lifornia onal ity / The Chautauqua LiteOTiJ and Scientific Circle, STUDIES yOR 1891-93. Leading Facts of American History. Montgomery, - - - $i oo Social Institutions of the United States. Bryce, ... i oo Initial Studies in American Letters. Beers, .... j oo Story of the Constitution of the United States. Thorpe, - - 60 Classic German Course in English. Wilkinson, - - - - i oo Two Old Faiths. Mitchell and Muir, 40 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, 15O Fifth Avenue 1891 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 OP THE ESSAY 7 INTRODUCTION 9 THE VEDAS 12 PHILOSOPHY, AND RITUALISM 31 RECONSTRUCTION MODERN HINDUISM 43 CONTRAST WITH CHRISTIANITY 58 HINDUISM IN CONTACT WITH CHRISTIANITY. . . .68 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. OUTLINE OF THE ESSAY 83 INTRODUCTION 85 THE RAPID SPREAD OP ISLAM 87 WHY THE SPREAD OP ISLAM WAS STAYED 125 Low POSITION OP ISLAM IN THE SCALE OP CIVILIZATION 129 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 re- action, its conflict with Brahmanism, its final defeat, and its influence on the victorious system are dis- cussed. The religious reconstruction represented by the Puranas, their theological character, the modern 8 OUT-LINE OF THE ESSAY. ritual, the introduction and rise of caste, and the treatment of women are then considered. A contrast is drawn between the leading character- istics of Hinduism and those of Christianity, and the effect of Christian ideas on modern Hinduism is ex- hibited. The history of the Brahmo Somaj under Keshub Chunder Sen is given at some length. THE HINDU RELIGION. INTRODUCTION. THE system of religious belief which is generally called .Hinduism is, on many accounts, Hinduism de- serving of eminently deserving of study. If we de- study. sire 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 ear- lier writings of the Hindus an exhibition of it decid- edly more archaic even than that which is presented in the Homeric poems. Then, the growth the his- torical development of Hinduism is not less worthy of attention than its earlier phases. It has endured for upward of three thousand years, no Its antiquity. 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. 10 THE HINDU RELIGION. We are, then, to endeavor to study Hinduism chronologically. Unless he does so almost every man who tries to comprehend it is, at first, over- whelmed with a feeling of utter confusion and be- wilderment. 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." But matters begin to clear up when he begins at the The discussion beginning, and notes how one thing suc- . ceeded anot h er . 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 intel- ligent man will find it profitable to note and under- stand. The Christian ought not to rest satisfied with the me Christian's vague general idea that Hinduism is a duty in relation to the subject, 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 INTRODUCTION. 11 hell, and the many sore trials of this mortal life. He will then certainly have a much more vivid percep- tion 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 accom- plish more than the most cogent argument. In this Tract we confine ourselves to the laying down of great leading facts and princi- The pies; but these will be dwelt upon at theTract - sufficient length to give the reader, we trust, an ac- curate 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. 12 THE HINDU RELIGION. I. THE VBDAS. REGARDING the earliest form of Hinduism we must The most an- draw our conceptions from the Veda, or, cient writings of India. to speak more accurately, the lour 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 1500 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 THE VEDAS. 13 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. As soon as we begin to study the hymns of the Veda we are struck by their strongly re- The hymns are strongly reliR- ligious character. Tacitly assuming that lous. the book contains the whole of the early literature of India, many writers have expressed themselves in strong terms regarding the primitive Hindus as relig- ious above all other races. But as we The arease read on we become convinced that these lection> poems are a selection, rather than a collection, of the literature ; and the conviction grows that the selec- tion has been made by priestly hands for priestly purposes. An acute critic has affirmed Pre ^ mlnently that the Vedic poems are " pre-eminently dotai. sacerdotal, and in no sense popular." ' We can thus Earth. 14 THE HINDU RELIGION. explain a pervading characteristic of the book which has taken most readers by surprise. There is a want of simplicity in the Yeda. It is often most elaborate, artificial, overrefined one might even say, affected. How could these be the thoughts, or those the ex- pressions, of the imperfectly civilized shepherds of the Pan jab ? But if it be only a hymn-book, with its materials arranged for liturgical purposes, the difficulty vanishes. 1 We shall accordingly take it for granted present the re- ^ ia ^ ^ ne ^ e( ^ a presents only the religious ofSSS thought of the ancient Hindus and not Hindus. tlie wno j e O f t ] ie re iigi ou8 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 Yeda impressed so widely and so deeply has not been obliterated in the course of thirty centuries. Their religion The prevailing aspect of the religion is Nature-wor- ship, presented m the V edic hymns may be broadly designated as Nature-worship. 1 Bergaigne, in bis able treatise, La Religion Vediquv, insists earnestly on what he calls the "liturgical contamination of the myths." See vol. iii, p. 320. THE VEDAS. 15 All physical phenomena in India are invested with a grandeur which they do riot possess in Physical phe- n o m e n a In northern or even southern Europe. Sun- India, light, moonlight, starlight, the clouds purpled with the beam of morning or naming 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 help- Tlielr eflect on lessness and despair. The conceptions and thereli ^ lon - feelings hence arising have from the beginning pow- erfully affected the religion of the Hindus. Every- where we can trace the impress of the grander mani- festations of nature -the impress of their beneficence, their beauty, their might, their mystery, or their ter- ribleness. The Sanskrit word for god is deva, which means bright, shining. Of physical phenomena The deities are "the bright it was especially those connected with ones," accord- light that enkindled feelings of reverence, guage of the The black thunder-cloud that enshrouded India. nature, in which the demon had bound the life-giving 2 16 THE HINDU RELIGION. 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 won- der as the dawn with far-streaming radiance, return- ing 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 remem- bered 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 lias not retained the highest place in worship. No divinity has fuller worship paid him than Agni, Firemuchwor- * ne ^"' e (Iffnis). More hymns are dedi- shiped. cated 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 be- tween 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 THE VEDAS. 17 flame ; yet mystical conceptions thickly gather round this root-idea ; he is tire pervading all nature ; and he often becomes supreme, a god of gods. All this seems natural enough ; but one is hardly prepared for the high exaltation to which Sotna hl hl Soma is raised. Soma is properly the exalted - juice of a milky plant (asclepias acirfa, or sarco- stemma viminale\ which, when fermented, is intoxi- cating. The simple-minded Aryas were both aston- ished 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 soma becomes , ,, . , . , , a very mighty and men ; all creatures are in his hand. god. 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 intoxi- cation should be confounded with inspiration. Yet 1 R. V., ix, 42, 4. * R. V., ix, 97, 24. 18 THE HINDU RELIGION. of such aberrations we know the human mind is per- fectly capable. We have first referred to Agni and Soma, as being the only divinities of highest rank which still retain connection their Physical character. The worship creek, andBol P a ^ to tnem was f great antiquity ; for man systems. ^ j g a | go p re3cr ii )e( i m 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, Ro- varuna, the mans ? Persians, and Hindus. This deity is god of leaven. y arunaj t i lc most ret narkable personality in the Yeda. The name, which is etymologically connected with Ovpavo^, signifies " the encom passer," and is applied to heaven especially the all-encompass- ing, extreme vault of hearven not the nearer sky, which is the region of cloud and storm. It is in dc- Tne subiimit scr ibing Yaruna that the Veda rises to the description^ g rea test sublimity which it ever reaches. A mysterious presence, a mysterious power, a mysterious knowledge amounting almost to omnis- cience, are ascribed to Varuna. The winkings of men's eyes are numbered by him. He upholds order, both physical and moral, throughout the universe. THE VEDAS. 19 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 Contrast w(th a hymn that celebrates the serene majesty |J e JJjS atI J and awful purity of Varuna to one filled Soma " 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 The i ottiercon . divinity are unquestionably the earlier. It JJJfty^eUrl is vain to speak, as certain writers do, of her " 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 urfclean. 1 Various scholars affirm that Varuna, in more an- 1 The religion of the Indo-European race, while still united, " rec- ognized a supreme God ; an organizing God ; almighty, omniscient, moral. . . . This conception was a heritage of the past. . . . The supreme God was origincilly the God of heaven." So Darmesteter, Contemporary Review, October, 1879. Rotli had previously written with much learning and acuteness to the same effect. -20 THE HINDU RELIGION. cieut, 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 divin- ities had intruded, he held a place of unrivaled maj- esty. But, in the Yedas, Indra is a more conspicuous figure. He corresponds to the Jupiter Pluvins of the Romans. In north-western India, after the burning heat, the animal return of the HIS achieve rams was hailed with unspeakable joy ; it ments. waslike 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. Varnna was not indeed dethroned, but he was obscured, by the achievements of the warlike Indra ; and the snpersensuous, 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. Number and The deities are generally said in the relations of de- ^ ities uncertain. Veda to be ' thrice eleven in number. We also hear of three thousand three hundred and THE VEDAS. 21 thirty -nine. There is no system, no fixed order in the hierarchy ; a deity who in one hymn is quite subor- dinate 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 ut- terly bewildered in tracing the relationships. We have already spoken of Agni, Varuna, and Indra, as \vell 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 remark- able that the stars are very little mentioned ; and the moon holds no distinguished place. In the religion of the Rig Yeda we hardly see fetich ism if by fetichism we mean the Hardly any fetichismintlie worship of small physical objects, such as mg veda. stones, shells, plants, etc., which are believed to be charged (so to speak) with divinity, though this ap- pears in the fourth Yeda the Atharva. But even in the Rig Yeda almost any object that is grand, beneficent, or terrible may be adored ; and implements associated with worship are themselves worshiped. 22 THE HIND U RELIGION. Thus, the war-chariot, the plow, the furrow, etc., are prayed to. A pantheistic conception of nature was also present Early tendency in the Indian mind from very early times, toward pan- i, . i i theism. 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. 1 We must on no account overlook the reverence Reverence of P 3 ^ to ^ ie 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 inner- most 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. Thesubjectsof The hymns of the Rig Yeda celebrate the hymns of the Rig veda. the power, exploits, or generosity of the deity invoked, and sometimes his personal beauty. 1 Mnir's Sanskrit Texts, v, 412. THE VEDAS. 23 The praises lavished on the god not only secured his favor but increased his power to help the wor- shiper. There is one prayer (so called) which is esteemed pre-eminently holy; generally called The holiest ,. ..,.",.." ! prayer. from the meter in which it is composed the Gayatri. 1 It may be rendered thus : "Let us meditate on that excellent glory of the Divine Son (or Vivitier); may he enlighten our understandings ! " It has always been frequently repeated in important rites. So far we have referred almost exclusively to the Rig Veda. The next in importance is the Atharva Veda. Atharva, sometimes termed the Brahma Veda ; which we may render the Veda of incanta- tions. It contains six hundred and sev- Interiormor . enty hymns. Of these a few are equal to ^^l?^ those in the Rig Veda ; but, as a whole, the Veda> 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 Voda. The Atharva 1 R. V., iii, 62, 10. 