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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16996-8.txt b/16996-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d84f4ae --- /dev/null +++ b/16996-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3926 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Two Old Faiths, by J. Murray Mitchell and William Muir + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Two Old Faiths + Essays on the Religions of the Hindus and the Mohammedans + +Author: J. Murray Mitchell and William Muir + +Release Date: November 4, 2005 [EBook #16996] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO OLD FAITHS *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Stacy Brown Thellend +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + +The footnotes marked with lower-case letters were originally sidenotes +which referred to sentences within the paragraph. I placed them at the +end of chapters to avoid confusion with the footnotes marked with numbers, +which were footnotes in the original and are at the end of the text. + + + + +TWO OLD FAITHS + +ESSAYS ON THE RELIGIONS OF THE HINDUS AND THE MOHAMMEDANS + +BY + +J. MURRAY MITCHELL, M.A., LL.D. + +AND + +SIR WILLIAM MUIR, LL.D., D.C.L. + + +NEW YORK CHAUTAUQUA PRESS C.L.S.C. Department, 150 Fifth Avenue 1891 + + The required books of the C.L.S.C. are recommended by a Council of + Six. It must, however, be understood that recommendation does not + involve an approval by the Council, or by any member of it, of + every principle or doctrine contained in the book recommended. + + * * * * * + + These essays have been selected from the admirable series of + _Present Day Tracts_, published by the Religious Tract Society, + London, and are reprinted with permission. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +THE HINDU RELIGION. PAGE + +Outline of the Essay 7 + +Introduction 9 + +The Vedas 12 + +Philosophy, and Ritualism 31 + +Reconstruction--Modern Hinduism 43 + +Contrast with Christianity 58 + +Hinduism in Contact with Christianity 68 + + +THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. + +Outline of the Essay 83 + +Introduction 85 + +The Rapid Spread of Islam 87 + +Why the Spread of Islam was Stayed 125 + +Low Position of Islam in the Scale of Civilization 129 + + + + +THE HINDU RELIGION. + + + + +OUTLINE OF THE ESSAY. + + +The place of Hinduism--which is professed by about a hundred and ninety +millions in India--among the religions of the world, and its great +antiquity, are pointed out. + +The comparative simplicity of the system contained in the Vedas, the +oldest sacred books of the Hindus, its almost entire freedom from the +use of images, its gradual deterioration in the later hymns, its gradual +multiplication of gods, the advance of sacerdotalism, and the increasing +complexity of its religious rites are set forth. + +The philosophical speculation that was carried on, the different +philosophical schools, the Buddhist reaction, its conflict with +Brahmanism, its final defeat, and its influence on the victorious system +are discussed. + +The religious reconstruction represented by the Puranas, their +theological character, the modern ritual, the introduction and rise of +caste, and the treatment of women are then considered. + +A contrast is drawn between the leading characteristics of Hinduism and +those of Christianity, and the effect of Christian ideas on modern +Hinduism is exhibited. The history of the Brahmo Somaj under Keshub +Chunder Sen is given at some length. + + + + +THE HINDU RELIGION. + +INTRODUCTION. + + +[Sidenote: Hinduism deserving of study. +Its antiquity.] +The system of religious belief which is generally called Hinduism is, on +many accounts, eminently deserving of study. If we desire to trace the +history of the ancient religions of the widely extended Aryan or +Indo-European race, to which we ourselves belong, we shall find in the +earlier writings of the Hindus an exhibition of it decidedly more +archaic even than that which is presented in the Homeric poems. Then, +the growth--the historical development--of Hinduism is not less worthy +of attention than its earlier phases. It has endured for upward of three +thousand years, no doubt undergoing very important changes, yet in many +things retaining its original spirit. The progress of the system has not +been lawless; and it is exceedingly instructive to note the development, +and, if possible, explain it. + +We are, then, to endeavor to study Hinduism chronologically. Unless he +does so almost every man who tries to comprehend it is, at first, +overwhelmed with a feeling of utter confusion and bewilderment. Hinduism +spreads out before him as a vast river, or even what seems at first + + "a dark + Illimitable ocean, without bound, + Without dimension, where length, breadth, and height, + And time, and place are lost." + +[Sidenote: The discussion chronological.] +But matters begin to clear up when he begins at the beginning, and notes +how one thing succeeded another. It may not be possible as yet to trace +all the windings of the stream or to show at what precise points in its +long course it was joined by such and such a tributary; yet much is +known regarding the mighty river which every intelligent man will find +it profitable to note and understand. + +[Sidenote: The Christian's duty in relation to the subject.] +The Christian ought not to rest satisfied with the vague general idea +that Hinduism is a form of heathenism with which he has nothing to do, +save to help in destroying it. Let him try to realize the ideas of the +Hindu regarding God, and the soul, and sin, and salvation, and heaven, +and hell, and the many sore trials of this mortal life. He will then +certainly have a much more vivid perception of the divine origin and +transcendent importance of his own religion. Farther, he will then +extend a helping hand to his Eastern brother with far more of +sensibility and tenderness; and in proportion to the measure of his +loving sympathy will doubtless be the measure of his success. A yearning +heart will accomplish more than the most cogent argument. + +[Sidenote: The purpose of the Tract.] +In this Tract we confine ourselves to the laying down of great leading +facts and principles; but these will be dwelt upon at sufficient length +to give the reader, we trust, an accurate conception of the general +character and history of Hinduism. We shall also briefly contrast the +system with Christianity. + +The history of Hinduism may be divided into three great periods, each +embracing, in round numbers, about a thousand years. + + + + +I. + +THE VEDAS. + + +[Sidenote: The most ancient writings of India.] +Regarding the earliest form of Hinduism we must draw our conceptions +from the Veda, or, to speak more accurately, the four Vedas. The most +important of these is the Rig Veda; and internal evidence proves it to +be the most ancient. It contains above a thousand hymns; the earliest of +which may date from about the year 1500 B.C. The Hindus, or, as they +call themselves, the Aryas, had by that time entered India, and were +dwelling in the north-western portion, the Panjab. The hymns, we may +say, are racy of the soil. There is no reference to the life led by the +people before they crossed the Himalaya Mountains or entered by some of +the passes of Afghanistan. + +It would be very interesting if we could discover the pre-Vedic form of +the religion. Inferentially this may, to some extent, be done by +comparing the teachings of the Vedas with those contained in the books +of other branches of the great Aryan family--such as the Greeks, the +Romans, and, above all, the Iranians (ancient Persians). + +The ancient Hindus were a highly gifted, energetic race; civilized to a +considerable extent; not nomadic; chiefly shepherds and herdsmen, but +also acquainted with agriculture. Commerce was not unknown; the river +Indus formed a highway to the Indian Ocean, and at least the Phenicians +availed themselves of it from perhaps the seventeenth century B.C., or +even earlier. + +[Sidenote: The hymns are strongly religious. +They are a selection. +Pre-eminently sacerdotal. +Present the religious thought of the ancient Hindus.] +As soon as we begin to study the hymns of the Veda we are struck by +their strongly religious character. Tacitly assuming that the book +contains the whole of the early literature of India, many writers have +expressed themselves in strong terms regarding the primitive Hindus as +religious above all other races. But as we read on we become convinced +that these poems are a selection, rather than a collection, of the +literature; and the conviction grows that the selection has been made by +priestly hands for priestly purposes. An acute critic has affirmed that +the Vedic poems are "pre-eminently sacerdotal, and in no sense +popular."[1] We can thus explain a pervading characteristic of the book +which has taken most readers by surprise. There is a want of simplicity +in the Veda. It is often most elaborate, artificial, overrefined--one +might even say, affected. How could these be the thoughts, or those the +expressions, of the imperfectly civilized shepherds of the Panjab? But +if it be only a hymn-book, with its materials arranged for liturgical +purposes, the difficulty vanishes.[2] We shall accordingly take it for +granted that the Veda presents only the religious thought of the ancient +Hindus--and not the whole of the religious thought, but only that of a +very influential portion of the race. With all the qualifications now +stated, the Veda must retain a position of high importance for all who +study Indian thought and life. The religious stamp which the compilers +of the Veda impressed so widely and so deeply has not been obliterated +in the course of thirty centuries. + +[Sidenote: Their religion is Nature-worship.] +The prevailing aspect of the religion presented in the Vedic hymns may +be broadly designated as Nature-worship. + +[Sidenote: Physical phenomena in India. +Their effect on the religion.] +All physical phenomena in India are invested with a grandeur which they +do not possess in northern or even southern Europe. Sunlight, moonlight, +starlight, the clouds purpled with the beam of morning or flaming in the +west like fiery chariots of heaven; to behold these things in their full +magnificence one ought to see them in the East. Even so the sterner +phenomena of nature--whirlwind and tempest, lightning and thunder, flood +and storm-wave, plague, pestilence, and famine; all of these oftentimes +assume in the East a character of awful majesty before which man cowers +in helplessness and despair. The conceptions and feelings hence arising +have from the beginning powerfully affected the religion of the Hindus. +Every-where we can trace the impress of the grander manifestations of +nature--the impress of their beneficence, their beauty, their might, +their mystery, or their terribleness. + +[Sidenote: The deities are "the bright ones," according to the language +of the sacred books of India.] +The Sanskrit word for god is _deva_, which means _bright, shining_. Of +physical phenomena it was especially those connected with light that +enkindled feelings of reverence. The black thunder-cloud that enshrouded +nature, in which the demon had bound the life-giving waters, passed +away; for the glittering thunder-bolt was launched, and the streams +rushed down, exulting in their freedom; and then the heaven shone out +again, pure and peaceful as before. But such a wonder as the dawn--with +far-streaming radiance, returning from the land of mystery, fresh in +eternal youth, and scattering the terrors of the night before her--who +could sufficiently admire? And let it be remembered that in the Hindu +mind the interval between admiration and adoration is exceedingly small. +Yet, while it is the dawn which has evoked the truest poetry, she has +not retained the highest place in worship. + +[Sidenote: Fire much worshiped.] +No divinity has fuller worship paid him than Agni, the Fire (_Ignis_). +More hymns are dedicated to him than to any other being. Astonishment at +the properties of fire; a sense of his condescension in that he, a +mighty god, resides in their dwellings; his importance as the messenger +between heaven and earth, bearing the offerings aloft; his kindness at +night in repelling the darkness and the demons which it hides--all these +things raised Agni to an exalted place. He is fed with pure clarified +butter, and so rises heavenward in his brightness. The physical +conception of fire, however, adheres to him, and he never quite ceases +to be the earthly flame; yet mystical conceptions thickly gather round +this root-idea; he is fire pervading all nature; and he often becomes +supreme, a god of gods. + +[Sidenote: Soma highly exalted. +Soma becomes a very mighty god.] +All this seems natural enough; but one is hardly prepared for the high +exaltation to which Soma is raised. Soma is properly the juice of a +milky plant (_asclepias acida_, or _sarcostemma viminale_), which, when +fermented, is intoxicating. The simple-minded Aryas were both astonished +and delighted at its effects; they liked it themselves; and they knew +nothing more precious to present to their gods. Accordingly, all of +these rejoice in it. Indra in particular quaffs it "like a thirsty +stag;" and under its exhilarating effects he strides victoriously to +battle. Soma itself becomes a god, and a very mighty one; he is even the +creator and father of the gods;[3] the king of gods and men;[4] all +creatures are in his hand. It is surely extraordinary that the Aryas +could apply such hyperbolical laudations to the liquor which they had +made to trickle into the vat, and which they knew to be the juice of a +plant they had cut down on the mountains and pounded in a mortar; and +that intoxication should be confounded with inspiration. Yet of such +aberrations we know the human mind is perfectly capable. + +[Sidenote: Connection with Persian, Greek, and Roman systems. +Varuna, the god of heaven. +The sublimity of the Vedic description of him.] +We have first referred to Agni and Soma, as being the only divinities of +highest rank which still retain their physical character. The worship +paid to them was of great antiquity; for it is also prescribed in the +Persian Avesta, and must have been common to the Indo-Iranian branch of +the Aryan race before the Hindus entered India. But we can inferentially +go still further back and speak of a deity common to the Greeks, Romans, +Persians, and Hindus. This deity is Varuna, the most remarkable +personality in the Veda. The name, which is etymologically connected +with [Greek: Ouranos], signifies "the encompasser," and is applied to +heaven--especially the all-encompassing, extreme vault of heaven--not +the nearer sky, which is the region of cloud and storm. It is in +describing Varuna that the Veda rises to the greatest sublimity which it +ever reaches. A mysterious presence, a mysterious power, a mysterious +knowledge amounting almost to omniscience, are ascribed to Varuna. The +winkings of men's eyes are numbered by him. He upholds order, both +physical and moral, throughout the universe. + +[Sidenote: Contrast with the laudations of Agni and Soma. +The loftier conceptions of divinity the earlier.] +The winds are his breath, the sun his eye, the sky his garment. He +rewards the good and punishes the wicked. Yet to the truly penitent he +is merciful. It is absolutely confounding to pass from a hymn that +celebrates the serene majesty and awful purity of Varuna to one filled +with measureless laudations of Soma or Agni. Could conceptions of +divinity so incongruous co-exist? That they could not spring up in the +same mind, or even in the same age, is abundantly manifest. And, as we +have mentioned, the loftier conceptions of divinity are unquestionably +the earlier. It is vain to speak, as certain writers do, of religion +gradually refining itself, as a muddy stream can run itself pure; +Hinduism resembles the Ganges, which, when it breaks forth from its +mountain cradle at Hardwar, is comparatively pellucid, but, as it rolls +on, becomes more and more muddy, discolored, and unclean.[5] + +[Sidenote: Indra. +His achievements.] +Various scholars affirm that Varuna, in more ancient pre-Vedic times, +held a position still higher than the very high one which he still +retains. This is probable; indeed, it is certain that, before later +divinities had intruded, he held a place of unrivaled majesty. But, in +the Vedas, Indra is a more conspicuous figure. He corresponds to the +Jupiter Pluvius of the Romans. In north-western India, after the burning +heat, the annual return of the rains was hailed with unspeakable joy; it +was like life succeeding death. The clouds that floated up from the +ocean were at first thin and light; ah! a hostile demon was in them, +carrying off the healing waters and not permitting them to fall; but the +thunder-bolt of Indra flashed; the demon was driven away howling, and +the emancipated streams refreshed the thirsty earth. Varuna was not +indeed dethroned, but he was obscured, by the achievements of the +warlike Indra; and the supersensuous, moral conceptions that were +connected with the former gradually faded from the minds of the people, +and Varuna erelong became quite a subordinate figure in the Pantheon. + +[Sidenote: Number and relations of deities uncertain.] +The deities are generally said in the Veda to be "thrice eleven" in +number. We also hear of three thousand three hundred and thirty-nine. +There is no _system_, no fixed order in the hierarchy; a deity who in +one hymn is quite subordinate becomes in another supreme; almost every +god becomes supreme in turn; in one hymn he is the son of some deity and +in another that deity's father, and so (if logic ruled) his own +grandfather. Every poet exalts his favorite god, till the mind becomes +utterly bewildered in tracing the relationships. + +We have already spoken of Agni, Varuna, and Indra, as well as Soma. Next +to these in importance may come the deities of light, namely, the sun, +the dawn, and the two Asvina or beams that accompany the dawn. The winds +come next. The earth is a goddess. The waters are goddesses. It is +remarkable that the stars are very little mentioned; and the moon holds +no distinguished place. + +[Sidenote: Hardly any fetichism in the Rig Veda.] +In the religion of the Rig Veda we hardly see fetichism--if by fetichism +we mean the worship of small physical objects, such as stones, shells, +plants, etc., which are believed to be charged (so to speak) with +divinity, though this appears in the fourth Veda--the Atharva. But even +in the Rig Veda almost any object that is grand, beneficent, or terrible +may be adored; and implements associated with worship are themselves +worshiped. Thus, the war-chariot, the plow, the furrow, etc., are +prayed to. + +[Sidenote: Early tendency toward pantheism.] +A pantheistic conception of nature was also present in the Indian mind +from very early times, although its development was later. Even in the +earliest hymns any portion of nature with which man is brought into +close relation may be adored.[6] + +[Sidenote: Reverence of the dead.] +We must on no account overlook the reverence paid to the dead. The +_pitris_ (_patres_) or fathers are frequently referred to in the Veda. +They are clearly distinguished from the _devas_ or gods. In later +writings they are also distinguished from men, as having been created +separately from them; but this idea does not appear in the Veda. Yama, +the first mortal, traveled the road by which none returns, and now +drinks the Soma in the innermost of heaven, surrounded by the other +fathers. These come also, along with the gods, to the banquets prepared +for them on earth, and, sitting on the sacred grass, rejoice in the +exhilarating draught. + +[Sidenote: The subjects of the hymns of the Rig Veda.] +The hymns of the Rig Veda celebrate the power, exploits, or generosity +of the deity invoked, and sometimes his personal beauty. The praises +lavished on the god not only secured his favor but increased his power +to help the worshiper. + +[Sidenote: The holiest prayer.] +There is one prayer (so called) which is esteemed pre-eminently holy; +generally called--from the meter in which it is composed--the +Gayatri.