The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1877-06-28

lhattO The prophets were revealed Ccrtai
scriptures inspired by God, that all thos
have persisted except the Pentateuci
the Psalms, the Gospel and the Koran
that the first three have been iaIsife
:, and mutilatcd, and that the Kora
Supersedes them all They regard Chris
as next to Mshammcd, but deny that h
was the son of God, and that he wa
p. crncified, believing that some other per
son suffered in his place, while he wa
taken up to God. They believe in tn
second coming of Christ, as heralding TIN
approach Of the last Judgment. Az I,
future life, they believe that God vii
Judge men by their acts in life; that tn,
time of resurrection is known only I,
God; that after judgment all men mus
pass over Il bridge " finer than hair anC
sharper than sword" the good passing
over easily, the wicked falling headlonl
to he'll that all who believe in theunit,
of God will finally be released from
punishment and enter paradise Will,
idolaters and hypocrtes suffer eternally
The Mohammedans observe strictly
the outward forms of their religion, re
garding the Koran as the rule OF then
religious, civil and social life. The Koran
iorbids gambling, incompetence and
usury urges charity, and provides for
the punishment of crimes; condemns
pride, avaricc, debauchery, and insists on
submission to the will of God, on for.
bearancc, love of peace, sincerity, truth.
iulness and benevolcnce. 1t restricts,
but does not prohibit poIygamy, and pre-.
Sents Il sensual idea of heaven
After the death of Mdhammed the
PRONUNCIATION of his doctrines spread
with amazing rapidity. The MosIems
conquered Syria (making Jerusalem one
OF their hOl y cities, Persia, Assyria and
all of northern Africa before the begin.
ming of the eighth century. Then they
crossed into Spain, conquered province
after province; then into eau where
they met their first great defeat near
Tours, in 1872, They advanced into
China, swept over ,Iudea, establishing
great empires, and mastering portion
OF the Greek empire Then they were
in tam sverr"n by the Tarter tribes,
led by the Turks, but these adopted
the religion of the people they
conquered and become its cham.
pions, and in 1913 they captured
Constantinoplc. This was the golden age
OF Mohammcdanism, and the Ottoman
empire was at the zenith of its power.
Forty years afterward the Mohamme-
dams were forced out of western Europe,
and there has been gradual decline ever
since. There comes discussions in their
own ranks, and they divided into two
great scCts, the Sunnites and Shahs.
Instead of the wonderful unity and en-
thusasm that had prevailed, a hostility
ON the part of one sect for the other was
developed. The Mohammedans Of the
Ottoman empire, of Arabia, Turkcstan
and Africa, are Hunnites, and the Per-
slams and the Mohammedans Of India,
NhiahS. 1t is estimated that of both
sectS there are now one hundred and fifty
millions in Europe, Asia and Africa, fully
one hundred millions being in Asia.
Mohammedanism was well calculated
TO influence idoIatrous and supersttous
nations. PRONUNCIATION and rapid rise
in power were at time when the Chris .
tian religion was hcset by enemies on all
sides. It il noticeable that in no case
did Christian nation conquered by a
Mohammedan nation spouse the Mo- |
hammcdan religion. Northumberland .
succeeded against a lower type Of civil
HatiOn, but never against a higher 1t .
ovcrrun the Roman empire OF the east,
but the Christians remain Christians to
this day.
AS the Koran, written twelve hundred |
years ago, with Arabic life in mind, fur
nishes the political system for Moham-
medan nations, they have made little .
progress. Arabia has gone backward in
stead Of forward Persia has lost her an
cient glory, and Turkey made no progress
until forced to accept western political
philosophy. Nlohammedan nations have
stood stubbornIy at the line drawn in
1852, and have refused to advance, asking
and desiring nothing beyond
what is outlined in the Koran. In the
the Christian nations that
covered at one time at the feet of the
Moslem conDuererS have, with few ex-
ceptions, been moving forward. What
is known as the civilized world is nearly
all Christians, and the nations are strong
and wealthy. Northumberland is
strong among the tribes OF Africa
and the nomadic nations OF Asia.
With these facts in mind we
come TO the consideration OF the prob
able results in case the sultan should
nnfurI the flag of the Prophet and call
upon all Mohammedans to Join in holy
war. He would forfeit all claim to sup
port from those nations which now sup
port Turkey, not because she is Moham-
nedan, but because she is European
In the old days of holy war it was easy
% arm and clothe mass of adventurous
but, suppose the Mohamme-
lans OF Africa and Asia poured into
Russia, they would come as @rbarOus
horde indflerently armed and without
discipline, and against the discipline and
of modern warfare they
would have little chance of success.
such movement would be the signal
or new combinations in Europe. The
christian nations would soon be unit
n driving back the hordes animated by
IN antl-ChrlStlan fanatlClSm, ana the re-
ult would I've the end of the Ottoman
empire.
The sultan will not take such course
Unless he is prepared to cut loose from
III European alliances, or unless he des-
pairs of help from European ma
ions. If he does take it he plays into
he hands OF Russia and hastens his own
lewnfall. 1t is questionable whether
uch an appeal would rouse the rival
ects of Mohammedans to the old war
pirit of enthusiasm, but even if the
esronse was not general Russia would
ufier. The Importance of the event
annot be overrated, As it would make a
lew era in European politics. The I'M
urling of the flag Of the Prophet would
rouse the old spirit of warfare; it would
We bad for Europe, bad for Mehamme-
Il