24 THE HINDU RELIGION. manifests a great dread of malignant beings, whose EX lanation of wra ^ 1 ^ deprecates. We have thus sini- deterioration. ^ Q demon-worship. How is this great falling-off to be explained ? In one of t\vo 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 ex- isted from the beginning two forms of the religion the higher of which is embodied in the hymns of the Kig 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. The offerings presented to the gods consisted chiefly of clarified butter, curdled milk, The offerings. rice-cakes, and fermented feoma jnice, 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 THE VEDAS. 25 officiating priests. The offerings were understood to nourish and gratify the gods as corporeal beings. Animal victims are also offered up. We hear of sheep, goats, bulls, cows, and buffaloes Anlmal Tlo _ being sacrificed, and sometimes in large tims< 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 sacri- fices ; 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. Human sacrifice was not unknown, Human ^^ though there are very few allusions to it flce< iu the earlier hymns. Even from the first, however, the rite of sacrifice occupies a very high place, and allusions Sacrlflce to it are exceedingly frequent. The ob- JJJJ"5iBpoi? servances connected with it are said to tance- be the " first religions rites." Sacrifice was early believed to be expiatory ; it removed sin. It was 26 THE HINDU RELIGION. 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. 1 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, suc- cess in battle, the destruction of enemies, and so forth. Not much is said regarding sin and the need of for- giveness. A distinguished scholar 1 has said that " the religious notion of sin is wanting altogether ; " but this affirmation is decidedly too sweeping. Noimage-wor- ^he worship exemplified in the Veda is not image-worship. Images of the fire, or the winds, or the waters could hardly be required, 1 The rites, says Haug, " must have existed from times immemorial." Aitareya Brdhmana, pp. 7, 9. 2 Weber, History of Indian Literature, p. 38. THE VEDAS, 27 and while the original nature-worship lasted, idols must have been nearly unknown. Yet the descrip- tion of various deities is so precise and full that it seems to be probably drawn from visible No ubllcwor representations of them. "Worship was shlp ' 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. "We hear of no places set apart as tem- . No temples. pies in V edic times. A Yeda consists of two parts called Mantra or Sanhtia,) and Brahmcma. The first is composed of hymns. The second is a statement of The treatlses ritual, and is generally in prose. The ex- onntual - isting Brahmanas are several centuries later than the great body of the hymns, and were probably com- posed when the Hindus had crossed the Indus, and were advancing along the Gangetic valley. The oldest may be about the date of 800 or TOO B. C. The Brahmanas are very poor, both in thought and expression. They have hardly their match in any literature for " pedantry and downright absurdity." 1 Poetical feeling and even religious feeling seem 1 Max Mtiller, Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 389. 28 THE HINDU RELIGION. gone ; all is dead and dry as dust. By this time the San- skrit 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 Growth of verses an< l * ne sacred rites. An error in priestly power. t j ie p ronunc i a ti O n 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 power- fully 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 schools for the descent. Schools were now found neces- Soks'/riS sarv for the stud y of the sacred books > rites > and traditions. an( j 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. THE VEDAS. 29 It is time, however, to give a brief estimate of the moral character of the Veda. The first Moral charac . tiling that strikes us is its inconsistency. teroftneVeda - Some hymns especially those addressed to Varuna rise as high as Gentile conceptions regarding deity ever rose; others even in the Rig Yeda sink miser- ably low ; and in the Atharva we find, " even in the lowest depth, a lower still." The character of Indra who has displaced or overshadowed Yaruna 1 has no high at- Indra super . tributes. He is "voracious;" his "in- sedesVaruna - ebriety 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 out of multitudes similar : " Hurl thy hottest thunder-bolt upon them ! Uproot them I Cleave them asunder! 0, Indra, overpower, subdue, slay the demon I Pluck him up I Cut him through the middle 1 Crush his head t " Indra, if provided with Soma, is always indulgent 1 " The haughty Indra takes precedence of all gods." R. V., 1, 55. SO THE HINDU RELIGION. to his votaries; he supports them per fas et nefas. Deterioration ^ aruna j n the other hand, is grave, just, begins early. an( j ^ Q w j c k e( j men severe. 1 The super- session of Yaruna by Indra, then, is easily understood. We see the principle on which it rests stated in the Old Testament. "Ye cannot serve the Lord,". -aid 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 histor- ical development of Hinduism. The Yeda frequently ascribes to the gods, to use varuna the * ne language of Max M tiller, " sentiments JLsS Vinlt f and passions unworthy of deity." In evated and attri- truth, except in the case of Yaruna, there is not one divinity that is possessed of pure and elevated attributes. 1 "These two personages [Indra and Varuna] sum up the two con- ceptions of divinity, between which the religious consciousness of the Vedic Aryans seems to oscillate." Bergaigne, La Religion Vedique, vol. iii, p. 149. PHILOSOPHY, AND RITUALISM. 31 II. PHILOSOPHY, AND RITUALISM. v DURING the Yedic period certainly toward its^ conclusion a tendency to speculation had speculation begun to appear. Probably it had all t^ins. 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 B rah mans, became a fully developed hierarchy, lavishly endowed, with no employment except the performance of religions ceremonies, their minds could avoid stagnation only by having recourse to speculative thought. Again, asceticism Kige of &scet ^ has a deep root in human nature ; earnest lclsm ' 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 3 82 THE HINDU RELIGION. 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 J;he 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. 1 At Upauisnads. 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 rhapso- dies ; 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 pan- They are an- theism is sometimes not so much a coldly reasoned system as an aspiration, a yearn- ing, 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 1 The meaning of the. term is not quite certain. Sessions, or Instruc- tions, may perhaps be the rendering. So Monier Williams. PHILOSOPHY, AND RITUALISM. 33 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. 1 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 Yeda proper, and they soon came to be regarded as its most sacred part. In this way the influence these treatises have exer- cised 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. The speculations of which we see the commence- 1 For example, Wordsworth : " Thou, Thou alone Art everlasting, and the blessed Spirits Which Thou includest, as the sea her waves." Excursion, book iv. 34 THE HIXDU RELIGION. meut and progress in the Upanishads were finally de- six hiioso tic ve lP e d and classified in a series of writings called the six Sastras or dartsanas. 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 charac- terize these systems as theistic, atheistic, and panthe- istic respectively. It is doubtful, however, whether the earlier form of the Nyaya was theistic or not. The The Nyaya. later lonn 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. The Sankhya declares matter to be self-existent and eternal. Soul is distinct from mat- The Sankhya. ter, 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. But the leading philosophy of India is unquestion- ably the Vedanta. The name means " the end or PHILOSOPHY, AND RITUALISM. 35 scope of the Veda ; " and if the Upanishads were the Yeda, instead of treatises tacked on to The Vedanta. 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 trea- tises." We have frequent references made to the " great saying," Tat twam that is, That art thou, or Thou art God ; and Akani Brahma, that is, I am God. Again it is said, " The whole universe is God." God is " existence (or more exactly an existent thing 1 ), knowledge, and joy." Knowledge, not a knower ; joy, not one who rejoices. Every thing else has only a seeming existence, which is in consequence of ignorance (or it teaches ab- solute ideal- illusion). Ignorance makes the soul think ism. 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 an- nihilated." 1 Or, the thing that really is the ovnjs dv. 86 THE HINDU RELIGION. Meditation, without distinction of subject and ob- ject, is the highest form of thought. It is a high attainment to say, " I am God ; " but the consumma- tion is when thought exists without an object. There are four states of the soul waking, dream- ing, dreamless sleep, and the " fourth state," or pure intelligence. The working-man is in dense igno- rance ; 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 be- yond this, which it seems cannot be explained, and is therefore called the fourth state. The name, which in later writings is most fre- Doctrtneor qently given to the "one without a -the self." 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 per- haps there could not be consistency in the state- * This illustration is in the mouth of every Hindu disputant at the present day. PHILOSOPHY, AND RITUALISM. 37 inents of the relation of the seeming to the real. In most of the older books a practical or con- i nco ,, sis tent ventional existence is admitted of the self statemente - 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 phe- nomena are a play a play without plot or purpose, which the absolute plays with itself. 1 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 them- selves with such unprofitable dreams ; for this kind of thought is traceable even from Yedic days. It is more fully developed in the TJpanishads. 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." a The book which perhaps above all others has molded the mind of India in more recent days is 1 Barlli, p. 75. a Ekamadvitiyam. 35 THE HINDU RELIGION. the Bhagavad Gita, or Song of the Holy One. It is written in stately and harmonious verse, and has achieved the same task for In- dian philosophy as Lucretius did for ancient Epi- cureanism. 1 It is eclectic, and succeeds, in a sort of way, in forcing the leading systems of Indian thought into seeming harmony. Some have thought they could discern in these dar- ing speculations indications of souls groping after God, and saddened because of the difficulty of find- ing him. Were it so, all our sympathies would at once be called forth. But no ; we see in these writ- mteiiectuai in s *" ar more * intellectual pride than of pride. spiritual sadness. Those ancient dream- ers 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 mys- ticisms and magic far more extravagant than the wild- est theurgy of the degraded Neoplatonisin of the Roman Empire. 1 Volui tibi suaviloquenti Carmine Pierio rationem exponere nostram Et quasi Musaeo dulci contingere melle. PHILOSOPHY, AND RITUALISM. 39 A learned writer thus expresses himself : " The only one of tlie six schools that seem to recognize the doc- trine of divine providence is the Yoga. It thus seems that the con- sistent followers of these systems can have, in their perfected state, no religion, no action, and no moral character." 1 And now to take a brief review of the whole sub- ject. The Hindu sages were men of acute Indian philoso- phy a sad fail- arid patient thought ; but their attempt to ure. 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 ! 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 1 Dr. J. Muir, in North British Review, No. xlix, p. 224. 40 THE HINDU RELIGION. power on which depended all weal or woe. On all religious occasions the priest must be called in, and, on all occasions, implicitly obeyed. For a considera- ble time the princes struggled against the encroach- ments of the priests ; but in the end they were com- The t rann of P^ e ^J vanquished. Never was sacerdotal sacerdotalism. ty rann y mO re absolute ; the proudest pope in mediaeval times never lorded it over "Western Chris- tendom 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. In- deed, the Brahman is always logical. He draws con- clusions 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 com 06 in conflict with him ! mtuai becomes Tlie P riests naturally multiplied relig- extravaj?ant. j olls ceremonies, and made ritual the soul of worship. Sacrifice especially assumed still more and PHILOSOPHY, AND RITUALISM. 