[7] It may be rendered thus: + + "Let us meditate on that excellent glory of the Divine Son (or + Vivifier); may he enlighten our understandings!" + +It has always been frequently repeated in important rites. + +[Sidenote: Atharva Veda. +Inferior morally and spiritually to the Rig Veda. +Explanation of deterioration.] +So far we have referred almost exclusively to the Rig Veda. The next in +importance is the Atharva, sometimes termed the Brahma Veda; which we +may render the Veda of incantations. It contains six hundred and seventy +hymns. Of these a few are equal to those in the Rig Veda; but, as a +whole, the Atharva is far inferior to the other in a moral and spiritual +point of view. It abounds in imprecations, charms for the destruction of +enemies, and so forth. Talismans, plants, or gems are invoked, as +possessed of irresistible might to kill or heal. The deities are often +different from those of the Rig Veda. The Atharva manifests a great +dread of malignant beings, whose wrath it deprecates. We have thus +simple demon-worship. How is this great falling-off to be explained? In +one of two ways. Either a considerable time intervened between the +composition of the two books, during which the original faith had +rapidly degenerated, probably through contact with aboriginal races who +worshiped dark and sanguinary deities; or else there had existed from +the beginning two forms of the religion--the higher of which is embodied +in the hymns of the Rig Veda, and the lower in the Atharva. We believe +the latter explanation to be correct, although doubtless the +superstitions of the aborigines must all along have exerted an influence +on the faith of the invaders. + +[Sidenote: The offerings.] +The offerings presented to the gods consisted chiefly of clarified +butter, curdled milk, rice-cakes, and fermented Soma juice, which was +generally mixed with water or milk. All was thrown into the fire, which +bore them or their essences to the gods. The Soma was also sprinkled on +the sacred grass, which was strewn on the floor, and on which the gods +and fathers were invited to come and seat themselves that they might +enjoy the cheering beverage. The remainder was drunk by the officiating +priests. The offerings were understood to nourish and gratify the gods +as corporeal beings. + +[Sidenote: Animal victims.] +Animal victims are also offered up. We hear of sheep, goats, bulls, +cows, and buffaloes being sacrificed, and sometimes in large numbers. +But the great offering was the Asvamedha, or sacrifice of the horse. The +body of the horse was hacked to pieces; the fragments were dressed--part +was boiled, part roasted; some of the flesh was then eaten by the +persons present, and the rest was offered to the gods. Tremendous was +the potency--at least as stated in later times--of a hundred such +sacrifices; it rendered the offerer equal or superior to the gods; even +the mighty Indra trembled for his sovereignty and strove to hinder the +consummation of the awful rite. + +[Sidenote: Human sacrifice.] +Human sacrifice was not unknown, though there are very few allusions to +it in the earlier hymns. + +[Sidenote: Sacrifice deemed of very high importance.] +Even from the first, however, the rite of sacrifice occupies a very high +place, and allusions to it are exceedingly frequent. The observances +connected with it are said to be the "first religious rites." Sacrifice +was early believed to be expiatory; it removed sin. It was +substitutionary; the victim stood in place of the offerer. All order in +the universe depends upon it; it is "the nave of the world-wheel." +Sometimes Vishnu is said to be the sacrifice; sometimes even the Supreme +Being himself is so. Elaborated ideas and a complex ritual, which we +could have expected to grow up only in the course of ages, appear from +very early times. We seem compelled to draw the inference that sacrifice +formed an essential and very important part of the pre-Vedic faith.[8] + +In the Veda worship is a kind of barter. In exchange for praises and +offerings the deity is asked to bestow favors. Temporal blessings are +implored, such as food, wealth, life, children, cows, horses, success in +battle, the destruction of enemies, and so forth. Not much is said +regarding sin and the need of forgiveness. A distinguished scholar[9] +has said that "the religious notion of sin is wanting altogether;" but +this affirmation is decidedly too sweeping. + +[Sidenote: No image-worship. +No public worship.] +The worship exemplified in the Veda is not image-worship. Images of the +fire, or the winds, or the waters could hardly be required, and while +the original nature-worship lasted, idols must have been nearly unknown. +Yet the description of various deities is so precise and full that it +seems to be probably drawn from visible representations of them. Worship +was personal and domestic, not in any way public. Indeed, two men +praying at the same time had to pray quite apart, so that neither might +disturb the other. Each dealt with heaven, so to speak, solely on his +own behalf. + +[Sidenote: No temples.] +We hear of no places set apart as temples in Vedic times. + +[Sidenote: The treatises on ritual.] +A Veda consists of two parts called _Mantra_ or _Sanhita_, and +_Brahmana_. The first is composed of hymns. The second is a statement of +ritual, and is generally in prose. The existing Brahmanas are several +centuries later than the great body of the hymns, and were probably +composed when the Hindus had crossed the Indus, and were advancing along +the Gangetic valley. The oldest may be about the date of 800 or 700 B.C. + +[Sidenote: Growth of priestly power. +Schools for the study of sacred books, rites, and +traditions.] +The Brahmanas are very poor, both in thought and expression. They have +hardly their match in any literature for "pedantry and downright +absurdity."[10] Poetical feeling and even religious feeling seem gone; +all is dead and dry as dust. By this time the Sanskrit language had +ceased to be generally understood. The original texts could hardly +receive accessions; the most learned man could do little more than +interpret, or perhaps misinterpret, them. The worshiper looked on; he +worshiped now by proxy. Thus the priest had risen greatly in importance. +He alone knew the sacred verses and the sacred rites. An error in the +pronunciation of the mystic text might bring destruction on the +worshiper; what could he do but lean upon the priest? The latter could +say the prayers if he could not pray. All this worked powerfully for the +elevation of the Brahmans, the "men of prayer;" they steadily grew into +a class, a caste; and into this no one could enter who was not of +priestly descent. Schools were now found necessary for the study of the +sacred books, rites, and traditions. The importance which these attach +to theology--doctrine--is very small; the externals of religion are all +in all. The rites, in fact, now threw the very gods into the shade; +every thing depended on their due performance. And thus the Hindu ritual +gradually grew up into a stupendous system, the most elaborate, complex, +and burdensome which the earth has seen. + +[Sidenote: Moral character of the Veda.] +It is time, however, to give a brief estimate of the moral character of +the Veda. The first thing that strikes us is its inconsistency. Some +hymns--especially those addressed to Varuna--rise as high as Gentile +conceptions regarding deity ever rose; others--even in the Rig +Veda--sink miserably low; and in the Atharva we find, "even in the +lowest depth, a lower still." + +[Sidenote: Indra supersedes Varuna.] +The character of Indra--who has displaced or overshadowed +Varuna[11]--has no high attributes. He is "voracious;" his "inebriety is +most intense;" he "dances with delight in battle." His worshipers supply +him abundantly with the drink he loves; and he supports them against +their foes, ninety and more of whose cities he has destroyed. We do not +know that these foes, the Dasyus, were morally worse than the intrusive +Aryas, but the feelings of the latter toward the former were of +unexampled ferocity. Here is one passage out of multitudes similar: + + "Hurl thy hottest thunder-bolt upon them! Uproot them! Cleave them + asunder! O, Indra, overpower, subdue, slay the demon! Pluck him up! + Cut him through the middle! Crush his head!" + +[Sidenote: Deterioration begins early.] +Indra, if provided with Soma, is always indulgent to his votaries; he +supports them _per fas et nefas_. Varuna, on the other hand, is grave, +just, and to wicked men severe.[12] The supersession of Varuna by Indra, +then, is easily understood. We see the principle on which it rests +stated in the Old Testament. "Ye cannot serve the Lord," said Joshua to +the elders of Israel; "for he is a holy God." Even so Jeremiah points +sorrowfully to the fact that the pagan nations clung to their false +gods, while Israel was faithless to the true. As St. Paul expresses it, +"they did not like to retain God in their knowledge." Unless this +principle is fully taken into account we cannot understand the +historical development of Hinduism. + +[Sidenote: Varuna the only divinity possessed of pure and elevated +attributes.] +The Veda frequently ascribes to the gods, to use the language of Max +Müller, "sentiments and passions unworthy of deity." In truth, except in +the case of Varuna, there is not one divinity that is possessed of pure +and elevated attributes. + + + + +II. + +PHILOSOPHY, AND RITUALISM. + + +[Sidenote: Speculation begins. +Rise of asceticism. +Upanishads. +They are pantheistic.] +During the Vedic period--certainly toward its conclusion--a tendency to +speculation had begun to appear. Probably it had all along existed in +the Hindu mind, but had remained latent during the stirring period when +the people were engaged in incessant wars. Climate, also, must have +affected the temperament of the race; and, as the Hindus steadily +pressed down the valley of the Ganges into warmer regions, their love of +repose and contemplative quietism would continually deepen. And when the +Brahmans became a fully developed hierarchy, lavishly endowed, with no +employment except the performance of religious ceremonies, their minds +could avoid stagnation only by having recourse to speculative thought. +Again, asceticism has a deep root in human nature; earnest souls, +conscious of their own weakness, will fly from the temptations of the +world. Various causes thus led numbers of men to seek a life of +seclusion; they dwelt chiefly in forests, and there they revolved the +everlasting problems of existence, creation, the soul, and God. The +lively Greeks, for whom, with all their high intellectual endowments, a +happy sensuous existence was nearly all in all, were amazed at the +numbers in northern India who appeared weary of the world and +indifferent to life itself. By and for these recluses were gradually +composed the Aranyakas, or forest treatises; and out of these grew a +series of more regular works, called Upanishads.[13] At least two +hundred and fifty of these are known to exist. They have been called +"guesses at truth;" they are more so than formal solutions of great +questions. Many of them are unintelligible rhapsodies; others rise +almost to sublimity. They frequently contradict each other; the same +writer sometimes contradicts himself. One prevailing characteristic is +all-important; their doctrine is pantheism. The pantheism is sometimes +not so much a coldly reasoned system as an aspiration, a yearning, a +deep-felt need of something better than the mob of gods who came in the +train of Indra, and the darker deities who were still crowding in. Even +in spite of the counteracting power of the Gospel mysticism has run +easily into pantheism in Europe, and orthodox Christians sometimes slide +unconsciously into it, or at least into its language.[14] But, as has +been already noted, a strain of pantheism existed in the Hindu mind from +early times. + +Accordingly, these hermit sages, these mystic dreamers, soon came to +identify the human soul with God. And the chief end of man was to seek +that the stream derived from God should return to its source, and, +ceasing to wander through the wilderness of this world, should find +repose in the bosom of the illimitable deep, the One, the All. The +Brahmans attached the Upanishads to the Veda proper, and they soon came +to be regarded as its most sacred part. In this way the influence these +treatises have exercised has been immense; more than any other portion +of the earlier Hindu writings they have molded the thoughts of +succeeding generations. Philosophy had thus begun. + +[Sidenote: Six philosophic schools.] +The speculations of which we see the commencement and progress in the +Upanishads were finally developed and classified in a series of writings +called the six Sastras or _darsanas_. These constitute the regular +official philosophy of India. They are without much difficulty reducible +to three leading schools of thought--the Nyaya, the Sankhya, and the +Vedanta. + +Roundly, and speaking generally, we may characterize these systems as +theistic, atheistic, and pantheistic respectively. + +[Sidenote: The Nyaya.] +It is doubtful, however, whether the earlier form of the Nyaya was +theistic or not. The later form is so, but it says nothing of the moral +attributes of God, nor of his government. The chief end of man, +according to the Nyaya, is deliverance from pain; and this is to be +attained by cessation from all action, whether good or bad. + +[Sidenote: The Sankhya.] +The Sankhya declares matter to be self-existent and eternal. Soul is +distinct from matter, and also eternal. When it attains true knowledge +it is liberated from matter and from pain. The Sankhya holds the +existence of God to be without proof. + +[Sidenote: The Vedanta.] +But the leading philosophy of India is unquestionably the Vedanta. The +name means "the end or scope of the Veda;" and if the Upanishads were +the Veda, instead of treatises tacked on to it, the name would be +correct; for the Vedanta, like the Upanishads, inculcates pantheism. + +The form which this philosophy ultimately assumed is well represented in +the treatise called the Vedanta Sara, or essence of the Vedanta. A few +extracts will suffice to exhibit its character. "The unity of the soul +and God--this is the scope of all Vedanta treatises." We have frequent +references made to the "great saying," _Tat twam_--that is, That art +thou, or Thou art God; and _Aham Brahma_, that is, I am God. Again it is +said, "The whole universe is God." God is "existence (or more exactly an +existent thing[15]), knowledge, and joy." Knowledge, not a knower; joy, +not one who rejoices. + +[Sidenote: It teaches absolute idealism.] +Every thing else has only a seeming existence, which is in consequence +of ignorance (or illusion). Ignorance makes the soul think itself +different from God; and it also "projects" the appearance of an external +world. + +"He who knows God becomes God." "When He, the first and last, is +discerned, one's own acts are annihilated." + +Meditation, without distinction of subject and object, is the highest +form of thought. It is a high attainment to say, "I am God;" but the +consummation is when thought exists without an object. + +There are four states of the soul--waking, dreaming, dreamless sleep, +and the "fourth state," or pure intelligence. The working-man is in +dense ignorance; in sleep he is freed from part of this ignorance; in +dreamless sleep he is freed from still more; but the consummation is +when he attains something beyond this, which it seems cannot be +explained, and is therefore called the fourth state. + +[Sidenote: Doctrine of "the Self." +Inconsistent statements.] +The name, which in later writings is most frequently given to the "one +without a second,"[16] is Atman, which properly means self. Much is said +of the way in which the self in each man is to recover, or discover, its +unity with the supreme or real self. For as the one sun shining in the +heavens is reflected, often in distorted images, in multitudes of +vessels filled with water, so the one self is present in all human +minds.[17] There is not--perhaps there could not be--consistency in the +statements of the relation of the seeming to the real. In most of the +older books a practical or conventional existence is admitted of the +self in each man, but not a real existence. But when the conception is +fully formulated the finite world is not admitted to exist save as a +mere illusion. All phenomena are a play--a play without plot or purpose, +which the absolute plays with itself.[18] This is surely transcendent +transcendentalism. One regrets that speculation did not take one step +more, and declare that the illusion was itself illusory. Then we should +have gone round the circle, and returned to _sensus communis_. We must +be pardoned if we seem to speak disrespectfully of such fantastic +speculations; we desire rather to speak regretfully of the many +generations of men which successively occupied themselves with such +unprofitable dreams; for this kind of thought is traceable even from +Vedic days. It is more fully developed in the Upanishads. In them occurs +the classical sentence so frequently quoted in later literature, which +declares that the absolute being is the "one [thing] without a +second."[19] + +[Sidenote: The Gita.] +The book which perhaps above all others has molded the mind of India in +more recent days is the Bhagavad Gita, or Song of the Holy One. It is +written in stately and harmonious verse, and has achieved the same task +for Indian philosophy as Lucretius did for ancient Epicureanism.[20] It +is eclectic, and succeeds, in a sort of way, in forcing the leading +systems of Indian thought into seeming harmony. + +[Sidenote: Intellectual pride.] +Some have thought they could discern in these daring speculations +indications of souls groping after God, and saddened because of the +difficulty of finding him. Were it so, all our sympathies would at once +be called forth. But no; we see in these writings far more of +intellectual pride than of spiritual sadness. Those ancient dreamers +never learned their own ignorance. They scarcely recognized the +limitations of the human mind. And when reason could take them no +farther they supplemented it by dreams and ecstasy until, in the Yoga +philosophy, they rushed into systematized mysticisms and magic far more +extravagant than the wildest _theurgy_ of the degraded Neoplatonism of +the Roman Empire. + +A learned writer thus expresses himself: + + "The only one of the six schools that seem to recognize the + doctrine of divine providence is the Yoga. It thus seems that the + consistent followers of these systems can have, in their perfected + state, no religion, no action, and no moral character."[21] + +[Sidenote: Indian philosophy a sad failure.] +And now to take a brief review of the whole subject. The Hindu sages +were men of acute and patient thought; but their attempt to solve the +problem of the divine and human natures, of human destiny and duty, has +ended in total failure. Each system baseless, and all mutually +conflicting; systems cold and cheerless, that frown on love and virtuous +exertion, and speak of annihilation or its equivalent, absorption, as +our highest hope: such is the poor result of infinite speculation. "The +world by wisdom knew not God." O, that India would learn the much-needed +lesson of humility which the experience of ages ought to teach her! + +[Sidenote: Sacerdotalism. +The tyranny of sacerdotalism.] +While speculation was thus busy Sacerdotalism was also continually +extending its influence. The Brahman, the man of prayer, had made +himself indispensable in all sacred rites. He alone--as we have +seen--knew the holy text; he alone could rightly pronounce the words of +awful mystery and power on which depended all weal or woe. On all +religions occasions the priest must be called in, and, on all occasions, +implicitly obeyed. For a considerable time the princes straggled against +the encroachments of the priests; but in the end they were completely +vanquished. Never was sacerdotal tyranny more absolute; the proudest +pope in mediĉval times never lorded it over Western Christendom with +such unrelenting rigor as the Brahmans exercised over both princes and +people. The feeling of the priests is expressed in a well-known stanza: + + "All the world is subject to the gods; the gods are subject to the + holy texts; the holy texts are subject to the Brahman; therefore + the Brahman is my god." + +Yes, the sacred man could breathe the spell which made earth and hell +and heaven itself to tremble. He therefore logically called himself an +earthly god. Indeed, the Brahman is always logical. He draws conclusions +from premises with iron rigor of reasoning; and with side-issues he has +nothing to do. He stands upon his rights. Woe to the being--god or +man--who comes in conflict with him! + +[Sidenote: Ritual becomes extravagant.] +The priests naturally multiplied religious ceremonies, and made ritual +the soul of worship. Sacrifice especially assumed still more and more +exaggerated forms--becoming more protracted, more expensive, more +bloody. A hecatomb of victims was but a small offering. More and more +awful powers were ascribed to the rite. + +[Sidenote: Reaction.] +But the tension was too great, and the bow snapped. Buddhism arose. We +may call this remarkable system the product of the age--an inevitable +rebellion against intolerable sacerdotalism; and yet we must not +overlook the importance of the very distinct and lofty personality of +Buddha (Sakya Muni) as a power molding it into shape. + +[Sidenote: Buddhism. +Moral elements of this system. +Conflict with Brahmanism. +Victory of Brahmanism.] +Wherever it extended it effected a vast revolution in Indian thought. +Thus in regard to the institution of caste, Buddha did not attack it; he +did not, it would appear, even formally renounce it; as a mere social +institution he seems to have acknowledged it; but then he held that all +the _religious_ were freed from its restrictions. "My law," said he, "is +a law of mercy for all;" and forthwith he proceeded to admit men of +every caste into the closest fellowship with himself and his followers. +Then, he preached--he, though not a Brahman--in the vernacular +languages--an immense innovation, which made his teachings popular. He +put in the forefront of his system certain great fundamental principles +of morality. He made religion consist in duty, not rites. He reduced +duty mainly to mercy or kindness toward all living beings--a marvelous +generalization. This set aside all slaughter of animals. The mind of the +princes and people was weary of priestcraft and ritualism; and the +teaching of the great reformer was most timely. Accordingly his doctrine +spread with great rapidity, and for a long time it seemed likely to +prevail over Brahmanism. But various causes gradually combined against +it. Partly, it was overwhelmed by its own luxuriance of growth; partly, +Brahmanism, which had all along maintained an intellectual superiority, +adopted, either from conviction or policy, most of the principles of +Buddhism, and skillfully supplied some of its main deficiencies. Thus +the Brahmans retained their position; and, at least nominally, their +religion won the day. + + + + +III. + +RECONSTRUCTION--MODERN HINDUISM. + + +[Sidenote: Revival, in an altered form, of Hinduism. +Only the position of the Brahman and the restrictions of +caste retained.] +But the Hinduism that grew up, as Buddhism faded from Indian soil, was +widely different from the system with which early Buddhism had +contended. Hinduism, as it has been developed during the last thousand +or twelve hundred years, resembles a stupendous far-extended building, +or series of buildings, which is still receiving additions, while +portions have crumbled and are crumbling into ruin. Every conceivable +style of architecture, from that of the stately palace to the meanest +hut, is comprehended in it. On a portion of the structure here or there +the eye may rest with pleasure; but as a whole it is an unsightly, +almost monstrous, pile. Or, dismissing figures, we must describe it as +the most extraordinary creation which the world has seen. A jumble of +all things; polytheistic pantheism; much of Buddhism; something +apparently of Christianity, but terribly disfigured; a science wholly +outrageous; shreds of history twisted into wild mythology; the bold +poetry of the older books understood as literal prose; any local deity, +any demon of the aborigines, however hideous, identified with some +accredited Hindu divinity; any custom, however repugnant to common sense +or common decency, accepted and explained--in a word, later Hinduism has +been omnivorous; it has partially absorbed and assimilated every system +of belief, every form of worship, with which it has come in contact. +Only to one or two things has it remained inflexibly true. It has +steadily upheld the proudest pretensions of the Brahman; and it has +never relaxed the sternest restrictions of caste. We cannot wonder at +the severe judgment pronounced on Hinduism by nearly every Western +author. According to Macaulay, "all is hideous and grotesque and +ignoble;" and the calmer De Tocqueville maintains that "Hinduism is +perhaps the only system of belief that is worse than having no religion +at all."