The Young Moslem Looks at Life

==PREFACE==
YOUTH everywhere is interested in the problems 
of youth, whether they be of their own or other 
countries and races. It is taken for granted, 
therefore, that the youth of America, with its ever 
widening social and humanitarian outlook, will welcome a study of Moslem youth as it faces the problems of life in these days of kaleidoscopic change. 
These changes affect both the social and the spiritual 
aspects of life. Old authorities are being questioned, 
and familiar restraints are being cast aside. Desperate 
and vain attempts are being made to inherit both 
worlds the ancient order of Islam, and the material 
blessings of Western modern civilization. In practically every Moslem country in the world this tension 
between the old and the new is growing stronger every 
year. Finally, something snaps, and we have a new 
Turkey, a new Persia (now christened Iran), a new 
Iraq, a new Egypt, and some day we shall have a new 
Arabia! 
In this process a shedding of religious and social 
ideas inevitably takes place. Moslem youth has a great 
part to play in this transformation and it is doing it 
bravely and with courage. The author has attempted 
(however feebly) to portray not only the significant changes that are taking place, and those which to his 
thinking must yet take place in Islam, but also the 
help that must be given by Christianity if the people 
of Moslem lands are ever to enjoy that fullness of life 
and purity of character which comes from full and 
free contact with Jesus Christ. In this connection the 
Christian churches of the West cannot and dare not 
shirk their obligation to the world of Islam. 
The author has drawn on many sources, and has 
had the help of many people through the years of his 
experience to whom he is unspeakably indebted for 
the material that has gone into this book. He would, 
however, like to thank especially Miss Ruth Seabury, 
secretary of education of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, for her helpful counsel on the plan and general line of treatment. He is 
also deeply indebted to Professor Herrick B. Young, 
of the Alborz College of Teheran, for his valuable 
suggestions in connection with the final editing of the 
text. 
::MURRAY T. TITUS 
::Budaun, India 
::November, 1936 
==CHAPTER ONE. IN THE WAY OF ALLAH ==
ONE summer day, while the sun shone brightly 
in the sapphire sky over Central Asia, Mohammed Beg lay amid the flowers of a mountain pasture watching the herds of grazing sheep. 
He was thinking thinking of his grandfather, now 
an old man, who was soon to start on the pilgrimage 
to Mecca. His grandfather, a sincere and devout Moslem, had been planning this pilgrimage for many 
years. Every Moslem hopes to make the journey to 
Mecca once in a lifetime, and thus fill up one's full 
measure of devotion to the sacred law of Islam. 
Mohammed Beg was deeply interested in the old 
man's preparations, and the more he thought of the 
great journey the more he longed to go with his grandfather, Abdullah. How grand if he, too, could be a 
haji (the title given to one who has made the hajj, or 
pilgrimage to Mecca). In all his life the aged Abdullah had never left his home city of Kashgar, and 
from his birth had lived high up on the "roof of the 
world" in the heart of Central Asia. He had never 
crossed those vast ranges of the highest mountains 
of the world which separate his native land of Chinese Turkestan from the scorching plains of India. 
He had always thought of that journey as perilous, 
for the roads across the mountains are narrow and 
steep, and travel is possible only on foot or horseback. But now as the old man contemplated the visit 
to the Holy City of Islam his fears were dissipated, 
and he eagerly anticipated the realization of his long-cherished dream. 
Mohammed Beg's longing to go was of a somewhat 
different nature. Oh, yes, he would love to see Mecca, 
of course, and know the joy of keeping the Law in 
full, to see that sacred city of Islam, to be one of the 
great brotherhood that gathers there in throngs from 
all parts of the Moslem world. But more than this, as 
a lad of nineteen he had a youth's keen desire to 
see the world, and to observe the different manners 
and customs of other lands. 
What sheer delight it would be to see the great 
cities of India, to say nothing of the famous cities 
of Arabia, the Moslem Holy Land. Of course, it 
would be hard to get out of those rugged mountains, 
thought Mohammed Beg, and it would be many 
months before he and his grandfather could return 
to Kashgar. Disease might seize them suddenly, and 
even death might prevent their return. But he did 
not dwell long on these possibilities, indeed they but 
served to emphasize the fact that his poor old grandfather needed a companion to help him in all the 
difficulties of the long and dangerous journey. At 
last he said to himself, "I shall go. If it is the will 
of Allah, I, too, shall see Mecca." 
Filled with his new enthusiasm, Mohammed Beg 
went to his family and told them of his plan to accompany Abdullah. Fortunately, he received their 
approval, and for several days he and his grandfather 
were busy purchasing clothes and supplies for the 
long trek. Finally, with their bundles packed, they 
started off on foot, after saying many farewells mingled with joy and sorrow, and began the journey of 
many months. Southward over the mountains toward 
Srinagar, in Kashmir, they plodded. Here and there 
they passed the villages of their own people perched 
above the narrow footpath on the side of the cliff. 
Like themselves, these villagers had never left their 
ancient homes, except a few traders among them, who 
would occasionally drive their flocks of sheep and 
goats all the way down to Srinagar laden with bags 
of merchandise to be exchanged for salt and tobacco. 
Like them, too, these people were all followers of 
the Prophet Mohammed, and wherever they stopped 
to chat with the villagers they always were sure to 
receive encouragement for their pilgrimage and a 
prayer for their safety on the way. Mohammed Beg 
was the envy of the young men he met, who heard 
with eager ears of the great adventure on which he 
was starting. 
At the end of the first day our two travelers sought 
out a serai, or resthouse, and stopped for the night. 
These serais are indescribably crude, and without any 
sort of conveniences. They are merely shelters from 
storms and the heat of the sun. It was already half filled with travelers, but Mohammed Beg selected an 
unoccupied corner, and there they opened their packs 
and spread their scanty bedding for the night on the 
hare mud floor. But before retiring they must cook 
their meal of meat stew and rough unleavened cakes, 
and for this purpose they had brought with them a 
few pots and pans. Finally, after they had eaten and 
when the night was well advanced, they joined the 
other Moslem occupants of the resthouse in offering 
the last or fifth prayer of the day, and witnessed to 
their devotion to Islam by reciting its brief but powerful creed "There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is the apostle of Allah." 
Day after day this program was repeated as they 
trudged through the high passes of the Karakoram 
range. Occasionally other travelers would join them. 
Before long they were in western Tibet. Once they 
had dropped down on to the desolate plateau across 
which the upper Indus flows they met quaint Buddhist priests carrying their prayer wheels. Their religion was as different from that of Mohammed Beg as 
day from night. They did not have five stated times 
of prayer every day, no bowing and prostrating. Not 
even verbal repetition the mere whirling of the 
wheel which contained written prayers in Tibetan 
characters sufficed to complete their acts of devotion; 
and of course the more whirling the better! 
As they traveled farther down the valley of the 
Indus towards India they encountered Moslems with 
customs never known in Kashgar. Abdullah was amazed to discover that there were different sects in 
Islam, and Mohammed Beg was puzzled by their 
strange ways. The boy knew enough Hindustani, the 
language used over large parts of northern India and 
adjacent regions of Central Asia, to ask them about 
their beliefs and practices. 
"Do you people go to Mecca for the pilgrimage?" 
he asked one of them. 
"No," the man replied, "our holy place is Karbala, 
near Baghdad, where lies the grave of beloved Husain, the martyred son of Ali, and we go there by 
ship from India. When our dead are buried we put 
pieces of wood with sacred inscriptions in Arabic in 
their armpits, and turn their faces toward Karbala." 
Weary but jubilant as every milepost was passed, 
our travelers went on and on until, by way of the 
lofty pass known as Zoji La, they dropped down, 
down, down into the wild valley of the roaring Sind 
River. They followed its narrow wooded gorges until 
they reached that region of surpassing beauty, the 
Vale of Kashmir. With the green rice fields of the 
valley encircled with snowy ranges, this spot has been 
well described as "an emerald set in diamonds." 
However, Mohammed Beg was not so much impressed with the beauty of the scenery as with the 
fact that they had come thus far successfully over 
the most tedious part of their journey. From here on 
they would not have to depend on their own legs. 
Automobiles, trains, and ships would take them the 
rest of the long journey to Mecca, and from now on every day would be full of interesting sights and 
new wonders. 
Already he was discovering that, though many 
miles away from home, all the Moslems whom he 
met were his brothers. They all used the same holy 
Koran. They all said their prayers in Arabic with 
him just as the Moslems did back in Kashgar, and as 
he knew he would find them doing all over India. 
They found themselves in Srinagar, the capital of 
Kashmir, on a Friday, the Moslem Sabbath, so they 
said their prayers in the great mosque with thousands 
of the faithful. Mohammed Beg was interested in 
what he saw, and often surprised. As for old Abdullah, he was shocked and horrified. There was so 
much hustle and bustle in Srinagar, so many tooting 
automobiles rushing about, that they were afraid to 
cross the street. The buildings, too, were so different. 
They were told they were patterned after the architecture of Wilaiyat (Europe). 
On that Friday in Srinagar, when all the good Moslems he knew left their work and closed their shops 
to observe the Sabbath of Islam, Mohammed Beg noticed that some Moslem merchants bought and sold 
as usual. This gave him a rude shock, for in Kashgar 
the bazaars closed from sunset Thursday night until 
sunset Friday night, the Sabbath period. 
The next day bright and early they took their seats 
in the bus that was to take them on the next stage 
of their journey. It was their first ride in an automobile. Faster than they had ever dreamed possible our two pilgrims sped down the Jhelum Valley two 
hundred miles to the railway station at Rawalpindi, 
where still more thrills, surprises and shocks awaited 
them. They had a wait of several hours before they 
took the train for Bombay, so while Abdullah 
guarded the luggage Mohammed Beg went about seeing the sights. 
As he walked through the streets of the bazaar it 
seemed to Mohammed Beg that he was in a world of 
magic. There were lights that could be turned on 
and off at will by pressing a button, and without 
striking a match. Water ran from pipes, and one 
could drink his fill without having to carry it from 
a distant spring or stream. It was hot, but people kept 
cool with whirring fans that worked by electric power. 
He heard a phonograph for the first time, and marveled as he listened to that whirling black disc recite 
a whole chapter from the Koran just as the Moslem 
clergy would do in real life! He saw men speak into 
a black horn-shaped thing, and was told that they 
were speaking to their distant friends over wires that 
were strung for miles all over the country. 
Mohammed Beg rushed back to old Abdullah with 
tales of these wonders. Not only did he tell his grandfather of these strange things, but he shared with 
him his disturbed thoughts. The Moslems here in 
this strange city seemed to be so busily engaged in the pursuit of wealth that they were not much concerned with the religious way of life. Could it be 
that religion did not matter so much as he and his family had been taught to believe? No, never! Such 
thoughts were intolerable. 
The two pilgrims were so excited they could 
scarcely eat before the train came. At last with a 
great ringing of bells and tooting of whistles the train 
rolled into the station from Peshawar. Gingerly Mohammed Beg and old Abdullah climbed into a thirdclass compartment, crowded with men, women and 
children from the many provinces and religious 
groups of India. All stared at the two travelers from 
Kashgar, with their Mongolian features, and their 
curious, heavy wool clothes, which were so hot and 
which seemed so strange beside the loose white garments of the others. 
In fact, Mohammed Beg and his grandfather did 
not feel very comfortable. They began to realize that 
they not only were in another world, but that they 
did not fit into it. It all seemed to be moving too fast 
for them. They wondered if they could get used to it. 
The train traveled so fast that at first it frightened 
them, but gradually they accepted speed as an inseparable part of their new experience. When they saw 
their first airplane soaring overhead at a hundred 
miles an hour they took it as a matter of course. "One 
need be surprised at nothing now," said Mohammed 
Beg to old Abdullah, who nodded and muttered a 
half-dazed assent. 
As time slipped by, and Mohammed Beg had occasion to notice the habits and customs of his fellow 
Moslems in the train compartment, he was continually measuring them by the old familiar religious 
standards of his own country. It was second nature 
to him to do that. In Kashgar a good Moslem is 
known by the regularity with which he says his five 
daily prayers. There were some, he noted, who were 
faithful to their religious duties. These, even if the 
train were moving at the time of prayer, would do 
as he and Abdullah did, carefully place their prayer 
rugs on the long benches of the compartment and, 
facing Mecca as nearly as they could, faithfully perform their devotions. If the train stopped and they 
could get out to say their prayers on the station platform, so much the better. But he noticed that where 
there was one faithful Moslem who would do so, 
there were dozens who carelessly neglected their 
prayers altogether. 
Falling into conversation with some of their fellow Moslem passengers, Mohammed Beg learned that more changes were taking place among the Moslems of India than he had ever dreamed were possible. Some of the young men with whom he talked told him about the Moslem university at Aligarh, where the old classical studies of the Islamic curriculum have been given up in favor of the modern scientific courses of the West. He learned that many of the young men are today studying English instead of Arabic. It was pointed out to him that these changes in education were necessary, if the Moslem community was to keep abreast of the times, and if it was to keep pace with the other progressive nations and communities of the world. These young men insisted that one could very easily adapt Islam to the 
developments of civilization, and that it was the duty 
of the present-day Moslems to do so. 
But Mohammed Beg was doubtful. He greatly 
feared that one could not go in for innovations without forsaking religion. His experience with the 
prayerless Moslems he had seen confirmed him in 
this opinion. He was still more sure of this when he 
learned of the growing number of Moslem women 
who shamelessly go about with uncovered faces before strange men. He was told that they dined openly 
with men, and regularly played games in mixed 
clubs, where both men and women meet freely as is 
done among the Christians. 
Later on in Bombay he learned that some of these 
universities attended by Moslem youth have anti-God 
societies and that a growing number of these youth 
have given up Islam in everything but name. Their 
religion is nothing more to them than a social club. 
Many of them use it solely to further their own selfish social and political ends. They have come to feel 
no need for religion, no need for God. 
To Mohammed Beg this was a most unholy and 
blasphemous situation, and he felt that somehow the 
longer he stayed in such an atmosphere the more 
chance there was of his being contaminated. However, in reality he did not fear so much for himself. 
He had been brought up in the faith and he was 
sure he would never lose his belief in Allah. 
"Allahu akbar [God is most great]," sighed Abdullah. "No matter what the rest of the Moslem world does, we shall remain true Moslems." 
In spite of these modernistic tendencies Mohammed 
Beg felt sure that there were millions who were still 
unshaken in their faith in Mohammed and in the 
holy Koran. In fact, he met many on his journey 
across India who did not believe that their religion 
was in danger, and who were sure that in the end 
the way of Allah would prevail. 
Still his experience in India had disturbed him 
greatly, and he was glad that they would be moving 
on very soon. What a relief it would be to board the 
pilgrim ship for Mecca, and be once more among true 
believers, who were not contaminated by these modern ideas. 
Mohammed Beg and Abdullah had been depressed 
by the fact that they found very few people talking 
about the pilgrimage in India. Here and there they 
met an old man who was planning to go; but for the 
most part people seemed to be too busy with their own 
affairs to think about the obligations of their holy 
faith. It was daily being impressed upon them that 
there was a new age an age about which Kashgar 
knew nothing at all! 
When the day of sailing from Bombay arrived Mohammed Beg and Abdullah were full of joy and enthusiasm. They went to the dock as early as possible 
armed with their inoculation certificates, a requirement which British authority in India has introduced to prevent the spread of smallpox and cholera. With 
hundreds of other pilgrims they passed the medical 
inspection and boarded the ship for Jidda, the port 
from which they would travel the fifty-three miles 
inland to Mecca. 
While' the more wealthy travelers occupied cabins, 
the great majority slept right on the deck itself. Some 
provided themselves with folding camp cots, and a 
good supply of fruit and canned food. However, Abdullah and Mohammed Beg were content to eat such 
food as they could get from the ship's cook in addition to the bread and cheese they had brought with 
them. 
Mohammed Beg and his grandfather found a place 
for themselves under an awning that covered the rear 
deck, spread out their belongings, and prepared to 
make themselves as comfortable as possible. Most of 
the pilgrims on this boat were Indians. But they were 
from all over India and Burma, and there were even 
Afghans from Kabul. The few women in the party 
were, of course, each accompanied by a father, husband or brother. 
Mohammed Beg again enjoyed exchanging experiences with his fellow travelers. He was especially 
eager to discuss his trip through India. Much of what 
he had seen and heard he could not understand, but 
at least he had seen and heard enough to feel that 
either the reformers of Islam were wrong, or those 
of the orthodox party were wrong. If he and old Abdullah were traveling "in the way of Allah," then there were many who were following the strange ways 
of the reformers. Surely these must be headed for 
Jehannum (the fires of hell) ! 
Mohammed Beg was amazed to hear from one of the Afghan pilgrims of the efforts made in Afghanistan by King Amanullah to introduce reforms, and how the people would not tolerate them. This bold reformer had tried to do away with the veil, and even his own wife had gone unveiled in the presence of men. He had tried to introduce the education of girls, and the wearing of Western clothes; but the people were too orthodox to stand for such new ideas. They revolted and drove him from his throne, and from his country. And today he lives the life of an exile somewhere in Europe, in company with the former sultan of Turkey and others who have lost their thrones in recent times. 
India, of course, Mohammed Beg pointed out, was 
different. It was ruled by foreign Christians, and Moslems were not able to live there as true Moslems 
should. Perhaps that was the explanation. However, if 
they were true Moslems they should leave the country 
and migrate to some strictly Moslem land where they 
could practise their religion according to the law of 
Islam. Mohammed Beg remembered that when he was 
a child an Indian Moslem family had come to Kashgar. This they had done because agitators had 
preached against the foreign rule and urged all true 
followers of Islam to move out of India and seek religious freedom elsewhere. 
But if the situation in India disturbed him, the 
situation in Turkey and Iran, as he heard of these 
countries from his fellow travelers, upset Mohammed 
Beg altogether. He was told that if he thought Indian 
Moslems were lax, he should see the innovations which 
Mustafa Kamal Ataturk had introduced into Turkey. 
There religion had been pushed into second place, 
and nationalism had assumed first importance in the 
thinking of the people. The Turks had deposed the 
caliph, and Islam had been so adapted to the conditions of modern life that little more than a shadow 
of the former religion existed. The people were so 
changed in their manners, laws and customs, and even 
dress, that they could not be distinguished from Christians. They were not even allowed to wear the red fez 
with the black tassel any more. Both in Turkey and 
Iran the women brazenly appeared in public unveiled. 
He was told that if he went to Turkey he would not 
be able to understand the prayers, or the Friday sermon, for both must be said in Turkish rather than in 
Arabic. Surely the Turks and Iranians had become 
kafirs (unbelievers), and had forsaken the example 
and teaching of the Prophet! 
It was all very confusing. But what could he, a boy 
from Central Asia, do about it? In the meantime he 
was glad that he was moving toward Mecca, the Holy 
City, the place of pure and unadulterated Islam. How 
glad he would be to get there! Surely Mecca would 
bring peace and reassurance concerning these serious 
questions. 
After the ship had passed Aden and had entered the 
Red Sea, the excitement of the passengers increased. 
In a short time now they would be in Jidda, and before then they must perform the ceremonies for the 
last stage of the sacred pilgrimage. 
At last the day arrived when the first of the ceremonies for the pilgrimage must be performed. Mohammed Beg and Abdullah, in company with the 
other hundreds of passengers, very carefully bathed 
themselves, trimmed their nails, and combed their 
beards. They then removed their ordinary clothes and 
put on the ihram, or the pilgrim's sacred robe, consisting of two seamless pieces of cloth. One of these 
they put around the waist and the other they threw 
over the shoulders, leaving the head uncovered. In 
place of their heavy Turki boots they must now wear 
light sandals, or go barefoot. From now on until 
the pilgrimage was finished they were not permitted 
to shave any part of the body, trim the nails, or wear 
any other garment than the sacred robe of the pilgrim. And now, dressed as pilgrims should be, Mohammed Beg and Abdullah recited with others who 
had joined them the "songs of the pilgrims": 
Here am I for thy service, O Allah, I am ready. 
Allah, I purpose to perform the pilgrimage; 
Make it easy for me, O Allah; 
1 offer thee my flesh, and my hair, and my blood. 
I have vowed to abstain from women, and perfume, 
and clothes 
Out of desire to please thee! 
As the ship approached its destination the joy of the 
pilgrims became more intense, and every eye strained 
to catch the first glimpse of Jidda, the city of Eve, 
the grandmother (Jidda) of the human race, whose 
tomb was pointed out on the east side of the city, beyond the Mecca gate. At the first sight of the city, a 
great shout of thanksgiving went up, in which Mohammed Beg and old Abdullah joined. As the ship 
approached the harbor through the circling coral 
reefs, the pilgrims collected their baggage and made 
ready to land. Soon they would be ashore, on the 
sacred land of Arabia, the cradle of Islam. 
With impatience over the delay, Mohammed Beg 
and Abdullah passed through the medical and customs 
formalities, paid their head tax, and started on the 
last fifty miles to Mecca itself. Since the journey 
was not great, and could easily be accomplished in 
four days, they decided to do it on foot in company 
with some of the other pilgrims, leaving the luxury 
of travel by camel to others. On the third day, at 
Zu-Tuwa, they halted and performed the required 
bath, and as they drew nearer to Mecca they added 
to their chants this one, which moved them deeply and 
fully prepared their hearts for entrance into the Holy 
City: 
Allah, this is thy sanctuary, and the place of security; 
Preserve my flesh and blood from hell-fire. 
When they finally arrived in Mecca, Mohammed 
Beg and Abdullah felt something of the same thrill 
IN THE WAY OF ALLAH 17 
and sense of religious awe that comes to the Christian visitor to the city of Jerusalem and the Holy 
Land. They recalled that here in this very city the 
feet of their heloved prophet Mohammed had trod. 
When but a young man he had denounced idolatry 
from the precincts of the Kaaba, the inner sanctuary 
of the mosque, and had preached his fiery sermons 
calling people to repent of their sins and follow the 
worship of the one true god, Allah. From Mecca he 
had been compelled to fly for safety with his faithful 
followers, and to this city he later returned in triumph. With his own hands he had forever banished 
the idols from the Kaaba, and established his authority over the scattered tribes of Arabia. 
"How thrilling to be here with fifty thousand 
Moslem brothers from all over the world!" mused Mohammed Beg. As he thought about how closely all 
Islam is bound together, the troubled thoughts of the 
weeks before vanished. He was now quite sure that 
the religion of the Prophet was capable of taking care 
of itself, and that all these changes he had been seeing and hearing about were but slight disturbances 
that would eventually pass away. 
Dressed in the usual pilgrim garb and jostling 
among the milling throngs of brother Moslems from 
Java, Malaya, Egypt, the Sudan, Iran, India, and 
even China, they joined in all the rites and ceremonies 
of the ancient pilgrimage with a glorious ecstasy. 
Here they felt natural and at home. It was the first 
time they had known such peace of mind since leaving Kashgar. Here the people were, to the last man, 
Moslems. No atrocious Western notions could ever 
undermine the faith of the true believers in this holy 
place. An unbeliever would never be knowingly admitted to the sacred bounds of the Kaaba. For him 
to enter would mean death. 
On the day appointed for the final ceremonies Mohammed Beg and Abdullah, along with the other pilgrims, performed the necessary ablutions, carefully 
bathing and purifying their bodies according to the 
requirements of the Law. Then they entered the sacred 
mosque, and kissed the famous Black Stone which is 
set in one of the walls of the Kaaba. This was followed by their running around the shrine seven times 
three times rapidly and four times slowly, which 
is said to be in imitation of the motions of the planets. 
Then they offered a special prayer, "0 Allah, Lord 
of the Ancient House, free my neck from hell-fire, and 
preserve me from every evil deed; make me contented with the daily food thou givest me, and bless 
me in all thou hast granted." Next they proceeded to 
the "place of Abraham" and offered another prayer. 
Then they drank water from the sacred well of Zemzem, and again kissed the Black Stone. From here 
they joined the other pilgrims on the visit to the hills 
Safa and Marwa and ran from one to the other according to the custom. Then going a few miles beyond Mecca, they visited Mina and later went on to 
Arafat, where they listened to a sermon. On their return they stopped again at Mina and stoned the three 
IN THE WAY OF ALLAH 19 
pillars of masonry there with seven small pebbles 
each. This is because they are said to represent the 
devil. Finally, while in Mina, they purchased a 
sheep at an outrageous price which they sacrificed 
as a climax of the pilgrimage. 
Through it all Mohammed Beg was filled with a 
continuous exaltation at being on holy ground. His 
mind was absorbed with thoughts of the wonderful 
character and spirit of the Prophet, who had overcome such great opposition and had established the 
true faith of Allah on the earth. He had one further 
desire: to go on from Mecca to Medina, a distance of 
some two hundred and ten miles, and to pay a visit 
to the tomb of the holy Prophet. He felt that this visit 
would bring still further blessing, and add strength 
to his spirit. Thus they went on their way to Medina, 
and Mohammed Beg felt that in a measure this was 
the very peak of their pilgrimage experience. He 
talked with others and found that they felt the same 
way. There by the side of the tomb of the apostle of 
Allah they felt that somehow they were in the very 
living presence of their prophet. For them he seemed 
to live again; or rather, it was as if his spirit was a 
living presence inside the tomb. Here they dedicated 
themselves anew, and pledged their loyalty to Islam. 
It was the high moment of his life, Mohammed Beg 
thought, and poor old Abdullah was so overcome with 
the holy thoughts that filled his breast that he wept 
freely and unashamed. 
And yet even before they had left Mecca and Medina for the return journey Mohammed Beg had been 
deeply disturbed by another and totally different 
experience. Ever since they had been in Arabia they 
had found that the prices charged pilgrims were abnormally high. Little had these two simple people 
from Central Asia realized that the pilgrimage is the 
time for the people of Mecca to reap a harvest. Being 
honest people themselves, these devout visitors expected honest dealings from others. But they were 
overcharged for lodgings, and for every morsel of 
food which they ate. They were disgusted with much 
that they saw, and on one occasion they barely escaped being robbed of all they possessed. 
Because of the way in which they had been treated 
Mohammed Beg and his grandfather were really glad 
to be on their way home again. But in spite of this 
unfortunate experience they had the satisfaction of 
knowing that they had done their duty. They had fulfilled the commandment of the Law. How proudly 
they answered when they were addressed as "Haji." 
After all, there was something glorious about walking 
"in the way of Allah." 
Still there was a question in the mind of Mohammed Beg. Could it be that Islam was in danger of 
being destroyed by foes within as well as without? 
Were the forces working in Turkey and India to 
modernize Islam after all any more dangerous to the 
faith than the unscrupulous characters and lives of 
many of the so-called Moslems of Mecca? The only 
answer seemed to be that to the faithful all these 
IN THE WAY OF ALLAH 21 
things are but signs of the times signs that the Last 
Day is not far off, when the whole world will be converted to Islam. 
