The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-04-05

| sun monument ftllklbUN ulIN thlNbllhilpu III lilt
Koran aud In the sacred traditions OF Muharn.
mad US n divine institution. II. is enjoined in
all the, religious books Of the Mphammndans
rs. u religious undertaking for advancing the
religious principles of the Muslin religion.
Hence the great danger OF. the movement
which Is now led by the Mnhdi uf tho Sou
dan. and Is rightly regarded by British states
men MS threatening tho peace OF the world.
army Of Tie sondnness HMTHhdI is estimated al
2OO,OOO. dcrNisllcs or fanatics. II Is well
known that there arc at least 100000 armed
Muslin,S IN tho Wild regions of Central Asia
ready to follow any Nnhdi who may. RriseJ
Then again there are the people of Persia.
who have been expecting the rtappcaranCe uf
their, MHhdi FOR many centuries. There are
also the WnhnbhiS of Arabia, who on principle
are committed 70 the destructi9in of the Turk.
ish power in Arabia. In addition to this 10
must be borne in mind that scattered through
out the army of British India there is a v,ry
fact the 200, 900. 900 of MuslimS IN the world
represent an armed force who believe IT to be
their religious duty 20 Join In a Jihad for tho
spread Of Islam whenever the rightful Mahdi
shall lead them.
Long chapters in the sncred traditions are de-
voted To- the subject of II religious war, and II
may be interesting 10 quote a few Of those say
ings of the Prophet Of Arabia now nnimating
Fighting on the road ~ God is n divine
duty. When the, Maltdi commands you to 20
BEING killed on the road Of God covers all
,.God is sponsor for him who goeth forth to
This religion will be established forever,
even to the day OF judgment, as long as Mus
The great Muslin lawyer, Hanan. has n long
chapter on the subject q religious war In his
great book called the HidnSah. He says that
the word Of God, who hath said in the Koran;
,,slay the intidcls.,, Destruction by the Tyord
Is incurred by unbelicvers. although they he
not the first aggrcssors. because war against
unhclievers is cnioined..
believers to embrace Islam. and II the infdels.
upon receiving the call, neither consent to
embrace Islam nor to nay taxes, then It Is tho
duty of the faithful to invoke the aid Of God,
and tn make war upon the tnfidcls with all
manner of warlike engines. even as the pro 1hct
date them with water. to tear up their plauta-
tions, To tread down their grain. does not.
however. become Nuslims to break %trcaticS,
or 10 act unfairly with respect TO plumber. Nor
must they disigure people, for although the
prophet disiiFurel the oorreans. thi. method
of warfare was nftCTward nbrogatcd by the
prophet hlulsc,t. IN the same manner IL Goes
not become Muslims to slay women or chill
d,rcn, or aged men, or the hcdridden or tho
then it is allowable to SHAY her, as She is In II 20.
sit on to modest the servants Of God.
those laid down by Muharninad in the seventh
the Mnhdi on the Egyptian frontier. this fact
must be taken into serious consideration. II
seems almost Incredible that th" ~fanatical
hordes Of Islam again can threaten the peace
of Europe. But the recent defeat of the Ital-
ians in Abyssiuia. the story Of The Indian mu.
llllN VI 1900. Nv lptstl tIllltllllslN4Oil. - AllS
British army IN Cabul in 1871. the defeat Of
Gen. burrows by Ayo9b Khan in Candahar.
quest of spain by, the Moors. and the taking of
Cnnstantinople by M~uhammad, the Con-
Qn"ror. in the fifteenth century. all show that
there never, can he a period in the history of
the world when the ~fanatical spirit of Islam
will not be source OF danger.
If the great powers " Europe. together with
the United states, we're so thoroughly united
that they could act a. one man AGAINST the
the case would be different. But as matters
now stand, the armies of Christendcm do not
show IA united front. and consequently, every
Muhammndar ruler in the world, whether he
be the Sultan of Turkey. the Rey Of Morocco,
the Shah OF Persia, the Shareef of Mecca, the
sultan of Znuzibar, or even the Mahdi him
self, considers il his first religious duty to sink
ton at issue is the oubiugation of the world
To a knowledge of the one tod and Muhammad
as his prophet.
There is at the present time II general i'm
preston among .~Muhanmadan divines that
these are the last DAVIS" and they profess
to see indications of those eight lesser signs
which Muhammad is related to have said would
urecede the general resurrection: l The de-
lam; . The advancement of the meanest
persons to eminent dignity; 3 Tumults and
scciitions;. : \ war with the Greeks or Ro.
of the present day; 5 \ female slave will
become the. mother of her master Ihe precise
menJat5rs5: 4 Great distress in the world. 50
that men When they pass The graves Of heir
friends VIII say. You'd TO TOD | was in his
to pay tribute, which would be fulfilled by a
Russian protectnrate; s The enlarge nent Of
the cities OF Medina and Mecca.
These eight lesser signs rrecede what are
called the great signs" which are: i The
sun rising in the west, which the commentators
such as the tinted states; > The apYenr.
nnce OF n great beast sixty cuhits high, hav-
ear; of an elephant, the horns of a stag. the
neck of an ostrich, the breast OF n lion, tho
color Of a tigcr. the back of a cat, the tai!
n donkey. This beast will appear three times
in several places. md will bring with Him the
The taking of Constantinople by 10000 Jews,
who will CONQUER not 10y force OF arms. but by
CRYING out, God Is great, there is no god but
will he one.eye1, and have the word "infdel "
marked on his forehead. He will ride on a white
descent OF Jesus Christ upon the white mInarct
Of Damascus. lie will embrace Islam and
and malice will be laid aside. Lions
and camcls and, hears and sheep will live in
peace; and children will play With s%erPents;
buried near the prophets grave at Medina.
4 vacant space Is reserved for the grave Of
the Jews and Muslims in order to
obtain possession of Jerusalem; : The
shall fill the whole earth; . An eclipse
% the moon: 10 The return Of the Arabs to
IloIatry; - The discovery Of gold and silver
~ wv N' AAA~ ~ Wv ~ N' 1
destruction of the temple at Mecca by the Abys-
~ The speaking of beasts and OF
,nanimate things; II \ great fire in Arabia;
ID The appearance of n man who shall drive |
before him with a staff; 10 \ wind
which shall sweep away the souls of those
have not got n grain of faith in their
II The appearance Of Al Nlahdi! For
I must he understood that while Muslin di-
zines do not hesitate to dignity any fa%natical
.eHder AS 'Mahdi," they all expect II special |
hahdi before the iinal resurrection.
With regard to the resurrection. the learn
ii Muslin commentators. Bai2awi. gives n very
graphic account II the way in which the
wicked will be brought to Judgment. He says
here Will no ten classes; The first class will
lnyc the form Of apes; these are the back
Tie, second that of swine;, these
re tho mtllionaircs who have gained their
wealth by oppression; Tho third will DO
brought with their heads reversed and their
Get distorted; these are the bankers who have
AIKEN nalust usury; The fourth will wander
bout blind; these are unjust judges; Tho
ifth will be deaf and dumb; these are tho SELF
The sixth will gnHw their tongues;
kcsc are the learned doctors. the prear hers,
nd the newspaper editors. whose actions have
their sayings; The seventh will
nave their hands and feet cut of; these are
hey which have injured their neiGhh0rs; The
iGhth will be fixed u franks Of palm trees;
hcsr are false aCcusers and liars: The ninth
iii be like corrupted Corpsrs; these are the H.