[22] + +When a modern Hindu is asked what are the sacred books of his religion +he generally answers: "The Vedas, the Sastras (that is, philosophical +systems), and the Puranas." Some authorities add the Tantras. + +The modern form of Hinduism is exhibited chiefly in the eighteen +Puranas, and an equal number of Upapuranas (minor Puranas).[23] + +[Sidenote: The Puranas.] +When we compare the religion embodied in the Puranas with that of Vedic +times we are startled at the magnitude of the change. The Pantheon is +largely new; old deities have been superseded; other deities have taken +their place. There has been both accretion from without and evolution +from within. The thirty-three gods of the Vedas have been fantastically +raised to three hundred and thirty millions. Siva, Durga, Rama, Krishna, +Kali--unknown in ancient days--are now mighty divinities; Indra is +almost entirely overlooked, and Varuna has been degraded from his lofty +throne and turned into a regent of the waters. + +[Sidenote: New deities, rites, and customs.] +The worship of the Linga (phallus) has been introduced. So has the great +dogma of Transmigration, which has stamped a deeper impress on later +Hindu mind than almost any other doctrine. Caste is fully established, +though in Vedic days scarcely, if at all, recognized. The dreadful +practice of widow-burning has been brought in, and this by a most +daring perversion of the Vedic texts. Woman, in fact, has fallen far +below the position assigned her in early days. + +[Sidenote: The Trimurtti, a triad of gods.] +One of the notable things in connection with the reconstruction of +Hinduism is the position it gives to the Trimurtti, or triad of +gods--Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. Something like an anticipation of this +has been presented in the later Vedic times: fire, air, and the sun +(Agni, Vayu, and Surya) being regarded by the commentator[24] as summing +up the divine energies. But in the Vedas the deities often go in pairs; +and little stress should be laid on the idea of a Vedic triad. That +idea, however, came prominently forward in later days. The worship both +of Vishnu and Siva may have existed, from ancient times, as popular +rites not acknowledged by the Brahmans; but both of these deities were +now fully recognized. The god Brahma was an invention of the Brahmans; +he was no real divinity of the people, and had hardly ever been actually +worshiped. It is visual to designate Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva as +Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer respectively; but the generalization +is by no means well maintained in the Hindu books. + +[Sidenote: The Avatara.] +The Puranas are in general violently sectarian; some being Vishnuite, +others Sivite. It is in connection with Vishnu, especially, that the +idea of incarnation becomes prominent. The Hindu term is _Avatara_, +literally, _descent_; the deity is represented as descending from heaven +to earth, for vindication of the truth and righteousness, or, to use the +words ascribed to Krishna, + + For the preservation of the good, and the destruction of the wicked, + For the establishment of religion, I am born from age to age. + +[Sidenote: The "descents" of Vishnu.] +The "descents" of Vishnu are usually reckoned ten. Of these by far the +most celebrated are those of Rama and Krishna. The great importance +attached to these two deities has been traced to the influence of +Buddhism. That system had exerted immense power in consequence of the +gentle and attractive character ascribed to Buddha. The older gods were +dim, distant, and often stern; some near, intelligible, and loving +divinity was longed for. Buddha was a brother-man, and yet a +quasi-deity; and hearts longing for sympathy and succor were strongly +attracted by such a personality. + +[Sidenote: The god Rama.] +The character of Rama--or Ramachandra--is possessed of some high +qualities. The great poem in which it is described at fullest +length--the Ramayana of Valmiki--seems to have been an alteration, made +in the interests of Hinduism, of early Buddhist legends; and the +Buddhist quality of gentleness has not disappeared in the history.[25] +Rama, however, is far from a perfect character. His wife Sita is +possessed of much womanly grace and every wifely virtue; and the +sorrowful story of the warrior-god and his faithful spouse has appealed +to deep sympathies in the human breast. The worship of Rama has seldom, +if ever, degenerated into lasciviousness. In spite, however, of the +charm thrown around the life of Rama and Sita by the genius of Valmiki +and Tulsida,[26] it is Krishna, not Rama, that has attained the greatest +popularity among the "descents" of Vishnu. + +[Sidenote: Krishna. +His early life a travesty of the life of Christ, according to +the Gospel of the Infancy.] +Very different morally from that of Rama is the character of Krishna. +While Rama is but a partial manifestation of divinity Krishna is a full +manifestation; yet what a manifestation! He is represented as full of +naughty tricks in his youth, although exercising the highest powers of +deity; and, when he grows up, his conduct is grossly immoral and +disgusting. It is most startling to think that this being is by grave +writers--like the authors of the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata +Purana--made the highest of the gods, or, indeed, the only real God. +Stranger still, if possible, is the probability that the early life of +Krishna--in part, at least--is a dreadful travesty of the early life of +Christ, as given in the apocryphal gospels, especially the Gospel of the +Infancy. The falling off in the apocryphal gospels, when compared with +the canonical, is truly sad; but the falling off even from the +apocryphal ones, in the Hindu books, is altogether sickening.[27] + +A very striking characteristic of modern Hinduism is what is termed +_bhakti_, or devotion. There are three great ways of attaining to +salvation: _karma marga_, or the way of ceremonial works; _jnana +marga_, or the way of knowledge, and _bhakti marga_, or the way of +devotion. + +[Sidenote: Doctrine of _bhakti_ introduced. +Influence of the system. +Mixed with Buddhist elements. +Exaltation of the _guru_.] +The notion of trust in the gods was familiar to the mind of India from +Vedic days, but the deity was indistinct and unsympathetic, and there +could hardly be love and attachment to him. But there now arose the +doctrine of _bhakti_ (devotion), which resolved religion into emotion. +It came into the Hindu system rather abruptly; and many learned men have +traced its origin to the influence of Christianity. This is quite +possible; but perhaps the fact is hardly proved. Contact with +Christianity, however, probably accelerated a process which had +previously begun. At all events, the system of _bhakti_ has had, and +still has, great sway in India, particularly in Bengal, among the +followers of Chaitanya, and the large body of people in western India +who style themselves _Vaishnavas_ or _Bhaktas_ (devotees). The popular +poetry of Maharashtra, as exemplified in such poets as Tukarama, is an +impassioned inculcation of devotion to Vithoba of Pandharpur, who is a +manifestation of Krishna. Into the _bhakti_ system of western India +Buddhist elements have entered; and the school of devotees is often +denominated Bauddha-Vaishnava. Along with extravagant idolatry it +inculcates generally, at least in the Maratha country, a pure morality; +and the latter it apparently owes to Buddhism. Yet there are many sad +lapses from purity. Almost of necessity the worship of Krishna led to +corruption. The hymns became erotic; and movements hopeful at their +commencement--like that of Chaitanya of Bengal, in the sixteenth +century--soon grievously fell off in character. The attempt to make +religion consist of emotion without thought, of _bhakti_ without +_jnana_, had disastrous issues. Coincident with the development of +_bhakti_ was the exaltation of the _guru_, or religious teacher, which +soon amounted to deification--a change traceable from about the twelfth +century A.D. + +[Sidenote: Explanations of Krishna's evil deeds.] +When pressed on the subject of Krishna's evil deeds many are anxious to +explain them as allegorical representations of the union between the +divinity and true worshipers; but some interpret them in the most +literal way possible. This is done especially by the followers of +Vallabha Acharya.[28] These men attained a most unenviable notoriety +about twenty years ago, when a case was tried in the Supreme Court of +Bombay, which revealed the practice of the most shameful licentiousness +by the religious teachers and their female followers, and this as a part +of worship! The disgust excited was so great and general that it was +believed the influence of the sect was at an end; but this hope +unhappily has not been realized. + +[Sidenote: Reforms attempted. +Kabir. +Nanak. +Failure of all reforms.] +Reformers have arisen from time to time in India; men who saw the +deplorable corruption of religion, and strove to restore it to what they +considered purity. Next to Buddha we may mention Kabir, to whom are +ascribed many verses still popular. Probably the doctrine of the unity +of God, as maintained by the Mohammedans, had impressed him. He opposed +idolatry, caste, and Brahmanical assumption. Yet his monotheism was a +kind of pantheism. His date may be the beginning of the fifteenth +century. Nanak followed and founded the religion of the Sikhs. His +sacred book, the _Granth_, is mainly pantheistic; it dwells earnestly on +devotion, especially devotion to the _guru_. The Sikhs now seem slowly +relapsing into idolatry. In truth, the history of all attempts at +reformation in India has been most discouraging. Sect after sect has +successively risen to some elevation above the prevalent idolatry; and +then gradually, as by some irresistible gravitation, it has sunk back +into the _mare magnum_ of Hinduism. If we regard experience, +purification from within is hopeless; the struggle for it is only a +repetition of the toil of Sisyphus, and always with the same sad issue. +Deliverance must come from without--from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. + +[Sidenote: Influence of the Tantras. +Worship of the Sakti.] +We mentioned the Tantras as exerting great influence in later days.[29] +In these the worship of Siva, and, still more, that of his wife, is +predominant. The deity is now supposed to possess a double nature--one +quiescent, one active; the latter being regarded as the _Sakti_ or +energy of the god, otherwise called his wife. The origin of the system +is not fully explained; nor is the date of its rise ascertained. The +worship assumes wild, extravagant forms, generally obscene, sometimes +bloody. It is divided into two schools--that of the right hand and that +of the left. The former runs into mysticism and magic in complicated +observances, and the latter into the most appalling licentiousness. The +worship of the Sakti, or female principle, has become a most elaborate +system. The beings adored are "the most outrageous divinities which man +has ever conceived."[30] Sorcery began early in India; but it is in +connection with this system that it attains to full development. Human +sacrifices are a normal part of the worship when fully performed. We +cannot go farther into detail. It is profoundly saddening to think that +such abominations are committed; it is still more saddening to think +that they are performed as a part of divine worship. Conscience, +however, is so far alive that these detestable rites are practiced only +in secret, and few, if any, are willing to confess that they have been +initiated as worshipers. + +[Sidenote: Modern ritual.] +We have not yet said much about the ritual of modern days. It is +exceedingly complicated. In the case of the god Siva the rites are as +follows, when performed by a priest in the temple: + + [Sidenote: Worship of Siva.] + The Brahman first bathes, then enters the temple and bows to the + god. He anoints the image with clarified butter or boiled oil; + pours pure water over it; and then wipes it dry. He grinds some + white powder, mixing it with water; dips the ends of his three + forefingers in it and draws them across the image. He sits down; + meditates; places rice and _durwa_ grass on the image--places a + flower on his own head, and then on the top of the image; then + another flower on the image, and another, and another--accompanying + each act with the recitation of sacred spells; places white powder, + flowers, bilva-leaves, incense, meat-offerings, rice, plantains, + and a lamp before the image; repeats the name of Siva, with + praises, then prostrates himself before the image. In the evening + he returns, washes his feet, prostrates himself before the door, + opens the door, places a lamp within, offers milk, sweet-meats, and + fruits to the image, prostrates himself before it, locks the door, + and departs. + +Very similar is the worship paid to Vishnu: + + [Sidenote: Worship of Vishnu.] + The priest bathes, and then awakes the sleeping god by blowing a + shell and ringing a bell. More abundant offerings are made than to + Siva. About noon, fruits, roots, soaked peas, sweet-meats, etc., + are presented. Then, later, boiled rice, fried herbs, and spices; + but no flesh, fish, nor fowl. After dinner, betel-nut. The god is + then left to sleep, and the temple is shut up for some hours. + Toward evening curds, butter, sweet-meats, fruits, are presented. + At sunset a lamp is brought, and fresh offerings made. Lights are + waved before the image; a small bell is rung; water is presented + for washing the mouth, face, and feet, with a towel to dry them. In + a few minutes the offerings and the lamp are removed; and the god + is left to sleep in the dark. + +The prescribed worship is not always fully performed. Still, sixteen +things are essential, of which the following are the most important: + + "Preparing a seat for the god; invoking his presence; bathing the + image; clothing it; putting the string round it; offering perfumes; + flowers; incense; lamps; offerings of fruits and prepared eatables; + betel-nut; prayers; circumambulation. An ordinary worshiper + presents some of the offerings, mutters a short prayer or two, + when circumambulating the image, the rest being done by the + priest."[31] + +We give one additional specimen of the ritual: + + "As an atonement for unwarily eating or drinking what is forbidden + eight hundred repetitions of the Gayatri prayer should be preceded + by three suppressions of the breath, water being touched during the + recital of the following text: 'The bull roars; he has four horns, + three feet, two heads, seven hands, and is bound by a three-fold + cord; he is the mighty, resplendent being, and pervades mortal + men.'"[32] + +The bull is understood to be justice personified. All Brahmanical +ceremonies exhibit, we may say, ritualism and symbolism run mad. + +[Sidenote: Caste.] +The most prominent and characteristic institution of Hinduism is caste. +The power of caste is as irrational as it is unbounded; and it works +almost unmixed evil. The touch--even the shadow--of a low caste man +pollutes. The scriptural precept, "Honor all men," appears to a true +Hindu infinitely absurd. He honors and worships a cow; but he shrinks +with horror from the touch of a Mhar or Mang. Even Brahmans, if they +come from different provinces, will not eat together. Thus Hinduism +separates man from man; it goes on dividing and still dividing; and new +fences to guard imaginary purity are continually added. + +[Sidenote: Treatment of women. +Widows.] +The whole treatment of women has gradually become most tyrannical and +unjust. In very ancient days they were held in considerable respect; +but, for ages past, the idea of woman has been steadily sinking lower +and lower, and her rights have been more and more assailed. The burning +of widows has been prohibited by enactment; but the awful rite would in +many places be restored were it not for the strong hand of the British +government. The practice of marrying women in childhood is still +generally--all but universally--prevalent; and when, owing to the zeal +of reformers, a case of widow-marriage occurs, its rarity makes it be +hailed as a signal triumph. Multitudes of the so-called widows were +never really wives, their husbands (so-called) having died in childhood. +Widows are subjected to treatment which they deem worse than death; and +yet their number, it is calculated, amounts to about twenty-one +millions! More cruel and demoralizing customs than exist in India in +regard to women can hardly be found among the lowest barbarians. We are +glad to escape from dwelling on points so exceedingly painful. + + + + +IV. + +CONTRAST WITH CHRISTIANITY. + + +The immense difference between the Hindu and Christian religions has +doubtless already frequently suggested itself to the reader. It will not +be necessary, therefore, to dwell on this topic at very great length. +The contrast forces itself upon us at every point. + +[Sidenote: The Aryas and Israelites--their probable future, about 1500 B.C. +Contrast of their after-history.] +When, about fifteen centuries B.C., the Aryas were victoriously +occupying the Panjab, and the Israelites were escaping from the "iron +furnace" of Egypt, if one had been asked which of the two races would +probably rise to the highest conception of the divine, and contribute +most largely to the well-being of mankind, the answer, quite possibly, +might have been, the Aryas. Egypt, with its brutish idolatries, had +corrupted the faith of the Israelites, and slavery had crushed all +manliness out of them. Yet how wonderful has been their after-history! +Among ancient religions that of the Old Testament stands absolutely +unique, and in the fullness of time it blossomed into Christianity. How +is the marvel to be explained? We cannot account for it except by +ascribing it to a divine election of the Israelites and a providential +training intended to fit them to become the teachers of the world. +"Salvation is of the Jews." + +The contrast between the teachings of the Bible and those of the Hindu +books is simply infinite. + +[Sidenote: Hindu theology compared with Christian.] +The conception of a purely immaterial Being, infinite, eternal, and +unchangeable, which is that of the Bible regarding God, is entirely +foreign to the Hindu books. Their doctrine is various, but, in every +case, erroneous. It is absolute pantheism, or polytheism, or an +inconsistent blending of polytheism and pantheism, or atheism. + +Equally striking is the contrast between Christianity and Hinduism as to +the attributes of God. According to the former, he is omnipresent; +omnipotent; possessed of every excellence--holiness, justice, goodness, +truth. According to the chief Hindu philosophy, the Supreme is devoid of +attributes--devoid of consciousness. According to the popular +conception, when the Supreme becomes conscious he is developed into +three gods, who possess respectively the qualities of truth, passion, +and darkness. + +[Sidenote: Conception of God.] +"God is a Spirit." "God is light." "God is love." These sublime +declarations have no counterparts in Hindustan. + +He is "the Father of spirits," according to the Bible. According to +Hinduism, the