The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1904-01-18
Comparative
Jurisprudence


q and nearly or quite eight thousand
II students gathered from nearly every
A Afoslem country. In the corridors may
4 be found classes of lads learning 10
b head 90 write from the Koran. In the
a lzrea, { qrt the professors, each seated
4 fat thc gyot of one of the columns des-
4 ignat.ss for his use, gather around
tithetrs T classes aud lecture on the
Inherent branches of study grammar
. which includes the proper pronuncia-
ton of the sacred book, II ic, rhetoric
4 Itheology, the nature of God and the
4 authority of the prophet, law including
in one the rules OF practical religion
i hnd the secular Jaw The text DOCKS
4 hre the Koran the traditions and
= commentaries on these, which are
fead and commented on by the in
i fstructors. In separate chambers IN
81 Mstructors of higher rank meet classes
of more advanced students, and In
magnificent hall the Sheik OF the
<SAfosoue. who is by virtue Of his office
: he head OF the Mohammesan church
Rn Egypt archbishop and lord chan
IA eellor. president of the university ana
bead professor Of theology and juris-
prudence all in one, lectures on the
more abstruse matters OF the law TO
9inen from thirty to fifty years Old
The students receive certificates OF
heir attainments which correspond to
81 7he degrees conferred in European un-
,versities. Five or six years Of study
IItyill fit a man to be a village school
Nnaster or the head of a small mosque;
ht least fourteen years are required TO
prepare one to be a cali or judge OF
town, OF governor of a small district
I-while the course may be continued
I'LL the student ranks as muft, cor
responding to the degree of doctor of
Jaws in a Christian university. and is
Enabled to sit in the higher courts or
% hold a professorship himself in
ONE university.
But the whole system OF ins ruction
rs limited to these topics; neither
physical science nor history. nor any
language but Arabic Is taught, and ev
the study of mathematics and med
cine. once the glory of the Saracen
chools Is abandoned
To this limited course of study is
ue the characteristic which makes the
NJ treat defect of the Mohammedon law
Is system Of civil jurisprudence
cribed, and the western world wond-
o. rs at the Orient-where the modes
nd customs of social life the employ
aents and habits of the people, the
q Methods of trade and business-in
hort the whole civilization is the
Rme as that which delighted our child
bod In the tales of the Arabian
Fights themselves a thousand years
Id It is indeed the unchanging east.
But this is easily accounted for All
civilization is based upon law. II the
aw admits of progress civilization and
be law will advance together; but if
be law is unalterable it will restrain
he social development of the people
4Ibjected to it.
Islam is Interchangeable The whole
Hstem of secular law is a part of re-
gion-the whole religious system Is
lqually secular. Whatever Is found in
ne Koran is supposed 10 be the word
Sod; whatever Mohammei decided
the voice of the prophet of God SO
Very precept is immutable, whether
be the highest principle of ethics or
he minutest rule of Inheritance,
neither II teach the relations of man
, his Maker or regulate the formula
the simplest contract And al this
i. aw, highest and lowest alike. is sus-
aimed by the same sanctions. He who
sObeys is not only a criminal but
inner. In addition to the earthly pen
ties inflicted by the judge he must
lot only lose the delights Of the Par
disc promised by the prophet to all
ne believers, but must endure the
hrmenis so often and so graphically
lescribel In the Koran, as the Dortion
the ungodly.
Fanaticism and spiritual pride have
bus combined with ma icnal spirit to
reserve those laws in their integrity;
I'D everywhere throughout the world
be Moslem Is noted for his naughty
Dntempt for. ana Indifference to, all
pcial reform and modern progress
d For three or four hundred years aft.
the establishment of the Caliphate
lis system rendered a great service
mankinl. II saved the east from
BE anarchy into which II vas falling
the downfall of the Roman empire
established q religion which super
\ eded the barbarous idolatry of the
rabs, more liberal than the sulen
annish eXclusiveness Of the Jews
srer. even than the debased conflict
warning sects into which Oriental
hristiaaiy y had degenerated.
But the supposed sacredness of its
rigin was the cause of its failure
fDce systemaIized It was incapable Of
rogress, and the nations subject TO
lam have for the past four hundred
bars fallen behind in The evolution Of
lmanity In the year 500 the Caliph
aropn-al-Raschild, and the people
lbject to his sway, were greatlyssu-
|YN rior TO Charlemagne and his subjects
art, in science and industrial devel-
n pment But while the latter have
zen advancing Islam has been stand
& still. The best results OF civil
W are now represented by the ihsti-
htions Of France and Belgium, Holl.