41 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. But the tension was too great, and the bow snapped. Buddhism arose. We may call this re- Reaction. markable system the product of the age an inevitable rebellion against intolerable sacerdotal- ism ; 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. Wherever it extended it effected a vast revolution in Indian thought. Thus in regard to the institution of caste, Buddha did not at- tack 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 vernacu- lar languages an immense innovation, which made his teachings popular. He put in the forefront of his system certain great fundamental principles of 42 THE mxnr nEL morality. He made religion consist in duty, nut Moral elements r ^ tes - He reduced duty mainly to mercy or of this system. kj n( j ne ss toward all living beings a mar- velous 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 conflict with l" s doctrine spread with great rapidity, Brahmanism. an( j f()r ft j ong time it geeme( J ]{^ e }y to prevail over Brahmanism. But various causes grad- ually combined against it. Partly, it was over- whelmed by its own luxuriance of growth ; partly, victory of Brahmanism, which had all along main- Brahmanism. tame( j an intellectual superiority, adopted, either from conviction or policy, most of the princi- ples 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. RECONSTRUCTION MODERN HINDUISM. 43 III. RECONSTRUCTION-MODERN HINDUISM. BUT the Hinduism that grew up, as Buddhism faded from Indian* soil, was widely differ- Revival, jp an altered fofm,of cut from the system with which early Hinduism. Buddhism had contended. Hinduism, as it has been developed during the last thousand or twelve hun- dred years, resembles a stupendous far-extended build- ing, 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 de- scribe it as the most extraordinary creation which the world has seen. A jumble of all things ; polytheistic pantheism ; much of Buddhism ; something appar- ently of Christianity, but terribly disfigured ; a science wholly outrageous ; shreds of history twisted 44 THE HINDU RELIGION. 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 de- cency, accepted and explained in a word, later Hin- duism has been omnivorous ; it has partially absorbed anc^assimilated every system of belief, every form of worship, with which it has come in contact. Only one or * wo th ms has it remained in- oni the i JKtiliS! nexibly true. It has steadily upheld the or e r cSte Ctl re! proudest pretensions of the Brahman; and it has never relaxed the sternest restric- tions of caste. We cannot wonder at the severe judg- ment pronounced on Hinduism by nearly every West- tern 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 Pnranas." Some authorities add the Tantras. 'Miscellaneous Writings (Macmillan, 1861), vol. i, p. 77. RECONSTRUCTION MODERN HINDUISM. 45 The modern form of Hinduism is exhibited chiefly in the eighteen Puranas, and an equal number of Upa- puranas (minor Puranas). 1 When we compare the religion embodied in the Puranas with that of Yedic times we are The Puranas. 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 evo- lution 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 di- vinities ; Indra is almost entirely overlooked, and Varuna has been degraded from his lofty throne and turned into a regent of the waters. The worship of the Linga (phallus) has been intro- duced. So has the great dogma of Trans- New deities, rites, and cus- migration, which has stamped a deeper toms. 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 prac- 1 But the truth is that every man is accounted a good Hindu wlio keeps the rules of caste and pays duo respect to the Brahmans. What lie believes, or disbelieves, is of little or no consequence. 46 THE HINDU RELIGION. tice 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 as- signed her in early days. One of the notable things in connection with the , , . reconstruction of Hinduism is the position The Trimurtti, a triad of gods. it giveg to t ] je Trimurtti, or triad of gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. Something like an an- ticipation of this has been presented in the later Yedic times : fire, air, and the sun (Agni, Vayu, and Surya) being regarded by the commentator 1 as summing up the divine energies. But in the Yedas the deities often go in pairs ; and little stress should be laid on the idea of a Yedic triad. That idea, however, came promi- nently forward in later days. The worship both of Vishnu and Siva may have existed, from ancient times, as popular rites not acknowledged by the Brahmav.s ; 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 usual 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. 1 Yaska, probably in the fifth century B. C. RECONSTRUCTION MODERN HINDUISM. 47 The Puranas arc in general violently sectarian ; sonic being Yislmuitc, others Sivite. It is in con- nection with Vishnu, especially, that the idea of in- carnation 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 righteous ness, 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. The " descents " of Vishnu are usually reckoned ten. Of these by far the most celebrated The " d e are those of Ham a and Krishna. The vishnu. 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 di- vinity was longed for. Buddha was a brother-man, and yet a quasi-deity ; and hearts longing for sym- pathy and succor were strongly attracted by such a personality. The character of Rama or Ramachandra is pos- sessed of some high qualities. The great poem in 48 THE HINDU RELIGION. which it is described at fullest length the Ramayana of Valmiki seems to have been an alter- The god Rama. ation, made in the interests of Hindu- ism, of early Buddhist legends ; and the Buddhist quality of gentleness has not disappeared in the his- tory. 1 Kama, however, is far from a perfect charac- ter. 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, degener- ated into lasciviousness. In spite, however, of the charm thrown around the life of Rama and Sita by the genius of Valmiki and Tulsida, 2 it is Krishna, not Rama, that has attained the greatest popularity among the " descents " of Vishnu. Very different morally from that of Rama is the character of Krishna. While Rama is Krishna. but a partial manifestation of divinity Krishna is a full manifestation ; yet what a manifes- tation ! He is represented as full of naughty tricks in his youth, although exercising the highest powers 1 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 cent- ury. RECONSTRUCTION MODERN HINDUISM. 49 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 Bhagavatu 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 Hlg ear]v ,. fe a in part, at least is a dreadful travesty of the early life of Christ, as given in the apocryphal gospels, especially the Gospel the Infanc y- 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 apoc- ryphal ones, in the Hindu books, is altogether sick- ening. 1 A very striking characteristic of modern Hinduism is what is termed bhakti, or devotion. There are three great ways of attaining to salvation : karma marya, or the way of ceremonial works ; jnana 1 When Jhiinsi 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 relig- ious pictures. When questioned about such tilings the Brahmans reply that deeds which would be wicked in men were quite right in Krishna, who, being God, could do whatever he pleased. 50 THE HINDU RELIGION. marga, or the way of knowledge, and bkakti marga, or the way of devotion. The notion of trust in the gods was familiar to the Doctrine of mind of India from Vedic days, but the lihakti intro- - . . . . duced. deity was indistinct and unsympathetic, and there could hardly be love and attachment to him. But there now arose the doctrine of lihakti (de- votion), which resolved religion into emotion. It came into the Hindu system rather abruptly; and many learned men have traced its origin to the in- fluence of Christianity. This is quite possible; but perhaps the fact is hardly proved. Contact with Christianity, however, probably accelerated a process influence of w ^^ c ^ ^ a( ^ previously begun. At all the system. events, the system of Wiakti 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 VaisJniavas or Bhaktas (devotees). The popular poetry of Maharashtra, as exemplified in such poets as Tukarama, is an impassioned inculcation of devo- tion to Vithoba of Panel liarpur, who is a manifestation Mixed with of Krishna. Into the bhakti system of Buddhist ele- ments, western. India Buddhist elements have entered ; and the school of devotees is often denomi- RECONSTRUCTION MODERN HINDUISM. 51 nated 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 Wiakti without jnana, had disastrous issues. Coin- cident with the development of bhakti Exaltation , was the exaltation of the guru, or relig- the Mru - ious teacher, which soon amounted to deiti cation a change traceable from about the twelfth century A.D. When pressed on the subject of Krishna's evil deeds many are anxious to explain them Explanations T, . , of Krishna's as allegorical representations of the union evil deeds, 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 Acha- rya. 1 These men attained a most unenviable noto- riety about twenty years ago, when a case was tried 1 Born probably in 1649. 52 THE HINDU RELIGION. 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. Reformers have arisen from time to time in India ; Reforms at- 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 as- Kabir. cribed many verses still popular. Prob- ably the doctrine of the unity of God, aj maintained by the Mohammedans, had impressed him. lie 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 Nanak. 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 discouragiug. Sect after sect RECONSTRUCTION MODERN HINDUISM. 53 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 Failure of all struggle for it is only a repetition of the reforms, toil of Sisyphus, and always with the same sad issue. Deliverance must come from without from the Gos- pel of Jesus Christ. We mentioned the Tantras as exerting great in- fluence in later days. 1 In these the wor- Influenceofthe ship of Siva, and, still more, that of his Tantras - 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 WOTShfpofthe wild, extravagant forms, generally ob- Saktl- scene, 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 compli- 1 Raja Narayan Basil (Bose), in enumerating the sacred books of Hinduism, excluded the philosophical systems and included the Tan- tras. He was and, we believe, is a leading man in the Adi Brahma Somaj. 54 THE HINDU RELIGION. cated observances, and the latter into the most ap- palling licentiousness. The worship of the Sakti, or female principle, has become a most elaborate system. The beings adored are " the most outrageous divin- ities which man has ever conceived.". 1 Sorcery began early in India ; but it is in connection with this sys- tem that it attains to full development. Human sac- rifices are a normal part of the worship when fully performed. We cannot go farther into detail. It is profoundly saddening to think that such abomina- tions 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. We have not yet said much about the ritual of modern days. It is exceedingly compli- Modern ritual. cated. In the case of the god Siva the rites are as follows, when performed by a priest in the temple : The Brahman first bathes, then enters the temple and bows to the Worship of gd- He anoints the image with clarified butter or Siva, boiled oil; pours pure water over it; and then wipes it dry. He grinds some white powder, mixing it with water; dips 1 Barlh, as above, p. 202. RECONSTRUCTION MODERN HINDUISM. 55 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 an- other 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 : The priest bathes, and then awakes the sleeping god by blowing a shell and ringing a bell. More abundant offerings Worship of are made than to Siva. About noon, fruits, roots, Vishnu, soaked peas, sweet-meats, etc., are presented. Then, later, boiled rice, fried herbs, and spices ; but no flesh, fish, nor fowl. After din- ner, 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 offer- ings 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 per- formed. 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 per- fumes; flowers; incense; lamps; offerings of fruits and prepared entnblcs; betel. nut ; prayers; circumambulatiou. An ordinary wor- 56 THE HINDU RELIGION. shiper 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 for- bidden eight hundred repetitions of the Gayatri prayer should be pre- ceded by three suppressions of the breath, water being touched dur- ing 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. 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 Hin'du 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. Tims Hinduism separates man from man ; it goes on dividing and 1 So writes Tans Kennedy, a good authority. The rites, however, vary with varying places. 8 Asiatic Researches, v, p. 356. RECONSTRUCTION MODERN HINDUISM. 57 still dividing ; and new fences to guard imaginary purity are continually added. The whole treatment of women has gradually be- come most tyrannical and unjust. In very Treatment of ancient days they were held in consider- women> able 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 burn- ing 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 govern- ment. 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 Widows. to treatment which they deem worse than death ; and yet their number, it is calculated, amounts to about twenty-one millions ! More cruel and demoral- izing 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 exceed- ingly painful. 