Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-08-06

huhaiHsHtus tnt itohOtia>i-
Prophet or imposter, saint or devil, hero
! or Antichrist-which was he
Ages have asked that question, and the
! reply Is not vet. Godfrey de Bouillon
would have answered without hesitation,
and Richard Plantagenet, surnamed Ceur
De Lion, would have backed the assertion,
"lmposter, devil, Antichrist" Haroun,
the Just, who sent Charlemagne the first
clock ever seen in Europe, and Yussuf Salah-
ud-Deen, who outgeneraled the Lion Heart,
would have answered with even less hesita-
tion, prophet, saint, and hero" Which
party was right and if neither, which was
nearnest right? Which of the two knew
most about Mohammed? Which was most
/ capable Of Judging on any question of char
acter and evidence. and which possessed
the most collateral learning and powers Of
| comparison?
Tncse questions are by no means hard to
answer. We know that the mental ac-
/ compiiShments of Godfrey de Bouillon and
/ Richard Plantagenet were confined to a very
small smattering of education, sufficient to
/ enable them 10 sign their names after a
! fashion, while Of the Arabic language and
of the contents of the Koran itself thev were
l
offered to present either with a copy of the
book in the original Arabic or in the perfect
I French translation, il is most probable that
Uodirey and Richard would have acted in
the same way. Into the fire would have
gone the book, and with it the donor, had
the latter been available. Had either pos
sessed the power TO exterminate every Mos
lem living. there i not 4 shadow of dOub bt
that he would have ordered the execution at
once, imagining be was doing God service
in Furnishing "blaspheners. 10 what the
sin Of hidsphemy consisted, as applied to
Islam, the faith Godfrey and Richard
might have been puzzled to explain to the
satisfaction 0. disinterested party. The
argument, had such thing as argument
been possible, would inlalllbly have ended.
like the renowned discussion between Car
tain Fluellen and Captain MacMorrls, in an
attempt by one party to cut off the other
party - head.
When We come to examine lIaroun and
u-suf We fiud men OF a different stamp.
Without being less soldier, each was much
more of general. and each was the most
emil -hteued prince Of his own time. All
the learned men Of the East focked to the
courts Of both, and in those days the East
almost monopolized the learning Of the
world. Besides this, each prince was well
acquainted with the writings OF Mohammed.
and in fact bad committed the greater Uart
of the Koran bodily 10 memory, as every
Arab Of rank does at the present day.
These men, thoroughly acquainted with
Muhammed' hook-a book historically GER
tam a. being the work OF his single mind
uuassi>ted by otherS-called M0hammed. as
their descendants do TO this time. Prophet.
saint and hero" Ii becomes then 10 US Of
the present time matter Of inquiry whether
these men may not possibly be right aud
Godfrey ami Richard possibly wrong. For
good many centuries We have been going
un the crusaiing theory as regards Islam,
and II Is about time that thusc OF rs who are
open 70 reason stopped to ask whether We
are quite justified in our classification of
jews Turks and infdels' as objects Of
pity, to be prayed for once year. Another
doubt may even arise as to whether we are
justified IN calling Mol,em an "inflei"
under any circumstances but this doubt
Nill arise at later stage Of the inquiry 10
form Judgment on Mohammed We must
read hi- book. Al-horan. To that alone he
appealed wien asked to work miracles as a
>igu Of his mission; to that the Arabs point
to-day As a standing miracle, defging the
world 70 produce its equal.
We are toll by all arabs that the Koran
IS the most perfect poetry in the Arabic
language; and Yet, when We come to -ead
it as translated into English, we find it dull
and tedious. 1t Is a difficult thing for a
European to read through the whole Koran
in "A translation. lie soon realizes it To be
diteren; from what he imagined it. Very
possibly he dreamed of finding therein long
and luscious descriptions of the sc-called
"Mohamme1en paradise" )" that he should
read about hours and the tree of life, the
beast Al-Borak. rivers Of wine. and all those
visions Of the different heavens usually at
trlbuted to the prophet. He finds not a
word Of all this. Instead, there i bound
less devotional enthusiasm, all the yOclbu-
larry of praise to God, long moral lectures,
uld Testament stories in u different form,
idmi.ar reference to all the Jewish pair-
arrhs. prophets and kings, an equally con-
slant reference to the facts of the Gospels,
but IN somewhat different dress, and final
ly fierce denunciations, in a strain Of the
most awful solemntv, of the infdels who
v al iANb HNAliNt III Aut lIublS VI 'fDu. vi
doctrine he finds no subtletv. Mohammed
pruclaiins but one fact, and reiterates it for
all time. As the Koran opens with Al
fatihat, "The Preface so it naturally
closes with the simple and sublime "Decla-
ration, chapter of itself The words of
those chapters are texts for all the rest of
the book. 1t enlarges, diates, amplifes.
illustrates, reiterates the one grand decla-
ration, La Hiaha, ii Ahdh"-No God but
God All the rest Is written only to give
that weight. The fact that Mohammed is
the prophet Of God Is mere incident, like |
the Thus saith the Lord" Of the Hebrew |
prophets 1t is to show whence came the J
message. That message Is the one thing Of /
importance to man, and it Is of the simplest
"No God but God" When that message |
i believed, the morality of the Koran fol
lows with equal simplicity Prayer and |
charity are the whole duty of man. No |
prayer Is an importunate begging for fayors,
but prayer which Is only praise and anxiety |
to be kept in the faith of God ; not ostenta-
tious alm>giving, mi,called charity, but a
charity a complete and genuine as that de-
scribed in the Corinthians. Such as we find |
Al-Fatlhat we fild the whole book The |
GALAXY.