Omaha daily bee., 1889-10-06


The Mohammedans are much less
ashamed Of their religion than we arc.
They are in fact, proud Of IT. a-d you can
count the Mohammcdan conversions To chris
tianity by hundreds. 1t is only In the rarest
Of instances that missionaries are able to
make any impression upon the followers of
the prophet, and such conversions as chris
iiahs make in Mohammedau countries are,
as a rule, from other secls than Moham-
medan ones. Speaking of the Mohammedan
observance of religious duties, all of the Off.
cials OF the sultan Keep tamazan, and when
] called upon the secretary OF state yester-
day in the Sublime Porte, which contains
the great government offices of Turkey, |
did not see u single clerk smoking or drink
ing cOtfeo. The secretary of state, who is
one of the leading men of Turkey, aud who
ranks here as Blaine does to President Har.
riSOn, asked me IL | would not smoke, and I,
thinking nothing OF Ramazan, assented.
When the tobacco came IN / asked
MIN why he did not take a cigarette
and he replied that it was against the rules
of his religion and begged me 10 ex
cuse him as it was ltamazau. Upon this
| refused to smoke myself and on the same
ground refused the coffee, which was after
wards brought IN to me. In calling at big
MOhammCdan university, which Is located in
the English quarter OF Constantlnople, at
noon the other day, ! found the class rooms
deserted and the professors absent, and
was told that it being Ramalan, the pupils
Were trying to sleep through the day in order
to get rid of the fast The sultan himself
Keeps Rama2au and when he went the other
day to kiss the mantel of Mahomet he re-
manned in Stamboul until sunset, and ate
lunch there before coming back Cart loads
of provisions were carried to his palace in
this part of the city and the moment that the
sunset cannon fired, himself and his minis
ters began heir feast.
This fast of Ranuzzan is most severe on
the labOring classes of the Turks Forced
to work in the hot sun all day without food
they become almost famished by sunset, and
their eyes sometimes
BULGE FROM THEIR SOCKETS
us they watch the approach of evening The
Turks are inveterate smokers, and note
that their desire for the cigarette or the
water pipe often surpasses their longing for
food. At about the time for the firing of
the evening gun if you will stand upon the
bridge at Constantinople you may see hun.
dreds OF boatmen with matches in their
hands and cigarettes held up ready to light
the moment that the cannon is heard. You
will see their food before them, but YOU will
seldom see them touch either before the gun
goes off. a Mohammedan who would eat
publicly during RamaZau would be sure TO
loose caste with his fellows, and IL the
sultan dared to act contrary to the Koran he
would be liable to dethronemeut and assassi-
nation. AS it Is the only time he comes out
of his palace is when he must perform his
weekly religious worship at the mosque.
The Turks read the koran fully as much
as we read the bible. IT is common sight
in going through the bazaars to see one man
reading the koran TO his friends and nearly
every merchant has copy of his Moham-
medan bible beside him, and you will see
dozens of merchants reading to themselves
during the intervals of trade. They take
pride in having good korans, and the korans
used by the sultan are bound in silver and
beautifully illuminated. In the tombs of the
sultans, where they lie in marble sarcophagi,
inside OF fences of silver, their korans are
preserved with them, and looked over sew
eral volumes OF the finest of these the other
dav. The guide in charge, whose hands are
washed, will not permit christian to touch
them, but he turns the pages and shows you
their beauties. They are as fine as any of
wonderful manuscripts made by The monks
of the middle ages, and they are painted by
hand upon parchment. The sultan probably
KNOWS THE KORAN BY HEART.
The khedive of Egypt can recite it from one
end to the other, and the average Moham-
medan ruler has a much better knowledge
of his bible than have our presidents or the
kings of Europe of the scriptures. The
churches of the Mohammedans known as
mosques, are the finest buildings of the east,
and they rank among the great architectural
structures of the world There is a mosque
in Cairo which covers more than an acre.
which is made entirely of alabastcr. much of
which is as beautifully veined and as trans.
parent as Mexican onyx. The floor of this
mosque is carpeted with elegant Turkish
rugs and attended it one night when the
khedive was among its worshipers. II is one
of the most beautiful mosques in the world
and it is fair representative of great Mo-
hammedan place of worship.
There are many different sects among the
Mohammedans' but they are more liberal in
their treatment of each otEer than are the
christians. In this alabaster mosque half
dozen different seCts were worshlpplng, and
in one part the dancing dervishes were whlrl-
ing through their religious gymnastics.
The men and boys had dark yellow faces,
worn thin by fasting They were dressed in
long white skirts, fastened in at the waist
with black belts and on their heads were
high sugar-loaf hats. One of them played
the flute another the tambOrine, and the
others after kissing the hem of the robe of
the chief held out their arms and began to
Whirl slowly around TO the music. AS they
continued TO whirl one of them sang verses
from the koran and at intervals there were
prayers by the chief. After the prayers
We're over the whirling became more rapid
unsll they at last Went around at the rate of
SIXTY REVOLUTIONS MINUTE.
AT this time their skirts stood out like
those of n ballet dancer, they became red IN
the face and noted that one of the boys fell
TO the ground and was carried off in fit.
The bowling dcrvishes are even more horri-
BILE and there is great society of these ut
Constantlnople. | cannot describe their re-
ligiOus gymnastics but they work them
selves into frenzy and in the interior Of
Turkey where they are away from the re-
straint of western civilization they often
take knives and cut themselves and each
other in their religious ecstacy. They often
go into epileptIc fits and foam at the mouth,
and they are as dirty set of long haired
heathen as you will tind IN the world. They
are, however, the cranks of Mohammedan-
ism and are not Il fair sample of the Mo-
hammedan world.
The Mohammedan religion, as it il Oh
served IN the east, has more good in II than
many christians suppose. Its followers are
by no means savages and its teachings are
such that we could in some instances follow
them with proi6. The koran prohibits the
drinking of spirituous liquors and the Mo
hammedans, where they have not been con-
tamnated with our civilization are Total
abstainers. They not only abstain them
selves, but they make their neighbors keep
from drinking, and / was told last night
how COnstantinople merchant lost his life
by his love for liquor. He had gone to the
interior TO buy rugs and had located in one
of the towns there. He became drunk and
he was called by his brothers at the mosque
AZ which he worshpped and warned that
HE MUST REFORM OR DIE,
as he was bringing renroach upon the Mo
and did so for "a time. He fell, however, after
a few weeks, and shortly after this he dis
covered that plot was laid 10 kill him. He
again repented, renOunCed his sin in the
mosque, and then prepared to leave the
town. He took large amount of goods with
him, aud opened business IN another city
H..