was given out to muslim followers, or the jews were allowed to keep their holdings, provided they paid half the produce as tribute to mahomet. half the conquered territory, however, was reserved exclusively for the prophet, constituting a sort of crown domain, whence he drew revenues and profit. thus was temporal wealth continually employed to strengthen his spiritual kingdom and put his faith upon an unassailable foundation. the expedition to kheibar saw the promulgation of several ordinances dealing with the personal and social life of his followers. the dietary laws were put into stricter practice; the flesh of carnivorous animals was forbidden, and a severer embargo was laid upon the drinking of wine--the result of mahomet's knowledge of the havoc it made among men in that fierce country and among those wild and passionate souls. henceforward also the most careful count was kept of all the booty taken in warfare, and those who were discovered in the possession of spoil fraudulently obtained were subject to extreme penalties. all spoil was inviolate until the formal division of it, which usually took place upon the battlefield itself or less frequently within medina. the prophet's share was one-fifth, and the rest was distributed equally among the warriors and companions. since islam derived its temporal wealth chiefly by spoliation, the destiny of its plunder was an important question and gave rise to frequent disputes between the disaffected and the believers which are mentioned in the kuran. by now, however, the malcontents were for the most part silenced, and we hear little disputation after this as to the apportionment of wealth. with the return to medina came the inaugury of mahomet's extension of diplomacy--the dream which had filled his mind since the tide of his fortunes had turned with the kureisch failure to capture his city. the year , the first year of embassies, saw his couriers journeying to the princes and emperors of his immediate world to demand or cajole acknowledgment of his mission. a great seal was engraved, having for its sign "mahomet, the prophet of god," and this was appended to the strange and incoherent documents which spread abroad his creed and pretensions. the first embassy to heraclius was sent in this year summoning him to follow the religion of god's prophet and to acknowledge his supremacy. at the same time the prophet sent a like missive to the ghassanide prince harith, ally of heraclius and a great soldier. the envoys were treated with the contempt inevitable before so strange a request from an unknown fanatic, and heraclius dismissed the whole matter as the idle word of a barbarian dreamer. but harith, with the quick resentment harboured by smaller men, asked permission of the emperor to chastise the impostor. heraclius refused; the embassy was not worthy of his notice, and he was certainly determined not to lose good fighting men in a useless journey through the desert. so mahomet received no message in return from the emperor, but the omission made no difference to his determination to proceed upon his course of diplomacy. he then sent to siroes of persia a similar letter, but here he was treated more rudely. the envoy was received in audience by the king, who read the extraordinary letter and in a flash of anger tore it up. he did not ill-treat the messenger, however, and suffered him to return to his own land. "even so, o lord, rend thou his kingdom from him!" cried mahomet as he heard the story of his flouting. his next enterprise was more successful. the governor of yemen, badzan, nominally under the sway of persia, had separated himself almost entirely from his overlord during the unstable rule of siroes, son of the warrior chosroes. now badzan embraced islam, and with his conversion the yemen population became officially followers of the prophet. encouraged by the success, mahomet sent a despatch to egypt, where he was courteously received and given two slave girls, mary and shirin, as presents. mary he kept for himself because of her exceeding beauty, but shirin was bestowed upon one of the companions. although the egyptian king did not embrace islam, he was kindly disposed towards its prophet. the next despatch, to abyssinia, is distinguished by the importance of its indirect results. ever since the small body of islamic converts had fled thither for refuge before the persecutions of the kureisch, mahomet had desired to convert abyssinia to his creed. now he sent an envoy to its king enjoining him to embrace islam, and asking for the hand of omm haliba in marriage, daughter of abu sofian and widow of obeidallah, one of the "four inquirers" of an earlier and almost forgotten time. the despatch was well received by the governor, who allowed omm haliba and all who wished of the original immigrants to return to their native country. jafar, mahomet's cousin, exiled to abyssinia in the old troublous times, was the most famous of these disciples. he was a great warrior, and found his glory fighting at the head of the armies of the prophet at muta, where he was slain, and entered forthwith upon the paradise of joy which awaits the martyrs for islam. not long after his return from kheibar the refugees arrived, and mahomet took omm haliba to wife. during the remainder of the prophet held his state in medina, only sending out some of his lesser leaders at intervals upon small defensive expeditions. his position was now secure, but only just as long as his right arm never wavered and his hands never rested from slaughter. by the edge of the sword his conquests had been made, by the edge of the sword alone they would be kept. but it was now necessary only for him to show his power. the frightened arab tribes crept away, cowed before his vigilance, but if the whip were once put out of sight they would spring again to the attack. he now receives the title of prince of hadaz, how and by whom bestowed upon him we have no record. most probably he wrested it himself by force from the tribes inhabiting that country, and compelled them to acknowledge him by that sign of overlordship. the year before the stipulated time for mahomet to repair once more to mecca was spent in consolidating his position by every means in his power. he was resolved that no weakness on his part should give the kureisch the chance to refuse him again the entry into their city. his position was to be such that any question of ignoring the treaty would be made impossible, and by the time of dzul cada, , he had carried out his designs with that thoroughness of which only he in all arabia seemed at that period capable. two thousand men gathered round him to participate in the important ceremony which was for them the visible sign of their kinship with the sacred city, and its ultimate religious absorption in their own all-conquering creed. they were clad in the dress of pilgrims, and carried with them only the sheathed sword of their compact for defence. but a body of men brought up the rear, themselves in armour, driving before them pack-camels, whereon rested arms and munitions of all kinds. sixty camels were taken for sacrifice, and mahomet, son of maslama, with one hundred horse formed the vanguard, so as to prove a defence should the passions of the kureisch overcome their discretion and nullify their plighted words. abdallah, the impetuous, would fain have shouted some defiant words as the cavalcade neared the portals of the city, but omar restrained him and mahomet gave the command. "speak ye only these words, 'there is no god but god; it is he that hath upholden his servant. alone hath he put to flight the hosts of the confederates.'" so any tumult was prevented and the truce carried out. then began one of the most wonderful episodes ever written upon the pages of history--nothing less than the peaceable emigration for three days of a whole city before the hosts of one who but a little time since had fled thence from the persecution of his fellows. all the meccan armed population retired to the hills and left their city free for the completion of mahomet's religious rites. with the sublimest faith in his integrity they left their city defenceless at his feet. truly the prophet's magnetism had won him many an adherent and secured him great triumphs in warfare, but never had his power shone with such lustre as at the time of his fulfilled pilgrimage. the city was left weaponless before his soldiery, and the dwellers within its walls were content to trust to the power of a written agreement, which in the hands of an unscrupulous man would be as effective as a reed against a whirlwind. mahomet entered the city, and for three days pitched his tent of leather beneath the shadow of the kaaba. he made the sevenfold circuit thereof and kissed the black stone. thence he journeyed with all his followers to safa and marwa, where he performed the necessary rites, and at which latter place he sacrificed his victims, drawing them up in line between himself and the city. then returning there he asked for and obtained the hand of meimuna, sister-in-law of his uncle abbas, a bold and characteristic stroke which did much to pave the way for the later conversion of his uncle and the final enrolment of the chief men of mecca upon his side. this was the last marriage he contracted, and it shows, as so many other alliances, his keen political foresight and the exercise of his favourite method of attempting to win over hostile states. he was still the political leader and schemer, though the ecstasy of religion, symbolised for him just now in the rites of the lesser pilgrimage, had caught him for the moment in its sweep. public prayer was offered upon the third day from the kaaba itself, and with that the pilgrimage came to an end. mahomet tried earnestly to win over and conciliate the meccans during this meagre three days' sojourn, but his task was beyond the power even of his magnificent energy. at the end of the third day the meccans returned. "thy time is outrun: depart thou out of our city." mahomet answered: "what can it matter if ye allow me to celebrate my marriage here and make a feast as is the custom?" but they replied with anger, "we need not thy feasts; depart thou hence." and mahomet was reluctantly forced to comply. he had been not without hope that the kureisch would be won over to his cause in such great numbers that he might be suffered to remain as head of a converted mecca, and he was loth to see such an unrivalled opportunity slip by without trying his utmost to gain some kind of permanent foothold in the city of his desires. but his faith weighed not so well with the kureisch, and, having within himself the strength which knows when to desist from importunity, he quitted the city and retired to sarif, eight miles away, where he rested together with his host of believers, now content and reverent towards the master who had made their dreams incarnate, their ideals tangible. at sarif mahomet received what was perhaps the best fortune that had come to him outside his own powerful volition. khalid, the skilful leader at ohod and the greatest warrior the kureisch possessed, together with amru, poet and scholar as well as future warrior and conqueror of egypt, were won over to the faith they had so obstinately opposed. they joined mahomet at sarif, and were forthwith appointed among the companions, the equals of ali, othman and omar. following their adherence to the winning cause came the allegiance to mahomet of othman ibn talha, custodian of the kaaba. with these men of weight and influence ranged upon his side, the chief in war, the supreme in song, and the representative of meccan ritualistic life, mahomet had indeed justification for rejoicing. they were the first of the famous men and rulers in mecca to range themselves with him, and they marked the turn of the tide, which came to its full flowing with the occupation of the sacred city and the conversion of abu sofian and abbas. slowly, with pain and striving, mahomet was overcoming the measureless opposition to things new. six years of ceaseless effort, warfare and exhortation, compulsion and rewards were needed to secure for him the undisputed exercise of his religion in the place that was its sanctuary. faith, backed by the strength and wealth of his armies, now gathered in the choicest of his opponents. the time was come when he was beginning to taste the wine of success. he had scarcely penetrated the borderland of that delectable garden, but the first meagre fruit thereof was sweet. it spurred him on to the perpetual renewal of alertness that he might keep what he had won and pursue his way to the innermost far-off enclosure, around the portal of which was written, as a mandate for all the world: "bear witness, there is no god but god, and mahomet is his prophet." the fulfilled pilgrimage, however, was but the preliminary to his master-stroke of policy strengthened by force of arms: months of hard fighting and diplomacy were needed before he could direct the blow that made his triumph possible. for the time he had simply made clear to arabia that mecca was his holy city, the queen of his would-be dominion, and by scrupulous performance of the old religious rites he had identified islam both to his followers and to the meccans themselves with the ancient fadeless traditions of their earlier faith, purified and made permanent by their homage to one god, "the compassionate, the merciful, the mighty, the wise." chapter xviii the triumphal entry "when the help of god and the victory arrive, and thou seest men entering the religion of god by troops, then utter the praise of thy lord, implore his pardon, for he loveth to turn in mercy."--_the kuran._ after the swordless triumph of dzul cada, , mahomet rested in medina for about nine months, while he sent out his leaders of expeditions into all parts of the peninsula wherever a rising was threatened, or where he saw the prospect of a conversion by force of arms. the beni suleim, whose more powerful allies, the ghatafan, had given mahomet much trouble in the past, were still recusant. mahomet sent an expedition to essay their conversion early in the year, but the suleim persisted in their enmity and received the muslim envoys with a shower of arrows. they retired hastily, being insufficiently equipped to risk an attack, and came back to medina. the prophet, unabashed, now sent a detachment against the beni leith. the encampment was surprised, their camels plundered, their chattels seized, while they themselves were forced to flee in haste to the fastnesses of the desert. the beni murra, conquerors of mahomet's expeditionary force at fadak, received now at his hands their delayed but inevitable punishment. the prophet found himself strong enough, and without any compunction he inflicted the severest chastisement upon them, more especially as an example to the neighbouring tribes of the retribution in store for all who dared to revolt against his newly-won but still precarious power. soon after an expedition of fifteen men was sent to dzat allah upon the borders of syria. the men journeyed confidently to their far-off goal, but instead of finding, as they expected, a few chiefs at the head of ill-organised armies, they found arrayed against them an overwhelming force, well led and disciplined. they called upon them to embrace islam with the fine courage of certain failure. the bedouin hordes scoffed at the exhortation, and forthwith slew the whole company except one, who managed to escape to medina with the tale. the catastrophe was a signal for a massed attack upon mahomet's power from the whole of the border district, led by the feudatories of heraclius, who were bent upon exterminating the upstart. hastily the muslim army was mobilised, given into the leadership of zeid, who with jafar and abdallah was commissioned to resist the infidels to the last and to continue their attack upon the foe until they were either slain or victorious. the army marched to muta in september, , and while on the way heard with alarm of the massing of the foe, whose numbers daunted even their savage bravery. at muta a council of war was called at which zeid and abdallah were the principal speakers. after the peril of their position had been discussed and the reasons for retreat given, abdallah rose from among his fellows, determined to rally their spirits. he pressed for an immediate advance, urging the invincibility of allah, the power of their prophet, and the glory of their cause. it was impossible for those warrior spirits not to respond to his enthusiasm, and the order was given. the muslim marched to beleea by the dead sea, but finding themselves in no good strategic position and hearing still further news as to the immensity of their opposition, they retired to muta, where at the head of a narrow ravine they offered battle to the roman auxiliaries, who far outweighed them in numbers and efficiency. the roman phalanx bore down upon them, and zeid at the head of his troops urged them to resist with all their strength. he was cut down in the van as he led the opposing rush, and instantly jafar, leaping from his horse, maimed it, as a symbol that he would fight to the death, and rushed forward on foot. the fight grew furious, and as the muslim army saw itself slowly pressed back by the enemy its leader fell, covered with wounds. abdallah seized the standard and tried to rally the faithful, whose slow retreat was now breaking into a headlong flight. at his cry there was a brief rally, until in his turn he was cut down by the advancing foe. a citizen sprang to the standard and kept it aloft while he strove to stem the tide, but in vain. the muslim ranks were broken and dispirited. they fell back quickly, and only the military genius of khalid, in command of the rear, was able to save them from annihilation. he succeeded in covering their retreat by his swift and skilful moving, and enabled the remnant to return to medina in safety. mahomet's grief at the loss of jafar and zeid was great. jafar had only lately returned from abyssinia, and was just at the beginning of his military career. he was the brother of ali, and the martial spirit that had raised that warrior to eminence was only just now given opportunity to manifest itself. his loss was rightly felt by mahomet to be a blow to the military as well as the intellectual prowess of islam. the syrian feudatories, however, were not permitted to enjoy their triumph in peace. in october, , amru, mahomet's recent convert, was sent to chastise the offenders and exact tribute from them. he found the task was greater than he had imagined, and sent hurriedly to medina for reinforcements. abu obeida was in command of the new army, and when he came up with amru there was an angry discussion as to who should be leader. abu obeida had the precedent of experience and the asset of having been longer in mahomet's service than amru, but he was a mild man, fearful, and a laggard in dispute. amru's impetuous determination overruled him, and he yielded to the compulsion of his more energetic rival, fearing to provoke disaster by prolonging the quarrel. the hostile syrian tribes were rapidly dispersed with the increased forces at amru's command, and he returned triumphant to medina. as a recompense for his yielding of the leadership to amru, abu obeida was entrusted by mahomet with the task of reducing the tribe of joheina to submission. the expedition was wholly successful; the joheina accepted the prophet's yoke without opposition, and their lead was followed later in the year by the beni abs murra and the beni dzobian, and finally the beni suleim, whose enmity in conjunction with the beni ghatafan had done much to prolong the siege of medina. the prophet was exultant. the year's successes had surpassed his expectations, and the maturing of his deep-laid plans for the reduction of mecca by pressure without bloodshed satisfied his ambitious and dominating soul. he was now master of hedaz, overlord of yemen and the bedouin tribes of the interior as far as the dim syrian border. but with all his newly-found sovereignty there was one stronghold which he could neither conquer nor even impress. on the crowning achievement of subduing mecca all his hopes were set, and there were no means that he did not employ to increase his power so that its continued resistance might ultimately become impossible. he strengthened his hold over the rest of arabia; he won from mecca as many allies as he could; he continually impressed upon both his followers and the surrounding tribes that the city was his natural home, the true abiding-place of his faith. now, having prepared the way, he ventured to ensure the safety thereof by diplomacy and a skilful use of the demonstration of force. he was strong enough to compel an encounter with the kureisch which should prove decisive. in the attack upon the khozaa, allies of the prophet, the beni bekr, who gave their allegiance to the kureisch, supplied mahomet with the necessary _casus belli_. he declared upon the evidence of his friends that the kureisch had helped the beni bekr in disguise and announced the swift enforcement of his vengeance. in alarm the kureisch sent abu sofian to medina to make their depositions as to the rights of the case and to beg for clemency. but their emissary met with no success. mahomet felt himself powerful enough to flout him, and accordingly abu sofian was sent back to his native city discomfited. there follows a tradition which has become obscured with the passing of time, and whose import we can only dimly investigate. abu sofian was returning somewhat uneasily to mecca when he encountered the chief of the khozaa, the outraged tribe. an interview of some length is reported, and it is supposed that the chief represented to the meccan citizen the hopelessness of his resistance and the advantages in belonging to the party that was rapidly bringing all arabia under its sway. abu sofian listened, and it may be that the chief's words induced him to consider seriously the possibility of ranging himself beneath the banner of the prophet. meanwhile mahomet had summoned all the matchless energy of which he was capable, and set on foot preparations for the overwhelming of mecca. every believer was called to arms; equipment, horses, camels, stores were gathered in vast concourse upon the outskirts of medina, awaiting only the command of the prophet to go up against the scornful city whose humiliation was at hand. the order to march was given on january , , and soon the whole army was bearing down upon mecca with that rapidity which continually characterised the prophet's actions, and which was more than ever necessary now in face of the difficult task to be performed. in a week the prophet, with zeinab and dram salma as his companions, at the head of , men, the largest army ever seen in medina, arrived within a stage of his goal. he encamped at mar azzahran and there rested his army from the long desert march, the toilsome and difficult route connecting the two long-sundered cities that had given feature to the origin and growth of islam. while he was there he received what was perhaps the most important asset since the conversion of khalid. abbas, his uncle, still timorous and vacillating, but now impelled into a firmer courage by the powerful agency of mahomet's recent triumphs, quitted mecca with his following and joined his nephew, professing the creed of islam, and enjoining it also upon those who accompanied him. the conversion did not come as a surprise to mahomet. he had been watching carefully by means of his spies the trend of events in mecca, and he knew that the allegiance of abbas was his whenever he should collect sufficient force to demonstrate his superiority. abbas loved the winning cause. when mahomet was obscure and persecuted he had befriended him as far as personal protection, but his was not the nature to venture upon a hazardous enterprise such as the prophet's attempt to found a new religious community in another city. now, however, that the undertaking had proved so completely victorious that it threatened to make of mecca the weaker side, abbas, with the solemnity which falls upon such people when self-interest points the same way as previous inclination, threw in his lot with islam. the muslim rested that night at mar azzahran, kindling their camp-fires upon the crest of a hill whose summit could be seen from the holy city. the glare flamed red against the purple night sky, and by its ominous glow abu sofian ventured beyond the city's boundaries to reconnoitre. before he could penetrate as far as the muslim encampment he was met by abbas, who took him straightway to mahomet. when the morning came the prophet sent for his rival and greeted him with contempt: "woe unto thee, abu sofian; seest thou not that there are no gods but god?" but he answered with professions of his regard for mahomet. "woe unto thee, abu sofian; believest thou not that i am the prophet of god?" "thou art well appraised by us, and i see thy great goodness among the companions. as for what thou hast said i know not the wherefore of it." then abbas, standing by mahomet, besought him: "woe unto thee, abu sofian; become one of the faithful and believe there is no god but god and that mahomet is his prophet before we sever thy head from the body!" under such strong compulsion, says tradition, abu sofian was converted and sent back to mecca with promises of clemency. it is almost impossible not to believe that collusion between abbas and abu sofian existed before this interview. abbas had given the lead, for his prescience had divined the uselessness of resistance, and he foresaw greater glory as the upholder of islam, the triumphing cause, than as the vain opposer of what he firmly believed to be an all-conquering power. abu sofian took somewhat longer to convince, and never really gave up his dream of resistance until he met abbas on the fateful night and was shown the vastness of the medinan army, their good organisation and their boundless enthusiasm. thereat his hopes of victory became dust, and he bowed to the inevitable in the same manner as abbas had done before him, though from different motives, one being actuated by the desire for favour and fame, the other only anxious to save his city from the horrors of a prolonged and ultimately unsuccessful siege. thereafter the army marched upon mecca, and mahomet completed his plans for a peaceful entry. zobeir, one of his most trusted commanders, was to enter from the north, khalid and the bedouins from the southern or lower suburb, where possible resistance might be met, as it was the most populous and turbulent quarter. abu obeida, followed by mahomet, took the nearest road, skirting jebel hind. it was an anxious time as the force divided and made its appointed way so as to come upon the city from three sides. mahomet watched his armies from the rear in a kind of paralysis of thought, which overtakes men of action who have provided for every contingency and now can do nothing but wait. khalid alone encountered opposition, but his skill and the force behind him soon drove the meccans back within their narrow streets, and there separated them into small companies, robbing them of all concerted action, and rendering them an easy prey to his oncoming soldiery. mahomet drew breath once more, and seeing all was well and that the other entries had been peacefully effected, directed his tent to be pitched to the north of the city. it was, in fact, a bloodless revolution. mahomet, the outcast, the despised, was now lord of the whole splendid city that stretched before his eyes. he had seen what few men are vouchsafed, the material fulfilment of his year-long dreams, and knew it was by his own tireless energy and overmastering faith that they had been wrought upon the soil of his native land. his first act was to worship at the kaaba, but before completing the whole ancestral rites he destroyed the idols that polluted the sanctuary. then he commanded bilal to summon the faithful to prayer from the summit of the kaaba, and when the concourse of believers crowded to the precincts of that sacred place he knew that this occupation of mecca would be written among the triumphant deeds of the world. his victory was not stained by any relentless vengeance. strength is always the harbinger of mercy. only four people were put to death, according to tradition, two women-singers who had continued their insulting poems even after his occupation of the city, and two renegades from islam. about ten or twelve were proscribed, but of these several were afterwards pardoned. even hind, the savage slayer of hamza, submitted, and received her pardon at mahomet's hands. an order was promulgated forbidding bloodshed, and the orderly settlement of believers among the meccan population embarked upon. only one commander violated the peace. khalid, sent to convert the jadzima just outside the city, found them recalcitrant and took ruthless vengeance. he slew them most barbarously, and returned to mecca expecting rewards. but mahomet knew well the value of mercy, and he was not by nature vindictive towards the weak and inoffensive. he could punish without remorse those who opposed him and were his equals in strength, but towards inferior tribes he had the compassion of the strong. he could not censure khalid as he was too valuable a general, but he was really grieved at the barbarity practised against the jadzima. he effectually prevented any further cruelties, and on that very account rendered his authority secure and his rulership free from attempts to throw off its yoke within the vicinity of his newly-won power. the populace was far too weak to resist the muslim incursion. its leaders, abu sofian and abbas with their followings, had surrendered to the hostile faith; for the inhabitants there was nothing now between submission and death. the believers were merciful, and they had nought to fear from their violence. they embraced the new faith in self-defence, and received the rulership of the prophet very much as they had received the government of all the other chieftains before him. one command, however, was to be rigidly obeyed, the command inseparable from the dominion of islam. idolatry was to be exterminated, the accursed idols torn down and annihilated. parties of muslim were sent out to the neighbouring districts to break these desecrators of islam. the famous al-ozza and manat, whose power mahomet for a brief space had formerly acknowledged, were swept into forgetfulness at nakhla, every image was destroyed that pictured the abominations, and the temples were cleansed of pollution. out of his spirit-fervour mahomet's triumph had been achieved. in the dim beginnings of his faith, when nothing but its conception of the indivisible godhead had been accomplished, he had brought to its altars only the quenchless fire of his inspiration. he had not dreamed at first of political supremacy, only the rapture of belief and the imperious desire to convert had made his foundation of a city and then an overlordship inevitable. but circumstances having forced a temporal dominance upon him, he became concerned for the ultimate triumph of his earthly power. thereupon his dreams took upon themselves the colouring of external ambitions. conversion might only be achieved by conquest, therefore his first thoughts turned to its attainment. and as soon as he looked upon arabia with the eyes of a potential despot he saw mecca the centre of his ceremonial, his parent city, hostile and unsubdued. certainly from the time of the kureisch failure to capture medina he had set his deliberate aims towards its humiliation. with diplomacy, with caution, by cruelty, cajolements, threatenings, and slaughter he had made his position sufficiently stable to attack her. now she lay at his feet, acknowledging him her master--mecca, the headstone of arabia, the inviolate city whose traditions spoke of her kinship with the heroes and prophets of an earlier world. henceforward the command of arabia was but a question of time. with mecca subdued his anxiety for the fate of his creed was at an end. as far as the mastery of the surrounding country was concerned, all that was needed was vigilance and promptitude. these two qualities he possessed in fullest measure, and he had efficient soldiery, informed with a devoted enthusiasm, to supplement his diplomacy. he was still to encounter resistance, even defeat, but none that could endanger the final success of his cause within arabia. full of exaltation he settled the affairs of his now subject city, altered its usages to conform to his own, and conciliated its members by clemency and goodwill. the conquest of mecca marks a new period in the history of islam, a period which places it perpetually among the ruling factors of the east, and removes it for ever from the condition of a diffident minor state struggling with equally powerful neighbours. islam is now the master power in arabia, mightier than the kureisch, than the bedouin tribes or any idolaters, soon to fare beyond the confines of its peninsula to impose its rigid code and resistless enthusiasm upon the peoples dwelling both to the east and west of its narrow cradle. chapter xix mahomet, victor "now hath god helped you in many battlefields and on the day of honein, when ye prided yourselves on your numbers but it availed you nothing ... then ye turned your backs in flight. then did god lend down his spirit of repose upon his apostle and upon the faithful, and he sent down the hosts which ye saw not and punished the infidels."