Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-04-13

letter From the Chief Authority Of the Nos
lem Church 70 a German Convert.

80 - Ash ~ ~tcoL56 " aSnDurIls II.
D., president of Robert college near
ConstantinopIe, and sent to the New
York Independent:
DEAR SIR: The letter by which YOU
ask to be received into the heart of the
Mussulman religion has been received
and has caused US a lively satisfaction.
The reflections which you make on
this occasion appear to US worthy of
the highest praise.
At the same time we ought to call
your attention to the fact that your
conversion to Islamism is not sub
Ordinated to our consent. for IsIamism
does not admit of any intermediary,
like the clergy, between God and his
servants. Our duty consists only in
teaching the people religious truths.
Consequently, conversion to Islamism
demands no religious formality and
depends upon the authorization of no
one. It is sufficient to believe and to
proclaim ones belief.
In fact Islamism has for its base faith
in the unity of God and in the mission
of his dearest servant 1IOhammed (may
God cover him with blessings and
grant him saIvation); !. e., to accept
cOnscientiously this faith and to avOw
it in words, as expressed by the phrase:
"There is one God and AIohammed is
His prophet He who makes this
profession of faith becomes a MussuI-
man without having need of the APP
probation or consent of any one. If,
as you promise in your letter, you
make this profession of faith-that is
to say, you declare that there is only
one God and that MOhammed is His
prOphet-yOu become a Mussulman
without having need of our acceptance:
and we, for our part, felicitate you with
pride and Joy for having been touched
by divine grace, and we shall testify
in this world and in the other that you
are our brother. Believers are all
brothers.
Such is summary definition of faith
Let US enter now upon some develop
ments of it. Man, who is superior to
the other animals by his intelligence,
was created out of nothing to adore his
Creator. This alteration may be
summed up in two WOrds-tO honor the
commands of God and to sympathize
with his creatures. This double adOra-
ton exists In all religions. As to it's
practice, religions differ as to their
rules, forms, times, places, the greater
or less number of their rites, etc. But
the human intelligence does not suffice
to assure us OF the manner of praying
which is most worthy of the divine
glory; so God IN his mercy in accord
ing to certain human beings the gift of
prophecy, in sending to them, by
angels, inspiration, writing, and books, |
and in so revealing the true religion,
has overwhelmed His servants with His
blessings.
The book of God which descended
last from heaven is the sacred koran,
the Interchangeable teachings of which,
carefully preserved from the first day
in written volumes and in the memory
of thousands of reciters, viii last even
to the day of the last Judgment.
The first of the prophets was Adam
and the last AIOhammed (may God give
him salvatiOn). Between these two
many others have lived their number
is known only to God. The greatest
of all is Mahammed. After him come
Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Noah, and
Adam (may God grant them salvatiOn).
All the prophets have ~ threatened
their followers with the day of the last
Judgment. So it is necessary to be
heve that the dead viii rise again, that
they will appear before the tribunal of
God to render their accounts, and that
the elect viii be sent to paradise and
those condemned to hell. All the ac-
lions Of everyone In the world viii be
examined on that day, one by one; and
although all the acts of soldiers in holy !
war, even their sleep are considered as !
a prayer, they also viii be obliged at
the Judgment day to render an account. !
The only exception is for those who !
die as martyrs, who viii go to paradise
without examination.
Also 1t IS necessary, as an article of
faith, to attribute all good and all evil
to the providence Of God. To say that
the creator of good is the angel, and
the creator of evil the demon, is one of
those errors which it Is necessary. to
avoid.
Consequently the believer ought to
have faith in God, In His angels, in
His books, in His prophets, in the last
Judgment, and in His VIII as the source /
of all good and evil. He who accepts
these truths Is a true believer. But to
be Il perfect believer 1t is necessary to
perform certain duties, to pray to God,
and to avoid falling into such sins as
murder, robbery, adultery, etc.
Besides the profession of faith of
which we have spoken above, a
good BIussulman ought to pray five
times a day, distribute to the poor
fortieth part of his goods every. year,
fast during the month of Ramazan, and
make once in his life a pilgrimage to
Mecca.
If a believer does not conform to the
laws of God. and does not avoid what