58 THE HINDU RELIGION. IV. CONTRAST WITH CHRISTIANITY. THE immense difference between the Hindu and Christian religions lias doubtless already frequently suggested itself to the reader. Ii^will not be neces- sary, therefore, to dwell on this topic at very great length. The contrast forces itself upon us at every point. When, about fifteen centuries B. C., the Aryas The Aryas and were victoriously occupying the Pan jab, Israelites . their probable and the Israelites were escaping rrom toe 1500 B.'C. "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 contrast of out of them. Yet how wonderful has their after-his- tory, been their after-history ! Among ancient religions that of the Old Testament stands absolutely CONTRAST WITH CHRISTIANITY. 59 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. The conception of a purely immaterial Being, in- finite, eternal, and unchangeable, which is Hindu theology compared with that of the Bible regarding God, is entirely Christian, foreign to the Hindu books. Their doctrine is va- rious, but, in every case, erroneous. It is absolute pantheism, or polytheism, or an inconsistent blend- ing of polytheism and pantheism, or atheism. Equally striking is the contrast between Christian- ity and Hinduism as to the attributes of God. Ac- cording to the former, he is omnipresent ; omnipotent ; possessed of every excellence holiness, justice, good- ness, truth. According to the chief Hindu philosophy, the Supreme is devoid of attributes devoid of con- sciousness. According to the popular conception, when the Supreme becomes conscious he is devel- oped into three gods, who possess respectively the qualities of truth, passion, and darkness. 60 THE HINDU RELIGION. "God is a Spirit." "God is light." "God is conception of ^ ove -" 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. Eveiy 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. The adoration of God as a Being possessed of every The object of gl r i lls excellence is earnestly commanded worship. in tlie Bjbi e> "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. Every sin being traced to God as its ultimate rue sense of source > tne 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 mean- CONTRAST WITH CHRISTIANITY. 61 ingless 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. How important a place in the Christian system is held by atonement, the great atonement 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 ques- tionings and higher views of the ancient thinkers have in a great degree been ignored in later times. Sacri- fice 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 impres- sion on the heart as to the true nature and essential evil of sin. Salvation, in the Christian system, denotes Salvation. deliverance, not only from the punishment of sin, but from its power, implying a renovation of the 62 THE HINDU RELIGION. moral nature. The entire man is to be rectified in heart, speech, and behavior. The perfec- Sanctmcation. tion 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. Christianity is emphatically a religion of hope ; Hin- duism may be designated a religion of Views of life. 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. Glori- fied in soul and body, the companion of angels and saints, strong in immortal youth, he \vill serve with- out 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 (S,-iOO,000) of bodies the body of a human being, or a beast, or a bird, or a fish, or a plant, CONTRAST WITH CHRISTIANITY. 63 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 pro- foundly sorrowful that this is the cheerless The great ten- et of Hindu- faith of countless multitudes. No wonder, ism. though, the great tenet of Hinduism is this Existence is misery. So much for the future of the individual. Re- garding the future of the race Hinduism The future of speaks in equally cheerless terms. Its the race- 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 The struggle between good good and evil there is no final triumph for andevii. 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 64 THE HINDU RELIGION. many of the Hindu poets were, should never have grappled with the problem of the divine government of the world. Equally notable is the unconcern of the Veda The future of as ^ ^ ie we ^ are an d the future of even the Aryan race. ^ ^ran race> gilt 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 expres- sion "human race" would have been unintelligible to him. Nor is there any pathos in the Yeda. There is no deep sense of the sorrows of life. Max M filler 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. The words of But finally > n this part of the subject, frate^ltly H"^ tne development of Indian religion sup- plies a striking comment on the \vonls of St. Paul : CONTRAST WITH CHRISTIANITY. 65 " The invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood from the things that are made. But when they knew God they glo- rified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." Hinduism is deplorably deficient in power to raise and purify the human soul, from having Moral power. no high example of moral excellence. Its renowned sages were noted for irritability and selfish- ness 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 ? /Summa religionis est imitari quern colis : " It is the sum of religion to imitate the being Ethical effect worshiped ; " ' or, as the Hindus express r Hinduism - 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 it- self even as God is pure." But apply the principle to Hinduism. Alas! the Pantheon is almost a pande- monium. 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 circum- stances, society does not become a moral pesthouse it 1 Cicero. 66 THE HINDU RELIGION. is only because the people continue better than their The people bet- religion. The human heart, though fallen, ter than their religion. is not fiendish. It has still its purer in- stincts; 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 tilings is deplorably distressing. The doctrine of the incarnation is of fundamental The doctrine of importance in Christianity. It seems al- incamation. mos t 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 al- ready spoken. The ninth Avatara was that of Bud- dha, in which the deity descended for the purpose of deceiving men, making them deny the gods, and lead- ing them to destruction. So blasphemous an idea CONTRAST WITH CHRISTIANITY. 67 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. THE HINDU RELIGION. Y. HINDUISM IN CONTACT WITH CHRISTIANITY. WE have used the word reformer in this Tract. Attem ted re- ^ e f ormer ly 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 con- clusion to our discussion. 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. Chris- tianity has advanced and is advancing in Advance of Christianity in India more rapidly than is generally sup- posed ; 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 under- stood, can hardly be forgotten. Disliked and denied HINDUISM IN CONTACT WITH CHRISTIANITY. 69 they may be ; but forgotten ? No. Thus they gradually win their way, and multitudes who have no thought of becoming Christians are ready to ad- mit that they are beautiful and true ; for belief and practice are often widely separated in Hindu minds. But it was to be expected that the new ideas pour- ing 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 recon- structions of religion. The most remarkable example of such a reconstruction is exhibited in The Brabma the Brahmo Somaj (more correctly Brah- Sama] ' ma Samaj) which may be rendered the " Church of God." It is traceable to the efforts of a truly distinguished man, Rammohun Roy. He was a person Rammohun of studious habits, intelligent, acute, and Roy * 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 spe- cially deep impression was made on his mind by Christianity ; and in 1820 he published a book with 70 THE HINDU RELIGION. the remarkable title, The Precepts of Jesus the Guide Effect of Chris- to Peace and Happiness. Very fre- tlanity upon him. quently he gave expression to the senti- ment that the teachings of Christ were the truest and deepest that he knew. Still, he did not believe in Christ's divinity. In January, 1830, a place of worship was opened by Raramohun Roy and his friends. It was intended for the worship of one God, without idolatrous rites of any kind. This was undoubtedly a very impor- tant event, and great was the interest aroused in con- nection with it. Eammohun Roy, however, visited Britain in 1831, and died at Bristol in 1833 ; and the cause for which he had so earnestly labored in India languished for a time. But in the year 1841 De- Debendernath bendernath Tagore, a man of character and wealth, joined the Brahmo Somaj, and gave a kind of constitution to it. It was fully organized by 1844. No definite declaration, how- ever, had been made as to the authority of the Vedas ; but, after a lengthened period of inquiry and discus- sion, a majority of the Somaj rejected the doctrine of their infallibility by 1850. " The rock of intui- tion " now began to be spoken of ; man's reason was his sufficient guide. Still, great respect was cher- HINDUISM IN CONTACT WITH CHRISTIANITY. 71 ished for the ancient belief and customs of the land. But in 1858 a new champion appeared on the scene, in the well-known Keshub Chunder Sen. Keshub chun . Ardent, impetuous, ambitious full of derSen - ideas derived from Christian sources 1 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 conserva- tive Debendernath somewhat reluctantly consented to their introduction. Matters were, however, brought to a crisis by the marriage of two persons of different castes in 1864. In February, 1865, the progressive party formally severed their connection with the original Somaj ; and in August, 1869, Formatlon of a they opened a new place of worship of newSamaJ - 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 1872 1 We learned from his own lips that among the books which most deeply impressed him were the Bible and the writings of Dr. Chalmers. 72 THE HINDU RELIGION. a Marriage Act for members of the Somaj was passed by the Indian legislature, which legalized union be- tween people of different castes, and fixed on four- teen 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 lie had set an example which others were quite willing to copy. Several of his followers began to demand more Discontent ra( ^ical reforms than he was willing to srrowing. g ran t. The autocracy exercised by Mr. Sen was strongly objected to, and a constitution of the Somaj was demanded. Mr. Sen openly main- tained 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 him- self as far above his followers. Complaints became louder ; and although the eloquence and genius of Kcshub were able to keep the rebellious elements from exploding it was evident, as early as 1873, that a crisis was approaching. This came in 1878, when Mr. Sen's daughter was married to the Maharaja of Kuch Behar. The bride was not fourteen, and the HINDUISM IN CONTACT WITH CHRISTIANITY. 73 bridegroom was sixteen. Now, Mr. Sen had been earnest and successful in getting the Brahmo Mar- riage Act passed, which ruled that the lowest mar- riageable 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. A great revolt from Mr. Sen's authority now took place, and the Sadharan Samaj was or- Revolt . athird ganized in May, 18T8. An appeal had Sama3 '' been made to the members generally, and no fewer than twenty-one provincial Samajes, with more than 74 THE HINDU RELIGION. 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 de- nounced the rebels in very bitter language ; and yet, jn 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 "New Dis n vears ^ ne ^g ^ the "New Dispensa- tion " was raised ; and of that dispensa- tion 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. 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. 6. 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. HINDUISM IN CONTACT WITH CHRISTIANITY. 75 f. Harmony of knowledge and holiness, love ;ind work, yoga and as- ceticism in their highest development. s narae - May, 1879, " 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). Let it be noted that, from the beginning of his career, Mr. Sen had spoken earnestly of the father- hood 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. " Motherhood of God." 76 THE HINDU RELIGION. A public proclamation was soon issued, purporting Public procia- to be from God himself, as India's mother. mation said to be from God. Hie 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, brill- iant 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. In March, 1881, Mr. Sen and his friends introduced celebrations which, to Christian minds, seemed a dis- tressing caricature of the Christian sacraments. Other "A ostoiic institutions followed ; an Apostolic Dur- bar (Court of Apostles), for instance, was established. There was no end to Mr. Sen's invent- iveness. In a public lecture delivered in January, 1883, on " Asia's message to Europe," he elaborately expounded the idea that all the great religions are of Asiatic HINDUISM IN CONTACT WITH CHRISTIANITY. 