"This," said Mohammed Beg to his grandfather, 
"must be the explanation of these strange things we 
have seen and heard and experienced. Surely our 
prophet was divinely guided, and we cannot go 
astray if we follow his guidance, come what may." 
"Regardless of what others may do," replied the 
old man, "we shall keep our feet steadily in the way 
of Allah. For verily, 'there is no God but Allah, and 
Mohammed is his apostle.' Yes, Mohammed is his 
apostle!" 
The thrill of the visit to Mecca and Medina lasts a 
long, long time in the heart of the pilgrim. Back in 
his native Kashgar after his arduous journey, Mohammed Beg is a respected haji, although so young. 
He loves to tell his experiences to the other young 
men he meets, and he does it with a glow that comes 
from a kind of holy enthusiasm. To help keep the 
memories alive he has brought back with him some 
treasures which he guards carefully and shows with 
pride to his friends. He has a few of the small pebbles 
that he picked up at Mina similar to those he threw at 
the masonry pillar. He has a bottle of holy water 
from the famous well, Zemzem, in Mecca. But most 
precious of all is a small quantity of earth sacred 
earth from near the tomb of Mohammed in Medina. 
It seems to him the most prized thing in his possession, for it was in Medina at the Prophet's tomb that 
he felt an experience of great inspiration. 
He cannot forget that experience. Now that he is 
back in Central Asia, it seems to Mohammed Beg that 
the Prophet is more wonderful than ever. How could 
anyone help but believe he was God's apostle, he 
asked his friends, after one had seen the multitudes 
from so many countries who gather at Mecca for the 
pilgrimage? If Mohammed's message had not been 
true, then how could one account for the fact that 
today two hundred and fifty million people from 
Morocco to the Philippines are followers of the 
Prophet? What more convincing proof of the greatness and divine calling of Mohammed could be 
found than this enormous number of the faithful in 
many lands? To Mohammed Beg, the Arabian prophet 
was the explanation of Islam's greatness. 
==CHAPTER TWO. THE LAST OF THE PROPHETS==
WHO was this prophet to whose law Mohammed 
Beg and millions of his fellow Moslems across 
Europe, Asia and Africa give such intense 
loyalty? Here we must turn back the pages of history 
for a picture of this remarkable founder of Islam, 
one of the world's greatest religions. He alone is the 
key to the understanding of the Moslem view of life. 
Thirteen centuries ago a new religion burst upon 
the world. Like the other great religions, it had its 
origin in one of the countries of Asia. 
Sitting in his palace one day about A.D. 630, 
the emperor of the ancient Christian kingdom of 
Ethiopia was handed a letter from one Mohammed 
of Medina, Arabia. The writer informed His Ethiopian Majesty that God had called him, Mohammed, 
to be his messenger or apostle. He declared that he 
had a special commission from God as the last of the 
prophets to warn all nations of the impending doom 
which would overtake them, if all men everywhere 
did not turn to Allah for forgiveness and submit to 
his will. He therefore felt it his duty to invite His 
Majesty to accept the religion of Islam with all his 
people. So says Moslem fractional history. 
Similar letters were received by the kings and 
rulers of various countries from Persia to Egypt. 
Great was the curiosity in the courts and palaces of 
the countries surrounding Arabia. "Who is this Mohammed?" "What is this religion of Islam that he invites us to accept, implying something serious will 
happen if we do not?" They did not have to wait long 
for the answer. For this new religion was soon to 
spread far beyond the bounds of the Arabian desert, 
and to extend the influence of this "last of the prophets" to three continents, from North Africa and Spain 
to China. 
ARABIA IN MOHAMMED'S TIME 
But we are going too fast. In order to understand 
the rise of Islam it is necessary to picture to ourselves 
something of the political, social and religious condition of Arabia some six hundred years after the time 
of Christ. In the first place, there was no national government. The Arabs of the desert, or Bedouins, belonged to various tribes and raised sheep and camels. 
They had no settled abode, and lived in tents, which 
on the approach of an enemy they could quickly fold 
up for a silent departure. As is true even today, very 
few of the Arabs of that time lived in cities. Only a 
very small proportion of the population lived in the 
few cities and settled towns in the oases or on the 
coast; and of these cities Mecca was the largest. The 
tribes, which were ruled by chiefs known as sheikhs, 
were very jealous of their individual independence. 
THE LAST OF THE PROPHETS 25 
To make matters more complicated from a political 
point of view, it must be remembered that both the 
Roman and Persian empires had "spheres of influence" in the country, and there were settlements of 
Jews and Christians as well. 
The people were chiefly shepherds and traders. 
Long camel caravans bearing valuable merchandise 
to and from the surrounding countries of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Egypt were constantly on the move. By 
sea Arabs on the south and east coasts had for centuries been carrying on a thriving business in silks and 
spices with the western coast of India. 
Mecca, the chief city of the Arabian peninsula, was 
primarily a settlement of a tribe called the Koreish. 
The Koreish were held in very special regard, because 
to them was entrusted the care of the temple or sanctuary, known as the Kaaba, which in spite of their 
differences was revered alike by all Arab tribes, and 
to which they made annual pilgrimages. Although 
there was no unity in the country since no one ruler 
was recognized and the tribes were more or less constantly at war with each other Mecca was the center 
of a certain amount of religious unity which centered 
around the Kaaba. 
The religion of the Arabs at this time was a form 
of polytheism. They followed various debasing and 
immoral customs. Furthermore, the Arabs up to this 
time had no sacred scriptures; nor had they a national 
religious prophet. But at the same time it seems they 
were fully aware of their common racial origin with 
the Jews, for they also claimed Abraham as their 
ancestor, since they traced their descent through 
Ishmael. 
While polytheism and the worship of idols were 
the common religious heritage of the scattered Arab 
tribes, there were other influences at work as well. 
The presence of Christians and Jews living in the 
trade centers among the Arabs was making itself felt, 
as was also the contact with the ancient Christian 
cities by the traders who passed over the caravan 
routes to Alexandria, Jerusalem, Antioch and Damascus. In fact some Arabs had actually embraced Christianity. One of these was a cousin of Khadijah, Mohammed's first wife, and from him the future prophet 
probably learned about the Jewish and Christian 
scriptures. Arabia was coming more and more under 
the influence of the outside world. Silently but surely 
the stage was being set for the birth of a new religion 
a religion that would shake the world and change 
the course of history. 
EARLY LIFE OF MOHAMMED 
Amid such circumstances as these Mohammed was 
born in the city of Mecca in the year A.D. 570 following the death of his father Abdullah. When he was 
only six years old his mother also died, and the orphaned boy was brought up by his grandfather, an 
old man almost one hundred years old, and an 
uncle, Abu Talib. His family belonged to the tribe of 
the Koreish which, as has already been said, was held 
THE LAST OF THE PROPHETS 27 
in high esteem because it was entrusted with the traditional guardianship of the sacred Kaaba. During 
his boyhood he spent much time with the Bedouins, 
and was engaged in herding sheep and goats. As he 
grew older Mohammed frequently went on journeys 
with caravans of merchandise to Syria, and on such 
journeys he met many Jews and Christians, from 
whom he learned a great deal about religion that was 
to be of use to him later on. And so the time passed 
until he was about twenty-five years of age. 
Now it happened that one of the leading residents 
of Mecca was a charming and wealthy widow by the 
name of Khadijah. Because she was in need of an 
agent to manage her business enterprises, she became 
interested in the reports concerning the young man 
Mohammed, whose reputation for trustworthiness had 
earned him the name Amin, The Faithful One. This 
lady secured the services of Mohammed, and put him 
in charge of some of her trading expeditions. He took 
over the management of a large caravan, and handled 
the business with such success that his employer, 
Khadijah, fell in love with him and married him, 
though she was at least fifteen years older than he. 
As a result of this marriage Mohammed at once attained a position of wealth and influence in the city 
of Mecca. 
It was during the first fifteen years following his 
marriage that his religious and political views began 
to take shape. He was frequently associated with a 
group of men who were greatly disturbed over the 
political and religious situation among their people. 
Some of these men had given up the common practice 
of idolatry; they asserted their belief in one God, 
whom they called Allah; and they called themselves 
Hanif s, a name which some derive from a word meaning "to incline" that is, their inclination was to 
search for truth among the maze of popular superstitions. They said they wanted to re-establish the religion of Abraham, the original ancestor of the Arabs. 
Not only was the religious condition of the country 
in need of reform, but the political condition was 
well-nigh hopeless as well. Torn with internal strife 
among the warring tribes, it was continually at the 
mercy of the encroachments and imperialistic ambitions of the Roman and Persian empires. The time 
was ripe for a thoroughgoing revolution, and there 
is no doubt that during those fifteen years Mohammed 
caught the vision of the need of a political-religious 
leader for his people a vision which he was in the 
fulhiess of time to apply to himself, and to develop 
into a comprehensive system providing for government under religious control. 
MOHAMMED'S REVELATIONS FROM ALLAH 
ALout the year A.D. 610, when Mohammed was 
forty years of age, something very unusual happened. 
One of the Hanifs, Zaid by name, was living as a 
hermit in a cave in the side of the mountain called 
Mount Hira, near the city. He had been forced into 
this retirement because he had greatly angered the 
THE LAST OF THE PROPHETS 29 
people of Mecca by his violent protests against their 
worship of the idols in the Kaaba. Mohammed used 
to visit Zaid the Hanif in his lonely cave, and finally 
he was convinced that he too should abandon idolatrous practices. On one occasion, while deeply engrossed in meditation on the side of this lonely mountain in the cave of old Zaid, he had a singular experience. He seemed to be aware of a heavenly presence. The angel Gabriel appeared to him and commanded him as follows: 
Recite, thou, in the name of thy Lord who created; 
Created man from clots of blood. 
This was the beginning of the Koran, the sacred book 
of the Moslems, although he did not know it then. 
This experience was very vivid, but also very confusing. It was followed by a series of others of similar nature, and Mohammed was greatly disturbed by 
them. Could it be that they were revelations from 
God himself? Was God calling Mohammed to be a 
prophet? But he was not sure that they were real 
revelations from God at all. They seemed so much 
like the usual Arab poetry, in the form of rhyming 
prose, that there were some besides himself who were 
inclined to the view that he was no prophet, but just 
an ordinary Arab poet. Now the Arabs held all poetry 
was due to the inspiration of a jinni a sort of evil 
spirit and was very far removed from divine revelation indeed. However, the peculiar nature of the revelations, which seemed to come direct from God himself, and for which Mohammed felt in no way personally responsible, and the fact that they came at 
times when he was in a trance or fit, and that he appeared to he only a medium for receiving and delivering the messages and not the author of them, all 
seemed to reassure him and his wife Khadijah that 
he had really received a divine revelation. 
Now completely certain of his revelations, he began to proclaim his divine message, first of all to the 
members of his immediate family and to his close 
friends. Following his wife, Khadijah, his cousin Ali, 
then Zaid, a former slave, and Abu Bakr, a close and 
influential friend, became his followers. They were 
undoubtedly impressed by his sincerity and humility. 
MOHAMMED'S EARLY PREACHING 
In due course his career as a public preacher began. The period of mild persuasive methods was 
past, when he had declared that "there must be no 
compulsion in religion." His messages from heaven, 
which later on formed the basis of the Koran, became 
more forceful and aggressive. He met not only with 
great opposition, but also with fierce persecution from 
the idolaters of Mecca. They told him he was a lunatic, and possessed with evil spirits. They called him an 
impostor, and made fun of him publicly. But all to 
no purpose. Little by little the band of believers grew; 
and, on the occasion of the annual pilgrimages to 
Mecca, Mohammed was able to preach his new doctrines of the unity of God to the thousands of pilgrims 
THE LAST OF THE PROPHETS 31 
who flocked to die sacred city from all parts of Arabia. 
In this way his followers began to form small groups 
in different parts of the country. 
The strongest of these groups appears to have been 
in the city of Medina. Since the persecution of Mohammed and his followers had become very bitter in 
Mecca, their home city, some people of Medina invited the Prophet and his converts to come and make 
their home in more friendly surroundings. The people 
of Mecca, the guardians of the sacred Kaaba, were 
specially aroused against Mohammed because he was 
the bitter enemy of idolatry. In this he was attacking 
their special privilege, by which they thrived and 
made a living from the pilgrims. Thus it will be seen 
that, while the objections of the people of Mecca were 
ostensibly religious, they were actually economic. 
They were far more afraid of losing their income from 
the pilgrim trade than they were of going to Mohammed's fiery hell because they would not throw 
away their idols and submit to belief in one God. 
The Moslem era officially begins with the year 
A.D. 622, when with a little band of persecuted followers Mohammed fled from Mecca to Medina. This 
event, known as the Hegira (the Flight), is of great 
importance in Moslem history and in fact in world 
history, for it marks the beginning of Mohammed's 
rise to power and the turning point in his mission. 
Before this in Mecca he had been only a preacher. In 
Medina he was to become a king, ruling over his 
people, and dreaming dreams of world conquest. 
During the twelve years of his ministry in Mecca, 
from A.D. 610-622, there are certain characteristics of 
his life and work which stand out as different from 
the years in Medina. At the beginning of his mission 
he undoubtedly had a genuine religious experience, 
which moved him profoundly and changed him from 
a polytheist and idolater into a vigorous preacher of 
the truth that God is one. His was a vital message of 
salvation. He was saved himself and he wanted others 
to be saved. He spoke with passion and persuasion. 
The messages or sermons all divine revelations 
which he delivered in the Meccan period were mostly 
short discourses. They form today the shorter chapters or suras of the Koran. He insisted that they were 
not his own words, but that every word he spoke came 
from God as dictated to him by the angel Gabriel. 
Since the message was not his own, but God's, he 
therefore came to his people in the role of a prophet 
and apostle sent from God. He declared that the religion he was preaching was not new at all. It was as 
old as Adam, and the original religion of mankind. Its 
name was Islam, which means submission to God's 
will and law. Not only was Adam a Moslem a follower of Islam but so also were Abraham, Moses, 
David and Jesus. He announced that he, Mohammed, 
was the last of the prophets or apostles that God would 
send upon the earth. Likewise the Koran the messages from God which he was delivering was the 
last and best of all the revealed scriptures sent down 
to mankind. Those who accepted the teaching, "There 
THE LAST OF THE PROPHETS 33 
is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is the apostle 
of Allah," would be saved and would share in the 
spiritual and sensuous delights of paradise; while 
those who disbelieved would be tormented in the fires 
of hell in everlasting punishment. The people were 
warned to seek forgiveness from God the merciful 
and compassionate, and to flee from the day of judgment which was surely coming. It was a message of 
great urgency, and we have no reason to doubt that 
at this stage Mohammed was genuinely sincere. 
During this Meccan period, too, he remained the 
faithful husband of one wife. Khadijah was not only 
a real homemaker but likewise a great strength and 
help to him in his public life. She was a powerfully 
steadying influence. The death of Khadijah, as well 
as his move to Medina, brought two new factors into 
the life of Mohammed. In the one case his private life 
took on a new aspect. Released from the wholesome 
control of Khadijah, he married ten other lawful 
wives, of whom the ten year old child-wife, Ayesha, 
was his favorite. His family life with its many wives 
became extremely complicated; and his own example 
became an important factor in determining the future 
ethical and social standards of life in Islam. Second, 
his public life entered a new phase and he began to 
feel his political power. 
MOHAMMED AS PROPHET-KING 
In Medina, Mohammed became the ruler of a 
large group of followers. He had hoped to secure the 
support of the large company of Jews who lived there, 
but finding them unwilling to yield to his designs he 
punished them with severe slaughter. From Medina, 
too, he won some successful engagements against his 
Meccan opponents, gradually increased his power, and 
consolidated his position. Mohammed was only a 
prophet in Mecca; hut in Medina he became a 
prophet-king. 
And as prophet-king his message also changes. The 
revelations are longer y less spiritual in tone, more 
filled with legal directions for the control of his growing community. There are fewer impassioned sermons, 
and a growing indication that he is called of God to 
political as well as to religious leadership of the 
Arabian people, for the purpose of welding them into 
one nation. 
As the head of the nation Mohammed felt divinely 
led to bring all the Arabian tribes under his rule. 
Having already discovered the power of the sword to 
make himself secure in Medina, he set out to wage 
war with his armies of the "church militant." Finally 
in the year A.D. 629 he entered the holy city of Mecca 
in triumph, and from that date became the virtual 
master of the whole of Arabia. He entered the sacred 
precincts of the Kaaba and destroyed all its idols, 
with the exception of the famous Black Stone, which 
is still an object of veneration to Moslems. Islam had 
triumphed, Mohammed was supreme. 
After securing control of Mecca, Mohammed retired again to Medina. He busied himself in building 
THE LAST OF THE PROPHETS 35 
up his community, leading it in worship, preaching to 
the assembled multitudes, and settling their private 
and public disputes. He was concerned, also, about the 
spread of Islam. His was no mere national religion. 
Islam was a faith for all mankind. Other peoples must 
be brought in as well as the Arabians. Thus it came 
about that the prophet-king of Arabia sent out letters 
to the rulers of the surrounding nations urging them 
to accept Islam, and declare their belief in Mohammed 
as the last of the prophets sent by the one true and 
all-wise Allah. Whether he was himself prepared to 
follow up the rejected invitations with military campaigns in order to extend the power and influence of 
Islam we shall never know, for he died in the year 
A.D. 632 in the arms of his beloved Ayesha. 
THE SPREAD OF ISLAM 
Following the death of Mohammed two matters of 
great importance had to be settled. One was the 
question of his successor. The other was the policy of 
expansion. As a prophet, the work of Mohammed was 
finished. In this respect he could have no successor. 
But Mohammed had been, also, the head of the large 
community of Moslems throughout Arabia. He had 
been their ruler. This place could and must be filled. 
After considerable difficulty and political maneuvering among the various parties that were already apparent, Mohammed's friend, Abu Bakr, was elected 
his successor or caliph, as he came to be known. 
The problem of the caliphate being settled, the 
stage was all set for the spread of this amazing religious-political movement, which had had its orgin in 
the Arabian desert. This expansion proceeded vigorously north, east and west. In quick succession blows 
were struck which sent empires reeling. The fate of 
the Eastern Roman Empire was decided at the battle 
of the river Yarmuk near the Sea of Galilee in the 
year A.D. 634. Damascus, a stronghold of Christianity, 
was taken the following year. The Persian Empire 
and Egypt were the next to capitulate, while the conquest of Spain and India, was begun in the same year, 
A.D. 711. Twelve years later the Moslem armies, having swept across North Africa from Egypt to the 
Straits of Gibraltar, destroying the great Christian 
civilizations in their path, pushed on into France. In 
A.D. 732 the famous Charles Martel at the battle of 
Tours forever turned the tide of Moslem conquest 
from Western Europe, although seven hundred years 
were to pass before the hosts of Islam were finally 
expelled from Spain. 
Balked in Europe, Islam continued its eastward conquests. Sweeping over the whole of Asia Minor, Central Asia, India, and even into China, the Moslem 
power was triumphant. The Moslems demanded subjection and tribute from followers of Christianity and 
Judaism, since these were religions of a sacred Book. 
They offered others a choice of Islam or the sword. 
Many became Moslems for economic and social reasons. Islam was spread also by the quiet influence of 
Moslem traders, and the pious and zealous efforts of 
THE LAST OF THE PROPHETS 37 
Moslem missionaries. But the early centuries of Moslem power were marked by the use of military force 
in the form of the jihad, or holy war, for the spread 
of the Moslem rule and religion. 
"THE GREATEST OF THE PROPHETS" 
As Islam has spread across Africa and Asia it has 
proudly maintained Mohammed's claim that he was 
the last of the prophets, with a revelation that supersedes all others. Titles of honor and glory two hundred and one of them in the Arabic list have been 
heaped upon him. He has been called the Light of 
God, the Peace of the World, the Glory of the Ages, 
and the First of all Creatures. He alone will successfully intercede for his people on the day of judgment. 
His abode is the highest heaven, and he excels Jesus 
in honor and position by several degrees. While no 
Moslem ever prays to Mohammed, every Moslem 
prays for him, and in fact his name is never spoken 
or written without a prayer for God's blessing and 
peace to rest upon him. As Dr. Samuel M. Zwemer, 
one of the great Christian authorities on Islam, so 
well puts it: 
"Ya Muhammad" ["0 Mohammed"] is the open-sesame 
to every door of difficulty temporal or spiritual. One hears 
that name in the bazaar and in the street, in the mosque 
and from the minaret. Sailors sing it while hoisting their 
sails; hamals [porters] groan it, to raise a burden; the 
beggar howls it, to obtain alms; it is the Bedouin's cry in 
attacking a caravan; it hushes babes to sleep, as a cradlesong; it is the pillow of the sick, and the last word of the 
dying; it is written on the doorposts and in their hearts as 
well as, since eternity, on the throne of God; it is to the 
devout Moslem the name above every name. 1 
In short, to the Moslem the character of Mohammed 
may be summed up as being the very epitome of 
purity and truth. 
This is the traditional Mohammed of the Moslem, 
to whom he is not only the last of the prophets, but 
the greatest. 
In bringing this chapter to a close we may well note 
the changes that have taken place in the attitude 
of young Moslems of today toward the Prophet. 
In the first place, he is not the Mohammed of the 
historical lives, which were written by Moslems themselves. An interesting process of thought has been 
going on through which Mohammed is given a character that no doubt reflects on the part of those describing it an intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ. 
This idealized conception of the Prophet of Islam presents him as the perfect man, a model for all mankind 
to follow. He is represented as sinless, for no prophet 
can commit sin, a view which reinterprets Mohammed's own requests, as found in the Koran, for forgiveness of sins. 
He is also referred to as a great moral and social 
reformer, as tender-hearted, abolishing the horrible 
atrocities of war, as gentle and merciful even to his 
1 Islam, a Challenge to Faith, by Samuel M. Zwemer, p. 47. New 
York, Student Volunteer Movement, 1907. 
THE LAST OF THE PROPHETS 39 
greatest foes. He is presented as combining the highest of human attributes: justice and mercy. 
In fact in these interpretations Mohammed is 
not only like Jesus in every manly quality, but is superior to him. Jesus had a triumphal entry; so did 
Mohammed when he entered the holy city of Mecca 
in triumph over his enemies. Jesus forgave his enemies; so did Mohammed forgive his persecutors in 
Mecca all but four, who were put to death. Mohammed was more practical than Jesus. He performed 
no miracles, and offered the Koran as sufficient proof 
of his claims. He gave practical laws for his followers instead of visionary principles. Even his many 
marriages but demonstrate the perfection of his nature which enabled him to live successfully with several wives at the same time. Mohammed fully understood human nature, and accommodated his teaching 
to its frailties. And, finally, Mohammed came to complete the work which Jesus started but did not bring 
to full accomplishment. Moslems hold that Jesus was 
sent as a prophet only to the Jews, while Mohammed 
came with a mission to the whole world. 
==CHAPTER THREE. THE PERFECT RELIGION ==
IN three summer conferences of American young 
people, not long ago, the question was asked, "If 
you were not a Christian, what would you prefer 
to be?" The large majority of the class in each of the 
three conferences voted for Islam first, with Confucianism a close second. 
Most young people are aware that Islam is a religion that stands for only one God, and that it is 
opposed to idolatry. In fact, they may have heard 
that Islam is actually very similar to Christianity in 
many respects; that the Koran contains many of the 
Old Testament stories of the prophets, and that Jesus 
himself is accorded a high place in the estimation of 
Moslems. In other words, Islam would appeal to such 
young people because, from what they know of it, it 
seems to be more like Christianity than any other 
religion. 
If you ask the Moslem, he will tell you that it is 
not a matter of debate, and not an open question at 
all whether Islam is better than the other religions of 
mankind. Islam, he assures you, is the one perfect 
religion today in the world. The Moslem believes this 
because the Koran says so. In one of its verses he finds 
THE PERFECT RELIGION 41 
that Allah says to Mohammed: "This day have we 
perfected for you your religion." The faithful consider that the end of the matter. 
The faith must be taken as it is: believed in, and 
acted upon. For this reason Islam has had little use 
for critics and reformers. For the most part it has 
been content to go along with the minimum of change 
from the traditional way. Therefore, most Moslem reformers have been considered the enemies of Islam. 
Some of them have had to face persecution, and even 
death. But all of them have taken the position that, 
since the people of their day had fallen into serious 
errors, they were merely trying to bring them back 
to the purer and more original form of the true Islam. 
In Arabia, Mohammed ibn Abdul Wahhab in the 
eighteenth century sought to abolish the worship of 
saints and the use of tobacco, claiming both were 
contrary to the teaching of the Prophet. He was violently opposed, but he and his followers, who have 
come to be known as Wahhabis, finally won out on 
the basis that theirs was the purer form of this "perfect religion." 
Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan of India in the nineteenth 
century was confronted with the problem of leading 
his people out of their deplorably backward condition. It was clear to him that Islam would have to be 
modernized, the medieval classical Arabic courses 
would have to be given up, and Western education 
introduced or the Moslems of India would be left 
far behind in the struggle for existence. This distinguished man was branded as a heretic and infidel 
and suffered severe persecution. But he took his stand 
on the position that he was only following the teaching of Mohammed, who said, "One should seek knowledge even unto China." 
Sir Sayyid and his enthusiastic associates ultimately gained their point. He is now regarded in 
India as having been one of the greatest champions of 
the faith, and the magnificent modern Moslem university at Aligarh is a splendid memorial to his efforts. But these and many other examples of reform 
have succeeded because they were frankly within the 
system. They did not attack Islam. They rather sought 
to bring the expression of it up to date, and into line 
with modern tendencies. The original system itself 
was considered perfect. Even today when the current 
of modernism is running stronger than ever before in 
India, Egypt, and Turkey, the same argument holds, 
and all changes and modifications of the manners 
and customs of the Moslem people are based on the 
assumption that Islam is elastic, and adaptable to the 
demands of each age. 
WHY THE "PERFECT RELIGION"? 
One may well ask on what grounds Moslems base 
the claim that theirs is the perfect religion. One reason has already been noted: the authority of the 
Koran. Since the Koran .has stated that Islam is the 
perfect religion that is the end of the matter, for the 
Koran is the very word of God. This no Moslem dares 
THE PERFECT RELIGION 43 
to doubt. But there are other reasons which are perfectly obvious to devout followers of the Prophet: 
Islam is a revealed religion. It is not man-made. 
Man had nothing to do with it, not even Mohammed. 
