The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1882-08-31
Unfurling the Holy Flag.

popular belief--two very different
things, 1t hardly need be said. An ap-
parently competent writer in the Lon
don Times, when writing of it last year,
insisted that it was practically imposs;-
BILE for the idea of jchad. or war of ex4
termination against the infidels, to be
carried out. Islam--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-savage tribes, relied for their live
ihood chiefly upon plundering their
richer neighbors, and as often raided
each others territories with equal vigor.
These raids were and are called gh0zi,
and one who takes part in them q ghazi.
Cali the expeditions and petty warfare
by which Mohammcd established his
power in the Hejaz are spoken Of" we
read, "as ghazaaOat, and it was only when
moro ambitious attacks were made up-
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
ghdzt came to be Synonymous with zone
who fights for the faith This title ,ex-
pressed in full, ghast ed din, was much
affected by later Mohammedan 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 ghazi on large scale,
and the first to preach to his Arab COM
patriots the duty of jehad-that is, of
'mutual strenuous effort for the attain
ment of their common aim" The
prophet, knowing that the tribes never
could become apower 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 "common religious
feeling" which really meant, as it so
often does, common interests, customs,
and superstitions.
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
dltions of the race were circulated and
kept alive. The Persian Empire was
weak and the Roman Empire was de-
clnlng, 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, 'tof
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 ut last found the all
powerful name of which the children of
Shem Lave 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 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,
'ln the name of Allah, the mcrciful, tho
compassionate was ever after placed ut
the head or every Moslem writing The
conquest OF 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 unmanageablc 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 tho country
by o military occupation, which consti'-
tuted perpetual state of siege.
The possibility Of q 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 MOslcm, in
his observance and tenets, is but 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 fetUGS, in the negative, an
opiilloh COhlll lllCI InIct Wy GIIC tSSciilDly
of Meccan doctors, who disposed of
the subject once for all. At the same
time it is pointed out that the Arabs
who migrated to Africa and set up the
rival caliphatc in Spain were not sub.
ject to the same extraneous influences
as those under the caliphatc Of Bagdad,
having mixed but little with the ma
tives, and having preserved to the
present day their Arab customs, tradi-
tions, and general ogies. "The same
elements of Arab religious fanaticism,"
said the writer in Ihc Times, "cOmbined
with Arab clan feeling, exist there as
in the Hcjaz or Yemen, and should
some powerful Mo 'lcm saint and chief
and there arc many such in Morocco,
Tunis, and Al9crs preach the ox-
termination Of The KaIir3, it would be
useless to hope that any such moderate
counsels would prevail as those which
averted similar danger in India. It
might bo strictly q Pan-Islamic' move
ment, to quote The current iagrOn of the
day, but it would be o universal Arab
movement, which would give rise to in
expressble horrors of war and, blood
shed in Western Africa itself, and it
yunnlI affrOnt