77 origin, and that all of them are true, arid that the one thing required to constitute the faith of the fut- ure the religion of humanity is the blending of all these varied Oriental systems into one. It was not easy to reconcile Mr. Sen's public utter- ances with his private ones though far inconsistencies between Mr. be it from us to tax him with insincerity, sen's public and private ut- 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 re- ferred 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 avow- edly dissented from the orthodox creed in rejecting the miraculous element in Scripture. At an inter- view 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 satis- Mr Sen ' Spollcy factory word. His policy of reserve and of reserve - adaptation had probably kept him from uttering all that 78 THE HINDU RELIGION. 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 Dur- bar," 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. In the meantime, the Sadharan Samaj, which broke me sadharan ^ f ro * m Keslmb's party in 1878, 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 tile cause of social reform. Their position is nearly that of Unitarian Christian- ity, and we fear they are not at present approxi- mating to the full belief of the Church Catholic. Movements in "Very similar in character to the Brah- western India. mQ g oma j Jg the p rart l lana g oma j in western India. As far back as 1850, or a little ear- Tenets of the lier, there was formed a society called the Prarthana sabha. Prarthana Sabha (Prayer-meeting). Its leading tenets were as follows : 1. I believe in one God. 2. 1 renounce idol- worship. 3. I will do my best to lead a moral life. 4. If I commit any sin through the weak- ness of my moral nature I will repent of it arid ask the pardon of God. HINDUISM IN CONTACT WITH CHRISTIANITY. 79 The society, after some time, began to languish ; but in 1867 it was revived under the name of Prarth- ana Somaj. Its chief branches are in Bombay, Poona, Ahmedabad, and Surat. An interesting movement called the Arya Samaj was commenced a few years ago by a Pandit Dayanand Sarasvati. He re- ceived 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 consider- able education. 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. Bradlungh are diligent in supplying their books to Indian students. 6 80 THE HINDU RELIGION. 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 Christian- ity ; 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 great- est and best-disciplined foe of early Christianity the later Platonisui gave way before the steady, irre- ristible 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, honce. 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 Is- lam, the sword, or tribute. The drawbacks and at- tractions of the system are examined. The former were not such as to deter men of the world from embracing the faith. The sexual indulgences sanc- tioned 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 Ara- bia and not for the world, hence it is constitutionally incapable of change or development. The degrada- 84 OUTLINE OF THE ESSA T. tion 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 respect- ive 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. AMONG the religions of the earth Islam must take the precedence in the rapidity and force isiam pre-emi- with which it spread. Within a very short rapid spread. 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, Per- sia, 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. 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 re- tlanlty> ligion achieved in ten or twenty years it took the faith of Jesus long centuries to accomplish. 86 THE PISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. The object of these few pages is, first, to inquire briefly into the causes which led to the marvelous object of the * a pidity of the first movement of Islam : secondly, to consider the reasons which eventually stayed its advance ; and, lastly, to ascer- tain 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 in- activity. THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. 87 I. THE RAPID SPREAD OP ISLAM. THE personal ministry of Mohammed divides itself into two distinct periods : first, Ins life TWO periods in the mission of at Mecca as a preacher and a prophet; Mohammed, second, his life at Medina as a prophet and a king. It is only in the first of these periods that Islam at all runs parallel with Christianity. The i. Ministry at Mecca, A. D. great body of his fellow-citizens rejected 60&-&J2. the ministry of Mohammed and bitterly opposed his claims. His efforts at Mecca were, therefore, con- fined to teaching and preaching and to the publishing of the earlier " Suras," or chapters of his " Revela- tion." After some thirteen years spent thus his con- verts, 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 SuccesgatMec _ native city and emigrate to Medina. 1 A c* 111111 ** 1 - hundred more had previously fled from Mecca for 1 See Life of Mohammed, p. 138. Smith & Elder. 88 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. 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 Beaching 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 (un- like that of Judea) wholly unprepared. The cause also, at times, became the object of sustained and violent opposition. Even so much of success w-as consequently, under the peculiar circumstances, re- markable. But it was by no means singular. The progress fell far short of that made by Christianity during the corresponding period of its existence, 1 and indeed by many reformers who have been the preach- ers of a new faith. It gave no promise whatever of the marvelous spectacle that was about to follow. Having escaped from Mecca and found a new and ii Chan e of con g en i a l home in Medina, Mohammed mn y A. a D. 622- was not l n g i n changing his front. At Mecca, surrounded by enemies, lie taught toleration. He was simply the preacher commissioned to deliver a message, and bidden to leave the respon- 1 Life of Molarnmfd, p. 172, where the results are compared. THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. 89 sibility with his Master and his hearers. He might argue with the disputants, but it must be Arabia con- verted from " in a way most mild and gracious : " for Medina at the point of the " in religion " (such was his teaching be- sword, fore 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 acknowl- edge his claims and believe in him as a prophet fore- told in their Scriptures ; two of these tribes were ex- iled, and the third exterminated in cold A. D. 6B3. blood. In the second year after the Hegira, or flight from Mecca (the period from which the Mo- hammedan era dates), he began to plunder the cara- vans 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 citi- zens of Medina and the tribes around A D eao that, after many battles fought with vary- ing success, he was able, in the eighth year of the J Life of Mohammed, p. 341 ; Sura ii, 257 ; xxix, 46. 90 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. Hegiia 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, all Arabia, from Bab-el- Mandeb and Oman to the confines of the Syrian des- ert, was forced to submit to the supreme authority of the now kingly prophet and to recognize the faith and obligations of Islam. 1 This Islam, so called from its demanding the en- tire "surrender" of the believer to the hammed de- scribed. 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 1 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. THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. 91 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 Ram- zan must be kept throughout the whole of every day ; and the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca an ancient insti- tution, the rites of which were now divested of their heathenish accompaniments maintained. The exist- ence 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. But immediately on the death of Mohammed the entire peninsula relapsed into apostasy. Arabja aposta . Medina and Mecca remained faithful ; but every- where else the land seethed with rebellion. Some tribes joined the " false &33 ' prophets," of whom four had arisen in different partr- 92 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. of Arabia ; some relapsed into their ancient heathen- ism ; while others proposed a compromise they would observe the stated times of prayer, but would be excused the tithe. Every-where was rampant an- archy. The apostate tribes attacked Medina, but were repulsed by the brave old Caliph Abu Bukr, who re- fused to abate one jot or tittle, as the successor of Mohammed, of the obligations of Islam. Eleven col- umns were sent forth under as many leaders, trained in the warlike school of Mohammed. These fought their way, step by step, successfully ; and thus, main- ly 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 profes- sion 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 de- scribed 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 uot apostatize, saving only a small company of his "Companions" and kinsfolk, who hoped thus to secure the govern- ment 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 THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. 93 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. 1 The temper of the tribes thus reclaimed by force of arms was at the first strained and sul- The Arabs thus len. But the scene soon changed. Slid- "Ve'luTttiJ denly the whole peninsula was shaken, flrst) sullen - and the people, seized with a burning zeal, issued forth to plant the new faith in other lands. It hap- pened on this wise : The columns sent from Medina to reduce the rebellious tribes to the north-west on Roused by war- the Gulf of Ayla, and to the north- cry, they issue ^i r> si M! from the pe- east on the Persian Gulf, came at once ninsuia, A. D. into collision with the Christian Bedouins of Syria on the one hand and with those of Meso- potamia on the other. These again were immedi- ately supported by the neighboring forces The osln of the Roman and Persian empires, whose forces - 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, 1 Apology of Al Kindy, the Christian, p. 18. Smith & Elder, 1882, This remarkable apologist will be noticed further below. 94 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. 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 re- sounded from one end of Arabia to the other, and Arabenthusi- 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 bat- tle, by the still more coveted prize of the " mar- tyr" in the material paradise of Mohammed. With a military ardor and new-born zeal in which carnal and spiritual aspirations were strangely blend- ed, 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. It was now the care of Omar, the second caliph or ruler of the new-born empire, to establish a system THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. 95 whereby the spirit militant, called into existence with such force and fervor, might be rendered per- manent. The entire Arabian people was ..-,. -, rill i 1*1 A nibs, a mill- subsidized. The surplus revenues which tary body, sub- . ,, . . sidlzed and in rapidly increasing volume began to mobilized by .flow from the conquered lands into the Moslem treasuries were to the last farthing distrib- uted 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 readi- ness for new enterprise. The change which came over the policy of the Founder of the Faith at Medina, and paved the way for this marvelous system lam described . byFairbairn. 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 arid com- 7 96 TEE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM mander; 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 aggress- ive and victorious power so soon as it was embodied in a State. 1 And by von Another learned and impartial author- Kremer - ity tells ns: 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 MolAmmed 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. 8 The motives which nerved the armies of Islam Religious mer- were a strange combination of the lower infhe'wlysrf instincts of nature with the higher aspira- tions 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 1 Principal Fairbairn: "The Primitive Polity of Islam," Contempo- rary Revieiv, December, 1882, pp. 866, 867. * Herr von Kremer, Culturgeschichle des Orients, unter den Chalifen, vol. i, p. 383. THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. 97 glory. " Mount thy horse," said Osama ibn Zeid to Abu Bekr as he accompanied the Syrian army a little way on its inarch 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, Moham- med 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. The material fruits of their victories raised the Arabs at once from being the needy in- Material fruits of Moslem cru- habitants of a stony, sterile soil, where, "a* 16 - 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 vic- tories on the plains of Chaldea, Khalid called to- gether his troops, flushed with conquest, and lost in wonder at the exuberance around them, and thus 1 Annals of the Early Caliphate, p. 9. Smith & Elder, 1883. 98 THE RISE ANJ) DECLINE OF ISLAM. 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 pres- ence 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. In relating the capture of Medain (the ancient Ctesiphon) tradition revels in the untold wealth which fell into the hands of Sad, the con- nich booty ^JMrfito! queror, and his followers. Besides mill- sia, A. D. 637. . Qng Q J. j- reasurej 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 splen- THE RAPID SPREAD OF TSLAM. 