The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1882-08-30
Uniurling the Holy Flag.


holy war, that it may not be without in-
terest briefly to look into the subject as |
it is presented both in history nnd in
popular belief-two very different |
things, it hardly need be said. An ap- |
parcntly competent writer in the Lon
don Times, when writing OF it last year,
insisted that it was practically impossi- |
BILE for the idea of u jchad, or war Of ex-
termination against the iniidcls, to be
carried out. lslam-the word signifies
full submission TO God, and is used by
Mohammedans to designate their faith
and the whole body OF believers in it
had its rise among the Arabs Of the
desert who inhabited the sterile ranges
on the eastern coasts of the Red Sea and
the almost equally barren districts Of
the Neid, who, like all nomad and
semi-sayage tribes, relied for their live
lihood chiefly upon plundering their
richer neighbors, and rs often raded ,
each others territories with equal vigOr.
These raids were and are called gla:i,
and one who takes part in them gta;i. |
"All the expeditions and petty warfare
by which Mohammed established his
power in the llcia5 are spoken Of" we
read, "as gha.aWdt, and it was only when
more ambitious attacks were made ilu.
on the Roman and Persian borders aud
the cry OF 'Thero is no god but Allah,
and MOhammed is his prophet had be-
come the watchwOrd of victory, that u
ghd:t came to be synonymous with 'Onc
who fights for the faith This title ,eX-
pressed in full, gha;ied din, was much
affected by later Mohammedan princes
of other than Arab blood; hut few, if
any, of the cOnqucring Persian, Turk or
Tartar notabes ever even understood
the term in its original sense, or ever
fought merely to propagate the mono-
thcistic creed. Mohnmnod was the
first to make gba:i on II large scale,
and the first to preach to his Arab conf
patriots the duty OF jchHH that is, Of
mutual strenuous effort for the attain
ment Of their common aim The
prophet, knowing that the tribes never
could become power while they wasted
their energies in intcrnecino warfare,
and at the same time that they could
not be united under any master, sought
to bring about national unity by bind.
ing them by that "CommOn religious
feeling" which really meant, as it SO
often does, common interests, customs,
and superstitionS.
At Mecca were all the elements OF
centralizalion-the kaabah, containing
all the gods Of the different tribes and
the locale Of all the fairs and gatherings
at which the historical and religious tr't-
ditions of the race were circulated and
kept alive. The Persian Empire was
weak and the Roman Empire was de-
clining, and their dominipns bordering
upon Arabia fell an easy prey to the
bands now for the first time acting in
concert. "The long series OF conqVeSts
that followed in quick succession were"
says the writer already alluded to, "Of
course attributed to the potency Of tho
profession of faith which formed their
battle-cry, and their religious enhuSi-
asm grew stronger with each triumph.
The Arabs had at last found the all
powerful name of which the children of
Shcm have ever dreamed, IVY means uf
which Solomon controlled the demons
and the elements, was waited through
the air on his magic carpet, or sealed
up the refractory genie in bottle at
the bottom of the sea. llcncctorNard
the conquered intidcls were offered but
one atcrnativc-to acknowledge the
name of Allah and hi' prophet, or 20
perish by the sword while thelormula,
'In the name of Allah, the mcrc'lu', the
compassionate, was ever after placed ut
the head or every MOslcm writing. The
conquest of II country was first urea ed
by these Bedouin raiders like that Of an
encampment or desert village; all .ho
portable property that could be laid
hands on was seized and shared among
the soIdiery, and Il polltaX was imposed
on all who chose to save Themselves
from massacre by the profession of the
Mohammcdan faith. But this primitive
system soon became unmanagcablc rs
their dominiOns extended, and more
settled and elaborate government was
required. The only way in which this
could be secured was 10y leaving the ad.
mimstraton practically in the hands Of
native officers and holding the country
by military occupation, which consIi-
tuted perpetual state Of Sjcge.
The possibility Of n holy war being
preached has been discussed repeatedly
OF late years. 1t is held that in md'a
the influence of Islam has never beer
much more than superficial, md that y
tho present time an Indian Mo>lcm, i,
his Observance and iene'S, Is but IL lin
doc in foreign dress. with scarcely 4
exception the Ulemas, when appeale'
. TO to decide whether or not India wa
, ar al harb,-an enemy's country
pronounced GtraS, in the negative, n
, opinion confirmed later by the aSsembl
! of Meccan doctors, who disposed c
t the subject once for ali. At the sam
, time it is pointed out that the Arab
who migrated to Africa and set up TIA
| rival caliphatc in Spain were not sui
= iect to the same eXtraneouS influence
, as those under the caliphate OF Bagdad
8 having mixed but little with tho ma
3, tives, and having preserved to tn
Q present day their Arab customs, trad'
Q iions, and general ogies. "Ihe sam
0 elements of Arab religious ianallclsm'
=. said the writer in The Times, "combine'
= with Arab clan feeling, exist there a
! in the Helaz or Yemen, and shoul'
:. some powerful No lem saint ana enc
and there are many such in Morocco
: Tunis, and Algiers preach the cS
!. termination of the Kalirs, it would D
= useless 10 hope that any such modera'
y counsels would prevail as those whIc
l. averted n similar danger in India.
v might be strictly q Pan-lslamic' move
o ment, to quote the current iagron OF I'll
q day, but it would be a universal Ara
D. movement, which would give rise TO i
expressible horrors OF war ana olo9 @
shed in Western Africa itself, ana
% would attract sufficient sympathy
70 other Mohammedan countries TO pro'
o a serious danger to the general peace
g The "unfurlng of the green flag" Is