individual spirit is a portion of the divine. Even the +common people firmly believe this. + +Every thing is referred by Hinduism to God as its immediate cause. A +Christian is continually shocked by the Hindus ascribing all sin to God +as its source. + +[Sidenote: The object of worship.] +The adoration of God as a Being possessed of every glorious excellence +is earnestly commanded in the Bible. "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy +God; and him only shalt thou serve." In India the Supreme is never +worshiped; but any one of the multitudinous gods may be so; and, in +fact, every thing can be worshiped _except_ God. A maxim in the mouth of +every Hindu is the following: "Where there is faith, there is God." +Believe the stone a god and it is so. + +[Sidenote: The sense of sin.] +Every sin being traced to God as its ultimate source, the sense of +personal guilt is very slight among Hindus. Where it exists it is +generally connected with ceremonial defilement or the breach of some one +of the innumerable and meaningless rites of the religion. How unlike in +all this is the Gospel! The Bible dwells with all possible earnestness +on the evil of sin, not of ceremonial but moral defilement--the +transgression of the divine law, the eternal law of right. + +[Sidenote: Atonement.] +How important a place in the Christian system is held by atonement, the +great atonement made by Christ, it is unnecessary to say. Nor need we +enlarge on the extraordinary power it exercises over the human heart, at +once filling it with contrition, hatred of sin, and overflowing joy. We +turn to Hinduism. Alas! we find that the earnest questionings and higher +views of the ancient thinkers have in a great degree been ignored in +later times. Sacrifice in its original form has passed away. Atonement +is often spoken of; but it is only some paltry device or other, such as +eating the five products of the cow, going on pilgrimage to some sacred +shrine, paying money to the priests, or, it may be, some form of bodily +penance. Such expedients leave no impression on the heart as to the true +nature and essential evil of sin. + +[Sidenote: Salvation. +Sanctification.] +Salvation, in the Christian system, denotes deliverance, not only from +the punishment of sin, but from its power, implying a renovation of the +moral nature. The entire man is to be rectified in heart, speech, and +behavior. The perfection of the individual, and, through that, the +perfection of society, are the objects aimed at; and the consummation +desired is the doing of the will of God on earth as it is done in +heaven. Now, of all this, surely a magnificent ideal, we find in +Hinduism no trace whatever. + +[Sidenote: Views of life. +The great tenet of Hinduism.] +Christianity is emphatically a religion of hope; Hinduism may be +designated a religion of despair. The trials of life are many and great. +Christianity bids us regard them as discipline from a Father's hand, and +tells us that affliction rightly borne yields "the peaceable fruits of +righteousness." To death the Christian looks forward without fear; to +him it is a quiet sleep, and the resurrection draws nigh. Then comes the +beatific vision of God. Glorified in soul and body, the companion of +angels and saints, strong in immortal youth, he will serve without let +or hinderance the God and Saviour whom he loves. To the Hindu the trials +of life are penal, not remedial. At death his soul passes into another +body. Rightly, every human soul animates in succession eighty-four lacs +(8,400,000) of bodies--the body of a human being, or a beast, or a bird, +or a fish, or a plant, or a stone, according to desert. This weary, all +but endless, round of births fills the mind of a Hindu with the greatest +horror. At last the soul is lost in God as a drop mingles with the +ocean. Individual existence and consciousness then cease. The thought is +profoundly sorrowful that this is the cheerless faith of countless +multitudes. No wonder, though, the great tenet of Hinduism is +this--_Existence is misery._ + +[Sidenote: The future of the race. +The struggle between good and evil.] +So much for the future of the individual. Regarding the future of the +race Hinduism speaks in equally cheerless terms. Its golden age lies in +the immeasurably distant past; and the further we recede from it the +deeper must we plunge into sin and wretchedness. True, ages and ages +hence the "age of truth" returns, but it returns only to pass away again +and torment us with the memory of lost purity and joy. The experience of +the universe is thus an eternal renovation of hope and disappointment. +In the struggle between good and evil there is no final triumph for the +good. We tread a fated, eternal round from which there is no escape; and +alike the hero fights and the martyr dies in vain. + +It is remarkable that acute intellectual men, as many of the Hindu +poets were, should never have grappled with the problem of the divine +government of the world. + +[Sidenote: The future of the Aryan race.] +Equally notable is the unconcern of the Veda as to the welfare and the +future of even the Aryan race. But how sublime is the promise given to +Abraham that in him and his seed all nations of the earth should be +blessed! Renan has pointed with admiration to the confidence entertained +at all times by the Jew in a brilliant and happy future for mankind. The +ancient Hindu cared not about the future of his neighbors, and doubtless +even the expression "human race" would have been unintelligible to him. +Nor is there any pathos in the Veda. There is no deep sense of the +sorrows of life. Max Müller has affixed the epithet "transcendent" to +the Hindu mind. Its bent was much more toward the metaphysical, the +mystical, the incomprehensible than toward the moral and the practical. +Hence endless subtleties, more meaningless and unprofitable than ever +occupied the mind of Talmudist or schoolman of the Middle Ages. + +[Sidenote: The words of St. Paul illustrated by Hinduism.] +But finally, on this part of the subject, the development of Indian +religion supplies a striking comment on the words of St. Paul: + + "The invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood + from the things that are made. But when they knew God they + glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in + their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." + +[Sidenote: Moral power.] +Hinduism is deplorably deficient in power to raise and purify the human +soul, from having no high example of moral excellence. Its renowned +sages were noted for irritability and selfishness--great men at cursing; +and the gods for the most part were worse. Need we say how gloriously +rich the Gospel is in having in the character of Christ the realized +ideal of every possible excellence? + +[Sidenote: Ethical effect of Hinduism. +The people better than their religion.] +_Summa religionis est imitari quem colis_: "It is the sum of religion to +imitate the being worshiped;"[33] or, as the Hindus express it: "As is +the deity such is the devotee." Worship the God revealed in the Bible, +and you become god-like. The soul strives, with divine aid, to "purify +itself even as God is pure." But apply the principle to Hinduism. Alas! +the Pantheon is almost a pandemonium. Krishna, who in these days is the +chief deity to at least a hundred millions of people, does not possess +one elevated attribute. If, in the circumstances, society does not +become a moral pesthouse it is only because the people continue better +than their religion. The human heart, though fallen, is not fiendish. It +has still its purer instincts; and, when the legends about abominable +gods and goddesses are falling like mildew, these are still to some +extent kept alive by the sweet influences of earth and sky and by the +charities of family life. When the heart of woman is about to be swept +into the abyss her infant's smile restores her to her better self. Thus +family life does not go to ruin; and so long as that anchor holds +society will not drift on the rocks that stand so perilously near. +Still, the state of things is deplorably distressing. + +[Sidenote: The doctrine of incarnation.] +The doctrine of the incarnation is of fundamental importance in +Christianity. It seems almost profanation to compare it with the Hindu +teaching regarding the Avataras, or descents of Vishnu. It is difficult +to extract any meaning out of the three first manifestations, when the +god became in succession a fish, a boar, and a tortoise. Of the great +"descents" in Rama and Krishna we have already spoken. The ninth Avatara +was that of Buddha, in which the deity descended for the purpose of +deceiving men, making them deny the gods, and leading them to +destruction. So blasphemous an idea may seem hardly possible, even for +the bewildered mind of India; but this is doubtless the Brahmanical +explanation of the rise and progress of Buddhism. It was fatal error, +but inculcated by a divine being. Even the sickening tales of Krishna +and his amours are less shocking than this. When we turn from such +representations of divinity to "the Word made flesh" we seem to have +escaped from the pestilential air of a charnel-house to the sweet, pure +breath of heaven. + + + + +V. + +HINDUISM IN CONTACT WITH CHRISTIANITY. + + +[Sidenote: Attempted reforms.] +We have used the word _reformer_ in this Tract. We formerly noted that, +in India, there have arisen from time to time men who saw and sorrowed +over the erroneous doctrines and degrading rites of the popular system. + +In quite recent times they have had successors. Some account of their +work may form a fitting conclusion to our discussion. + +[Sidenote: Advance of Christianity in India.] +With the large influx into India of Christian ideas it was to be +expected that some impression would be made on Hinduism. We do not refer +to conversion--the full acceptance of the Christian faith. Christianity +has advanced and is advancing in India more rapidly than is generally +supposed; but far beyond the circle of those who "come out and are +separate" its mighty power is telling on Hinduism. The great fundamental +truths of the Gospel, when once uttered and understood, can hardly be +forgotten. Disliked and denied they may be; but forgotten? No. Thus +they gradually win their way, and multitudes who have no thought of +becoming Christians are ready to admit that they are beautiful and true; +for belief and practice are often widely separated in Hindu minds. + +[Sidenote: The Brahma Samaj.] +But it was to be expected that the new ideas pouring into India--and +among these we include not only distinctively Christian ideas, but +Western thought generally--would manifest their presence and activity in +concrete forms, in attempted reconstructions of religion. The most +remarkable example of such a reconstruction is exhibited in the Brahmo +Somaj (more correctly Brahma Samaj)--which may be rendered the "Church +of God." + +[Sidenote: Rammohun Roy. +Effect of Christianity upon him.] +It is traceable to the efforts of a truly distinguished man, Rammohun +Roy. He was a person of studious habits, intelligent, acute, and deeply +in earnest on the subject of religion. He studied not only Hinduism in +its various forms, but Buddhism, Mohammedanism, and Christianity. He was +naturally an eclectic, gathering truth from all quarters where he +thought he could find it. A specially deep impression was made on his +mind by Christianity; and in 1820 he published a book with the +remarkable title, _The Precepts of Jesus the Guide to Peace and +Happiness_. Very frequently he gave expression to the sentiment that the +teachings of Christ were the truest and deepest that he knew. Still, he +did not believe in Christ's divinity. + +[Sidenote: Debendernath Tagore. +Keshub Chunder Sen. +Formation of a new Samaj.] +In January, 1830, a place of worship was opened by Rammohun Roy and his +friends. It was intended for the worship of one God, without idolatrous +rites of any kind. This was undoubtedly a very important event, and +great was the interest aroused in connection with it. Rammohun Roy, +however, visited Britain in 1831, and died at Bristol in 1833; and the +cause for which he had so earnestly labored in India languished for a +time. But in the year 1841 Debendernath Tagore, a man of character and +wealth, joined the Brahmo Somaj, and gave a kind of constitution to it. +It was fully organized by 1844. No definite declaration, however, had +been made as to the authority of the Vedas; but, after a lengthened +period of inquiry and discussion, a majority of the Somaj rejected the +doctrine of their infallibility by 1850. "The rock of intuition" now +began to be spoken of; man's reason was his sufficient guide. Still, +great respect was cherished for the ancient belief and customs of the +land. But in 1858 a new champion appeared on the scene, in the +well-known Keshub Chunder Sen. Ardent, impetuous, ambitions--full of +ideas derived from Christian sources[34]--he could not brook the slow +movements of the Somaj in the path of reform. Important changes, both +religious and social, were pressed by him; and the more conservative +Debendernath somewhat reluctantly consented to their introduction. +Matters were, however, brought to a crisis by the marriage of two +persons of different castes in 1864. In February, 1865, the progressive +party formally severed their connection with the original Somaj; and in +August, 1869, they opened a new place of worship of their own. Since +this time the original or Adi Somaj has been little heard of, and its +movement--if it has moved at all--has been retrogressive. The new +Somaj--the Brahmo Somaj of India, as it called itself--under the +guidance of Mr. Sen became very active. A missionary institute was set +up, and preachers were sent over a great part of India. Much was +accomplished on behalf of women; and in 1872 a Marriage Act for members +of the Somaj was passed by the Indian legislature, which legalized union +between people of different castes, and fixed on fourteen as the lowest +age for the marriage of females. These were important reforms. + +Mr. Sen's influence was naturally and necessarily great; but in opposing +the venerable leader of the original Somaj he had set an example which +others were quite willing to copy. + +[Sidenote: Discontent growing.] +Several of his followers began to demand more radical reforms than he +was willing to grant. The autocracy exercised by Mr. Sen was strongly +objected to, and a constitution of the Somaj was demanded. Mr. Sen +openly maintained that heaven from time to time raises up men endowed +with special powers, and commissioned to introduce new forms or +"dispensations" of religion; and his conduct fully proved that he +regarded himself as far above his followers. Complaints became louder; +and although the eloquence and genius of Keshub were able to keep the +rebellious elements from exploding it was evident, as early as 1873, +that a crisis was approaching. This came in 1878, when Mr. Sen's +daughter was married to the Maharaja of Kuch Behar. The bride was not +fourteen, and the bridegroom was sixteen. Now, Mr. Sen had been earnest +and successful in getting the Brahmo Marriage Act passed, which ruled +that the lowest marriageable age for a woman was fourteen, and for a man +eighteen. Here was gross inconsistency. What could explain it? +"Ambition," exclaimed great numbers; "the wish to exalt himself and his +daughter by alliance with a prince." But Mr. Sen declared that he had +consented to the marriage in consequence of an express intimation that +such was the will of heaven. Mr. Sen denied miracles, but believed in +inspiration; and of his own inspiration he seems to have entertained no +doubt. We thus obtain a glimpse into the peculiar working of his mind. +Every full conviction, every strong wish of his own he ascribed to +divine suggestion. This put him in a position of extreme peril. It was +clear that an enthusiastic, imaginative, self-reliant nature like his +might thus be borne on to any extent of fanaticism. + +[Sidenote: Revolt; a third Samaj. +"New Dispensation."] +A great revolt from Mr. Sen's authority now took place, and the Sadharan +Samaj was organized in May, 1878. An appeal had been made to the members +generally, and no fewer than twenty-one provincial Samajes, with more +than four hundred members, male and female, joined the new society. +This number amounted to about two thirds of the whole body. Keshub and +his friends denounced the rebels in very bitter language; and yet, in +one point of view, their secession was a relief. Men of abilities equal, +and education superior, to his own had hitherto acted as a drag on his +movements; he was now delivered from their interference and could deal +with the admiring and submissive remnant as he pleased. Ideas that had +been working in his mind now attained rapid development. Within two +years the flag of the "New Dispensation" was raised; and of that +dispensation Mr. Sen was the undoubted head. Very daring was the +language Mr. Sen used in a public lecture regarding this new creation. +He claimed equality for it with the Jewish and Christian dispensations, +and for himself "singular" authority and a divine commission. + +[Sidenote: Its creed.] +In the Creed of the New Dispensation the name of Christ does not occur. +The articles were as follows: + + _a._ One God, one Scripture, one Church. _b._ Eternal progress of + the soul. _c._ Communion of prophets and saints. _d._ Fatherhood + and motherhood of God. _e._ Brotherhood of man and sisterhood of + woman. _f._ Harmony of knowledge and holiness, love and work, yoga + and asceticism in their highest development. _g._ Loyalty to + sovereign. + +[Sidenote: Omission of Christ's name.] +The omission of Christ's name is the more remarkable because Mr. Sen +spoke much of him in his public lectures. He had said in May, 1879, +"None but Jesus, none but Jesus, none but Jesus ever deserved this +precious diadem, India; and Jesus shall have it." But he clearly +indicated that the Christ he sought was an Indian Christ; one who was "a +Hindu in faith," and who would help the Hindus to "realize their +national idea of a yogi" (ascetic). + +[Sidenote: "Motherhood of God."] +Let it be noted that, from the beginning of his career, Mr. Sen had +spoken earnestly of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of +man--though, these great conceptions are not of Hindu origin. It is +difficult to see why, in later days, he insisted so much on the +"motherhood of God." Perhaps it was a repetition--he probably would have +called it an exaltation--of the old Hindu idea, prevalent especially +among the worshipers of Siva, that there is a female counterpart--a +Sakti--of every divinity. Or, possibly, it may have been to conciliate +the worshipers of Durga and Kali, those great goddesses of Bengal. + +[Sidenote: Public proclamation said to be from God.] +A public proclamation was soon issued, purporting to be from God +himself, as India's mother. The whole thing was very startling; many, +even of Keshub's friends, declared it blasphemous. Next, in the "Flag +Ceremony," the flag or banner of the New Dispensation received a homage +scarcely distinguishable from worship. Then--as if in strict imitation +of the ancient adoration of Agni, or Fire--a pile of wood was lighted, +clarified butter poured on it, and prayers addressed to it, ending +thus--"O, brilliant Fire! in thee we behold our resplendent Lord." This +was, at least, symbolism run wild; and every one, except those who were +prepared to follow their leader to all lengths, saw that in a land like +India, wedded to idolatry, it was fearfully perilous. + +[Sidenote: "Apostolic Durbar."] +In March, 1881, Mr. Sen and his friends introduced celebrations which, +to Christian minds, seemed a distressing caricature of the Christian +sacraments. Other institutions followed; an Apostolic Durbar (Court of +Apostles), for instance, was established. There was no end to Mr. Sen's +inventiveness. + +In a public lecture delivered in January, 1883, on "Asia's message to +Europe," he elaborately expounded the idea that all the great religions +are of Asiatic origin, and that all of them are true, and that the one +thing required to constitute the faith of the future--the religion of +humanity--is the blending of all these varied Oriental systems into one. + +[Sidenote: Inconsistencies between Mr. Sen's public and private +utterances. +Mr. Sen's policy of reserve.] +It was not easy to reconcile Mr. Sen's public utterances with his +private ones--though far be it from us to tax him with insincerity. +Thus, in an interview extending over two hours, which the writer and two +missionary friends had with him a week or so before the lecture now +referred to, he said he accepted as true and vital all the leading +doctrines of the Christian faith, with the exception of the resurrection +of Christ. But another fundamental difference remained--he avowedly +dissented from the orthodox creed in rejecting the miraculous element in +Scripture. At an interview I had with him some time before he earnestly +disclaimed all intention to put Christ on a level with Buddha or +Mohammed. "I am educating my friends," he said, "to understand and +approve of Christianity; I have not yet said my last word about Christ." +It is a solemn question, Had he said it when his career was ended? If +so, it was far from a satisfactory word. His policy of reserve and +adaptation had probably kept him from uttering all that was in his +heart; but it was a sorely mistaken policy. Had he temporized less he +would have accomplished more. + +Since the death of Mr. Sen there has been a violent dispute between his +family and the "Apostolic Durbar," on one side, and one of his ablest +followers, on the other; and the New Dispensation will probably split in +two, if it does not perish altogether. + +[Sidenote: The Sadharan Samaj.] +In the meantime, the Sadharan Samaj, which broke off from Keshub's party +in 1878, has been going on with no small vigor. Vagaries, either in +doctrine or rites, have been carefully shunned; its partisans profess a +pure Theistic creed and labor diligently in the cause of social reform. +Their position is nearly that of Unitarian Christianity, and we fear +they are not at present approximating to the full belief of the Church +Catholic. + +[Sidenote: Movements in western India. +Tenets of the Prarthana Sabha.] +Very similar in character to the Brahmo Somaj is the Prarthana Somaj in +western India. As far back as 1850, or a little earlier, there was +formed a society called the Prarthana Sabha (Prayer-meeting). Its +leading tenets were as follows: + + 1. I believe in one God. 2. I renounce idol-worship. 