99 did 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 con- ventional value, gold was parted with for its weight in silver; and so on. 1 It is the virtue of Islam that it recognizes a special providence, seeing the hand of God, as in success in bat- tie ascribed to every thing, so pre-eminently also in vie- divine aid. tory. When Sad, therefore, had established him- self in the palace of the Chosroes he was not forget- ful 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, 1 Gibbon's Decline and Fall, chapter li, and Annals of the Early Caliphate, p. 184. 100 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. and contains this passage, held to be peculiarly appro- priate 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 I Even thus have WE made another people to inherit the same." ' Snch as fell in the conflict were called martyrs ; a " Mart dom " halo ^ 8^ O1 T surrounded them, and spe- cia l J ov8 awaited them even on the battle- crusaders. ^^ ^^ &Q ^ came ^ pagg ^ ^ warriors of Islam had an unearthly longing for the crown of martyrdom. The Caliph Omar was incon- solable 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, Ab- dallah, " safe and sound, and Zeid is dead. Where- fore wast not thou slain before him ? I wish not to see thy face." "Father," answered Abdallah, "he The Moslem asked for the crown of martyrdom, and crown of mar- tyrdom. 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 1 Ibid. ; and Sura xliv, v. 25. We that is, the Lord. Annals of the Early Caliphate, p. 46. THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. 101 pictures drawn in the Koran of the beautiful " hour- ies " of Paradise, 1 the Saracens believed that imme- diate 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 be- neath 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 pros- pect 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 pris- 1 See, for example, Sura Ixxviii : " 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. 102 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. oners, 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. The courage of the troops was stimulated by the divine promises of victory, which were Martial pa- J ' sages from KO- rea( j ( an( j on ]{]^Q occasions still are read) ran recited on flew of battle. a ^. ^} ie } iea( j O f ea ch column drawn up for battle. Thus, on the field of Cadesiya, A. D. 635. 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 infldels. Strike off their heads and their fingers' ends. Beware lest ye turn your back in THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. 103 Verily, he that turneth his hack 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. 1 Nor was it otherwise in the great battle of the Yermuk, which laid Syria at the feet of JMetltol Byi5 . the Arabs. The virgin vigor of the Sar- * h f ne ^ acens was fired by a wild fanatical zeal A - D>634< " 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 hour- ies 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 in- centives at once of faith and rapine, of fanatical devo- tion to the prophet and deathless passion for the sex, ten might chase a hundred half-hearted Romans. The *See Sura Jehad- also Annals of the Early Caliphate, p. 167, el. seq. 104 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. 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. 1 Such, then, was the nature of the Moslem propa- isiam planted ganda, such the agency by which the faith by aid of ma- 8 , J , J teriai force. 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 Di- vine 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 inculca- tion of prayer and other religious duties ; the estab- lishment of a code in which the leading principles of morality are enforced, and the acknowledgment of 1 Annals of the Early CalipJwte, p. 105, el. seq. THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. 105 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 weap- ons of its warfare were " carnal," material, and earthly ; and by them it conquered. The pressure brought to bear on the inhabitants of the countries overrun by Saracen arms was of the most stringent character. They were of- Alternatives fered the triple alternative ISLAM, the offered *} the conquered na- SWORD, or TRIBUTE. The first brought J immediate relief. Acceptance of the faith T not only stayed the enemy's hand, and conferred im- munity from the perils of war, but associated the con- vert with his conquerors in the common brotherhood and in all the privileges of Islam. Reading the story of the spread of Islam, we are constantly told of this and that enemy, Acce tence that "being beaten, he Relieved and em- aS/e^rom braced the faith." Take as an example thesword - of an every-day occurrence the story of Hormuzan. 106 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. A Persian prince of nigh rank long maintained a bor- der 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 ex- claimed, "Blessed be the Lord, that hath humbled this man and the like of him ! " He bade them dis- robe 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-stand- ers, "until he drink the water up." "Strange," said Omar, " the fellow hath deceived me ; and yet I can- not 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." THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. 107 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. 1 On the other hand, for those who held to their ::n- cestral faith there was no escape from the Tribute and second or the third alternative. If they humlliation - 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. Disabilities im- . posed on Jews Ihe nature and extent of the degradation and Christians, 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 em- bodied in the code named The Ordinance of Omar, which has been more or less enforced from the earliest 1 See Annals, etc., p. 253. Sura ix, v. 30. 108 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. times. Besides the tribute and various other imposts levied from the " People of the Book," ' arid 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 chil- dren must be taught by Moslem masters, and the race, however able or well qualified, proscribed from any office of high emolument ortrust. 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 out- side, 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 con- strued into rivalry, or competition with the ruling faith. Such was the so-called Code of -Omar. En- 1 So Jews and Christians as possessing the Bible are named in the Koran. THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. 109 forced with less or greater stringency, according to the intolerance and caprice of the day, by different dynasties, it was, and (however much relaxed in cer- tain 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. 1 Such, then, was the hostile attitude of Islam mili- tant in its early days ; such the pressure continuing in- ducements In brought to bear on conquered lands for its times of peace. 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 tem- poral 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. 1 See Annals, etc., p. 213. 110 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. Among the philosophers of all creeds whom that Evidence of Ai great calipli gathered around him at Bag- ond century of dad was a noble Arab of the Nestorian 830. ' 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 priv- ileges, spiritual and material, social and conjugal, which he would enjoy. In reply the Christian wrote an apology of singular eloquence and power, throw- ing 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 speech of AI ^ s comualj 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, THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. Ill and power of the realm. They have no inward persuasion of that wliich they outwardly profess." ' Again, speaking of the various classes brought over to Islam by sordid and unworthy converts from " sordid mo- motives, Al Kmdy says : tives. Moreover, there are the idolatrous races Hagians 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 hon- orable. There are, besides, hypocritical men of the world, who ill 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. 11 Before leaving this part of our subject it may be opportune to quote a few more passages A1 Klndy from Al Kindy, in which he contrasts the inducements that, under the military and political predominance of Islam, pro- tyr ' moted its rapid spread, and the opposite conditions under which Christianity made progress, The slow, indeed, comparatively, but sure and steady. First, he compares the Christian martyn confessor with the Moslem " martyr : " I marvel much, he says, that ye call those martyrs that fall in war. Thou hast rend, no doubt, in history of the followers of Christ put to 1 Tlie Apolrnjy of Al Kindy, written at the court of Al Mamun A. H. 215 (A. D. 830), with an essay on its age and authorship, p. 12. Smith & Elder, 1882. 9 Ibid., p. 34. 8 112 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. 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 righting for the world and the power thereof? How- diverse were the barbarities and kinds of death inflicted on the Chris- tian 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 tliou thinkest, diminishing." " How can that be? " exclaimed the king. "But yes- terday," 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, choos- ing rather to give up life, abandon wealth, and forego even wife and family ; or he that goeth forth, ravaging and laying waste, plunder- ing and spoiling, slaying the men, carrying away their children into captivity, and ravishing their wives and maidens in his unlawful em- brace, 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 THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. 113 slain in the war that " lie hath earned paradise," and thou namest him " a martyr in the ways of the Lord ! " J 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 apos- tles, 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 ; " 2 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.' And yet once more, comparing the The apost]es apostles with the military chiefs of Islam, ? P S&rS Al Kindy proceeds : Islam ' 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 1 Apology, p. 47, et. seq. 2 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. 3 Apology, p. 16. 114 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. wrote out in every tongue the holy Gospel, and the story and teach- ing of Christ, at the dictation of the Holy Ghost. So the nations drew near unto them, believing their testimony; and, giving up tlie 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, ;md error from the right direction, they embraced the Gospel and held it fast without doubt or wavering, when they s:iw 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 } r ou," 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. 1 Such are the reflections of one who lived at a Mo- such are the hammedaii court, and who, moreover, flour- a n( native S of ^ sn i"g as ne 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. Apart, now, from the outward and extraneous aids 1 Apology, p. 57. THE RAPID WHEAT) np fKLAtf, 115 given to Islam by the sword and bj the civil arm I will inquire for a moment what natu- Hinderancesor ml effect the teaching of Islam itself had j^erenun"^ in attracting or repelling mankind. I do faith itselL 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 re- straints imposed arid sacrifices required, on the other, as calculated to repel. How far, in fact, did there exist inducements or hinderances to its adoption in- herent in the religion itself ? "What may be regarded as the most constant and irksome of the obligations of Islam is the Requirements duty of prayer, which must be observed O f isiam: at stated intervals, five times every day, with the contingent ceremony of lustration. The rite consists of certain forms and passages to be re- peated with prescribed series of prostrations and genuflexions. These must be repeated at the right times but anywhere, in the house or by the way- 116 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. side, 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 cus- tom, as a matter of course. No doubt there are ex- ceptions ; 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 per- formed, the rest of the day is free for pleasure or for prohibition of mismess - J The prohibition of wine is a rhTn^eTii'd restriction which was severely felt in the early days of the faith ; but it was . not long before the universal sentiment (though eluded 1 1 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 intro- duction unpopular. THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. 117 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 im- portant 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 Fagt of Ram _ severer test ; but even this lasts only dur- zan- ing 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. 