--_the kuran._ mahomet's triumph at mecca was not left long undisturbed. if the kureisch had yielded in the face of his superior armies, the great tribe of the hawazin were by no means minded to suffer his lordship, indeed they determined forthwith vigorously to oppose it. they were devoted to idol-worship, and leaven of mahomet's teaching had not effected even remotely their age-long faith. they now saw themselves face to face not only with a religious revolution, but also with political absorption in the victorious sect if they did not make good their opposition to this overwhelming enemy in their midst. they assembled at autas, in the range of mountains north-east of taif, and threatened to raid the sacred city itself. mahomet was obliged to leave mecca hurriedly after having only occupied the city for about three weeks. he left muadh ibn jabal to instruct the meccans and secure their allegiance, and called off the whole of his army, together with of the more warlike spirits of his newly conquered territory. the force drew near the valley of honein, where mahomet fell in with the vanguard of the hawazin. there the two armies, the rebels under malik, the muslim under the combined leadership of khalid and mahomet, joined battle. khalid led the van and charged up the steep and narrow valley, hoping to overwhelm the hawazin by his speed, but the enemy fell upon them from an ambuscade at the top of the hill and swept unexpectedly into the narrow, choked path. the muslim, unprepared for the sudden onslaught, turned abruptly and made for flight. instantly above the tumult rose the voice of their leader: "whither go ye? the prophet of the lord is here, return!" abbas lent his encouragement to the wavering files: "citizens of medina! ye men of the pledge of the tree of fealty, return to your posts!" in the narrow defile the battle surged in confluent waves, until mahomet, seizing the moment when a little advantage was in his favour, pressed home the attack and, casting dust in the face of the enemy, cried: "ruin seize them! by the lord of the kaaba they yield! god hath cast fear into their hearts!" the inspired words of their leader, whose vehement power all knew and reverenced, turned the day for the muslim hosts. they charged up the valley and overwhelmed the troops at the rear of the hawazin. the enemy's rout was complete. their camp and families fell into the hands of the conqueror. six thousand prisoners were removed to jeirana, and the fugitive army pursued to nakhla. mahomet's losses were more severe than any which he had encountered for some time, but, undeterred and exultant, he marched to taif, whose idolatrous citadel had become a refuge for the flying auxiliaries of the hawazin. taif remained hostile and idolatrous. ever since it had rejected his message with contumely, in the days when he was but a religious visionary inspired by a dream, it had refused negotiations and even recognition to the blasphemous prophet. now mahomet conceived that his day of vengeance had come. he invested the city, bringing his army close up to its walls, and hoping to reduce it speedily. but the walls of taif were strong, its citadels like towers, its garrison well provisioned, its inmates determined to resist to the end. a shower of arrows from the walls wrought such destruction among his muslim force that mahomet was forced to withdraw out of range where the camp was pitched, two tents of red leather being erected for his favourite wives, omm salma and zeineb. from the camp frequent assaults were made upon the town, which were carried out with the help of testudos, catapults, and the primitive besieging engines of the time. but taif remained inviolate, and each attack upon her walls made with massed troops in the hope of scaling her fortresses was received by heated balls flung from the battlements which set the scaling ladders on fire and brought destruction upon the helpless bodies of mahomet's soldiery. but if he could not impress the city mahomet wreaked his full vengeance upon its neighbourhood. the vineyards were cut down pitilessly, and the whole land of taif laid desolate. liberty was even offered to the slaves of the city who would desert to the invader. nothing ruthless or guileful was spared by the prophet to gain his ends, but with no avail. taif held out until mahomet grew weary, and finally raised the siege, which had considerably lessened in political importance, owing to the overtures of the hawazin, who now wished to be reconciled with mahomet, having perceived that their wisdom lay in peace with so powerful an adversary. they promised alliance with him and their prisoners were restored, but the booty taken from them was retained, after the old imperious custom, which demanded wealth from the conquered. mahomet forthwith distributed largesse among the lesser arabs of the neighbourhood, an act of policy which called down the resentment of his adherents and caused the details of the law of almsgiving to be promulgated in the kuran. the muslim point of view was that having fought for the spoil they were entitled to receive a share of it, but their leader held that it must first be distributed in part to those needy bedouin tribes who had flocked to his banner. the bounty had its desired effect. malik, the hawazin chieftain, moved either by his love of spoil or genuinely convinced of the truth of islam, possibly by the influence of both these considerations, tendered his submission to mahomet and became converted. february and march, , were occupied in distributing equitably the wealth that had fallen into his hands. it was now the time of the lesser pilgrimage, and mahomet returned to mecca to perform it. then, having fulfilled every ceremony and surrounded by his followers, he returned to medina, still the capital of his formless principality and the keystone of his power. thereafter mahomet rested in his own city, where he lived in potential kingship, receiving and sending out embassies, administering justice, instructing his adherents, but still keeping his army alert, his leaders well trained to quell the least disturbance or threatenings of revolt. the conquest of mecca and the victory of honein had rendered him secure from all except those abortive attacks that were instantly crushed by the marching of the force that was to subdue them. the year - was spent in the receiving and sending out of embassies, alternating with the organising of small expeditions to chastise recusants, but to mahomet himself there came besides the flower of an idyll, the frost of a grief. mary, the coptic maid, young, lovely, and forlorn, the helpless barter of an egyptian king, reached medina in the first year of embassies and was reserved for the prophet because of her beauty and her innocence. she had become long since a humble inmate of his harem, and would have ended her days in the same obscurity if potential motherhood had not come to her as an honour and a crowning. when mahomet perceived that she was with child he had her removed from the company of his other wives, and built for her a "garden-house" in upper medina, where she lived until her child was born. mahomet, returning from his campaigns, sought her in her retreat and gave her his companionship and his prayers. in april of she bore a son to her master, who could hardly believe that such a gift had been granted him. never before had his arms held a man-child of his own begetting, and the honours lavished upon the slave-mother showed his boundless gratitude to allah. a son meant much to him, for by that was ensured his hope for a continuance of power when his earthly sojourn was over. the child was named ibrahim, and all the lawful ceremonies were scrupulously observed by his father. he sacrificed a kid upon the seventh day, and sought for the best and most fitting nurses for his new-born son. mary received in full measure the smiles and favour of her master, and the prophet's wives became jealous to fury, so that their former anger was revived--the anger that also had its roots in jealousy when mahomet had first looked upon mary with desiring eyes. then they had gained their lord's displeasure as far as to cause a rebuke against them to be inscribed in the kuran, but now their rage, though still smouldering, was useless against the triumph of that long-looked-for birth. but mahomet's joy was short-lived. scarcely had three months passed when ibrahim sickened even beneath the most devoted care. his father was inconsolable, and the little garden-house that had been the scene of so much rejoicing was now filled with sorrow. ibrahim grew rapidly worse, until mahomet perceived that there was no more hope. then he became resigned, and having closed the child's eyes gave directions for its burial with all fitting ceremonial. thereafter he knew that allah had not ordained him an heir, and became reconciled to the vast decrees of fate. mary, instrument of his hopes and despairs, passed into the oblivion of the despised and now useless slave. we never hear any more of her beyond that the prophet treated her kindly and would not suffer her to be ill-used. she was the mere necessary means of the fulfilment of his intent. having failed in her task she was no longer important, no longer even desired. meanwhile the tasks of administration had been increasing steadily. mahomet was now strong enough to insist that none but believers were to be admitted to the kaaba and its ceremonies, and although all the idolatrous practices in mecca were not removed until after abu bekr's pilgrimage, yet the power of polytheism was completely subdued, and before long was to be extirpated from the holy places. the next matter to be taken in hand owes its origin to the extent of mahomet's domains in the year . it was imperative that some sort of financial system should be adopted, so that the prophet and the believers might possess adequate means for keeping up the efficiency of the army, giving presents to embassies from foreign lands, rewarding worthy subjects, and all the numerous demands upon a chieftain's wealth. deputies were therefore sent out to the various tribes now under his sway to gather from every subject tribe the price of their protection and championship by mahomet. in most cases the tax-gatherers were received as the inevitable result of submission, but there were occasional resistances organised by the bolder tribes, chief of whom was the temim, who drove out mahomet's envoy with contempt and ill-usage. reprisals were immediately set on foot, the tribe was attacked and routed, many of its members being taken prisoner. these were subsequently liberated upon the tribe's guarantee of good faith. the beni mustalik also drove out the tax-gatherer, but afterwards repented and sent a deputation to mahomet to explain the circumstance. they were pardoned and gave guarantees that they would dwell henceforth at peace with the prophet. the summer saw a few minor expeditions to chastise resisters, chief of which was all's campaign against the beni tay. he was wholly successful, and brought back to medina prisoners and booty. the "second year of embassies" proved more gratifying than the first. mahomet's power had increased sufficiently to awe the tribes of the interior into submission and to gain at least a hearing from lands beyond his immediate vicinity. slowly and surely he was building up the fabric of his dominion. with a watchfulness and sense of organisation irresistible in its efficiency he made his presence known. the sword had gained him his dominion, the sword should preserve it with the help of his unfailing vigilance and diplomatic skill. as his power progressed it drew to itself not only the fighting material but the dreams and poetic aspirations of the wild, untutored races who found themselves beneath his yoke. islam was before all an ideal, a real and material tradition, giving scope to the manifold qualities of courage, devotion, aspiration, and endeavour. every tribe coming fully within its magnetism felt it to be the sum of his life, a religion which had not only an indivisible mighty god at its head, but a strong and resolute prophet as its earthly leader. around the central figure each saw the majesty of the lord and also the headship of armies, the crown of power, and the sovereignty of wealth. they invested mahomet with the royalty of romance, and the potency of his magnetism is realised in the story of the conversion of ka'b the poet. he had for years voiced the feelings of contempt and anger against the prophet, and had been the chief vehicle for the launching of defamatory songs. his conversion to the cause of islam is momentous, because it deprived the idolaters of their chief means of vituperation and ensured the gradual dying down of the fire of abuse. mahomet received ka'b with the utmost honour, and threw over him his own mantle as a sign of his rejoicing at the acquisition of so potent a man. ka'b thereupon composed the "poem of the mantle" in praise of his leader and lord, a poem which has rendered him famous and well-beloved throughout the whole muslim world. now embassies came to mahomet from all parts of arabia. instead of being the suppliant he became the dictator, for whose favour princes sued. hadramaut and yemen sent tokens of alliance and promises of conversion, even the far-off tribes upon the borders of syria were not all equally hostile and were content to send deputations. nevertheless, it was from the north that his power was threatened. secure as was his control over central and southern arabia, the northern feudatories backed by heraclius were still obdurate and even openly hostile. they were the one hope that arabia possessed of throwing off the prophet's yoke, which even now was threatening to press hardly upon their unrestrained natures. all the malcontents looked towards the north for deliverance, and made haste to rally, if possible, to the side of the syrian border states. towards the end of the year signs were not wanting of a concerted effort to overthrow his power on the part of all the northern tribes, who had as their ally a powerful emperor, and therefore might with reason expect to triumph over a usurper who had put his yoke upon their brethren of the southern interior, and was only deterred from attempting their complete reduction to the status of tributary states by the distance between his capital and themselves, added to the menace of the imperial legions. chapter xx iconoclasm "oh prophet, contend against the infidels and the hypocrites, and be rigorous with them. hell shall be their dwelling-place! wretched the journey thither."--_the kuran._ the clouds upon the syrian border gathered so rapidly that they threatened any moment to burst during the autumn of . when mahomet heard that the feudatories were massed under the bidding of heraclius at hims, he realised there was no time to be lost. eagerly he summoned his army, and expected from it the same enthusiasm for the campaign as he himself displayed. but there was no generous response to his call. syria was far away, the believers could not be convinced of the importance of the attack. they were weary of the incessant warfare and it was, moreover, the season of the heats, when no man willingly embarked upon arduous tasks. the companions rallied at once to the side of their leader, and many true believers also supported their lord, but the citizens and the bedouins murmured against his exactions, and for the most part refused to accompany him. only mahomet's indefatigable energy summoned together a sufficient army. but the believers were generous, and gave not only themselves but their gold, and after some delay the expedition was organised. mahomet himself led the troop, leaving abu bekr in medina to conduct the daily prayer and have charge of the religious life of the city, while to molleima were given the administrative duties. the expedition reached the valley of heja, where mahomet called a halt, and there, about half-way from his goal, rested the greater part of two days. the next days saw him continually advancing over the scanty desert ways, urging on his soldiers with prayers and exhortations, so that they might not grow weary with the long heat and the silence. finally he sighted tebuk, where the rebel army was reported to be. but by this time the border tribes had dispersed, frightened into inactivity by the strength of mahomet's army, and incapacitated further by lack of definite leadership. there seemed no fighting to be done, but mahomet was determined to make sure of his peaceful triumph. the main force stayed at tebuk, while khalid was despatched to dumah, there to intimidate both jews and bedouins by the size of his force and their fighting prowess. the manoeuvre was entirely successful, and before long mahomet had received the submission of the tribes dwelling along the shores of the elanitic gulf. meanwhile, he had recourse to diplomacy as well as the sword. he sent a letter to john, christian prince of eyla, and received from him a most favourable hearing. john accompanied the messenger back to the prophet, where he accorded him meet reverence and regard as the leader of a mighty faith. between the two princes a treaty was drawn up, the text of which is extant, and very probably authentic. it is characteristic of the whole series of treaties entered into at this time by mahomet with the desert tribes, and as such is interesting enough to reproduce. these treaties are given at full length in wakidi; they differ from each other by only small details, and that drawn up for john of eyla may be taken as fairly representative. it is little more than a guarantee of safe conduct upon either side, and is noticeably free from any religious requirements or commissions: "in the name of god, the gracious, the merciful. a compact of peace from god and from mahomet, the prophet and apostle of god, granted unto yuhanna, son of rubah, and unto the people of eyla. for them who remain at home and for those that travel by sea or by land, there is the guarantee of god and of mahomet, the apostle of god, and for all that are with them, whether of syria or of yeman, or of the sea coast. whoso contraveneth this treaty, his wealth shall not save him--it shall be the fair prize of him that taketh it. now it shall not be lawful to hinder the men of eyla from any springs which they have been in the habit of frequenting, nor from any journey they desire to make, whether by sea or by land. the writing of juheim and sharrabil, by command of the apostle of god." when this scanty document had been completed john of eyla betook himself again to his own country, leaving mahomet free to enter into further compacts with the jews of mauna, adzuh, and jaaba. when these had been ratified and mahomet had received tribute from the surrounding people, he set out again for medina, having first made sure of khalid's success in dumah, and receiving the conversion of the chief of that tribe with much gladness. now, departing to medina confident in his success, it was with no good will that he entered its walls. many of his erstwhile followers, especially the tribes of bedouins, had refused him their help upon this adventure, and, immediate danger being past, he returned to rend them in the fury of his eloquence. his success had given him the right to chastise; even the ansar were not exempt from his wrath. three who remained behind were proscribed, and compelled to fulfil fifty days of penance. "had there been a near advantage and a short journey, they would certainly have followed thee; but the way seemed long to them. yet they will swear by god, 'had we been able we had surely gone forth with you; they are self-destroyers! and god knoweth that they are surely liars!'" before he had entered the city his anger was further provoked by the beni ganim, who had erected a mosque, ostensibly out of piety, really to spite the beni amru ibn auf and to make them jealous for their own mosque at kuba, whose stones he had laid with his own hands. he fell upon the ganim, "some who have built a mosque for mischief," and demolished the building. then he drew attention to their perfidy in the kuran, and took care that there should be no more mosques built in the spirit of rivalry and envy. very little time after his return to medina, abdallah, leader of the disaffected, his opponent and critic for so many years, died suddenly. his death meant a great change in the position of his party. there was no strong man to succeed abdallah, and they found themselves without leader or policy. they had for long been nominally allies of mahomet, but had not scrupled under abdallah's leadership to question his authority by opposition and sometimes in open acts of war. abdallah's death crushed for ever any attempts at revolt in medina, and fused the disaffected into the common stock of believers. abdallah occupies rather a peculiar position in mahomet's entourage; he was often the prophet's opponent, sometimes his open defier, and yet mahomet's dealings with him were uniformly gentle and forbearing. he may have had some personal regard for him. abdallah was a stern and upright man, whose uncompromising nature would speedily win mahomet's respect. possibly the prophet felt he might be too powerful an enemy, and determined to ignore his insurrections. he paid him that respect which his generosity of mind allowed him to offer towards any he knew and liked. the mahomet whose ruthlessness towards his opponents fell like an awe upon all arabia, could know and do homage to an enemy who had shown himself worthy of his steel. all things seemed to be working towards mahomet's final prevailing. now at last after many years the city of medina was unfeignedly his, the jews were extirpated, the disaffected united under his banner. meanwhile, the city of taif still held out in spite of malik's incessant warfare against it. but its defences were steadily growing weaker, and at last the inhabitants knew they could no longer continue the hopeless struggle. the chief citizens sent an embassy to mahomet, promising to destroy their idol within three years if the prophet would release them from their harassment. but mahomet refused unconditionally. the uprooting of idolatry was ever the price of his mercy. the message was sent back that instant demolition of the accursed thing must be made or the siege would continue. then the people of taif, hoping once more for clemency, asked to be released from the obligation of daily prayer. this request mahomet also refused, but in deference to their ancestral worship, and no doubt in some pity for their plight, he allowed their idol to be destroyed by other hands than their own. abu sofian and molleima were despatched with a covering force to destroy the great image lat, which had stood for time immemorial in the centre of taif and was the shrine for all the prayers and devotions of that fair and ancient city. taif was the last stronghold of the idolaters. when that had fallen beneath the sway of the prophet and his remote, austerely majestic god-head, indivisible and personless, the doom of the old gods was at hand. they were dethroned from their high places at the bidding of a man; but they had not bowed their heads before his proclaimed message, but before the strength of his armies, the onward sweep of his ceaseless and victorious warfare. to mahomet, indeed, allah had never shown himself more gracious than at the fall of idolatrous taif. he resolved thereupon that the crowning act of homage should be fulfilled. he would make a solemn journey to the holy city, and accomplish the greater pilgrimage with purified rites freed from the curse of the worship of many gods. but when he came to the setting forth, and the sacred month of dzul higg was upon him, he found that many idolatrous practices still remained as part of the great ceremonial. he could not contaminate himself by undertaking the pilgrimage while these remained, but he could send abu bekr to ensure that none should remain after this year's cleansing. he was now strong enough to insist that the rooting out of idolatry was his chief policy, and to make the breaking up of the ancestral gods incumbent upon the whole country. abu bekr was commissioned to set forth upon his task with men, and to spare neither himself nor them until the mission was accomplished and every idolatrous practice blotted out. and now follows one of the most characteristic acts mahomet ever performed, wherein obligation is made to bow to expediency and the bonds of treaties snap and break before the wind of the prophet's will. abu bekr had started but one day's journey upon the meccan road when ali was sent after him with a document bearing the prophet's seal. this he was to read to the faithful, and receive their pledge that they would act upon its contents. mahomet also published abroad a like proclamation in the city itself. the document drawn up and despatched with such haste was nothing less than a release for the prophet and his followers from all obligations to the infidels after a term of four months. "a release by god and the apostle in respect of the heathen with whom ye have entered into treaty. go to and fro in the earth securely in the four months to come. and know ye cannot hinder god, and that verily god will bring disgrace upon the unbelievers. and an announcement from god and his apostle unto the people on the day of pilgrimage that god is discharged from (liability to) the heathen and his prophet likewise.... fulfil unto these their engagements until the expiration of their terms; for god loveth the pious. and when the forbidden months are over then fight gainst the heathen, wheresoever ye find them, ... but if they repent and establish prayer and give the tithes, leave them in peace.... o ye that believe, verily the unbelievers are unclean. wherefore let them not approach the holy temple after this year." no one reading this writing, which bears upon it all the stamps of authenticity, can fail to see the motive behind its words. its unscrupulousness has received in all good faith the sanction of the most high. mahomet knew that the time was ripe for an uncompromising insistence upon the acceptance of his faith. he was strong enough to compel. it was allah who had strengthened his armies and given him dominion, therefore in allah's name he repudiated his agreements with heathen peoples, and by virtue of his power he purposed to bestow upon his lord a greater glory. an act wrought in such defiance of honour at the inspiration of god savours unquestionably of hypocrisy, but none who estimates aright the age and environment in which mahomet dwelt can accuse him of anything more than a keenness of political cunning which led him to value accurately his own power and the waning reputation of idolatry. the evil example he had set in this first release extended with his conquests until it was accounted of universal application, and no muslim considered himself dishonoured if he broke his pledge with any unbeliever. from this time a more dogmatic and terrible note enters into his message. he openly asserts that idolatry is to be extirpated from arabia by the sword, and that judaism and christianity are to be reduced to subordinate positions. judaism he had never forgiven for its rejection of him as prophet and head of a federal state; christianity he hated and despised, because to him in these later years monotheism had become a fanatic belief, and the whole conception of christ's divinity was abhorrent to his worship of allah. he was not strong enough to proclaim a destructive war against either faith, but he allowed them to exist in his dominions upon a precarious footing, always liable to abuse, attack, and profanation. from the spring of until the end of his life, mahomet's campaigns consist in defensive and punitive expeditions. the realm of arabia was virtually his, and the constant succession of embassies promising obedience and expressing homage continued until the end. but he was not allowed to enjoy his power in peace. the continuous series of small insurrections, speedily suppressed, which had accompanied his rise to power in later years, was by no means ended with his comparative security. but they never grew sufficiently in volume to threaten his dominion; they were wiped out at once by the alertness and political genius of his rule, until his death gave all the smaller chieftains fresh hope and became the signal for a desperate and almost successful attempt to throw off the shackles. the first important conversion after his return from taif was that of jeyfar, king of oman, followed closely by the districts of mahra and yemen, which localities had been hovering for some time between islam and idolatry. the tribes of najran were inclined to christianity, and mahomet was now anxious to gain them over to himself. the severity he had practised against a certain christian church of hanifa, however, weighed with them against any allegiance until he promised that theirs should be more favourably treated. a treaty was then made with these tribes by which each was to respect the religion of the other. mahomet remained in medina throughout the year and the beginning of , keeping his state like unto that of a king, surrounded by his companions and believers, receiving and sending forth embassies, receiving also tribute from those lands he had conquered, the beginning of that wealth which was to create the magnificence of bagdad, the treasures of cordova. the tribes of the beni asad, the beni kunda, and many from the territory of hadramaut made their submission; tax-gatherers were also sent out to all the tributary peoples, and returned in safety with their toll. almost it seemed as if peace had settled for good upon the land. the only threatenings came from the beni harith of the country bordering najran, and the beni nakhla, with a few minor tribes near yemen. khalid was sent to call the beni harith to conversion at the point of the sword, and ali subdued without effort the enfeebled resistance of the beni nakhla. continual embassies poured into medina. the country was quiet at last. after years of tumult arabia had settled for the moment peaceably under the yoke of a religious enthusiast, who nevertheless possessed sufficient political and military genius to found his kingdom well and strongly. mahomet had attained his aims, and whether he could keep what he had now rested with himself alone. after this period of calm there is a diminution in his energy and fiery zeal. the effort of that continual warfare had kept him in perpetual fever of action; when its strain was removed he felt the weight of his kingdom and the religion he had so fearlessly reared. until the end of his life he kept his hold upon his subjects, and every branch of justice, law, administration, and military policy felt his detailed guiding, but with the attainment of peace for arabia under his sway, his aggressive strivings vanished. virtually he had accomplished his destiny, and with the keen prescience of those who have lived and worked for one object, he knew that the outermost stronghold of those which islam was destined to subdue had yielded to his passionate insistence. his successors would carry his work to higher attainments, but his personal part was done, and it was with a sense of finality that almost brought peace to his perpetually striving nature that he prepared for his last witness to the glory and unity of allah, the performance of the greater and farewell pilgrimage. chapter xxi last rites "this day have i perfected your religion for you, and have filled up the measure of my favours upon you; and it is my pleasure that islam be your religion."--_the kuran_. a year had passed since abu bekr's purgatory pilgrimage, and now the sacred month drew near once more and found mahomet secure in his adopted city, the acknowledged spiritual and political leader among the arabian tribes. not since his exile had the prophet performed in their entirety the rites of the greater pilgrimage. now he felt that his achievements would receive upon them the seal of allah and become attested in the eyes of the world if he should undertake a complete and purified pilgrimage in company with the host of his followers. the pilgrimage was proclaimed abroad in islam, and every believer who could by any means accomplish it assumed the pilgrim's garb, until the army of the devout numbered about , men. all the prophet's wives accompanied him, and every believer of any standing in the newly formed state was his close attendant. it was felt, indeed, that this was to be the pilgrimage that was to ordain and sanction the rite for all time. in the deepest spirit of religion and devotion it was undertaken and completed. islam was now to show to the world the measure of its strength, and to succeeding generations the sum of its being and the insistence of its call. with the host travelled also a hundred camels, destined as a sacrifice upon the triumphant day when the ceremonies should be accomplished. by easy stages the pilgrims journeyed through the desert. there was no hurry, for there was no fear of attack. the whole company was unarmed, save for the defensive sword allowed to each man. over the desert they moved like locusts, overwhelming the country, and the tune of their march spread far around. in ten days the pilgrim army, in the gladness of self-confidence and power, arrived at sarif, a short day's march from their goal. there mahomet rested before he embarked upon the final journey. mecca lay before him, awaiting his coming, her animosities silenced, her populace acquiescent, her temples freed from the curse of idolatry. his mind was uplifted into a fervour of praise. he seemed in truth about to enter upon his triumph, to celebrate in very flesh the ceremonies he had reverenced, to celebrate them in his own peculiar manner, freed of what was to him their bane and degradation. something of the foreknowledge of the approaching cessation of activity flashed across him as he mounted al-caswa and prepared to make the entry of the city. he came upon the upper suburbs by the same route as he had entered mecca two years before, and proceeded to the kaaba. there he performed the circuits of the sacred place and the preliminary rites of the greater pilgrimage. then he returned to the valley outside the city where his tent was pitched, and tarried there the night. and now ali, the mighty in arms, reached the city from an admonitory expedition and demanded the privilege of performing the pilgrimage. mahomet replied that like most other believers he might perform the rites of the lesser pilgrimage, but that the greater was barred to him because he had no victims. but ali refused to forego his privilege, and at last mahomet, urged by his love for him and his fear of creating any disturbance at such a time, felt it wiser to yield. he gave ali the half of his own victims, and their friendship and ali's devotion to his master were idealised and made sweeter for the gift. now the rites of the greater pilgrimage properly began. mahomet preached to the people from the kaaba on the morning of the next day, and when his words had roused the intense religious spirit of those listening masses he set out for mina, accompanied by bilal, followed by every believer, and prepared to spend the night in the sacred valley. when morning dawned he made his way to arafat, where he climbed the hill in the midst of the low-lying desolate ground. standing at the summit of the hill, surrounded by the hosts of his followers, revealed to their eyes in all the splendour and dignity of his familiarity and personally wrested authority, he recited some of the verses of the kuran dealing with the fit and proper celebration of the pilgrimage. he expounded then the manner in which that rite was to be performed for all time. so long as there remains one muslim upon earth his pilgrimage will be carried out along the traditions laid down for him at this beneficent moment. now, having ordered all matters, mahomet raised his hands to heaven and called allah to witness that he had completed his task: "this day have i perfected your religion for you." the supreme moment came and fled, and the prophet descended once more into the plain and journeyed again to the valley of mecca, where, according to immemorial tradition, he cast stones, or rather small pebbles, at the rock of the devil's corner, symbolic of the defeat of the powers of darkness by puny and assailed mankind. thereafter he slew his victims in thankful and devout spirit, and the greater pilgrimage was completed. in token he shaved his head, pared his nails, and removed the pilgrim's robe; then, coming before the people, he exhorted them further, enjoining upon them the strict observance of daily prayers, the fast of ramadan, the rites of pilgrimage, and all the essential ceremonial of the muslim faith. he abolished also with one short verse of the kuran the intercalary year, which had been in use among the faithful during the whole of his medinan rule. the believers were now subject to the fluctuation of their months, so that their years follow a perpetually changing cycle, bearing no relation to the solar seasons. when the exhortation was ended mahomet departed to mecca, and there he encircled the kaaba and entered its portals for prayer. but of this last act he repented later, inasmuch as it would not be possible hereafter for every muslim to do so, and he had desired to perform in all particulars the exact ceremonies incumbent upon the faithful for all the future years. he now made an ending of all his observances, and with every rite fulfilled, at the head of his vast concourse, summoned by his tireless will and held together by his overmastering zeal, the prophet returned to his governmental city, ready to take up anew the reins of his temporal ruling, with the sense of fine things fittingly achieved, a great purpose accomplished, which rendered him as much at peace as his fiery temperament and the flame of his activity could compass. fulfilment had come with the performance of the greater pilgrimage, but still his state demanded his personal government. death alone could still his ardent pulses and bring about his relinquishment of command over the kingdom that was his--death that was even now winging his silent way nearer, and whose shadow had almost touched the fount of the prophet's earthly life. in such manner the greater pilgrimage was fulfilled, and the burden of its accomplishing is the muslim reverence for ceremony. the ritual in all its forgotten superstition and immemorial tradition appealed most potently to the emotions of every believer, all the more so because it had not been imposed upon him as a new and untried ceremony by a religious reformer, but came to him with all its hallowed sanctity fresh upon it, to be bound up inseparably with his religious life by its purification under the prophet's guidance. its use by the founder of islam bears witness at once to his knowledge of the earlier faith and traditions and his reverence for them, as well as his keen insight, which placed the rite of pilgrimage in the forefront of his religious system. he knew the value of ritual and the force of age-long association. the farewell pilgrimage is the last great public act he performed. he felt that it strengthened islam's connection with the beliefs and ceremonies of his ancestors, legendarily free from idolatry under the governance of abraham and ishmael. he realised, too, that it rounded off the ceremonial side of his faith, giving his followers an example and a material union with himself and his god. it was the knowledge that this union would always be a living fact to his descendants, so long as the sacred ceremony was performed, that caused him to assert its necessity and to place it among the few unalterable injunctions to all the faithful. meanwhile a phenomenon had arisen inseparable from the activities of great men. wherever there are strong souls, from whose spirit flows any inspiring energy, there will always be found their imitators, when the battle has been won. whether hypocrites, or genuinely led by a sheep-like instinct into the same path as their models, they follow the steps of their forerunners, and usually achieve some slight fame before the dark closes around them. early in the year badzan, governor of marab, nazran, and hamadan, died. his territory was seized by mahomet, in defiance of the claims of his son shehr, and divided among different governors. his success in the temporal world, and especially this peaceful annexation of land, wrought so vividly upon the imaginations of his countrymen that three false prophets arose and three separate bands of devoted fanatics appeared to uphold them. of these three men the most effective was tuleiha of the beri asad, who gathered together an army and was only repelled and crushed by khalid himself. but tuleiha still persisted in spite of defeat, and was content to bide his time until, under abu bekr, his faction rose again to importance and constituted a serious disturbance to the rule of the first caliph. moseilama, of whom not so much is known, also attempted to usurp the prophet's power at the close of his life. mahomet demanded his submission; moseilama refused, but before adequate punishment could be meted out the prophet was stricken down with illness, so that the task of chastisement devolved upon abu bekr. aswad, "the veiled prophet of yemen," might have proved the most formidable of the three, had not rashness of conduct and lack of governance caused his undoing. he cast off the muslim yoke while the prophet was still alive, and proclaimed himself the magician prince who would liberate his followers from the tyrant's yoke. najran rose in his favour, and he marched confidently upon sana, the great capital city of yemen, slew the puppet king shehr and took command of the surrounding country. mahomet purposed to send a force against him, but even while his army was massing for the march he heard that the veiled prophet was assassinated. the sudden success had proved his ruin. aswad only needed the touch of power to call out his latent tyranny, cruelty, and stupidity. he treated the people harshly, and they could not retaliate effectually; but he forgot, being of unreflecting mould, the imperative necessity of conciliating the chiefs of his armed forces. he offended his leaders of armies, and the end came swiftly. the leaders deserted to mahomet, and treacherously murdered him when he had counted their submission was beyond question. the three impostors were not powerful enough to disturb seriously the steady flow of mahomet's organising and administrative activities, but they are indicative of the thin crust that divided his rule from anarchy, a crust even now cracking under the weight of the burdens imposed upon it, needing the constant cement of armed expeditions to keep it from crumbling beyond mahomet's own remedying. april passed quietly enough at medina, but with may came the news of fresh disturbances upon the syrian border. they were not serious, but the pretext was sufficient. muta was as yet unavenged, and mahomet was glad to be able to send a force again to the troublesome frontier. osama, son of zeid, slain in that disastrous battle, was chosen for leader of this expedition in spite of his youth, which aroused the quick anger of some of the muslim warriors. but mahomet maintained his choice. he was given the battle banner by the prophet himself, and the expedition sallied forth to jorf, where it was delayed and finally hastily recalled by news of a grave and most disturbing nature. even as he blessed the syrian expedition and sent it on its road, mahomet was in no fit state of health for public duties. after a little while, however, his will triumphed over his flesh, and he thrust back the weakness. but his physical nature had already been strained to breaking point under the stress of his life. he had perforce to bow to the dictates of his body. he gave up attempting to throw off the fever, and retired to ayesha's house, attributing the seizure to the effects of the poison at kheibar, and convinced that his end was at hand. in the house of his favourite wife he remained during the few remaining days of his life. he lingered for about a week before his indomitable soul gave way before the assaults of death, and all the time he continued to attend to public affairs and to take his accustomed part in them as long as possible. about the third day of his illness he heard the people still murmuring over the appointment of osama upon the syrian expedition. rising from his couch he went out to speak to them, and commanded them to cease from such empty discontent, reminding them that he was their prophet and master, and that they might safely rely upon him. the exertion of moving proved too much for his strength. he was now indeed a broken man, and this activity