3. I will do + my best to lead a moral life. 4. If I commit any sin through the + weakness of my moral nature I will repent of it and ask the pardon + of God. + +The society, after some time, began to languish; but in 1867 it was +revived under the name of Prarthana Somaj. Its chief branches are in +Bombay, Poona, Ahmedabad, and Surat. + +[Sidenote: Arya Samaj.] +An interesting movement called the Arya Samaj was commenced a few years +ago by a Pandit--Dayanand Sarasvati. He received the Vedas as fully +inspired, but maintained that they taught monotheism--Agni, Indra, and +all the rest being merely different names of God. It was a desperate +effort to save the reputation of the ancient books; but, as all Sanskrit +scholars saw at a glance, the whole idea was a delusion. The Pandit is +now dead; and the Arya Samaj may not long survive him. + +At the time we write we hear of an attempt to defend idolatry and caste +made by men of considerable education. + +[Sidenote: Theosophists.] +The so-called "Theosophists" have, for several years, been active in +India. Of existing religions, Buddhism is their natural ally. They are +atheists. A combination which they formed with the Arya Samaj speedily +came to an end. + +Lastly, the followers of Mr. Bradlaugh are diligent in supplying their +books to Indian students. + +Poor India! No wonder if her mind is bewildered as she listens to such +a Babel of voices. The state of things in India now strikingly resembles +that which existed in the Roman Empire at the rise of Christianity; when +East and West were brought into the closest contact, and a great +conflict of systems of thought took place in consequence. + +But even as one hostile form of gnostic belief rose after another, and +rose only to fall--and as the greatest and best-disciplined foe of early +Christianity--the later Platonism--gave way before the steady, +irresistible march of gospel truth, so--we have every reason to hope--it +will be yet again. The Christian feels his heart swell in his breast as +he thinks what, in all human probability, India will be a century, or +even half a century, hence. O what a new life to that fairest of Eastern +lands when she casts herself in sorrow and supplication at the feet of +the living God, and then rises to proclaim to a listening world + + "Her deep repentance and her new-found joy!" + +May God hasten the advent of that happy day! + + + + +THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. + + + + +OUTLINE OF THE ESSAY. + + +The progress of Islam was slow until Mohammed cast aside the precepts of +toleration and adopted an aggressive, militant policy. Then it became +rapid. The motives which animated the armies of Islam were +mixed--material and spiritual. Without the truths contained in the +system success would have been impossible, but neither without the sword +would the religion have been planted in Arabia, nor beyond. The +alternatives offered to conquered peoples were Islam, the sword, or +tribute. The drawbacks and attractions of the system are examined. The +former were not such as to deter men of the world from embracing the +faith. The sexual indulgences sanctioned by it are such as to make Islam +"the Easy way." + +The spread of Islam was stayed whenever military success was checked. +The Faith was meant for Arabia and not for the world, hence it is +constitutionally incapable of change or development. The degradation of +woman hinders the growth of freedom and civilization under it. + +Christianity is contrasted in the means used for its propagation, the +methods it employed in grappling with and overcoming the evils that it +found existing in the world, in the relations it established between the +sexes, in its teaching with regard to the respective duties of the civil +and spiritual powers, and, above all, in its redeeming character, and +then the conclusion come to that Christianity is divine in its origin. + + + + +THE + +RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. + + * * * * * + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +[Sidenote: Islam pre-eminent in its rapid spread.] +Among the religions of the earth Islam must take the precedence in the +rapidity and force with which it spread. Within a very short time from +its planting in Arabia the new faith had subdued great and populous +provinces. In half a dozen years, counting from the death of the +founder, the religion prevailed throughout Arabia, Syria, Persia, and +Egypt, and before the close of the century it ruled supreme over the +greater part of the vast populations from Gibraltar to the Oxus, from +the Black Sea to the river Indus. + +[Sidenote: Propagation far quicker than of Christianity.] +In comparison with this grand outburst the first efforts of Christianity +were, to the outward eye, faint and feeble, and its extension so gradual +that what the Mohammedan religion achieved in ten or twenty years it +took the faith of Jesus long centuries to accomplish. + +[Sidenote: Object of the Tract.] +The object of these few pages is, _first_, to inquire briefly into the +causes which led to the marvelous rapidity of the first movement of +Islam: _secondly_, to consider the reasons which eventually stayed its +advance; and, _lastly_, to ascertain why Mohammedan countries have kept +so far in the rear of other lands in respect of intellectual and social +progress. In short, the question is how it was that, Pallas-like, the +faith sprang ready-armed from the ground, conquering and to conquer, and +why, the weapons dropping from its grasp, Islam began to lose its +pristine vigor, and finally relapsed into inactivity. + + + + +I. + +THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. + + +[Sidenote: Two periods in the mission of Mohammed.] +The personal ministry of Mohammed divides itself into two distinct +periods: first, his life at Mecca as a preacher and a prophet; second, +his life at Medina as a prophet and a king. + +[Sidenote: I. Ministry at Mecca, A.D. 609-622. +Success at Mecca limited.] +It is only in the first of these periods that Islam at all runs parallel +with Christianity. The great body of his fellow-citizens rejected the +ministry of Mohammed and bitterly opposed his claims. His efforts at +Mecca were, therefore, confined to teaching and preaching and to the +publishing of the earlier "Suras," or chapters of his "Revelation." +After some thirteen years spent thus his converts, to the number of +about a hundred and fifty men and women, were forced by the persecution +of the Coreish (the ruling tribe at Mecca, from which Mohammed was +descended) to quit their native city and emigrate to Medina.[35] A +hundred more had previously fled from Mecca for the same cause, and +found refuge at the court of the Negus, or king of Abyssinia; and there +was already a small company of followers among the citizens of Medina. +At the utmost, therefore, the number of disciples gained over by the +simple resort to teaching and preaching did not, during the first twelve +years of Mohammed's ministry, exceed a few hundreds. It is true that the +soil of Mecca was stubborn and (unlike that of Judea) wholly unprepared. +The cause also, at times, became the object of sustained and violent +opposition. Even so much of success was consequently, under the peculiar +circumstances, remarkable. But it was by no means singular. The progress +fell far short of that made by Christianity during the corresponding +period of its existence,[36] and indeed by many reformers who have been +the preachers of a new faith. It gave no promise whatever of the +marvelous spectacle that was about to follow. + +[Sidenote: II. Change of policy at Medina, A.D. 622-632. +Arabia converted from Medina at the point of the sword.] +Having escaped from Mecca and found a new and congenial home in Medina, +Mohammed was not long in changing his front. At Mecca, surrounded by +enemies, he taught toleration. He was simply the preacher commissioned +to deliver a message, and bidden to leave the responsibility with his +Master and his hearers. He might argue with the disputants, but it must +be "in a way most mild and gracious;" for "in religion" (such was his +teaching before he reached Medina) "there should be neither violence nor +constraint."[37] At Medina the precepts of toleration were quickly cast +aside and his whole policy reversed. No sooner did Mohammed begin to be +recognized and obeyed as the chief of Medina than he proceeded to attack +the Jewish tribes settled in the neighborhood because they refused to +acknowledge his claims and believe in him as a prophet foretold in their +Scriptures; two of these tribes were exiled, and the third exterminated +in cold blood. In the second year after the Hegira[a], or flight from Mecca +(the period from which the Mohammedan era dates), he began to plunder +the caravans of the Coreish, which passed near to Medina on their +mercantile journeys between Arabia and Syria. So popular did the cause +of the now militant and marauding prophet speedily become among the +citizens of Medina and the tribes around that, after many battles fought +with varying success, he was able, in the eighth year of the Hegira[b] to +re-enter his native city at the head of ten thousand armed followers. +Thenceforward success was assured. None dared to oppose his pretensions. +And before his death, in the eleventh year of the Hegira[c], all Arabia, +from Bab-el-Mandeb and Oman to the confines of the Syrian desert, was +forced to submit to the supreme authority of the now kingly prophet and +to recognize the faith and obligations of Islam.[38] + +[Sidenote: Religion of Mohammed described.] +This _Islam_, so called from its demanding the entire "surrender" of the +believer to the will and service of God, is based on the recognition of +Mohammed as a prophet foretold in the Jewish and Christian +Scriptures--the last and greatest of the prophets. On him descended the +Koran from time to time, an immediate revelation from the Almighty. +Idolatry and polytheism are with iconoclastic zeal denounced as sins of +the deepest dye; while the unity of the Deity is proclaimed as the grand +and cardinal doctrine of the faith. Divine providence pervades the +minutest concerns of life, and predestination is taught in its most +naked form. Yet prayer is enjoined as both meritorious and effective; +and at five stated times every day must it be specially performed. The +duties generally of the moral law are enforced, though an evil laxity is +given in the matter of polygamy and divorce. Tithes are demanded as alms +for the poor. A fast during the month of Ramzan must be kept throughout +the whole of every day; and the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca--an ancient +institution, the rites of which were now divested of their heathenish +accompaniments--maintained. The existence of angels and devils is +taught, and heaven and hell are depicted in material colors--the one of +sensuous pleasure, the other of bodily torment. Finally, the +resurrection, judgment, and retribution of good and evil are set forth +in great detail. Such was the creed--"_There is no god but the_ +Lord, _and_ Mohammed _is his prophet_"--to which Arabia now became +obedient. + +[Sidenote: Arabia apostatizes; but is speedily reconquered and +reclaimed, A.D. 633.] +But immediately on the death of Mohammed the entire peninsula relapsed +into apostasy. Medina and Mecca remained faithful; but every-where else +the land seethed with rebellion. Some tribes joined the "false +prophets," of whom four had arisen in different parts of Arabia; some +relapsed into their ancient heathenism; while others proposed a +compromise--they would observe the stated times of prayer, but would be +excused the tithe. Every-where was rampant anarchy. The apostate tribes +attacked Medina, but were repulsed by the brave old Caliph Abu Bekr, who +refused to abate one jot or tittle, as the successor of Mohammed, of the +obligations of Islam. Eleven columns were sent forth under as many +leaders, trained in the warlike school of Mohammed. These fought their +way, step by step, successfully; and thus, mainly through the wisdom and +firmness of Abu Bekr and the valor and genius of Khalid, "the Sword of +God," the Arab tribes, one by one, were overcome and forced back into +their allegiance and the profession of Islam. The reconquest of Arabia +and re-imposition of Mohammedanism as the national faith, which it took +a whole year to accomplish, is thus described by an Arabian author, who +wrote at the close of the second century of the Mohammedan era: + + After his decease there remained not one of the followers of the + prophet that did not apostatize, saving only a small company of his + "Companions" and kinsfolk, who hoped thus to secure the government + to themselves. Hereupon Abu Bekr displayed marvelous skill, energy, + and address, so that the power passed into his hands.... And thus + he persevered until the apostate tribes were all brought back to + their allegiance, some by kindly treatment, persuasion, and craft; + some through terror and fear of the sword; and others by the + prospect of power and wealth as well as by the lusts and pleasures + of this life. And so it came to pass that all the Bedouin tribes + were in the end converted outwardly, but not from inward + conviction.[39] + +[Sidenote: The Arabs thus reclaimed were, at the first, sullen.] +The temper of the tribes thus reclaimed by force of arms was at the +first strained and sullen. But the scene soon changed. Suddenly the +whole peninsula was shaken, and the people, seized with a burning zeal, +issued forth to plant the new faith in other lands. It happened on this +wise: + +[Sidenote: Roused by war-cry, they issue from the peninsula, A.D. 634, +_et. seq._ +The opposing forces. +Arab enthusiasm.] +The columns sent from Medina to reduce the rebellious tribes to the +north-west on the Gulf of Ayla, and to the north-east on the Persian +Gulf, came at once into collision with the Christian Bedouins of Syria +on the one hand and with those of Mesopotamia on the other. These again +were immediately supported by the neighboring forces of the Roman and +Persian empires, whose vassals respectively they were. And so, before +many months, Abu Bekr found his generals opposed by great and imposing +armies on either side. He was, in fact, waging mortal combat at one and +the same moment with the Kaiser and the Chosroes, the Byzantine emperor +and the great king of Persia. The risk was imminent, and an appeal went +forth for help to meet the danger. The battle-cry resounded from one end +of Arabia to the other, and electrified the land. Levy after levy, _en +masse_, started up at the call from every quarter of the peninsula, and +the Bedouin tribes, as bees from their hive, streamed forth in swarms, +animated by the prospect of conquest, plunder, and captive damsels, or, +if slain in battle, by the still more coveted prize of the "martyr" in +the material paradise of Mohammed. With a military ardor and new-born +zeal in which carnal and spiritual aspirations were strangely blended, +the Arabs rushed forth to the field, like the war-horse of Job, "that +smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains and the +shouting." Sullen constraint was in a moment transformed into an +absolute devotion and fiery resolve to spread the faith. The Arab +warrior became the missionary of Islam. + +[Sidenote: Arabs, a military body, subsidized and mobilized by Omar.] +It was now the care of Omar, the second caliph or ruler of the new-born +empire, to establish a system whereby the spirit militant, called into +existence with such force and fervor, might be rendered permanent. The +entire Arabian people was subsidized. The surplus revenues which in +rapidly increasing volume began to flow from the conquered lands into +the Moslem treasuries were to the last farthing distributed among the +soldiers of Arabian descent. The whole nation was enrolled, and the name +of every warrior entered upon the roster of Islam. Forbidden to settle +anywhere, and relieved from all other work, the Arab hordes became, in +fact, a standing army threatening the world. Great bodies of armed men +were kept thus ever mobilized, separate and in readiness for new +enterprise. + +[Sidenote: Mission of Islam described by Fairbairn.] +The change which came over the policy of the Founder of the Faith at +Medina, and paved the way for this marvelous system of world-wide rapine +and conversion to Islam, is thus described by a thoughtful and sagacious +writer: + + Medina was fatal to the higher capabilities of Islam. Mohammed + became then a king; his religion was incorporated in a State that + had to struggle for its life in the fashion familiar to the + rough-handed sons of the desert. The prophet was turned into the + legislator and commander; his revelations were now laws, and now + military orders and manifestoes. The mission of Islam became one + that only the sword could accomplish, robbery of the infidel became + meritorious, and conquest the supreme duty it owed to the world.... + + The religion which lived an unprospering and precarious life, so + long as it depended on the prophetic word alone, became an + aggressive and victorious power so soon as it was embodied in a + State.[40] + +[Sidenote: And by von Kremer.] +Another learned and impartial authority tells us: + + The Mussulman power under the first four caliphs was nothing but a + grand religio-political association of Arab tribes for universal + plunder and conquest under the holy banner of Islam, and the + watch-word, "There is no god but the Lord, and Mohammed is + his apostle." On pretext of spreading the only true religion the + Arabs swallowed up fair provinces lying all around, and, driving a + profitable business, enriched themselves simultaneously in a + worldly sense.[41] + +[Sidenote: Religious merit of "fighting in the ways of the Lord."] +The motives which nerved the armies of Islam were a strange combination +of the lower instincts of nature with the higher aspirations of the +spirit. To engage in the Holy War was the rarest and most blessed of all +religious virtues, and conferred on the combatant a special merit; and +side by side with it lay the bright prospect of spoil and female slaves, +conquest and glory. "Mount thy horse," said Osama ibn Zeid to Abu Bekr +as he accompanied the Syrian army a little way on its march, out of +Medina. "Nay," replied the caliph, "I will not ride, but I will walk and +soil my feet a little space in the ways of the Lord. Verily, every +footstep in the ways of the Lord is equal in merit to manifold good +works, and wipeth away a multitude of sins."[42] And of the "martyrs," +those who fell in these crusading campaigns, Mohammed thus described the +blessed state: + + Think not, in any wise, of those killed in the ways of the Lord, as + if they were dead. Yea, they are alive, and are nourished with + their Lord, exulting in that which God hath given them of his + favor, and rejoicing in behalf of those who have not yet joined + them, but are following after. No terror afflicteth them, neither + are they grieved.--Sura iii. + +[Sidenote: Material fruits of Moslem crusade.] +The material fruits of their victories raised the Arabs at once from +being the needy inhabitants of a stony, sterile soil, where, with +difficulty, they eked out a hardy subsistence, to be the masters of rich +and luxuriant lands flowing with milk and honey. After one of his great +victories on the plains of Chaldea, Khalid called together his troops, +flushed with conquest, and lost in wonder at the exuberance around them, +and thus addressed them: "Ye see the riches of the land. Its paths drop +fatness and plenty, so that the fruits of the earth are scattered abroad +even as stones are in Arabia. If but as a provision for this present +life, it were worth our while to fight for these fair fields and banish +care and penury forever from us." Such were the aspirations dear to the +heart of every Arab warrior. Again, after the battle of Jalola, a few +years later, the treasure and spoil of the Persian monarch, captured by +the victors, was valued at thirty million of dirhems (about a million +sterling). The royal fifth (the crown share of the booty) was sent as +usual to Medina under charge of Ziad, who, in the presence of the Caliph +Omar, harangued the citizens in a glowing description of what had been +won in Persia, fertile lands, rich cities, and endless spoil, besides +captive maids and princesses. + +[Sidenote: Rich booty taken in the capital of Persia, A.D. 637.] +In relating the capture of Medain (the ancient Ctesiphon) tradition +revels in the untold wealth which fell into the hands of Sad, the +conqueror, and his followers. Besides millions of treasure, there was +endless store of gold and silver vessels, rich vestments, and rare and +precious things. The Arabs gazed bewildered at the tiara, brocaded +vestments, jeweled armor, and splendid surroundings of the throne. They +tell of a camel of silver, life-size, with a rider of gold, and of a +golden horse with emeralds for teeth, the neck set with rubies, the +trappings of gold. And we may read in Gibbon of the marvelous banqueting +carpet, representing a garden, the ground of wrought gold, the walks of +silver, the meadows of emeralds, rivulets of pearls, and flowers and +fruits of diamonds, rubies, and rare gems. The precious metals lost +their conventional value, gold was parted with for its weight in silver; +and so on.