1 There is nothing, therefore, in the re- Llttle that lg quirements and ordinances of Islam, ex- fjjjj l j r rd |! cepting the fast, that is very irksome to Di humanity, or which, as involving any material sacri- fice, or the renunciation of the pleasures or indulg- ences of life, should lead a man of the world to hesi- tate in embracing the new faith. On the other hand, the license allowed by the Koran between the sexes at least in Indulgences favor of the male sex is so wide that allowed mine matter of wives for such as* have the means and the de- and concu- bines, sire to take advantage of it there need be no limit whatever to sexual indulgence. It is true 1 See Sura ii, v. 88. 7 18 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. 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. 1 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 in- stead of wives, or in addition to them ; and without any limit of number or restraint whatever he is at liberty to cohabit with them. A few instances taken at random will enable the reader to "judge how the indulgences thus PolyRamy,con- J cubinage, and allowed by the religion were taken ad- divorce. Prac- tice at the rise vantage of in the early days of Islam. In of Islam. 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.* Mogliira 1 Sura iv, 18. "Exchange " is the word used in the Koran. 8 Each of his widows had 100,000 golden pieces left her. Life of Mohammed, p. 171. THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. 119 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 pe- riod had in his harem no fewer than nine wives ancf two slave-girls. Of his grandson Hasan we read that his vagrant passion gained for him the unenviable sobriquet of TJie Dworcer / for it was only by con- tinually divorcing his consorts that he could harmo- nize his craving for fresh nuptials with the require- ments 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. 1 Such are the ma- terial inducements, the " works of the flesh," which Islam makes lawful to its votaries, and which pro- moted thus its early spread. Descending now to modern times, we still find that 1 " These divorced wives were irrespective of his concubines or shive-girls, upon the number and variety of whom there was no limit or check whatever." Annals, p. 418. Practice in modern times. 120 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. 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, The Maia s of un( ^ er Me sanction of his religion. Of Penang. ^] ]e ]yj; a ] a jg m 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 Lane's testi- Egypt, Lane tells us : " I have heard of mony concern- ing Egypt, men who have been in the habit of mar- rying 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." The princess And not to go further than the sacred city of Bhopal's ac- . couutot Mecca, of Mecca, the late reigning princess ot Bhopal, in central India, herself an orthodox follower 1 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 religions sanction. THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. 121 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 fevr 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 mar- riage; 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. 1 1 Pilgrimage to Mecca, by her highness the reigning Begum of Bhopal, translated by Mrs. W. Osborne (1870), pp. 82, 88. Slave- girls cannot be married until freed by their masters. What her high- ness 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 ob- served. 122 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. What I desire to make clear is the fact that such things may be practiced with the sanction Islam sane- tions a license o f t i ie Scripture which the Moslem holds between the ^HstiaSty to be Divine, and that these same in- dulgences have from the first existed as inducements which helped materially to forward the spread of the faith. I am very far, indeed, from im- plying 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 fam- ily, even in Moslem countries, has an antiseptic tend- ency that often itself tends greatly to neutralize the evil. 1 Nor am I seeking to institute any contrast be- 1 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 necessa- rily 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 THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. 12S tween the morals at large of Moslem countries and the rest of the Nvorld. 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 calcn- The laws <>r lated, and in the early days of Christianity deter men from carnal indul- did tend, in point of fact, to deter men devoted to the indulgences of the flesh from em- bracing the faith. 1 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 the Islam has been well called by its own Easy Way- ' votaries the Easy Way. Once more, to quote Al Kindy : Thou invitcst me (says our apologist to his friend) into the "Easy way of faith and practice." Alas, alas! for our Saviour in the Gospel tclleth us, "When ye have done all that ye are commanded, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have but done that which was com- manded us." Where then is our merit ? The same Lord Jesus saith, 1 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. 724 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. " How strait is the road which leadeth unto life, and how few they be that walk therein 1 How wide the gate that leadeth to destruc- tion, 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 tliou wouldst have me, the pleasures offered by thy faith in wives and damsels! ' 1 Apology, p. 51. I repeat, that in the remarks I have mink' under this head, no comparison is sought to be drawn betwixt the morality of nominally Christian and Moslem peoples. On this subject 1 mny be allowed to quote from what I have said elsewhere: "The Laxit amon M s i em advocate will urge . . . the social evil as the nominal Chris- necessary result of inexorable monogamy. The Koran tians. not on jy Denounces any illicit laxity between the sexes in the severest terms, but exposes the transgressor to condign punish- ment. 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 so- ciety, iu 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 intemper- ance will wane and vanish, and the higher morality pervade the whole body ; ' whereas in Islam the deteriorating influences of polyg- amy, 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. 60. WHY THE SPREAD OF ISLAM WAS STA TED. 125 II. WHY THE SPREAD OP ISLAM WAS STAYED. HAVING thus traced the rapid early spread of Islam to its proper source, I proceed to the re- isi am station- . . . , , , . , ary in area, main ing topics, namely, the causes which and in civ;n- zation retro- have checked its further extension, and grade, 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. As the first spread of Islam was due to the sword, so when the sword was sheathed Islam The Arabs ceased , i ii ceased to spread. The apostles and mis- second cent- ury, to be a cru- sionaries of Islam were, as we have seen, sading force. 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 126 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. 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. The extension of Islam, depending upon military success, stopped wherever that was checked.' With cessation isiam C n ceased ^ ie re ligi n advanced or retired, speaking to spread. 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, WHY THE SPREAD OF ISLAM WAS STA YED. 127 likewise, the hold which the religion seized botli 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. 1 1 Much loose assertion has been made regarding the progress of Islam in Africa ; but I have found no proof of it apart . Alleged prog- from armed, political, or trading influence, dogged too ress of Islam in often by the slave-trade; to a great extent a social Africa - rather than a religious movement, and raising the fetich tribes (haply without intemperance) into a somewhat higher stage of semi-barbar- ism. 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 occa- sionally 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 9 128 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. From the Jewish and Christian religions there lias (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 : Now tell me, hast thou ever seen, my Friend, (the Lord be gracious Al Kindy's unto *^ ee O or ever ' iear( i of a single person of sound challenge to mind any one of learning and experience, and ac- Christian^con- quoted with the Scriptures, renouncing Christianity vert to Islam otherwise than for some worldly object to be reached terlal Tin-luce- on ^y through thy religion, or for some gratification ments. 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. 1 activity reminds one only of these green branches sometimes scon on trees, already, and for long, decayed at the core from age." Food for Reflection, p. 37. 1 Apology, p. 34. THE DECADENCE OF ISLAM. 129 III. LOW POSITION OF ISLAM IN THE SCALE OP CIVILIZA- TION. I PASS on to consider why Mohammedan nations oc- cupy so low a position, halting as almost g^, and ln _ every-where they do, in the march of social ^Sn. 1 and intellectual development. The reason is not far to find. Islam was meant for Arabia, not for the world ; for the Arabs jaam lntended of the seventh century, not for the Arabs fortheArabs - 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 con- templated 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 1 Annals, pp. 61, 224. 130 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. (if suitable at all) for the Arabs of that day, and in many respects for them alone. Again, the code con- taining 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 wants the fac- religion of Mohammed cannot emerge. ulty of adapta- tion. It has no plastic power beyond that exer- cised in its earliest days. Hardened now and inelas- tic, it can neither adapt itself nor yet shape its vota- ries, nor even suffer them to shape themselves to the varying circumstances, the wants and developments, of mankind. We may judge of the local and inflexible character Local ceremo- of the faith from one or two of its cere- nies: pilgrim- ape, monies. To perform the pilgrimage to Mecca and Mount Arafat, with the slaying of victims at Mina, and the worship of the Kaaba, is an ordi- nance 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 re- THE DECADENCE OF ISLAM. 191 quired of a world-wide religion. The same may be said of the fast of Ramzan. It is pre- Fast of Ram _ scribed in the Koran to be observed by all zan< with undeviating strictness during the whole day, from earliest dawn till sunset throughout the month, with specified exemptions for, the sick and penalties for eveiy occasion on which it is broken. The com- mand, imposed thus witli an iron rule on male and female, young and old, operates with excessive in- equality 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 win- ter, and the change of season was probably not fore- seen 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 J32 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. 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 cir- cumstantial legislation in matters of religious cere- monial. Nearly the same is the case with all the religious . obligations of Islam, prayer, lustration, E a ovS"to etc ' But altnou gh tne minuteness of de- reiations be- ta u w j t ] 1 w i nca these are enjoined tends tween sexes. 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 uncivil- ized 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. Polyg- amy, divorce, servile concubinage, and the veil are at the root of Moslem decadence. Depression of ^ n res P ect f married life the condition the female sex. a] i otted by t]ie Koran to woman is that of an inferior dependent creature, destined only for the THE DECADENCE OF ISLAM. 133 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, neg- lected, 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 knowl- edge 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 hus- band. Authority to confine and to beat his wives is distinctly vested in his discretion. 1 '"' 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 posi- tion of a wife was improved by the code of Moham- med." * Even if the privilege of divorce Divorc*. and marital tyranny be not exercised, the knowledge of its existence as a potential right must 1 Sura iv, v. 33. ' Life of Mohammed, p. 348. 134 THE KISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. 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. Principal Fair- -^ mus ^ quote one more passage from n-fe ril iinders- -Principal Fairbairn on the lowering in- fluence 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. Moth- erhood 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, tyr- anny, and despair." l Demoralizing ^>t\\l worse is the influence of servile serTneconcu- concubinage. The following is the evi- dence 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 auc- 1 The City of God, p. 97. Hodder & Stoughton, 1883. THE DECADENCE OF ISLAM. 1S5 tion 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 unen- lightened and demoralizing conditions. That is plainly an element lying at the root of all the most important features that differentiate prog- ress from stagnation. l Such are the institutions which gnaw at the root of Islam and prevent the growth of free- Deteriorating influence of re- dom and civilization. " By these the unity lations estab- lished between of the household is fatally broken and the sexes. 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 in- trigues, 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. 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 1 The Turks in India, by H. G. Keene, C.S.I. Allen & Co., 1879. 9 Annals, etc., p. 457. 136 THE RISE AND DECttNE OF ISLAM. 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 excep- tion of certain near relatives of specified propinquity. 1 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. This ordinance and the practices flowing from it society vitiated mus * ; survive, more or less, so long as the Saw? of Wl the Koran remains the rule of faith. It may female sex. 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 be- longing to another world, veiled, shrouded, and cut 1 See Sura xxxiv, v. 32. 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." THE DECADENCE OF ISLAM. 137 off from intercourse with those around her. Free only in the retirement of her own secluded apart- ments, 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 frame- work 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, re- fining, 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, Mohammedan society, thus unnatural, and morose. Moreover, the truncated, in- Mohammedan nations, for all purposes of progress. 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 im- perfect exhibition of humanity. They are wanting in one of its constituent parts, the better half, The defects of Mohammedan the humanizing and the softening element, society. And it would be against the nature of things to sup- pose that the body, thus shorn and mutilated, can possess in itself the virtue and power of progress, 138 THE RISE AXD DECLINE OF ISLAM. reform, and elevation. The link connecting the fam- ily 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 per- manent 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 prosper- ity ; but the social groundwork for the same is want- ing, and the people surely relapse into the semi-bar- barism 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. Yet the veil ^ ^ nc same time I am not prepared to necessary^un- g& y fa^ ' n v j ew o f ^ ne ] ax ity of the COn- circumstances. j nga | re i at j ons i n h ere nt in the institutions of Islam some such social check as that of the veil THE DECADENCE OF ISLAM. 139 (apart from the power to confine and castigate) is not needed for the repression of license and the mainte- nance of outward decency. There is too much reason to apprehend that free social intercourse might other- wise be dangerous to morality under the code of Mo- hammed, and with the example before men and women of the early worthies of Islam. So long as the senti- ments 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 Mus- sulman 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, para- lyze vigor, retard progress in the direction of free- dom, philanthropy, and moral elevation, and generally perpetuate the normal state of Mohammedan peoples, as one of semi-barbarism. To recapitulate, we have seen : Recapitulation. First. That Islam was propagated mainly by the sword. With the tide of conquest 140 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. the religion went forward ; where conquest was arrested made no advance beyond ; and at the with- drawal 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. If the reader should have followed me in the argn- comrast with men * by which these conclusions have Christianity. been reac ] ied the COIltras t with the Chris- tian faith lias no doubt been suggesting itself at each successive step. Christianity, as Al Kindy has so forcibly put it, Christianity gained a firm footing in the world witli- not propagated by force. out the sword, and without any aid what- ever 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 THE DECADENCE OF ISLAM. 141 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." ' The religion itself, in its early days, offered no ^worldly attractions or indulgences. It was Nor b worldly not, like Islam, an " easy way." Whether lnducements - in withdrawal from social observances deeply tainted with idolatry, the refusal to participate in sacrificial ceremonies insisted on by the rulers, or in the renun- ciation of indulgences inconsistent with a saintly life, the Christian profession required self-denial at every step. But otherwise the teaching of Christianity nowhere interfered with the civil institutions of the . Adaptive prin- countries into which it penetrated or with tifTacuHy^of any social customs or practices that were Chn8tlanlt y- 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 1 John xviii, 36, 37. 142 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. 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 de- velopment and intellectual elevation. And, what is infinitely more, it may be claimed for the lessons em- bodied in the Gospel that they have been themselves promotive, if indeed they have not been the imme- diate 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. Take, for example, the institution of slavery. It Examples sia- P reva ^ e d m 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 intermin- gles 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 THE DECADENCE OF ISLAM. 143 believers to advocate its abolition upon the ground of principle. There are, moreover, so many privi- leges 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 circum- stances, 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 1 Cor. vii, 21. it : but it thou mayest be made free, use it rather." The duty of obedience to his master is en- joined 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 cliildren of God by faith 10 144 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. in Christ Jesus." " There is neither bond nor free, Gai. in, 26, 28. ... f or ye are all one in Christ Jesus." icor.vii.22. H e that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman." The converted slave is to be received " not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved." The seed Philemon 16. has borne its proper harvest. Late in time, no doubt, but by a sure and certain devel- opment, 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 pre- cepts inculcated by the Gospel eighteen hundred years ago. Nor is it otherwise with the relations es- Reiations be- tablished between the sexes. Polygamy, tween the , J .*' sexes. divorce, and concubinage with bondmaids 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 "begin- ning made them male and female. . . . What there- THE DECADENCE OF ISLAM. 145 fore God hath joined together let not man put asunder" 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 , J 1 Cor. 711,8. intelligible, commands as " to render due benevolence," whereby, while the obligations of the marriage state are maintained, Christianity is saved from the impurities which, in expounding the ordi- nances of Mohammed, surround the sexual ethics of Islam, and cast so foul a stain upon its literature. Take, again, the place of woman in the world. We need no injunction of the veil or the Elevation of harem. As the temples of the Holy woman ' Ghost, the body is to be kept undefiled, and every one is "to possess his vessel in sanctifica- iTUess.iv, 4. tion and honor." Men are to treat "the iTim.v.s. elder women as mothers ; the younger as sisters, with all purity." Women are to " adorn them- 1 Tim. 11, 9. selves in modest apparel, with shame- facedness and sobriety." These, and such like max- ims embrace the whole moral fitness of the sev- eral relations and duties which they define. They are adapted for all ages of time and for all con- ditions of men. They are capable of being taken 146 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. by every individual for personal guidance, accord- ing to his own sense of propriety, and they can be accommodated by society at large with a due ref- erence to the habits and customs of the day. The attempt of Mohammed to lay down, with circumstan- tial 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 degrada- tion ; while .the spirit of the Gospel, and injunctions like that of "giving honor to the wife 1 Pet. Hi, 7. as to the weaker vessel," 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 hus- band in the ideal of a Christian family) she now occupies in the social scale. In the type of Mussulman government which (though Relations with no * l a ^ down i" the Koran) is founded upon the spirit of the faith and the pre- cedent 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 THE DECADENCE OF ISLAM. 147 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 backward- Christianity ness and depression of Mohammedan so- it y tree to ex- ciety. Since the abolition of the temporal power in Italy we have nowhere in Christian lands any such theocratic union of Caesar and the Church, so that secular and religious advance is left more or less unhampered ; whereas in Islam the hierarch- ico-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. And so, throughout the whole range of political, re- ligious, social, and domestic relations, the The Koran checks prog- attempt made by the founder of Islam to ress. 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 para- lyze the natural efforts of society at healthy growth, expansion, and reform. As an author already quoted 148 has so well put it, " The Koran has frozen Moham- medan thought / to obey it is to abandon, progress." ' Writers have indeed been found who, dwelling is isiam suit- upon the benefits conferred by Islam on able for any nation? 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 man- kind as if the faith of Jesus might peaceably divide with it the world. But surely to acquiesce in a sys- tem 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 ioy, which shall le to Luke 11, 10. all people" such a notion is on higher grounds untenable ; but even in view of purely secu- lar considerations it is not only untenable, but alto- gether 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 disas- trous 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 liie na- tions now dominated by Islam sharing with us those secondary but 1 Dr. Fairbairn, Contemporary Review, p. 865. CONCLUSION. 149 precious fruits of divine teaching. Then with the higher aud eudur- iug blessings which our faith bestows, but not till then, we may hope that there will follow likewise in their wake freedom and prog- ress, and all that tends to elevate the human race. 1 Although with the view of placing the argument on independent ground I have refrained NO sacrifice for sin or redemp- from touching the peculiar doctrines of tive grace. 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 fol- lowers 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 dis- tinctive truths of the Christian faith, it may 'be al- lowed 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 1 The Early Caliphate and Rise of Mam, being the Rede Lecture for 1881, delivered before the University of Cambridge, p. 28. 150 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. " 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, Luke 1, 77-79. . to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide onr feet into the way of peace." But even apart from these, the special blessings of contrast be Christianity, I ask, which now of the aTd D h u d ma n n two faiths 1)ears > 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," but not the less with an ever- vary- ing adaptation to time and place? and which the artificial imitation ? " As a reformer, Mohammed did indeed advance his people to a certain point, but as a prophet he left them fixed im- movably 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 tlie various requirements of time, and clime, and circumstance, expanding with the genial sunshine and the CONCLUSION. 151 rain from heaven, it remains the same forced and stunted thing as when first planted twelve centuries ago." ' Such is Islam. Now what is Christian- Christianity compared by ity ? Listen to the prophetic words of the cimst to the works of nat- Founder himself, who compares it to the ure - 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 Mark Iv, 26-28. seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. " For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself: first the Uade Y then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." And again : " Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God, or with what com- parison shall we compare it ? " It is like a grain of mustard-seed, which, when it is Mark Iv, 30-32. soivn 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." Which is nature, and which is art, let Iglam the work the reader judge. Which bears the im- u^^tS press of man's hand, and which that of workofGod - Him who " is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working ? " In fine, of the Arabian it may be said : " Hitherto shall thou come, but no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." 1 The Koran, otc., p. 65. 152 THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. 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. 8 ^8 l1 X ' ' " ^ e s ^ a ^ ^ ave d m i nion a ^ so 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." THE END.