was but the last conquest of mind over his ever-growing weakness of body. he returned exhausted to ayesha's room, and, knowing that his mission was over, commanded abu bekr to lead the public prayers. by this act he virtually nominated abu bekr his successor; for the privilege of leading the prayers belonged exclusively to himself, and his designation of the office was as plain a proof as there could be that he considered the mantle of authority to have descended upon his friend and counsellor, who had been to him so unfailing a resource in defeat and triumph through all the tumultuous years. from this time the prophet grew steadily worse. his physical break-up was complete. he had used every particle of his enormous energy in the fulfilment of his work; now that activity had ceased there were no reserves left. he became delirious, and finally weak to the point of utter exhaustion. many are the traditions concerning his dying words, chiefly exhortations for the preservation of the faith he had so laboriously brought to life. he is said to have cursed both jews and christians in his paroxysms of fever, but in his lucid moments he seems to have been filled with love for his disciples, and fears for the future of his religion and temporal state. he lingered thus for two more days--days which gathered round him the deep spiritual fervour, the human love and affection of every believer, so that the records are interpenetrated with the grief and tenderness of a people's sorrow. on the third day he rallied sufficiently to come to morning prayer, where he took a seat by abu bekr in token of his dedication of the headship of islam to him alone. the believers' joy at the sight of their prophet showed itself in their thronging thanksgivings and in their escort of their chief back to his place of rest. it seemed that his illness was but slight, and that before long he would appear among them once more in all the fullness of his strength. but the exertion sapped his little remaining vitality, and he could scarcely reach ayesha's room again. there a few hours afterwards, after a period of semi-consciousness, he died in her arms while it was yet only a little after mid-day. the forlorn ayesha was almost too terrified to impart the dreadful news. abu bekr was summoned instantly, and came with awe and horror into the mosque. omar, mahomet's beloved warrior-friend, refused to believe that his leader was really dead, and even rushed to announce his belief to the people. but abu bekr visited the place of death and assured himself by the still cold form of the prophet that he was indeed dead. he went out with despair in his countenance, and convinced the faithful that the soul of their leader had passed. there fell upon islam the hush of an intolerable knowledge, and in the first blankness of realisation they were dumb and passive. when the army at jorf was apprised of the news, it broke up at once and returned to medina. with the withdrawal of the guiding hand their battle enthusiasm became as nought, and they could only join the waiting ranks of the citizens--a crowd that would now be driven whither its masters saw fit. the faithful assembled round the mosque to question the future of themselves and their rulers. abu bekr addressed them at once, and it was soon evident that he had them well in hand. he was supported by omar and the chief leaders, except ali, who maintained a jealous attitude, chiefly due to the feelings of envy aroused in the mind of fatima, his wife, at the sight of ayesha's privileges. at last, when abu bekr had told the circumstances of the prophet's death, tenderly and with that loving reverence which characterised him, the faithful were attuned to the acceptance of this man as their prophet's successor. the chief men, followed by the rank and file, swore fealty to him, and covenanted to maintain intact and precious the faith bequeathed them by their leader, who had been also their guide and fellow-worshipper of allah. there remained only the last dignity of burial. the prophet's body was washed and prepared for the grave. around it was wrapped white linen and an outer covering of striped yemen stuff. abu bekr and omar performed these simple services for their prophet, and then a grave was dug for him in ayesha's house, and a partition made between the grave and the antechamber. it was dug vaulted fashion, and the body deposited there upon the evening of the day of death. the people were permitted to visit it, and after the long procession had looked their last upon their prophet, abu bekr and omar delivered speeches to the assembled multitude, urging them to remain faithful to their religion, and to hold before them continually the example of the prophet, who even now was received into the paradise he had described so ardently and loved with such enshrining desire. thus the prophet of islam, religious and political leader, director of armies, lover of women, austere, devout, passionate, cunning, lay as he would have wished in the simplicity of that communal life, in the midst of his followers, near the sacred temple of his own devising. he had lived close to his disciples, had appeared to them a man among men, indued only with the divine authority of his religious enthusiasm; now he rested among them as one of themselves, and none but felt the inspiration of his energy inform their activities after him, though the manifestation thereof confined itself to the violence necessary to maintain the prophet's domain secure from its earthly enemies. mahomet, indeed, in his mortal likeness rested in the quiet of ayesha's chamber, but his spirit still led his followers to prayer and conquest, still stood at the head of his armies, urging to victory and plunder, so that they might find in the flaunting banners of islam the fulfilment of their lusts and aspirations, their worldly triumphs and the glories of their heavenly vision. chapter xxii the genesis of islam "the jews say, 'ezra is a son of god,' and the christians say, 'the messiah is a son of god' ... they resemble the saying of the infidels of old.... they take their teachers and their monks and the messiah, son of mary, for lords beside god, though bidden to worship one god only. there is no god but he! far what from his glory be what they associate with him."--_the kuran_. the prophet of arabia had scarcely been committed to the keeping of earth, when on all sides rebellion against his rule arose. the unity that he had laboured so long to create was still in embryo, but the seed of it was living, and developed rapidly to its full fruition. in the political sphere his achievement is not limited to the immediate security of his dominion. he had inculcated, mainly by the forcible logic of the sword, the idea of union and discipline, and had restored in mightier degree the fallen greatness of his land. traditions of arabian prosperity during the time when it was the trade route from persia and the east to petraea, palestine, and even asia minor lingered in the native mind. the caravan routes from southern arabia, famous in biblical story, had made the importance of such cities as mecca and sana, but with the maritime enterprise of rome their well-being declined, and the consequent distress in yemen induced its tribes to emigrate northwards to mecca, to syria, and the central desert. southern arabia never recovered from the blow to its trade, and in the sixth century yemen became merely a dependency of persia. central arabia was an unknown country, inhabited by marauding tribes in a constant state of political flux; while hira, the kingdom to the east of the desert on the banks of the euphrates, had become a satrapy of persia early in the century in which mahomet lived, and heraclius by frequent inroads had reduced the kingdom of palmyra to impotence. arabia was ripe for the rise of a strong political leader; for it was flanked by no powerful kingdom, and within itself there was no organisation and no reliable political influence. the material was there, but it needed the shaping of a master-hand at the instigation of unflagging zeal if it was to be wrought into order and strength. tireless energy and unceasing belief in his own power could alone accomplish the task, and these mahomet possessed in abundance. before his death he had secured the subjection of yemen and hadramaut, had penetrated far into the syrian borderland, and had made his rule felt among the nomad tribes of the interior as far as the confines of persia. with his rise to power the national feeling of arabia was born, and under his successors developed by the enticements of plunder and glory until it soared beyond mere nationality and dreamt of world-conquest, by which presumption its ruin was wrought. mahomet was the instigator of all this absorbing activity, although he never calculated the extent of his political impulse. in superseding the already effete tribal ideals he was to himself only spreading the faith of his inspiration. all governmental conceptions die slowly, and the tribal life of arabia was far from extinguished at the end of his mission. but its vitality was gone, and the focus of arabia's obedience had shifted from the clan to the prophet as military overlord. it is pre-eminently in the domain of political actions that mahomet's personality is revealed. the living fibres of his unique character pulse through all his dealings with his fellow-leaders and opponents. before all things he possessed the capacity of inspiring both love and fear. ali, abu bekr, hamza, omar, zeid, every one of his followers, felt the force of his affection continually upon them, and were bound to him by ties that neither misfortune nor any unworthy act of his could break. and their devotion was called upon to suffer many tests. mahomet was self-willed and ruthless, subordinating the means to the end without any misgivings. in his remorseless dealings with the jews, in his calm repudiation of obligations with the heathen as soon as he felt himself strong enough, he shows affinities to the most conscienceless statesman that ever graced european diplomacy. his method of conquest and government combines watchfulness and strength. no help was scorned by this builder of power. what he could not achieve by force he attempted to gain by cunning. he had a large faith in the power of argument backed by force, and his winning over of abbas and abu sofian chiefly by the aid of these two factors, combined with their personal ambition, is only the supreme instance of his master-strokes of policy. he knew how to play upon the baser passions of men, and especially was he mindful of the lure of gold. his first forays against the kureisch were set before the eyes of his disciples as much in the light of plundering expeditions as religious wars against an infidel and oppressive nation. he is at once the outcome of circumstances, and independent of them. he gave coherence to all the unformulated desires for a fuller scope of military and mercantile power stirring at the fount of arabia's life, and at the same time he founded his dominion in a unique and absolutely personal manner. within his sphere of governance his will was supreme and unassailable. if these mutable tribal entities were to be united at all, despotism was the only possible form of command. as his polity demanded authority vested in one person only, so his conception of god is that of an absolute monarch, resistance to whom is annihilation. out of this idea the doctrine of fatalism was evolved. it was necessary during the first terrible years of uncertainty in islam, in order to produce among mahomet's followers a recklessness in battle, and in the varying fortunes of their life at medina, born of the knowledge that their fate was irrevocably decided. they fought for the true god against the idolaters; this true god held their destinies in his hand; nothing could be altered. the result was that the muslim fought with superhuman daring, and faced overwhelming forces undaunted. but the time came when islam had no longer any need to fight, and the doctrine of fatalism still lived. it sank into mental and physical inactivity, and of that inactivity, induced by the knowledge that their energies were unavailing, pessimism was bred. despotism and fatality are perhaps the purely personal ideas that mahomet gave to his political state, the latter encroaching, however, as most of his secular principles, upon the realm of philosophy. indeed, his political rule is inseparable from his religion, and as a religious leader he is more justly appraised. in the sphere of religion the raw material was to his hand. at the inception of his mission mecca and central arabia, though confirmed in idolatry, still mingled with their rites some distorted jewish traditions and ceremonies, while yemen had embraced the christian faith for a short time as a dependency of abyssinia, but had relapsed into idolatry with the interference of persia. both the border kingdoms to the north, palmyra and hira, were christian, and in the time of their prosperity had influenced arabia in the direction of christianity. the christian scriptures were known and respected, but these impulses were feeble and spasmodic, so that the bulk of arabia remained fixed in its ancient idolatry. by far the more enduring influence was that of judaism. many jewish tribes were settled in arabia, and the ancient traditions of the jewish race, the great figures of abraham, lot, and noah were set vividly before the eyes of the arabs. there was every indication that a religious teacher might use the existing elements of judaism and christianity to produce a monotheistic faith, partaking of their nature, and for a time mahomet endeavoured to bring both forms within the scope of his mission. but compromise, whether with idolaters or jews, was found to be impossible, and here religious and political ideals are inextricably blended. if mahomet had acquiesced in the jewish religion, had submitted to the sovereignty of jerusalem as the holy place, he would have found it impossible to have established his supremacy in medina, and the religion of islam as he conceived it would have been overriden by the older and more hallowed faith of the jews. he saw the danger, and his dominant spirit could not allow the existence of an equal or superior power to his own. with that fiery daring and supreme belief in his destiny which characterised him in later life, he cast away all pretensions to friendliness either with the jews or the christians, and steered his followers triumphantly through the perils that beset every adherent to an idea. but in compelling acceptance of his central thesis of the unity of the godhead, he showed signal wisdom and knowledge of men. he was himself by no means impervious to the value of tradition, and never conceived his faith as having no historical basis in the religious legends of his birthplace. that the muslim belief possesses institutions such as the reverence for the kaaba, the rite of pilgrimage, the acceptance of mecca as its sacred city, is due to its founder's love of his native place, and the ceremonial of which his own creed was really the inseparable outcome. besides his recognition of the need of ritual, he was fully aware of the repugnance of most men to the wholly new. whenever possible he emphasized his connection with the ancient ceremonies of mecca in their purer form, and as soon as his power was sufficient, he enforced the recognition of his claims upon the city itself. his achievement as religious reformer rests largely upon the state of preparation in which he found his medium, but it owes its efficiency to one force alone. mahomet was possessed of one central idea, the indivisibility of god, and it was sufficient to uphold him against all calamities. the kuran sounds the note of insistence which rings the clarion call of his message. with eloquence of mind and soul, with a repetition that is wearisome to the outsider, he forces that dominant truth into the hearts of his hearers. it cannot escape them, for he will not cease to remind them of their doom if they do not obey. what he set out to do for the religious life of arabia he accomplished, chiefly because he concentrated the whole of his demands into one formula, "there is no god but god"; then when success had shown him the measure of his ascendancy, "there is no god but god, and mahomet is his prophet." at the end of his life idolatry was uprooted from his native country. the tribes might rebel against the heaviness of his political yoke, and were often held to him by the slenderest of diplomatic threads, but their monotheistic beliefs remained intact once islam had gained the ascendancy over them. at the end of the farewell pilgrimage, he realised with one grand uplifting of his soul in thanksgiving that he had indeed caught up the errant attempts of arabia to remodel its unsatisfying faith, and had made of them a triumphant reality, in which the conception of allah's unity was the essential belief. besides his religious and political attainments, he gave to arabia as a whole its first written social and moral code. here the estimate of his accomplishment is difficult to render, bemuse comparison with the existing state is almost impossible. extensively in the kuran, but to a greater degree in the mass of his traditional sayings, crystallised into a standard edition by al-bokhari, when due allowance has been made for the additions and exaggerations of his followers, the chief characteristic is the casual nature of his laws. all his dictates as to the control of marriage, the sale and tenure of land, commerce, plunder, as well as health and dietary are the result of definite cases coming within his adjudication. such an idea as the deliberate compilation of a code never occurred to him, and there is no evidence that he ever referred to his former decisions in similar cases, so that possibilities of contradiction and evasion are limitless. out of this jumble of inconsistencies muslim law and practice has grown. he was enabled to impose his commands upon the conquered peoples by means of his military organisation, so that it was not long before arabia was ruled in rough fashion by his social and moral precepts enforced by the sword. his wives offend him, and he forthwith sets down the duties and position of women in his temporal state. he desires the wife of his friend, and the result is a kuranic decree sanctioning the taking of a woman under those conditions. he is jealous of his younger and more comely associates, and thereupon ordains the perpetual seclusion of women. he is annoyed at the untimely visits to his house of assembly, and so he commands that no believer shall enter another's apartment uninvited. it is inconvenient to relinquish the watch night or day during the period of siege in medina, therefore he institutes a system whereby half the army is to pray while the other half remains at its post. instances may be multiplied without ceasing of this building up of a whole social code upon the most casual foundations. but unheeding as was its genesis, it was in the main effective for those times, and in any case it substituted definite laws for the measureless wastes of tradition and custom. it is probable that mahomet relied a great deal upon existing usages. he was too wise to disturb them unnecessarily. his was a nature of extremes combined with a wisdom that came as a revelation to his followers. where he hates it is with a hurricane of wrath and destruction, where he loves it is with the same impetuous tenacity. his denunciations of the infidels, of his enemies among the kureisch, of the laggards within his own city, of the defamers of holy things, of drunkards, of the unclean, of those who even copy the features of their kindred or picture their idea of god, are written in the most violent words, whose fury seems to smite upon the ear with the rushing of flame. and so the prevailing stamp upon muslim institutions is fanaticism and intolerance. as the prophet drew up hard-and-fast rules, so his followers insisted upon their remorseless continuance. mahomet found himself compelled to issue ordinances, often hurried and unreflecting, to meet immediate needs, to settle disputes whose prolongation would have meant his ruin. he possessed the qualities of poet, seer, and religious mystic, but these in his later life were overshadowed by the characteristics of lawgiver, soldier, and statesman demanded by his position as head of a body of men. but neither his mysticism nor his poetic feeling entirely desert him. they flash out at rare moments in the later suras of the kuran, and are apparent in his actions and the traditional accounts of his sayings, while his creed remained steadfast and unassailable with a strength that neither defeat nor disaffection could shake. with all the incompleteness and often contradiction of his administration, he nevertheless was able to satisfy his followers as to its efficacy mainly by his exhaustless belief in himself and his work. in military development his contribution was unique. he gathered together all the war-loving propensities of the faithful, and wove them into a solidarity of aim. his personal courage was not great, but his strategy and above all his invincible confidence, which refused to admit defeat, were beyond question. every leader he sent upon plundering or admonitory expeditions bore witness to his efficiency and his zeal. he subjected the muslim to a discipline that brought out their best qualities of tenacity and daring. he would not allow his soldiery to become individual plunderers, but insisted that the booty should be equally divided. in the beginning he possessed few horsemen, but he rapidly produced a squadron of cavalry as soon as he became convinced of their usefulness. his readiness to accept advice as to the defence of medina proved the salvation of the city. under him the military prowess of islam had ample scope, for he gave his leaders complete freedom of action; the result was visible in the supreme fighting quality of ali, omar, and hamza, while the chances of achieving glory under his banner were the moving motives of the conversion of khalid and abbas. he subdued internecine warfare, and by a bold stroke united the warrior instincts of arabia against external foes, laying upon them the sanction of religion and the promise of eternal happiness. though unskilled in the mechanism of knowledge--he could neither read nor write--he has left his mark upon the literature of his age and the years succeeding him. the kuran was the sum of his inspiration, the expression in poetic and visionary language of his beliefs and ideals. he found the medium prepared. the arabs had long previously evolved a poetry of their own which lived not in written words, but in their traditional songs. mahomet's first flush of inspiration, which waned before the heaviness of his later tasks, is the cumulation of that wild and fervid art with the breath of the desert urgent within it. the kuran was never written down during his lifetime, but was collected into a jumble of fragments, "gathered together from date-leaves and tablets of white stone, and from the breasts of men," by zeid in the first troublous years of the caliphate. we have inevitably lost much of its original fire, and its effect is weakened by any translation into the unsuitable medium of modern speech. but that it is a valuable contribution to the literature of its country cannot be doubted, especially in the earlier portions, before mahomet's love of harangue and the necessity of some vehicle by which to make his political dictates known had transformed its style into the bald reiterative medley of its later pages. through it all runs the fire of his genius; in the later suras it is the reflection of his energy that looks out from the pages; the flame itself has now lighted his actions and inspired his dreams of conquest. the kuran is the best revelation of mahomet himself that posterity possesses, imperfect as was the manner of its handing down to the modern world. it shows us both the beauty and strength of his personality and his cruelty, evasions, magnanimities, and lusts. more than all, the passionate zeal beating through it makes clear the secret of his sustained endeavours through discouragement and defeat until his triumph dawned. to those outside the sphere of his magnetism, mahomet seems urged on by a power beyond himself and scarcely within his control. his gifts bear intimate relation to the particular phase in the task of creating a religion and a political entity that was uppermost at the moment. in mecca he is poet and visionary, the man who speaks with angels and has seen gabriel and israfil, "whose heart-strings are a lute, and who has the sweetest voice of all god's creatures." he penetrates in fancy to the innermost holy place and beholds the god of battles, even feels his touch, icy-cold upon his shoulder, and returns with the glow of that immortal intercourse upon him. it sustains him in defeat and danger, and by the power of it he converts a few in medina and flees thither to complete his task. in medina he becomes a watchful leader, and still inspired by heavenly visitants, he produces order out of chaos and guards his power from numberless assaults. in attempting to explain his achievements, when allowance is made for all those factors which gave him help, we are compelled to do homage to the strength of his personality. neither in his revelations through the kuran nor in the traditions of him is his secret to be found. he lived outside himself, and his actions are the standard of his accomplishments. he found arabia the prey of warring tribes, without leader, without laws, without religion, save an idolatry obstinate but creatively dead, and he took the existing elements, wrought into them his own convictions, quickened them with the fire of his zeal, and created an embryo with effective laws, fitting social and religious institutions, but greater than all these, with the enthusiasm for an idea that led his followers to prayer and conquest. the kuran, tradition, the later histories, all minister to that personality which informed the muslim, so that they swept through the land like flame, impelled not only by religious zeal, but also by the memory of their leader's struggles and victories, and of his journey before them on the perilous path of warfare to the paradise promised to the faithful. proofreaders _american lectures on the history of religions_ series of - mohammedanism lectures on its origin, its religious and political growth, and its present state by c. snouck hurgronje professor of the arabic language in the university of leiden, holland announcement. the american lectures on the history of religions are delivered under the auspices of the american committee for lectures on the history of religions. this committee was organized in , for the purpose of instituting "popular courses in the history of religions, somewhat after the style of the hibbert lectures in england, to be delivered by the best scholars of europe and this country, in various cities, such as baltimore, boston, brooklyn, chicago, new york, philadelphia." the terms of association under which the committee exists are as follows: .--the object of this committee shall be to provide courses of lectures on the history of religions, to be delivered in various cities. .--the committee shall be composed of delegates from the institutions agreeing to co-operate, with such additional members as may be chosen by these delegates. .--these delegates--one from each institution, with the additional members selected--shall constitute themselves a council under the name of the "american committee for lectures on the history of religions." .--the committee shall elect out of its number a chairman, a secretary, and a treasurer. .--all matters of local detail shall be left to the co-operating institutions under whose auspices the lectures are to be delivered. .--a course of lectures on some religion, or phase of religion, from an historical point of view, or on a subject germane to the study of religions, shall be delivered annually, or at such intervals as may be found practicable, in the different cities represented by this committee. .--the committee (a) shall be charged with the selection of the lectures, (b) shall have charge of the funds, (c) shall assign the time for the lectures in each city, and perform such other functions as may be necessary. .--polemical subjects, as well as polemics in the treatment of subjects, shall be positively excluded. .--the lectures shall be delivered in the various cities between the months of september and june. .--the copyright of the lectures shall be the property of the committee. .--the compensation of the lecturer shall be fixed in each case by the committee. .--the lecturer shall be paid in installments after each course, until he shall have received half of the entire compensation. of the remaining half, one half shall be paid to him upon delivery of the manuscript, properly prepared for the press, and the second half on the publication of the volume, less a deduction for corrections made by the author in the proofs. the committee as now constituted is as follows: prof. crawford h. toy, chairman, lowell st., cambridge, mass.; rev. dr. john p. peters, treasurer, w. th st., new york city; prof. morris jastrow, jr., secretary, so. d st., philadelphia, pa.; president francis brown, union theological seminary, new york city; prof. richard gottheil, columbia university, new york city; prof. harry pratt judson, university of chicago, chicago, ill.; prof. paul haupt, johns hopkins university, baltimore, md.; mr. charles d. atkins, director, brooklyn institute of arts and sciences; prof. e.w. hopkins, yale university, new haven, conn.; prof. edward knox mitchell, hartford theological seminary, hartford, conn.; president f.k. sanders, washburn college, topeka, kan.; prof. h.p. smith, meadville theological seminary, meadville, pa.; prof. w.j. hinke, auburn theological seminary, auburn, n.y.; prof. kemper fullerton, oberlin theological seminary, oberlin, n.y. the lecturers in the course of american lectures on the history of religions and the titles of their volumes are as follows: - --prof. t.w. rhys-davids, ph.d.,--_buddhism_. - --prof. daniel g. brinton, m.d., ll.d.--_religions of primitive peoples_. - --rev. prof. t.k. cheyne, d.d.--_jewish religious life after the exile_. - --prof. karl budde, d.d.--_religion of israel to the exile_. - --prof. george steindorff, ph.d.--_the religion of the ancient egyptians_. - --prof. george w. knox, d.d., ll.d.--_the development of religion in japan_. - --prof. maurice bloomfield, ph.d., ll.d.--_the religion of the veda_. - --prof. a.v.w. jackson, ph.d., ll.d.--_the religion of persia_.[ ] - --prof. morris jastrow, jr., ph.d.--_aspects of religious belief and practice in babylonia and assyria_. - --prof. j.j.m. degroot--_the development of religion in china_. - --prof. franz cumont.[ ]--_astrology and religion among the greeks and romans_. [footnote : this course was not published by the committee, but will form part of prof. jackson's volume on the religion of persia in the series of _handbooks on the history of religions_, edited by prof. morris jastrow, jr., and published by messrs. ginn & company of boston. prof. jastrow's volume is, therefore, the eighth in the series.] [footnote : owing to special circumstances, prof. cumont's volume was published before that of prof. degroot. it is, therefore, the ninth in the series and that of prof. degroot the tenth.] the lecturer for was professor c. snouck hurgronje. born in oosterhout, holland, in , he studied theology and oriental languages at the university of leiden and continued his studies at the university of strassburg. in he published his first important work _het mekkaansch feest_, having resolved to devote himself entirely to the study of mohammedanism in its widest aspects. after a few years' activity as lecturer on mohammedan law at the seminary for netherlands-india in leiden, he spent eight months ( - ) in mecca and jidda. in , he became lecturer at the university of leiden and in the same year was sent out as professor to batavia in netherlands-india, where he spent the years - . upon his return he was appointed professor of arabic at the university of leiden. among his principal published works may be mentioned: _mekka_, the hague, - ; _de beteekenis van den islam voor zijne belijders in oost indïe_, leiden, ; _mekkanische sprichwörter_, the hague, ; _de atjehers_, leiden, - , england tr. london, ; _het gajôland en zijne bezvoners_, batavia, , and _nederland en de islâm_, leiden, . the lectures to be found in the present volume were delivered before the following institutions: columbia university, yale university, the university of pennsylvania, meadville theological seminary, the university of chicago, the lowell institute, and the johns hopkins university. the committee owes a debt of deep gratitude to mr. charles r. crane for having made possible the course of lectures for the year . richard gottheil crawford h. toy _committee on publication_. april, . * * * * * contents some points concerning the origin of islÂm. the religious development of islÂm. the political development of islÂm. islÂm and modern thought. index. mohammedanism i some points concerning the origin of islÂm there are more than two hundred million people who call themselves after the name of mohammed, would not relinquish that name at any price, and cannot imagine a greater blessing for the remainder of humanity than to be incorporated into their communion. their ideal is no less than that the whole earth should join in the faith that there is no god but allah and that mohammed is allah's last and most perfect messenger, who brought the latest and final revelation of allah to humanity in allah's own words. this alone is enough to claim our special interest for the prophet, who in the seventh century stirred all arabia into agitation and whose followers soon after his death founded an empire extending from morocco to china. even those who--to my mind, not without gross exaggeration--would seek the explanation of the mighty stream of humanity poured out by the arabian peninsula since over western and middle asia, northern africa, and southern europe principally in geographic and economic causes, do not ignore the fact that it was mohammed who opened the sluice gates. it would indeed be difficult to maintain that without his preaching the arabs of the seventh century would have been induced by circumstances to swallow up the empire of the sasanids and to rob the byzantine empire of some of its richest provinces. however great a weight one may give to political and economic factors, it was religion, islâm, which in a certain sense united the hitherto hopelessly divided arabs, islâm which enabled them to found an enormous international community; it was islâm which bound the speedily converted nations together even after the shattering of its political power, and which still binds them today when only a miserable remnant of that power remains. the aggressive manner in which young islâm immediately put itself in opposition to the rest of the world had the natural consequence of awakening an interest which was far from being of a friendly nature. moreover men were still very far from such a striving towards universal peace as would have induced a patient study of the means of bringing the different peoples into close spiritual relationship, and therefore from an endeavour to understand the spiritual life of races different to their own. the christianity of that time was itself by no means averse to the forcible extension of its faith, and in the community of mohammedans which systematically attempted to reduce the world to its authority by force of arms, it saw only an enemy whose annihilation was, to its regret, beyond its power. such an enemy it could no more observe impartially than one modern nation can another upon which it considers it necessary to make war. everything maintained or invented to the disadvantage of islâm was greedily absorbed by europe; the picture which our forefathers in the middle ages formed of mohammed's religion appears to us a malignant caricature. the rare theologians[ ] who, before attacking the false faith, tried to form a clear notion of it, were not listened to, and their merits have only become appreciated in our own time. a vigorous combating of the prevalent fictions concerning islâm would have exposed a scholar to a similar treatment to that which, fifteen years ago, fell to the lot of any englishman who maintained the cause of the boers; he would have been as much of an outcast as a modern inhabitant of mecca who tried to convince his compatriots of the virtues of european policy and social order. [footnote : see for instance the reference to the exposition of the paderborn bishop olivers ( ) in the paderborn review _theologie und glaube_, jahrg. iv., p. , etc. (_islâm_, iv., p. ); also some of the accounts mentioned in güterbock, _der islâm im lichte der byzantinischen polemik_, etc.] two and a half centuries ago, a prominent orientalist,[ ] who wrote an exposition of mohammed's teaching, felt himself obliged to give an elaborate justification of his undertaking in his "dedicatio." he appeals to one or two celebrated predecessors and to learned colleagues, who have expressly instigated him to this work. amongst other things he quotes a letter from the leiden professor, l'empereur, in which he conjures breitinger by the bowels of jesus christ ("per viscera jesu christi") to give the young man every opportunity to complete his study of the religion of mohammed, "which so far has only been treated in a senseless way." as a fruit of this study l'empereur thinks it necessary to mention in the first place the better understanding of the (christian) holy scriptures by the extension of our knowledge of oriental manners and customs. besides such promotion of christian exegesis and apologetics and the improvement of the works on general history, hottinger himself contemplated a double purpose in his _historia orientalis_. the roman catholics often vilified protestantism by comparing the reformed doctrine to that of mohammedanism; this reproach of crypto-mohammedanism hottinger wished "talionis lege" to fling back at the catholics; and he devotes a whole chapter (cap. ) of his book to the demonstration that bellarminius' proofs of the truth of the church doctrine might have been copied from the moslim dogma. in the second place, conforming to the spirit of the times, he wished, just as bibliander had done in his refutation of the qorân, to combine the combat against mohammedan unbelief with that against the turkish empire ("in oppugnationem mahometanae perfidiae et turcici regni"). [footnote : j.h. hottinger, _historia orientalis_, zürich, ( d. edition ).] the turks were feared by the europe of that time, and the significance of their religion for their worldly power was well known; thus the political side of the question gave hottinger's work a special claim to consideration. yet, in spite of all this, hottinger feared that his labour would be regarded as