The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-04-29
ORIENTAL RELIGION.
A Brief Sketch Of Moham-
mechanism.
SHORT SYNOPSIS OF THE CREED
Adherence of the People to the Tenets
of the Great Seventh Century
Semitic Reformer
Special Correspondence of THE HERALD

| Special CORRESPONDENCE OF The HERALD
We shall not presume upon the
patience of the readers of THE HERALD
by giving a full history of the world
renowned subject of Christian reform
| in The Orient. but would respectfully
crave indulgence in passing notice OF
the situation as it at present appears,
in order TO ease our mind on the glori-
GUS p theme.
To take the accepted meaning OF this
reform, would throw us in contact with
its direct workings upon the Moham-
medans, who form SO great a percent
age of these eastern countries. The
main differences, as are well known, lie
in the devout adherence of the people
to the tenets of the great Semitic re-
| former of the seventh century.
The substance of this but-littlf
stood creed, has oft been stated to be
simply that There IS b It one God, and
| Mohammed is his prophet" and then
the biased writer thinks it fitting 10 his
one-sided mind to gracefully inter-link
words attributed to Mohammed that
paradise will be found in the shadow
of the crossing of swords or, per-
chance, the words of great conaueror
who led the Saracens in I'll. to the
shores of the Atlantic, ami spurred his
horse into the waves, exclaiming, "Be
Of Mnh hot
earth is wanting to my courage, rather
than my zeal in thy service" Such
expressions are peculiarly striking. and
are but such as writers manv times en-
ploy to add fire to their writings, pur-
poeely leaving out the weightier matter
that would tend to the enlightenment
of the public on the strange religion of
the followers of the prophet"
In order that We may view, with the
more intelligence, the subject in hand,
we beg leave to quote from the writings
of Ibu Saoud, a noted expounder OF
Mohammedanism. He begins his writinp
by saying: Praise be to God, the only
God! who has no co-partner-to whom
belongs dominion, and VINO is omnipo-
tent" Then he explains God by say
ing: "And first, as to the knowledge
of God; if they ask of tn e. Who is
thy Lord? answer, Ny Lord is God
through whose favor and grace have
been bred up; Him | lore. and adore
none but Him. In proof of which we
read Gin the Koran) Praise be to the
Lord of all creatures Whatever exists
besides Col, belongs to the class OF
creatures, and l myself am one of this
created world If they ask further of
thee, How didst thou know thy Lord?
answer, By the signs of His omnipo
tence and creation. In proof of which
We read, And of His signs are the cay
and the night, the sun and the moon:
and of His creation. heaven and earth.
and whatever is upon them, and what
read, The Lord is God, who created
heaven and EARTH If it be asked for
what purpose did Col create thee?
answer, To adore Him. In proof CT
which we read, L created spirits and
men to be adored by them If it be
asked, W hat does God command? an
swer, the unity; which means to adore
Him exclusively and solely; and what
He above all prohibits is the associa ion
with Him, or the adoring of any other
god besides Him. In proof of which
we read, adore God and do not asso-
ciate with HIM any ether being or
hing The alteration by which thou
art to worship Him, thou evincest by
the Islam; by faith and sims, by
prayers, vows, sacrifices, by resignation,
fear, hope, love, respect, humility, tlmid
ity, and by imploring His aid and pro-
ection."
We quote so fully upon this particu-
lar topic in order to show that the
Mohammedans do not, as often pur-
ported, believe on their prophet as the
Lord; they simply believe on him as
being the greatest of the great prophets,
and among the great prophets, they
graciously class our own beloved
Savior. Their knowledge and belief of
God, in fact, are more in accord with
revealed truths than the traoitionized
conceptions many boasted Christians
have of Him. Learned Turks have
expressed themselves surprised at our
belief of God, and wished to know if
Mormons had not copied from the
Mohammedan faith in this great funda-
mental principle.
But to still farther follow our chosen
writer; he tells US, in brief. of their
religious duties by saying: IF they
ask HOW many are the principal duties
of our religion? answer, Islam, faith
and good works. Each of these is
divided into different parts: Jelim has
five, viz: the profession that there is no
god but God, and that Mohammed is
His prophet, the performance of the
prescribed prayers, the distribution of
aims, the performance of the fast OF
Ramadhan, and the pilgrimage to the
holy house of God"
We must defer, for want OF. space,
from giving a more complete explana-
ton of this strange religion, but per-
NIT US to specially make mention of
our appreciation of the principle of
alms-giving; through Mohammedans'
belief liz this humane and truly divine
tenet of their faith. many an aching
heart is eased in moments of dire dis
tress. The deprivations caused by
famines, pestilences and cont1agrations,
the proverbial horrors of the Orient.
would entail untold misery, indeed, if it
were not for Mohammedan benignity.
This same benefceuce extends itself
much farther, and actuates the Mussel-
man communities to be, as it were, an
asylum for prosecuted religionists, as
so graciously exhibited in the Turks
receiving the exiled Jews Ct other
countries. Still we are only won't to
look upon Mohammedans as wipiDg out
all other creeds with the sword that