Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1900-04-12
RELIGION OF THE SULUS.
Their Belief Regarding Rewards and
Punishments After Death.

Mahomet--in theory. In practice ii
5 the widest kind of superstition.
Worship is Of the most primitive sort.
Every Friday the agun summons the
faithful to his mosque to hear him
chant the invocation to Mahomet, fol-
lowed by few verses from the
Koran. This is the only worship, as
We understand worship.
But the cult of Mahomct is really
a small part of the Sulu religion. The
Moros, as the inhabitants Of the is
land are called, live in constant terror
of Satan (Satan), and in every Sc
rious afIair-such as an earthquake,
pcstilcnce or war-they strive to
appcasc the demon or to disarm him
Great dishes of dainties are thrown in
to the sea or the river for the dclecta-
tion Of the fierce black devil, who is
supposed to be human enough in his
ippetitcs to divert himself with these
peace offerings and forget or neglec.
to pcrsccutc his wrctched subjects.
But it is in the rewards and pun
ishmcnts for faithful or evil perform
ancc Of the duties Of this life that the
Moroes are rich. They have seven
heavens for the good and a. many
hells for the bad. Their idea Of judg-
ment is vague, underlined. and they
cannot explain by whom their abode
in the future life is assigned to them,
The first heaven is Yattu-Atuan.
in which the soul that has taken fligh;
finds its happiness in rest and soli-
tudc.
The second heaven is Firdcos, or
the paradise Of the gourmet. In il
are found united all things good to
eat, 1t is a restaurant where scrv-
ice is perfect, the cooks artists, the
yiands the best the market affords and
the appetite eternal
The third heaven is Naim. Thisis
n sort Of quintescence of Firdeds. 1t
is also restaurant, but the food is
.ublimatcd; il is not the meat Of earth,
but the nmbrosia Of the gods. And
the appetite to enjoy it ia presumably
the appetite OF an infinite being.
The fourth heaven is Naus, where
the water flows forever and takes on
whatever flavor the happy drinker
may desire. Very sober in this life
arc the Sulu islanders, and it may be
that they hope to obtain in the world
to come compensation for their
moral abstcmiousncss in the form OF
eternal inebriation.
The fifth heaven is Ainum-Naim,
the true paradise Of the plutocrat. II
Is the receptacle of all riches.
In the sixth heaven, Salsabila, the
happy soul drinks the accommodating
water OF Nnun, but ont Of vases OF
purcSt gold
And the seventh heaven is an cx-
aggcratcd Ainum- Naim. where every
thing is buhbing over with pearls and
diamonds.
SO much for the sever heavens. the
nature Of which shows the material
tendency Of the Moro mind and illus
tratc, how far il has drfIcd from the
teaching Of Mahomct.
Now for the seven hclls:
The first j. aruk-lahana. Here j.
the abode Of noise. II is he'll Of
eternal din.
The second i Naruk -Sagar. where
| the sinner j. tortured forever 10y ami,
NAL, and machines.
The third he'll is Naruk- Sigmilti.
This Is the place Of torment for tha,
unruly member, the tongue, ltisaid
that it Is populated principally by
women
The fourth he'll il Naruk-Abus
| where all ugliness il Congrogatcd,
where the chthctic soul will forever
rrcoll in horror from all that is evil
in nrt, in morals, in taste, Beauty is
hanl,hrd thcrcfr"m; and it Is pre-.
,umod that thI, i, the ahod" Of whom
,orlcr Iovcth and makcth lie.
In the fifth hell. Naruk- -.Ianix, the
souls engage in an eternal warfare
with mncc,. But the joy Of victory
is denied, for each receives wound,
Mt every engagement, but none can
. give wounds back,
Naruk-Xaat, the sixth hell, is III"
place of thirst, No guessing is nee
c.,ary 10 decide what souls will find
their punishment in this arid spot
The seventh hell is Naruk Jamia,
the place Of torture by fire.
The description OF these heavens
and hclls was furnished by the
learned Pandita, a Mussulman pries,,
to W. A. De Geriollcs for his interert-
ing article on Sulu and Mndanao.
that is published in lie Monde
Nodcrnc. VI. De Geriullcs remarks: