The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-04
FHE IOHkIIBDAN'S SIDE OFT
;GOD WORDS ron TEE TURK by A
VISITOR FROM TIE EAST.


YISTT0R FROM TEE EAST.
He Dssiss the Stories Of Massacees and
Declares Taat the Followers q the
Prsphst Aro Notably Tslerant-How
Meslem Civilixatioa Differs From Ours.
AN educated Mohammedan from Con-
stsntinople ON visit to Amsrics pointed
the othsr day to despatch In Newspaper
referring to the atrocities OF which tho
Turks are accused in Macedonia.
DO you people really believe oil this'-
he asked an American friend. DO you
really believe that we Mohammedans ars
such monsters Of deprsvity, and that We
take pleasure in wiping out Christians juss
because they are Christisns1 Such .
course is totally opposed to tho spirit OF
Nohammedanim.'
"Then." asked the American. 'how do
you account for these massacres We hear
% much about2"
MANY Of them never happen was Tho
reply. -They are invented BY tho Mace
DOMAIN Revolutionary Committee, the Bull
earian authorities and other enemies OF
the Ottoman Empire.
sOther massacres, - your papers call
them. arc really battles. When tho Mace
donian rebels arc beaten IN q hight. tho
survivors call Il q massacre
And what about the Armenian a6airs7
Surely the same remarks can I apply There
Tho Armenians and the Kurds,' said
khs Aohammedsn. have always been at
deadly feud. For centuries Armenians
~ avaSvn V,s~ls opl V,,ysla Avv,onr{ana
1T IL not matter OF religion ut al; It
= matter Of race. Of politics, Of COM
mercs-there are . thousand points Of
difference. Tho Armenians have become
Q race Of cowardly hucksters and Insurers,
while tho Kurds have remained rsoe OF
warriors.
The Kurds are paying back old sooreA
and the Armsnians can no longer keep
their end up, - you would say. That 10
oil there 10 to It.
Believe mo, any daughter Of Christians
h Turkish dominions. or in any other
Aohammedan country, arises from some
other cause than tho fact that they are
Christians. We have no anifnoaity toward
Christians.
.They arc what thai Prophet called people
Of book-ahl kitab'-that 10 to say, fol-
lOW0rB OF NSoiou Iou8lOn, ana klnoly
treatment Of them 10 xpressly commanded
In the Koran. They are tolerated by us,
and even cherished and assisted when
they deserve It BY reason Of high character
Then II You are % tolsrent.' said the
American. why all this troublef'
There are naany reasons.' said the
Christians in Turkey and throughout the
Levant are not BY any means nice people.
II you had them hero don't think you
would like them.
MANY are usurers who grind the faces
Of the poor. The Mohammedan peasant
killing them that the Russians ofer for
the Kishinef massacre and tho persecu-
.Othes arc political plottsrs Of the noss
desperate. anarchistio typo. who think
nothing Of blowing up mosque full Of
people with dynamite. or Of poisoning the
streams upon which . Mohammedan VII
lage depends for water.
IF they simply prsctised tho Christian
religion. and wore otherwise peaoeable,
law-abiiing. useful subjects. nobody would
trouble them. Hundreds Of thousands
Of other Christians. who have those quail
ties. live under Turkish rule and have no
complaint to make about It,.
~ The Mohammedan A6.ertsd that II the
Salvation Army went through the streets
of a fanatioal Mohammedan city, beating
It's drums and fauiting its banners, It would
meet with none of the Insults which 1t some
times encounters in the slums Of Western
cities.
AS soon as tho Mohammeians under-
stood that this curious and novel demonstra-
ton was ordained by the religious belief
of the actors. they would treat 1t not merely
with polite tolerance, but with distinct
reverence. AS matter Of fact. the Saliva
Zion Army does parade the streets Of Con-
stantinople, and nobody objects
medan, that, though the Turks and Kurds
do massacre and persecute Christians for
reasons not connected with religion, they
never insult the Christian faith or commit
sacrilege in Christian churches.
We admire many Of your missionaries
said the Mohammedan. OF course, We
thin: them mistaken. but We see that they
are good men who follow their lights. Many
Mohammedans help them In their eduoa-
tional and medical work BY gifts Of money.
land and buildings.'
Before you are judged at all by Moham-
medans, much less condemned, many things
viii there b to be inquired Of. says
among Mohammedans. First, are You
an Eastern? II YOU are not says the
Eastern. 7 have no standard at all by which
20 MEASURE you. II you are, then Of what
class or caste OF Eastern are you? II you
are not Of my particular community,
equally are you without my orbit. II you
are, and you have sinned my condemnation
extends to the exclusion Of you from "bread
and water" That rule our religion. which
Is greater than either Of US has made. But
will buy with you, sell with you. and
talk with you
Generous and cheerful, indeed. is this
tolerance among q people, who still will
the hands of an outsider"
Religion, says the true follower Of tho
Prophet, is woven throughout the entire
fabric Of Mohammedan civilization. Il
Is not q mere decoration, It Is part Of the
piece: and every mans daily conduct Ia
guided and regulated by the ceremonial
duties, as we'll 40 by the principles Of his
faith Even the children. for instance,
cannot be tempted to break shmRer-
stricken Ramazan,' or any other OF the
numerous fasts OF Islam.
An Anglo Indian woman, who has spent
years studying the Mohammedan tempera-
ment, tells a story on this head which
illustrates the Mohammedap spirit:
Il remember . dear, small boy, the son
Of our night Waterman. His small soul
loved manRoes, and ono day, - he fol-
lowed me about the garden, I offered him
one.
take It.
But why?'
Does the Miss Sahib not know n 10 nv
fast? The giant Of darkness strivest to over
come the sun. and not even water must pass
my lips for % many houra'