Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-08-17
Uafarfing the Holy Flag.

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So much is heard nowadays of the
possibility Of a union of ISLAM and a
holy war, that it may not bewithout in
terest briefly to look into the subject as
1T is presented both in history and in
popular belief-two very different
things, it hardly need be said. An APP
parently competent writer in the Lon
don Times, when writing of it last year,
insisted that it was practically impossi-
bic for the idea OF a jehdd, or war of ex-
termination against the imfidels, to be
carried out. Islam-the word signifies
full submission to God, and is used by
Nohammedans to designate their faith,
and hewhole 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 Nejd,. who, like. all nomad and
semi-savage tribes, relied for their live
ihoOd chiefly upon plundering sheir
richer neighbors, and as often raided
each others territories with equal vigor.
These raids were and are called g7i0zi,
and one who takes part in them a shaEi.
"All the expeditions and petty warfare
by which Mohammed established his
power in the Hejaz are spoken off, we
read, Gas gh0gGa0tss, and it was only when
more ambitious attacks were made uD-
on the Roman and Persian borders and
the cry of There is no god but Allah,
and Mohammed is his. prophet, had be-
come the watchword of victory. that a
.ghazi came to be Synonymous with zone
who fights for the faith This title, ex-
pressed in full, ghazi ed din, was much
affected by later Mohaminedan princes
of other than Arab blood; but few, if
any, of the conquering Persian, Turk Or
Tartar notables ever even understood
the term in its original sense, or ever
fought merely to propagate the mono
theistic creed. Mohammed was the
first to make ghazs on a large scale,
and the first to preach to his Arab COM
patriots the duty. of ,ieAad-that is, of
mutual strenuous effort for the attain
ment of their common aim.' The
prophet, knowing that the tribes never
could become a power while they wasted
their energies in internecine 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 s'common religious
feeling which really meant, as it so
often does, common interests, customs,
and superstitions.s ~ ....--.
At Mecca were all the elements of
centralization-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 ira
ditions of the race were circulated and
kept alive. The Persian Empire was
weak and the Roman Empire was de-
clining, and their dominions bordering
upon Arabia fell an easy prey to the
bands now for the first time acting in
concert. "The long series of conquests
that followed in quick succession were,'
says the writer already alluded to. ssof
course attributed to the potency of the
profession of faith which formed their
battle-cry, and their religious enthusi-
asm grew stronger with each triumph.
The Arabs had at last found the all
powerful name of which the children of
Shem have ever dreamed, by means of
which Solomon controlled the demons
and the elements, was waited through
the air on his magic carpet, or sealed
up the refractory genie in a bottle at
the bottom of the sea. Henceforward
the conquered infidels were offered but
one alternative-to acknowledge the
name of Allah and his prophet, or to
perish by the sword; while the formula,
Sin the name of Allah, the merciful, the
compassionate was ever after placed at
the head or every Moslem writing. The
conquest of a country was first treated
by these Bedouin raiders like that of an
encampment or desert village; all the
portable property that could be laid
hands on was seized and shared among
the soldiery, and poll-tax was imposed
on all who chose to save themselves
from massacre by the profession of the
Mohammedan faith. But this primitive
system soon became unmanageable as
their dominions extended, and a more
settled and elaborate government was
required. The only way in which this
could be secured was by leaving the ad-
minlstration practically in the hands of
native officers and holding the country
by military occupation, which consti-
tuted a perpetual state of siege.
The possibility of holy war being
preached has been discussed repeatedly
of late years. 1t is held that in India
the influence of Islam has never been
much more than superficial, and that at
the present time an Indian Moslem, in
his observance and tenets, is but q Hin
doc in foreign dress. With scarcely an
exception the Ulemas, when appealed
to to decide whether or not India was
aar al harb,-an enemy's country
pronounced fetvas, in the negative, an
opinion confirmed later by the assembly
of Meccan doctors, who disposed of
the subject once for all. At the same
time it is pointed ont that the Arabs
who migrated to Africa and set up the |
rival caliphate in Spain were not SUBJ
ject to the same extraneous Influences
as those under the caliphate of Bagdad, |
having mixed but little with the ma
tives, and having preserved to the
present day their Arab customs, tradi- |
tons, and general ogies. eThe same
elements of Arab religious fanaticism,"
said the writer in The Times, sscombined |
with Arab clan feeling, exist there as
in the Hejaz or Yemen, and should |
some powerful Moslem saint and chief |
and there are many such in Morocco,
Tunis, and Algiers-preach the ex-
of the Katirs, it would be |
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