[43] + +[Sidenote: Success in battle ascribed to divine aid.] +It is the virtue of Islam that it recognizes a special providence, +seeing the hand of God, as in every thing, so pre-eminently also in +victory. When Sad, therefore, had established himself in the palace of +the Chosroes he was not forgetful to render thanks in a service of +praise. One of the princely mansions was turned for the moment into a +temple, and there, followed by his troops, he ascribed the victory to +the Lord of Hosts. The lesson accompanying the prayers was taken from a +Sura (or chapter of the Koran) which speaks of Pharaoh and his riders +being overwhelmed in the Red Sea, and contains this passage, held to be +peculiarly appropriate to the occasion: + + "How many gardens and fountains did they leave behind, + And fields of corn, and fair dwelling-places, + And pleasant things which they enjoyed! + Even thus have We made another people to inherit the same."[44] + +[Sidenote: "Martyrdom" in the field coveted by Moslem crusaders. +The Moslem crown of martyrdom.] +Such as fell in the conflict were called martyrs; a halo of glory +surrounded them, and special joys awaited them even on the battlefield. +And so it came to pass that the warriors of Islam had an unearthly +longing for the crown of martyrdom. The Caliph Omar was inconsolable at +the loss of his brother, Zeid, who fell in the fatal "Garden of Death," +at the battle of Yemama: "Thou art returned home," he said to his son, +Abdallah, "safe and sound, and Zeid is dead. Wherefore wast not thou +slain before him? I wish not to see thy face." "Father," answered +Abdallah, "he asked for the crown of martyrdom, and the Lord granted it. +I strove after the same, but it was not given unto me."[45] It was the +proud boast of the Saracens in their summons to the craven Greeks and +Persians that "they loved death more than their foes loved life." +Familiar with the pictures drawn in the Koran of the beautiful +"houries" of Paradise,[46] the Saracens believed that immediate fruition +on the field of battle was the martyr's special prize. We are told of a +Moslem soldier, four-score years of age, who, seeing a comrade fall by +his side, cried out, "O Paradise! how close art thou beneath the arrow's +point and the falchion's flash! O Hashim! even now I see heaven opened, +and black-eyed maidens all bridally attired, clasping thee in their fond +embrace." And shouting thus the aged warrior, fired again with the ardor +of youth, rushed upon the enemy and met the envied fate. For those who +survived there was the less ethereal but closer prospect of Persian, +Greek, or Coptic women, both maids and matrons, who, on "being taken +captive by their right hand," were forthwith, according to the Koran, +without stint of number, at the conqueror's will and pleasure. These, +immediately they were made prisoners, might (according to the example +of Mohammed himself at Kheibar) be carried off without further ceremony +to the victor's tent; and in this respect the Saracens certainly were +nothing loath to execute upon the heathen the judgment written in their +law. So strangely was religious fanaticism fed and fostered in the +Moslem camp by incentives irresistible to the Arab--fight and foray, the +spoil of war and captive charms. + +[Sidenote: Martial passages from Koran recited on field of battle.] +The courage of the troops was stimulated by the divine promises of +victory, which were read (and on like occasions still are read) at the +head of each column drawn up for battle. Thus, on the field of Cadesiya[d], +which decided the fate of Persia, the Sura _Jehad_, with the stirring +tale of the thousand angels that fought on the Prophet's side at Bedr +was recited, and such texts as these: + +_Stir up the faithful unto battle. If there be twenty steadfast among +you they shall put two hundred to flight of the unbelievers, and a +hundred shall put to flight a thousand. Victory is from the Lord. He is +mighty and wise. I the Lord will cast terror into the hearts of the +infidels. Strike off their heads and their fingers' ends. Beware lest ye +turn your back in battle. Verily, he that turneth his back shall draw +down upon himself the wrath of God. His abode shall be hell fire; an +evil journey thither._ + +And we are told that on the recital of these verses "the heart of the +people was refreshed and their eyes lightened, and they felt the +tranquillity that ensueth thereupon." Three days they fought, and on the +morning of the fourth, returning with unabated vigor to the charge, they +scattered to the winds the vast host of Persia.[47] + +[Sidenote: Defeat of Byzantine army on the Yermuk, A.D. 634.] +Nor was it otherwise in the great battle of the Yermuk, which laid Syria +at the feet of the Arabs. The virgin vigor of the Saracens was fired by +a wild fanatical zeal "to fight in the ways of the Lord," obtaining thus +heavenly merit and a worldly prize--the spoil of Syria and its fair +maidens ravished from their homes; or should they fall by the sword, the +black-eyed houries waiting for them on the field of battle. "Of warriors +nerved by this strange combination of earth and heaven, of the flesh and +of the spirit, of the incentives at once of faith and rapine, of +fanatical devotion to the prophet and deathless passion for the sex, ten +might chase a hundred half-hearted Romans. The forty thousand Moslems +were stronger far than the two hundred and forty thousand of the enemy." +The combat lasted for weeks; but at the last the Byzantine force was +utterly routed, and thousands hurled in wild confusion over the beetling +cliffs of the Yermuk into the yawning chasm of Wacusa.[48] + +[Sidenote: Islam planted by aid of material force.] +Such, then, was the nature of the Moslem propaganda, such the agency by +which the faith was spread, and such the motives at once material and +spiritual by which its martial missionaries were inspired. No wonder +that the effete empires of Rome and Persia recoiled and quivered at the +shock, and that province after province quickly fell under the sway of +Islam. It is far from my intention to imply that the truths set forth by +the new faith had nothing to do with its success. On the contrary, it +may well be admitted that but for those truths success might have been +impossible. The grand enunciation of the Divine Unity, and the duty of +an absolute submission to the same; the recognition of a special +providence reaching to the minutest details of life; the inculcation of +prayer and other religious duties; the establishment of a code in which +the leading principles of morality are enforced, and the acknowledgment +of previous revelations in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, told +not only on the idolaters of Arabia and the fire-worshipers of Persia, +but on Jews and Samaritans and the followers of a debased and +priest-ridden Christianity. All this is true; but it is still not the +less true that without the sword Islam would never have been planted +even in Arabia, much less ever have spread to the countries beyond. The +weapons of its warfare were "carnal," material, and earthly; and by them +it conquered. + +[Sidenote: Alternatives offered to the conquered nations: Islam, the +Sword, or Tribute.] +The pressure brought to bear on the inhabitants of the countries overrun +by Saracen arms was of the most stringent character. They were offered +the triple alternative--Islam, the Sword, or Tribute. The first brought +immediate relief. Acceptance of the faith not only stayed the enemy's +hand, and conferred immunity from the perils of war, but associated the +convert with his conquerors in the common brotherhood and in all the +privileges of Islam. + +[Sidenote: Acceptance of Islam, immediate relief from the sword.] +Reading the story of the spread of Islam, we are constantly told of this +and that enemy, that "being beaten, he _believed_ and embraced the +faith." Take as an example of an every-day occurrence the story of +Hormuzan. A Persian prince of high rank long maintained a border +warfare against the Moslems. At last he was taken prisoner and sent in +chains to Medina. As he was conducted into the Great Mosque, Omar +exclaimed, "Blessed be the Lord, that hath humbled this man and the like +of him!" He bade them disrobe the prisoner and clothe him in sackcloth. +Then, whip in hand, he upbraided him for his oft-repeated attacks and +treachery. Hormuzan made as if fain to reply; then gasping, like one +faint from thirst, he begged for water to drink. "Give it him," said the +caliph, "and let him drink in peace." "Nay," cried the wretched captive, +trembling, "I fear to drink, lest some one slay me unawares." "Thy life +is safe," said Omar, "until thou hast drunk the water up." The words +were no sooner said than Hormuzan emptied the vessel on the ground. "I +wanted not the water," he said, "but quarter, and thou hast given it +me." "Liar!" cried Omar, angrily, "thy life is forfeit." "But not," +interposed the by-standers, "until he drink the water up." "Strange," +said Omar, "the fellow hath deceived me; and yet I cannot spare the life +of one who hath slain so many noble Moslems. I swear that thou shalt not +gain by thy deceit unless thou wilt forthwith embrace Islam." Upon +that, "_believing_, he made profession of the true faith upon the spot;" +and thenceforth, residing at Medina, he received a pension of the +highest grade.[49] + +[Sidenote: Tribute and humiliation. +Disabilities imposed on Jews and Christians.] +On the other hand, for those who held to their ancestral faith there was +no escape from the second or the third alternative. If they would avoid +the sword, or, having wielded it, were beaten, they must become +tributary. Moreover, the payment of tribute is not the only condition +enjoined by the Koran. "Fight against them (the Jews and Christians) +until they pay tribute with the hand, _and are humbled_."[50] The +command fell on willing ears. An ample interpretation was given to it. +And so it came to pass that, though Jews and Christians were, on the +payment of tribute, tolerated in the profession of their ancestral +faith, they were yet subjected (and still are subjected) to severe +humiliation. The nature and extent of the degradation to which they were +brought down, and the strength of the inducement to purchase exemption +and the equality of civil rights, by surrendering their religion, may be +learned from the provisions which were embodied in the code named _The +Ordinance of Omar_, which has been more or less enforced from the +earliest times. Besides the tribute and various other imposts levied +from the "People of the Book,"[51] and the duty of receiving Moslem +travelers quartered upon them, the dress of both sexes must be +distinguished by broad stripes of yellow. They are forbidden to appear +on horseback, and if mounted on a mule or ass their stirrups must be of +wood, and their saddles known by knobs of the same material. Their +graves must not rise above the level of the soil, and the devil's mark +is placed upon the lintel of their doors. Their children must be taught +by Moslem masters, and the race, however able or well qualified, +proscribed from any office of high emolument or trust. Besides the +churches spared at the time of conquest no new buildings can be erected +for the purposes of worship; nor can free entrance into their holy +places at pleasure be refused to the Moslem. No cross must remain in +view outside, nor any church-bells be rung. They must refrain from +processions in the street at Easter, and other solemnities; and from any +thing, in short, whether by outward symbol, word, or deed, which could +be construed into rivalry, or competition with the ruling faith. Such +was the so-called _Code of Omar_. Enforced with less or greater +stringency, according to the intolerance and caprice of the day, by +different dynasties, it was, and (however much relaxed in certain +countries) it still remains, the law of Islam. One must admire the rare +tenacity of the Christian faith, which, with but scanty light and hope, +held its ground through weary ages of insult and depression, and still +survives to see the dawning of a brighter day.[52] + +[Sidenote: Continuing inducements in times of peace.] +Such, then, was the hostile attitude of Islam militant in its early +days; such the pressure brought to bear on conquered lands for its +acceptance; and such the disabilities imposed upon recusant Jews and +Christians. On the one hand, rapine, plunder, slavery, tribute, civil +disability; on the other, security, peace, and honor. We need not be +surprised that, under such constraint, conquered peoples succumbed +before Islam. Nor were the temporal inducements to conversion confined +to the period during which the Saracens were engaged in spreading Islam +by force of arms. Let us come down a couple of centuries from the time +of Mohammed, and take the reign of the tolerant and liberal-minded +sovereign, Al Mamun. + +[Sidenote: Evidence of Al Kindy in second century of Hegira, A.D. 830. +Speech of Al Mamun.] +Among the philosophers of all creeds whom that great caliph gathered +around him at Bagdad was a noble Arab of the Nestorian faith, descended +from the kingly tribe of the Beni Kinda, and hence called _Al Kindy_. A +friend of this Eastern Christian, himself a member of the royal family, +invited Al Kindy to embrace Islam in an epistle enlarging on the +distinguished rank which, in virtue of his descent, he would (if a true +believer) occupy at court, and the other privileges, spiritual and +material, social and conjugal, which he would enjoy. In reply the +Christian wrote an apology of singular eloquence and power, throwing a +flood of light on the worldly inducements which, even at that +comparatively late period, abounded in a Moslem state to promote +conversion to Islam. Thus Al Mamun himself, in a speech delivered before +his council, characterizes certain of his courtiers accused as secret +adherents of the Zoroastrian faith: + + "Though professing Islam, they are free from the same. This they do + to be seen of me, while their convictions, I am well aware, are + just the opposite of that which they profess. They belong to a + class which embrace Islam, not from any love of this our faith, but + thinking thereby to gain access to our court, and share in the + honor, wealth, and power of the realm. They have no inward + persuasion of that which they outwardly profess."[53] + +[Sidenote: Converts from sordid motives.] +Again, speaking of the various classes brought over to Islam by sordid +and unworthy motives, Al Kindy says: + + Moreover, there are the idolatrous races--Magians and Jews--low + people aspiring by the profession of Islam to raise themselves to + riches and power and to form alliances with the families of the + learned and honorable. There are, besides, hypocritical men of the + world, who in this way obtain indulgences in the matter of marriage + and concubinage which are forbidden to them by the Christian faith. + Then we have the dissolute class given over wholly to the lusts of + the flesh. And lastly there are those who by this means obtain a + more secure and easy livelihood.[54] + +[Sidenote: Al Kindy contrasts the Christian confessor with the Moslem +"martyr." +The Christian confessor and the Moslem martyr.] +Before leaving this part of our subject it may be opportune to quote a +few more passages from Al Kindy, in which he contrasts the inducements +that, under the military and political predominance of Islam, promoted +its rapid spread, and the opposite conditions under which Christianity +made progress, slow, indeed, comparatively, but sure and steady. First, +he compares the Christian confessor with the Moslem "martyr:" + + I marvel much, he says, that ye call those _martyrs_ that fall in + war. Thou hast read, no doubt, in history of the followers of + Christ put to death in the persecutions of the kings of Persia and + elsewhere. Say, now, which are the more worthy to be called + martyrs, these, or thy fellows that fall fighting for the world and + the power thereof? How diverse were the barbarities and kinds of + death inflicted on the Christian confessors! The more they were + slain the more rapidly spread the faith; in place of one sprang up + a hundred. On a certain occasion, when a great multitude had been + put to death, one at court said to the king, "The number of them + increaseth instead of, as thou thinkest, diminishing." "How can + that be?" exclaimed the king. "But yesterday," replied the + courtier, "thou didst put such and such a one to death, and lo, + there were converted double that number; and the people say that a + man appeared to the confessors from heaven strengthening them in + their last moments." Whereupon the king himself was converted. In + those days men thought not their lives dear unto them. Some were + transfixed while yet alive; others had their limbs cut off one + after another; some were cast to the wild beasts and others burned + in the fire. Such continued long to be the fate of the Christian + confessors. No parallel is found thereto in any other religion; and + all was endured with constancy and even with joy. One smiled in the + midst of his great suffering. "Was it cold water," they asked, + "that was brought unto thee?" "No," answered the sufferer, "it was + one like a youth that stood by me and anointed my wounds; and that + made me smile, for the pain forthwith departed." + + Now tell me seriously, my friend, which of the two hath the best + claim to be called a _martyr_, "slain in the ways of the Lord:" he + who surrendereth his life rather than renounce his faith; who, when + it is said, Fall down and worship the sun and moon, or the idols of + silver and gold, work of men's hands, instead of the true God, + refuseth, choosing rather to give up life, abandon wealth, and + forego even wife and family; or he that goeth forth, ravaging and + laying waste, plundering and spoiling, slaying the men, carrying + away their children into captivity, and ravishing their wives and + maidens in his unlawful embrace, and then shall call it "Jehad in + the ways of the Lord!" ... And not content therewith, instead of + humbling thyself before the Lord, and seeking pardon for the crime, + thou sayest of such a one slain in the war that "he hath earned + paradise," and thou namest him "a martyr in the ways of the + Lord!"[55] + +And again, contrasting the spread of Islam, "its rattling quiver and its +glittering sword," with the silent progress of Christianity, our +apologist, after dwelling on the teaching and the miracles of the +apostles, writes: + + They published their message by means of these miracles; and thus + great and powerful kings and philosophers and learned men and + judges of the earth hearkened unto them, without lash or rod, with + neither sword nor spear, nor the advantages of birth or + "Helpers;"[56] with no wisdom of this world, or eloquence or power + of language, or subtlety of reason; with no worldly inducement, nor + yet again with any relaxation of the moral law, but simply at the + voice of truth enforced by miracles beyond the power of man to + show. And so there came over to them the kings and great ones of + the earth. And the philosophers abandoned their systems, with all + their wisdom and learning, and betook them to a saintly life, + giving up the delights of this world together with their + old-established usages, and became followers of a company of poor + men, fishers and publicans, who had neither name nor rank nor any + claim other than that they were obedient to the command of the + Messiah--he that gave them power to do such wonderful works.[57] + +[Sidenote: The apostles compared with the chiefs of Islam.] +And yet once more, comparing the apostles with the military chiefs of +Islam, Al Kindy proceeds: + + After the descent of the Holy Ghost and the gift of tongues the + apostles separated each to the country to which he was called. They + wrote out in every tongue the holy Gospel, and the story and + teaching of Christ, at the dictation of the Holy Ghost. So the + nations drew near unto them, believing their testimony; and, giving + up the world and their false beliefs, they embraced the Christian + faith as soon as ever the dawn of truth and the light of the good + tidings broke in upon them. Distinguishing the true from the false, + and error from the right direction, they embraced the Gospel and + held it fast without doubt or wavering, when they saw the wonderful + works and signs of the apostles, and their lives and conversation + set after the holy and beautiful example of our Saviour, the traces + whereof remain even unto the present day.... How different this + from the life of thy Master (Mohammed) and his companions, who + ceased not to go forth in battle and rapine, to smite with the + sword, to seize the little ones, and ravish the wives and maidens, + plundering and laying waste, and carrying the people into + captivity. And thus they continue unto this present day, inciting + men to these evil deeds, even as it is told of Omar the Caliph. "If + one among you," said he, "hath a heathen neighbor and is in need, + let him seize and sell him." And many such things they say and + teach. Look now at the lives of Simon and Paul, who went about + healing the sick and raising the dead, by the name of Christ our + Lord; and mark the contrast.