Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1882-08-20
A HOLY WAR.
"Thsre is No God But Allah, and
Mehammed is His Prophet"
The Standard Of Islam, and Its Significance
to Egypt - The influence of the Faith
Upon the Followers Of the Flag
fanatics Exciting islam. *
THE POWER IN THE sULTAN'S HANDS

| tHC TWIN IN tHG SVLtNn uHNDS
So much is heard nowadays Of the pos
thati may not be without interest briefly
to look into the subject as it is presented
both in history and in popular belief-two
very different things, it hardly need be
said. An apparently competent writer in
the London Times, when writing of it last
year, insisted that it was practically i'm
possible for the idea of 8 jehad or war OF
determination against the infdeEs to be
carried out. Islam-the word signifies full
| submission to God. and is used by Mobam-
medans to designate their faith and the
whole body of believers in it-had' its rise
| among the Arabs of the desert who indabit-
| tied the sterile ranges on the eastern
| coasts of the Red Sea, and the almost equal
| ~ barren districts of the Nejd, who; like
all nomad and semi-savage tribes. relied
| for their livelihood chiefly upon
Plnndering Their Richer Neighbour,
| and a. often raided each others territories
with equal yigor. These raids were and are
called ghazi, and one who takes part in
them a ghazi. "All the expeditions and
petty warfare by which Mohammed estab-
liShed his power in the Hejaz are spoken
Of" we read. ''as ghazawat, and it was only
when more ambitious attacks were made
upon the Roman and Persian borders and
the cry of There is no god but Allah, and
Mohammed is his prophet had become the
watchword of victory, that ghazi came to
be SYNONYMOUS with one who fights for the
faith This title, expressed in full, ghazi
ed din, was much affected by later Moham-
medan prices of other than Arab blood; but
it is doubtful if any of the conquering Per
sian, Turk or Tartar conquerors ever under.
stood the term in its original sense, or ever
fought merely to propagate the monotheis-
tic creed.
Mohammed Was the First TO Make a
Ghazu.
on a large scale, and the first 10 preach to
his Arab compatriots the duty Of jehad-
that is OF mutual strenuous effort for the
attainment of their common aim" The
prophet, knowing that the tribes never
could become q 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 binding 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 centraliza-
tion--the kaabah, containing all the gods
OF the different tribes and the locales of all
the fairs and gatherings at which the his
torical and religious traditions of the race
were
Circulated and Kept Alive.
The Persian empire was weak and the Re-
man empire was declining, and their do
minions 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,
'of course attributed to the potency of the
profession of Gaith which formed their bat
tleCry, and their religious enthusiasm
grew stronger with each triumph. The
Arabs had at last found the all-powerful
name Of which the children of Shem have
ever dreamed the name by means of which
Solomon controlled the demons and the
elements, was waited through the air on
his magic carpet, or sealed up the refract-
DRY genie in bottle at the bottom of the
sea. HenCeforward the conquered infidels
were offered but one alternative-to &C.
knowledge the name OF Allah and his
prophet, or to perish by the sword; while
the formula, In the name of Allah, the
merciful, the compassionate, was ever after
placed at the head OF every Moslem writ
ing. The conquest of a country was
First Treated by These Bed ouin Raiders
Iage all the portable property that could
be laid hands on was seized and shared
among the soldiery, and poll-tax was i'm
posed on all who chose to save themselves
from massacre by the profession OF the Mo-
hammedan faith. But this primitive sys-
tenn soon became unmanageable as their
dominions extended aud more settled
and elaborate government was required.
The only way in which this could be Sc
cured was by leaving the administration
practically in the hands of native officers
and holding the country by military &C.
cupation, which constituted perpetual
state of siege. AFTER the dea;h OF the
prophet, through the energy and wisdom
OF Omar, the cOnqueSts OF Islam were con-
solidated, and the
Power OF the CaIiphs was Established,
but the system OF Islam had no hold on the
hearts of the Persian people, who had
tactitly accepted it, and it was merely as q
cloak for their own national belief that the
shials-the Persian schismatics who add to
the declaration of faith and Ali is the
vicar of God'-used Mohammedan dOgmas.
Siding with ALI the prophets cousin, SON
in.law and successor, they formed the fac
ton which rejected the purely Arab
elements OF Islam. Persian influences be-
came more powerful at court, the enthus-
ism OF the faith subsidized, and the converse
ton of the Kafirs was no longer even the
nominal object pursued in wars prompted
by the ordinary motives OF greed, ambition
and revenge 1T was not, we are told,
that the time.honored institution OF the
ghazu was revived upon grand scale, or
the champions of the faith summoned to
mutual effort for plumber and the cause OF
God. Every alternate year, with very few
exceptions,
This Prince Made the Pilgrimage to
Mecca
on foot, or he prosecuted a iehad against
the enemies of Islam. After these raids
which he made into Greek territory, he
always brought back large booty in prop
erty and slaves" In 1871 the Greek admit
raj Theophilus was taken prisoner and
hewn to pieces in .Haroun's presence,
having refused to make profession of Mo.
hammedan faith In S02, when Nicephorus
assembled the throne, he was so imprudent
as to DEFY the caliph in a letter couched in
the following terms: From Nicephorus,
Emperor of the Romans, to Haroun, En-
peror of the Arabs: The empress who pre-
ceded me considered you as rock and her
self as pawn. She paid you tribute when
Won ought to have paid her double the
amount. This was out of woman's weak
ness and stupidity. So when you have
read this letter OF mine send back thu, trib-
ute you have received OF her, and ran
som yourself with whatever you may
be called upon 10 pay otherwise the
sword Is Between You and Me-"
On the back of the letter Haroun penned
this brief reply: In the name OF God, the
merciful, the compassionate, from Haroun,
commander of the faithful, to NicephorouS,
the Grccian hound; l have read your let,
ter, you son of she-infidel, and YOU shall
see the answer before you hear it, and on
the morrow be set out on new rad, and
plundered, burned and destroyed TIL the
Emperor was compelled to sue for peace.
Not long afterward NiCephorous broke his
engagements and provoked anew the ca
liph's wrath. This time the war assumed
the dimensions Of real jehad, and the
Christians were completely crushed, ana
the old acknowledgements on them by
Omar, their first cofl98eforS revived.
From the time of Haroun the power OF the