Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1884-04-22
Tor the pcuiocr rat
THE TIN GREAT RELIGIONS.
No. VI.


The Mohammedan religion Is one Of
The mo,, impof.an, u the present day.
IL. founder Wa bora IN Mecca. Arabia,
4. d $50. and prelendei 20 be pro-
pAel of Odd. chosen 20 restore the
religion uugh, by Moses and Jesus
Cdh.i 70 10. primitive parity NOLAN
me, was ihe author Of book called the
Koran. the doctrine % which. both ia
q iniual ani secular affairs. has coairoll-
ell sect now numbering one hundred
and seventy milIoas, lor mofe than
twelve hundred years Though be may be
regarded as conscious imPo''sF aud hi'
teaching. ihs psrer,.oa Of ,he Jewish
ald Christian religion. blended With pa
gan mythology aad .aPef'iiiu''oa' IA 'he
fret century Of is Introduction @ em-
bucsd a larger territory than that CONE
pri.ing lhe Roman Empire, a, any Pc
rod. dunng is existence q 1000 year..
All true believer, deny that Mohanmed
composed tae Koran. bag that ii sa' re-
vcaled 20 him by ,he angel Gabriel a.
d.ireren, times during issniy three years.
As the e1isence, Of sGais required. Il
!. admitted TIA, when the prophet died.
hi. revelations recorded up1a palm leaves
and parchment wcrc m grea, disorder.
aaA subsequently, compiled by bic sue
oe.sof which noW is the religious guide
fof nearly oae.seseaih part Of the human
family. Ihs Koran allows four wives
bat the SaltAa AMI other distinguished
per.ons may have an inlshaie nam5ef
Of female attendant, A1i coacubincs \
plurality of wife. c,a,ci the ess,bhsh-
meni % ihc hsrsm among the Turks.
founded by a custom ot rcnl,- Aniiq-
uiu anong the oficaial naiioa', ani ial-
Is established by the Koran, a. appears
from the following ePi'omissi extract.
SPEAK nnio the believing womsa ihat
they rc,ifaia their eyes AL preserve their
modss,y aud lci them throw their wells
over their b1sons AMI %. sAjW their
ornaments. unlcs, % their hu'band' OF
fathers Or their son,." The harem' are
gcnerally IN the upper stories and 80 az
ranged .. 10 insure ihs uimos, seciecy.
Travellers familiar with oriental hfe dis
agree on ihe nature aai et,c, Of tie
harem system. S,me ds.cnb' the in
mate. a. gross. igucrani. homely ininls'
inz themselves 10 lasciviols. aud iaicceni
reoreauons. while others assert that the
haren glow. with spleni1r and u inhab'
tied by lovely girls migalheieni.y a.
,.red. leading a gay aud happy liie. The
marriage institution amoag ihe aac.eas
was not % socircgmcissd As with christians.
for many Of the n3lib.e' aad hlns' Of
Persia. Egypt, and surrounding nations
according to 4 general custom, married
their own sister. instances Of which are
recorded by hisiorioas. Mohammed had
several wives. lis mos, fayori,e one
va. Aye.ha, whom he married when she
was only nine years old, an age imma-
tare in more northern elimes. The Mos
len females are deeply yeilei whenever
they are exposed to public gaze, reveal
lag nothing ba, their eyes. Oa one side
the Koran plainly teaches the doctrine
Of predes,inA,ion according TO the de-
terminate council and foreknowlcdge Of
God" On the other hand It admits
mans ability to control bis actioas, and
is fall Of exhor,a,ions TO ldolators and
dl.believer., to turn from their evil ways
and worship the true God. A. a mo-
tive for obedience, the true Mussulman
is promised a place in paradise, where
he can forever enjoy the society oI
"wiyss subject 10 no impuriy." The
Koran say. disbeliever, shall be "broilei
/ in the fires Of hell wherein they shall
no, die neither shall they live Verify
We have prepared hell for the inidel'.'
Those awful ,hreAienings throughout the
sacred book when proclaimed to an is'
nOrant .uPers.itiOus people could not fai
10 accomplish the resal, desired by the
author. hence the multi,ades who hoeked
around the Moslem standard.
The style Of the Koran Is generally
very fine though in many instances qui,'
obscure. Whenever he was perplexed
by inhdels who scofed a, his doctrines
or proposed questions be was unable ,'
answer. he constantly had recourse 10 a
new revelation as an infallible sxPedien,
in all nice cases. When asked by inf
del. to show a sign. he soon got a rev,
els,ion from heaven that he "was sp-
pointed preacher and no, a worker o.
miracles"
MohAmmed labOred several years with
little success. making only twelve Of
fourteen converts, principally his owl
connections. He then resorted to hi'
fayori,e scheme Of invoking q revelation
from heaven and immediately received
the following command, as recorded ia
the Koran. 30 prophet, stir up th'
faithful to war. II twenty Of you per,