It is God-made. Mohammed was merely his instrument, and a passive instrument at that. He spoke what 
God told him to say; and at all times he did only what 
God told him to do. Therefore, not only in the Koran, 
but in the Traditions, which treat of what Mohammed 
said and did, have we the foundations of this religion 
which came from God in its entirety. 
It is the final and last revelation. Since Mohammed 
is the last of the prophets, this revelation is the very 
last word in religion. There can never be anything to 
supersede it, and it supersedes everything else that 
preceded it. It is the final expression of God's will and 
wisdom for mankind. 
Of all religions it is held to be the one best adapted 
to man's nature, the one most in accord with his desires and instincts. It meets man on his own natural 
level. It avoids high and impractical ideals, and brings 
religion down within easy reach, makes it a matter 
of simple observance of rules. As one young Moslem 
once said, "The ideals of Christianity are all very 
well, but they are too high to be practical. Therefore, 
why not combine Christianity and Islam, and let one 
be the ideal and the other the practical expression of 
religion?" 
What then, specifically, is the character of this religion that has such extremely high claims made for 
it? We shall consider it under two heads: what the 
Moslem believes, and how the Moslem worships. The 
remainder of this chapter we shall devote to the first 
of these points. 
THE CREED OF ISLAM 
Islam apparently has so much in common with 
Christian beliefs that it has been called a Christian 
heresy, or even a form of Christianity. But, as will 
appear, it really has little in common with Christianity. Nevertheless, they have just enough in common to 
make the study of Islam a very interesting pursuit. 
For instance, Moslems believe in one God; they hold 
Jesus Christ in great respect; they know the stories 
of many of the Old Testament characters like Abraham, Moses, and Joseph; they recite a creed somewhat like the Apostles' Creed; they recite a prayer 
that is similar to our Lord's Prayer; and they practise congregational worship. 
In fact the longer or traditional Moslem creed or 
statement of faith (called iman in Arabic) in its form 
is very much like the Apostles' Creed: 
I believe : 
That there is no god but Allah; 
I believe: 
In his angels; 
In his books; 
In his apostles, and that Mohammed is the last of them; 
In the Last Day; and 
In the predestination by Allah of good and evil. 
THE PERFECT RELIGION 45 
But the difference between the two systems of belief 
is very apparent. The heart of the Christian faith is 
ignored the cross and all that it means of sacrifice 
for others. The kernel has been extracted; only the 
shell is left. But without further comment let us look 
at the separate articles of the Islamic creed. 
THE MOSLEM'S ARTICLES OF FAITH 
1. "/ believe that there is no God but Allah." We 
read in the Koran, "God is one" the very echo, as 
it were, of the words of Moses, "Hear, Israel, the 
Lord thy God is one God." This emphasis on the unity 
of God is asserted in countless ways in the daily life 
of the Moslem: for example, in the simple creed, or 
kalima, which must be repeated at every time of 
worship, "There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed 
is the apostle of Allah," and in the extension of the 
forefinger of the right hand in one of the postures of 
prayer. Islam bitterly opposes polytheism, and during the early centuries of expansion the Moslem invaders were ruthless in their destruction of temples 
and idols throughout the length and breadth of the 
East. 
The Moslem's idea of the character of God, however, is quite different from that of the Christian. In 
Islam God's will is arbitrary, his power is infinite 
and his authority is absolute. He creates all that exists and he wills and does everything that happens in 
the universe. In the Koran Allah is frequently described as kind and loving, as merciful and compassionate, but his will is arbitrary and determines everything apart from intrinsic moral and spiritual values. 
To be sure, one will find some modern Moslems 
with Western education who would seriously object to 
this last statement, but it is nevertheless the commonly 
accepted view in Islam, and in Moslem countries one 
very frequently meets the tradition that when Allah 
had prepared the clay for the creation of mankind 
he separated it into two parts, saying as he did so, 
"This portion for hell and I care not; and this portion for heaven and I care not." 
God's will is supreme. Man must believe in him or 
suffer eternal punishment in the final judgment. 
So far as Islam is concerned mankind has nothing 
more to anticipate, for the final revelation from God 
has been delivered. "He leaves to stray whom he wills 
and whom he wills he guides aright." One very common view of God is that we can know nothing at all 
about him, for "he is the high, the mighty." This 
rhyme is frequently heard in Cairo: 
No thought that comes into your mind 
Has permanence of any kind; 
Nor can you say I tell you flat 
That God is this or God is that. 
Nevertheless, one of the great realities to the Moslem is the fact of God: a God of mighty power, from 
whom we came and to whom we return when death 
summons us. 
2. "/ believe in his angels" To Moslems these are 
not meaningless words, for they hold that there are 
THE PERFECT RELIGION 47 
three kinds of creatures who belong to a different order from man, and yet are like him in some respects. 
These are angels, jinn, and devils. They are a species 
of spiritual creatures who have very direct relations 
with man, and touch him at many points in his daily 
life. 
So it is that when a Moslem declares his belief in 
angels, as real beings, he means it literally. 1 He believes that there are unnumbered angelic hosts who 
were created from light. They have the power of 
speech, and are rational beings. There are four angels 
who rank highest among the messengers of God, and 
two recording angels for each single living individual. 
One sits on the right shoulder and records one's good 
deeds; the other sits on the left shoulder and records 
his evil deeds. At the close of the prayers which 
all Moslems must recite five times daily the worshiper 
turns his head to the right and then to the left in 
formal salutation of these angels. There are also two 
terrible black angels with blue eyes who meet men 
in the grave after burial, and ask them if they are 
Moslems. Should the reply be in the negative severe 
punishment is meted out to them then and there. 
There are guardian angels for man who take care of 
him in times of danger. Eight angels are mentioned 
who support God's throne, and the fires of hell are 
said to be in charge of nineteen. 
Jinn, the genii of The Arabian Nights, are a sort of 
1 Something similar to this belief is vividly portrayed in "Green 
Pastures" when one sees the idea of angels that the uneducated 
Negro of the deep South holds. 
intermediate species between men and angels. There 
are both good and bad jinn, and they are created from 
fire. They assume various shapes, grow large and 
small at will, attack unsuspecting human beings, and 
are the cause of unending fear in the hearts of multitudes of Moslems who believe in their power over men. 
The average Moslem in Arabia, India, Iran or North 
Africa is amply prepared to verify the old tales of 
the jinn with chapters out of his own experience. 
In Calcutta an old Moslem servant threw up his job 
of pulling the fan, or punkah, which was worked by 
hand before the days of electricity. The reason he 
gave was that on the previous night a jinni had hit 
him a terrible blow on the back of his head, and he 
would stay there no longer. The truth was that as he 
was sitting with his back against a brick pillar he fell 
asleep, and the person for whom he was pulling the 
punkah awoke in a great perspiration, for the night 
was terribly hot. Since this was not the first time the 
old man had stopped pulling, his master rose from 
his bed, took a bottle of smelling salts and, quietly 
stealing up behind the pillar, held it under the old 
man's nose. At the first whiff the old man threw his 
head back quickly and of course hit it against the 
pillar. But being entirely unaware of the real cause 
of all that happened, he believed to his dying day 
that he had been the victim of some jinni. 
Jinn are said to inhabit wells, bath houses, abandoned dwellings and certain secluded regions. The 
Koran tells of how the jinn were interested auditors 
THE PERFECT RELIGION 49 
of Mohammed's preaching, and that a company of 
them was converted to Islam. One modernist Moslem, 
Sheikh Mohammed Abduh, of revered memory, was 
inclined to the view that the germs which cause disease are really jinn! 
Satan, called Iblis or the Shaitan, is the prince of 
all the shaitans or devils. He lost his standing as one 
of the righteous angels when he refused to obey God's 
command to bow down and worship Adam. So God 
cast him and his hosts out of paradise, and ever since 
Iblis and his shaitans have been the enemies of God 
and man. One must be continually on guard against 
them. The Traditions and the Koran are filled with 
instructions to the faithful on how to protect and preserve themselves from their evil power. In the morning, for instance, one should carefully cleanse the 
nose three times by snuffing water, because a devil 
takes up his abode in the nose during the night. 
Charms are worn by countless numbers of Moslems 
to ward off evil, and to bring prosperity and success. 
3. '7 believe in his books" We have already seen 
how the Koran originated, and how Mohammed believed that he had been chosen by Allah to receive 
the final expression of God's guidance for mankind. 
The Koran cancels all former revelations and supersedes them. It is revelation perfected. It is the climax 
of God's messages to man. 
According to the Moslem belief, God sent down to 
earth a hundred and four sacred books. Of these 
Adam was given ten books; Seth, fifty; Enoch received 
thirty; and ten were given to Abraham. None of these, 
however, is now in existence. The four books of divine revelation that are still to be found are the Law 
of Moses, or the first five books of the Bible; the 
Psalms of David; the Gospel of Jesus; and the Koran, 
which was revealed to Mohammed. Although the 
three other books are highly spoken of in the Koran, 
Moslems hold that the Koran alone of all the revelations now exists in the pure and uncorrupted form in 
which it was originally revealed. The Law of Moses, 
the Psalms of David, and the Gospel of Jesus are believed to exist now only in a corrupted form. 
And now we must take a closer look at the Koran 
itself. It is held in the highest reverence, and is believed to have been written by Allah on the "preserved tablet" in heaven, where the original has existed from all eternity. Moslems hold that it is uncreated and eternal, the very speech of God. It is even regarded as the one great miracle with which God honored Mohammed, and hence it is the standing proof 
of this prophetship. It is an unusual book, and the 
rhyming prose of its Arabic is full of a mysterious 
charm for those who recite it in their daily worship, or 
read it in private or in public. In size it is a little 
smaller than the New Testament, though it contains 
one hundred and fourteen chapters. But it has no 
order, or sequence of thought, or systematic arrangement; and scholars have spent years of effort trying 
to work out a chronological order of its contents. 
Its subjects cover a wide range of human interest. 
THE PERFECT RELIGION 51 
There are stories of the prophets and apostles from 
Adam to Moses, and from David and Solomon to 
Jesus; it contains laws for the regulation of family 
life, and for the ordering of personal, tribal, and national affairs; it abounds in sermons, exhortations to 
good works, warnings for evildoers, and vivid descriptions of the sensual delights of heaven and the fearful 
torments of hell. In places the sublimity of its thought 
and language reminds one of the impassioned utterances of the ancient Hebrew Tophets. The following 
are excellent illustrations: 
The Light Verse 
God is the Light of the Heavens and of the Earth. 
His light is like a niche in which is a lamp 
The lamp encased in glass 
The glass, as it were, a glistening star. 
From a blessed tree is it lighted, 
The olive neither of the East nor of the West, 
Whose oil would well-nigh shine out, 
Even though fire touched it not! 
It is light upon light. 
God guideth whom he will to his light, 
And God setteth forth parables to men, 
For God knoweth all things. 1 
Sura XXIV 
The Fatiha (Opening Chapter) 
Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds! 
The compassionate, the merciful ! 
King on the day of reckoning! 
J. M. RodwelPs translation of the Koran, pp. 46-47. New 
York, E. P. Button & Co., 1909. 
Thee only do we worship, and to thee do we cry for help. 
Guide thou us on the straight path, 
The path of those to whom thou hast been gracious; with 
whom thou art not angry, and who go not astray. 1 
Sura I 
The first of these examples may be likened to one 
of the psalms, and the second is not unlike our Lord's 
Prayer, and is used by Moslems in much the same 
way. 
Moslems regard the Koran as the central truth for 
the world. It is not Mohammed but the Koran that is 
the revelation of God's will; not a personality but a 
book. Being of divine origin it is not subject to ordinary literary and historical criticism, and the means 
by which it was revealed is not open to investigation. 
Even the best-educated Moslems who have been trained 
in the latest scientific knowledge of Western universities dare not seriously advance any modern opinions 
about the origin of the Koran, or call in question the 
method of its production. This doctrine of revelation 
is the cornerstone of faith on which Islam is founded; 
and one may well say that if this is lost, then all is 
lost. The question is, How long can such a belief 
withstand the advance of knowledge and the ultimate 
demands of truth? 
In addition to the Koran, the Moslems regard the 
genuine Traditions concerning Mohammed as being 
second only in divine authority to the Koran itself. 
They are considered of immense importance because 
1 From J. M. RodwelTs translation of the Koran, p. 28. 
THE PERFECT RELIGION 53 
of the belief that Mohammed was divinely guided in 
all that he said and all that he did. Everything that 
the Prophet said in his table talk or at other times in 
ordinary conversation, everything he did or did not 
do, has been collected in the form of thousands and 
tens of thousands of traditions, sifted, edited and 
finally preserved in six accepted collections. 
The following specimen traditions will give an idea 
of this class of inspired writing that is held in such 
high regard by Moslems as a basis for faith, and as 
a rule for life: 
The Apostle of God said, "When a dead person is placed 
in the grave, then two black angels with blue eyes come to 
him one of whom is called Munkar and the other Nakir. . . ." 
Ayesha was once asked what the Apostle of God did the 
first thing when he entered his house. She replied: "He 
began to use a twig for cleaning his teeth." 
The Apostle of God said: "He who builds a mosque for 
God, God will build a house for him in paradise." 
"Verily, God does not accept the prayer of a man clothed 
in long trousers." 
It is not the Koran alone but the traditions as well 
which give the true understanding of Islamic faith 
and practice. 
4. "/ believe in his apostles." Islam distinguishes 
between prophets and apostles and puts the latter in 
a higher class than the former. It is said that there 
have been one hundred and twenty-four thousand 
prophets, and only three hundred and fifteen apostles, 
and of these six are placed in the highest category. 
These six are Adam, the chosen of God; Noah, the 
preacher of God; Abraham, die friend of God; Moses, 
the spokesman of God; Jesus, the word of God; and 
Mohammed, the apostle of God. 
These prophets and apostles are in the sacred succession of those who have been honored and chosen 
by God to communicate his guidance to mankind 
down the centuries. Mohammed is the last and the 
best of them. He will never have a successor, and it is 
firmly believed that ultimately the whole world will 
accept Islam. 
5. "/ believe in the Last Day" The fifth article of 
belief in the Moslem creed has to do with the happenings of what is called the Last Day. It is also 
known as the Day of Resurrection, or Separation, or 
Reckoning, when the good and bad deeds of men will 
be reckoned up as a bookkeeper reckons his accounts. 
Most dreadful will be the terrors of that day and 
hour. There will be a literal resurrection of the physical bodies, and .so the afterlife, Moslems believe, will 
be one either of everlasting physical pleasures or of 
physical punishments. Many modern Moslems today 
would treat the descriptions of heaven and hell as 
found in the Koran and Traditions as allegorical, 
and give to them spiritual meanings. But by the standard orthodox writers and ordinary believers these descriptions are accepted literally as set forth. 
Paradise or heaven as described in the Koran is 
like a huge banqueting hall, or lovely "gardens of 
THE PERFECT RELIGION 55 
delight . . . with goblets and ewers and a cup of 
flowing wine; their brows ache not from it, nor fails 
the sense; . . . theirs shall be the houris . . . ever 
virgins." * The greatest spiritual pleasure in heaven is 
the sight of the face of God. But the ideal virtues are 
not glorified in the Koran in vivid and concrete imagery. 
The torments of hell are portrayed in lurid language. There are seven gates, and each gate is strongly 
guarded. Its terrifically hot fires burn with fuel consisting of sinners and stones. Its inhabitants are given 
nothing to drink but liquid pus, and their garments 
are burning pitch. 
Men will know when the Day of Judgment is approaching because the sun will rise in the west; there 
will be a terrific world war between the opposing 
hosts of Gog and Magog; the Antichrist will come, 
and Jesus as a leader of the Moslems will descend 
from heaven, alighting first on the minaret of the ancient mosque at Damascus. The Mahdi, 2 too, will 
come, and will eventually lead Islam to universal 
victory. 
6. "/ believe in the predestination by Allah of 
good and evil." This is the last article of the Islamic 
creed, and in it we find the key to much of the course 
that history and human life have taken in Moslem 
lands. While it is impossible to prove from Koranic 
J. M. RodwelPs translation of the Koran, pp. 66-67. 
2 Literally, the Directed One ; a ruler who will appear upon the 
earth in the last days. See Chapter Eight, p. 151. 
texts that Islam is exclusively fatalistic, denying free 
will to man, yet in practice, as well as in the teaching 
of most of the Moslem sects, man's destiny is regarded as entirely in the hands of God. To such an 
extent is this fatalistic view of life held that it colors 
and affects life at every point. The individual not 
only ceases but refuses to accept responsibility for 
his actions and their consequences. If he misses a 
train, it was not his fault the train left before he 
got there. It was God's will, why worry? If he fails 
to pass his examination, it was written in his destiny 
that he should fail, and that is the end of the matter. 
If a Moslem promises to do a certain thing, he will 
always protect himself with the reservation, "If God 
wills," and so leave open a back door of escape from 
fulfilling an inconvenient promise. Since God wills 
both the good and the evil that happen in the world, 
man never knows whether he will have success or not. 
In Islam blessed is the man who expects mercy for 
it is a sin to despair of God's goodness. 
Still, overemphasis on the certainty of fate cuts 
the nerve of endeavor, and allows men to settle back 
into the ruts of custom and fall into ways that lead 
to degeneration and decay. It is not too much to say 
that this view of life has been a millstone of despair 
around the neck of Moslem society and peoples everywhere. This one article of belief in itself is sufficient 
ultimately to work the complete destruction of any 
people that lives by it. Unless Islam can sufficiently 
reconstruct its practical philosophy of life so that a 
THE PERFECT RELIGION 57 
new and different principle of action can be offered to 
man, one that inspires him and challenges him to 
better effort, it is difficult to see how its followers 
can avoid being left far behind in the march of 
time. 
The efforts being made today in certain Moslem 
countries, such as Turkey, Iran, and Iraq, to make 
progress along the lines of Western civilization have 
come about largely because their leaders have abandoned the fatalistic view of life as found in Islam, 
and have struck out on new paths. In Turkey, national 
progress is undoubtedly the guiding ideal and motive 
for the leadership of President Kamal Ataturk. Islam 
as a religion appears to be of interest to the present 
regime at Angora only in so far as it furthers the 
purposes of nationalism. After all that has happened 
in Russia, and even in Turkey itself, it is not impossible to imagine that the Turkish rulers might even 
yet bow Islam completely off the stage should it appear to stand in the way of national development. 
THE SECTS OF ISLAM 
The simple faith and practice as originally transmitted to the Moslem people by the Prophet Mohammed in the form of Islam, "the perfect religion," 
later lost its unity and simplicity with the development of different sects. If sectarianism is a hindrance 
and a weakness to Christianity, it is equally so for 
Islam. The Prophet is credited with having said that 
his people would be ultimately divided into seventythree sects, only one of which would be orthodox 
and be saved! 
In general, Moslems may be roughly classified as 
belonging to two main sects, the Sunnites and the Shiites. The first sect is by far the largest, and it is the 
sect that adheres most closely to the path which Mohammed followed. The Sunnites predominate in most 
Moslem lands, and it is they who hold the belief that 
the caliph is the visible successor of Mohammed. The 
Shiites are comparatively few in number. They are 
found chiefly in Iran, where they predominate, in 
Iraq and in India. The Shiites do not accept the doctrine of the caliph as the leader of the Moslems, and 
they have a theory of divine leadership of the Moslem 
people and especially of their own sect by an 
imam, a belief which has led to many bitter and 
bloody wars between the two communities. 
Of more recent origin are two other groups: the 
Wahhabis, who as we have seen earlier in this chapter conducted a campaign of reform in the eighteenth 
century, and who are today a powerful force in 
Arabia; and the Ahmadiyas, followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of India, who just before the beginning 
of the present century organized a great revival movement for the purpose of spreading Islam to all the 
countries of the world. The Ahmadiya movement is 
active today, and carries on missionary propaganda 
in many lands. 1 
x The Ahmadiya movement is described more fully in Chapter 
Eight. 
THE PERFECT RELIGION 59 
THE DERVISH ORDERS 
There has grown up alongside ritualistic worship 
in Islam a belief in a more direct and mystic approach to God. The belief is that God can best be 
known through the experience of religious ecstasy 
and emotion. Those who become most practised and 
experienced in this sort of knowledge of God are 
known as pirs, or guides, and it is their business to 
guide their disciples into similar emotional experiences of God. These pirs and their disciples are organized into dervish orders or brotherhoods throughout the Moslem world. They .are very similar to the 
religious orders or brotherhoods in the Roman Catholic church, such as the Dominicans and Franciscans. 
The word dervish literally means one who goes from 
door to door. It signifies also that the member of the 
order is one who is poor in this world's goods. 
Occasionally the pir makes a tour to visit his disciples and to make new ones. When he comes to a city 
he is literally besieged by his followers, who garland 
him with flowers, vie with each other for an opportunity to kiss his hand, and seek his blessing. During 
the course of such a visit the pir will conduct a zikr, 
or special prayer meeting, for those who have been 
initiated into the order. The pir will sit on the floor in 
the middle of a circle of his disciples, and lead them 
in swaying movements of the body as they recite in 
unison: "La ilaha illa-llah" "There is no god but 
Allah." As they proceed in the meeting, which may 
last for hours, they are supposed to enter into a wonderful experience of ecstasy and nearness to God. 
Many of them fall down in utter exhaustion. 
The pir, too, is expected to be able to work miracles 
for his followers. Some are noted for being able to 
work cures for snakebite, for healing all sorts of diseases, and for removing the curse of sterility from 
childless women. One of the functions of the pir is 
to supply charms for his people. These charms usually consist of verses from the Koran written on small 
pieces of paper which are folded and placed in a 
small case of silver or gold and worn around the 
neck or the arm of the person to ward off evil. They 
are placed on children to protect them from the effects 
of the evil eye, curses, disease, and accidents of all 
sorts. Conversely they are worn to bring good luck, 
safety during journeys, and success in examinations 
or in business. In Egypt and Syria drivers of automobiles will ordinarily not venture out without hanging 
a string of blue beads over the front of the radiator 
to protect them from accident. 
Many localities are associated with the protection 
of some particular saint. In the Vale of Kashmir, for 
example, the patron saint of the Jhelum River valley 
is one Abdul Qadir Jilani, whose tomb is in Baghdad. 
The Kashmiris call him Pir Dastgir (The Helpful 
Pir). His help is continually sought, especially by 
the Moslem boatmen of the valley. The following 
verses, written by the author during a vacation in 
Kashmir, will perhaps show how the common people 
look to the pir for help in their everyday life. 
THE PERFECT RELIGION 61 
On the waters of the Jhelum, 
With their voices ringing clear, 
Call the boatmen, as they labor, 
On their Pir Dastgir. 
It is he who helps them onward 
From the leafy Bagh Chenar, 
Through the Dai-gate and the channels 
To the smiling Shalimar; 
While up the winding river 
Shining like a silver thread 
On the bosom of the landscape, 
With the blue sky overhead; 
Or beneath the templed summit 
Of the Throne of Solomon, 
You can hear them calling, calling, 
Be it late at night, or dawn. 
For the guardian of the valley 
Is the famous Pir Dastgir; 
And without his aid no boatman 
Ventures forth in fair Kashmir. 
BAHAISM 
An offshoot from Islam that has established itself 
in Western countries and that may well be considered 
here briefly is Bahaism. The name is taken from its 
founder, Mirza Husain AH, entitled Baha'ullah (The 
Splendor of God), who claimed to be a manifestation 
of Deity. 
Orthodox Islam has been bitterly hostile to it. It claims 
to include and supersede all other religions, and is highly 
eclectic in character. It includes many humanitarian principles, largely assimilated into its teachings after contact 
with the West. As met with on its native heath of Iran, its 
principle of taqiya, or concealment of one's religious faith 
as a method of escaping persecution, is characteristic. It 
carries on an active propaganda abroad and makes extraordinary and unsubstantiated claims of successes. 1 
The whole question of the finality of religion is 
raised by this chapter on the "perfect religion." We 
see now why Moslems describe their religion in these 
terms of perfection and finality. Islam is a religion 
of external divine authority. It rests its entire claim 
to truth and perfection on its accepted theory of revelation. If this theory is valid, and if the Koran was 
revealed in the manner asserted by Moslems, then of 
course that settles the matter, and we should all be 
very foolish not to become followers of Mohammed. 
If it is not valid, then the claim for perfection and 
finality falls to the ground. 
In a sense Moslems themselves have perceived this 
difficulty, and have sought to base their practical religious life on two other elements vital to real religion: one of these is a personal example of the ideal 
way of life, and the other is a personal and direct experience of God possible to the believer. For the first 
they have idealized the life and character of Mohammed; and for the second they have introduced and 
popularized the teachings and practices of mysticism. 
The highest aim of the Moslem is to imitate him in 
1 Mecca and Beyond, Ly Edward M. Dodd and Rose Wilson Dodd, 
p. 146. Boston, Central Committee on the United Study of Foreign 
Missions and Missionary Education Movement, 1937. 
THE PERFECT RELIGION 63 
whom the one true religion was perfected, and to come 
into direct and personal contact with God through the 
exercises of the mystics. 
In the last analysis, however, the real test of finality 
in any religion is whether it is actually able to meet 
the growing demands of life. If it can always keep 
ahead of man with its ideals, its principles, and its 
basic conceptions of life and the universe in which 
we live, then in truth it may be regarded as final. But 
if life should outgrow and go beyond the principles 
and ideals of any religion, then, of course, it will in 
time be classed among the antiquities interesting but 
no longer useful. Islam must submit to this test. The 
question is, Can Islam meet such a test? The Moslem 
says it can. 
==CHAPTER FOUR. THE STRAIGHT PATH ==
ALA.HU AKBAR! God is most great! God is most 
great! God is most great! God is most great!" 
Thus sang out the muezzin from the top of the 
high minaret of the great mosque in Damascus as he 
gave the Moslem call to prayer in a high falsetto 
voice. It happened to be Friday. I was standing with 
some friends in a beautiful little garden by the tomb 
of Saladin. I remembered those fierce and worse than 
useless struggles of the Crusades when this famous 
Saracenic warrior led his Moslem troops against the 
Christian forces of Richard the Lion-hearted all of 
which reminded us that the Crusades were great pageantry, but poor Christianity. 
And then this beautifully weird call to prayer suddenly broke in upon our meditations, with its four 
times repeated "Allahu akbar!" We all stood at attention to hear it to the end. The day was the Moslem 
Sabbath, and it was a thrilling sight to see multitudes 
hurrying to the mosque in response to that call. It was 
as though the forces of Mohammed the Prophet were 
being mobilized again for action, so ready was the 
response as the faithful listened to the muezzin with 
his melodious voice sing out in stately Arabic, "God 
THE STRAIGHT PATH 65 
is most great! God is most great! God is most great! 