useless, or even wicked. especially when he is obliged to say anything favourable of mohammed and his followers, he thinks it necessary to protect himself against misconstruction by the addition of some selected terms of abuse. when mentioning mohammed's name, he says: "at the mention of whom the mind shudders" ("ad cujus profecto mentionem inhorrescere nobis debet animus"). the learned abbé maracci, who in produced a latin translation of the qorân accompanied by an elaborate refutation, was no less than hottinger imbued with the necessity of shuddering at every mention of the "false" prophet, and dr. prideaux, whose _vie de mahomet_ appeared in the same year in amsterdam, abused and shuddered with them, and held up his biography of mohammed as a mirror to "unbelievers, atheists, deists, and libertines." it was a dutch scholar, h. reland, the utrecht professor of theology, who in the beginning of the eighteenth century frankly and warmly recommended the application of historical justice even towards the mohammedan religion; in his short latin sketch of islâm[ ] he allowed the mohammedan authorities to speak for themselves. in his "dedicatio" to his brother and in his extensive preface he explains his then new method. is it to be supposed, he asks, that a religion as ridiculous as the islâm described by christian authors should have found millions of devotees? let the moslims themselves describe their own religion for us; just as the jewish and christian religions are falsely represented by the heathen and protestantism by catholics, so every religion is misrepresented by its antagonists. "we are mortals, subject to error; especially where religious matters are concerned, we often allow ourselves to be grossly misled by passion." although it may cause evil-minded readers to doubt the writer's orthodoxy he continues to maintain that truth can only be served by combating her opponents in an honourable way. [footnote : _h. relandi de religione mohammedica libri duo_, utrecht, ( d ed. ).] "no religion," says reland, "has been more calumniated than islâm," although the abbé maracci himself could give no better explanation of the turning of many jews and christians to this religion than the fact that it contains many elements of natural truth, evidently borrowed from the christian religion, "which seem to be in accordance with the law and the light of nature" ("quae naturae legi ac lumini consentanea videntur"). "more will be gained for christianity by friendly intercourse with mohammedans than by slander; above all christians who live in the east must not, as is too often the case, give cause to one turk to say to another who suspects him of lying or deceit: 'do you take me for a christian?' ("putasne me christianum esse"). in truth, the mohammedans often put us to shame by their virtues; and a better knowledge of islâm can only help to make our irrational pride give place to gratitude to god for the undeserved mercy which he bestowed upon us in christianity." reland has no illusions that his scientific justice will find acceptance in a wide circle "as he becomes daily more and more convinced that the world wishes to be deceived and is governed by prejudice" ("qui quotidie magis magisque experior mundum decipi velle et praeconceptis opinionibus regi"). it was not long before the scale was turned in the opposite direction, and islâm was made by some people the object of panegyrics as devoid of scientific foundation as the former calumnies. in appeared in london the incomplete posthumous work of count de boulainvilliers, _vie de mahomet,_ in which, amongst other things, he says of the arabian prophet that "all that he has said concerning the essential religious dogmas is true, but he has not said all that is true, and it is only therein that his religion differs from ours." de boulainvilliers tells us with particular satisfaction that mohammed, who respected the devotion of hermits and monks, proceeded with the utmost severity against the official clergy, condemning its members either to death or to the abjuration of their faith. this _vie de mahomet_ was as a matter of fact an anti-clerical romance, the material of which was supplied by a superficial knowledge of islâm drawn from secondary sources. that a work with such a tendency was sure to arouse interest at that time, is shown by a letter from the publisher, coderc, to professor gagnier at oxford, in which he writes: "he [de boulainvilliers] mixes up his history with many political reflections, which by their newness and boldness are sure to be well received" ("il mêle son histoire de plusieurs réflexions politiques, et qui par leur hardiesse ne manqueront pas d'être très bien reçues"). jean gagnier however considered these bold novelties very dangerous and endeavoured to combat them in another _vie de mahomet_, which appeared from his hand in at amsterdam. he strives after a "juste milieu" between the too violent partisanship of maracci and prideaux and the ridiculous acclamations of de boulainvilliers. yet this does not prevent him in his preface from calling mohammed the greatest villain of mankind and the most mortal enemy of god ("le plus scélérat de tous les hommes et le plus mortel ennemi de dieu"). his desire to make his contemporaries proof against the poison of de boulainvilliers' dangerous book gains the mastery over the pure love of truth for which reland had so bravely striven. although sale in his "preliminary discourse" to his translation of the qorân endeavours to contribute to a fair estimation of mohammed and his work, of which his motto borrowed from augustine, "there is no false doctrine that does not contain some truth" ("nulla falsa doctrina est quae non aliquid veri permisceat"), is proof, still the prejudicial view remained for a considerable time the prevalent one. mohammed was branded as _imposteur_ even in circles where christian fanaticism was out of the question. voltaire did not write his tragedy _mahomet ou le fanatisme_ as a historical study; he was aware that his fiction was in many respects at variance with history. in writing his work he was, as he himself expresses it, inspired by "l'amour du genre humain et l'horreur du fanatisme." he wanted to put before the public an armed tartufe and thought he might lay the part upon mohammed, for, says he, "is not the man, who makes war against his own country and dares to do it in the name of god, capable of any ill?" the dislike that voltaire had conceived for the qorân from a superficial acquaintance with it, "ce livre inintelligible qui fait frémir le sens commun à chaque page," probably increased his unfavourable opinion, but the principal motive of his choice of a representative must have been that the general public still regarded mohammed as the incarnation of fanaticism and priestcraft. almost a century lies between gagnier's biography of mohammed and that of the heidelberg professor weil (_mohammed der prophet, sein leben and seine lehre_, stuttgart, ); and yet weil did well to call gagnier his last independent predecessor. weil's great merit is, that he is the first in his field who instituted an extensive historico-critical investigation without any preconceived opinion. his final opinion of mohammed is, with the necessary reservations: "in so far as he brought the most beautiful teachings of the old and the new testament to a people which was not illuminated by one ray of faith, he may be regarded, even by those who are not mohammedans, as a messenger of god." four years later caussin de perceval in his _essai sur l'histoire des arabes_, written quite independently of weil, expresses the same idea in these words: "it would be an injustice to mohammed to consider him as no more than a clever impostor, an ambitious man of genius; he was in the first place a man convinced of his vocation to deliver his nation from error and to regenerate it." about twenty years later the biography of mohammed made an enormous advance through the works of muir, sprenger, and nôldeke. on the ground of much wider and at the same time deeper study of the sources than had been possible for weil and caussin de perceval, each of these three scholars gave in his own way an account of the origin of islâm. nôldeke was much sharper and more cautious in his historical criticism than muir or sprenger. while the biographies written by these two men have now only historical value, nôldeke's _history of the qorân_ is still an indispensable instrument of study more than half a century after its first appearance. numbers of more or less successful efforts to make mohammed's life understood by the nineteenth century intellect have followed these without much permanent gain. mohammed, who was represented to the public in turn as deceiver, as a genius mislead by the devil, as epileptic, as hysteric, and as prophet, was obliged later on even to submit to playing on the one hand the part of socialist and, on the other hand, that of a defender of capitalism. these points of view were principally characteristic of the temperament of the scholars who held them; they did not really advance our understanding of the events that took place at mecca and medina between and a.d., that prologue to a perplexing historical drama. the principal source from which all biographers started and to which they always returned, was the qorân, the collection of words of allah spoken by mohammed in those twenty-two years. hardly anyone, amongst the "faithful" and the "unfaithful," doubts the generally authentic character of its contents except the parisian professor casanova.[ ] he tried to prove a little while ago that mohammed's revelations originally contained the announcement that the hour, the final catastrophe, the last judgment would come during his life. when his death had therefore falsified this prophecy, according to casanova, the leaders of the young community found themselves obliged to submit the revelations preserved in writing or memory to a thorough revision, to add some which announced the mortality even of the last prophet, and, finally to console the disappointed faithful with the hope of mohammed's return before the end of the world. this doctrine of the return, mentioned neither in the qorân nor in the eschatological tradition of later times, according to casanova was afterwards changed again into the expectation of the mahdî, the last of mohammed's deputies, "a guided of god," who shall be descended from mohammed, bear his name, resemble him in appearance, and who shall fill the world once more before its end with justice, as it is now filled with injustice and tyranny. [footnote : paul casanova, _mohammed et la fin du monde,_ paris, . his hypotheses are founded upon weil's doubts of the authenticity of a few verses of the _qorân_ (iii., ; xxxix., , etc.), which doubts were sufficiently refuted half a century ago by nôldeke in his _geschichte des qorâns_, st edition, p. , etc.] in our sceptical times there is very little that is above criticism, and one day or other we may expect to hear that mohammed never existed. the arguments for this can hardly be weaker than those of casanova against the authenticity of the qorân. here we may acknowledge the great power of what has been believed in all times, in all places, by all the members of the community ("quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus creditum est"). for, after the death of mohammed there immediately arose a division which none of the leading personalities were able to escape, and the opponents spared each other no possible kind of insult, scorn, or calumny. the enemies of the first leaders of the community could have wished for no more powerful weapon for their attack than a well-founded accusation of falsifying the word of god. yet this accusation was never brought against the first collectors of the scattered revelations; the only reproach that was made against them in connexion with this labour being that verses in which the holy family (ali and fatimah) were mentioned with honour, and which, therefore, would have served to support the claims of the alids to the succession of mohammed, were suppressed by them. this was maintained by the shi'ites, who are unsurpassed in islâm as falsifiers of history; and the passages which, according to them, are omitted from the official qorân would involve precisely on account of their reference to the succession, the mortality of mohammed. all sects and parties have the same text of the qorân. this may have its errors and defects, but intentional alterations or mutilations of real importance are not to blame for this. now this rich authentic source--this collection of wild, poetic representations of the day of judgment; of striving against idolatry; of stories from sacred history; of exhortation to the practice of the cardinal virtues of the old and new testament; of precepts to reform the individual, domestic, and tribal life in the spirit of these virtues; of incantations and forms of prayer and a hundred things besides--is not always comprehensible to us. even for the parts which we do understand, we are not able to make out the chronological arrangement which is necessary to gain an insight into mohammed's personality and work. this is not only due to the form of the oracles, which purposely differs from the usual tone of mortals by its unctuousness and rhymed prose, but even more to the circumstance that all that the hearers could know, is assumed to be known. so the qorân is full of references that are enigmatical to us. we therefore need additional explanation, and this can only be derived from tradition concerning the circumstances under which each revelation was delivered. and, truly, the sacred tradition of islâm is not deficient in data of this sort. in the canonical and half-canonical collections of tradition concerning what the prophet has said, done, and omitted to do, in biographical works, an answer is given to every question which may arise in the mind of the reader of the qorân; and there are many qorân-commentaries, in which these answers are appended to the verses which they are supposed to elucidate. sometimes the explanations appear to us, even at first sight, improbable and unacceptable; sometimes they contradict each other; a good many seem quite reasonable. the critical biographers of mohammed have therefore begun their work of sifting by eliminating the improbable and by choosing between contradictory data by means of critical comparison. here the gradually increasing knowledge of the spirit of the different parties in islâm was an important aid, as of course each group represented the facts in the way which best served their own purposes. however cautiously and acutely weil and his successors have proceeded, the continual progress of the analysis of the legislative as well as of the historical tradition of islam since has necessitated a renewed investigation. in the first place it has become ever more evident that the thousands of traditions about mohammed, which, together with the qorân, form the foundation upon which the doctrine and life of the community are based, are for the most part the conventional expression of all the opinions which prevailed amongst his followers during the first three centuries after the hijrah. the fiction originated a long time after mohammed's death; during the turbulent period of the great conquests there was no leisure for such work. our own conventional insincerities differ so much--externally at least--from those of that date, that it is difficult for us to realize a spiritual atmosphere where "pious fraud" was practised on such a scale. yet this is literally true: in the first centuries of islâm no one could have dreamt of any other way of gaining acceptance for a doctrine or a precept than by circulating a tradition, according to which mohammed had preached the doctrine or dictated it or had lived according to the precept. the whole individual, domestic, social, and political life as it developed in the three centuries during which the simple arabian religion was adjusted to the complicated civilization of the great nations of that time, that all life was theoretically justified by representing it as the application of minute laws supposed to have been elaborated by mohammed by precept and example. thus tradition gives invaluable material for the knowledge of the conflict of opinions in the first centuries, a strife the sharpness of which has been blunted in later times by a most resourceful harmonistic method. but, it is vain to endeavour to construct the life and teaching of mohammed from such spurious accounts; they cannot even afford us a reliable illustration of his life in the form of "table talk," as an english scholar rather naïvely tried to derive from them. in a collection of this sort, supported by good external evidence, there would be attributed to the prophet of mecca sayings from the old and new testament, wise saws from classical and arabian antiquity, prescriptions of roman law and many other things, each text of which was as authentic as its fellows. anyone who, warned by goldziher and others, has realized how matters stand in this respect, will be careful not to take the legislative tradition as a direct instrument for the explanation of the qorân. when, after a most careful investigation of thousands of traditions which all appear equally old, we have selected the oldest, then we shall see that we have before us only witnesses of the first century of the hijrah. the connecting threads with the time of mohammed must be supplied for a great part by imagination. the historical or biographical tradition in the proper sense of the word has only lately been submitted to a keener examination. it was known for a long time that here too, besides theological and legendary elements, there were traditions originating from party motive, intended to give an appearance of historical foundation to the particular interests of certain persons or families; but it was thought that after some sifting there yet remained enough to enable us to form a much clearer sketch of mohammed's life than that of any other of the founders of a universal religion. it is especially prince caetani and father lammens who have disturbed this illusion. according to them, even the data which had been pretty generally regarded as objective, rest chiefly upon tendentious fiction. the generations that worked at the biography of the prophet were too far removed from his time to have true data or notions; and, moreover, it was not their aim to know the past as it was, but to construct a picture of it as it ought to have been according to their opinion. upon the bare canvass of verses of the qorân that need explanation, the traditionists have embroidered with great boldness scenes suitable to the desires or ideals of their particular group; or, to use a favourite metaphor of lammens, they fill the empty spaces by a process of stereotyping which permits the critical observer to recognize the origin of each picture. in the sîrah (biography), the distance of the first describers from their object is the same as in the hadîth (legislative tradition); in both we get images of very distant things, perceived by means of fancy rather than by sight and taking different shapes according to the inclinations of each circle of describers. now, it may be true that the latest judges have here and there examined the mohammedan traditions too sceptically and too suspiciously; nevertheless, it remains certain that in the light of their research, the method of examination cannot remain unchanged. we must endeavour to make our explanations of the qorân independent of tradition, and in respect to portions where this is impossible, we must be suspicious of explanations, however apparently plausible. during the last few years the accessible sources of information have considerably increased, the study of them has become much deeper and more methodical, and the result is that we can tell much less about the teaching and the life of mohammed than could our predecessors half a century ago. this apparent loss is of course in reality nothing but gain. those who do not take part in new discoveries, nevertheless, wish to know now and then the results of the observations made with constantly improved instruments. let me endeavour, very briefly, to satisfy this curiosity. that the report of the bookkeeping might make a somewhat different impression if another accountant had examined it, goes without saying, and sometimes i shall draw particular attention to my personal responsibility in this respect. of mohammed's life before his appearance as the messenger of god, we know extremely little; compared to the legendary biography as treasured by the faithful, practically nothing. not to mention his pre-existence as a light, which was with god, and for the sake of which god created the world, the light, which as the principle of revelation, lived in all prophets from adam onwards, and the final revelation of which in mohammed was prophesied in the scriptures of the jews and the christians; not to mention the wonderful and mysterious signs which announced the birth of the seal of the prophets, and many other features which the later sîrahs (biographies) and maulids (pious histories of his birth, most in rhymed prose or in poetic metre) produce in imitation of the gospels; even the elaborate discourses of the older biographies on occurrences, which in themselves might quite well come within the limits of sub-lunary possibility, do not belong to history. fiction plays such a great part in these stories, that we are never sure of being on historical ground unless the qorân gives us a firm footing. the question, whether the family to which mohammed belonged, was regarded as noble amongst the qoraishites, the ruling tribe in mecca, is answered in the affirmative by many; but by others this answer is questioned not without good grounds. the matter is not of prime importance, as there is no doubt that mohammed grew up as a poor orphan and belonged to the needy and the neglected. even a long time after his first appearance the unbelievers reproached him, according to the qorân, with his insignificant worldly position, which fitted ill with a heavenly message; the same scornful reproach according to the qorân was hurled at mohammed's predecessors by sceptics of earlier generations; and it is well known that the stories of older times in the qorân are principally reflections of what mohammed himself experienced. the legends of mohammed's relations to various members of his family are too closely connected with the pretensions of their descendants to have any value for biographic purposes. he married late an elderly woman, who, it is said, was able to lighten his material cares; she gave him the only daughter by whom he had descendants; descendants, who, from the arabian point of view, do not count as such, as according to their genealogical theories the line of descent cannot pass through a woman. they have made an exception for the prophet, as male offspring, the only blessing of marriage appreciated by arabs, was withheld from him. in the materialistic commercial town of mecca, where lust of gain and usury reigned supreme, where women, wine, and gambling filled up the leisure time, where might was right, and widows, orphans, and the feeble were treated as superfluous ballast, an unfortunate being like mohammed, if his constitution were sensitive, must have experienced most painful emotions. in the intellectual advantages that the place offered he could find no solace; the highly developed arabian art of words, poetry with its fictitious amourettes, its polished descriptions of portions of arabian nature, its venal vain praise and satire, might serve as dessert to a well-filled dish; they were unable to compensate for the lack of material prosperity. mohammed felt his misery as a pain too great to be endured; in some way or other he must be delivered from it. he desired to be more than the greatest in his surroundings, and he knew that in that which they counted for happiness he could never even equal them. rather than envy them regretfully, he preferred to despise their values of life, but on that very account he had to oppose these values with better ones. it was not unknown in mecca that elsewhere communities existed acquainted with such high ideals of life, spiritual goods accessible to the poor, even to them in particular. apart from commerce, which brought the inhabitants of mecca into contact with abyssinians, syrians, and others, there were far to the south and less far to the north and north-east of mecca, arabian tribes who had embraced the jewish or the christian religion. perhaps this circumstance had helped to make the inhabitants of mecca familiar with the idea of a creator, allah, but this had little significance in their lives, as in the maker of the universe they did not see their lawgiver and judge, but held themselves dependent for their good and evil fortune upon all manner of beings, which they rendered favourable or harmless by animistic practices. thoroughly conservative, they did not take great interest in the conceptions of the "people of the scripture," as they called the jews, christians, and perhaps some other sects arisen from these communities. but mohammed's deeply felt misery awakened his interest in them. whether this had been the case with a few others before him in the milieu of mecca, we need not consider, as it does not help to explain his actions. if wide circles had been anxious to know more about the contents of the "scripture" mohammed would not have felt in the dark in the way that he did. we shall probably never know, by intercourse with whom it really was that mohammed at last gained some knowledge of the contents of the sacred books of judaism and christianity; probably through various people, and over a considerable length of time. it was not lettered men who satisfied his awakened curiosity; otherwise the quite confused ideas, especially in the beginning of the revelation, concerning the mutual relations between jews and christians could not be explained. confusions between miryam, the sister of moses, and mary, the mother of jesus, between saul and gideon, mistakes about the relationship of abraham to isaac, ishmael, and jacob, might be put down to misconceptions of mohammed himself, who could not all at once master the strange material. but his representation of judaism and christianity and a number of other forms of revelation, as almost identical in their contents, differing only in the place where, the time wherein, and the messenger of god by whom they came to man; this idea, which runs like a crimson thread through all the revelations of the first twelve years of mohammed's prophecy, could not have existed if he had had an intimate acquaintance with jewish or christian men of letters. moreover, the many post-biblical features and stories which the qorân contains concerning the past of mankind, indicate a vulgar origin, and especially as regards the christian legends, communications from people who lived outside the communion of the great christian churches; this is sufficiently proved by the docetical representation of the death of jesus and the many stories about his life, taken from apocryphal sources or from popular oral legends. mohammed's unlearned imagination worked all such material together into a religious history of mankind, in which adam's descendants had become divided into innumerable groups of peoples differing in speech and place of abode, whose aim in life at one period or another came to resemble wonderfully that of the inhabitants of west- and central-arabia in the seventh century a.d. hereby they strayed from the true path, in strife with the commands given by allah. the whole of history, therefore, was for him a long series of repetitions of the antithesis between the foolishness of men, as this was now embodied in the social state of mecca, and the wisdom of god, as known to the "people of the scripture." to bring the erring ones back to the true path, it was allah's plan to send them messengers from out of their midst, who delivered his ritual and his moral directions to them in his own words, who demanded the acknowledgment of allah's omnipotence, and if they refused to follow the true guidance, threatened them with allah's temporary or, even more, with his eternal punishment. the antithesis is always the same, from adam to jesus, and the enumeration of the scenes is therefore rather monotonous; the only variety is in the detail, borrowed from biblical and apocryphal legends. in all the thousands of years the messengers of allah play the same part as mohammed finally saw himself called upon to play towards his people. mohammed's account of the past contains more elements of jewish than of christian origin, and he ignores the principal dogmas of the christian church. in spite of his supernatural birth, jesus is only a prophet like moses and others; and although his miracles surpass those of other messengers, mohammed at a later period of his life is inclined to place abraham above jesus in certain respects. yet the influence of christianity upon mohammed's vocation was very great; without the christian idea of the final scene of human history, of the resurrection of the dead and the last judgment, mohammed's mission would have no meaning. it is true, monotheism, in the jewish sense, and after the contrast had become clear to mohammed, accompanied by an express rejection of the son of god and of the trinity, has become one of the principal dogmas of islâm. but in mohammed's first preaching, the announcement of the day of judgment is much more prominent than the unity of god; and it was against his revelations concerning doomsday that his opponents directed their satire during the first twelve years. it was not love of their half-dead gods but anger at the wretch who was never tired of telling them, in the name of allah, that all their life was idle and despicable, that in the other world they would be the outcasts, which opened the floodgates of irony and scorn against mohammed. and it was mohammed's anxiety for his own lot and that of those who were dear to him in that future life, that forced him to seek a solution of the question: who shall bring my people out of the darkness of antithesis into the light of obedience to allah? we should, _a posteriori_, be inclined to imagine a simpler answer to the question than that which mohammed found; he might have become a missionary of judaism or of christianity to the meccans. however natural such a conclusion may appear to us, from the premises with which we are acquainted, it did not occur to mohammed. he began--the qorân tells us expressly--by regarding the arabs, or at all events _his_ arabs, as heretofore destitute of divine message[ ]: "to whom we have sent no warner before you." moses and jesus--not to mention any others--had not been sent for the arabs; and as allah would not leave any section of mankind without a revelation, their prophet must still be to come. apparently mohammed regarded the jewish and christian tribes in arabia as exceptions to the rule that an ethnical group (_ummah_) was at the same time a religious unity. he did not imagine that it could be in allah's plan that the arabs were to conform to a revelation given in a foreign language. no; god must speak to them in arabic.[ ] through whose mouth? [footnote : _qorân_, xxxii., ; xxxiv., ; xxxvi., , etc.] [footnote : _ibid_., xii., ; xiii., ; xx., ; xxvi., ; xli., , etc.] a long and severe crisis preceded mohammed's call. he was convinced that, if he were the man, mighty signs from heaven must be revealed to him, for his conception of revelation was mechanical; allah himself, or at least angels, must speak to him. the time of waiting, the process of objectifying the subjective, lived through by the help of an overstrained imagination, all this laid great demands upon the psychical and physical constitution of mohammed. at length he saw and heard that which he thought he ought to hear and see. in feverish dreams he found the form for the revelation, and he did not in the least realize that the contents of his inspiration from heaven were nothing but the result of what he had himself absorbed. he realized it so little, that the identity of what was revealed to him with what he held to be the contents of the scriptures of jews and christians was a miracle to him, the only miracle upon which he relied for the support of his mission. in the course of the twenty-three years of mohammed's work as god's messenger, the over-excited state, or inspiration, or whatever we may call the peculiar spiritual condition in which his revelation was born, gradually gave place to quiet reflection. especially after the hijrah, when the prophet had to provide the state established by him at medina with inspired regulations, the words of god became in almost every respect different from what they had been at first. only the form was retained. in connection with this evolution, some of our biographers of mohammed, even where they do not deny the obvious honesty of his first visions, represent him in the second half of his work, as a sort of actor, who played with that which had been most sacred to him. this accusation is, in my opinion, unjust. mohammed, who twelve years long, in spite of derision and contempt, continued to inveigh in the name of allah against the frivolous conservatism of the heathens in mecca, to preach allah's omnipotence to them, to hold up to them allah's commands and his promises and threats regarding the future life, "without asking any reward" for such exhausting work, is really not another man than the acknowledged "messenger of allah" in medina, who saw his power gradually increase, who was taught by experience the value and the use of the material means of extending it, and who finally, by the force of arms compelled all arabs to "obedience to allah and his messenger." in our own society, real enthusiasm in the propagation of an idea generally considered as absurd, if crowned by success may, in the course of time, end in cold, prosaic calculation without a trace of hypocrisy. nowhere in the life of mohammed can a point of turning be shown; there is a gradual changing of aims and a readjustment of the means of attaining them. from the first the outcast felt himself superior to the well-to-do people who looked down upon him; and with all his power he sought for a position from which he could force them to acknowledge his superiority. this he found in the next and better world, of which the jews and christians knew. after a crisis, which some consider as psychopathologic, he knew himself to be sent by allah to call the materialistic community, which he hated and despised, to the alternative, either in following him to find eternal blessedness, or in denying him to be doomed to eternal fire. powerless against the scepticism of his hearers, after twelve years of preaching followed only by a few dozen, most of them outcasts like himself, he hoped now and then that allah would strike the recalcitrant multitude with an earthly doom, as he knew from revelations had happened before. this hope was also unfulfilled. as other messengers of god had done in similar circumstances, he sought for a more fruitful field than that of his birthplace; he set out on the hijrah, _i.e._, emigration to medina. here circumstances were more favourable to him: in a short time he became the head of a considerable community. allah, who had given him power, soon allowed him to use it for the protection of the interests of the faithful against the unbelievers. once become militant, mohammed turned from the purely defensive to the aggressive attitude, with such success that a great part of the arab tribes were compelled to accept islâm, "obedience to allah and his messenger." the rule formerly insisted upon: "no compulsion in religion," was sacrificed, since experience taught him, that the truth was more easily forced upon men by violence than by threats which would be fulfilled only after the resurrection. naturally, the religious value of the conversions sank in proportion as their number increased. the prophet of world renouncement in mecca wished to win souls for his faith; the prophet-prince in medina needed subjects and fighters for his army. yet he was still the same mohammed. parallel with his altered position towards the heathen arabs went a readjustment of his point of view towards the followers of scripture. mohammed never pretended to preach a new religion; he demanded in the name of allah the same islâm (submission) that moses, jesus, and former prophets had demanded of their nations. in his earlier revelations he always points out the identity of his "qorâns" with the contents of the sacred books of jews and christians, in the sure conviction that these will confirm his assertion if asked. in medina he was disillusioned by finding neither jews nor christians prepared to acknowledge an arabian prophet, not even for the arabs only; so he was led to distinguish between the _true_ contents of the bible and that which had been made of it by the falsification of later jews and christians. he preferred now to connect his own revelations more immediately with those of abraham, no books of whom could be cited against him, and who was acknowledged by jews and christians without being himself either a jew or a christian. this turn, this particular connection of islâm with abraham, made it possible for him, by means of an adaptation of the biblical legends concerning abraham, hagar, and ishmael, to include in his religion a set of religious customs of the meccans, especially the hajj.