Evening star., 1914-10-04
THE specter of jehad has been
raised in this war-that it, in

x<THE specter of a jehad has been
raised in this war-that it, in
my opinion, it Is specter.'
said a Mohammedan. "a holy war OF
MussuIman against Christian has been
talked about and written about for a
century, but my observation is that the
writer's have generally been Christians
with a strong literary inclination in
quest of subject of a sensational
nature and one in which assertion is
easy. refutation is difficult, and in
which denial. should it ever reach the
readers of the charge or the allega-
tion, would not be convincing, because
Of the source from which it most prob
ably would come.
II have heard a few Mussulmans talk
of a holy war. but I have never heard
one talk along those lines who was not
hare-brained crank. or, If you like
the customary phrase better. a reli-
gious fanatic There are such profess
ing the faith of Mahomet. but they are
relatively few and their influence is
limited. Liberal opinions have pro-
gressed in the Mohammedan world to
greater extent than the Christian world
seems to have been apprised OF.
There are some wild peoples in the
Mohammedan parts of the world. VINO.
little touched by the influence Of the
times. take their religious injunctions
literally, and under certain conditions
these people might be inf1amed to the
point Of wishing to fight Christians
merely for being Christians. But even
that does not appear to be within the
realm of the possibilities.
Not many generations ago there were
Christians who would war against Chris
tians because of some difference in the
forms or externals of worship. and in q
highly civilized part of the globe there
has recently been a great amount OF
friction having these differences as its
cause. But you know that it would be
difficult to induce one Christian sect
to take up guns or swords against an
other Christian sect over matter OF
dogma, no matter with what heat tney
might argue on their points or dlner-
ence. They have come to the conciu-
sion that the world is big enough 1or
them to live in with peace and good
will toward one another, and TO prac,
tice their own particular forms ana
ceremonies and to hold their individual
or collective beliefs
This spirit of liberality. or tolera-
tion. or Indifference, has to high De,
gree permeated the Mussulmans. and
we find no trouble in living on terms
Of amity and tranquility with men
who. believing in God as we do, yet
have some beliefs at variance. In
those parts of the world where there
has been hostility between Mohamme-
dams and Christians the causes have
been political or economic rather than
religious, though religion has had TO
bear the blame.
During the Balkan-Turkish war
there was some very loud talking
about a holy war. The Mohammedan
population of the world was going to
shoulder arms and swing scimitars In
behalf of the territorial integrity, or
perhaps the territorial expansion. OF
Turkey. That country was stripped OF
it's European territory down to a mar
row slice. Yet there was no Moham-
medan uprising.
Now l will tell you a few substan.
tial facts There is a big measure OF
tnoonshine in the Turkish sultans title
Commander OF the Faithful You can
not help 1t if hereditary rulers choose
to call themselves Defender of the
Faith. Emperor of the Earth and Boss
of the Planets. Supreme Ruler of the