God is most great! I bear witness that there is no god 
but Allah! I bear witness that there is no god but 
Allah! I testify that Mohammed is the apostle of Allah! Come to prayer! Come to prayer! Come to prosperity! Come to prosperity! God is most great! God is 
most great! There is no god but Allah!" 
Five times a day in every land the muezzins call 
the faithful to prayer. From China to Afghanistan, 
and from Borneo to Egypt, this is the cry that mobilizes millions of the followers of the Arabian 
prophet for the worship of God, who bids them come 
to him and submissively walk in the straight path. 
In the opening chapter of the Koran Mohammed 
prays that God will guide him and his people in the 
straight path "the path of those to whom thou hast 
been gracious; with whom thou art not angry, and 
who go not astray." Mohammed does not make the 
claim that he is the way but rather prays that he may 
be guided as well as his people. However, it is essentially true that Mohammed has become the way for 
Moslems, and their highest ideal is to be able to follow the path that he trod. 
Let us now examine this straight path, for it, too, 
is a part of the Moslem conception of the perfect religion. A Moslem must not only believe correctly, he 
must act correctly as well. Islam is supremely a religion of correct religious practice. It tells its followers 
exactly what they must do. Its rules are innumerable 
and meticulous, and theoretically govern, control and 
regulate the whole of human life. The straight path 
reaches everywhere through the realms of. religious, 
personal, social, economic, national and international 
affairs. However, in this chapter we shall deal only 
with that which has to do with the personal religious 
life of the Moslem how he worships. 
THE RITUAL OF ISLAM 
"A Moslem," Mohammed is reported to have said, 
"is one who is resigned and obedient to God's will." 
Five duties clearly mark out the straight path for the 
Moslem. 
1. He bears witness that there is no god but Allah. 
2. He continues steadfast in prayer. 
3. He fasts in the month of Ramadan. 
4. He gives the required alms. 
5. He performs the pilgrimage to Mecca, if he has 
the means. 
These duties are also called the pillars of religion. 
While they were laid down by Mohammed in a general way, the working out of the details was left to 
later generations and masters of the art of religious 
etiquette. Their source is, of course, the Koran and 
the Traditions, and the obligation to perform them is 
unquestioned. 
One of the things that impresses a Westerner visiting Moslem lands is the serious manner in which the 
average man takes his religion. As we followed Mohammed Beg and Abdullah on their journey across 
India we found that it is no uncommon thing to see 
THE STRAIGHT PATH 67 
some of the passengers get up, spread their prayer 
rugs down on the floor of the coach, take their stand 
as nearly as possible facing in the direction of Mecca, 
and proceed to go through the prayer ritual. We 
found, too, that when the train stops at a station just 
after sundown one can see a number of men using 
the brief space of time at their disposal to go through 
the prayer ceremony on the platform. Or another picture: A laborer in the fields has heard the far-away 
call to prayer coming from the mosque in his village. 
He stops his work, throws down his rude hoe, places 
a cloth on the ground for a prayer rug, and there in 
the twilight after the sun has set, facing Mecca, 
he bows in worship before God, the mighty and wise, 
the merciful, the compassionate. 
This feeling that God is always with one is a very 
powerful factor in Islam. It is one of its outstanding 
values. The Moslem is conscious of his spiritual need 
and his dependence on Allah. Allah is his master, his 
king. Tfie Moslem is his submissive subject and bondservant. This being the case, true religion consists in 
being loyally obedient to God's commands, and 
strictly carrying out his orders. It is essential, thereforej that for the outward expression of his religion 
man should be provided with specific instructions, 
which it shall be righteousness to carry out, and sin 
to disobey. It follows, then, that the observance of 
religious obligations is the most important thing in 
Islam. Men must be able to see the good works of a 
religious man and verily he has his reward. He is 
conscious of having done his duty, and people who 
have seen him at prayer praise him for being a faithful servant of Allah. 
THE FIVE DUTIES OF A MOSLEM 
1. Witnessing for Allah. The Moslem creed is the 
shortest in the world, and its very brevity is one secret of the enormous influence it has over the world 
of Islam. "La ilaha illa-llahu, Muhammadu rasulu 
allahi" "There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed 
is the apostle of Allah," are the magic words that 
bind the Moslem peoples into one. They are whispered 
into the ear of infants at birth, and are the last words 
of consolation given to the dying. From western China 
to the heart of Africa the Moslem trader has won 
converts to the faith by his impressive recital of this 
tabloid version of the message of the Prophet. 
It is required of a convert that he make his confession of this creed in a mosque if possible. He must 
repeat it aloud in Arabic words, whether he knows 
that language or not; he must understand the meaning 
and accept it in his heart; he must be firm in his belief in this creed till death; he must always recite it 
correctly; and finally, it must always be repeated 
without hesitation. 
2. Prayer. Ritual prayer in Islam consists in the 
strict observance of a very definite set of acts performed at stated times in a particular manner. With 
this attitude toward and understanding of prayer it 
is not strange that Moslems regard Protestant Chris
THE STRAIGHT PATH 69 
tians as irreverent and irreligious because of the casual and informal manner in which they engage in 
prayer. It is hard for them to understand that the 
Christian emphasis is upon the inward and spiritual 
value and meaning of prayer, rather than on the outward concrete forms and physical postures. To the 
Moslem, however, these outward forms are important, and give essential validity to his prayers. They 
are a part of the straight path which will ultimately 
lead him to the gate of heaven. To some the Moslem 
prayer recited in Arabic five times a day may seem 
but vain repetition; but to the faithful it is the staff 
of life, the key to paradise. 
Prayer to be acceptable to God must come up to 
certain standards or requirements, and these must be 
strictly observed. These are the right direction in 
which to face (the qibla), legal purification, the correct times, correct postures, and recitation in Arabic. 
The qibla, or right direction to face. Moslems all 
over the world are required to face the holy shrine 
of Islam, the Kaaba at Mecca, when they pray. No 
Moslem would even think of beginning his prayer 
without being reasonably sure of his directions. Travelers by sea or land have often asked the writer to 
indicate where the sun rises, so that from that information they might get their bearings. Sometimes a 
compass is carried to enable one to make sure that 
he is right; the author has seen a small compass carried as a watch charm for this purpose. At one time 
Mohammed had designated Jerusalem as the qibla; 
but later on this revelation was canceled by another 
which fixed Mecca for all time as the correct center. 
Some liberal Moslems may be found who will tell 
you that after all direction in prayer does not matter, 
and that the Koran says both the East and the West 
belong to God. Nevertheless it is extremely doubtful 
if they would ever be found in practice neglecting 
this specific instruction of the Prophet with regard 
to prayer. The observance of direction is universal 
in Islamic prayer. No mosque in the world from the 
Philippines to London is built without being so arranged that the worshipers will face Mecca. 
Purification. This is one of the most intricate and 
important requirements for valid prayer. Volumes 
have been written for the sole purpose of explaining 
the methods, occasions, and purposes of the use of 
water for ceremonial purification, and how, under certain circumstances when water is not obtainable, clean 
sand may be used in its place. It is difficult for us to 
understand and appreciate the lengths to which Islam 
has gone in this matter of purification. To us it may 
seem puerile in the extreme. To them it is a very serious affair. This all grows out of the insistent demand 
which Islam makes for the specific and concrete. 
Many editions of the Koran bear the following notice to all who handle this sacred book, "Let none 
touch it but the purified." This has no reference to 
the pure in heart, but to those who have removed all 
traces of impurity from their bodies, who have, as it 
were, made clean "the outside of the cup." This is 
THE STRAIGHT PATH 71 
the purification that the Moslem law requires for 
prayer. One shall have properly cleaned the teeth, 
cleaned and trimmed the nails of hands and feet, and 
taken a bath. The feet, hands, ears and face shall have 
been washed in precisely the right manner. Even the 
mouth and the nose shall be carefully cleansed to 
make sure that Satan has taken his departure from 
hidden recesses. For prayer the head must be covered, 
to prevent evil spirits from entering the skull; and the 
shoes must be removed, for they are unclean. All this 
and vastly more minute directions are given for the 
benefit of those who are exceedingly particular about 
avoiding even the appearance of evil. 
Times for prayer. The true Moslem, faithful and 
devoted bondservant of Allah, would sooner miss his 
meals, be late at work, or lose a train than fail to 
pray at the appointed times. In every Moslem country 
one can hear before dawn all through the year the 
sonorous call of the muezzin from some mosque rousing the faithful for their morning watch with the 
words: "God is most great! . . . Come to prayer! 
. . . Prayer is better than sleep." This is the first 
prayer service of the day, and while a worshiper may 
observe it at home, or anywhere else, it is always better to observe prayer in a mosque. And many there 
are who go. This is followed by four other stated 
times of prayer, making five in all. These are just 
after noon, two hours before sunset, just after sunset, 
and finally two hours after sunset. 
Correct postures. The idea that a person can offer 
prayer in any position is unthinkable to the Moslem. 
To him posture of the body is part of the prayer, as 
is purification of the body. There are six definite postures assumed by the Moslem when engaged in the 
regular prayers, which must be used in the proper 
order whether one is praying alone or in a congregation of thousands. Each posture has a definite significance. The full prostration with the forehead on 
the ground indicates complete submission to God. 
Prayer in Arabic. The Moslems say that Arabic is 
"the language of the angels." At any rate it is the 
sacred language of Islam, and prayer to be valid must 
be recited in it, for these Moslem prayers we have 
been discussing are not voluntary prayers, but required ritual prayers. 
When the worshiper prays he says the following, 
each portion being accompanied by a definite posture: 
1. "God is most great." 
2. "I seek refuge from accursed Satan." He then 
recites the Fatiha, the opening chapter of the Koran, 
and one other short chapter as well, such as the last 
chapter which reads: 
In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful. 
Say: I betake me for refuge to the Lord of men, 
The King of men, 
The God of men, 
Against the mischief of the stealthily withdrawing whisperer (Satan), 
Who whispereth in man's breast 
Against jinn and men. 
THE STRAIGHT PATH 73 
3. "I extol the perfection of my Lord, the great! 
Our Lord, praise unto thee." This the worshiper says 
three times. 
4. "God is most great." He then says three times, 
"I extol the perfection of my Lord most high." 
5. "God is most great." He then repeats 4 and 5. 
6. "Peace be upon you and the mercy of God." 
This is said as he turns his head to the right shoulder 
and again as he turns it to the left to salute the recording angels of good and evil in turn. 
The devout follower of Islam repeats this same 
form of prayer seventy-five times a day during the 
five periods of prayer. In addition special prayer is 
required at the time of an eclipse of the sun or moon, 
and on the two great feast days which occur each year. 
That prayer is a sincere reality to the Moslem, and 
not merely a form, there is not the slightest doubt. 
Generally speaking, he takes it seriously. No one 
must disturb him while he is thus engaged. At times 
while calling on a Moslem official the writer has literally had to sit for long periods waiting for him to 
finish his devotions. It is true that Turkey has abolished the fez, and introduced the European hat or cap 
with brim or vizor, and that an effort has been made 
to replace prayers in Arabic by prayers in Turkish; 
but the rest of the Moslem world shrug their shoulders 
and go on their traditional way, regretful that their 
Turkish brothers have strayed so far from the straight 
path, and all the more determined to remain therein 
themselves. 
Moslems who have been brought under Christian 
influence sometimes show the keenest spiritual insight in regard to prayer. One Moslem girl some years 
ago in the Isabella Thoburn College in Lucknow had 
been deeply impressed by the addresses she had heard 
in a series of meetings held for the students. In her 
heart she had been won for Christ, but she felt she 
could not take the final step of accepting him for 
fear of her family. At the close of one of the meetings she arose and told her story, and asked that those 
present should pray for her, that she might be helped 
through this time of testing. She closed her remarks 
by asking the congregation to sing her favorite Christian hymn, "In the hour of trial, Jesus, plead for me." 
A very fitting hymn for such a troubled soul and a 
striking confession for a Moslem to admit that she 
had a favorite Christian hymn! Given a chance the 
follower of Mohammed can appreciate the depth and 
reality of the spiritual meaning of prayer as well as 
anyone. 
But granted that the Moslem may be sincere in 
prayer* as he understands it, the question still remains, 
Is he right, or has he missed the real point of communion with God and higher values which prayer has 
to offer? Has he perhaps set up a mechanical substitute for the real thing? And yet there are some things 
of real value that can be learned from the Moslem 
about prayer, if we are sufficiently humble and willing to learn. He is certainly to be commended for his 
belief in the value of prayer, for his belief that God 
THE STRAIGHT PATH 75 
is his guide and that it is worth while to put God in 
his daily timetable. 
3. Fasting. The month of Ramadan is the time for 
fasting in Moslem lands. This article of the faith corresponds in some sense to the month of Lent among 
Christians, but is observed in an entirely different 
way, and for an entirely different purpose. Observance of fasting during the month of Ramadan is for 
the purpose of obtaining merit. As one tradition says: 
". . . The rewards of fasting are beyond bounds, for 
fasting is for God alone, and he will give its rewards." 
The fast begins before sunrise, and ends at sunset. Not 
a morsel of food, nor a drop of water, nor a whiff of a 
pipe or cigarette may be taken during the day, no 
matter how great the heat, or how long the summer 
day in the tropics. It thus falls particularly hard on 
Moslems during the years when the lunar calendar 
brings Ramadan in the hot months. 
The following quotation from The Iran, a Teheran 
newspaper, reflects the meaning of Ramadan there: 
For Moslems the month of Ramadan is the month of 
prayer. There are a certain few people who have a special 
account with God, that is, in eleven months out of a year 
they do whatever they wish to do: drink wine, gamble, 
commit adultery, etc.; but when the month of Ramadan 
comes they put away all their bad acts and not only fast 
but pray as often as they find free time from their business. 
Another group of Moslems pray all the year round, but 
more for the sake of trying to impress people that they are 
real Moslems. Every time they bow down their heads in 
prayer they wish to obtain the trust of people of this world 
as well as of the other world. 
Another group feel that they are forced to fast, but whenever they find a chance, they eat as much as they can. 
Still another group of philosophers are found who say 
that man should serve other people rather than fast. 
Then there is a last group, from whose hands may God 
protect us, who believe in nothing. Many are to be seen 
these days. 
We really all misuse the fasting month. Those who fast 
and do not eat anything during the daytime, make up for it 
at night. They begin eating just after sunset and do not stop 
chewing until sunrise. The result of this is an upset stomach 
which sends them to physicians right after Ramadan and 
keeps them the regular visitors of the cruel doctors all 
the year. 
The law of fasting is not applied to infants, idiots, 
the sick and the aged. It is considered an act of great 
merit to spend much time during the nights of Ramadan reading the Koran and the Traditions. It is believed that the Koran was revealed on one of the last 
ten nights of Ramadan, and for this reason the month 
is considered very sacred. 
If fasting is to be of any real value for either spiritual or physical purposes, it would seem that it 
would have to be observed in some more rational 
manner. One cannot deny that there may be value in 
fasting if it is done with a deep spiritual purpose, 
and to achieve some worthy end. One can appreciate 
the lofty objective of Mahatma Gandhi when he fasted 
for twenty-one days in 1924, and risked his life in 
order to try to bring about better and more brotherly 
THE STRAIGHT PATH 77 
relations between the Moslems and Hindus of India. 
But the fast of Ramadan, which is required in the 
name of religion, and in practice appears to be an 
end in itself, generally operates in such a manner as 
to be devoid of true spiritual power. It is thus, undoubtedly, that many Western-educated Moslems regard it, since they no longer strictly observe it. 
4. Tithes and alms. A good Moslem must give 
regularly for the cause of religion. This is one of the 
pillars of Islamic faith that goes back directly to the 
example of the Prophet and the teaching of the Koran. 
Therefore the tithe in Islam is compulsory, as it was 
among the Jews. The tithing rate in Islam is much 
less than the Jewish one-tenth of the income, and is 
generally regarded as about one-fortieth of the total 
income. Where strict Islamic law and government prevail there are religious tax collectors who gather up 
these tithes; but generally speaking today the matter 
is left to the conscience of the individual, and especially is this true in countries where Moslems live 
under non-Moslem governments, such as India and 
North Africa. 
In addition to the legal tithe which is required, it 
is no uncommon thing for Moslems to make additional offerings for charitable purposes. Islam encourages giving to the poor and homeless, and the expenditure of one's substance on hospitality. In fact 
it is a religious duty to be hospitable, and a Moslem 
is expected to entertain a guest for three days. After 
that length of time one may not expect hospitality to 
be extended. This rule applies to the poor as well as 
to the rich, and throughout the Moslem countries one 
will find regular entertainment of guests the common 
practice. It even becomes a burden on the poor but 
a burden cheerfully accepted. 
5. The pilgrimage to Mecca. The center of the Islamic world is Mecca, and the center of Mecca is the 
Kaaba. It was a master stroke of Mohammed when he 
made the pilgrimage to Mecca one of the duties of 
religion. Undoubtedly it has been one of the strongest 
factors for creating a sense of brotherhood and unity 
among the diverse peoples of the Moslem world. 
We find the pilgrimage idea all down through human history. Christians during the Middle Ages made 
the pilgrimage to Palestine. Chaucer's Canterbury 
Tales are stories told by pilgrims to the tomb of 
Thomas a Becket. Today we Protestants have summer 
conferences and conventions instead! 
The pilgrimage to Mecca attracts pilgrims from 
every corner of the Moslem world by the tens of 
thousands, as we saw in the first chapter. In 1929 the 
number was reported as 85,000, and in 1934 at least 
60,000 arrived at Mecca for the opening day's exercises. They come from everywhere, by sea and by 
land. In 1934 no less than 25,000 came by sea to 
Jidda alone from Singapore, Cape Town, and various other ports north and south. Many also come by 
the overland routes, using the Hejaz railway from 
Damascus to Medina; or by motor omnibus from 
Baghdad across the desert; and special haft parties 
THE STRAIGHT PATH 79 
have been known to make their way by bus even 
from Lahore, India, to the Holy City! The return of 
these pilgrims to their native villages and cities in 
Java, India, Central Asia, Iran, North Africa and 
elsewhere plays an important part in maintaining the 
Moslem morale and preserving the bonds of Islamic 
brotherhood throughout these countries. 
The ceremonies center largely around the Kaaba in 
Mecca. This is a curious cube-shaped building in the 
center of the mosque. The top and outer walls are always covered by a specially made black cloth, which 
is adorned with a broad band embroidered in gold 
with inscriptions from the Koran. The Kaaba antedates Islam, and was formerly used by the idolatrous 
Meccans as their house of worship. Its most ancient 
treasure is the famous Black Stone, which is said to 
have once been white but to have been turned black 
by the kisses of the pilgrims! It was probably a meteorite, but is said by Moslems to have been sent from 
heaven. 
Before returning home the pilgrim usually visits 
Mohammed's tomb at Medina, which adds additional 
strength to his faith and merit to his journey. In fact, 
the visit to Mohammed's tomb, which was recommended by him, according to the Traditions, has undoubtedly been taken by Moslems as a basis for extending the practice to include visits to the tombs of 
holy men everywhere. Consequently we find the Shiite 
sect visiting the tombs of their holy imams at Karbala 
and Najaf in Iraq, and at Meshed in Iran, and elsewhere; while the tombs of Moslem saints are venerated and regularly visited throughout the length 
and breadth of the Moslem world. Only the puritanical Wahhabis, whose present leader is King Ibn Saoud 
of Mecca, prohibit this, and at one time they carried 
their fanatical opposition to such an extent that after 
the World War was over they attacked Medina and 
even damaged the tomb of the Prophet to remove 
from it evidences of reverence for Mohammed which 
they considered to be worship of him. 
REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS 
Along with these five pillars of faith that we have 
been considering we must, before ending this study 
of the straight path, look at the closely related subject of Moslem ethics arid the system of rewards and 
punishments under Islam. 
Moslem ethics may be conceived as consisting of a 
definite moral code or set of rules for conduct known 
as the Law (shariat), which is based upon divine revelation as found in the Koran and the Traditions. 
Those who obey the law are rewarded, and the disobedient are punished, all according to a well denned 
scale of values. This conception of ethical standards, 
rewards and punishments may be sketched briefly as 
follows: 
1. Obligatory acts: performance rewarded, omission punishable. 
2. Recommended acts: rewarded if done, not punishable if omitted. 
THE STRAIGHT PATH 81 
3. Permissible or allowed acts: do as you please; 
acts of this kind are neither punishable nor rewarded. 
4. Disapproved acts: not punishable. 
5. Forbidden acts: punishable; abstinence brings 
reward. 
The ideas of sin that Moslems have are very definite. Sins are divided into two classes: great sins and 
little sins. The seven great sins are sometimes described as: idolatry, murder, false charge of adultery, 
wasting the estate of orphans, taking interest on 
money, desertion from holy war, and disobedience to 
parents. Sometimes the use of intoxicating liquors is 
included, as well as adultery. All small sins are easily forgiven. Sins are acts that God forbids, regardless of what one's own reason may have to say about 
the matter. It is as much a sin to pray without washing one's feet in the proper manner as to tell a lie. 
To the pious Moslem the ceremonial and the moral 
law are one and the same. A man who has broken 
the seventh commandment is considered no worse 
than one who has defiled himself by eating a piece 
of bacon. As one young Moslem put it who was offered wine to drink by an American host, "It would 
be as wrong for me to drink wine as to murder my 
motEer.** 
Mohammed provides the standard for ideal character in Islam. No stream can rise higher than its 
source. To understand Moslem character and conditions in Moslem lands one must go back to Mohammed, who by his life and teachings is responsible for 
what they are. 
In the preceding chapter we considered the question of "the perfect religion," and discovered that 
perfection or finality in religion is not to be found in 
rules but in principles principles that seem to grow 
out of the very nature of a holy and just God. We 
may call them universal principles, they are so fundamental. The Moslem holds to but one basic principle, God himself and his will expressed in concrete 
rules for the guidance of man. He is not interested in 
the abstract principles of love and justice; life to him 
cannot be regulated according to the ideal that "he 
that would be greatest among you should be the servant of all"; or "he that would save his life shall lose 
it." Such things are too indefinite. He requires specific rules for action. Do not worship idols; do not 
commit murder; do not steal. These instructions are 
very clear. To break these is sin. 
By adopting the point of view that insists on a body 
of revealed rules for guidance, rather than principles, 
Islam has created certain serious problems that must 
be faced: 
Is the revealed law of Islam fixed for all time, or 
can it be changed and developed? The authorities differ. Some hold that the principle of agreement is such 
that changes may be made provided the learned doctors of Islam agree to them. This is supported by the 
tradition that Mohammed said, "My people will never 
agree in an error." But whatever the theory, the fact 
THE STRAIGHT PATH 83 
remains that changes which have come in Moslem law 
in the different countries have usually come in spite 
of the learned doctors of the law. 
Turkey and Iran have been transformed hy the 
substitution of French and Swiss codes of law for the 
law of Islam. In India, Moslems have been obliged to 
accept the English civil and penal codes, and retain 
Islamic law only for governing their personal affairs, 
such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance, and for 
religious practices. In that country the question has 
been seriously debated among the doctors of the Law 
as to whether Moslems could really follow their religion properly because of these changes which have 
been forced upon them. As recently as 1920 thousands of devout Moslems were persuaded to emigrate 
from India to Afghanistan and other strictly Moslem 
lands where they could follow their religion according to the divinely revealed requirements of the 
Prophet. In the eyes of the orthodox, Turkey, by 
treating Islamic law in the way she has done, has 
committed the unpardonable sin. Many conscientious 
young Moslems are genuinely puzzled about whether 
to consider Turkey a Moslem country today. 
Is there any place in the moral law for personal 
responsibility? We have already discussed the question of man's free will in relation to God's mighty 
power. The matter now comes up in another form. 
What is the nature of sin in Islam? Does sin consist 
simply in the outward act of breaking a law; or is it 
an inward condition of the heart or nature of man? 
The Koran does speak of the evil that men do, and 
the punishment which will be meted out to them. 
They are threatened with divine justice if they do not 
repent and turn from their evil ways; and they are 
promised rewards for doing good. Sin is specified 
there as consisting of disobedience to the commandments of God, of refusal to follow the teaching of the 
Prophet. 
Many Moslems appear to ignore the inner significance of sin as a spiritual disease. The Koran, the 
Traditions and the Moslem creeds take a mild attitude 
toward sinners. Among the mystics rather than among 
the ordinary Moslems is found that sense of incompleteness that we call the sense of sin. The Moslem 
believes that God has endowed him with sufficient 
power in himself to keep divine laws. In experience 
he finds that this is true; the requirements are not too 
difficult. He feels no need for a power beyond himself to enable him to achieve a sense of righteousness 
according to the Law. He is conscious that he needs 
the mercy of God, but Mohammed will intercede for 
him and he needs no other savior. He obeys the law, 
and avoids doing those things which the law calls sin. 
This sounds simple and satisfying, but is it an adequate view of man's relation to God? Does it actually 
meet the realities of life? 
Does the Moslem have the last word on this subject 
of sin and human responsibility? Is the task of walking in the straight path of life as easy as all that? If 
so, then no wonder Moslems are satisfied. 
==CHAPTER FIVE. HOME AND THE FAMILY ==
SIR, our Young Men's Moslem Association is to 
hold its regular weekly meeting next Sunday afternoon at two o'clock at my house, and we 
should be very pleased if you and your Memsahiba 
would come and be our guests." 
"Delighted," I replied in response to this interesting and cordial invitation from Sayyid Ibrahim, a 
modern young Moslem of Aligarh, who held M.A. and 
LL.B. degrees from the university there, and who 
was having a struggle to get his practice of law started 
in a city where the legal profession was already overcrowded. 
"We are to have a discussion," he went on to say, 
"which I think you will mid very interesting. We are 
going to discuss the question of bringing our wives 
out of purdah, for most of us are married, and have 
had modern education, and some but not all of us feel 
the time has come to reform our family life in this 
respect. We shall be so glad if you will both come 
and help us by your presence. Many of us younger 
men are looking forward to the time when we shall 
be able to take our wives out freely with us as you 
Europeans do, and the presence of the Memsahiba 
with you in our meeting will give encouragement to 
some of the timid members of our group." 