[ ] thus islâm became more arabian, and at the same time more independent of the other revealed religions, whose degeneracy was demonstrated by their refusal to acknowledge mohammed. [footnote : a complete explanation of the gradual development of the abraham legend in the qorân can be found in my book _het mekkaansche feest_ (the feast of mecca), leiden, .] all this is to be explained without the supposition of conscious trickery or dishonesty on the part of mohammed. there was no other way for the unlettered prophet, whose belief in his mission was unshaken, to overcome the difficulties entailed by his closer acquaintance with the tenets of other religions. how, then, are we to explain the starting-point of it all--mohammed's sense of vocation? was it a disease of the spirit, a kind of madness? at all events, the data are insufficient upon which to form a serious diagnosis. some have called it epilepsy. sprenger, with an exaggerated display of certainty based upon his former medical studies, gave mohammed's disorder the name of hysteria. others try to find a connection between mohammed's extraordinary interest in the fair sex and his prophetic consciousness. but, after all, is it explaining the spiritual life of a man, who was certainly unique, if we put a label upon him, and thus class him with others, who at the most shared with him certain abnormalities? a normal man mohammed certainly was not. but as soon as we try to give a positive name to this negative quality, then we do the same as the heathens of mecca, who were violently awakened by his thundering prophecies: "he is nothing but one possessed, a poet, a soothsayer, a sorcerer," they said. whether we say with the old european biographers "impostor," or with the modern ones put "epileptic," or "hysteric" in its place, makes little difference. the meccans ended by submitting to him, and conquering a world under the banner of his faith. we, with the diffidence which true science implies, feel obliged merely to call him mohammed, and to seek in the qorân, and with great cautiousness in the tradition, a few principal points of his life and work, in order to see how in his mind the intense feeling of discontent during the misery of his youth, together with a great self-reliance, a feeling of spiritual superiority to his surroundings, developed into a call, the form of which was largely decided by jewish and christian influence. while being struck by various weaknesses which disfigured this great personality and which he himself freely confessed, we must admire the perseverance with which he retained his faith in his divine mission, not discouraged by twelve years of humiliation, nor by the repudiation of the "people of scripture," upon whom he had relied as his principal witnesses, nor yet by numbers of temporary rebuffs during his struggle for the dominion of allah and his messenger, which he carried on through the whole of arabia. was mohammed conscious of the universality of his mission? in the beginning he certainly conceived his work as merely the arabian part of a universal task, which, for other parts of the world, was laid upon other messengers. in the medina period he ever more decidedly chose the direction of "forcing to comply." he was content only when the heathens perceived that further resistance to allah's hosts was useless; their understanding of his "clear arabic qorân" was no longer the principal object of his striving. _such_ an islâm could equally well be forced upon _non-arabian_ heathens. and, as regards the "people of scripture," since mohammed's endeavour to be recognized by them had failed, he had taken up his position opposed to them, even above them. with the rise of his power he became hard and cruel to the jews in north-arabia, and from jews and christians alike in arabia he demanded submission to his authority, since it had proved impossible to make them recognize his divine mission. this demand could quite logically be extended to all christians; in the first place to those of the byzantine empire. but did mohammed himself come to these conclusions in the last part of his life? are the words in which allah spoke to him: "we have sent thee to men in general,"[ ] and a few expressions of the same sort, to be taken in that sense, or does "humanity" here, as in many other places in the qorân, mean those with whom mohammed had especially to do? nôldeke is strongly of opinion that the principal lines of the program of conquest carried out after mohammed's death, had been drawn by the prophet himself. lammens and others deny with equal vigour, that mohammed ever looked upon the whole world as the field of his mission. this shows that the solution is not evident.[ ] [footnote : _qorân_, xxxiv., . the translation of this verse has always been a subject of great difference of opinion. at the time of its revelation--as fixed by mohammedan as well as by western authorities--the universal conception of mohammed's mission was quite out of question.] [footnote : professor t.w. arnold in the d edition (london, ) of his valuable work _the preaching of islâm_ (especially pp. - ), warmly endeavours to prove that mohammed from the beginning considered his mission as universal. he weakens his argument more than is necessary by placing the tradition upon an almost equal footing with the qorân as a source, and by ignoring the historical development which is obvious in the qorân itself. in this way he does not perceive the great importance of the history of the abraham legend in mohammed's conception. moreover, the translation of the verses of the qorân on p. sometimes says more than the original. _lil-nâs_ is not "_to mankind_" but "_to men_," in the sense of "_to everybody_." _qorân_, xvi., , does not say: "one day we will raise up a witness out of every nation," but: "on the day (_i.e._, the day of resurrection) when we will raise up, etc.," which would seem to refer to the theme so constantly repeated in the qorân, that each nation will be confronted on the day of judgment with the prophet sent to it. when the qorân is called an "admonition to the world (_'âlamîn_)" and mohammed's mission a "mercy to the world (_'âlamîn_)," then we must remember that 'âlamîn is one of the most misused rhymewords in the qorân (e.g., _qorân_, xv., ); and we should not therefore translate it emphatically as "all created beings," unless the universality of mohammed's mission is firmly established by other proofs. and this is far from being the case.] in our valuation of mohammed's sayings we cannot lay too much stress upon his incapability of looking far ahead. the final aims which mohammed set himself were considered by sane persons as unattainable. his firm belief in the realization of the vague picture of the future which he had conceived, nay, which allah held before him, drove him to the uttermost exertion of his mental power in order to surmount the innumerable unexpected obstacles which he encountered. hence the variability of the practical directions contained in the qorân; they are constantly altered according to circumstances. allah's words during the last part of mohammed's life: "this day have i perfected your religion for you, and have i filled up the measure of my favours towards you, and chosen islâm for you as your religion," have in no way the meaning of the exclamation: "it is finished," of the dying christ. they are only a cry of jubilation over the degradation of the heathen arabs by the triumph of allah's weapons. at mohammed's death everything was still unstable; and the vital questions for islâm were subjects of contention between the leaders even before the prophet had been buried. the expedient of new revelations completing, altering, or abrogating former ones had played an important part in the legislative work of mohammed. now, he had never considered that by his death the spring would be stopped, although completion was wanted in every respect. for, without doubt, mohammed felt his weakness in systematizing and his absence of clearness of vision into the future, and therefore he postponed the promulgation of divine decrees as long as possible, and he solved only such questions of law as frequently recurred, when further hesitation would have been dangerous to his authority and to the peace of the community. at mohammed's death, all arabs were not yet subdued to his authority. the expeditions which he had undertaken or arranged beyond the northern boundaries of arabia, were directed against arabs, although they were likely to rouse conflict with the byzantine and persian empires. it would have been contrary to mohammed's usual methods if this had led him to form a general definition of his attitude towards the world outside arabia. as little as mohammed, when he invoked the meccans in wild poetic inspirations to array themselves behind him to seek the blessedness of future life, had dreamt of the possibility that twenty years later the whole of arabia would acknowledge his authority in this world, as little, nay, much less, could he at the close of his life have had the faintest premonition of the fabulous development which his state would reach half a century later. the subjugation of the mighty persia and of some of the richest provinces of the byzantine empire, only to mention these, was never a part of his program, although legend has it that he sent out written challenges to the six princes of the world best known to him. yet we may say that mohammed's successors in the guidance of his community, by continuing their expansion towards the north, after the suppression of the apostasy that followed his death, remained in mohammed's line of action. there is even more evident continuity in the development of the empire of the omayyads out of the state of mohammed, than in the series of events by which we see the dreaded prince-prophet of medina grew out of the "possessed one" of mecca. but if mohammed had been able to foresee how the unity of arabia, which he nearly accomplished, was to bring into being a formidable international empire, we should expect some indubitable traces of this in the qorân; not a few verses of dubious interpretation, but some certain sign that the revelation, which had repeatedly, and with the greatest emphasis, called itself a "plain arabic qorân" intended for those "to whom no warner had yet been sent," should in future be valid for the 'ajam, the barbarians, as well as for the arabs. even if we ascribe to mohammed something of the universal program, which the later tradition makes him to have drawn up, he certainly could not foresee the success of it. for this, in the first place, the economic and political factors to which some scholars of our day would attribute the entire explanation of the islâm movement, must be taken into consideration. mohammed did to some extent prepare the universality of his religion and make it possible. but that islâm, which came into the world as the arabian form of the one, true religion, has actually become a universal religion, is due to circumstances which had little to do with its origin.[ ] this extension of the domain to be subdued to its spiritual rule entailed upon islâm about three centuries of development and accommodation, of a different sort, to be sure, but not less drastic in character than that of the christian church. [footnote : sir william muir was not wrong when he said: "from first to last the summons was to arabs and to none other... the seed of a universal creed had indeed been sown; but that it ever germinated was due to circumstances rather than design."] ii the religious development of islÂm we can hardly imagine a poorer, more miserable population than that of the south-arabian country hadramaut. all moral and social progress is there impeded by the continuance of the worst elements of jâhiliyyah (arabian paganism), side by side with those of islâm. a secular nobility is formed by groups of people, who grudge each other their very lives and fight each other according to the rules of retaliation unmitigated by any more humane feelings. the religious nobility is represented by descendants of the prophet, arduous patrons of a most narrow-minded orthodoxy and of most bigoted fanaticism. in a well-ordered society, making the most of all the means offered by modern technical science, the dry barren soil might be made to yield sufficient harvests to satisfy the wants of its members; but among these inhabitants, paralysed by anarchy, chronic famine prevails. foreigners wisely avoid this miserable country, and if they did visit it, would not be hospitably received. hunger forces many hadramites to emigrate; throughout the centuries we find them in all the countries of islâm, in the sacred cities of western-arabia, in syria, egypt, india, indonesia, where they often occupy important positions. in the dutch indies, for instance, they live in the most important commercial towns, and though the government has never favoured them, and though they have had to compete with chinese and with europeans, they have succeeded in making their position sufficiently strong. before european influence prevailed, they even founded states in some of the larger islands or they obtained political influence in existing native states. under a strong european government they are among the quietest, most industrious subjects, all earning their own living and saving something for their poor relations at home. they come penniless, and without any of that theoretical knowledge or practical skill which we are apt to consider as indispensable for a man who wishes to try his fortune in a complicated modern colonial world. yet i have known some who in twenty years' time have become commercial potentates, and even millionaires. the strange spectacle of these latent talents and of the suppressed energy of the people of hadramaut that seem to be waiting only for transplantation into a more favourable soil to develop with amazing rapidity, helps us to understand the enormous consequences of the arabian migration in the seventh century. the spiritual goods, with which islâm set out into the world, were far from imposing. it preached a most simple monotheism: allah, the almighty creator and ruler of heaven and earth, entirely self-sufficient, so that it were ridiculous to suppose him to have partners or sons and daughters to support him; who has created the angels that they might form his retinue, and men and genii (jinn) that they might obediently serve him; who decides everything according to his incalculable will and is responsible to nobody, as the universe is his; of whom his creatures, if their minds be not led astray, must therefore stand in respectful fear and awe. he has made his will known to mankind, beginning at adam, but the spreading of mankind over the surface of the earth, its seduction by satan and his emissaries have caused most nations to become totally estranged from him and his service. now and then, when he considered that the time was come, he caused a prophet to arise from among a nation to be his messenger to summon people to conversion, and to tell them what blessedness awaited them as a reward of obedience, what punishments would be inflicted if they did not believe his message. sometimes the disobedient had been struck by earthly judgment (the flood, the drowning of the egyptians, etc.), and the faithful had been rescued in a miraculous way and led to victory; but such things merely served as indications of allah's greatness. one day the whole world will be overthrown and destroyed. then the dead will be awakened and led before allah's tribunal. the faithful will have abodes appointed them in well-watered, shady gardens, with fruit-trees richly laden, with luxurious couches upon which they may lie and enjoy the delicious food, served by the ministrants of paradise. they may also freely indulge in sparkling wine that does not intoxicate, and in intercourse with women, whose youth and virginity do not fade. the unbelievers end their lives in hell-fire; or, rather, there is no end, for the punishment as well as the reward are everlasting. allah gives to each one his due. the actions of his creatures are all accurately written down, and when judgment comes, the book is opened; moreover, every creature carries the list of his own deeds and misdeeds; the debit and credit sides are carefully weighed against each other in the divine scales, and many witnesses are heard before judgment is pronounced. allah, however, is clement and merciful; he gladly forgives those sinners who have believed in him, who have sincerely accepted islâm, that is to say: who have acknowledged his absolute authority and have believed the message of the prophet sent to them. these prophets have the privilege of acting as mediators on behalf of their followers, not in the sense of redeemers, but as advocates who receive gracious hearing. naturally, islâm, submission to the lord of the universe, ought to express itself in deeds. allah desires the homage of formal worship, which must be performed several times a day by every individual, and on special occasions by the assembled faithful, led by one of them. this. service, [s.]alât, acquired its strictly binding rules only after mohammed's time, but already in his lifetime it consisted chiefly of the same elements as now: the recital of sacred texts, especially taken from the revelation, certain postures of the body (standing, inclination, kneeling, prostration) with the face towards mecca. this last particular and the language of the revelation are the arabian elements of the service, which is for the rest an imitation of jewish and christian rituals, so far as mohammed knew them. there was no sacrament, consequently no priest to administer it; islâm has always been the lay religion _par excellence_. teaching and exhortation are the only spiritual help that the pious mohammedan wants, and this simple care of souls is exercised without any ordination or consecration. fasting, for a month if possible, and longer if desired, was also an integral part of religious life and, by showing disregard of earthly joys, a proof of faith in allah's promises for the world to come. almsgiving, recommended above all other virtues, was not only to be practised in obedience to allah's law and in faith in retribution, but it was to testify contempt of all earthly possessions which might impede the striving after eternal happiness. later, mohammed was compelled, by the need of a public fund and the waning zeal of the faithful as their numbers increased, to regulate the practice of this virtue and to exact certain minima as taxes (_zakât_). when mohammed, taking his stand as opposed to judaism and christianity, had accentuated the arabian character of his religion, the meccan rites of pagan origin were incorporated into islâm; but only after the purification required by monotheism. from that time forward the yearly celebration of the hajj was among the ritual duties of the moslim community. in the first years of the strife yet another duty was most emphatically impressed on the faithful; _jihâd, i.e._, readiness to sacrifice life and possessions for the defence of islâm, understood, since the conquest of mecca in , as the extension by force of arms of the authority of the moslim state, first over the whole of arabia, and soon after mohammed's death over the whole world, so far as allah granted his hosts the victory. for the rest, the legislative revelations regulated only such points as had become subjects of argument or contest in mohammed's lifetime, or such as were particularly suggested by that antithesis of paganism and revelation, which had determined mohammed's prophetical career. gambling and wine were forbidden, the latter after some hesitation between the inculcation of temperance and that of abstinence. usury, taken in the sense of requiring any interest at all upon loans, was also forbidden. all tribal feuds with their consequences had henceforward to be considered as non-existent, and retaliation, provided that the offended party would not agree to accept compensation, was put under the control of the head of the community. polygamy and intercourse of master and female slave were restricted; the obligations arising from blood-relationship or ownership were regulated. these points suffice to remind us of the nature of the qorânic regulations. reference to certain subjects in this revealed law while others were ignored, did not depend on their respective importance to the life of the community, but rather on what happened to have been suggested by the events in mohammed's lifetime. for mohammed knew too well how little qualified he was for legislative work to undertake it unless absolutely necessary. this rough sketch of what islâm meant when it set out to conquer the world, is not very likely to create the impression that its incredibly rapid extension was due to its superiority over the forms of civilization which it supplanted. lammens's assertion, that islâm was the jewish religion simplified according to arabic wants and amplified by some christian and arabic traditions, contains a great deal of truth, if only we recognize the central importance for mohammed's vocation and preaching of the christian doctrine of resurrection and judgment. this explains the large number of weak points that the book of mohammed's revelations, written down by his first followers, offered to jewish and christian polemics. it was easy for the theologians of those religions to point out numberless mistakes in the work of the illiterate arabian prophet, especially where he maintained that he was repeating and confirming the contents of their bible. the qorânic revelations about allah's intercourse with men, taken from apocryphal sources, from profane legends like that of alexander the great, sometimes even created by mohammed's own fancy--such as the story of the prophet sâlih, said to have lived in the north of arabia, and that of the prophet hûd, supposed to have lived in the south; all this could not but give them the impression of a clumsy caricature of true tradition. the principal doctrines of synagogue and church had apparently been misunderstood, or they were simply denied as corruptions. the conversion to islâm, within a hundred years, of such nations as the egyptian, the syrian, and the persian, can hardly be attributed to anything but the latent talents, the formerly suppressed energy of the arabian race having found a favourable soil for its development; talents and energy, however, not of a missionary kind. if islâm is said to have been from its beginning down to the present day, a missionary religion,[ ] then "mission" is to be taken here in a quite peculiar sense, and special attention must be given to the preparation of the missionary field by the moslim armies, related by history and considered as most important by the mohammedans themselves. [footnote : with extraordinary talent this thesis has been defended by professor t.w. arnold in the above quoted work, _the preaching of islam_, which fully deserves the attention also of those who do not agree with the writer's argument. among the many objections that may be raised against prof. arnold's conclusion, we point to the undeniable fact, that the moslim scholars of all ages hardly speak of "mission" at all, and always treat the extension of the true faith by holy war as one of the principal duties of the moslim community.] certainly, the nations conquered by the arabs under the first khalîfs were not obliged to choose between living as moslims or dying as unbelievers. the conquerors treated them as mohammed had treated jews and christians in arabia towards the end of his life, and only exacted from them submission to moslim authority. they were allowed to adhere to their religion, provided they helped with their taxes to fill the moslim exchequer. this rule was even extended to such religions as that of the parsîs, although they could not be considered as belonging to the "people of scripture" expressly recognized in the qorân. but the social condition of these subjects was gradually made so oppressive by the mohammedan masters, that rapid conversions in masses were a natural consequence; the more natural because among the conquered nations intellectual culture was restricted to a small circle, so that after the conquest their spiritual leaders lacked freedom of movement. besides, practically very little was required from the new converts, so that it was very tempting to take the step that led to full citizenship. no, those who in a short time subjected millions of non-arabs to the state founded by mohammed, and thus prepared their conversion, were no apostles. they were generals whose strategic talents would have remained hidden but for mohammed, political geniuses, especially from mecca and taif, who, before islâm, would have excelled only in the organization of commercial operations or in establishing harmony between hostile families. now they proved capable of uniting the arabs commanded by allah, a unity still many a time endangered during the first century by the old party spirit; and of devising a division of labour between the rulers and the conquered which made it possible for them to control the function of complicated machines of state without any technical knowledge. moreover, several circumstances favoured their work; both the large realms which extended north of arabia, were in a state of political decline; the christians inhabiting the provinces that were to be conquered first, belonged, for the larger part, to heretical sects and were treated by the orthodox byzantines in such a way that other masters, if tolerant, might be welcome. the arabian armies consisted of hardened bedouins with few wants, whose longing for the treasures of the civilized world made them more ready to endure the pressure of a discipline hitherto unknown to them. the use that the leaders made of the occasion commands our admiration; although their plan was formed in the course and under the influence of generally unforeseen events. circumstances had changed mohammed the prophet into mohammed the conqueror; and the leaders, who continued the conqueror's work, though not driven by fanaticism or religious zeal, still prepared the conversion of millions of men to islâm. it was only natural that the new masters adopted, with certain modifications, the administrative and fiscal systems of the conquered countries. for similar reasons islâm had to complete its spiritual store from the well-ordered wealth of that of its new adherents. recent research shows most clearly, that islâm, in after times so sharply opposed to other religions and so strongly armed against foreign influence, in the first century borrowed freely and simply from the "people of scripture" whatever was not evidently in contradiction to the qorân. this was to be expected; had not mohammed from the very beginning referred to the "people of the book" as "those who know"? when painful experience induced him afterwards to accuse them of corruption of their scriptures, this attitude necessitated a certain criticism but not rejection of their tradition. the ritual, only provisionally regulated and continually liable to change according to prophetic inspiration in mohammed's lifetime, required unalterable rules after his death. recent studies[ ] have shown in an astounding way, that the jewish ritual, together with the religious rites of the christians, strongly influenced the definite shape given to that of islâm, while indirect influence of the parsî religion is at least probable. [footnote : the studies of professors c.h. becker, e. mittwoch, and a.j. wensinck, especially taken in connection with older ones of ignaz goldziher, have thrown much light upon this subject.] so much for the rites of public worship and the ritual purity they require. the method of fasting seems to follow the jewish model, whereas the period of obligatory fasting depends on the christian usage. mohammed's fragmentary and unsystematic accounts of sacred history were freely drawn from jewish and christian sources and covered the whole period from the creation of the world until the first centuries of the christian era. of course, features shocking to the moslim mind were dropped and the whole adapted to the monotonous conception of the qorân. with ever greater boldness the story of mohammed's own life was exalted to the sphere of the supernatural; here the gospel served as example. though mohammed had repeatedly declared himself to be an ordinary man chosen by allah as the organ of his revelation, and whose only miracle was the qorân, posterity ascribed to him a whole series of wonders, evidently invented in emulation of the wonders of christ. the reason for this seems to have been the idea that none of the older prophets, not even jesus, of whom the qorân tells the greatest wonders, could have worked a miracle without mohammed, the seal of the prophets, having rivalled or surpassed him in this respect. only jesus was the messiah; but this title did not exceed in value different titles of other prophets, and mohammed's special epithets were of a higher order. a relative sinlessness mohammed shared with jesus; the acceptance of this doctrine, contradictory to the original spirit of the qorân, had moreover a dogmatic motive: it was considered indispensable to raise the text of the qorân above all suspicion of corruption, which suspicion would not be excluded if the organ of the revelation were fallible. this period of naively adopting institutions, doctrines, and traditions was soon followed by an awakening to the consciousness that islâm could not well absorb any more of such foreign elements without endangering its independent character. then a sorting began; and the assimilation of the vast amount of borrowed matter, that had already become an integral part of islâm, was completed by submitting the whole to a peculiar treatment. it was carefully divested of all marks of origin and labelled _hadîth_,[ ] so that henceforth it was regarded as emanations from the wisdom of the arabian prophet, for which his followers owed no thanks to foreigners. [footnote : _hadîth_, the arabic word for record, story, has assumed the technical meaning of "tradition" concerning the words and deeds of mohammed. it is used as well in the sense of a single record of this sort as in that of the whole body of sacred traditions.] at first, it was only at medina that some pious people occupied themselves with registering, putting in order, and systematizing the spiritual property of islâm; afterwards similar circles were formed in other centres, such as mecca, kufa, basra, misr (cairo), and elsewhere. at the outset the collection of divine sayings, the qorân, was the only guide, the only source of decisive decrees, the only touchstone of what was true or false, allowed or forbidden. reluctantly, but decidedly at last, it was conceded that the foundations laid by mohammed for the life of his community were by no means all to be found in the holy book; rather, that mohammed's revelations without his explanation and practice would have remained an enigma. it was understood now that the rules and laws of islâm were founded on god's word and on the sunnah, _i.e._, the "way" pointed out by the prophet's word and example. thus it had been from the moment that allah had caused his light to shine over arabia, and thus it must remain, if human error was not to corrupt islâm. at the moment when this conservative instinct began to assert itself among the spiritual leaders, so much foreign matter had already been incorporated into islâm, that the theory of the sufficiency of qorân and sunnah could not have been maintained without the labelling operation which we have alluded to. so it was assumed that as surely as mohammed must have surpassed his predecessors in perfection and in wonders, so surely must all the principles and precepts necessary for his community have been formulated by him. thus, by a gigantic web of fiction, he became after his death the organ of opinions, ideas, and interests, whose lawfulness was recognized by every influential section of the faithful. all that could not be identified as part of the prophet's sunnah, received no recognition; on the other hand, all that was accepted had, somehow, to be incorporated into the sunnah. it became a fundamental dogma of islâm, that the sunnah was the indispensable completion of the qorân, and that both together formed the source of mohammedan law and doctrine; so much so that every party assumed the name of "people of the sunnah" to express its pretension to orthodoxy. the _contents_ of the sunnah, however, was the subject of a great deal of controversy; so that it came to be considered necessary to make the prophet pronounce his authoritative judgment on this difference of opinion. he was said to have called it a proof of god's special mercy, that within reasonable limits difference of opinion was allowed in his community. of that privilege mohammedans have always amply availed themselves. when the difference touched on political questions, especially on the succession of the prophet in the government of the community, schism was the inevitable consequence. thus arose the party strifes of the first century, which led to the establishment of the sects of the shî'ites and the khârijites, separate communities, severed from the great whole, that led their own lives, and therefore followed paths different from those of the majority in matters of doctrine and law as well as in politics. the sharpness of the political antithesis served to accentuate the importance of the other differences in such cases and to debar their acceptance as the legal consequence of the difference of opinion that god's mercy allowed. that the political factor was indeed the great motive of separation, is clearly shown in our own day, now that one mohammedan state after the other sees its political independence disappearing and efforts are being made from all sides to re-establish the unity of the mohammedan world by stimulating the feeling of religious brotherhood. among the most cultivated moslims of different countries an earnest endeavour is gaining ground to admit shî'ites, khârijites, and others, formerly abused as heretics, into the great community, now threatened by common foes, and to regard their special tenets in the same way as the differences existing between the four law schools: hanafites, mâlikites, shâfi'ites and hanbalites, which for centuries have been considered equally orthodox. although the differences that divide these schools at first caused great excitement and gave rise to violent discussions, the strong catholic instinct of islâm always knew how to prevent schism. each new generation either found the golden mean between the extremes which had divided the preceding one, or it recognized the right of both opinions. though the dogmatic differences were not necessarily so dangerous to unity as were political ones, yet they were more apt to cause schism than discussions about the law. it was essential to put an end to dissension concerning the theological roots of the whole system of islâm. mohammed had never expressed any truth in dogmatic form; all systematic thinking was foreign to his nature. it was again the non-arabic moslims, especially those of christian origin, who suggested such doctrinal questions. at first they met with a vehement opposition that condemned all dogmatic discussion as a novelty of the devil. in the long run, however, the contest of the conservatives against specially objectionable features of the dogmatists' discussions forced them to borrow arms from the dogmatic arsenal. hence a method with a peculiar terminology came in vogue, to which even the boldest imagination could not ascribe any connection with the sunnah of mohammed. yet some traditions ventured to put prophetic warnings on mohammed's lips against dogmatic innovations that were sure to arise, and to make him pronounce the names of a couple of future sects. but no one dared to make the prophet preach an orthodox system of dogmatics resulting from the controversies of several centuries, all the terms of which were foreign to the arabic speech of mohammed's time. indeed, all the subjects which had given rise to dogmatic controversy in the christian church, except some too specifically christian, were discussed by the _mutakallims_, the dogmatists of islâm. free will or predestination; god omnipotent, or first of all just and holy; god's word created by him, or sharing his eternity; god one in this sense, that his being admitted of no plurality of qualities, or possessed of qualities, which in all eternity are inherent in his being; in the world to come only bliss and doom, or also an intermediate state for the neutral. we might continue the enumeration and always show to the christian church-historian or theologian old acquaintances in moslim garb. that is why maracci and reland could understand jews and christians yielding to the temptation of joining islâm, and that also explains why catholic and protestant dogmatists could accuse each other of crypto-mohammedanism. not until the beginning of the tenth century a.d. did the orthodox mohammedan dogma begin to emerge from the clash of opinions into its definite shape. the mu'tazilites had advocated man's free will; had given prominence to justice and holiness in their conception of god, had denied distinct qualities in god and the eternity of god's word; had accepted a place for the neutral between paradise and hell; and for some time the favour of the powers in authority seemed to assure the victory of their system. al-ash'arî contradicted all these points, and his system has in the end been adopted by the great majority. the mu'tazilite doctrines for a long time still enthralled many minds, but they ended by taking refuge in the political heresy of shî'itism. in the most conservative circles, opponents to all speculation were never wanting; but they were obliged unconsciously to make large concessions to systematic thought; for in the moslim world as elsewhere religious belief without dogma had become as impossible as breathing is without air. thus, in islâm, a whole system, which could not even pretend to draw its authority from the sunnah, had come to be accepted. it was not difficult to justify this deviation from the orthodox abhorrence against novelties. islâm has always looked at the world in a pessimistic way, a view expressed in numberless prophetic sayings. the world is bad and will become worse and worse. religion and morality will have to wage an ever more hopeless war against unbelief, against heresy and ungodly ways of living. while this is surely no reason for entering into any compromise with doctrines which depart but a hair's breadth from qorân and sunnah, it necessitates methods of defence against heresy as unknown in mohammed's time as heresy itself. "necessity knows no law" is a principle fully accepted in islam; and heresy is an enemy of the faith that can only be defeated with dialectic weapons. so the religious truths preached by mohammed have not been altered in any way; but under the stress of necessity they have been clad in modern armour, which has somewhat changed their aspect. moreover, islâm has a theory, which alone is sufficient to justify the whole later development of doctrine as well as of law. this theory, whose importance for the system can hardly be overestimated, and which, nevertheless, has until very recent times constantly been overlooked by western students of islâm, finds its classical expression in the following words, put into the mouth of mohammed: "my community will never agree in an error." in terms more familiar to us, this means that the mohammedan church taken as a whole is infallible; that all the decisions on matters practical or theoretical, on which it is agreed, are binding upon its members. nowhere else is the catholic instinct of islâm more clearly expressed. a faithful mohammedan student, after having struggled through a handbook of law, may be vexed by a doubt as to whether these endless casuistic precepts have been rightly deduced from the qorân and the sacred tradition. his doubt, however, will at once be silenced, if he bears in mind that allah speaks more plainly to him by this infallible agreement (_ijmâ'_) of the community than through qorân and tradition; nay, that the contents of both those sacred sources, without this perfect intermediary, would be to a great extent unintelligible to him. even the differences between the schools of law may be based on this theory of the ijmâ'; for, does not the infallible agreement of the community teach us that a certain diversity of opinion is a merciful gift of god? it was through the agreement that dogmatic speculations