The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1891-04-27
PREACHING IN COSTUME.
A Syrian Missionary's Discourse on
the Religions of His Native
Country.

the Rev. Alexander Abu Friend. OF
Syria, addressed the congregation Of the
Tabernacle last evening, on syrian
Legions and their religions" The Rev.
Abu Friend is the possessor Of name
which cannot be pronounced by the
American people, and upon coming to
this country two and a half years ago. he
succeeded in getting il translated. finding
il to mean "Our Friend" Since that
{ ime having declared himself ready and
willing 10 become missionary he was
given the name OF Alexander Abu
Frend.1
On arriving In this country he attended
first Mr.. Moody's school in New York and
since that time he has been taking
courses In different colleges until he mas
mastered the English language. His
native language Is the Arabic and know
ing that missionary from this country
would experience great difficulty in learn
ing it SO as to teach his country men he
volunteered his services, having first
learned the English customs and language
TO return to teach and convert his
fellow cOuntrymen.
The Rev. Abu Friend is about five feet
nine inches IN height, has short DARK
hair and mustaehe, and coffee-colored
complexion. de was attired in the reg
ular Turkish trousers, which remind
one, he says. of the dresses worn by the
"rhe only redeeming feature of these
trousers" he remarked. sis the fact that
no accidents can occur In our country
we sit down on the ground to eat, and l
can assure you We have feeling OF
safety and confidence in our trousers,
that nothing will break"
A turDan and coat, resembling a
linen duster completed his outfit. tie mas
become Americanzed during his two
years stay in this country, and only
wears the costume OF this country on the
occasion of lecture.
"Syria," said the speaker, sis about
Palestine. The word Is the Greek name
for the country which was the home OF
Caananites and Aromites. II is bounded
on the east By the desert, on the West by
the Mediterranean Sea, south by Pales-
tine and north by Asia Minor. Syria has
population Of about 100000, and it is
steadily growing. l will speak first Of
the Mohammedans or the followers OF
Mahomet the Prophet, whose flight or
Hegora TO Mecca in the year 622 OF our
era. is the starting point Of the Moham-
medan calendar.
A STRANGE RELIGION.
"The Mohsmmedans have peculiar re-
ligion indeed. The main pillar OF their
religion is the creed, formulated in these
words, There Is no God but God and
MahoInet his Prophet" II these
people say this once in their lives
they will be saved. Some of them
however refuse to say It. Their second
pillar Is prayer, and of these people can
say that they pray too much and too
often. They pray from house tops. tn
fields and wherever they may De. they
never begin TO pray without first laying
a devotional rod before them. They
grst stand erect, put their hands on their
cheeks, then on their sides, and then bow
and bow and sing in monotonous tone
their prayers. The manner or devotion
appears like gymnasium exercise. and
honestly believe it to be better for the
health than for the soul
Their next pillar is fasting. and they
fast one month at a time. Ihey coHl-
mence their fast in the morning and con-
tinue it until evening. From the evening
until the next morning they feast Once
every month they have holiday, and on
this day the people keep apart, 90 not
talk to each other, and in praying throw
stones at certain places.
Another pillar is predestination. They
believe when their time comes they must
die. If a plague infests the land these
people stay at home and die while the
other natives flee away and escape the
disease.
.'ln their social life they are very strict,
the women are always heavily yelled,
making it impossible TO see their faces"
The speaker then quoted an instance
was called in and asked to see her
tongue The woman refused to raise her
veil, and finally hole was cut in the veil
through which she stuck her tongue for
inspection. This custom of keeping the
women veiled is rigidly observed. An
other peculiar custom of these country
men is their mode OF being divorced, and
Chicago is not in IL.
THE SAZARENEs.
The speaker next described the habits
OF the NaZarenes. The Nazarenes."
said he. ''are Roman Catholics. My fam
lily are all Catholics The people there
are very ignorant and the priests control
them in every way and practice their
power upon them, compelling them
TO give mp nearly all they
possess. If a priest performs wedding,
ofiiciates at funeral or prays for a sick
person he compels shem to pay a certain
sum. The priests are ignorant and lazy.
The people fear them so that they bow
and kiss their hands on meeting them.
In the churches there are no seats. Tue
men stand in front of the priest while be-
hind a lattice work back of the men are
the women. The priests speak in Latin
almost, so that 1t is an utter impossibihty
for any one to understand them"
THE DRUSES.
In conclusion the Druses, who live In
the vicinity OF Mt. Lebanon, were de-
scribed Their religion is secret. Women
and If a member of the church discloses
the secrets he is put to death. Not many
wears ago a Christian was buried alive
because he spoke lightly Of the services.
These natives hold their services in soli-
tary places, and old men ofhciate. They
drink wine, and often curse and pray
God to destroy all nations and tribes but
theirs.
In speaking of the schools, he stated
that the largest one in Syria was under
the management of the Pres Oyterian
Church of this country" with help
from this country" continued the speak
er, 1--WE can establish schools there, and
that means the people will become en-
Iightened and serve God in the proper
manner"
Rev. Alexander Abu Friend intends re-
naming in the United States for several
years with view to completing his edu-
cation. and he viii then return to convert
his countrymen. He will give several
illustrated lectures in this city in short
time.
A New Montgomery Street Motor.
nayv motor No 396 was ulaced uDon