CHALLENGING THE "PURDAH" SYSTEM 
On the appointed day we took our way through the 
narrow streets of that Oriental city, whose houses 
with tfieir high, Wank, unwindowed walls facing the 
public roads were substantial brick and mortar witnesses to that blighting custom of secluding women 
that for centuries has prevailed through the world of 
Islam. Back of the custom, of course, lies the rationalizing idea that the modesty and protection of women 
require it. But through the course of centuries it has 
worked such havoc with the home and family life of 
the Moslems, and particularly with the women, by 
keeping them in a state of virtual imprisonment, that 
it is not surprising that the younger generation of 
both men and women are beginning to rebel and to 
seek for some respectable way of escape from the absurd requirements of a seventh century religious law, 
which now stands in the way of progress in these modern times. Little wonder that Sayyid Ibrahim, B.A., 
LL.B., and his young friends were making every effort to break through their orthodox Moslem society, 
or evade its conventions, so that they might establish 
their families in houses where the doors and windows 
would be open on all sides to admit the fresh air and 
the health-giving, purifying sunlight; where their 
wives and their children might know the joy of a 
normal mingling of the sexes in proper social gather
HOME AND THE FAMILY 87 
ings; and where the girls would have the advantages 
of modern education just as their brothers do. 
The house of Sayyid Ibrahim where the Sunday 
meeting of the Y.M.M.A. was to be held was an oldfashioned, Oriental building in the heart of the most 
ancient part of the city. It was thoroughly out of keeping with the modern dreams and aspirations of this 
group of young social and religious revolutionaries; 
nevertheless, it formed an interesting and appropriate 
setting for such a discussion as we were to hear, because of those very elements of contrast which it provided so strikingly. On our arrival I was escorted into 
a large room in the men's apartments, where some 
chairs were arranged for the meeting which was to 
take place, while the Memsahiba was led by our host 
into the women's apartments to meet his mother, his 
young wife, and his sisters. They could not appear before men who were not of their family, and as a stranger I was not permitted to enter their part of the 
house, nor was it considered proper on my part even 
to look in that direction. 
Before the members arrived, Sayyid Ibrahim and I 
walked in the enclosed courtyard outside the large 
drawing room where the meeting of the Y.M.M.A. was 
to be held. Here he told me more about his family, 
while the Memsahiba visited in the zenana, or 
women's quarters. He reminded me that he belonged 
to one of the oldest and very best Moslem families of 
the city. His father and mother were both old, and of 
course were jealous of their good name as orthodox 
followers of the Prophet. For the most part they 
strictly observed the Moslem religious and social 
laws, but his father in late years had adopted a more 
liberal attitude, and had even insisted that his youngest daughter, Ibrahim's sister, should go to the girls' 
middle school which had recently been opened by the 
city authorities. However, she had to go in a carefully curtained horse carriage, as purdah must be 
strictly maintained. Perhaps the father even might be 
willing to let Fatima come out of purdah, but her 
mother would not hear of it. For to go with one's face 
wholly uncovered was to proclaim to the city that one 
was a bold, bad girl, and she would never let people 
say that about her Fatima. What a disgrace it would 
be to the family! But it was something to have Fatima 
in school, and he was thankful that even this much 
of a step in advance had been taken by his family. 
Furthermore, Sayyid Ibrahim pointed out that their 
family had taken a strong stand against polygamy. 
His father had had only one wife, and he was himself 
strongly determined never to take more than one. He 
said it was so much better for the family, and pointed 
to the many cases he knew of in the city among their 
acquaintances and even relatives, whose family difficulties were complicated by serious feelings of jealousy, and even by quarrels among the co-wives, because of the Islamic law which permits a man to take 
four wives. 
"But," said Ibrahim, "these men forget that the 
Prophet very wisely attached an important condition 
HOME AND THE FAMILY 89 
to this matrimonial permission, which says that a man 
may take four wives only on condition that he can 
treat them all alike. But who can do that? And so we 
modern Moslems think that the Prophet really meant 
that we should follow the rule of marrying but one 
wife. What is more," he went on to say, "our family 
has given up the practice of child marriage; my wife 
was seventeen when we were married, and I was 
twenty-three. Among the Moslems who have been influenced by modern views of life, the age of marriage 
is constantly rising." 
"Is your wife an educated woman?" I ventured to 
inquire. 
"Not so well educated as I could wish," he replied. 
"She has studied through the middle school, and 
knows a little English, but I wish she knew more than 
she does. However, if she were to come out of purdah 
so that she could meet with other educated women 
among the Christians, both Indians and Europeans, I 
think she would soon pick up a lot of useful information and complete her education in that way. Perhaps 
when I move to the new house out in the suburbs, 
which my father is building for me, then I can gradually bring my wife out of purdah. But as long as 
we live here with father and mother they will not 
listen to it. 
"And we are very anxious to get into our new 
house, too," he added, "for another reason, and that 
is so that my wife will be able to live more in the 
open than she can here. These old-fashioned houses 
are death-traps for women. They have to live inside 
there," pointing to the women's apartments, "with 
only a little sun in the veranda and in the courtyard. 
Often our women get tuberculosis from such seclusion. I had a sister who died from it, and my wife 
is not strong, and I fear greatly that if we continue 
to live here she may get it, too. It will mean everything for our future happiness when we can get off in 
a house by ourselves, for I am convinced," said Ibrahim, "that the only way to improve family life in 
the Moslem community is to do away with the purdah 
system." 
At this point Sayyid Ibrahim led the way back into 
the large drawing room, with its curious mixture of 
Oriental and Western furnishings, where the members 
of the Y.M.M.A. had assembled. After introductions 
I chatted for a time with these interesting young men, 
while our host went into the women's apartments to 
call the Memsahiba to hear the discussion which had 
been promised us. 
It was an unusual occasion for these young people 
as well as for their visitors. The young men had invited the Memsahiba to come in order that they might 
see how a woman out of purdah conducts herself, and 
they were losing no time in making every observation 
possible, while the Memsahiba was none too comfortable at being the center of attraction. The attention of 
the assembly, however, was soon drawn to the chairman, who opened the discussion of the day with a few 
appropriate remarks, and called on members to rise 
HOME AND THE FAMILY 91 
and express their views freely on the subject, "Resolved, that the purdah system should be abolished." 
Interestingly enough most of the thirty young men 
present indicated that they belonged to the reform 
party of Islam, and for all the various and obvious 
reasons that could be adduced they were in favor of 
this far-reaching innovation in Islam. They made it 
clear that as soon as they had it in their power to do 
so, and when they were free from the powerful restraints of their conservative families, they would 
surely bring their own wives out of purdah. 
But there was a minority which opposed the proposition from deep conviction. They held that the law of 
Islam was sacrosanct. It was from God himself, and 
had been delivered to Moslems and the world by 
God's prophet, Mohammed. It was not for men to 
amend this divine law, and to do so would be to endanger the very foundations of their religion. The 
purdah system had been established in order to protect the chastity of women, and to safeguard the family. Remove it and Moslem family life would be 
ruined by the laxity and license which would creep 
in. After all, women did not need all this modern education. Their place was in the house, and there they 
should stay, and tend to their household duties of 
cooking and looking after the children. 
There was no surer way of ruining the religion of 
Islam and wrecking Moslem society, the minority 
went on to say, than to give women the unlimited freedom that would come from abolishing purdah. If the 
honorable opponents did not believe this, all they had 
to do was to visit the moving picture shows and see 
with their own eyes the unthinkable and highly improper things that were taking place among the women 
and men of the Western countries where there is the 
greatest freedom of the sexes. If they wanted this sort 
of social condition to grow up in Moslem lands, then 
they would surely see it when the purdah system was 
abolished. On the other hand they felt that the only 
way for society in so-called Western Christian countries to be redeemed was for Islam to be established 
there, and for the purdah system to be adopted! 
These remarks from the minority produced much 
applause, as well as hearty laughter, while the meeting adjourned with the best of feeling, and with the 
resulting consciousness that it is in the family life of 
Moslem society that some of the most vital and fundamental problems arise. In fact in this house of Sayyid Ibrahim and in the discussion held there by those 
young men we have the setting and the statement of 
the most important issues of home life found in Moslem countries everywhere. 
In the first place it should be noted that Islam does 
not know the word "home." They use "house" instead, and as there is a difference in the words, so is 
there a vast difference in the meaning attached to 
them. And yet the home and family life, such as they 
are, form the basis of the Moslem social life all the 
way through, except where reformers are trying to 
work a change. Segregation of the sexes and seclusion 
HOME AND THE FAMILY 93 
of women are two of the cardinal principles of Moslem home and social life. 
MARRIAGE IN ISLAM 
Marriage is not one of the requirements laid down 
for a good Moslem, but it is a state that is highly 
recommended. All men and women are expected 
to get married. If a person is not married in due 
course, there must be something seriously wrong. But 
while men and women are expected to marry, they 
are not expected to fall in love, become engaged, ask 
the consent of the girl's parents, fix the date for the 
wedding, and then marry. It is not according to the 
law of Islam and the customs of our people, Moslems 
would say. No respectable young man or young 
woman would ever be permitted to do this. The parents of the boy and girl, usually through the agency 
of a third party, make the arrangement. The engagement is celebrated by an exchange of gifts. The young 
man is not supposed to see his wife-to-be until the 
day of their marriage, although she can see him from 
behind the veil which hides her from him. Love 
matches are not associated with respectable people 
where the law of the Prophet prevails. 
In commenting on the changes in marriage customs 
that are taking place in Iran, Mrs. Herrick B. Young 
of Teheran, Iran, writes: 
A Moslem is never married in a church or mosque. From 
the time that Iran was conquered by the Arabs and Islam 
imposed upon the people until very recently, the Moslem 
priests have been the legal as well as the religious authorities. To perform the marriage ceremony was one of their 
exclusive rights. Today regulations have been so changed 
that recently two converts from Islam were married by a 
Christian clergyman in the mission chapel with a Christian 
ceremony. What a change from the old days, when often 
the bride was forced into the marriage knowing her husband to have other wives, or to be twice her age. 
But let me describe the typical Moslem wedding of my 
good friend and former pupil in the Teheran Girls' School 
' Fatima Ahi. When we arrived we were ushered through 
a passageway into the courtyard. 
I wish I might give you the feel of it all at once. Excitement, gayety, flowers, fountain, music, dancing, bowings, twitterings, smiles and yet all with a dignity, a ceremoniousness, a suppressed noisiness that seems only to be 
achieved by the Oriental. In the center of the court is a 
lovely pool with a playing fountain, surrounded by flowers 
blooming in a dignified formal border. A row of chairs 
with a table in front of every second one is ranged primly 
around three walls of the garden, the ones at the back facing the veranda of the house. French doors open off this 
porch into a reception room. Although there are vacant 
chairs in the garden we are honored by being ushered into 
the drawing room or, as they call it, the guest room. The 
room is arranged in the same formal manner as the garden, chairs lining the walls, small tables in front of them. 
There is a mantel decked in bright silk and holding stiff 
bouquets. There is a center table covered with a beautifully embroidered red felt on which is a basket of flowers, 
cut and wired in the conventionally stiff Persian style. 
There is an empty chair just under the mantel which we 
feel with excitement is intended for the bride. 
The bride's sister is leading us and we crowd by the 
seated dowagers to our places very near the chair. After 
HOME AND THE FAMILY 95 
a time the bride's mother comes in to shake hands and welcome us. She must be everywhere on this important occasion just as the mother of an American bride always feels 
it her duty to be. She motions to a servant to bring us tinkling glasses of iced fruit juice. Before long, tea is served 
in glasses placed in exquisite silver holders. We help ourselves to the cakes, sweets and nuts from the table in front 
of us. Strains of music come to us from the group of players 
at the other end of the garden. Presently two dancers come 
up the pathway and into the crowded room to give an exhibition in what space there is left. 
Suddenly we notice the bride's sister motioning us to 
come into another room. This is unusual and seems a bit 
mysterious since we are singled out from the whole roomful. We rather embarrassedly edge our way down the line 
of tables and are greeted in the next room by the mother, 
who says, "We thought perhaps you had never seen this 
part of the ceremony and would be interested. The other 
guests won't expect an invitation for often the vow takes 
place several days before the reception. Fatima is all ready 
and will be here in a moment. Afterwards we will take her 
to the guests to receive their congratulations." We murmur 
our thanks and sit waiting another half hour. 
At one end of this room there is a high gilt-framed mirror resting on the floor. Then the bride arrives, dressed in 
white satin with flowing tulle veil crowned with artificial 
orange blossoms. She is accompanied by her sister and the 
costumer hired for the occasion to help her dress and to 
apply her make-up. They help her get down on her knees 
in front of the mirror, arranging the lovely wedding dress 
in such a way that she can sit back on her heels in the 
ordinary Persian fashion when on the floor. Soon a turbaned priest is ushered in, a colorful patriarch with his 
beard dyed with henna, flowing robe, and bright green sash 
(denoting his direct descent from the prophet Mohammed). 
He kneels, taking the same position but several feet behind 
the bride, and chants several phrases from the Koran. 
We wait breathless and expectant, for we are perhaps as 
eager to see the groom as is he to see his bride. Of 
course he has never seen her and she is not supposed to 
have seen him though fleeting glimpses she has had. When 
he arrives he too kneels in front of the mirror, reaches 
for the hand of the bride and looks in the mirror at the 
shy and lovely creature, while the priest begins another 
chanted prayer, which fortunately for them lasts only a few 
moments. The ceremony is over and the groom withdraws 
to his own home where his male friends and relatives are 
being entertained in honor of the occasion; the bride is 
conducted to her chair under the mantelpiece and showered 
with rose-petals and tiny white sweets. There is more music 
and dancing. More tea and ices are served and the bride 
is the center of attention as the guests come to wish her 
well. 1 
While the marriage age for girls in Moslem lands 
is rising with the spread of education, yet there is still 
a vast amount of child marriage among girls. This is 
especially true of the Moslems of India. Wherever 
women doctors are to be found in the Moslem lands, 
they have many sad stories to tell of the tragedies in 
girl life that are found because of this practice of 
child marriage. 
Another ancient Moslem institution that is being 
widely discussed and criticized today is polygamy. 
Moslem women are speaking out, and in their conferences in India, for example, are boldly denouncing 
1 Adapted from "An Iranian Wedding," in Women and Missions, 
December, 1936. 
HOME AND THE FAMILY 97 
it. As a matter of fact, since Turkey lias abolished 
polygamy, and sentiment is growing against it in 
other countries as well, the practice is becoming discredited in the countries where the rule of the Koran 
prevails, and the evidence goes to show that plural 
marriages are on the decrease among Moslems today. 
As Western education spreads in Moslem lands there 
is little doubt that the harem system will die out, that 
monogamy will tend to supplant polygamy, and that 
thus a gradual improvement in the home life will result. 
DIVORCE 
The divorce problem is a very real one in Islam, 
as it is in Christian lands. Just as man has the greater 
freedom in the matter of social life and in marriage, 
so he has had a larger freedom than woman in the 
matter of divorce. And divorce in Islam for the man 
has been a comparatively simple matter. One Moslem 
writer confesses with shame that in some quarters 
there is a tendency for men to divorce their wives as 
they would cast off their old clothes. They simply invoke the sanction of Islamic law, declare three times 
in the presence of the wife, "I divorce you," and that 
is the end of it. There is in such cases no legal inquiry; no proof of misconduct on the part of the 
woman is required. The man may do as he pleases. 
"Legally, he should give her a sum of money equal 
to one-third of her dowry, but frequently she is unable to get this. Her only recourse is to go back to her 
relatives; sometimes she has none." 1 However, in the 
case of the very wealthy Moslem, where the dowry 
has been a substantial sum, this legal stipulation often 
discourages quick-tempered husbands from divorcing 
their wives on the spur of the moment. 
Under certain conditions a woman may divorce her 
husband, but this is done very rarely, and the general 
belief in Islam is that divorce is a one-way procedure. 
Present-day Turkey provides an exception in the matter of divorce, for here a European divorce code has 
been adopted. 
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 
A way in which the devout Moslem home surpasses 
many a Christian home is in the matter of religious 
education. This is something in which devout Moslem 
parents take the greatest care. First of all there is the 
matter of the parent's own example. If the father and 
mother can read the Koran, it is one of their prime 
duties to set an example to the children. The prayers 
must be faithfully observed, and they must be said 
at the proper times at home by the mother, even if the 
father goes to the mosque for his. 
When a boy is about six, he is placed in the care 
of a tutor, or sent to the nearest mosque school where 
the elementary rules for reading the Arabic Koran 
are taught. Little by little the lad advances in reading 
and memorizing sections of the Koran, until by the 
iJPhat Is This Moslem World?, by Charles R. Watson. NewYork, Friendship Press, 1937. 
HOME AND THE FAMILY 99 
time lie has reached twelve years of age he will have 
finished reading the holy Koran through for the first 
time, and have committed considerable portions of it 
to memory. In honor of the occasion of his having 
completed the first reading of the Koran the father 
will often give a party to a large number of friends, 
and a poem in celebration of the event will be read 
by one of the local poets. 
At the same time the boy is being instructed by his 
father and tutor in the principles of Islamic faith, 
and in the essential religious duties. He is taught the 
meaning and value of ceremonial ablutions before 
prayer. Then he is shown just how to wash his feet 
and hands, and to go through the prayer ritual. Finally when he has reached the age of twelve or fourteen he will go with his father to the mosque, and 
there join with the other men in the prayers. 
CELEBRATION OF HOLY DAYS 
The celebration of the Moslem holy days is carefully observed in the home and this has a profound 
effect on the children. The Feast of Sacrifice is commemorated regularly each year in every devout Moslem home, when a sheep, or a goat, or a cow or even 
a camel is sacrificed. Special prayers are said, and 
it is a time of feasting. For this occasion, as well as 
for the feast which follows the month of fasting, the 
men dress in their best clothes and go to the special 
place of worship that is provided outside the city. 
Usually they take with them their children, who have 
also been dressed in gay garments for the occasion. 
Greeting cards are sent out and received by the family 
on the occasion of these great religious festivals, and 
nowadays even highly decorated telegram forms are 
used for the same purpose. The houses are decorated 
just as is done in the West at Christmas, and the 
young people especially rejoice in the good times. 
Another special day celebrates the birth of the 
Prophet, and children are encouraged to recite poems 
in his honor, and to attend public meetings where he 
is praised. Still another special occasion is the Night 
of Record, celebrated with fireworks, when it is believed that God records all the actions of men that 
will be performed during the coming year, and the 
names of those who are to be born and to die. 
A ceremony which undoubtedly leaves a great and 
lasting impression on the minds of children is the 
celebration of Muharram, when the death of the first 
martyrs of Islam, Ali, Hasan and Husain, is solemnly 
commemorated with deep feeling. Especially is this 
the case among the Shiites. Their particular hero is 
the martyred Husain, who fell on the field of Karbala in what is now Iraq. With great emotion, poems 
in honor of Husain are recited, and many devotees 
will lash their bare backs with chains and even 
swords, until blood streams to the ground and they 
fall down exhausted. The elaborate and gaily colored 
representations of the tomb of the martyr are carried 
through the streets in a huge procession accompanied 
by thousands. The sight of such a large concourse of 
HOME AND THE FAMILY 101 
people celebrating one of the great events of Islam 
fixes firmly in the hearts of the young people who observe it a deep reverence for those who have given 
their lives for the faith, and died fighting in the way 
of Allah. 
AMUSEMENTS 
What part, it may be asked, do amusements play 
in the family life of Moslems? How, when, and where 
do they seek their enjoyment? To begin with it may 
be said that Moslem children play games and enjoy 
them just as children do anywhere. They have their 
own varieties of games of tag, marbles, and cards. 
Where Western civilization has left its impress the 
Moslem youth in the schools and colleges of India, 
Iran, Syria, Turkey and Egypt go in for hockey, football, tennis, cricket, baseball, basketball and track 
with the greatest of zest. They may and do play card 
games, but gambling at cards or on horse races is 
forbidden to a good Moslem. Yet because of the influence of the West these temptations are daily becoming more difficult for the Moslems of the great cities 
to face. 
The dance among orthodox Moslems is regarded as 
a very immoral practice. In Indian Moslem circles 
mixed dancing between the sexes is considered immodest, immoral and well, simply unthinkable. In 
Turkey, Iran, Egypt and the more modern countries 
of the Moslem world the situation is quite different. 
With the unveiling of the women dancing has been 
encouraged as a means of bringing the wives into 
mixed society. 
Music and the drama come in a different category 
and much time is spent in listening to good singers 
or trained musicians. In these modern times the phonograph is extensively used for entertainment at home 
and in public, and the records reveal the talent of the 
best Moslem singers and orchestras. The more pious 
prefer the musical chant of selections from the Koran. 
Dramatic performances draw large crowds of both 
men and women, a special place screened off for the 
latter being provided in the theatres. And of course 
the Moslems go to the "movies" and "talkies." Too 
often the picture is one of Hollywood's worst, and 
the immoral and unwholesome effect produced is bad 
both as a debasing example and because of the impression the Moslem gains of the West. 
But the crowning amusements are those found in 
connection with the religious feasts, at weddings and 
at celebrations of the birth of a son. It is then that 
young and old put on their best clothes and make 
merry with feasting and song. At the homes of the 
wealthy, hundreds are fed on such occasions; and if 
it is a wedding, everyone in the city knows about it 
because of the music which is heard day and night 
while the guests are present. 
As we conclude our survey of Moslem home life, 
we must remember that the ideal for the home can 
never rise higher than the prevailing religious sane
HOME AND THE FAMILY 103 
tions in respect to marriage and divorce. As long as 
marriage is regarded as a kind of slavery in which 
the wife is considered the servant of her husband instead of his equal; as long as he requires her implicit 
obedience to his will, provided it is not contrary to 
the laws of Islam; as long as he may marry four 
wives, and keep as many concubines as he can afford; 
as long as he may divorce his wives at will and marry 
others in their place; as long as a man can do these 
things and still be considered a good Moslem, just 
so long will the Islamic conception of home and family be wholly inadequate to meet the requirements of 
these modern times. 
Wherever we find exceptions to this statement 
and the number of homes where better conditions are 
found is increasing in almost every Moslem land the 
improvement must be attributed to Christian ideals. 
Radical changes are taking place today in spite of 
the forces of tradition and conservatism. The process 
of rebuilding society and the reconstruction of religious thought so as to bring Islam up to date constitute two of the major concerns of the reformers in 
India, Egypt, Iran, Syria, and Iraq, to say nothing of 
Turkey. Moslems themselves now realize with increasing force that the old wineskins simply cannot any 
longer hold the new wine without bursting. 
==CHAPTER SIX. POLITICS AND RELIGION ==
Er us return for the moment to our friend Mohammed Beg. It will be recalled that on his way 
to Mecca he was deeply impressed with the 
changes that he saw overtaking Islam, and that seemed 
to be gradually making it over into a different religion altogether. He was also greatly worried over the 
detailed reports that he heard of the wholesale political changes that had transformed Turkey, and had 
separated church and state. The problem that never 
ceased to bother him, almost to the point of distraction, after he had observed some of the changes taking place in th'e lives and customs of Moslems was, 
"Can a person be modern and a good Moslem at the 
same time?" His own feelings and his reactions as a 
strictly orthodox follower of Islam answered this 
question with an emphatic "No!" 
THREE POINTS OF VIEW ON ISLAMIC REFORM 
To one brought up as he had been, there could be 
no doubt about the matter. The law of Islam, based 
on the Koran and the Traditions, was the law of God. 
It spoke with the voice of authority. The program for 
all life, and all peoples, and all ages was laid down 
POLITICS AND RELIGION 105 
there. The Law was the conscience of the Moslem. 
There was no need for change of the customs or rules 
of society contrary to the Law; in fact, even to suggest that these modern times required the wholesale 
change and adaptation of Islam was to Mohammed 
Beg the greatest heresy. 
"Somehow," thought he, "these modern times must 
adjust themselves to Islam and its way of life. That 
is the real problem for Moslems to face. Making concessions to the West, which cares only for business, 
money, pleasure and comfort, is not the thing to do. 
That way lies the destruction of Islam. How one can 
possibly consider himself a Moslem and at the same 
time approve of bringing women out of the harem, 
the abolition of polygamy, the separation of religion 
and state, and even of doing away with the caliphate, 
is beyond me. No, one who wishes to reform Islam 
according to modern ideas cannot be a Moslem, and 
a true Moslem does not need to be modern, for the 
law of Islam is all right just as it is." 
But Mohammed Beg does not have the last word on 
this subject. Ask a young Egyptian what he thinks 
about the matter, and he will present another side of 
the case. As an adherent of the modernist party in 
the country of the Nile he will tell you that he supports the position of Sheikh Mohammed Abduh, who 
is recognized the world over among Moslems as the 
greatest champion and defender of Islam that these 
modern times have known. He will declare that he 
fully believes in the reform of the Moslem educational system, and the adoption of everything valuable in Western civilization, as long as it is not contrary to the fundamental principles of Islam which 
are found in the Koran and the Traditions. He insists that Sheikh Mohammed Abduh was correct in 
holding that the best legal minds of Islam still have 
the right to interpret these ancient principles of the 
faith, and that they have the right to adapt the laws of 
Islam to meet the requirements of this modern age. 
Therefore, reform in Islam is proper and right, if 
the changes are carried out under the guidance of 
properly qualified legal advisers who act according 
to the fundamental principles of the faith. This 
method of changing Moslem doctrine is known as ijma. 
"But of course," our Egyptian friend would say, 
"I seriously doubt if Mohammed Abduh could approve of the radical reforms which have taken place 
within the borders of Turkey, were he living today. It 
is impossible even for us modern reformers of Egypt, 
nationalists and devoted patriots though we are, to 
justify the complete separation of church and state 
in the ruthless manner in which it has been done there. 
And the extreme liberality of the reforms affecting 
the status of women and marriage, the suppression 
of religious orders and the like well, they take our 
breath away! But after all who knows what will happen even here in time? Allah alone knows that, and 
he is the all- wise and all-knowing!" 
At the close of the World War the Turkish nationalists felt that the old orthodox Islamic religion had 
POLITICS AND RELIGION 107 
reached the place where it had failed to keep pace 
with the needs of life, and was inadequate to solve the 
problems of the nation. Kamal Ataturk clearly perceived that the interests of the Turkish nation must 
be made supreme, and the government and the entire life of the people must be modernized, if Turkey 
was to hold its place among the neighboring nations 
of the West. Consequently he gave every ounce of 
his energy to the reformation and reconstruction of 
the Turkish government and Turkish society. In this 
gigantic task he inspired his people with a great love 
of country, a deep patriotism, a profound belief in 
their own destiny as a nation, and a burning enthusiasm to work for the advancement of Turkey in every 
phase of life. 
Today, the young Turk proudly calls himself a 
Moslem in spite of the amazing changes which have 
overtaken his country. He even regards these changes 
in the status of Islam as in every way beneficial to 
the religious life of his country. In fact he has been 
taught that these changes are in accordance with the 
inner spiritual genius of Islam itself, and that it is 
now the duty of all good Moslems within the bounds 
of Turkey to use their religion to further the interests 
of their country. In other words, if one would be a 
good Moslem he must be a good Turk. The thought 
thrills him, for is he not most of all anxious to see his 
country develop and take its rightful place beside the 
other countries of the West? Therefore, as a Turk he 
will cling to Islam and be as good a Moslem as he 
can, for after all Islam is the religious part of his 
Turkish heritage. 
