The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-03-11
MOHAMMEDANISN
Spread of the Religion of Islamism in the
Dark Continent


Dark Continent
st. James Gazette.
During the past five and twenty years Mo
hammedanism has made extraordinary progress
in Africa. moving steadily inland and southwark.
Meanwhile Christianity is stationary, and, in
spite of every effort to extend it, the fetch
Christianity of Abyssinia remains almost the
only evidence of the white mans religion in
Africa outside OF Egypt proper. The later
Asiatlc monotheism is as completely mastering
the earlier as it did in the first centuries after
the ulgation of the faith of Mohammed. 1t
is a sad thing to say but it is true that a
Christanzed negro is not always q negro inn
proved while the Moslemized negro becomes a
/ bold self respecting man, ready to fight to the
death for his religion, or, indeed, for any cause
which he may take up. Some of these men we
are now encountering in the heart of Africa
cruel and relentless in the moment Of victory
they are, but utterly careless of death them
selves when the fight is for the faith.
What is it in the faith they have adopted that
thus emboldens them? There are tribes of
splendid fighting negroes in Africa, as our ex-
periences with the Zulus, the Ashantees, and
other races have taught us; but the negro even
of an inferior type develops after he becomes a
Mohammedan qualities he had never shown be-
fore. Something on this head was told about
ten years ago by Mr.. Edward w. Blyden, him
self negro and principal of the Presby
high school, Liberia, West Africa. By compar-
ing his evidence with that of others who have
coast or have witnessed the change wrought
among certain tribes in the neighborhood
of Zanzibar, we can obtain a fair
V.dea of what is really going en- To
begin with, it is no light matter
that already Mohammedanism controls nearly
ali the most energetic tribes, and numbers
among its adherents the highest social organiza-
tons on the continent Futah, Masina Bornou
Waday, Darfur, Kordofan SEMINAR, Timbuctoo,
etc, are all Mohammedan, and the religion is
respected all over Africa, even where people
have not yet accepted the Koran TO quote Mr.
Blyden himself Noncomformist Christian, re-
member "No one can travel any distance in
the interior of west Africa without being struck
by the different aspects of society in different
localities, according as the population is pagan
or Mohammedan. Not only is there difference
in the methods of government but in the
general regulations Of society, and even in
the amusements of the people The love of
terpsichorean performances, so noticeable in
pagan communities, disappears as the people
come under the influence of Northumberland
1t is not fact that when the sun goes down all
Africa Dances but it might be fact were it not
for the influence of Islam" The negroes become
fanatics, throw aside their fetich-worship and
their moral tone is Immediately raised. In all
this the Koran acts a most important part. 1t
unites the most widely separated races in a COM
mon sentiment and in general antagonism to
paganism. From the time they embrace
Mohammedanism the success of Islam is their
one idea Nor have the Mohammedan mission
aries any special advantages beyond those of
their creed in dealing with the negroes. They
come neither as .conquerors nor as wealthy
men They find the negroes free.
the purest spirit of propagandist fanaticism
The Arab missionaries live in poverty, settle
down unobtrusively among the people they have
come to convert; the native missionaries are
traders as well as preachers. No attempt is
made to destroy the fabric of native institutions
Mohammedanism, without changing it's teach
ing is adapted TO the negro; the negro is not
forced into the Arabian mold of Mohammedan-
ism. But the effect upon the individual is the
same and when the Moslem convert is clothed
with white robe, and sword is given into his
hand, he becomes then and thenceforward the
equal of every other Moslem in the world. To
him hencsforth all Mohammedans are brothers.
More than this, equality religion and education
come to the Mohammedan negro at one and the
same time. His whole being is ele-
waited, his mind freed, his black
ness, which in contact with European
Christians means inferiority expose him to no
disability whatever within the pale of Islam. In
short, the negro, instead of being treated as an
inferior, at once rises in his estimation, and in
that of those about him; and the Arabs, who
bring them the religion, intermarry with the
tribes whom they convert These are some
of the reasons why our officers have found the
Houssas some of the best troops they have ever
led, with no sense whatever of personal inferi-
GRITTY to the Europeans in camp with them, and
not dt dll lnIerlOr III personal courage. IuuS IL
is that negroes who are free to choose Christian
ity, or who, like Mr. Blyden, have chosen it,
think so often that Mohammedanism is the relig-
ion best suited to raise the standard Of life and
morality among their fetch worshiping fellow
countrymen.
Nor should we forget that the same effect is
produced in India There Mohammedanism gains
ground, with the same result of, on the whole,
stiffening the backs of the men who adopt it,
In short, it seems by no means improbable that
at the time when the Moslem is about to be
driven from Europe, new and powerful impe-
tus will be given to his faith elsewhere 1t is,
or has been, the fashion to decry Islam as a
decaying faith. In Africa, at any rate the evil
dence is all to the contrary, and it is certainly
well for US to consider whether, as the greatest
Mohammedan power in the world, we ought not
to take account of facts which, whether we like
them or not, must greatly affect our future poll
cy in two continents
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