as well as minute discussions about points of law became legitimate. the stamp of ijmâ' was essential to every rule of faith and life, to all manners and customs. all sorts of religious ideas and practices, which could not possibly be deduced from mohammed's message, entered the moslim world by the permission of ijmâ'. here we need think only of mysticism and of the cult of saints. some passages of the qorân may perhaps be interpreted in such a way that we hear the subtler strings of religious emotion vibrating in them. the chief impression that mohammed's allah makes before the hijrah is that of awful majesty, at which men tremble from afar; they fear his punishment, dare hardly be sure of his reward, and hope much from his mercy. this impression is a lasting one; but, after the hijrah, allah is also heard quietly reasoning with his obedient servants, giving them advice and commands, which they have to follow in order to frustrate all resistance to his authority and to deserve his satisfaction. he is always the lord, the king of the world, who speaks to his humble servants. but the lamp which allah had caused mohammed to hold up to guide mankind with its light, was raised higher and higher after the prophet's death, in order to shed its light over an ever increasing part of humanity. this was not possible, however, without its reservoir being replenished with all the different kinds of oil that had from time immemorial given light to those different nations. the oil of mysticism came from christian circles, and its neo-platonic origin was quite unmistakable; persia and india also contributed to it. there were those who, by asceticism, by different methods of mortifying the flesh, liberated the spirit that it might rise and become united with the origin of all being; to such an extent, that with some the profession of faith was reduced to the blasphemous exclamation: "i am allah." others tried to become free from the sphere of the material and the temporal by certain methods of thought, combined or not combined with asceticism. here the necessity of guidance was felt, and congregations came into existence, whose purpose it was to permit large groups of people under the leadership of their sheikhs, to participate simultaneously in the mystic union. the influence which spread most widely was that of leaders like ghazâlî, the father of the later mohammedan church, who recommended moral purification of the soul as the only way by which men should come nearer to god. his mysticism wished to avoid the danger of pantheism, to which so many others were led by their contemplations, and which so often engendered disregard of the revealed law, or even of morality. some wanted to pass over the gap between the creator and the created along a bridge of contemplation; and so, driven by the fire of sublime passion, precipitate themselves towards the object of their love, in a kind of rapture, which poets compare with intoxication. the evil world said that the impossibility to accomplish this heavenly union often induced those people to imitate it for the time being with the earthly means of wine and the indulgence in sensual love. characteristic of all these sorts of mysticism is their esoteric pride. all those emotions are meant only for a small number of chosen ones. even ghazâlî's ethical mysticism is not for the multitude. the development of islâm as a whole, from the hijrah on, has always been greater in breadth than in depth; and, consequently, its pedagogics have remained defective. even some of the noblest minds in islâm restrict true religious life to an aristocracy, and accept the ignorance of the multitude as an irremediable evil. throughout the centuries pantheistic and animistic forms of mysticism have found many adherents among the mohammedans; but the infallible agreement has persisted in calling that heresy. ethical mysticism, since ghazâlî, has been fully recognized; and, with law and dogma, it forms the sacred trio of sciences of islâm, to the study of which the arabic humanistic arts serve as preparatory instruments. all other sciences, however useful and necessary, are of this world and have no value for the world to come. the unfaithful appreciate and study them as well as do the mohammedans; but, on mohammedan soil they must be coloured with a mohammedan hue, and their results may never clash with the three religious sciences. physics, astronomy, and philosophy have often found it difficult to observe this restriction, and therefore they used to be at least slightly suspected in pious circles. mysticism did not only owe to ijmâ' its place in the sacred trio, but it succeeded, better than dogmatics, in confirming its right with words of allah and his prophet. in islâm mysticism and allegory are allied in the usual way; for the _illuminati_ the words had quite a different meaning than for common, every-day people. so the qorân was made to speak the language of mysticism; and mystic commentaries of the holy book exist, which, with total disregard for philological and historical objections, explain the verses of the revelation as expressions of the profoundest soul experiences. clear utterances in this spirit were put into the prophet's mouth; and, like the canonists, the leaders on the mystic way to god boasted of a spiritual genealogy which went back to mohammed. thus the prophet is said to have declared void all knowledge and fulfillment of the law which lacks mystic experience. of course only "true" mysticism is justified by ijmâ' and confirmed by the evidence of qorân and sunnah; but, about the bounds between "true" and "false" or heretical mysticism, there exists in a large measure the well-known diversity of opinion allowed by god's grace. the ethical mysticism of al-ghazâlî is generally recognized as orthodox; and the possibility of attaining to a higher spiritual sphere by means of methodic asceticism and contemplation is doubted by few. the following opinion has come to prevail in wide circles: the law offers the bread of life to all the faithful, the dogmatics are the arsenal from which the weapons must be taken to defend the treasures of religion against unbelief and heresy, but mysticism shows the earthly pilgrim the way to heaven. it was a much lower need that assured the cult of saints a place in the doctrine and practice of islâm. as strange as is mohammed's transformation from an ordinary son of man, which he wanted to be, into the incarnation of divine light, as the later biographers represent him, it is still more astounding that the intercession of saints should have become indispensable to the community of mohammed, who, according to tradition, cursed the jews and christians because they worshipped the shrines of their prophets. almost every moslim village has its patron saint; every country has its national saints; every province of human life has its own human rulers, who are intermediate between the creator and common mortals. in no other particular has islâm more fully accommodated itself to the religions it supplanted. the popular practice, which is in many cases hardly to be distinguished from polytheism, was, to a great extent, favoured by the theory of the intercession of the pious dead, of whose friendly assistance people might assure themselves by doing good deeds in their names and to their eternal advantage. the ordinary moslim visitor of the graves of saints does not trouble himself with this ingenious compromise between the severe monotheism of his prophet and the polytheism of his ancestors. he is firmly convinced, that the best way to obtain the satisfaction of his desire after earthly or heavenly goods is to give the saint whose special care these are what he likes best; and he confidently leaves it to the venerated one to settle the matter with allah, who is far too high above the ordinary mortal to allow of direct contact. in support even of this startling deviation from the original, traditions have been devised. moreover, the veneration of human beings was favoured by some forms of mysticism; for, like many saints, many mystics had their eccentricities, and it was much to the advantage of mystic theologians if the vulgar could be persuaded to accept their aberrations from normal rules of life as peculiarities of holy men. but ijmâ' did more even than tradition and mysticism to make the veneration of legions of saints possible in the temples of the very men who were obliged by their ritual law to say to allah several time daily: "thee only do we worship and to thee alone do we cry for help." in the tenth century of our era islâm's process of accommodation was finished in all its essentials. from this time forward, if circumstances were favourable, it could continue the execution of its world conquering plans without being compelled to assimilate any more foreign elements. against each spiritual asset that another universal religion could boast, it could now put forward something of a similar nature, but which still showed characteristics of its own, and the superiority of which it could sustain by arguments perfectly satisfactory to its followers. from that time on, islâm strove to distinguish itself ever more sharply from its most important rivals. there was no absolute stagnation, the evolution was not entirely stopped; but it moved at a much quieter pace, and its direction was governed by internal motives, not by influences from outside. moslim catholicism had attained its full growth. we cannot within the small compass of these lectures consider the excrescences of the normal islâm, the shî'itic ultras, who venerated certain descendants of mohammed as infallible rulers of the world, ishma'ilites, qarmatians, assassins; nor the modern bastards of islâm, such as the sheikhites, the bâbî's, the behâ'îs--who have found some adherents in america--and other sects, which indeed sprang up on moslim soil, but deliberately turned to non-mohammedan sources for their inspirations. we must draw attention, however, to protests raised by certain minorities against some of the ideas and practices which had been definitely adopted by the majority. in the midst of mohammedan catholicism there always lived and moved more or less freely "protestant" elements. the comparison may even be continued, with certain qualifications, and we may speak also of a conservative and of a liberal protestantism in islâm. the conservative protestantism is represented by the hanbalitic school and kindred spirits, who most emphatically preached that the agreement (ijmâ') of every period should be based on that of the "pious ancestors." they therefore tested every dogma and practice by the words and deeds of the prophet, his contemporaries, and the leaders of the community in the first decades after mohammed's death. in their eyes the church of later days had degenerated; and they declined to consider the agreement of its doctors as justifying the penetration into islâm of ideas and usages of foreign origin. the cult of saints was rejected by them as altogether contradictory to the qorân and the genuine tradition. these protestants of islâm may be compared to those of christianity also in this respect, that they accepted the results of the evolution and assimilation of the first three centuries of islâm, but rejected later additions as abuse and corruption. when on the verge of our nineteenth century, they tried, as true moslims, to force by material means their religious conceptions on others, they were combated as heretics by the authorities of catholic islâm. central and western arabia formed the battlefield on which these zealots, called wahhâbites after their leader, were defeated by mohammed ali, the first khedive, and his egyptian army. since they have given up their efforts at violent reconstitution of what they consider to be the original islâm, they are left alone, and their ideas have found adherents far outside arabia, _e.g._, in british india and in northern and central africa. in still quite another way many moslims who found their freedom of thought or action impeded by the prevailing law and doctrine, have returned to the origin of their religion. too much attached to the traditions of their faith, deliberately to disregard these impediments, they tried to find in the qorân and tradition arguments in favour of what was dictated to them by reason; and they found those arguments as easily as former generations had found the bases on which to erect their casuistry, their dogma, and their mysticism. this implied an interpretation of the oldest sources independent from the catholic development of islâm, and in contradiction with the general opinion of the canonists, according to whom, since the fourth or fifth century of the hijrah, no one is qualified for such free research. a certain degree of independence of mind, together with a strong attachment to their spiritual past, has given rise in the moslim world to this sort of liberal protestantism, which in our age has many adherents among the mohammedans who have come in contact with modern civilization. that the partisans of all these different conceptions could remain together as the children of one spiritual family, is largely owing to the elastic character of ijmâ', the importance of which is to some extent acknowledged by catholics and protestants, by moderns and conservatives. it has never been contested that the community, whose agreement was the test of truth, should not consist of the faithful masses, but of the expert elect. in a christian church we should have spoken of the clergy, with a further definition of the organs through which it was to express itself synod, council, or pope. islâm has no clergy, as we have seen; the qualification of a man to have his own opinion depends entirely upon the scope of his knowledge or rather of his erudition. there is no lack of standards, fixed by mohammedan authorities, in which the requirements for a scholar to qualify him for ijmâ' are detailed. the principal criterion is the knowledge of the canon law; quite what we should expect from the history of the evolution of islâm. but, of course, dogmatists and mystics had also their own "agreements" on the questions concerning them, and through the compromise between law, dogma, and mysticism, there could not fail to come into existence a kind of mixed ijmâ'. moreover, the standards and definitions could have only a certain theoretical value, as there never has existed a body that could speak in the name of all. the decisions of ijmâ' were therefore to be ascertained only in a vague and general way. the speakers were individuals whose own authority depended on ijmâ', whereas ijmâ' should have been their collective decision. thus it was possible for innumerable shades of catholicism and protestantism to live under one roof; with a good deal of friction, it is true, but without definite breach or schism, no one sect being able to eject another from the community. moslim political authorities are bound not only to extend the domain of islâm, but also to keep the community in the right path in its life and doctrine. this task they have always conceived in accordance with their political interests; islâm has had its religious persecutions but tolerance was very usual, and even official favouring of heresy not quite exceptional with moslim rulers. regular maintenance of religious discipline existed nowhere. thus in the bond of political obedience elements which might otherwise have been scattered were held together. the political decay of islâm in our a day has done away with what had been left of official power to settle religious differences and any organization of spiritual authority never existed. hence it is only natural that the diversity of opinion allowed by the grace of allah now shows itself on a greater scale than ever before. iii the political development of islÂm in the first period of islâm, the functions of what we call church and what we call state were exercised by the same authority. its political development is therefore of great importance for the understanding of its religious growth. the prophet, when he spoke in the name of god, was the lawgiver of his community, and it was rightly understood by the later faithful that his indispensable explanations of god's word had also legislative power. from the time of the hijrah the nature of the case made him the ruler, the judge, and the military commander of his theocratic state. moreover, allah expressly demanded of the moslims that they should obey "the messenger of god, and those amongst them who have authority."[ ] we see by this expression that mohammed shared his temporal authority with others. his co-rulers were not appointed, their number was nowhere defined, they were not a closed circle; they were the notables of the tribes or other groups who had arrayed themselves under mohammed's authority, and a few who had gained influence by their personality. in their councils mohammed's word had no decisive power, except when he spoke in the name of allah; and we know how careful he was to give oracles only in cases of extreme need. [footnote : qorân, iv., .] in the last years of mohammed's life his authority became extended over a large part of arabia; but he did very little in the way of centralization of government. he sent _'âmils, i.e._, agents, to the conquered tribes or villages, who had to see that, in the first place, the most important regulations of the qorân were followed, and, secondly, that the tax into which the duty of almsgiving had been converted was promptly paid, and that the portion of it intended for the central fund at medina was duly delivered. after the great conquests, the governors of provinces of the moslim empire, who often exercised a despotic power, were called by the same title of _'âmils_. the agents of mohammed, however, did not possess such unlimited authority. it was only gradually that the arabs learned the value of good discipline and submission to a strong guidance, and adopted the forms of orderly government as they found them in the conquered lands. through the death of mohammed everything became uncertain. the combination under one leadership of such a heterogeneous mass as that of his arabs would have been unthinkable a few years before. it became quite natural, though, as soon as the prophet's mouth was recognized as the organ of allah's voice. must this monarchy be continued after allah's mouthpiece had ceased to exist? it was not at all certain. the force of circumstances and the energy of some of mohammed's counsellors soon led to the necessary decisions. a number of the notables of the community succeeded in forcing upon the hesitating or unwilling members the acceptance of the monarchy as a permanent institution. there must be a khalîf, a deputy of the prophet in all his functions (except that of messenger of god), who would be ruler and judge and leader of public worship, but above all _amîr al-mu'minîn_, "commander of the faithful," in the struggle both against the apostate arabs and against the hostile tribes on the northern border. but for the military success of the first khalifs islâm would never have become a universal religion. every exertion was made to keep the troops of the faithful complete. the leaders followed only mohammed's example when they represented fighting for allah's cause as the most enviable occupation. the duty of military service was constantly impressed upon the moslims; the lust of booty and the desire for martyrdom, to which the qorân assigned the highest reward, were excited to the utmost. at a later period, it became necessary in the interests of order to temper the result of this excitement by traditions in which those of the faithful who died in the exercise of a peaceful, honest profession were declared to be witnesses to the faith as well as those who were slain in battle against the enemies of god,--traditions in which the real and greater holy war was described as the struggle against evil passions. the necessity of such a mitigating reaction, the spirit in which the chapters on holy war of mohammedan lawbooks are conceived, and the galvanizing power which down to our own day is contained in a call to arms in the name of allah, all this shows that in the beginning of islâm the love of battle had been instigated at the expense of everything else. the institution of the khalifate had hardly been agreed upon when the question of who should occupy it became the subject of violent dissension. the first four khalîfs, whose reigns occupied the first thirty years after mohammed's death, were qoraishites, tribesmen of the prophet, and moreover men who had been his intimate friends. the sacred tradition relates a saying of mohammed: "the _imâms_ are from qoraish," intended to confine the khalifate to men from that tribe. history, however, shows that this edict was forged to give the stamp of legality to the results of a long political struggle. for at mohammed's death the medinese began fiercely contesting the claims of the qoraishites; and during the reign of alî, the fourth khalîf, the khârijites rebelled, demanding, as democratic rigorists, the free election of khalîfs without restriction to the tribe of qoraish or to any other descent. their standard of requirements contained only religious and moral qualities; and they claimed for the community the continual control of the chosen leader's behaviour and the right of deposing him as soon as they found him failing in the fulfilment of his duties. their anarchistic revolutions, which during more than a century occasionally gave much trouble to the khalifate, caused islâm to accentuate the aristocratic character of its monarchy. they were overcome and reduced to a sect, the survivors of which still exist in south-eastern arabia, in zanzibar, and in northern africa; however, the actual life of these communities resembles that of their spiritual forefathers to a very remote degree. another democratic doctrine, still more radical than that of the khârijites, makes even non-arabs eligible for the khalifate. it must have had a considerable number of adherents, for the tradition which makes the prophet responsible for it is to be found in the canonic collections. later generations, however, rendered it harmless by exegesis; they maintained that in this text "commander" meant only subordinate chiefs, and not "the commander of the faithful." it became a dogma in the orthodox mohammedan world, respected up to the sixteenth century, that only members of the tribe of qoraish could take the place of the messenger of god. the chance of success was greater for the legitimists than for the democratic party. the former wished to make the khalifate the privilege of alî, the cousin and son-in-law of the prophet, and his descendants. at first the community did not take much notice of that "house of mohammed"; and it did not occur to any one to give them a special part in the direction of affairs. alî and fâtima themselves asked to be placed in possession only of certain goods which had belonged to mohammed, but which the first khalîfs would not allow to be regarded as his personal property; they maintained that the prophet had had the disposal of them not as owner, but as head of the state. this narrow greed and absence of political insight seemed to be hereditary in the descendants of ali and fâtima; for there was no lack of superstitious reverence for them in later times, and if one of them had possessed something of the political talent of the best omayyads and abbasids he would certainly have been able to supplant them. after the third khalîf, othmân, had been murdered by his political opponents, ali became his successor; but he was more remote than any of his predecessors from enjoying general sympathy. at that time the shî'ah, the "party" of the house of the prophet, gradually arose, which maintained that ali should have been the first khalîf, and that his descendants should succeed him. the veneration felt for those descendants increased in the same proportion as that for the prophet himself; and moreover, there were at all times malcontents, whose advantage would be in joining any revolution against the existing government. yet the alids never succeeded in accomplishing anything against the dynasties of the omayyads, the abbasids, and the ottomans, except in a few cases of transitory importance only. the fatimite dynasty, of rather doubtful descent, which ruled a part of northern africa and egypt in the tenth century a.d., was completely suppressed after some two and a half centuries. the sherîfs who have ruled morocco for more than years were not chiefs of a party that considered the legality of their leadership a dogma; they owe their local khalifate far more to the out-of-the-way position of their country which prevented abbasids and turks from meddling with their affairs. otherwise, they would have been obliged at any rate to acknowledge the sovereignty of the great lord of constantinople. this was the case with the sherîfs of mecca, who ever since the twelfth century have regarded the sacred territory as their domain. their principality arose out of the general political disturbance and the division of the mohammedan empire into a number of kingdoms, whose mutual strife prevented them from undertaking military operations in the desert. these sherîfs raised no claim to the khalifate; and the shî'itic tendencies they displayed in the middle ages had no political significance, although they had intimate relations with the zaidites of southern arabia. as first egypt and afterwards turkey made their protectorate over the holy cities more effective, the princes of mecca became orthodox. the zaidites, who settled in yemen from the ninth century on, are really shî'ites, although of the most moderate kind. without striving after expansion outside arabia, they firmly refuse to give up their own khalifate and to acknowledge the sovereignty of any non-alid ruler; the efforts of the turks to subdue them or to make a compromise with them have had no lasting results. this is the principal obstacle against their being included in the orthodox community, although their admission is defended, even under present circumstances, by many non-political moslim scholars. the zaidites are the remnant of the original arabian shî'ah, which for centuries has counted adherents in all parts of the moslim world, and some of whose tenets have penetrated mohammedan orthodoxy. the almost general veneration of the sayyids and sherîfs, as the descendants of mohammed are entitled, is due to this influence. the shî'ah outside arabia, whose adherents used to be persecuted by the official authorities, not without good cause, became the receptacle of all the revolutionary and heterodox ideas maintained by the converted peoples. alongside of the _visible_ political history of islâm of the first centuries, these circles built up their evolution of the _unseen_ community, the only true one, guided by the holy family, and the reality was to them a continuous denial of the postulates of religion. their first _imâm_ or successor of the prophet was alî, whose divine right had been unjustly denied by the three usurpers, abu bakr, omar, and othmân, and who had exercised actual authority for a few years in constant strife with khârijites and omayyads. the efforts of his legitimate successors to assert their authority were constantly drowned in blood; until, at last, there were no more candidates for the dangerous office. this prosaic fact was converted by the adherents of the house of mohammed into the romance, that the last _imâm_ of a line of _seven_ according to some, and _twelve_ according to others, had disappeared in a mysterious way, to return at the end of days as mahdî, the guided one, who should restore the political order which had been disturbed ever since mohammed's death. until his reappearance there is nothing left for the community to do but to await his advent, under the guidance of their secular rulers (e.g., the shâhs of persia) and enlightened by their authoritative scholars (_mujtahids_), who explain faith and law to them from the tradition of the sacred family. the great majority of mohammedans, as they do not accept this legitimist theory, are counted by the shî'ah outside arabia as unclean heretics, if not as unbelievers. at the beginning of the fifteenth century this shî'ah found its political centre in persia, and opposed itself fanatically to the sultan of turkey, who at about the same time came to stand at the head of orthodox islâm. all differences of doctrine were now sharpened and embittered by political passion, and the efforts of single enlightened princes or scholars to induce the various peoples to extend to each other, across the political barriers, the hand of brotherhood in the principles of faith, all failed. it is only in the last few years that the general political distress of islâm has inclined the estranged relatives towards reconciliation. besides the veneration of the alids, orthodox islâm has adopted another shîitic element, the expectation of the mahdî, which we have just mentioned. most sunnites expect that at the end of the world there will come from the house of mohammed a successor to him, guided by allah, who will maintain the revealed law as faithfully as the first four khalîfs did according to the idealized history, and who will succeed with god's help in making islâm victorious over the whole world. that the chiliastic kingdom of the mahdî must in the end be destroyed by anti-christ, in order that jesus may be able once more to re-establish the holy order before the resurrection, was a necessary consequence of the amalgamation of the political expectations formed under shî'itic influence, with eschatological conceptions formerly borrowed by islâm from christianity. the orthodox mahdî differs from that of the shî'ah in many ways. he is not an _imâm_ returning after centuries of disappearance, but a descendant of mohammed, coming into the world in the ordinary way to fulfill the ideal of the khalifate. he does not re-establish the legitimate line of successors of the prophet; but he renews the glorious tradition of the khalifate, which after the first thirty years was dragged into the general deterioration, common to all human things. the prophecies concerning his appearance are sometimes of an equally supernatural kind as those of the shîites, so that the period of his coming has passed more and more from the political sphere to which it originally belonged, into that of eschatology. yet, naturally, it is easier for a popular leader to make himself regarded as the orthodox mahdî than to play the part of the returned _imâm_. mohammedan rulers have had more trouble than they cared for with candidates for the dignity of the mahdî; and it is not surprising that in official turkish circles there is a tendency to simplify the messianic expectation by giving the fullest weight to this traditional saying of mohammed "there is no mahdî but jesus," seeing that jesus must come from the clouds, whereas other mahdîs may arise from human society. in the orthodox expectation of the mahdi the moslim theory has most sharply expressed its condemnation of the later political history of islâm. in the course of the first century after the hijrah the qorân scholars (_gârîs_) arose; and these in turn were succeeded by the men of tradition (_ahl al-hadîth_) and by the canonists (_faqîhs_) of later times. these learned men (_ulamâ'_) would not endure any interference with their right to state with authority what islâm demanded of its leaders. they laid claim to an interpretative authority concerning the divine law, which bordered upon supreme legislative power; their agreement (ijmâ') was that of the infallible community. but just as beside this legislative agreement, a dogmatic and a mystic agreement grew up, in the same way there was a separate ijmâ' regarding the political government, upon which the canonists could exercise only an indirect influence. in other words since the accession of the omayyad khalîfs, the actual authority rested in the hands of dynasties, and under the abbasids government assumed even a despotic character. this relation between the governors and governed, originally alien to islâm, was not changed by the transference of the actual power into the hands of _wezîrs_ and officers of the bodyguard; nor yet by the disintegration of the empire into a number of small despotisms, the investiture of which by the khalîf became a mere formality. dynastic and political questions were settled in a comparatively small circle, by court intrigue, stratagems, and force; and the canonists, like the people, were bound to accept the results. politically inclined interpreters of the law might try to justify their compulsory assent to the facts by theories about the ijmâ' of the notables residing in the capital, who took the urgent decisions about the succession, which decisions were subsequently confirmed by general homage to the new prince; but they had no illusions about the real influence of the community upon the choice of its leader. the most independent scholars made no attempt to disguise the fact that the course which political affairs had taken was the clearest proof of the moral degeneration which had set in, and they pronounced an equally bold and merciless criticism upon the government in all its departments. it became a matter of course that a pious scholar must keep himself free from all intercourse with state officials, on pain of losing his reputation. the bridge across the gulf that separated the spiritual from the temporal authorities was formed by those state officials who, for the practice of their office, needed a knowledge of the divine law, especially the _qâdhîs_. it was originally the duty of these judges to decide all legal differences between mohammedans, or men of other creeds under mohammedan protection, who called for their decision. the actual division between the rulers and the interpreters of the law caused an ever-increasing limitation of the authority of the _qâdhîs_. the laws of marriage, family, and inheritance remained, however, their inalienable territory; and a number of other matters, in which too great a religious interest was involved to leave them to the caprice of the governors or to the customary law outside islâm, were usually included. but as the _qâdhîs_ were appointed by the governors, they were obliged in the exercise of their office to give due consideration to the wishes of their constituents; and moreover they were often tainted by what was regarded in mohammedan countries as inseparable from government employment: bribery. on this account, the canonists, although it was from their ranks that the officials of the _qâdhî_ court were to be drawn, considered no words too strong to express their contempt for the office of _qâdhî_. in handbooks of the law of all times, the _qâdhîs "of our time"_ are represented as unscrupulous beings, whose unreliable judgments were chiefly dictated by their greed. such an opinion would not have acquired full force, if it had not been ascribed to mohammed; in fact, the prophet, according to a tradition, had said that out of three _qâdhîs_ two are destined to hell. anecdotes of famous scholars who could not be prevailed upon by imprisonment or castigation to accept the office of _qâdhîs_ are innumerable. those who succumbed to the temptation forfeited the respect of the circle to which they had belonged. i once witnessed a case of this kind, and the former friends of the _qâdhî_ did not spare him their bitter reproaches. he remarked that the judge, whose duty it was to maintain the divine law, verily held a noble office. they refuted this by saying that this defence was admissible only for earlier and better times, but not for "the _qâdhîs_ of our time." to which he cuttingly replied "and ye, are ye canonists of the better, the ancient time?" in truth, the students of sacred science are just as much "of our time" as the _qâdhîs_. even in the eleventh century the great theologian ghazâlî counted them all equal.