Here we have three typical points of view in the 
Moslem world today that differ widely from one another. But no true estimate of the relative truth of 
these positions can be determined without reference 
to the fundamental teachings of Islam on the subject 
of politics and religion. It is necessary, therefore, that 
we look at this side of the matter for a bit. 
ISLAM AS A POLITICAL POWER 
There is no quarrel between the politician and the 
clergy in Islam, for politics is religion and religion is 
politics. Islam is not so much a state religion as a religious state. And of course this all goes back to Mohammed's philosophy of religion. In his view Islam 
was a theocracy, that is, its real king and ruler was 
God, or Allah, himself, and the Prophet of Allah was 
to have supreme political power. According to this 
theory all life belonged to God, and all sensible people would of course submit to him. These sensible people who submitted to Allah and his Prophet and to 
their rule were called Moslems, those who submit. For 
them Allah opened a way of life in the Koran and the 
Traditions that provided for every aspect of their 
existence: the religious, the social, the political, and 
the economic. Politics and religion were not to be in 
water-tight compartments. They were ordained to be 
one and inseparable. The Prophet Mohammed, therefore, was not only prophet, he was also king. The rev
POLITICS AND RELIGION 109 
elations lie received related not only to how to worship God, but also how to rule men. In addition to 
ritual there was also law, and the law was the law of 
God. 
As long as Mohammed lived there was direct access to the ultimate Lawgiver, and new laws were 
issued with divine authority as occasion arose. But 
after Mohammed died divine revelation ceased, and 
the Moslems were then left with only the sacred Koran 
and the Traditions of the Prophet as their guide and 
rule of conduct. The first caliph, Abu Bakr, who was 
elected to succeed Mohammed, could, of course, only 
succeed him as the religious ruler of the Moslem peoples. From then on the caliph remained in theory the 
nominal head of all Moslem peoples and all Moslem 
lands. These different lands and peoples might have 
kings or sultans of their own, but theoretically, at any 
rate, each king was supposed to derive his authority 
of kingship from the caliph of the Moslem peoples. 
Each ruler was in a sense regarded as the viceroy of 
the caliph, who, in turn, was regarded as the head of 
a vast Moslem empire made up of independent Moslem states. In each separate state the king was the 
head of the Moslem religion as well as of the affairs 
of government, and king and people alike looked to 
the caliph as the head of all Islam. 
HOLY WAR 
Because Islam started with the theory that the message of the Prophet must be given to all peoples and 
countries, and that as soon as possible the whole 
world must be brought under the sway of Allah, Moslem rulers felt that they were commanded by God to 
extend their power. The peoples of the world, therefore, were divided into two distinct groups: the Darul-lslam, the Abode of Islam, and the Dar-ul-Harb, 
the Abode of War, the latter a term used by Moslems 
for those countries which had not yet been brought 
under Moslem rule. Those who had a revealed religion, such as the Jews and Christians, were guaranteed religious freedom when they submitted to Moslem rule and paid the required taxes. Contrary to a 
general impression, compulsory conversion to Islam 
was against Moslem policy. It decreased the state revenues. It was religious enthusiasm plus desire for 
spoil that gave success to the Moslem armies. 
Under this conception of things there was a further 
classification of the people of any given country: 
First, there were the Moslems. These were the real 
citizens and only they enjoyed all the privileges of 
free citizenship. Second, there were the people who 
had not yet accepted Islam, but who had nevertheless 
submitted to Moslem rule. For this privilege of being 
subjects of the Moslem government they were obliged 
to pay special taxes not levied on Moslems. Third, 
there were those who had not yet submitted to Moslem 
rule, and with whom technically the Moslem ruler was 
still at war. 
While in some countries where Western powers are 
dominant or a great deal of enlightenment has come 
POLITICS AND RELIGION 111 
such as in Egypt, Iraq, India, Syria and Iran these 
distinctions no longer exist, yet even today in Afghanistan and Arabia, where the purest Moslem rule prevails, it is not safe for Christians to enter except with 
the strictest guard and special permission from the 
authorities. Even Moslems who differ from the ruling 
powers on religious opinions are in danger of their 
lives. Not so many years ago there was a Moslem 
preacher of the heretical Moslem Qadiani sect from 
India who went to Kabul in Afghanistan to preach his 
doctrines. The orthodox religious leaders were so 
highly incensed against him that he was tried and condemned to death by the ancient Koranic method of 
stoning. A hole was dug in the ground, and he was 
buried up to his waist; then the multitude pelted him 
with stones until he died. 
THE WANE OF ISLAMIC POLITICAL POWER 
During many centuries when the caliphs held sway 
in Medina and Damascus, and in Baghdad of Arabian 
Nights fame, the political power of Islam and the 
caliphate was undisputed. In more recent centuries the 
sultan of Turkey was recognized as caliph and Constantinople became the center of Moslem political 
influence. During the decades just prior to the World 
War, Sultan Abdul Hamid made some interesting efforts to spread the doctrine of Pan-Islamism 1 in all 
countries where Moslems lived, with the hope that 
1 A term used by Moslems themselves to describe the political and 
social combination of all Moslems throughout the world. 
Egypt and India, particularly, might rise in revolt 
against Great Britain, and join Turkey in the establishment of a modern world-wide Moslem empire with 
the Turkish caliph at its head. Thinking that he had 
the support of Germany in this project, Abdul Hamid 
joined the Central Powers of Europe during the World 
War and lost. 1 A new Turkey emerged from the debacle, a Turkey which not only abolished the monarchy 
but the Turkish caliphate as well in 1924. So today 
the Moslem peoples are without a caliph. The office 
still exists but it has no occupant. The Moslem states 
of Turkey, Egypt, Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan and the 
like are struggling on as best they can as separate nations, while Turkey as a republic has all but done 
away with Islam altogether, as we have already seen. 
Most of these Moslem states now have modern legislatures, and with the exception of Turkey and Iran 
they are generally very careful to keep their legislation and laws well within the provisions of the shariat, 
or the Moslem legal code, which is based on the 
Koran and the Traditions. Turkey, however, has determined to turn her back on the East, and now faces 
West in matters of a social, political and industrial 
nature. The Turkish leaders have taken the position 
that Islam may remain the religion of the Turkish 
people as long as it does not interfere with their national development. That is, the Koran and the Traditions may be used for purposes of purely spiritual 
help and guidance, but they no longer remain the 
1 For a more detailed account, see Chapter Eight. 
POLITICS AND RELIGION 113 
basic law of the country. Because he was powerful 
enough to do so, and because there was a large group 
willing to change their ways, Kamal Ataturk, the 
president of the Turkish republic, was able to abolish 
the use of the Turkish fez and introduce European 
hats, to outlaw the powerful dervish orders and confiscate their property, to bring women out of the harem, 
to make polygamy illegal, and to abolish Arabic as 
the mainstay of Turkish culture. 
Iran has more recently followed Turkey's lead in 
breaking away from Moslem customs, traditions and 
laws, although remaining nominally a Mohammedan 
country. The Swiss code of laws has replaced the 
shariat. Marriage and divorce are now civil rather 
than religious matters. The abolition of the black 
shroudlike veil for the women and the introduction of 
Western hats and clothes for the men have been important developments of late. Even Moslem theological education is now taken over by the government 
Ministry of Public Institutions. To wear a turban the 
Moslem clergy must now pass a written examination 
given by the government. In short, in Iran, as in Turkey, the political force of Islam is gone and the people are beginning to question even its religious force. 
In Egypt we find the Moslems are divided into two 
political parties: one the Conservative party, which is 
prepared to cooperate with the British government in 
the rule of the country, and the other the Independence party, which works for the complete independence of Egypt. 
But in India the political interests of the large 
Moslem community are identical with the religious 
interests. In fact, there we have the whole country divided to a very large extent into political parties 
based on religious communities. The Moslems, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians are each allotted a certain 
number of seats in the legislatures in proportion to 
the relative size of their respective communities. In 
such a situation Moslems alone can represent Moslems, Hindus are elected entirely by Hindus, and 
Christians by Christians. It is as though in America 
we were to abolish the Democratic, Republican, and 
Socialist parties, and in their place found our politics 
on the religious differences of Protestants, Roman 
Catholics, and Jews. The communal system is a vicious one, and breeds all sorts of evils which are perpetuated in the name of religion. And it is due to 
Moslems rather than to Hindus that the system of 
communal representation is being continued in India. 
The Moslems fear the idea of a common electorate, 
for only in the separate communal system do they see 
any way to preserve the Islamic culture and religion. 
The one rallying cry which brings the Moslems of 
India together in a united purpose to stand up for 
their rights is the slogan, "Islam is in danger!" For 
Islam they will lay down their lives; and they do! 
MOSLEM BROTHERHOOD 
A strength of the Moslem community is the marked 
sense of brotherhood. Moslems of all nations and 
POLITICS AND RELIGION 115 
races regard each other as members of a great 
brotherhood in a way that is even more apparent than 
among Christians. The very salutation used among 
them (Salam 'alaikum, Peace be upon you) is an 
indication of this spirit of fraternity. 
Within Islam this spirit is so strong that it breaks 
down barriers of race and color. There is no color 
or race problem in Islam, in the sense in which we use 
that term in Western lands. To this extent it certainly 
is far ahead of most Christian countries. The reason 
for this lack of race prejudice is not far to seek. The 
darker-skinned peoples form the vast majority of the 
adherents of Islam, and intermarriage between the 
races takes place freely and frequently. There are no 
separate mosques for Negro Moslems in Arabia or 
Egypt; and the spirit of brotherhood among Moslems 
in South Africa is in sharp contrast to the racial and 
color lines drawn by Christians in that same part of 
the world. In the worship of the mosque the prince 
may stand by the beggar; the black Negro by the fair 
Turk, for all are brothers in Islam. There are no "Jim 
Crow" theatres, hotels or railway cars in Moslem 
lands. 
But after all that may be said on behalf of the 
genuine spirit of brotherhood that prevails in the 
Moslem world, it still remains that the conception of 
fraternity is strictly limited to the system itself. Islam 
knows only a brotherhood of Moslems, not a brotherhood of man. Even the salutation, "Peace be upon 
you," refers to the peace of Islam, and technically it 
is not permitted for a Moslem to use this salutation to 
any except a Moslem brother. This limitation of 
brotherhood is one of the very great differences between Islam and Christianity. In Islam, as has been 
stated, mankind is divided into two major classes 
the Abode of Islam and the Abode of War. Only those 
who are within the Abode of Islam are brothers. The 
rest of mankind must be treated differently; and they 
are. This is the limit of the Moslem ideal. The Christian ideal embraces all mankind in a brotherhood of 
love; and no matter how far Christians fall short of 
demonstrating this ideal in practice even among their 
own number, yet the ideal and the example of Jesus 
Christ are ever before them, to shame them and to 
urge them on to more complete realization of his 
teachings. 
THE MOSLEM MISSIONARY 
This attitude of Moslems toward those outside their 
faith inevitably affects the Islamic conception of missionary work or propaganda. Moslems are the ones 
who alone are guided by Allah. All others, especially 
idolaters, have gone astray, and are far from the 
straight path. It is the duty of Moslems to proclaim 
to them the way of truth, and to honor them by bestowing Islam upon them, even though they must first 
be conquered by the sword. 
But taking a long view of history down through the 
ages, it may be said that the faith of Islam has been 
extended by peaceful propaganda, while the political 
POLITICS AND RELIGION 117 
power of Islam has been spread by the sword. 
Through the centuries Moslem traders who were also 
devout preachers have left their impress on populations as widely separated as China and the heart of 
Africa. We are not so concerned here, however, with 
the past as with the present methods and objectives 
of Moslem propaganda. 
Moslems are not ashamed to stand up for Mohammed, and to declare their faith in him. They are 
eager to share what they have with others, and every 
Moslem is a missionary. One finds them trying to win 
converts to their way of life as they trade in the bazaars and streets of practically every city of the Moslem world. There is little doubt that the spirit of boldness and absolute certainty begotten by the frequent 
repetition of the creed has been a mighty factor in 
strengthening faith and winning converts. 
Islam places the religious before the material needs 
of men; for that reason there are no medical missions, no educational, industrial or agricultural missions, in the Moslem missionary program. Islam sees 
but one thing, that great sections of the human race 
are not Moslem and that they must be convinced of 
the truth of the Prophet's message. 
The traditional training given to young students in 
the theological schools of Cairo and Damascus, Iraq 
and India, has been essentially a preparation for 
preaching. Today, however, a new trend is to be discerned. The following quotation appeared in a newspaper published in Cairo in 1935s 
The propagation of Islam and its extension in the early 
centuries after the Hegira was only made by means of missionaries. Besides, there is no reason why the missionary 
should not work his way into every circle to dispose of his 
goods and the religious conceptions of which he is the 
apostle. 
And so we propose to the rector of the Azhar University 
to combine a study of the commercial sciences and accountancy with a program of religious instruction of missionaries, so that the Azhar missions may propagate trade and 
religion at the same time. The missionaries will carry on 
their business and will also preach in the countries to 
which they are sent. Their commission will be in harmony 
with the precepts of Islam, which require that a man should 
work for God and for the world. After all, was not the 
Prophet a trader, and did not his friends live by trading? 
And did that prevent them from preaching the true religion? If it is taken up, as we hope it will be, in a serious 
manner, we are prepared to explain the details of the 
scheme from the practical point of view; for example, a 
company might be formed to supply these missionaries 
with funds, and they in turn would have a share in the 
profits. Naturally this would make it possible to keep a 
large number of missionaries in the field. 
It must not be forgotten, on the other hand, that 
Islam does have something of very positive value to 
offer a certain class of people. Through it the African 
tribes that it has touched are undoubtedly elevated to 
some extent, and the outcastes of India who have embraced Islam have secured an equality of status with 
other members of the democratic Moslem faith that 
was utterly denied them in Hinduism. In fact, one of 
the recent missionary organizations founded at Delhi 
POLITICS AND RELIGION 119 
has for its aim the conversion of that entire section 
of the population belonging to the depressed classes, 
some sixty million people. But the fact remains that 
Moslem missions lack a sufficient motive because there 
is at the heart of Islam no compelling love for man 
as man; and without this they cannot and do not provide an adequate social program. 
MOSLEM RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE 
If the missionary motive in Islam is inadequate, its 
conception of freedom of thought is hopeless and its 
capacity for intolerance is amazing. Heresy hunting 
within Islam has always existed, and from the time 
of Al-Hallaj, one of the early Moslem mystics who 
lived in Baghdad, right down to the present century 
in Afghanistan, there have been martyrs who have 
paid with their lives for daring to disagree with orthodoxy. One can understand how these attitudes and 
the inevitable persecution arising from them might 
go unchecked through the Middle Ages, for the Christian church was guilty of the same intolerance in that 
period; but it is hard for us to comprehend how such 
a condition can exist in this modern age. 
The reason for all this, of course, is that quite generally speaking Islam is still under the curse of the 
spirit of the Middle Ages. It partakes of the spirit of 
the century of its birth, and part of that spirit is intolerance. In recent years Moslem scholars in Cairo 
who have attempted to apply Western critical methods 
to Islamic literature have suffered severe persecution 
by the reactionary party. The Moslem authorities of 
Egypt have forbidden Ahmadiya missionaries from 
India to carry on their work in the country, and have 
also forbidden the circulation of their English translation of the Koran. The followers of the Ahmadiya 
sect are also persecuted by the other Moslems of India, where they often have been denied the use of regular mosques for worship, and have had in many cases 
to build mosques of their own. Within the past two years 
the Nizam of Hyderabad, the head of the largest Moslem state in India, has been compelled to issue a public statement professing his orthodoxy in order to set 
at rest rumors among the faithful that His Exalted 
Highness held religious views which were contrary 
to Islam. The religion of Islam is first and always a 
religion of orthodoxy. One must conform or suffer 
the consequences. 
If the faithful are thus kept in line by the strictest 
watch on their movements and beliefs through fear of 
consequences, it is not difficult to imagine the result 
for those who become apostates, that is, who forsake 
Islam entirely and adopt another religion. The front 
door of entrance to Islam stands wide open, but the 
door that leads out is forever closed. Apostasy by 
male adult Moslems who are sane is, when uncompelled, punishable with death. Genuine freedom of 
conscience is impossible. Moslems who have changed 
their religion have been regarded by their friends and 
relatives as despicable in the extreme. Even in lands 
like Egypt, Iraq and India, where more enlightened 
POLITICS AND RELIGION 121 
law prevails and the strict requirements of the shariat 
cannot be legally carried out, a convert from Islam 
runs the risk of suffering secret death. Little wonder 
that Moslems are often forbidden by their leaders to 
purchase and read Christian books and tracts, and 
that again and again these same books and tracts, and 
the Bible as well, have been publicly torn up, destroyed, or burned by irate mullahs in every Moslem 
land. Little wonder, then, that when such religious intolerance pervades the whole community there are so 
few converts from Islam to Christianity. That many 
do brave persecution and even death, however, is 
shown by the stories of Moslem converts given in the 
next chapter. 
RELIGIOUS REGULATION OF PUBLIC QUESTIONS 
There are many important public questions which 
in Moslem countries are strictly regulated by religious considerations. In fact, where strictly Moslem 
government prevails the ruler is under obligation to 
follow the legal opinion of the learned doctors of 
Islam, one or more of whom is officially associated 
with him. In the days of the Turkish caliphs this 
officer was known as the Sheikh ul Islam; he largely 
controlled the policies of the country, and decided 
what things were permissible and what were not. Of 
course Turkey today as a republic is free from this 
dead hand of the past; but in Egypt all such matters 
are still controlled in great measure by the opinion 
of the Islamic doctors of law of Al Azhar University 
in Cairo, who virtually rule the land of the Pharaohs. 
Whether they like it or not, very often the governments of Moslem peoples are forced to yield to the 
opinions of religious leaders even on matters that to 
us would seem to be entirely secular. In Islam nothing 
is strictly secular. Politics and religion seem to form 
a natural blend; consequently we must consider as a 
part of the subject of this chapter such diverse questions as education, the prohibition of the use of alcoholic beverages, religious endowments, slavery, and 
the influence of communism. 
1. Education. In Islam education is strictly regulated by the requirements of religion. As we have 
already seen in the preceding chapter, the child has 
his first reading lesson from the Koran; and to learn 
it all by heart is one of the most commendable things 
any Moslem boy can do. To lessons on the creed and 
the practical duties of religion are added elementary 
arithmetic, geography, and Moslem history. Usually 
little primary schools are held in the mosques, and 
the village imam, who leads the prayers, is also the , 
teacher. The advanced Arabic schools have very extended courses in all the Moslem studies, which include the art of reading the Koran correctly; the commentaries on the Koran; the Traditions; theology in 
all its branches; canon law; Arabic grammar; and 
Moslem history. No Moslem is considered well and 
truly educated unless he has had a thorough grounding in these subjects. For this reason, among others, it 
is not to be wondered at that there is so much illiter
POLITICS AND RELIGION 123 
acy in Moslem lands, and that education remains the 
privilege of the few. 
Until recent years Moslem religious leaders would 
not permit their people to be contaminated by the 
study of modern science, or English and other European languages; but gradually the opposition to this 
has been broken down, and today even in the famous 
Azhar University in Cairo, stronghold of all things 
Islamic, one may find a fairly up-to-date curriculum 
offered to the students. All through the Moslem world 
there are schools and colleges, conducted for girls as 
well as boys on the most approved Western lines. 
Religious leaders have had to consent to these changes 
because of the great demand for progress, but in spite 
of this the real standards of Islamic culture are maintained by those ancient Moslem schools which still 
follow the traditional Arabic curriculum. Needless to 
say, the orthodox do not regard with favor any introduction of liberalism into education, though up to the 
present they have not been able to stem the tide. The 
opinion is undoubtedly gaining ground that one may 
study English and Western science and wear European trousers and hat, and even that a woman may go 
unveiled, and still be a faithful follower of the 
Prophet. 
2. Prohibition of alcoholic drinks. The prohibition 
of alcoholic beverages is one of the cardinal points of 
Islam, and a very good point it is. Among Moslems 
there simply is no discussion as to whether the use of 
alcoholic drinks is permissible. It is forbidden in the 
Koran and that is the end of the matter. Consequently 
in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, India and elsewhere 
Christian lecturers and organizers of the prohibition 
movement are received with the greatest cordiality, 
and given generous support in all their efforts to abolish the liquor traffic. Moslem leaders in these lands 
greatly deplore the extent to which the use of liquor 
has made headway in the Moslem community and 
the shame of it is that this is directly attributable to 
contact with that part of our Western civilization 
which is least Christian in spirit as well as in practice. 
It is only fair to say that when the United States 
adopted the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution Moslem temperance workers in many lands rejoiced that at last they had a strong ally on their side 
in the world temperance movement. But when this 
same amendment was repealed in 1933, they were 
deeply disappointed, and said, "America has let us 
down. If we Moslems had our way about it, the whole 
world would be dry, for Islam is the greatest temperance organization in the world!" They are right; it is. 
3. Religious endowments. Religious endowments 
are carefully watched and protected by Moslems. In 
this class of property come all sorts of buildings, lands 
and sums of money set apart for religious purposes, 
or any fund for the general welfare of the community. 
In the category of buildings fall particularly mosques, 
monasteries, tombs and graveyards. A building once 
used as a mosque may never be used for any other 
purpose whatsoever. Once having been used as a place 
POLITICS AND RELIGION 125 
of worship, and dedicated to the service of God, no 
mortal hand shall ever violate it. Even though it may 
he in the heart of a valuable business section of a 
city, the mosque must not be touched. Many have been 
the bloody quarrels in India between the Moslem and 
Hindu communities over the question of the possession 
of a mosque. In the same way the Jews and Arabs in 
Palestine have squabbled over holy places in Jerusalem a holy city to the Arab as well as to the Jew. 
Similarly tombs of the sainted dead, which may be 
found in unusual and out of the way places, are considered sacred trusts for the living, and they must 
be protected from violation. Monasteries, too, the 
headquarters of the dervish orders, are considered in 
the privileged class of property. 
But modern Turkey here as elsewhere has fearlessly dealt with the issue. Her government has abolished the dervish orders and confiscated their property. This was a bold step. No other Moslem government has dared to do a thing like that, not even such 
non-Moslem governments as Great Britain and France. 
They would not risk a revolution. But Turkey is mistress in her own house, and besides she is more modern than Moslem. 
4. Slavery. And now we must consider the question 
of slavery in Islam. Africa is the headquarters of the 
slave trade, and Arab traders make great profit from 
the nefarious business. The League of Nations is doing its best to put an end to it, and the European warships of all nations cooperate in the hottest waters of 
the earth the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea in an 
effort to break up this infamous commerce in human 
beings, black ivory. Even King Ibn Saoud of Arabia 
has given assistance in this worthy object. But in spite 
of this it is estimated that no fewer than five thousand 
men, women and children are taken across the Red 
Sea from Africa to Arabia each year. And furthermore, even an Islamic ruler is helpless in the face of 
the Koranic permission which allows the faithful to 
keep slaves if they wish. 
Of course it is only fair to say that there are large 
areas in the Moslem world today where Moslems do 
not hold slaves; and in addition, many enlightened 
Moslems look upon the practice with as much horror 
as anyone could. It is even asserted that the Koran, 
while allowing slavery, points to a higher way of life, 
for it says that freeing slaves is an act of merit, and 
by it one makes atonement for sins. (5: 91.) But the 
fact remains that in Islam slavery is lawful. 
5. Communism. Finally let us consider the attitude 
of Islam toward communism, for like Christianity it 
is face to face with this amazing human experiment in 
Russia. The Union of Socialist Soviet Republics has 
been as ruthless in its dealings with Moslems as with 
Christians. Mosques have been closed, Moslem clergymen imprisoned or put to death, and every effort made 
to put an end to Islam as a religion. Polygamy has 
been ended, and women have been brought out of their 
traditional seclusion. In desperation a group of Moslems from Russian Turkestan even sent an appeal to 
POLITICS AND RELIGION ? 127 
His Holiness the Pope seeking his assistance in the 
common cause of trying to save religion, Christianity 
and Islam alike, from the desperate assaults of an 
anti-religious government. 
Islam and atheistic communism cannot mix. They 
are at opposite extremes: to the one God is all; to 
the other God is nothing. But of the two communism 
has a better appreciation of human values. Both offer 
their challenge to the world: Islam with its religion 
which is politics; and communism with its politics 
which is religion. 
==CHAPTER SEVEN. THE YOUNG MOSLEM LOOKS AT CHRISTIANITY ==
rwas between Old Babylon and Baghdad on the 
journey through Iraq. The third-class compartment of the train was crowded. Uncouth, illiterate, 
dirty Bedouins from the desert, with their cumbersome flowing robes and piles of luggage, occupied 
the greater part of the space. But there were a few 
young men of the educated effendi class who were 
seated next to us. Because they were in government 
employ they knew some English, and it was not long 
before we engaged one of these young Iraqis in conversation. He said his country had made great progress since the World War. A modern representative 
form of government had been set up, Baghdad was 
fast changing its atmosphere of The Arabian Nights 
for that of a European capital, a modern system of 
education was being developed, the Iraqis had taken 
charge of their own army and air force, and their 
country was now a member of the League of Nations. 
On the whole, they had much for which they were 
grateful to the British. Then I surprised him with the 
question, "Are you a Christian?" To which he immediately replied, "Thank God, no!" 
Here we have a glimpse of the problem of the 
Moslem East facing the Christian West. The young 
Moslem looks at the West with longing eyes. He wants 
its culture, its comforts, its educational system, its industrial improvements, its democracy, its freedom of 
the sexes, its electric power, trains, automobiles, airplanes in short, its material and social blessings. 
But he does not want Christianity. To him Christianity 
stands for the Crusades, the World War, and exploitation of his people. To him the culture and material 
comforts of the West are not part and parcel of Christianity. He can have these and still keep Islam. 
And besides, why should he desire to give up Islam? As religions go it is superior to Christianity. It 
is more up to date, more modern, for it began six 
centuries later in time. Christianity is like an antiquated automobile. One would not think of buying a 
1916 model when the latest streamlined model of the 
current year is to be had. Islam is like this latest 
model which supersedes all former models because 
of its superiority in design and efficiency in operation. 
As one student of Islam puts it, the Moslem sincerely 
thinks that Christianity does not offer men and women 
a religious experience that is higher and better and 
more perfect than that offered by Islam, but, on the 
other hand, that it drags them back to a religious 
stage that for a long time has been a back number. 