[58] + +[Sidenote: Such are the conclusions of a native of Chaldea.] +Such are the reflections of one who lived at a Mohammedan court, and +who, moreover, flourishing as he did a thousand years ago, was +sufficiently near the early spread of Islam to be able to contrast what +he saw and heard and read of the causes of its success with those of the +Gospel, and had the courage to confess the same. + +[Sidenote: Hinderances or inducements inherent in the faith itself.] +Apart, now, from the outward and extraneous aids given to Islam by the +sword and by the civil arm I will inquire for a moment what natural +effect the teaching of Islam itself had in attracting or repelling +mankind. I do not now speak of any power contained in the truths it +inculcated to convert to Islam by the rousing and quickening of +spiritual impulses; for that lies beyond my present purpose, which is to +inquire whether there is not in material causes and secular motives +enough in themselves to account for success. I speak rather of the +effect of the indulgences granted by Islam, on the one hand, as +calculated to attract; and of the restraints imposed and sacrifices +required, on the other, as calculated to repel. How far, in fact, did +there exist inducements or hinderances to its adoption inherent in the +religion itself? + +[Sidenote: Requirements of Islam: prayer. +Prohibition of wine, games of chance, and usury. +Fast of Ramzan.] +What may be regarded as the most constant and irksome of the obligations +of Islam is the duty of prayer, which must be observed at stated +intervals, five times every day, with the contingent ceremony of +lustration. The rite consists of certain forms and passages to be +repeated with prescribed series of prostrations and genuflexions. These +must be repeated at the right times--but anywhere, in the house or by +the wayside, as well as in the mosque; and the ordinance is obligatory +in whatever state of mind the worshiper may be, or however occupied. As +the appointed hour comes round the Moslem is bound to turn aside to +pray--so much so that in Central Asia we read of the police driving the +backward worshiper by the lash to discharge the duty. Thus, with the +mass of Mussulmans, the obligation becomes a mere formal ceremony, and +one sees it performed anywhere and every-where by the whole people, like +any social custom, as a matter of course. No doubt there are exceptions; +but with the multitude it does not involve the irksomeness of a +spiritual service, and so it sits lightly on high and low. The Friday +prayers should as a rule be attended in the mosque; but neither need +there be much devotion there; and, once performed, the rest of the day +is free for pleasure or for business.[59] The prohibition of wine is a +restriction which was severely felt in the early days of the faith; but +it was not long before the universal sentiment (though eluded in some +quarters) supported it. The embargo upon games of chance was certainly +unpopular; and the prohibition of the receipt of interest was also an +important limitation, tending as it did to shackle the freedom of +mercantile speculation; but they have been partially evaded on various +pretexts. The fast throughout the month of Ramzan was a severer test; +but even this lasts only during the day; and at night, from sunset till +dawn, all restrictions are withdrawn, not only in respect of food, but +of all otherwise lawful gratifications.[60] + +[Sidenote: Little that is unpopular in these ordinances.] +There is nothing, therefore, in the requirements and ordinances of +Islam, excepting the fast, that is very irksome to humanity, or which, +as involving any material sacrifice, or the renunciation of the +pleasures or indulgences of life, should lead a man of the world to +hesitate in embracing the new faith. + +[Sidenote: Indulgences allowed in the matter of wives and concubines.] +On the other hand, the license allowed by the Koran between the +sexes--at least in favor of the male sex--is so wide that for such as +have the means and the desire to take advantage of it there need be no +limit whatever to sexual indulgence. It is true that adultery is +punishable by death and fornication with stripes. But then the Koran +gives the believer permission to have four wives at a time. And he may +exchange them--that is, he may divorce them at pleasure, taking others +in their stead.[61] And, as if this were not license enough, the divine +law permits the believer to consort with all female slaves whom he may +be the master of--such, namely, as have been taken in war, or have been +acquired by gift or purchase. These he may receive into his harem +instead of wives, or in addition to them; and without any limit of +number or restraint whatever he is at liberty to cohabit with them. + +[Sidenote: Polygamy, concubinage, and divorce. Practice at the rise of +Islam.] +A few instances taken at random will enable the reader to judge how the +indulgences thus allowed by the religion were taken advantage of in the +early days of Islam. In the great plague which devastated Syria seven +years after the prophet's death Khalid, the Sword of God, lost _forty_ +sons. Abdal Rahman, one of the "companions" of Mohammed, had issue by +sixteen wives, not counting slave-girls.[62] Moghira ibn Shoba, another +"companion," and governor of Kufa and Bussorah, had in his harem eighty +consorts, free and servile. Coming closer to the Prophet's household, we +find that Mohammed himself at one period had in his harem no fewer than +nine wives and two slave-girls. Of his grandson Hasan we read that his +vagrant passion gained for him the unenviable sobriquet of _The +Divorcer_; for it was only by continually divorcing his consorts that he +could harmonize his craving for fresh nuptials with the requirements of +the divine law, which limited the number of his free wives to four. We +are told that, as a matter of simple caprice, he exercised the power of +divorce seventy (according to other traditions ninety) times. When the +leading men complained to Aly of the licentious practice of his son his +only reply was that the remedy lay in their own hands, of refusing Hasan +their daughters altogether.[63] Such are the material inducements, the +"works of the flesh," which Islam makes lawful to its votaries, and +which promoted thus its early spread. + +[Sidenote: Practice in modern times. +The Malays of Penang. +Lane's testimony concerning Egypt. +The princess of Bhopal's account of Mecca.] +Descending now to modern times, we still find that this sexual license +is taken advantage of more or less in different countries and conditions +of society. The following examples are simply meant as showing to what +excess it is possible for the believer to carry these indulgences, +_under the sanction of his religion_. Of the Malays in Penang it was +written not very long ago: "Young men of thirty to thirty-five years of +age may be met with who have had from fifteen to twenty wives, and +children by several of them. These women have been divorced, married +others, and had children by them." Regarding Egypt, Lane tells us: "I +have heard of men who have been in the habit of marrying a new wife +almost every month."[64] Burkhardt speaks of an Arab forty-five years +old who had had fifty wives, "so that he must have divorced two wives +and married two fresh ones on the average every year." And not to go +further than the sacred city of Mecca, the late reigning princess of +Bhopal, in central India, herself an orthodox follower of the Prophet, +after making the pilgrimage of the holy places, writes thus: + + Women frequently contract as many as ten marriages, and those who + have only been married twice are few in number. If a woman sees her + husband growing old, or if she happen to admire any one else, she + goes to the Shereef (the spiritual and civil head of the holy + city), and after having settled the matter with him she puts away + her husband and takes to herself another, who is, perhaps, + good-looking and rich. In this way a marriage seldom lasts more + than a year or two. + +And of slave-girls the same high and impartial authority, still writing +of the holy city and of her fellow-Moslems, tells us: + + Some of the women (African and Georgian girls) are taken in + marriage; and after that, on being sold again, they receive from + their masters a divorce, and are sold in their houses--that is to + say, they are sent to the purchaser from their master's house on + receipt of payment, and are not exposed for sale in the + slave-market. They are only _married_ when purchased for the first + time.... When the poorer people buy (female) slaves they keep them + for themselves, and change them every year as one would replace old + things by new; but the women who have children are not sold.[65] + +[Sidenote: Islam sanctions a license between the sexes which +Christianity forbids. +The laws of Christianity deter men from carnal indulgences. +Islam the "Easy Way."] +What I desire to make clear is the fact that such things may be +practiced _with the sanction_ of the Scripture which the Moslem holds to +be divine, and that these same indulgences have from the first existed +as inducements which helped materially to forward the spread of the +faith. I am very far, indeed, from implying that excessive indulgence in +polygamy is the universal state of Moslem society. Happily this is not +the case. There are not only individuals, but tribes and districts, +which, either from custom or preference, voluntarily restrict the +license given them in the Koran; while the natural influence of the +family, even in Moslem countries, has an antiseptic tendency that often +itself tends greatly to neutralize the evil.[66] Nor am I seeking to +institute any contrast between the morals at large of Moslem countries +and the rest of the world. If Christian nations are (as with shame it +must be confessed) in some strata of society immoral, it is in the teeth +of their divine law. And the restrictions of that law are calculated, +and in the early days of Christianity did tend, in point of fact, _to +deter men_ devoted to the indulgences of the flesh from embracing the +faith.[67] The religion of Mohammed, on the other hand, gives direct +sanction to the sexual indulgences we have been speaking of. Thus it +panders to the lower instincts of humanity and makes its spread the +easier. In direct opposition to the precepts of Christianity it "makes +provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof." Hence Islam has +been well called by its own votaries the _Easy Way_. Once more, to quote +Al Kindy: + + Thou invitest me (says our apologist to his friend) into the "Easy + way of faith and practice." Alas, alas! for our Saviour in the + Gospel telleth us, "When ye have done all that ye are commanded, + say, We are unprofitable servants; we have but done that which was + commanded us." Where then is our merit? The same Lord Jesus saith, + "How strait is the road which leadeth unto life, and how few they + be that walk therein! How wide the gate that leadeth to + destruction, and how many there be that go in thereat!" Different + this, my friend, from the comforts of thy wide and easy gate, and + the facilities for enjoying, as thou wouldst have me, the pleasures + offered by thy faith in wives and damsels![68] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] A.D. 623. + +[b] A.D. 630. + +[c] A.D. 632. + +[d] A.D. 635. + + + + +II. + +WHY THE SPREAD OF ISLAM WAS STAYED. + + +[Sidenote: Islam stationary in area, and in civilization retrograde.] +Having thus traced the rapid early spread of Islam to its proper source, +I proceed to the remaining topics, namely, the causes which have checked +its further extension, and those likewise which have depressed the +followers of this religion in the scale of civilization. I shall take +the former first--just remarking here, in respect of the latter, that +the depression of Islam is itself one of the causes which retard the +expansion of the faith. + +[Sidenote: The Arabs ceased, in second century, to be a crusading +force.] +As the first spread of Islam was due to the sword, so when the sword was +sheathed Islam ceased to spread. The apostles and missionaries of Islam +were, as we have seen, the martial tribes of Arabia--that is to say, the +grand military force organized by Omar, and by him launched upon the +surrounding nations. Gorged with the plunder of the world, these began, +after a time, to settle on their lees and to mingle with the ordinary +population. So soon as this came to pass they lost the fiery zeal which +at the first had made them irresistible. By the second and third +centuries the Arabs had disappeared as the standing army of the +caliphate, or, in other words, as a body set apart for the dissemination +of the faith. The crusading spirit, indeed, ever and anon burst +forth--and it still bursts forth, as opportunity offers--simply for the +reason that this spirit pervades the Koran, and is ingrained in the +creed. But with the special agency created and maintained during the +first ages for the spread of Islam the incentive of crusade ceased as a +distinctive missionary spring of action, and degenerated into the common +lust of conquest which we meet with in the world at large. + +[Sidenote: With cessation of conquest, Islam ceased to spread.] +The extension of Islam, depending upon military success, stopped +wherever that was checked. The religion advanced or retired, speaking +broadly, as the armed predominance made head or retroceded. Thus the +tide of Moslem victory, rushing along the coast of Africa, extinguished +the seats of European civilization on the Mediterranean, overwhelmed +Spain, and was rapidly advancing north, when the onward wave was stemmed +at Tours; and as with the arms, the faith also of Islam was driven back +into Spain and bounded by the Pyrenees. So, likewise, the hold which +the religion seized both of Spain and Sicily came to an end with +Mussulman defeat. It is true that when once long and firmly rooted, as +in India and China, Islam may survive the loss of military power, and +even flourish. But it is equally true that in no single country has +Islam been planted, nor has it anywhere materially spread, saving under +the banner of the Crescent or the political ascendency of some +neighboring State. Accordingly, we find that, excepting some barbarous +zones in Africa which have been raised thereby a step above the +groveling level of fetichism, the faith has in modern times made no +advance worth mentioning.[69] + +From the Jewish and Christian religions there has (again speaking +broadly) been no secession whatever to Islam since the wave of Saracen +victory was stayed, excepting by the force of arms. Even in the palmy +days of the Abbasside caliphs, our apologist could challenge his +adversary to produce a single conversion otherwise than by reason of +some powerful material inducement. Here is his testimony: + + [Sidenote: Al Kindy's challenge to produce a Christian convert to + Islam apart from material inducements.] + Now tell me, hast thou ever seen, my Friend, (the Lord be gracious + unto thee!) or ever heard of a single person of sound mind--any one + of learning and experience, and acquainted with the Scriptures, + renouncing Christianity otherwise than for some worldly object to + be reached only through thy religion, or for some gratification + withheld by the faith of Jesus? Thou wilt find none. For, excepting + the tempted ones, all continue steadfast in their faith, secure + under our most gracious sovereign, in the profession of their own + religion.[70] + + + + + + +III. + +LOW POSITION OF ISLAM IN THE SCALE OF CIVILIZATION. + + +[Sidenote: Social and intellectual depression.] +I pass on to consider why Mohammedan nations occupy so low a position, +halting as almost every-where they do, in the march of social and +intellectual development. + +[Sidenote: Islam intended for the Arabs. +Wants the faculty of adaptation.] +The reason is not far to find. Islam was meant for Arabia, not for the +world; for the Arabs of the seventh century, not for the Arabs of all +time; and being such, and nothing more, its claim of divine origin +renders change or development impossible. It has within itself neither +the germ of natural growth nor the lively spring of adaptation. Mohammed +declared himself a prophet to the Arabs;[71] and however much in his +later days he may have contemplated the reformation of other religions +beyond the Peninsula, or the further spread of his own (which is +doubtful), still the rites and ceremonies, the customs and the laws +enjoined upon his people, were suitable (if suitable at all) for the +Arabs of that day, and in many respects for them alone. Again, the code +containing these injunctions, social and ceremonial, as well as +doctrinal and didactic, is embodied with every particularity of detail, +as part of the divine law, in the Koran; and so defying, as sacrilege, +all human touch, it stands unalterable forever. From the stiff and rigid +shroud in which it is thus swathed the religion of Mohammed cannot +emerge. It has no plastic power beyond that exercised in its earliest +days. Hardened now and inelastic, it can neither adapt itself nor yet +shape its votaries, nor even suffer them to shape themselves to the +varying circumstances, the wants and developments, of mankind. + +[Sidenote: Local ceremonies: pilgrimage. +Fast of Ramzan.] +We may judge of the local and inflexible character of the faith from one +or two of its ceremonies. To perform the pilgrimage to Mecca and Mount +Arafat, with the slaying of victims at Mina, and the worship of the +Kaaba, is an ordinance obligatory (with the condition only that they +have the means) on all believers, who are bound to make the journey even +from the furthest ends of the earth--an ordinance intelligible enough in +a local worship, but unmeaning and impracticable when required of a +world-wide religion. The same may be said of the fast of Ramzan. It is +prescribed in the Koran to be observed by all with undeviating +strictness during the whole day, from earliest dawn till sunset +throughout the month, with specified exemptions for the sick and +penalties for every occasion on which it is broken. The command, imposed +thus with an iron rule on male and female, young and old, operates with +excessive inequality in different seasons, lands, and climates. However +suitable to countries near the equator, where the variations of day and +night are immaterial, the fast becomes intolerable to those who are far +removed either toward the north or the south; and still closer to the +poles, where night merges into day and day into night, impracticable. +Again, with the lunar year (itself an institution divinely imposed), the +month of Ramzan travels in the third of a century from month to month +over the whole cycle of a year. The fast was established at a time when +Ramzan fell in winter, and the change of season was probably not +foreseen by the Prophet. But the result is one which, under some +conditions of time and place, involves the greatest hardship. For when +the fast comes round to summer the trial in a sultry climate, like that +of the burning Indian plains, of passing the whole day without a morsel +of bread or a drop of water becomes to many the occasion of intense +suffering. Such is the effect of the Arabian legislator's attempt at +circumstantial legislation in matters of religious ceremonial. + +[Sidenote: Political and social depression owing to relations between +the sexes.] +Nearly the same is the case with all the religions obligations of Islam, +prayer, lustration, etc. But although the minuteness of detail with +which these are enjoined tends toward that jejune and formal worship +which we witness every-where in Moslem lands, still there is nothing in +these observances themselves which (religion apart) should lower the +social condition of Mohammedan populations and prevent their emerging +from that normal state of semi-barbarism and uncivilized depression in +which we find all Moslem peoples. For the cause of this we must look +elsewhere; and it may be recognized, without doubt, in the relations +established by the Koran between the sexes. Polygamy, divorce, servile +concubinage, and the veil are at the root of Moslem decadence. + +[Sidenote: Depression of the female sex. +Divorce.] +In respect of married life the condition allotted by the Koran to woman +is that of an inferior dependent creature, destined only for the +service of her master, liable to be cast adrift without the assignment +of a single reason or the notice of a single hour. While the husband +possesses the power of a divorce--absolute, immediate, unquestioned--no +privilege of a corresponding nature has been reserved for the wife. She +hangs on, however unwilling, neglected, or superseded, the perpetual +slave of her lord, if such be his will. When actually divorced she can, +indeed, claim her dower--her _hire_, as it is called in the too plain +language of the Koran; but the knowledge that the wife can make this +claim is at the best a miserable security against capricious taste; and +in the case of bondmaids even that imperfect check is wanting. The power +of divorce is not the only power that may be exercised by the tyrannical +husband. Authority to _confine_ and to _beat_ his wives is distinctly +vested in his discretion.