[ ] not a few of them give their authoritative advice according to the wishes of the highest bidder or of him who has the greatest influence, hustle for income from pious institutions, and vie with each other in a revel of casuistic subtleties. but among those scholars there are and always have been some who, in poverty and simplicity, devote their life to the study of allah's law with the sole object of pleasing him; among the _qâdhîs_ such are not easily to be found. amongst the other state officials the title of _qâdhî_ may count as a spiritual one, and the public may to a certain extent share this reverence; but in the eyes of the pious and of the canonists such glory is only reflected from the clerical robe, in which the worldling disguises himself. [footnote : ghazâlî, _ihya_, book i., ch. , quotes the words of a pious scholar of the olden time: "the 'ulamâ' will (on the day of judgment) be gathered amongst the prophets, but the _qâdhîs_ amongst the temporal rulers." ghazâli adds "alike with these _qâdhîs_ are all those canonists who make use of their learning for worldly purposes."] to the _muftî_ criticism is somewhat more favourable than to the _qâdhî_. a muftî is not necessarily an official; every canonist who, at the request of a layman, expounds to him the meaning of the law on any particular point and gives a _fatwa_, acts as a _muftî_. be the question in reference to the behaviour of the individual towards god or towards man, with regard to his position in a matter of litigation, in criticism of a state regulation or of a sentence of a judge, or out of pure love of knowledge, the scholar is morally obliged to the best of his knowledge to enlighten the enquirer. he ought to do this for the love of god; but he must live, and the enquirer is expected to give him a suitable present for his trouble. this again gives rise to the danger that he who offers most is attended to first; and that for the liberal rich man a dish is prepared from the casuistic store, as far as possible according to his taste. the temptation is by no means so great as that to which the _qâdhî_ is exposed; especially since the office of judge has become an article of commerce, so that the very first step towards the possession of it is in the direction of hell. moreover in "these degenerate times"--which have existed for about ten centuries--the acceptance of an appointment to the function of _qâdhî_ is not regarded as a duty, while a competent scholar may only refuse to give a _fatwa_ under exceptional circumstances. still, an unusually strong character is needed by the _muftî_, if he is not to fall into the snares of the world. besides _qâdhîs_ who settle legal disputes of a certain kind according to the revealed law, the state requires its own advisers who can explain that law, i.e., official _muftîs_. firstly, the government itself may be involved in a litigation; moreover in some government regulations it may be necessary to avoid giving offence to canonists and their strict disciples. in such cases it is better to be armed beforehand with an expert opinion than to be exposed to dangerous criticism which might find an echo in a wide circle. the official _muftî_ must therefore be somewhat pliable, to say the least. moreover, any private person has the right to put questions to the state _muftî_; and the _qâdhî_ court is bound to take his answers into account in its decisions. in this way the _muftîs_ have absorbed a part of the duties of the _qâdhîs_, and so their office is dragged along in the degradation that the unofficial canonists denounce unweariedly in their writings and in their teaching. the way in which the most important _muftî_ places are filled and above all the position which the head-_muftî_ of the turkish empire, the sheikh-ul-islâm, holds at any particular period, may well serve as a touchstone of the influence of the canonists on public life. if this is great, then even the most powerful sultan has only the possibility of choice between a few great scholars, put forward or at all events not disapproved of by their own guild, strengthened by public opinion. if, on the other hand, there is no keen interest felt in the sharî'ah (divine law), then the temporal rulers can do pretty much what they like with these representatives of the canon law. under the tyrannical sway of sultan abd-ul-hamid, the sheikh-ul-islâm was little more than a tool for him and his palace clique, and for their own reasons, the members of the committee of union and progress, who rule at constantinople since , made no change in this: each new ministry had its own sheikh-ul-islâm, who had to be, above everything, a faithful upholder of the constitutional theory held by the committee. the time is past when the sultan and the porte, in framing even the most pressing reform, must first anxiously assure themselves of the position that the _hojas, tolbas, softas_, the theologians in a word, would take towards it, and of the influence that the sheikh-ul-islâm could use in opposition to their plans. the political authority makes its deference to the canonists dependent upon their strict obedience. this important change is a natural consequence of the modernization of mohammedan political life, a movement through which the expounders of a law which has endeavoured to remain stationary since the year must necessarily get into straits. this explains also why the religious life of mohammedans is in some respects freer in countries under non-mohammedan authority, than under a mohammedan government. under english, dutch, or french rule the 'ulamâs are less interfered with in their teaching, the _muftîs_ in their recommendations, and the _qâdhîs_ in their judgments of questions of marriage and inheritance than in turkey, where the life of islâm, as state religion, lies under official control. in indirectly governed "native states" the relation of mohammedan "church and state" may much more resemble that in turkey, and this is sometimes to the advantage of the sovereign ruler. under the direct government of a modern state, the mohammedan group is treated as a religious community, whose particular life has just the same claim to independence as that of other denominations. the only justifiable limitation is that the program of the forcible reduction of the world to mohammedan authority be kept within the scholastic walls as a point of eschatology, and not considered as a body of prescriptions, the execution of which must be prepared. the extensive political program of islâm, developed during the first centuries of astounding expansion, has yet not prevented millions of mohammedans from resigning themselves to reversed conditions in which at the present time many more mohammedans live under foreign authority than under their own. the acceptance of this change was facilitated by the historical pessimism of islâm, which makes the mind prepared for every sort of decay, and by the true moslim habit of resignation to painful experiences, not through fatalism, but through reverence for allah's inscrutable will. at the same time, it would be a gross mistake to imagine that the idea of universal conquest may be considered as obliterated. this is the case with the intellectuals and with many practical commercial or industrial men; but the canonists and the vulgar still live in the illusion of the days of islâm's greatness. the legists continue to ground their appreciation of every actual political condition on the law of the holy war, which war ought never to be allowed to cease entirely until all mankind is reduced to the authority of islâm--the heathen by conversion, the adherents of acknowledged scripture by submission. even if they admit the improbability of this at present, they are comforted and encouraged by the recollection of the lengthy period of humiliation that the prophet himself had to suffer before allah bestowed victory upon his arms; and they fervently join with the friday preacher, when he pronounces the prayer, taken from the qorân: "and lay not on us, o our lord, that for which we have not strength, but blot out our sins and forgive us and have pity upon us. thou art our master; grant us then to conquer the unbelievers!" and the common people are willingly taught by the canonists and feed their hope of better days upon the innumerable legends of the olden time and the equally innumerable apocalyptic prophecies about the future. the political blows that fall upon islâm make less impression upon their simple minds than the senseless stories about the power of the sultan of stambul, that would instantly be revealed if he were not surrounded by treacherous servants, and the fantastic tidings of the miracles that allah works in the holy cities of arabia which are inaccessible to the unfaithful. the conception of the khalifate still exercises a fascinating influence, regarded in the light of a central point of union against the unfaithful. apart from the _'âmils_, mohammed's agents amongst the arabian tribes, the khalifate was the only political institution which arose out of the necessity of the moslim community, without foreign influence. it rescued islâm from threatening destruction, and it led the faithful to conquest. no wonder that in historic legend the first four occupiers of that leadership, who, from medina, accomplished such great things, have been glorified into saints, and are held up to all the following generations as examples to put them to shame. in the omayyads the ancient aristocracy of mecca came to the helm, and under them, the mohammedan state was above all, as wellhausen styled it, "the arabian empire." the best khalîfs of this house had the political wisdom to give the governors of the provinces sufficient independence to prevent schism, and to secure to themselves the authority in important matters. the reaction of the non-arabian converts against the suppression of their own culture by the arabian conquerors found support in the opposition parties, above all with the shî'ah. the abbasids, cleverer politicians than the notoriously unskillful alids, made use of the alid propaganda to secure the booty to themselves at the right moment. the means which served the alids for the establishment only of an invisible dynasty of princes who died as martyrs, enabled the descendants of mohammed's uncle abbas to overthrow the omayyads, and to found their own khalifate at bagdad, shining with the brilliance of an eastern despotism. when it is said that the abbasid khalifate maintained itself from till the mongol storm in the middle of the thirteenth century, that only refers to external appearance. after a brief success, the actual power of these khalîfs was transferred to the hands, first, of the captains of their bodyguard, then of sultan-dynasties, whose forcibly acquired powers, were legalized by a formal investiture. in the same way the large provinces developed into independent kingdoms, whose rulers considered the nomination-diplomas from bagdad in the light of mere ornaments. compared to this irreparable disintegration of the empire, temporary schisms such as the omayyad khalifate in spain, the fatimid khalifate in egypt, and here and there an independent organization of the khârijites were of little significance. it seems strange that the moslim peoples, although the theory of islâm never attributed an hereditary character to the khalifate, attached so high a value to the abbasid name, that they continued unanimously to acknowledge the khalifate of bagdad for centuries during which it possessed no influence. but the idea of hereditary rulers was deeply rooted in most of the peoples converted to islâm, and the glorious period of the first abbasids so strongly impressed itself on the mind of the vulgar, that the _appearance_ of continuation was easily taken for _reality_. its voidness would sooner have been realized, if lack of energy had not prevented the later abbasids from trying to recover the lost power by the sword, or if amongst their rivals who could also boast of a popular tradition--e.g., the omayyads, or still more the alids--a political genius had succeeded in forming a powerful opposition. but the sultans who ruled the various states did not want to place all that they possessed in the balance on the chance of gaining the title of khalîf. the moslim world became accustomed to the idea that the honoured house of the prophet's uncle abbas existed for the purpose of lending an additional glory to mohammedan princes by a diploma. even after the destruction of bagdad by the mongols in , from which only a few abbasids escaped alive, indian princes continued to value visits or deeds of appointment granted them by some begging descendant of the "glorious house." the sultans of egypt secured this luxury permanently for themselves by taking a branch of the family under their protection, who gave the glamour of their approval to every new result of the never-ending quarrels of succession, until in the beginning of the sixteenth century egypt, together with so many other lands, was swallowed up by the turkish conqueror. these new rulers, who added the byzantine empire to islâm, who with egypt brought southern and western arabia with the holy cities also under their authority, and caused all the neighbouring princes, moslim and christian alike, to tremble on their thrones, thought it was time to abolish the senseless survival of the abbasid glory. the prestige of the ottomans was as great as that of the khalifate in its most palmy days had been; and they would not be withheld from the assumption of the title. there is a doubtful tale of the abdication of the abbasids in their favour, but the question is of no importance. the ottomans owed their khalifate to their sword; and this was the only argument used by such canonists as thought it worth their while to bring such an incontestable fact into reconciliation with the law. this was not strictly necessary, as they had been accustomed for eight centuries to acquiesce in all sorts of unlawful acts which history demonstrated to be the will of allah. the sense of the tradition that established descent from the tribe of qoraish as necessary for the highest dignity in the community was capable of being weakened by explanation; and, even without that, the leadership of the irresistible ottomans was of more value to islâm than the chimerical authority of a powerless qoraishite. in our own time, you can hear qoraishites, and even alids, warmly defend the claims of the turkish sultans to the khalifate, as they regard these as the only moslim princes capable of championing the threatened rights of islâm. even the sultans of stambul could not think of restoring the authority of the khalîf over the whole mohammedan world. this was prevented not only by the schismatic kingdoms, khalifates, or imâmates like shî'itic persia, which was consolidated just in the sixteenth century, by the unceasing opposition of the imâms of yemen, and khârijite principalities at the extremities of the mohammedan world. besides these, there were numerous princes in central asia, in india, and in central africa, whom either the khalifate had always been obliged to leave to themselves, or who had become so estranged from it that, unless they felt the power of the turkish arms, they preferred to remain as they were. moreover, islâm had extended itself not only by political means, but also by trade and colonization into countries even the existence of which was hardly known in the political centres of islâm, e.g., into central africa or the far east of asia. without thinking of rivalling the abbasids or their successors, some of the princes of such remote kingdoms, e.g., the sherîfs of morocco, assumed the title of commander of the faithful, bestowed upon them by their flatterers. today, there are petty princes in east india under dutch sovereignty who decorate themselves with the title of khalîf, without suspecting that they are thereby guilty of a sort of arrogant blasphemy. such exaggeration is not supported by the canonists; but these have devised a theory, which gives a foundation to the authority of mohammedan princes, who never had a real or fictitious connection with a real or fictitious khalifate. authority there must be, everywhere and under all circumstances; far from the centre this should be exercised, according to them, by the one who has been able to gain it and who knows how to hold it; and all the duties are laid upon him, which, in a normal condition, would be discharged by the khalîf or his representative. for this kind of authority the legists have even invented a special name: "_shaukah,_" which means actual influence, the authority which has spontaneously arisen in default of a chief who in one form or another can be considered as a mandatary of the khalifate. now, it is significant that many of those mohammedan governors, who owe their existence to wild growth in this way, seek, especially in our day, for connection with the khalifate, or, at least, wish to be regarded as naturally connected with the centre. the same is true of such whose former independence or adhesion to the turkish empire has been replaced by the sovereignty of a western state. even amongst the moslim peoples placed under the direct government of european states a tendency prevails to be considered in some way or another subjects of the sultan-khalîf. some scholars explain this phenomenon by the spiritual character which the dignity of khalîf is supposed to have acquired under the later abbasids, and retained since that time, until the ottoman princes combined it again with the temporal dignity of sultan. according to this view the later abbasids were a sort of popes of islâm; while the temporal authority, in the central districts as well as in the subordinate kingdoms, was in the hands of various sultans. the sultans of constantinople govern, then, under this name, as much territory as the political vicissitudes allow them to govern--_i.e._, the turkish empire; as khalîfs, they are the spiritual heads of the whole of sunnite islâm. though this view, through the ignorance of european statesmen and diplomatists, may have found acceptance even by some of the great powers, it is nevertheless entirely untrue; unless by "spiritual authority" we are to understand the empty appearance of worldly authority. this appearance was all that the later abbasids retained after the loss of their temporal power; spiritual authority of any kind they never possessed. the spiritual authority in catholic islâm reposes in the legists, who in this respect are called in a tradition the _"heirs of the prophets."_ since they could no longer regard the khalîfs as their leaders, because they walked in worldly ways, they have constituted themselves independently beside and even above them; and the rulers have been obliged to conclude a silent contract with them, each party binding itself to remain within its own limits.[ ] if this contract be observed, the legists not only are ready to acknowledge the bad rulers of the world, but even to preach loyalty towards them to the laity. the most supremely popular part of the ideal of islâm, the reduction of the whole world to moslim authority, can only be attempted by a political power. notwithstanding the destructive criticism of all moslim princes and state officials by the canonists, it was only from them that they could expect measures to uphold and extend the power of islâm; and on this account they continually cherished the ideal of the khalifate. [footnote : that the khalifate is in no way to be compared with the papacy, that islâm has never regarded the khalif as its spiritual head, i have repeatedly explained since (in "nieuwe bijdragen tot de kennis van den islam," in _bijdr. tot de taal, landen volkenkunde van nederl. indië_, volgr. , deel vi, in an article, "de islam," in _de gids_, may, , in _questions diplomatiques et coloniales_, me année, no. , etc.). i am pleased to find the same views expressed by prof. m. hartmann in _die welt des islams_, bd. i., pp. - .] in the first centuries it was the duty of mohammedans who had become isolated, and who had for instance been conquered by "unbelievers," to do _"hijrah," i.e._, emigration for allah's sake, as the converted arabs had done in mohammed's time by emigrating to medina to strengthen the ranks of the faithful. this soon became impracticable, so that the legists relaxed the prescription by concessions to "the force of necessity." resignation was thus permitted, even recommended; but the submission to non-musulmans was always to be regarded as temporary and abnormal. although the _partes infidelium_ have grown larger and larger, the eye must be kept fixed upon the centre, the khalifate, where every movement towards improvement must begin. a western state that admits any authority of a khalîf over its mohammedan subjects, thus acknowledges, _not_ the authority of a pope of the moslim church, but in simple ignorance is feeding political programs, which, however vain, always have the power of stirring mohammedan masses to confusion and excitement. of late years mohammedan statesmen in their intercourse with their western colleagues are glad to take the latter's point of view; and, in discussion, accept the comparison of the khalifate with the papacy, because they are aware that only in this form the khalifate can be made acceptable to powers who have mohammedan subjects. but for these subjects the khalif is then their true prince, who is temporarily hindered in the exercise of his government, but whose right is acknowledged even by their unbelieving masters. in yet another respect the canonists need the aid of the temporal rulers. an alert police is counted by them amongst the indispensable means of securing purity of doctrine and life. they count it to the credit of princes and governors that they enforced by violent measures seclusion and veiling of the women, abstinence from drinking, and that they punished by flogging the negligent with regard to fasting or attending public worship. the political decay of islâm, the increasing number of mohammedans under foreign rule, appears to them, therefore, doubly dangerous, as they have little faith in the proof of islam's spiritual goods against life in a freedom which to them means license. they find that every political change, in these terrible times, is to the prejudice of islâm, one moslim people after another losing its independent existence; and they regard it as equally dangerous that moslim princes are induced to accommodate their policy and government to new international ideas of individual freedom, which threaten the very life of islâm. they see the antagonism to all foreign ideas, formerly considered as a virtue by every true moslim, daily losing ground, and they are filled with consternation by observing in their own ranks the contamination of modernist ideas. the brilliant development of the system of islâm followed the establishment of its material power; so the rapid decline of that political power which we are witnessing makes the question urgent, whether islâm has a spiritual essence able to survive the fall of such a material support. it is certainly not the canonists who will detect the kernel; "verily we are god's and verily to him do we return," they cry in helpless amazement, and their consolation is in the old prayer: "and lay not on us, o our lord, that for which we have no strength, but blot out our sins and forgive us and have mercy upon us. thou art our master; grant us then to conquer the unbelievers!" iv islÂm and modern thought one of the most powerful factors of religious life in its higher forms is the need of man to find in this world of changing things an imperishable essence, to separate the eternal from the temporal and then to attach himself to the former. where the possibility of this operation is despaired of, there may arise a pessimism, which finds no path of liberation from the painful vicissitudes of life other than the annihilation of individuality. a firm belief in a sphere of life freed from the category of time, together with the conviction that the poetic images of that superior world current among mankind are images and nothing else, is likely to give rise to definitions of the absolute by purely negative attributes and to mental efforts having for their object the absorption of individual existence in the indescribable infinite. generally speaking, a high development of intellectual life, especially an intimate acquaintance with different religious systems, is not favourable to the continuance of elaborate conceptions of things eternal; it will rather increase the tendency to deprive the idea of the transcendent of all colour and definiteness. the naïve ideas concerning the other world in the clear-cut form outlined for them by previous generations are most likely to remain unchanged in a religious community where intellectual intercourse is chiefly limited to that between members of the community. there the belief is fostered that things most appreciated and cherished in this fading world by mankind will have an enduring existence in a world to come, and that the best of the changing phenomena of life are eternal and will continue free from that change, which is the principal cause of human misery. material death will be followed by awakening to a purer life, the idealized continuation of life on earth, and for this reason already during this life the faithful will find their delight in those things which they know to be everlasting. the less faith is submitted to the control of intellect, the more numerous the objects will be to which durable value is attributed. this is true for different individuals as well as for one religious community as compared to another. there are christians attached only to the spirit of the gospel, mohammedans attached only to the spirit of the qorân. others give a place in their world of imperishable things to a particular translation of the bible in its old-fashioned orthography or to a written qorân in preference to a printed one. orthodox judaism and orthodox islâm have marked with the stamp of eternity codes of law, whose influence has worked as an impediment to the life of the adherents of those religions and to the free intercourse of other people with them as well. so the roman catholic and many protestant churches have in their organizations and in their dogmatic systems eternalized institutions and ideas whose unchangeableness has come to retard spiritual progress. among all conservative factors of human life religion must necessarily be the most conservative, were it only because its aim is precisely to store up and keep under its guardianship the treasures destined for eternity to which we have alluded. now, every new period in the history of civilization obliges a religious community to undertake a general revision of the contents of its treasury. it is unavoidable that the guardians on such occasions should be in a certain measure disappointed, for they find that some of, the goods under their care have given way to the wasting influence of time, whilst others are in a state which gives rise to serious doubt as to their right of being classified with lasting treasures. in reality the loss is only an apparent one; far from impoverishing the community, it enhances the solidity of its possessions. what remains after the sifting process may be less imposing to the inexperienced mind; gradually the consideration gains ground that what has been rejected was nothing but useless rubbish which had been wrongly valued. sometimes it may happen that the general movement of spiritual progress goes almost too fast, so that one revision of the stores of religion is immediately followed by another. then dissension is likely to arise among the adherents of a religion; some of them come to the conclusion that there must be an end of sifting and think it better to lock up the treasuries once for all and to stop the dangerous enquiries; whereas others begin to entertain doubt concerning the value even of such goods as do not yet show any trace of decay. the treasuries of islâm are excessively full of rubbish that has become entirely useless; and for nine or ten centuries they have not been submitted to a revision deserving that name. if we wish to understand the whole or any important part of the system of islâm, we must always begin by transporting ourselves into the third or fourth century of the hijrah, and we must constantly bear in mind that from the medina period downwards islâm has always been considered by its adherents as bound to regulate all the details of their life by means of prescriptions emanating directly or indirectly from god, and therefore incapable of being reformed. at the time when these prescriptions acquired their definite form, islâm ruled an important portion of the world; it considered the conquest of the rest as being only a question of time; and, therefore, felt itself quite independent in the development of its law. there was little reason indeed for the moslim canonists to take into serious account the interests of men not subject to mohammedan authority or to care for the opinion of devotees of other religions. islâm might act, and did almost act, as if it were the only power in the world; it did so in the way of a grand seigneur, showing a great amount of generosity towards its subjugated enemies. the adherents of other religions were or would become subjects of the commander of the faithful; those subjects were given a full claim on mohammedan protection and justice; while the independent unbelievers were in general to be treated as enemies until in submission. their spiritual life deserved not even so much attention as that of islâm received from abbé maracci or doctor prideaux. the false doctrines of other peoples were of no interest whatever in themselves; and, since there was no fear of mohammedans being tainted by them, polemics against the abrogated religions were more of a pastime than an indispensable part of theology. the mohammedan community being in a sense allah's army, with the conquest of the world as its object, apostasy deserved the punishment of death in no lesser degree than desertion in the holy war, nay more so; for the latter might be the effect of cowardice, whereas the former was an act of inexcusable treachery. in the attitude of islâm towards other religions there is hardly one feature that has not its counterpart in the practice of christian states during the middle ages. the great difference is that the mohammedan community erected this medieval custom into a system unalterable like all prescriptions based on its infallible "agreement" (ijmâ'). here lay the great difficulty when the nineteenth and twentieth centuries placed the moslim world face to face with a civilization that had sprung up outside its borders and without its collaboration, that was from a spiritual point of view by far its superior and at the same time possessed of sufficient material power to thrust the mohammedans aside wherever they seemed to be an impediment in its way. a long series of the most painful experiences, meaning as many encroachments upon the political independence of mohammedan territories, ended by teaching islâm that it had definitely to change its lines of conduct. the times were gone when relations with the non-musulman world quite different from those foreseen by the mediaeval theory might be considered as exceptions to the rule, as temporary concessions to transitory necessities. in ever wider circles a thorough revision of the system came to be considered as a requirement of the time. the fact that the number of mohammedans subject to foreign rule increased enormously, and by far surpassed those of the citizens of independent mohammedan states, made the problem almost as interesting to western nations as to the mohammedans themselves. both parties are almost equally concerned in the question, whether a way will be found to associate the moslim world to modern civilization, without obliging it to empty its spiritual treasury altogether. nobody can in earnest advocate the idea of leaving the solution of the problem to rude force. the moslim of yore, going through the world with the qorân in one hand, the sword in the other, giving unbelievers the choice between conversion or death, is a creation of legendary fancy. we can but hope that modern civilization will not be so fanatical against moslims, as the latter were unjustly said to have been during the period of their power. if the modern world were only to offer the mohammedans the choice between giving up at once the traditions of their ancestors or being treated as barbarians, there would be sure to ensue a struggle as bloody as has ever been witnessed in the world. it is worth while indeed to examine the system of islâm from this special point of view, and to try to find the terms on which a durable _modus vivendi_ might be established between islâm and modern thought. the purely dogmatic part is not of great importance. some of us may admire the tenets of the mohammedan doctrine, others may as heartily despise them; to the participation of mohammedans in the civilized life of our days they are as innoxious as any other mediaeval dogmatic system that counts its millions of adherents among ourselves. the details of mohammedan dogmatics have long ceased to interest other circles than those of professional theologians; the chief points arouse no discussion and the deviations in popular superstition as well as in philosophical thought which in practice meet with toleration are almost unlimited. the mohammedan hell claims the souls of all heterodox people, it is true; but this does not prevent benevolent intercourse in this world, and more enlightened moslims are inclined to enlarge their definition of the word "faithful" so as to include their non-mohammedan friends. the faith in a mahdî, who will come to regenerate the world, is apt to give rise to revolutionary movements led by skilful demagogues pretending to act as the "guided one," or, at least, to prepare the way for his coming. most of the european powers having mohammedan subjects have had their disagreeable experiences in this respect. but moslim chiefs of states have their obvious good reasons for not liking such movements either; and even the majority of ordinary moslims look upon candidates for mahdi-ship with suspicion. a contented prosperous population offers such candidates little chance of success. the ritual laws of islâm are a heavy burden to those who strictly observe them; a man who has to perform worship five times a day in a state of ritual purity and during a whole month in a year has to abstain from food and drink and other enjoyments from daybreak until sunset, is at a disadvantage when he has to enter into competition with non-musulmans for getting work of any kind. but since most of the moslims have become subjects of foreign powers and religious police has been practically abolished in mohammedan states, there is no external compulsion. the ever smaller minority of strict practisers make use of a right which nobody can contest. drinking wine or other intoxicating drinks, taking interest on money, gambling--including even insurance contracts according to the stricter interpretation--are things which a moslim may abstain from without hindering non-mohammedans; or which in our days he may do, notwithstanding the prohibition of divine law, even without losing his good name. those who want to accentuate the antithesis between islâm and modern civilization point rightly to the personal law; here is indeed a great stumbling-block. the allowance of polygamy up to a maximum of four wives is represented by mohammedan authors as a progress if compared with the irregularity of pagan arabia and even with the acknowledgment of unlimited polygamy during certain periods of biblical history. the following subtle argument is to be found in some schoolbooks on mohammedan law: the law of moses was exceedingly benevolent to males by permitting them to have an unlimited number of wives; then came the law of jesus, extreme on the other side by prescribing monogamy; at last mohammed restored the equilibrium by conceding one wife to each of the four humours which make up the male's constitution. this theory, which leaves the question what the woman is to do with three of her four humours undecided, will hardly find fervent advocates among the present canonists. at the same time, very few of them would venture to pronounce their preference for monogamy in a general way, polygamy forming a part of the law that is to prevail, according to the infallible agreement of the community, until the day of resurrection. on the other side polygamy, although _allowed_, is far from being _recommended_ by the majority of theologians. many of them even dissuade men capable of mastering their passion from marriage in general, and censure a man who takes two wives if he can live honestly with one. in some mohammedan countries social circumstances enforce practical monogamy. the whole question lies in the education of women; when this has been raised to a higher level, polygamy will necessarily come to an end. it is therefore most satisfactory that among male mohammedans the persuasion of the necessity of a solid education for girls is daily gaining ground. this year ( ), a young egyptian took his doctor's degree at the paris university by sustaining a dissertation on the position of women in the moslim world, in which he told his co-religionists the full truth concerning this rather delicate subject[ ]. if social evolution takes the right course, the practice of polygamy will be abolished; and the maintenance of its lawfulness in canonical works will mainly be a survival of a bygone phase of development. [footnote : mansour fahmy, _la condition de la femme dans la tradition et l'évolution de l'islamisme_, paris, félix alcan, . the sometimes imprudent form in which the young reformer enounced his ideas caused him to be very badly treated by his compatriots at his return from europe.] the facility with which a man can divorce his wife at his pleasure, contrasted with her rights against him, is a still more serious impediment to the development of family life than the institution of polygamy; more serious, also, than veiling and seclusion of women. where the general opinion is favourable to the improvement of the position of women in society, there is always found a way to secure it to them without conflicting with the divine law; but a radical reform will remain most difficult so long as that law which allows the man to repudiate his wife without any reason, whereas it delivers the woman almost unarmed into the power of her husband, is considered to be one of the permanent treasures of islâm. it is a pity indeed that thus far women vigorously striving for liberation from those mediaeval institutions are rare exceptions in mohammedan countries. were mohammedan women capable of the violent tactics of suffragettes, they would rather try to blow up the houses of feminists than those of the patrons of the old régime. the ordinary mohammedan woman looks upon the endeavour of her husband to induce her to partake freely in public life as a want of consideration; it makes on her about the same impression as that which a respectable woman in our society would receive from her husband encouraging her to visit places generally frequented by people of bad reputation. it is the girls' school that will awaken those sleeping ones and so, slowly and gradually, prepare a better future, when the moslim woman will be the worthy companion of her husband and the intelligent educator of her children. this will be due, then, neither to the prophet's sunnah nor to the infallible agreement of the community of the first centuries of islâm, but to the irresistible power of the evolution of human society, which is merciless to laws even of divine origin and transfers them, when their time is come, from the treasury of everlasting goods to a museum of antiquities. slavery, and in its consequence free intercourse of a man with his own female slaves without any limitation as to their number, has also been incorporated into the sacred law, and therefore has been placed on the wrong side of the border that is to divide eternal things from temporal ones. this should not be called a mediaeval institution; the most civilized nations not having given it up before the middle of the nineteenth century. the law of islâm regulated the position of slaves with much equity, and there is a great body of testimony from people who have spent a part of their lives among mohammedan nations which does justice to the benevolent treatment which bondmen generally receive from their masters there. besides that, we are bound to state that in many western countries or countries under western domination whole groups of the population live under circumstances with which those of mohammedan slavery may be compared to advantage. the only legal cause of slavery in islâm is prisonership of war or birth from slave parents. the captivity of enemies of islâm has not at all necessarily the effect of enslaving them; for the competent authorities may dispose of them in any other way, also in the way prescribed by modern international law or custom. in proportion to the realization of the political ideal of islâm the number of its enemies must diminish and the possibilities of enslaving men must consequently decrease. setting slaves free is one of the most meritorious pious works, and, at the same time, the regular atonement for certain transgressions of the sacred law. so, according to mohammedan principles, slavery is an institution destined to disappear. when, in the last century, mohammedan princes signed international treaties for the suppression of slavery, from their point of view this was a premature anticipation of a future political and social development--a step which they felt obliged to take out of consideration for the great powers. in arabia, every effort of the turkish government to put such international agreements into execution has thus far given rise to popular sedition against the ottoman authority. therefore, the promulgation of decrees of abolition was stopped; and slavery continued to exist. the import of slaves from africa has, in fact, considerably diminished; but i am not quite sure of the proportional increase of the liberty which the