He thinks that we are turning the clock backwards. 1 
1 "The Moslem Point of View," by "Orientalist," in The Moslem 
World, January, 1936, p. 26. 
MOSLEM MISCONCEPTIONS OF CHRISTIANITY 
"Thank God, no!" Thankful he was not a Christian! 
His answer startled me for a moment, but considering 
the Moslem point of view with reference to Christianity, that was the only answer my young Moslem 
companion could give. For Islam is shot through with 
the most amazing misconceptions concerning Christian 
belief and practices. And these misconceptions of the 
Moslem must be clearly understood by us if we are 
to give his views sympathetic consideration. Let us 
look now at the Moslem criticisms of Christianity. 
Some of them will appear at once as absurd; perhaps 
others will do us good. 
1. The text of the Bible has been corrupted and it 
is not to be relied upon. As we have seen in Chapter Three, the Bible is regarded by Moslems as not 
genuine, either in the Old or the New Testament. This 
is the view of scripture that Mohammed held, and to 
Moslems it is completely true. As for the corruption 
and changing of the text of the Old Testament by the 
Jews, that charge has never been proved. And the 
Gospel which God revealed in the form of a sacred 
book to Jesus, as the Koran is said to have been revealed to Mohammed well, there never was any such 
book. The revelation of his mind, and heart, and purpose, and will for man which God gave to the world 
was Jesus Christ. The real gospel of Christianity is 
not a book, but a life. 
2. Christians worship three gods. This idea, of 
course, is due to a misconception of the Christian 
THE YOUNG MOSLEM AND CHRISTIANITY 131 
teaching concerning the Trinity. And the three gods 
which the Moslem believes the Christian worships are 
the Father, the Mother, and the Son. In other words, 
they are God the Father, Mary the mother of Jesus, 
and Jesus. Little does a Moslem comprehend the real 
Christian significance of God, who is not only one in 
personality and power and love, but also in the revealing of himself to the world in Jesus Christ and to 
individuals by his indwelling Holy Spirit. But all the 
Moslem can see in the Christian Trinity is the absurd 
mathematical equation that 1 + 1 + 1 = 1. 
3. The Christian conception that Jesus is the son of 
God is utter foolishness and the very worst heresy. 
The Koran teaches concerning God, "He begetteth 
not, neither is he begotten." Therefore the Christians 
are all wrong. The Moslem idea concerning Jesus' 
sonship to God is that God became a physical father 
in the natural, human sense of the word which of 
course is absurd to the Christians as well as to the 
Moslems. Christians reject the notion of the physical 
sonship of Christ as quickly and as vigorously as do 
the Moslems. However, the Koran gives the Moslem 
no clue to the real Christian conception of the spiritual sonship of Jesus, which is that Jesus is God's 
son of the Holy Spirit, for "God is a Spirit and they 
that worship him must worship him in spirit and in 
truth." 
4. The crucifixion is a lie. In the Koran the Moslem 
reads that Jesus was not crucified, that he was not 
slain, but another whom God made to resemble him 
was crucified in his place, while Jesus was taken up 
alive into heaven. That which is the very heart of the 
Christian faith is denied by the Moslem, who says it 
is not true and who finds it a stumbling-block to his 
understanding of Christianity. And "so the cross 
which to us is the most sacred symbol of our faith, is 
to them [the Moslems] merely the symbol of a tremendous hoax perpetrated on this believing world." 1 
By one modern sect of Moslems, the Ahmadiyas of India, this denial of Jesus' death on the cross takes 
another form. They are willing to admit that he was 
crucified, but they claim that he did not die on the 
cross. He only swooned. Then his disciples took him 
down from the cross, and by the application of a marvelous salve restored him to life. He then secretly left 
Palestine because of the persecution of the Jews, and 
went on a preaching mission to Kashmir, where he 
finally died. In fact, the Ahmadiyas claim to have discovered his very grave in Srinagar which they point 
out to inquiring visitors and which the writer has also 
seen with his own eyes! 
The reason assigned by Moslems for calling the 
crucifixion of Jesus absurd is that since he was a 
prophet of God it was beneath his dignity to die the 
death of a common criminal. God would never allow 
that, and hence took him alive to heaven. Therefore 
they assert that Islam does greater honor to Christ 
than does Christianity. 
1 "The Moslem Point of View," by "Orientalist," in The Moslem 
World, January, 1936, p. 28. 
THE YOUNG MOSLEM AND CHRISTIANITY 133 
5. The Christian conception of the atonement is entirely wrong, unbelievable and highly immoral. The 
Moslems understand Christians to believe that one 
may do any amount of evil one may choose without 
fear of consequences, for Jesus died to save man from 
all sin. Opposed to this is the Christian view, that 
while there is forgiveness for sins, yet Jesus Christ 
also imparts power to keep one from yielding to temptation. 
6. Jesus is not the perfect example of humanity 
that Christians make him out to be. For instance, he 
was rude to his mother at the wedding feast in Cana 
of Galilee, and did not show her proper filial respect 
when she said to her, "Woman, what have I to do with 
thee?" He did not live a practical, well rounded life 
full of activity. He was not a man of affairs, nor the 
founder of a great nation, nor a lawgiver, nor a king, 
nor the leader of great armies. On the contrary, he 
was a meek and humble ascetic who renounced the 
world and its lusts, never married, and knew nothing 
of the problems of business or family life and the 
rearing of children. With such a limited range of 
human experience, how can Jesus be considered the 
ideal man? 
7. Furthermore, the teaching of Jesus is highly 
impractical. How can one live up to his standards? 
Non-resistance to evil; turning the other cheek; going 
the second mile; praying for one's enemies; and maintaining purity not only in action but in the heart as 
well! How can such things be? After all, this is a life 
of flesh and blood we live, and man cannot be expected to accomplish the impossible. Christianity is 
a kill-joy religion, and makes no provision for the 
weakness of the flesh. Islam does. Christian ideals are 
unattainable and unworkable. Islam is both easy and 
workable. But perhaps there may be such a thing as 
a religion being too easy, and too workable for man's 
good. Was not Browning thinking of this when he 
. i e 
said. Heaven must exceed our grasp, 
Or what's a heaven for? 
8. Christians are hypocritical. They do not live up 
to their religious ideals. They call Jesus the Prince of 
Peace, and yet no nations today fight as much as the 
Christian nations do. The World War was a terrific 
blow to the prestige of Christianity among the nonChristian peoples of the East. Jesus bade his followers 
be pure in heart, and yet Christian lands are not free 
from prostitution and the white slave traffic. Not only 
so, but the great freedom between the sexes is highly 
detrimental to morality. Jesus forbade divorce except 
for adultery, and yet divorce has become a great social disease of Christian countries, particularly in 
America. What can Christians say to this just criticism? 
9. Christianity sanctions the use of alcoholic liquors., whereas Islam enforces prohibition. Of course 
it is not correct to say that the use of liquor is sanctioned by Christianity, but the fact that liquor is used 
so freely in Western Christian nations and often by 
THE YOUNG MOSLEM AND CHRISTIANITY 135 
people who regard themselves as Christians gives the 
Moslems ample room for believing that drinking is 
one of the abominable things permitted by Christianity, like the use of pork. 
10. Western Christians are guilty of race prejudice. 
Moslems criticize them severely for this. What better 
describes the Moslem point of view than the following: 
Islam preaches brotherhood and lives it. Christians 
preach brotherhood but do not live it. The Moslem missionary goes to a pagan tribe. He marries four wives from 
the tribe. He has sons and daughters, and he marries his 
sons to their daughters, and his daughters to their sons. He 
is one of them. The Christian missionary comes, but does 
he marry even one wife from their tribe? No! he brings a 
white wife from his own land, he sends his sons to find 
white wives in that homeland, and his daughters he would 
sooner shoot dead than marry to the young men of the 
tribe. 1 
But is that all there is to it? If so, then the Moslem 
is right. 
11. Christianity is but an agency of the forces of 
Western imperialism. There are two reasons for this 
criticism: One is that the Moslem can never blot the 
history of the Crusades from his memory. The other 
is that so often he has seen Moslem power give way 
before a superior force from the West. He has seen 
that happen in Egypt and the Sudan, North Africa, 
Syria, Palestine, Iraq, and India. Following the ar
1 "The Moslem Point of View," by "Orientalist," in The Moslem 
World, January, 1936, p. 41. 
mies the Christian missionaries have come, under the 
conqueror's protection; and the Moslem has felt that 
to become a Christian was to join the ranks of the oppressors, and to be disloyal to one's own nationality. 
Furthermore, the missionaries bring with them an 
alien culture and teach foreign languages; and they 
are popularly supposed to be the supporters and 
agents of an economic system that exploits the native 
peoples and their countries. And how can one blame 
the Moslem for being a bit suspicious when he sees 
the huge sums of money made by foreign companies 
from the jute factories of Bengal, from the great oil 
fields of Burma, Iran and Iraq, from the copper and 
diamond mines of South Africa, and from the cotton 
of India? 
12. Finally, Christianity is divided, and many of 
its sects enter into bitter competition. The Moslem, in 
spite of the sects in Islam, is terribly confused by 
this lack of unity in Christianity. He cannot understand why, if Christians worship one God and recognize Jesus as the Savior of the world and use one 
Bible, there should be such innumerable divisions: 
Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, 
Congregationalists, Seventh Day Adventists and so 
forth. Nor can we Christians understand why it should 
continue to be so, since there is so much emphasis 
these days on the essential unity of all Christians. If 
the Moslem is interested in Christianity at all, he is 
likely to ask, "Which of these various sects represents 
the true Christian faith?" 
THE YOUNG MOSLEM AND CHRISTIANITY 137 
MOSLEM APPRECIATION OF JESUS 
The Moslem attitude toward Jesus Christ and Christianity is not entirely one of criticism and depreciation. A young Moslem said to me one day, "We Moslems hold Jesus Christ in greater honor and respect 
than you Christians do. We consider him a great 
prophet, and we never mention his name without prefixing the title Hazrat (His Excellency) and follow it 
with a prayer for him 'On him be peace.' You Christians do not show him that much respect." 
Undoubtedly, for the most part, Moslems do honor 
Jesus. It would be strange if they did not, for while 
the Koran has a great many disparaging things to say 
about Christians it has nothing to say against him who 
is the Christian's Lord. Jesus is in the line of divine 
prophetic succession; he is called "a Sign to the 
worlds," "the Word of truth," and "the Word of 
God." He is called also "a Spirit from God," "Spirit 
of God," "the Messenger of God," "the Servant of 
God," and he is spoken of as "illustrious in this world 
and the next." Furthermore, Moslems regard Jesus as 
the great healer. Also, like Pilate, they "find no fault 
in him," though they are inclined to the opinion, as 
previously pointed out, that his virtue was of the 
negative sort rather than positive. Many of them look 
for his return again at the Last Day when he will 
fight for the ultimate victory of Islam, slay the Antichrist, kill all the swine, break the cross, and reign on 
the earth as a righteous king for a period of forty 
years. During this time they say he will marry, have 
children, and finally die and be buried at Medina 
near Mohammed between the graves of the first two 
caliphs, Abu Bakr and Omar. 
Various Moslem writers show their appreciation of 
Jesus by giving alleged quotations from his sayings. 
Here are a few of them that bear at least a curious 
resemblance to his words in the Gospels: "Verily, 
you will obtain what you like only by your patience 
with what you dislike!" "0 company of disciples, 
how many lamps has the wind put out, and how many 
worshipers has self-conceit spoiled!" But perhaps the 
best of all is the one which the great Moghul emperor 
of India, Akbar, had inscribed over the doorway of 
one of the buildings in his capital city of Fatehpur 
Sikri. It reads, "Jesus, peace be upon him, said, 'The 
world is a bridge, so pass over it, but do not build 
upon it.' " 
One of the Moslem traditions about Jesus gives the 
following singular picture which describes his superiority over others. It goes thus, "No one followed Jesus 
who was his equal; and he never scolded an orphan; 
and he never laughed immoderately; and he never 
even drove a fly from off his face; and he never broke 
a promise once given; and he never was frivolous." 
But with all their words of respect to Jesus, Moslems give him but lip service. They miss the essential 
part of his life and work and teaching when they 
eliminate the cross. That which means most to Christians, that which makes him our Lord and Master, 
has been denied as an imposture. But signs are not 
THE YOUNG MOSLEM AND CHRISTIANITY 139 
wanting that thinking Moslems here and there are 
beginning to pay attention to the cross and the suffering and sacrificial death of our Lord and to sense 
their meaning. A well educated Moslem said to me 
one day, "Mr. Gandhi has done more than all you 
missionaries to show me the meaning of the crucifixion. The way he has suffered for his people here 
in India, even by going to prison, and fasting almost 
to death, has greatly touched the hearts of us Moslems, 
and we are beginning to see a new meaning in the 
Christian story of the crucifixion. After all, maybe 
the message of the cross does hold the secret for the 
rebuilding of the world." 
THE CHRISTIAN CONTRIBUTION TO MOSLEM LIVES 
Nor are Moslems entirely wanting in their appreciation of Christian homes and individuals. Here is 
the case of a Moslem youth who accepted an invitation to live for a time as a member of a Christian 
family. He belonged to one of the best Moslem homes 
of his city. His father was a learned and respected 
gentleman in government service. His mother also 
was of high social standing. The young man loved his 
home and had many good things to say in appreciation of it. When the time came to leave his Christian 
friends he used words to this effect: "I have been 
grateful for the privilege of being in your home, eating at the family table, and thus getting to know the 
various members of the family and guests who have 
come. I am greatly impressed with the things you talk 
about, the ideals and standards you hold in life, and 
especially the sincerity and purity which I see lived 
out daily." 
In spite of many examples to the contrary in recent 
years, notably in Egypt and Turkey, I am sure it can 
be said without fear of contradiction that Moslems 
are more inclined to learn about Christianity, and 
more appreciative of Christian effort among them, 
than has been known before. Christian literature prepared for Moslems is produced particularly in Syria, 
Egypt, Iran, India, Java, and China, and reports 
come from all countries that for this there is an unprecedented demand. 
Christian schools and colleges are frequently selected by Moslem parents for their children because 
they say frankly they prefer the sort of atmosphere 
which pervades the school, and the type of character 
it develops. In the country of Algeria in North Africa 
the Christian missions conduct homes or hostels in 
connection with the schools run by the French government, and it is a common practice for the Moslem 
Kabyle tribes to send their children to these Christian 
homes because of the excellent care and training they 
get there. In India there is in operation a "conscience 
clause" which, in those Christian schools receiving 
government grants-in-aid, makes Bible study voluntary and forbids the school to make it compulsory. 
Parents may, if they so desire, have their sons and 
daughters excused from attendance at the Bible class. 
But it is a well known fact that of the thousands of 
THE YOUNG MOSLEM AND CHRISTIANITY 141 
Moslem children who attend Christian schools in India, only a very small number have ever yet taken 
advantage of this privilege of exemption from the 
study of the Bible. 
And who can ever measure the gratitude of Moslems of the Near East, the education of whose sons in 
Robert College, Constantinople, in the American University of Beirut, Alborz College of Teheran, and in 
other institutions founded under Christian auspices 
has been a potent factor in bringing about the blessings of the new day in those Moslem lands? In these 
colleges young men and young women have been 
trained in all the branches of modern learning, including science and medicine, and they have gone out to 
serve their people with the spirit of him who said, "I 
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister." 
But more interesting even than this, perhaps, is the 
appreciation of medical missions by the Wahhabi 
king of Saoudi Arabia, Ibn Saoud. Not only once has 
he called upon the doctors of the mission of the Reformed Church in America to come from Bahrein to 
attend him and his family; but he has done it so often 
that now these Christian doctors may be called his 
family physicians the royal physicians of the Kingdom of the Hejaz! And if this sense of appreciation is 
true of His Highness, Ibn Saoud, how much more 
true is it of the tens of thousands of humble Moslems 
who owe their lives to the devoted skill and service 
of the Christian doctors who serve the Moslem world 
at such strategic points as Old Cairo, Egypt; Kuweit, 
Arabia; Teheran, Iran; Srinagar, Kashmir; Delhi, 
India; or Bannu on the borders of Afghanistan. 
In the hospital at Bannu, Dr. Theodore Leighton 
Pennell, an Englishman, literally gave his life for 
those wild Moslem tribes of the frontier. A very sick 
man, a Moslem, was rushed into the hospital one day, 
and had to be operated on at once. The operation was 
exceedingly dangerous because of the serious nature 
of the infection. Dr. Pennell knew that in performing 
the operation he took his life in his hands, for if he 
should get infected himself he would be almost sure 
to die. Still he took the chance to try to save the man's 
life. He operated. Through a small scratch on his 
finger, at first unnoticed, he got the dreaded infection. 
He died. The other man lived. "Greater love hath no 
man than this, that he lay down his life for his 
friend." So impressed were the wild Afghans of those 
mountains that they vied with each other for the 
privilege of carrying the body of Dr. Pennell to its 
last resting place, for they said, "He was one of us. 
He loved us, and did more for us than one of our 
own people would do." 
HEROIC CONVERTS TO CHRISTIANITY 
But the best testimony of all concerning the appreciation of Christianity by Moslems is to be found in 
the lives of those rare souls among Moslems themselves who from time to time have braved all sorts 
of dangers and perils to become followers of Jesus 
Christ. The sacrifice and devotion of many of these 
THE YOUNG MOSLEM AND CHRISTIANITY 143 
true followers of our Lord might well cause some of 
us lukewarm Western Christians to blush with shame. 
In Iran they tell the story of Dr. Saeed Khan, known 
as the beloved physician of Teheran. He belonged to 
the fanatical Kurds. When he had made up his mind 
to become a Christian his Moslem relatives seriously 
objected. He was watched as closely as a prisoner in 
his own house. "He was beaten savagely and branded 
with red-hot irons. Saeed suffered intensely, yet he 
remained calm and prayerful. He prayed, 'Blessed 
Jesus, open their eyes to see. Give them wisdom to 
understand, and faith to believe.' " 1 Today, in spite 
of the fact that he is a convert from Islam, he has risen 
as a Christian physican and surgeon until Moslem 
rulers beg for his aid. Standing before kings, or serving the common people, Dr. Saeed as an ambassador 
of Christ adds new chapters of glory to the continuing 
Book of Acts. 
Or consider the following inspiring cases of young 
men who because of the power of the new life that was 
imparted to them were not afraid or ashamed to be 
known as Christians. Rather they counted all their 
former social position and ease and wealth as so 
much rubbish compared with the great joy and peace 
that had come to them through the personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. 
Mirza Mohammed belonged to a well to do family 
in L . When a mere youth he joined one of the 
1 The Beloved Physician of Teheran, by Isaac M. Yonan, p. 60. 
Nashville, Cokesbury Press, copyright 1934. Used by permission. 
mystic orders of Islam and tried to learn the art of 
meditation to satisfy the spiritual hunger in his heart. 
Finally despairing of finding satisfaction in this way, 
he turned after some years to a study of the Bible, 
and made a more careful examination of the Koran 
in order to compare the two hooks. The more he studied both, the more he says he was impressed with the 
sinless character of Christ, as compared with the 
Prophet Mohammed's own confession in the Koran 
that he was a sinner and that he prayed for God's forgiveness. He continued this examination of Christianity until, he says, he was firmly convinced that 
Christ's teachings were the only ones for him to follow. His life has been a splendid testimony for many 
years of the genuineness of his faith. His Moslem 
friends and relatives, who repudiated him at first, 
are proud to own him now, and he has nobly served 
as a member of the staff of a well known Christian 
college for a long period. 
John Abdullah is another interesting illustration of 
a transformed life. Born in the large city of C , 
he says he grew up with a peculiar aversion to Christianity, and especially to the teaching about the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross. Since the Koran teaches 
that Christ was not crucified and that he did not give 
his life upon the cross, the very idea that Christians 
should make this claim was repulsive. It was the greatest heresy. He used to tear up every gospel portion or 
leaflet that he could get hold of. 
One day, however, he heard an interpretation of 
THE YOUNG MOSLEM AND CHRISTIANITY 145 
the cross which gripped him, and which ultimately 
resulted in his conversion. It was the story of a mother 
whose little girl's clothes caught fire and who, tearing 
the clothes from her own body, used them to heat out 
the flames. She saved the little one's life, but sustained deep and ugly wounds on her own hands which 
made them crooked and unsightly. When the child 
grew old enough to observe carefully her mother's 
scarred hands, she said to her mother one day, 
"Mother, I don't like your hands. They are so crooked 
and scarred and ugly. They are not like other people's 
hands." Then the mother explained how these scars 
had come. The little girl understood, and kissing her 
mother's hands she replied, "Now, mother, I understand, and I think yours are the most beautiful hands 
in the world, because they saved my life." 
Abdullah says that this touching story unlocked for 
him the meaning of the crucifixion, and forever 
changed the course of his life. The assurance that 
Christ had through his own sacrifice upon the cross 
somehow saved the lives of even unbelievers like himself gave him courage, and sustained him through the 
fierce and bitter persecution which his relatives visited 
upon him when he became a Christian. They would 
hide his Bible, and even burned one copy after another. Finally they forced him to leave home, and he 
became a wanderer in distant parts of the country. 
But through it all he remained faithful to his Lord, 
and today he is one of the most devoted followers of 
Christ, and one of the most beloved evangelists and 
teachers in the whole of southern Asia, admired and 
respected by Moslems as well as by Christians. 
Sultan Mohammed was a young Moslem who belonged to one of the royal families of Afghanistan. 
He went to Bombay when in his teens, and while there 
became interested in Christianity. At first his chief 
interest was in arguing against it. He was a fiery opponent, but ultimately his passionate criticism 
changed to admiration, and today there is no more 
fearless apologist for Christ in India than this exiled 
princely follower of Jesus Christ. For many years he 
has not been able to return to his native land, for to 
do so would mean death. 
How little are the sacrifices of the disciples of 
Christ in distant lands appreciated! The Christianity 
that these men know has been purchased at a great 
price. Such examples as these can be explained only 
in terms of a deep religious conviction and the working of a powerful transforming faith in Jesus Christ. 
No other explanation is possible. 
These few illustrations stand out among the increasingly large number of those who are turning 
from Islam to Christ. There are thousands of such 
followers of Christ, especially in India, Iran, Sumatra, and Java. These are people who have openly 
identified themselves with the Christian church. In 
addition, there are unknown numbers of secret believers, both men and women, who are found in nearly 
all Moslem lands. More than at any previous time the 
young Moslem of today looks at Christianity, and in 
THE YOUNG MOSLEM AND CHRISTIANITY 147 
many countries he is seriously interested. In spite of 
his prejudices for some of which his own religion is 
responsible, for others, the Christians themselves 
Christianity is the one religion of the world besides 
his own that challenges his attention and interest. 
Generally speaking, however, the young Moslem 
is frankly hostile to the missionary enterprise. Perhaps this attitude is due as much to the fear of interference and domination by the Western nations from 
which the missionaries come as to an innate hostility 
to Christianity as a religion. While there is a desire to 
take over just as much of Western civilization as possible and still remain Moslem, most countries do all 
in their power to limit missionary influence. In Turkey, for instance, mission schools may be operated, 
but the Bible may not be taught, nor any religious 
services held. Christians may hold services for themselves, but preaching in the marketplace or on the 
streets or any effort at proselyting is forbidden by 
law. Perhaps this, however, is only a passing phase, 
and the time will come when these lands will enjoy a 
larger measure of religious freedom. The present 
policy is based on the assumption that it is not good 
for society for a man to change his religion, especially if it means changing from Islam to something 
else! 
==CHAPTER EIGHT. ISLAM CHALLENGES THE WORLD==
ISLAM challenges the world! To modern ears these 
words sound strange indeed, and hopelessly unreal. We are familiar with such headlines as 
"Communism challenges the world"; "The menace of 
Fascism"; and "Naziism a threat to world peace." But 
somehow the phrase "Islam challenges the world" 
seems out of date, and it leaves us cold. At most it 
reminds us of things we read in our histories about 
the Crusades, and pre-war Turkish atrocities visited 
upon the helpless Armenians things which belong 
mostly to a dim and distant past and have no challenge in them for the modern world. 
But wait a moment. It must not be forgotten that 
the things we have been considering about Islam in 
the previous pages of this book are a part of this very 
real world in which we are now living. The two hundred and fifty million Moslems who live mostly in 
Europe, Africa and Asia, forming a huge bloc of 
humanity in the heat belt of the world, are a very 
large and important part of this great human family 
of ours. Their history has been strangely and intimately, and often tragically, interwoven with that of 
Christian nations. For ten centuries, from the seventh to the seventeenth, Islam swept everything before it in 
its great onrush, and won victories from Morocco to 
Manila which have not heen obliterated to this day. 
Throughout these lands from West to East Christian 
churches and Hindu and Buddhist temples may be 
found which for centuries have been converted into 
mosques where the Moslem worships Allah. 
"Yes," you say, "all very good. But those days of 
challenge belong to the past. What of the present? Are 
the Moslems planning a new holy war, a jihad, or 
whatever you call it? Are they about to summon their 
fanatic hosts once more to launch a great campaign 
against the non-Moslem nations of the world and offer 
them the Koran or the sword? If so, who is the caliph 
and leader of the faithful who is planning such a vast 
new world war for everyone knows that the Moslem 
world has been without a caliph since the Turks deposed the last of the Ottoman caliphs in 1924? Since 
then the different Moslem nations have not been able 
to agree upon a successor. So who is to head up this 
new great threat to the world's peace? No," you 
say, "it leaves us cold. We can't see it." 
Well, to tell the truth, neither does anyone else see 
it just that way any more. But still the fact remains 
that Islam does offer a challenge to the world, and 
that great human problems are bound up in it. These 
Moslem millions are a problem to themselves. Things 
have not gone as they expected. The great dreams of 
a vast world empire which were once partly realized 
have been dashed to the ground. In these modern times a new plan and purpose for life has to be 
worked out or Islam is lost; and in the process of 
bringing Islam up to date we find the Moslem nations 
struggling along shoulder to shoulder with the rest of 
us in the common task of remaking the world. 
The modern world is a vast kaleidoscope of change, 
in which all peoples, races and religions are part of 
the shifting pattern. With feverish activity mankind 
is busy either in proposing and promoting "new 
deals" in politics and religion or in reconditioning the 
old models. There has never been a time when there 
was such a baffling intermixture of human beings, 
races, philosophies and religions as we find in the 
world today; and struggling side by side with the 
other nations are the Moslem peoples, some clinging 
tenaciously to their traditions and ancient heritage, others eagerly working on the problems of adaptation 
and readjustment, and all wondering with the rest of 
us, "What next?" 
===THE AHMADIYA MOVEMENT===
In the days when the nineteenth century was about 
to enter its final decade, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sat 
much in meditation in his house in the village of 
Qadian in northern India. He had received a good 
education in Arabic, Persian, Urdu and the curriculum of Moslem orthodoxy; but he was thoughtful and 
studious beyond the average man of his community. 
Many things in India and the Moslem world at large 
disturbed him. He was distressed that under the leadership of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan and his Aligarh 
reformers young Moslems seemed to be losing their 
faith altogether; but at the same time he was deadly 
opposed to the lifeless leadership of the mullahs., or 
Moslem clergy. 
The more he read and meditated on this situation 
the more he was convinced that it was not peculiar to 
India alone, but that similar conditions prevailed 
throughout the Moslem world. Further, his close contact with the people of the two other great faiths of 
India, the Hindus and the Christians, enabled him to 
sense their spiritual hopes and aspirations. 
Gradually it dawned upon him that the time was 
ripe for a new spiritual leadership in Islam, and about 
the year 1890 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad announced to 
the world that he had been called by Allah to undertake a special divine mission. He declared that he 
was the promised Mahdi of the Moslems, the great 
champion of Islam, who, the Traditions say, will 
come in the last days and convert the whole world to 
the true faith. Knowing that the Hindus looked for 
the coming of a new incarnation of the god Vishnu 
who would usher in a new age, he appealed to them 
also to accept him as their long expected savior. Turning to the Christians he announced that he was the 
Messiah Jesus who had returned to earth, and thus in 
him the second coming of Christ had been fulfilled! 
Indeed he so fully convinced himself and his followers that he was the Messiah that he formally took that title. Even to this day his sons, who succeeded him, have held to this title, and some years ago when wandering in the bazaars of Lahore I saw an old Ford 
bearing in bold lettering on one of the doors the arresting title, Khalif at-ul-Masih, II, which being interpreted meant that the old Ford was the property of "The Second Successor to the Messiah" of Qadian! 
All the old passion for the renewing of Islam and 
the revival of its ancient glory in the midst of this 
modern world began to burn in Mirza Ghulam 
Ahmad. He recalled how the sun never sets on the 
Moslem crescent flag; how Islam is the mightiest religion of the world next to Christianity; and how "it 
holds a world empire of human hearts in its grasp." 
He thought of the sixty thousand or more who annually come together from every nation under heaven 
to meet around the Kaaba at Mecca in celebration of 
the pilgrimage, all one in a common brotherhood and 
in the use of a common ritual in the Arabic tongue. 
He pictured himself as the one who, under the guidance of Allah, would arouse the Moslem world to a 
great revival of Islam that would bring all peoples 
of the world under the red crescent banner. He remembered how the Prophet Mohammed had sent out 
letters to the nations of the world inviting them to accept Islam. He, too, would challenge the world! He 
would set the whole world to thinking about Islam 
and would convince all the non-Moslem peoples that 
Islam was the perfect religion, superior to all others. 
Accordingly he and his followers organized an extensive movement with the avowed purposes of spreading die revival spirit in Islam and of conducting a 
vigorous missionary effort throughout the world among non-Moslems. This Ahmadiya movement, as it is called, has been a surprisingly bold effort. It has established mosques in New York, Chicago, London, Liverpool, Paris, and Berlin. The twenty-year record of one of its missionary societies has an interesting 
account of activities. Here is a brief summary of it: 
1. The Woking (England) Moslem mission, the first such 
mission to the West, has a mosque which has been in use for 
many years. (There are said to he between two and three 
thousand British Moslems.) 
2. The German Moslem mission was founded in 1924 in Berlin. Upwards of four hundred Germans have been won over to Islam. The magnificent mosque in Berlin was erected at an expense of more than fifty thousand dollars. 
3. The Austrian Moslem mission was opened in Vienna in 1934. 
4. The Java Moslem mission was founded in 1924 to save the Moslems of that island from Christian propaganda. 
5. The holy Koran has been translated into three European languages. The English version alone has run up to 
thirty thousand copies, while its Dutch translation has 
been published by the Java mission. 
6. The life of the holy Prophet has been translated into 
the following languages: English, Dutch, Polish, Italian, 
Turkish, Albanian, Hindi, Sindhi, Bengali, Gurmukhi, 
Tamil, Gujarati, Kanarese, Javanese, Malay, Siamese and 
Chinese. 
7. Religious periodicals are being published in English, 
Dutch, German and Javanese. 
8. Two high schools have been established in India to 
imbue the rising generation with the true Islamic spirit. 
9. Research work is being carried on in other religions. 
10. Arrangements have been made for preparing missionaries to carry on the work of the propagation of Islam 
in and outside India. 
11. The free distribution of the English translation of 
the holy Koran and the life of the holy Prophet has been 
made by the thousands to libraries, ships, and to notable 
personages. 
12. Miscellaneous literature in the form of tracts, 
amounting to seven million pages, has been published for 
the religious and social uplift of the Moslems. 
13. Funds are being raised to start a Moslem mission in 
Spain, its aim being to win back to Islam that country 
"which has forsaken Christianity." 
14. A branch of the society in Java is planning a mission to Holland. 1 
===ABDUL HAMID AND PAN-ISLAMISM ===
While Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in his obscure Indian 
village of Qadian dreamed his dreams, of spiritual 
conquest of the world in the latter part of the nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth centuries, 
the caliph of the Moslem world, Abdul Hamid, in his 
luxurious palace by the Bosporus, dreamed dreams 
also dreams of Pan-Islamic power that would oust 
the exploiting, imperialist European powers from 
India, Egypt and North Africa. He hoped to see the 
day when it would be possible to establish a great bloc 
of independent Moslem nations of whose spiritual and 
political life the Turkish caliph would be the head. 
To further these ends the caliph joined Germany and 
1 Summarized from the Report of the Lahore Anjuman of the 
Ahmadiya, 1935. 
the Central Powers in the World War, and sought to 
rally fellow Moslems throughout the world to his 
support by issuing the call for a jihad, or holy war. 
He vainly hoped that the Moslems of India, Egypt 
and the Sudan would revolt against the British; that 
their brothers in North Africa would overthrow the 
Italian, French, and Spanish rule; and that the Arabs 
would faithfully stand their ground. 
But history now shows that Abdul Hamid "backed 
the wrong horse." The Moslems of India, Egypt, the 
Sudan and North Africa did not rise in revolt against 
their non-Moslem rulers; the Germans lost the war; 
Turkey was dismembered; and even the Arabs themselves staged a revolt in the desert which led to complete independence from the rule of the Turkish sultan. More than this, separate states were carved out of 
the Turkish Empire, and mandated governments were 
set up in Palestine, Syria, Iraq, and Transjordania, 
with the British and French assigned to guardianship. 
But the final crushing blow came when in 1921 
Turkey overthrew the monarchy, abolished the old 
regime, and became a republic, and finally in 1924 
put an end to the Turkish caliphate. 
Today Pan-Islamism is dead. There is no caliph of 
the Moslems. There is no symbol of unity, and no unifying force other than the spiritual influence of the 
faith and ritual of Islam. Ineffective efforts have been 
made to revive the caliphate and to elect a new caliph. 
Suggestions have even been made that a Moslem 
league of nations be established and that the annual 
pilgrimage to Mecca be the occasion for the regular 
meeting of this league. But up to date all attempts to 
achieve even a semblance of practical political unity 
among the Moslem peoples of the world have suffered 
defeat. 
Turkey, the strongest and greatest of independent 
Moslem states, today refuses to have anything to do 
with such a proposal. On the contrary, under the 
guidance of their strong man, President Kamal Ataturk, the Turks appear to be far less influenced by 
religious than by national considerations. Islam it 
would seem means far less to them than nationalism. 
To a much less degree, of course, the same may be 
said of the other Moslem countries. Seeing no way in 
which Islam can again become politically all-powerful, the Moslems of Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, 
and Arabia, for instance, are doing all in their power 
to establish strong national governments, to develop 
their own national interests, and to take their rightful 
place in the League of Nations. They are jealous of 
their own religion and culture, strongly desire full 
independence where they do not have it, as in Egypt 
and Syria, and use such nationalistic slogans as 
"Egypt for the Egyptians" and "Syria for the 
Syrians." 
The following quotation from an Arabic newspaper 
in Palestine shows that Moslems themselves are aware 
of the dangers of secularism: 
A meeting of sheikhs from Egypt and India would mean 
much in defense of Islam against the wave of unbelief from 
the West and against secularism, which will take away 
religion from education, wants modern laws instead of clerical, and hopes to weaken Islam under the name of nationalism. These dangers are threatening Islam in its very foundations and will destroy it in the hearts of the next generation. Moslems disobey their religion, and it may be heard 
said: "Of what use is it to bring outcastes or others into 
Islam, when some of the Moslem peoples leave Islam?" 
Under the handicap of such political disunity there 
is no possibility of Islam's being able, even if it so 
desired, to confront the world with the old seventh 
century challenge of a holy war against the infidels. 
This is a bugaboo that is not likely ever to be revived again. 
The names of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and Abdul 
Hamid stand today as symbols of the challenge of 
Islam to the world in these modern times. The caliph's 
great political challenge of Pan-Islamism collapsed 
with the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire; but the 
spiritual challenge of Islam as found in the worldwide missionary effort of the Ahmadiya movement of 
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is still very much alive. Its significance lies not so much in its achievements for the 
cause of Islam or in the number of its converts to the 
faith for these have not been such as to alarm nonMoslems but rather in the fact that it represents the 
ever present spiritual desire and aspiration of the 
whole Moslem world to see the faith of Islam triumph. 
In this fundamentally religious sense the Abode of 
Islam still looks upon people of other faiths as belonging to the Abode of War. In the spiritual realm 
Islam still challenges the world. 
===THE CHALLENGE OF NEED ===
Everywhere throughout the Moslem lands we are faced by the challenge of desperate human need, a need which very largely grows out of the religious ideas and ideals of the Islamic system itself. 
Now it is interesting that some people take the position that one religion is as good as another; or, at least, that every people has a religion which satisfies them, and which is best adapted to their needs. They will tell you that devil worship is good enough for the African in his jungles; the worship of evil spirits is good enough for the animist among India's aborigines; and polytheism and idolatry are good enough for the Hindus of Hindustan. In the same way, Islam 
is good enough for the Arabs, Syrians, and Iranians 
or at any rate they are satisfied with it. so why worry? 
The most that can be said for such a position as this 
is that it is utterly lacking in a proper sense of 
values. Even the Moslem himself would vigorously 
disagree with such a view, for he is very certain that 
Islam is not only superior to the other systems just mentioned, but that it is vastly superior to Christianity as well! 
Then there are those who in a spirit of commendable appreciation feel that Christianity has much to 
learn from Islam. They feel that Islam is a kind of 
Unitarian religion, and that if Christians do go to 
Moslem lands, they should definitely go to share their 
experience, and learn as much as they can. They 
should not he primarily interested in winning converts 
to Christianity, hut in interpreting the values in Christianity within the framework of the Islamic system, 
and in trying to make Moslems better Moslems. To 
this end they would maintain schools and hospitals, 
organize athletic teams to play football, hockey, and 
basehall, engage in all sorts of humanitarian and 
character building activities, but leave religion out of 
the picture entirely. There must be no Bible classes 
in schools or hospitals, no personal work, and no 
public preaching. Because of the persecution of converts no attempt must be made to create a church, 
and all that can be done is to work on the principle 
that ultimately the leaven will leaven the whole. Of 
course, in some countries like Turkey, this is the only 
policy that can now be followed, for there is no freedom to preach and teach. 
But there is something deeply tragic about the 
Moslem world that lays hold of the person who takes 
his Christianity seriously. He cannot shake off that 
sense of tragedy; it persistently haunts him. He sees 
much in Islam to be approved and even admired, but 
he is conscious of a great emptiness at the heart of it. 
The Moslem knows God as King, whose will is law; 
he does not know God as Father, and the transforming power of his love. The Moslem declares the holy 
Koran is God's supreme revelation of his will to 
men, but rejects the revelation of God in Jesus Christ 
and dismisses his supreme sacrifice as an idle tale. 
The Moslem regards sin as something of small consequence which can easily be righted by good works; 
he does not see that sin is not so much the outward 
act as a disease of the inner nature and requires a 
cure that comes from a power that is beyond oneself. 
In short, Islam's conception of God is not big enough to serve the deepest needs of man, and neither is its 
conception of revelation; while its conception of sin 
is far from going to the root of the matter. It is this 
basic weakness in the religious ideas of Islam which 
is responsible for the trail of tragedy which follows 
in its wake. 
Finally, it must not be forgotten that of all the 
religions of the world Christianity is the Good Samaritan to the world's need. Wherever there is ignorance or oppression; wherever there is pain and 
suffering; wherever there are systems that crush or 
degrade the bodies or souls of men and impede their 
progress; wherever women and little children cry out 
for help there Christianity must go, or Christ would 
be less than the Savior of the world. It is ultimately 
this need, then, that is the great and impelling challenge of the Moslem world, and along with the need 
there are innumerable open doors of opportunity. 
===THE OPPORTUNITY FOR MEDICAL MISSIONS ===
The interior of Arabia is one of the most inaccessible parts of the world to Europeans, but the power 
to relieve distress opens doors even there. Disease is 
something which attacks rich and poor alike, high and 
low. The favorite wife of His Highness, Sultan Abdul 
Aziz ibn Saoud, ruler of Saoudi Arabia, was ill. In 
fact, she was very ill as she lay in the palace at 
Riadh, and the local Arabian hakeems, or doctors, had 
done all in their power without success. The king 
quickly dispatched messengers across the desert to 
summon the mission doctors from Bahrein. It is said 
throughout inland Arabia that next to the king, it 
would be difficult to name one man more popular 
than Dr. Louis P. Dame of the American Mission 
Hospital on the island of Bahrein in the Persian 
Gulf. On receiving the message from Riadh, the doctor and his associates started out at once and sped 
across the desert in the modern motor cars which the 
king had furnished for his guests. The rest of the 
story we shall hear in the words of Mr. G. D. Van 
Peursem, who was himself a member of the party: 
In exchange for the liberality of Ibn Saoud, Dr. Dame, Mrs. Van Peursem and eleven assistants gave their time and 
services freely. Naturally the king and his household came 
first. . . . However, daily clinics were held for the public. Every forenoon except Sundays, two hundred and 
fifty patients were treated. Rich man, poor man, beggarman, women and children, everybody seemed to turn up at 
this daily clinic. ... To these masses some forty cases of 
medicines were distributed. One of the assistants was kept 
busy giving intramuscular and intravenous injections for 
the men alone. This indicates that venereal diseases have 
become all too common in Saoudi Arabia. Someone has 
said that unless this is checked, it will certainly decrease the population, if not exterminate certain sections altogether. . . . 
The afternoons were devoted to surgery. Often the numbers of needy cases made it necessary for the doctor to 
continue into the hours of the night. As the news of the 
doctor's arrival radiated into the villages and hamlets, 
well-nigh hopeless cases were carried into the hospital. The Bedouins, not knowing that even to modern medicine and 
surgery there is a limit, brought victims of tuberculosis in 
its last stages. Forms of skin and bone, carried on stretchers, 
appeared every day; victims of venereal diseases, so repulsive that their faces were not to be shown to the public. 
One look at such a specimen is enough to leave one cold 
and chill for days and days. "An extreme case," the doctor 
says. "No, not extreme," says the Arab. "There are many 
like that in Hayil." But the amir [king] did not know this 
until the doctor came."Guests of King Ibn Saoud," by G. D. Van Peursem, in The Moslem World, April, 1936, pp. 116-17. 
It is a grim story but a true one, and illustrates 
how, generally speaking, throughout the Moslem lands 
there is need and opportunity for medical mission 
work. It is probably true that the devoted Christian 
doctors have opened more Moslem hearts to the truth 
of Christ's love than has any other type of missionary. 
If it were only possible to multiply a hundredfold 
the mission hospitals of Sheikh Othman, Basrah, Bahrein and Kuweit in Arabia, Quetta and Bannu on 
the Northwest Frontier of India, Tanta and Old Cairo 
in Egypt, Teheran and Meshed in Iran and Beirut 
in Syria, who could tell the mighty results for good that would follow throughout the Moslem world, not only in bringing the healing and the love of Christ to the poor, the suffering and the needy, but in creating better understanding between the peoples of the 
Moslem and the Christian lands? 
===THE OPEN DOOR OF EDUCATION ===
There is not only the challenge of physical need; 
there is the challenge of the great hunger for education and social reform. The demand for modern education is greater than ever before in every Moslem 
land. 
In the far-away Sulu archipelago among the Philippine Islands, where half a million Moslem Moros live 
under the Stars and Stripes, a few years ago there was 
practically one hundred per cent illiteracy. Only a 
few mullahs, or priests, could read. The people were 
among the most fanatic and savage Moslems on the 
face of the earth. Order was maintained by the United 
States army with the greatest difficulty, and even so, 
wild outbursts were not uncommon. 
Then a missionary was sent there to see what he 
could do. He went with fear and trembling, leaving 
his wife and children behind because it was not safe 
to take them. He soon discovered that the greatest 
problem of the Moros was illiteracy. With singular 
ability and rare tact and judgment he tackled the 
problem of adult education by the direct method of 
teaching the people to read. He prepared easy charts 
using the simplest words, and started in. His rule of 
procedure was one of cooperation. He would teach a man two lessons only on condition that he would go 
out and teach two others what he had learned before 
receiving the third and fourth lessons, and so on down 
the line. The result has heen that in some five years' 
time nearly half the adult population has been taught 
to read! The people have become enthusiastic learners, and are now demanding schools and literature. 
The hunger for education has been aroused. Today, 
Dr. Frank Laubach is looked upon by these Moros as 
their greatest friend. So striking have been the results 
of his work in the Philippines that he has been asked 
to visit many other countries in Asia and Africa to 
develop similar methods. 
Even in a country like India the challenge of appalling illiteracy staggers one. After all the efforts 
made there by mission and government agencies, it 
still can be said that ninety per cent of the Moslem 
men are illiterate and ninety-eight per cent of the 
women and this among a Moslem population of 
seventy-eight millions! Mission schools in Iran, India, 
Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Turkey are thronged with 
Moslems who cannot be accommodated in other institutions. In many cases, or rather, in most cases, 
mission schools have been the pioneers in modern 
education in every one of these countries, and have 
contributed materially to the awakening and to the 
demand for constitutional government and constructive reforms. 
In Iran, we are told by President Samuel M. 
Jordan of Alborz College, Teheran, 
since the beginning of the century, American schools have 
been patronized by the leading men of the country. Among 
the students have been enrolled sons of the princes of the 
royal family, first and second cousins of former shahs, the 
only grandson of the present shah, sons of prime ministers 
and other cabinet ministers, of members of the mejlis 
(congress), of tribal chieftains, of provincial governors, 
and of other influential men from every corner of the land 
boys who, whether educated or not, would be in the future years among the rulers of Iran. Probably no other 
school in the world has ever enrolled so many of the children of the leading men of any country as for the past 
thirty-five years have been enrolled in this college [the 
Presbyterian mission college in Teheran, now called Alborz 
College]. Our students imbibed liberal ideas, they agitated 
for reforms, they cooperated with other forward-looking 
patriots in transforming the medieval despotism of thirty 
years ago into the modern, progressive democracy of today. 1 
The same might be said of nearly every Christian 
college in Moslem lands. It most certainly applies to 
such well known institutions as the American University of Beirut; Robert College, Constantinople; the 
Forman Christian College, Lahore; Lucknow Christian College; St. John's College, Agra; the American 
University at Cairo, not to mention a host of others. 
And one of the most important things that young 
men learn in these Christian colleges is how to cooperate, to pull together. As President Jordan puts it: 
Iranian statesmen for years have mourned, "We Iranians 
do not know how to cooperate." But how do you teach 
1 "Constructive Revolutions in Iran," by Samuel M. Jordan, in 
The Moslem World, October, 1935. 
people to cooperate, how do you teach them to "play the 
game"? Obviously by playing games, and so we introduced 
football, baseball, volleyball, basketball. . . . The result 
is that physical education with all these group games is a 
regular part of the school program for all of the schools 
of Iran. ... Throughout the whole empire, young Iran is 
learning to "play the game" of life."Constructive Revolutions in Iran." 
Through this helpful service in education Iran is 
gradually coming to take her place in the ever enlarging family of modern nations. The same may be 
said of practically all the other leading Moslem nations of the world. It is a thrilling thing to lend a hand in an enterprise that is such a vital part of the 
task of rebuilding the world. 
"Are you a Moslem?" I asked a young man as we stood talking together at Ur Junction in the heart of the Mesopotamian desert while waiting for the train for Baghdad. Ur Junction is the railway station near the site of the city of that name made famous by Abraham some five thousand years ago, because he left it and "went west to seek his fortune." 
"Am I a Moslem?" repeated the young man. "Well, I was, but recently I joined the Anti-God Society. Today I am an atheist. I don't believe in religion. It divides people, and makes them fight each other, and hinders progress. Iraq would be better off without any religion at all. It would be better if we all gave up our senseless differences, and began to work together for the good of our country. Then the Jews, and these Assyrian Christians here" pointing to the assistant stationmaster and his friends who were standing close by "and the Moslems could make a great country out of this ancient land of Iraq. But as it is I see no 
chance." 
"Are there many Moslems who have joined your Anti-God Society?" I asked. 
"Not very many," he answered, "for the idea 
is new to us Moslems; we are a very conservative 
people. But we are spreading our atheistic ideas, and 
the number is growing slowly." 
This from Iraq. But even India can tell something 
of the same story of disillusionment on the part of 
youth as they observe the futility of a religion that 
is lived on a basis of selfish concern for only the religious group or community to which the individual 
belongs. There is jealousy among the religions over 
special privileges; each is busy seeking to save itself 
and unaware of the great areas of human need which 
wait for unselfish service. Two things have produced 
this disillusionment in Iraq and India first, Western 
education and the impact of Western materialistic and 
industrial civilization; and second, the insidious influence of anti-religious Russia. 
Turkey also tells the same story in her own way. 
One Turkish writer in the paper Uyanish says: 
We cannot accept any more the despotism of this world or of the next world, or that of a softa [the old Moslem clergy]. We deposed Allah with the sultan. Our temples are the factories.Refik Ahmed in Uyanish, August 15, 1929, quoted in The Turkish Press, p. 141. London, George Routledge & Sons, 1932. 
Of course, these are extreme cases. Islam is not breaking up so fast as they suggest. But these illustrations do indicate a tendency of very serious import. They indicate that the youth of Moslem lands are slowly drifting away from their religious anchorage. They are abandoning belief in God and losing faith in the necessity of religion of any sort. Having dropped religion, the next step is to throw over accepted moral standards, to attempt to face life in one's own strength, to follow one's own impulses and desires. 
===THE CHALLENGE TO CHRISTIANITY ===
Such young people desperately need an interpretation of religion that will justify itself to their intelligence and will help them solve the pressing problems of life: the problems of human brotherhood and 
social justice, of sex and the position of women, of 
war and international relationships, yes, and of man 
and the future of the race. To young people of this 
sort Islam has lost its meaning for life, and in their 
ignorance they assume that all religion has lost its 
meaning and usefulness for life, too. An amazing 
challenge, both fresh and urgent, is presented by the 
educated young Moslems who have lost their way. 
The question is, Can Christianity be presented to them in such a way that it will appeal as being of such 
vital and fundamental importance that they cannot 
meet life successfully without it? Only true disciples 
of Christ who are themselves living examples of his 
teachings are equal to this great challenge, the challenge to each one of us to live up to the ideals of 
Christ. 
We cannot dodge this issue. It must he faced by 
everyone who takes life seriously. Many a young 
Moslem looks at the "Christian" West and wonders 
why it is called Christian. A book was published a 
few years ago by an Indian Moslem who had lived 
and traveled in Europe and America. He called it 
Islam versus Christianity and in it he dwelt on the 
very worst features of Western civilization its gangsters and racketeering; its lynchings and inhuman 
treatment of the Negro; its city night clubs and the 
worst phases of immorality and loose living between 
the sexes; its Renos with their easy divorces; its daring daylight robberies and abominable kidnapings; 
and, last but not least, its freely flowing alcoholic 
liquors. 
As compared with these things he attempted to 
prove that Islam had been far more successful as a 
religion in benefiting humanity than Christianity had 
been. But he failed to look for, much less uncover, 
the amazing achievements of Christianity in providing the foundations for multitudes of happy homes 
where the highest standards of Christian purity prevail; in maintaining vast numbers of schools and hospitals and institutions of every kind for the needy and 
the oppressed; in inspiring great hosts of individuals 
with a deep and satisfying faith men and women who 
practise the closest fellowship with God and who are 
giving their all to help forward the world's great 
causes. He did not mention these things, and thereby 
he failed to give a true picture of Islam versus Christianity. 
The truth of the matter is that while there is much 
in our Western civilization of which we may be 
ashamed as our Moslem friend has clearly pointed 
out, and which we know all too well and while many 
of us individual Christians and the organized churches 
fall far short of our ideals, yet no case has been made 
out for our being ashamed of Christanity. At this 
point there is a vast difference between Islam and 
Christianity. Every one of the undesirable elements 
which have been noted in Islam is something that is 
rooted in the religion itself. They are all lawful: polygamy, child marriage, easy divorce, the keeping of 
concubines, slavery. But in Western lands, all the objectionable features of life exist in spite of the ideals 
and standards of Christianity. These evils cannot be 
fastened on Christianity as part and parcel of the 
system. One cannot find sanction for them in the 
teachings or example of Jesus Christ. 
The final challenge of Islam to each Christian is to 
live as a Christian should. That is the hardest challenge of all. That is the last and most convincing argument, and the only adequate response to the Moslem's 
challenge. How desperately the Moslem world needs 
this living argument! How difficult the task! The way, 
too, is dark with ancient prejudices and misunderstandings. But Christ, who said, "All power is given 
unto me. ... Go ye therefore," and "Lo, I am with 
you alway," will be our strength and our companion. 
It was he who said, also, "I am the light of the world." 
He will lighten the darkness. For it is not alone Islam 
that challenges us, but Jesus Christ himself. He goes 
before us into every area of need throughout the 
Moslem world. His is the example of the deepest sympathy for human suffering and sacrificial love in ministering to it. He leads the way and bids us follow 
him in the glorious task of rebuilding the world, a 
world in which there shall be neither Jew nor Moslem, 
neither Hindu, Buddhist, nor Confucianist, nor even 
Christian in any narrow communalistic sense, but all 
shall be one brotherhood of man in Christ, and all 
sons and daughters in the common family of God the 
Father.
Glossary
==Original Footnotes==
Category:Islam