natives of that continent enjoy at home. slavery as well as polygamy is in a certain sense to mohammedans a sacred institution, being incorporated in their holy law; but the practice of neither of the two institutions is indispensable to the integrity of islâm. all those antiquated institutions, if considered from the point of view of modern international intercourse, are only a trifle in comparison with the legal prescriptions of islâm concerning the attitude of the mohammedan community against the parts of the world not yet subject to its authority, "the abode of war" as they are technically called. it is a principal duty of the khalif, or of the chiefs considered as his substitutes in different countries, to avail themselves of every opportunity to extend by force the dominion of allah and his messenger. with unsubdued unbelievers _peace_ is not _allowed_; a _truce_ for a period not exceeding ten years may be concluded if the interest of islâm requires it. the chapters of the mohammedan law on holy war and on the conditions on which the submission of the adherents of tolerated religions is to be accepted seem to be a foolish pretension if we consider them by the light of the actual division of political power in the world. but here, too, to understand is better than to ridicule. in the centuries in which the system of islâm acquired its maturity, such an aspiration after universal dominion was not at all ridiculous; and many christian states of the time were far from reaching the mohammedan standard of tolerance against heterodox creeds. the delicate point is this, that the petrification or at least the process of stiffening that has attacked the whole spiritual life of islâm since about a.d. makes its accommodation to the requirements of modern intercourse a most difficult problem. but it is not only the mohammedan community that needed misfortune and humiliation before it was able to appreciate liberty of conscience; or that took a long time to digest those painful lessons of history. there are still christian churches which accept religious liberty only in circumstances that make supreme authority unattainable to them; and which, elsewhere, would not disdain the use of material means to subdue spirits to what they consider the absolute truth. to judge such things with equity, we must remember that every man possessed of a firm conviction of any kind is more or less a missionary; and the belief in the possibility of winning souls by violence has many adherents everywhere. one of my friends among the young-turkish state officials, who wished to persuade me of the perfect religious tolerance of turkey of today, concluded his argument by the following reflection: "formerly men used to behead each other for difference of opinion about the hereafter. nowadays, praise be to allah, we are permitted to believe what we like; but people continue to kill each other for political or social dissension. that is most pitiful indeed; for the weapons in use being more terrible and more costly than before, mankind lacks the peace necessary to enjoy the liberty of conscience it has acquired." the truthful irony of these words need not prevent us from considering the independence of spiritual life and the liberation of its development from material compulsion as one of the greatest blessings of our civilization. we feel urged by missionary zeal of the better kind to make the mohammedan world partake in its enjoyment. in the turkish empire, in egypt, in many mohammedan countries under western control, the progressive elements of moslim society spontaneously meet us half-way. but behind them are the millions who firmly adhere to the old superstition and are supported by the canonists, those faithful guardians of what the infallible community declared almost one thousand years ago to be the doctrine and rule of life for all centuries to come. will it ever prove possible to move in one direction a body composed of such different elements, or will this body be torn in pieces when the movement has become irresistible? we have more than once pointed to the catholic character of orthodox islâm. in fact, the diversity of spiritual tendencies is not less in the moslim world than within the sphere of christian influence; but in islâm, apart from the political schisms of the first centuries, that diversity has not given rise to anything like the division of christianity into sects. there is a prophetic saying, related by tradition, which later generations have generally misunderstood to mean that the mohammedan community would be split into seventy-three different sects. moslim heresiologists have been induced by this prediction to fill up their lists of seventy-three numbers with all sorts of names, many of which represent nothing but individual opinions of more or less famous scholars on subordinate points of doctrine or law. almost ninety-five per cent. of all mohammedans are indeed bound together by a spiritual unity that may be compared with that of the roman catholic church, within whose walls there is also room for religious and intellectual life of very different origin and tendency. in the sense of broadness, islâm has this advantage, that there is no generally recognized palpable authority able to stop now and then the progress of modernism or similar deviations from the trodden path with an imperative "halt!" there is no lack indeed of mutual accusation of heresy; but this remains without serious consequences because of the absence of a high ecclesiastical council competent to decide once for all. the political authorities, who might be induced by fanatical theologians to settle disputes by violent inquisitorial means, have been prevented for a long time from such interference by more pressing affairs. a knowledge alone of the orthodox system of islâm, however complete, would give us an even more inadequate idea of the actual world of catholic islâm than the notion we should acquire of the spiritual currents moving the roman catholic world by merely studying the dogma and the canonical law of the church of rome. nevertheless, the unity of islamic thought is by no means a word void of sense. the ideas of mohammedan philosophers, borrowed for a great part from neoplatonism, the pantheism and the emanation theory of mohammedan mystics are certainly still further distant from the simplicity of qorânic religion than the orthodox dogmatics; but all those conceptions alike show indubitable marks of having grown up on mohammedan soil. in the works even of those mystics who efface the limits between things human and divine, who put judaism, christianity, and paganism on the same line with the revelation of mohammed, and who are therefore duly anathematized by the whole orthodox world, almost every page testifies to the relation of the ideas enounced with mohammedan civilization. most of the treatises on science, arts, or law written by egyptian students for their doctor's degree at european universities make no exception to this rule; the manner in which these authors conceive the problems and strive for their solution is, in a certain sense, in the broadest sense of course, mohammedan. thus, if we speak of mohammedan thought, civilization, spirit, we have to bear in mind the great importance of the system which, almost unchanged, has been delivered for about one thousand years by one generation of doctors of islâm to the other, although it has become ever more unfit to meet the needs of the community, on whose infallible agreement it rests. but, at the same time, we ought to consider that beside the agreement of canonists, of dogmatists, and of mystics, there are a dozen more agreements, social, political, popular, philosophical, and so on, and that however great may be the influence of the doctors, who pretend to monopolize infallibility for the opinions on which they agree, the real agreement of islâm is the least common measure of all the agreements of the groups which make up the community. it would require a large volume to review the principal currents of thought pervading the moslim world in our day; but a general notion may be acquired by a rapid glance at two centres, geographically not far distant from each other, but situated at the opposite poles of spiritual life: mecca and cairo. in mecca yearly two or three hundred thousand moslims from all parts of the world come together to celebrate the hajj, that curious set of ceremonies of pagan arabian origin which mohammed has incorporated into his religion, a durable survival that in islâm makes an impression as singular as that of jumping processions in christianity. mohammed never could have foreseen that the consequence of his concession to deeply rooted arabic custom would be that in future centuries chinese, malays, indians, tatars, turks, egyptians, berbers, and negroes would meet on this barren desert soil and carry home profound impressions of the international significance of islâm. still more important is the fact that from all those countries young people settle here for years to devote themselves to the study of the sacred science. from the second to the tenth month of the mohammedan lunar year, the haram, _i.e._, the mosque, which is an open place with the ka'bah in its midst and surrounded by large roofed galleries, has free room enough between the hours of public service to allow of a dozen or more circles of students sitting down around their professors to listen to as many lectures on different subjects, generally delivered in a very loud voice. arabic grammar and style, prosody, logic, and other preparatory branches, the sacred trivium; canonic law, dogmatics, and mysticism, and, for the more advanced, exegesis of qorân and tradition and some other branches of supererogation, are taught here in the mediaeval way from mediaeval text-books or from more modern compilations reproducing their contents and completing them more or less by treating modern questions according to the same methods. it is now almost thirty years since i lived the life of a meccan student during one university year, after having become familiar with the matter taught by the professors of the temple of mecca, the haram, by privately studying it, so that i could freely use all my time in observing the mentality of people learning those things not for curiosity, but in order to acquire the only true direction for their life in this world and the salvation of their souls in the world to come. for a modern man there could hardly be a better opportunity imagined for getting a true vision of the middle ages than is offered to the orientalist by a few months' stay in the holy city of islâm. in countries like china, tibet, or india there are spheres of spiritual life which present to us still more interesting material for comparative study of religions than that of mecca, because they are so much more distant from our own; but, just on that account, the western student would not be able to adapt his mind to their mental atmospheres as he may do in mecca. no one would think for one moment of considering confucianism, hinduism, or buddhism as specially akin to christianity, whereas islâm has been treated by some historians of the christian church as belonging to the heretical offspring of the christian religion. in fact, if we are able to abstract ourselves for a moment from all dogmatic prejudice and to become a meccan with the meccans, one of the "neighbours of allah," as they call themselves, we feel in their temple, the haram, as if we were conversing with our ancestors of five or six centuries ago. here scholasticism with a rabbinical tint forms the great attraction to the minds of thousands of intellectually highly gifted men of all ages. the most important lectures are delivered during the forenoon and in the evening. a walk, at one of those hours, through the square and under the colonnades of the mosque, with ears opened to all sides, will enable you to get a general idea of the objects of mental exercise of this international assembly. here you may find a sheikh of pure arab descent explaining to his audience, composed of white syrians or circassians, of brown and yellow abyssinians and egyptians, of negroes, chinese, and malays, the probable and improbable legal consequences of marriage contracts, not excepting those between men and genii; there a negro scholar is explaining the ontological evidence of the existence of a creator and the logical necessity of his having twenty qualities, inseparable from, but not identical with, his essence; in the midst of another circle a learned _muftî_ of indeterminably mixed extraction demonstrates to his pupils from the standard work of al-ghazâlí the absolute vanity of law and doctrine to those whose hearts are not purified from every attachment to the world. most of the branches of mohammedan learning are represented within the walls of this temple by more or less famous scholars; and still there are a great number of private lectures delivered at home by professors who do not like to be disturbed by the unavoidable noise in the mosque, which during the whole day serves as a meeting place for friends or business men, as an exercise hall for qorân reciters, and even as a passage for people going from one part of the town to the other. in order to complete your mediaeval dream with a scene from daily life, you have only to leave the mosque by the bâb dereybah, one of its twenty-two gates, where you may see human merchandise exhibited for sale by the slave-brokers, and then to have a glance, outside the wall, at a camel caravan, bringing firewood and vegetables into the town, led by beduins whose outward appearance has as little changed as their minds since the day when mohammed began here to preach the word of allah. to the greater part of the world represented by this international exhibition of islâm, as a modern musulman writer calls it, our modern world, with all its problems, its emotions, its learning and science, hardly exists. on the other hand, the average modern man does not understand much more of the mental life of the two hundred millions to whom the barren mecca has become the great centre. in former days, other centres were much more important, although mecca has always been the goal of pilgrimage and the cherished abode of many learned men. many capitals of islâm offered the students an easier life and better accommodations for their studies; while in mecca four months of the year are devoted to the foreign guests of allah, by attending to whose various needs all meccans gain their livelihood. for centuries cairo has stood unrivalled as a seat of mohammedan learning of every kind; and even now the uaram of mecca is not to be compared to the azhar-mosque as regards the number and the fame of its professors and the variety of branches cultivated. in the last half-century, however, the ancient repute of the egyptian metropolis has suffered a good deal from the enormous increase of european influence in the land of the pharaohs; the effects of which have made themselves felt even in the azhar. modern programs and methods of instruction have been adopted; and, what is still worse, modernism itself, favoured by the late muftî muhammed abduh, has made its entrance into the sacred lecture-halls, which until a few years ago seemed inaccessible to the slightest deviation from the decrees of the infallible agreement of the community. strenuous efforts have been made by eminent scholars to liberate islâm from the chains of the authority of the past ages on the basis of independent interpretation of the qorân; not in the way of the wahhâbî reformers, who tried a century before to restore the institutions of mohammed's time in their original purity, but on the contrary with the object of adapting islâm by all means in their power to the requirements of modern life. official protection of the bold innovators prevented their conservative opponents from casting them out of the azhar, but the assent to their doctrines was more enthusiastic outside its walls than inside. the ever more numerous adherents of modern thought in egypt do not generally proceed from the ranks of the azhar students, nor do they generally care very much in their later life for reforming the methods prevailing there, although they may be inclined to applaud the efforts of the modernists. to the intellectuals of the higher classes the azhar has ceased to offer great attraction; if it were not for the important funds (_wagf_) for the benefit of professors and students, the numbers of both classes would have diminished much more than is already the case, and the faithful cultivators of mediaeval mohammedan science would prefer to live in mecca, free from western influence and control. even as it is, the predilection of foreign students of law and theology is turning more and more towards mecca. as one of the numerous interesting specimens of the mental development effected in egypt in the last years, i may mention a book that appeared in cairo two years ago[ ], containing a description of the present khedive's pilgrimage to mecca and medina, performed two years before. the author evidently possesses a good deal of the scholastic learning to be gathered in the azhar and no european erudition in the stricter sense of the word. in an introductory chapter he gives a summary of the geography and history of the arabian peninsula, describes the hijâz in a more detailed manner, and in his very elaborate account of the journey, on which he accompanied his princely master, the topography of the holy cities, the peculiarities of their inhabitants and of the foreign visitors, the political institutions, and the social conditions are treated almost as fully and accurately as we could desire from the hand of the most accomplished european scholar. the work is illustrated by good maps and plans and by a great number of excellent photographs expressly taken for this purpose by the khedive's order. the author intersperses his account with many witty remarks as well as serious reflections on religious and political topics, thus making it very readable to those of us who are familiar with the arabic language. he adorns his description of the holy places and of the pilgrimage-rites with the unctuous phrases used in handbooks for the hajji, and he does not disturb the mind of the pious reader by any historical criticism of the traditions connected with the house of allah, the black stone, and the other sanctuaries, but he loses no opportunity to show his dislike of all superstition; sometimes, as if to prevent western readers from indulging in mockery, he compares meccan rites or customs with superstitious practices current amongst jews or christians of today. [footnote : _ar-rihlah al-hijaziyyah_, by muhammed labib al-batanunf, d edition, cairo, hijrah.] this book, at whose contents many a meccan scholar of the old style will shake his head and exclaim: "we seek refuge near allah from satan, the cursed!" has been adopted by the egyptian department of public instruction as a reading-book for the schools. what surprised me more than anything else was the author's quoting as his predecessors in the description of mecca and medina, burckhardt, burton, and myself, and his sending me, although personally unacquainted with him, a presentation copy with a flattering dedication. this author and his book would have been impossible in the moslim world not more than thirty years ago. in egypt such a man is nowadays already considered as one of those more conservative moderns, who prefer the rationalistic explanation of the azhar lore to putting it aside altogether. within the azhar, his book is sure to meet with hearty approval from the followers of muhammed abduh, but not less hearty disapproval from the opponents of modernism who make up the majority of the professors as well as of the students. in these very last years a new progress of modern thought has manifested itself in cairo in the foundation, under the auspices of fu'âd pasha, an uncle of the present khedive, of the egyptian university. cairo has had for a long time its schools of medicine and law, which could be turned easily into university faculties; therefore, the founders of the university thought it urgent to establish a faculty of arts, and, if this proved a success, to add a faculty of science. in the meantime, gifted young men were granted subsidies to learn at european universities what they needed to know to be the professors of a coming generation, and, for the present, christian as well as mohammedan natives of egypt and european scholars living in the country were appointed as lecturers; professors being borrowed from the universities of europe to deliver lectures in arabic on different subjects chosen more or less at random before an audience little prepared to digest the lessons offered to them. the rather hasty start and the lack of a well-defined scheme have made the egyptian university a subject of severe criticism. nevertheless, its foundation is an unmistakable expression of the desire of intellectual egypt to translate modern thought into its own language, to adapt modern higher instruction to its own needs. this same aim is pursued in a perhaps more efficacious manner by the hundreds of egyptian students of law, science, and medicine at french, english, and some other european universities. the turks could not freely follow such examples before the revolution of ; but they have shown since that time that their abstention was not voluntary. england, france, holland, and other countries governing mohammedan populations are all endeavouring to find the right way to incorporate their mohammedan subjects into their own civilization. fully recognizing that it was the material covetousness of past generations that submitted those nations to their rule, the so-called colonial powers consider it their duty now to secure for them in international intercourse the place which their natural talent enables them to occupy. the question whether it is better simply to leave the moslims to islâm as it was for centuries is no longer an object of serious discussion, the reforming process being at work everywhere--in some parts with surprising rapidity. we can only try to prognosticate the solution which the near future reserves for the problem, how the moslim world is to be associated with modern thought. in this problem the whole civilized world and the whole world of islâm are concerned. the ethnic difference between indians, north-africans, malays, etc., may necessitate a difference of method in detail; the islâm problem lies at the basis of the question for all of them. on the other hand, the future development of islâm does not only interest countries with mohammedan dominions, it claims as well the attention of all the nations partaking in the international exchange of material and spiritual goods. this would be more generally recognized if some knowledge of islâm were more widely spread amongst ourselves; if it were better realized that islâm is next akin to christianity. it is the christian mission that shows the deepest consciousness of this state of things, and the greatest activity in promoting an association of mohammedan thought with that of western nations. the solid mass of experience due to the efforts of numerous missionaries is not of an encouraging nature. there is no reasonable hope of the conversion of important numbers of mohammedans to any christian denomination. broad-minded missionary societies have therefore given up the old fruitless proselytizing methods and have turned to social improvement in the way of education, medical treatment, and the like. it cannot be denied, that what they want above all to bring to mohammedans is just what these most energetically decline to accept. on the other hand the advocates of a purely civilizing mission are bound to acknowledge that, but for rare exceptions, the desire of incorporating mohammedan nations into our world of thought does not rouse the devoted, self-denying enthusiasm inspired by the vocation of propagating a religious belief. the ardour displayed by some missionaries in establishing in the dâr al-islâm christian centres from which they distribute to the mohammedans those elements of our civilization which are acceptable to them deserves cordial praise; the more so because they themselves entertain but little hope of attaining their ultimate aim of conversion. mohammedans who take any interest in christianity are taught by their own teachers that the revelation of jesus, after having suffered serious corruption by the christians themselves, has been purified and restored to its original simplicity by mohammed, and are therefore inaccessible to missionary arguments; nay, amongst uncivilized pagans the lay mission of islâm is the most formidable competitor of clerical propagation of the christian faith. people who take no active part in missionary work are not competent to dissuade christian missionaries from continuing their seemingly hopeless labour among mohammedans, nor to prescribe to them the methods they are to adopt; their full autonomy is to be respected. but all agree that mohammedans, disinclined as they are to reject their own traditions of thirteen centuries and to adopt a new religious faith, become ever better disposed to associate their intellectual, social, and political life with that of the modern world. here lies the starting point for two divisions of mankind which for centuries have lived their own lives separately in mutual misunderstanding, from which to pursue their way arm in arm to the greater advantage of both. we must leave it to the mohammedans themselves to reconcile the new ideas which they want with the old ones with which they cannot dispense; but we can help them in adapting their educational system to modern requirements and give them a good example by rejecting the detestable identification of power and right in politics which lies at the basis of their own canonical law on holy war as well as at the basis of the political practice of modern western states. this is a work in which we all may collaborate, whatever our own religious conviction may be. the principal condition for a fruitful friendly intercourse of this kind is that we make the moslim world an object of continual serious investigation in our intellectual centres. having spent a good deal of my life in seeking for the right method of associating with modern thought the thirty-five millions of mohammedans whom history has placed under the guardianship of my own country, i could not help drawing some practical conclusions from the lessons of history which i have tried to reduce to their most abridged form. there is no lack of pessimists, whose wisdom has found its poetic form in the words of kipling: east is east and west is west, and never the twain shall meet. to me, with regard to the moslim world, these words seem almost a blasphemy. the experience acquired by adapting myself to the peculiarities of mohammedans, and by daily conversation with them for about twenty years, has impressed me with the firm conviction that between islâm and the modern world an understanding _is_ to be attained, and that no period has offered a better chance of furthering it than the time in which we are living. to kipling's poetical despair i think we have a right to prefer the words of a broad-minded modern hindu writer: "the pity is that men, led astray by adventitious differences, miss the essential resemblances[ ]." [footnote : s.m. mitra, _anglo-indian studies_, london, longmans, green & co., , p. .] it would be a great satisfaction to me if my lectures might cause some of my hearers to consider the problem of islâm as one of the most important of our time, and its solution worthy of their interest and of a claim on their exertion. index a abbas (mohammed's uncle) abbasids government khalifate abd-ul-hamid, sultan abduh, muftî muhammed abraham abu bakr abyssinians africa africans agreement of the community, _see_ 'ijmâ' ahl al-hadîth (men of tradition) 'ajam al-ash'arî alexander the great alî, the fourth khalîf ali, mohammed, the first khedive alids 'âmils (agents) anti-christ arabia arabian, view in regard to the line of descent through a woman tribes prophet heathens migration race armies shi'ah conquerors origin of hajj peninsula arabic, traditions speech arts custom grammar language arabs the nations conquered by the of christian origin arnold, professor t.w. asia assassins augustin azhar-mosque b bâb dereybah bâbîs bagdad barbarians basra beduins behâ'îs bellarminius berber bible _see_ scriptures bibliander black stone boulainvilliers, count de breitinger buddhism burckhardt burton byzantine empire byzantines c caetani, prince cairo casanova, professor of paris caussin de perceval china chinese christian religion influence rituals traditions model of obligatory fasting princes states natives of egypt missions demonstrations centres in dar al-islam faith and missionaries christian church roman catholic protestant christianity christians religious rites of circassians coderc commander of the faithful committee of union and progress confucianism constantinople crypto-mohammedanism d dar al-islâm day of judgment doomsday dutch, indies e egypt egyptian, nation students department of public instruction university egyptians england english university f faqihs (canonists) faithful fâtima fâtimite, dynasty khalifate fatwa french university fu'âd pasha g ghazalí gideon goldziher gospels _see_ scriptures h hadith (legislative tradition) hadramaut hadramites hagar hajj (pilgrimage) hanafites hanbalites haram (mosque) hell hijâz hijrah, hinduism holy cities _see_ mecca and medina holy family (ali and fatimah) hottinger hûd, the prophet i 'ijmâ' (agreement of the community) imâms of yemen india indians, indonesia isaac ishmael ishma'ilites islâm j jacob jâhiliyyah (arabian paganism) jesus christ as mehdi jewish, religion influence rituals model of fasting jews jihâd judaism k ka'bah khalîf, the first khalifate khalîfs, the first four khârijites, khedive kipling kufa l lammens, father m mahdî malays mâlikites maracci, abbé mary (mother of jesus) maulid mecca meccans medina medinese messiah middle ages misr, _see_ cairo mohammedan, religion masters state orthodox dogma authorities law books countries political life church princes world governors subjects masses statesmen protection community territories dogmatics hell authors law women nations slavery principles standard of tolerance philosophers mystics thought lunar year learning science populations dominions mohammedans natives of egypt mongols morocco moses moslim princes people authority church canonists world chiefs of states woman society heresiologists muftî muir mujtahids mutakallim mu'tazilites n neo-platonic origin of mysticism neo-platonism nöldeke non-alids non-arabian converts non-arabic moslims o omar omayyads othmân authority ottoman princes ottomans p paganism papacy paradise parsîs persia persian empire porte, the prideaux, dr. protestantism q qâdhîs qârîs (qoran scholars) qarmatians qoraish qorân scolars reciters qorânic, revelations religion r reland, h. resurrection roman catholics s salât sale sâlih, the prophet sasanids saul sayyids scriptures people of the shâfi'ites shâhs of persia sharî'ah (divine law) shaukah (actual influence) sheikhites sheikh-ul-islâm sherîfs sherîfs of mecca sherîfs, rulers of morocco shî'ah (the party of the house) shî'ites sîrah (biography) spain sprenger stambul sultan sunnah sunnites syria syrians t taif tatars testament, _see_ scriptures tibet tradition, _see_ hadith trinity turkey sultan of turkish, empire circles conqueror sultan arms government state officials turks u 'ulamâ' (learned men) v voltaire w wahhâbî reformers weil wellhausen wezîrs y yemen imâms of z zaidites zakât (taxes) zanzibar project gutenberg (this file was produced from images generously made available by the internet archive/american libraries.) a dictionary of islam being a cyclopÆdia of the doctrines, rites, ceremonies, and customs, together with the technical and theological terms, of the muhammadan religion. by thomas patrick hughes, b.d., m.r.a.s. with numerous illustrations. london: w. h. allen & co., , waterloo place, pall mall. s.w. . dedicated (with permission) to the right reverend thomas valpy french, d.d., first bishop of lahore, with much affection and esteem, by his lordship's obedient servant, thomas patrick hughes. preface. the increased interest manifested in relation to all matters affecting the east, and the great attention now given to the study of comparative religion, seem to indicate that the time has come when an attempt should be made to place before the english-speaking people of the world a systematic exposition of the doctrines of the muslim faith. the present work is intended to supply this want, by giving, in a tabulated form, a concise account of the doctrines, rites, ceremonies, and customs, together with the technical and theological terms, of the muhammadan religion. although compiled by a clergyman who has had the privilege of being engaged in missionary work at peshawar for a period of twenty years, this "dictionary of islam" is not intended to be a controversial attack on the religious system of muhammad, but rather an exposition of its principles and teachings. divided, as the muslim world is, into numerous sects, it has been found impossible to take into consideration all the minor differences which exist amongst them. the dictionary is, for the most part, an exposition of the opinions of the sunni sect, with explanations of the chief points on which the shiah and wahhabi schools of thought differ from it. very special attention has been given to the views of the wahhabis, as it is the author's conviction that they represent the earliest teachings of the muslim faith as they came from muhammad and his immediate successors. when it is remembered that, according to mr. wilfrid blunt's estimate, the shiah sect only numbers some ten millions out of the one hundred and seventy-five millions of muhammadans in the world, it will be seen that, in compiling a dictionary of muhammadanism, the shiah tenets must of necessity occupy a secondary place in the study of the religion. still, upon all important questions of theology and jurisprudence, these differences have been noticed. the present book does not profess to be a biographical dictionary. the great work of ibn khallikan, translated into english by slane, supplies this. but short biographical notices of persons connected with the early history of islam have been given, inasmuch as many of these persons are connected with religious dogmas and ceremonies; the martyrdom of husain, for instance, as being the foundation of the muharram ceremonies; abu hanifah, as connected with a school of jurisprudence; and the khalifah `umar as the real founder of the religious and political power of islam. in the biographical notice of muhammad, the author has expressed his deep obligations to sir william muir's great work, the life of mahomet. it is impossible for anyone to write upon the subject of muhammadanism without being largely indebted, not only to sir william muir's books, but also to the works of the late mr. lane, the author of modern egyptians, new editions of which have been edited by mr. stanley lane poole. numerous quotations from these volumes will be found in the present work. but whilst the author has not hesitated in this compilation to avail himself of the above and similar works, he has, during a long residence amongst muhammadan peoples, been able to consult very numerous arabic and persian works in their originals, and to obtain the assistance of very able muhammadan native scholars of all schools of thought in islam. he is specially indebted to dr. f. steingass, of the university of munich, the author of the english-arabic and arabic-english dictionaries, for a careful revision of the whole work. the interesting article on writing is from the pen of this distinguished scholar, as well as some valuable criticisms on the composition of the qur'an, and a biographical sketch of the khalifah `umar. orientalists may, perhaps, be surprised to find that sikhism has been treated as a sect of islam, but the compiler has been favoured with a very able and scholarly article on the subject by mr. f. pincott, m.r.a.s., in which he shows that the "religion of nanak was really intended as a compromise between hinduism and muhammadanism, if it may not even be spoken of as the religion of a muhammadan sect,"--the publication of which in the present work seemed to be most desirable. at the commencement of the publication of the work, the author received very valuable assistance from the rev. f. a. p. shirreff, m.a., principal of the lahore divinity college, as well as from other friends, which he must gratefully acknowledge. amongst the numerous suggestions which the author received for the compilation of this dictionary, was one from a well-known arabic scholar, to the effect that the value of the work would be enhanced if the quotations from the qur'an, and from the traditions, were given in their original arabic. this, however, seemed incompatible with the general design of the book. the whole structure of the work is intended to be such as will make it available to english scholars unacquainted with the arabic language; and, consequently, most of the information given will be found under english words rather than under their arabic equivalents. for example, for information regarding the attributes of the divine being, the reader must refer to the english god, and not to the arabic allah; for all the ritual and laws regarding the liturgical service, to the english prayer, and not to the arabic salat; for the marriage laws and ceremonies, to the english marriage, and not to the arabic nikah. it is hoped that, in this way, the information given will be available to those who are entirely unacquainted with oriental languages, or, indeed, with eastern life. the quotations from the qur'an have been given chiefly from palmer's and rodwell's translations; and those in the qur'anic narrative of biblical characters (moses for example) have been taken from mr. stanley lane poole's edition of lane's selections. but, when needful, entirely new translations of quotations from the qur'an have been given. the "dictionary of islam" has been compiled with very considerable study and labour, in the hope that it will be useful to many;--to the government official called to administer justice to muslim peoples; to the christian missionary engaged in controversy with muslim scholars; to the oriental traveller seeking hospitality amongst muslim peoples; to the student of comparative religion anxious to learn the true teachings of islam;--to all, indeed, who care to know what are those leading principles of thought which move and guide one hundred and seventy-five millions of the great human family, forty millions of whom are under the rule of her most gracious majesty the empress of india. july rd, . [transcriber's note: the remainder of this book has only been prepared as an html file, which, due to including numerous phrases in arabic, hebrew, and greek script, as well as numerous tables, would be hard to present as plain text.]