[72] "Thus restrained, secluded, degraded, the +mere minister of enjoyment, liable at the caprice or passion of the +moment to be turned adrift, it would be hard to say that the position of +a wife was improved by the code of Mohammed."[73] Even if the privilege +of divorce and marital tyranny be not exercised, the knowledge of its +existence as a potential right must tend to abate the self-respect, and +in like degree to weaken the influence of the sex, impairing thus the +ameliorating and civilizing power which she was meant to exercise upon +mankind. And the evil has been stereotyped by the Koran for all time. + +[Sidenote: Principal Fairbairn on home-life under Islam.] +I must quote one more passage from Principal Fairbairn on the lowering +influence of Moslem domestic life: + + The God of Mohammed ... "spares the sins the Arab loves. A religion + that does not purify the home cannot regenerate the race; one that + depraves the home is certain to deprave humanity. Motherhood is to + be sacred if manhood is to be honorable. Spoil the wife of sanctity + and for the man the sanctities of life have perished. And so it has + been with Islam. It has reformed and lifted savage tribes; it has + depraved and barbarized civilized nations. At the root of its + fairest culture a worm has ever lived that has caused its blossoms + soon to wither and die. Were Mohammed the hope of man, then his + state were hopeless; before him could only be retrogression, + tyranny, and despair."[74] + +[Sidenote: Demoralizing influence of servile concubinage.] +Still worse is the influence of servile concubinage. The following is +the evidence of a shrewd and able observer in the East: + + All zenana life must be bad for men at all stages of their + existence.... In youth it must be ruin to be petted and spoiled by + a company of submissive slave-girls. In manhood it is no less an + evil that when a man enters into private life his affections should + be put up to auction among foolish, fond competitors full of + mutual jealousies and slanders. We are not left entirely to + conjecture as to the effect of female influence on home-life when + it is exerted under these unenlightened and demoralizing + conditions. That is plainly an element _lying at the root of all + the most important features that differentiate progress from + stagnation_.[75] + +[Sidenote: Deteriorating influence of relations established between the +sexes.] +Such are the institutions which gnaw at the root of Islam and prevent +the growth of freedom and civilization. "By these the unity of the +household is fatally broken and the purity and virtue of the family tie +weakened; the vigor of the dominant classes is sapped; the body politic +becomes weak and languid, excepting for intrigues, and the throne itself +liable to fall a prey to a doubtful or contested +succession"[76]--contested by the progeny of the various rivals crowded +into the royal harem. From the palace downward polygamy and servile +concubinage lower the moral tone, loosen the ties of domestic life, and +hopelessly depress the people. + +[Sidenote: The veil.] +Nor is the veil, albeit under the circumstances a necessary precaution, +less detrimental, though in a different way, to the interests of Moslem +society. This strange custom owes its origin to the Prophet's jealous +temperament. It is forbidden in the Koran for women to appear unveiled +before any member of the other sex with the exception of certain near +relatives of specified propinquity.[77] And this law, coupled with other +restrictions of the kind, has led to the imposition of the _boorka_ or +_purdah_ (the dress which conceals the person and the veil) and to the +greater or less seclusion of the harem and zenana. + +[Sidenote: Society vitiated by the withdrawal of the female sex. +Mohammedan society, thus truncated, incapable of progress. +The defects of Mohammedan society.] +This ordinance and the practices flowing from it must survive, more or +less, so long as the Koran remains the rule of faith. It may appear at +first sight a mere negative evil, a social custom comparatively +harmless; but in truth it has a more debilitating effect upon the Moslem +race perhaps than any thing else, for by it _woman is totally withdrawn +from her proper place in the social circle_. She may, indeed, in the +comparatively laxer license of some lands be seen flitting along the +streets or driving in her carriage; but even so it is like one belonging +to another world, veiled, shrouded, and cut off from intercourse with +those around her. Free only in the retirement of her own secluded +apartments, she is altogether shut out from her legitimate sphere in the +duties and enjoyments of life. But the blight on the sex itself from +this unnatural regulation, sad as it is, must be regarded as a minor +evil. The mischief extends beyond her. The tone and framework of society +as it came from the Maker's hands are altered, damaged, and +deteriorated. From the veil there flows this double injury. The bright, +refining, softening influence of woman is withdrawn from the outer +world, and social life, wanting the gracious influences of the female +sex, becomes, as we see throughout Moslem lands, forced, hard, +unnatural, and morose. Moreover, the Mohammedan nations, for all +purposes of common elevation and for all efforts of philanthropy and +liberty, are (as they live in public and beyond the inner recesses of +their homes) but a truncated and imperfect exhibition of humanity. They +are wanting in one of its constituent parts, the better half, the +humanizing and the softening element. And it would be against the nature +of things to suppose that the body, thus shorn and mutilated, can +possess in itself the virtue and power of progress, reform, and +elevation. The link connecting the family with social and public life is +detached, and so neither is _en rapport_, as it should be, with the +other. Reforms fail to find entrance into the family or to penetrate the +domestic soil where alone they could take root, grow into the national +mind, live, and be perpetuated. Under such conditions the seeds of +civilization refuse to germinate. No real growth is possible in free and +useful institutions, nor any permanent and healthy force in those great +movements which elsewhere tend to uplift the masses and elevate mankind. +There may, it is true, be some advance, from time to time, in science +and in material prosperity; but the social groundwork for the same is +wanting, and the people surely relapse into the semi-barbarism forced +upon them by an ordinance which is opposed to the best instincts of +humanity. Sustained progress becomes impossible. Such is the outcome of +an attempt to improve upon nature and banish woman, the help-meet of +man, from the position assigned by God to her in the world. + +[Sidenote: Yet the veil necessary under existing circumstances.] +At the same time I am not prepared to say that in view of the laxity of +the conjugal relations inherent in the institutions of Islam some such +social check as that of the veil (apart from the power to confine and +castigate) is not needed for the repression of license and the +maintenance of outward decency. There is too much reason to apprehend +that free social intercourse might otherwise be dangerous to morality +under the code of Mohammed, and with the example before men and women of +the early worthies of Islam. So long as the sentiments and habits of the +Moslem world remain as they are some remedial or preventive measure of +the kind seems indispensable. But the peculiarity of the Mussulman +polity, as we have seen, is such that the sexual laws and institutions +which call for restrictions of the kind as founded on the Koran are +incapable of change; they must co-exist with the faith itself, and last +while it lasts. So long, then, as this polity prevails the depression of +woman, as well as her exclusion from the social circle, must injure the +health and vitality of the body politic, impair its purity and grace, +paralyze vigor, retard progress in the direction of freedom, +philanthropy, and moral elevation, and generally perpetuate the normal +state of Mohammedan peoples, as one of semi-barbarism. + +To recapitulate, we have seen: + +[Sidenote: Recapitulation.] +_First._ That Islam was propagated mainly by the sword. With the tide of +conquest the religion went forward; where conquest was arrested made no +advance beyond; and at the withdrawal of the Moslem arms the faith also +commonly retired. + +_Second._ The inducements, whether material or spiritual, to embrace +Islam have proved insufficient of themselves (speaking broadly) to +spread the faith, in the absence of the sword, and without the influence +of the political or secular arm. + +_Third._ The ordinances of Islam, those especially having respect to the +female sex, have induced an inherent weakness, which depresses the +social system and retards its progress. + +[Sidenote: Contrast with Christianity.] +If the reader should have followed me in the argument by which these +conclusions have been reached the contrast with the Christian faith has +no doubt been suggesting itself at each successive step. + +[Sidenote: Christianity not propagated by force.] +Christianity, as Al Kindy has so forcibly put it, gained a firm footing +in the world without the sword, and without any aid whatever from the +secular arm. So far from having the countenance of the State it +triumphed in spite of opposition, persecution, and discouragement. "My +kingdom," said Jesus, "is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this +world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to +the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from hence.... For this end came I +into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Every one that +is of the truth, heareth my voice."[78] + +[Sidenote: Nor by worldly inducements.] +The religion itself, in its early days, offered no worldly attractions +or indulgences. It was not, like Islam, an "easy way." Whether in +withdrawal from social observances deeply tainted with idolatry, the +refusal to participate in sacrificial ceremonies insisted on by the +rulers, or in the renunciation of indulgences inconsistent with a +saintly life, the Christian profession required self-denial at every +step. + +[Sidenote: Adaptive principles and plastic faculty of Christianity.] +But otherwise the teaching of Christianity nowhere interfered with the +civil institutions of the countries into which it penetrated or with any +social customs or practices that were not in themselves immoral or +idolatrous. It did not, indeed, neglect to guide the Christian life. But +it did so by the enunciation of principles and rules of wide and +far-reaching application. These, no less than the injunctions of the +Koran, served amply for the exigencies of the day. But they have done a +vast deal more. They have proved themselves capable of adaptation to the +most advanced stages of social development and intellectual elevation. +And, what is infinitely more, it may be claimed for the lessons embodied +in the Gospel that they have been themselves promotive, if indeed they +have not been the immediate cause, of all the most important reforms and +philanthropies that now prevail in Christendom. The principles thus laid +down contained germs endowed with the power of life and growth which, +expanding and flourishing, slowly it may be, but surely, have at the +last borne the fruits we see. + +[Sidenote: Examples: slavery. +Relations between the sexes.] +Take, for example, the institution of slavery. It prevailed in the Roman +Empire at the introduction of Christianity, as it did in Arabia at the +rise of Islam. In the Moslem code, as we have seen, the practice has +been perpetuated. Slavery must be held permissible so long as the Koran +is taken to be the rule of faith. The divine sanction thus impressed +upon the institution, and the closeness with which by law and custom it +intermingles with social and domestic life, make it impossible for any +Mohammedan people to impugn slavery as contrary to sound morality or for +any body of loyal believers to advocate its abolition upon the ground +of principle. There are, moreover, so many privileges and gratifications +accruing to the higher classes from its maintenance that (excepting +under the strong pressure of European diplomacy) no sincere and hearty +effort can be expected from the Moslem race in the suppression of the +inhuman traffic, the horrors of which, as pursued by Moslem +slave-traders, their Prophet would have been the first to denounce. Look +now at the wisdom with which the Gospel treats the institution. It is +nowhere in so many words proscribed, for that would, under the +circumstances, have led to the abnegation of relative duties and the +disruption of society. It is accepted as a prevailing institution +recognized by the civil powers. However desirable freedom might be, +slavery was not inconsistent with the Christian profession: "Art thou +called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made +free, use it rather."[e] The duty of obedience to his master is enjoined +upon the slave, and the duty of mildness and urbanity toward his slave +is enjoined upon the master. But with all this was laid the seed which +grew into emancipation. "_Our Father_," gave the key-note of freedom. +"Ye are _all_ the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." "There is +neither bond nor free, ... for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."[f] "He that +is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman."[g] The +converted slave is to be received "not now as a servant, but above a +servant, a brother beloved."[h] The seed has borne its proper harvest. Late +in time, no doubt, but by a sure and certain development, the grand +truth of the equality of the human race, and the right of every man and +woman to freedom of thought and (within reasonable limit of law) to +freedom of action, has triumphed; and it has triumphed through the +Spirit and the precepts inculcated by the Gospel eighteen hundred years +ago. Nor is it otherwise with the relations established between the +sexes. Polygamy, divorce, and concubinage with bondmaid's have been +perpetuated, as we have seen, by Islam for all time; and the ordinances +connected therewith have given rise, in the laborious task of defining +the conditions and limits of what is lawful, to a mass of prurient +casuistry defiling the books of Mohammedan law. Contrast with this our +Saviour's words, "_He which made them at the beginning made them male +and female.... What therefore God hath joined together let not man put +asunder_."[i] From which simple utterance have resulted monogamy and (in +the absence of adultery) the indissolubility of the marriage bond. While +in respect of conjugal duties we have such large, but sufficiently +intelligible, commands as "to render due benevolence,"[j] whereby, while +the obligations of the marriage state are maintained, Christianity is +saved from the impurities which, in expounding the ordinances of +Mohammed, surround the sexual ethics of Islam, and cast so foul a stain +upon its literature. + +[Sidenote: Elevation of woman.] +Take, again, the place of woman in the world. We need no injunction of +the veil or the harem. As the temples of the Holy Ghost, the body is to +be kept undefiled, and every one is "to possess his vessel in +sanctification and honor."[k] Men are to treat "the elder women as mothers; +the younger as sisters, with all purity."[l] Women are to "adorn themselves +in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety."[m] These, and such +like maxims embrace the whole moral fitness of the several relations and +duties which they define. They are adapted for all ages of time and for +all conditions of men. They are capable of being taken by every +individual for personal guidance, according to his own sense of +propriety, and they can be accommodated by society at large with a due +reference to the habits and customs of the day. The attempt of Mohammed +to lay down, with circumstantial minuteness, the position of the female +sex, the veiling of her person, and her withdrawal from the gaze of man, +has resulted in seclusion and degradation; while the spirit of the +Gospel, and injunctions like that of "giving honor to the wife as to the +weaker vessel,"[n] have borne the fruit of woman's elevation, and have +raised her to the position of influence, honor, and equality which +(notwithstanding the marital superiority of the husband in the ideal of +a Christian family) she now occupies in the social scale. + +[Sidenote: Relations with the State. +Christianity leaves humanity free to expand.] +In the type of Mussulman government which (though not laid down in the +Koran) is founded upon the spirit of the faith and the precedent of the +Prophet the civil is indissolubly blended with the spiritual authority, +to the detriment of religious liberty and political progress. The +_Ameer_, or commander of the faithful, should, as in the early times, so +also in all ages, be the _Imam_, or religious chief; and as such he +should preside at the weekly cathedral service. It is not a case of the +Church being subject to the State, or the State being subject to the +Church. Here (as we used to see in the papal domains) the Church is the +State, and the State the Church. They both are one. And in this we have +another cause of the backwardness and depression of Mohammedan society. +Since the abolition of the temporal power in Italy we have nowhere in +Christian lands any such theocratic union of Cĉsar and the Church, so +that secular and religious advance is left more or less unhampered; +whereas in Islam the hierarchico-political constitution has hopelessly +welded the secular arm with the spiritual in one common scepter, to the +furthering of despotism, and elimination of the popular voice from its +proper place in the concerns of State. + +[Sidenote: The Koran checks progress.] +And so, throughout the whole range of political, religious, social, and +domestic relations, the attempt made by the founder of Islam to provide +for all contingencies, and to fix every thing aforehand by rigid rule +and scale, has availed to cramp and benumb the free activities of life +and to paralyze the natural efforts of society at healthy growth, +expansion, and reform. As an author already quoted has so well put it, +"_The Koran has frozen Mohammedan thought; to obey it is to abandon +progress_."[79] + +[Sidenote: Is Islam suitable for any nation?] +Writers have indeed been found who, dwelling upon the benefits conferred +by Islam on idolatrous and savage nations, have gone so far as to hold +that the religion of Mohammed may in consequence be suited to certain +portions of mankind--as if the faith of Jesus might peaceably divide +with it the world. But surely to acquiesce in a system which reduces the +people to a dead level of social depression, despotism, and +semi-barbarism would be abhorrent from the first principles of +philanthropy. With the believer, who holds the Gospel to be "good +tidings of great joy, _which shall be to all people_,"[o] such a notion is +on higher grounds untenable; but even in view of purely secular +considerations it is not only untenable, but altogether unintelligible. +As I have said elsewhere: + + The eclipse in the East, which still sheds its blight on the + ancient seats of Jerome and Chrysostom, and shrouds in darkness the + once bright and famous sees of Cyprian and Augustine, has been + disastrous every-where to liberty and progress, equally as it has + been to Christianity. And it is only as that eclipse shall pass + away and the Sun of righteousness again shine forth that we can + look to the nations now dominated by Islam sharing with us those + secondary but precious fruits of divine teaching. Then with the + higher and enduring blessings which our faith bestows, but not till + then, we may hope that there will follow likewise in their wake + freedom and progress, and all that tends to elevate the human + race.[80] + +[Sidenote: No sacrifice for sin or redemptive grace.] +Although with the view of placing the argument on independent ground I +have refrained from touching the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, and +the inestimable benefits which flow to mankind therefrom, I may be +excused, before I conclude, if I add a word regarding them. The +followers of Mohammed have no knowledge of God as a _Father_; still less +have they knowledge of him as "_Our_ Father"--the God and Father of the +Lord Jesus Christ. They acknowledge, indeed, that Jesus was a true +prophet sent of God; but they deny his crucifixion and death, and they +know nothing of the power of his resurrection. To those who have found +redemption and peace in these the grand and distinctive truths of the +Christian faith, it may be allowed to mourn over the lands in which the +light of the Gospel has been quenched, and these blessings blotted out, +by the material forces of Islam; where, together with civilization and +liberty, Christianity has given place to gross darkness, and it is as if +now "there were no more sacrifice for sins." We may, and we do, look +forward with earnest expectation to the day when knowledge of salvation +shall be given to these nations "by the remission of their sins, through +the tender mercy of our God, whereby the Dayspring from on high hath +visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow +of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."[p] + +[Sidenote: Contrast between divine and human work.] +But even apart from these, the special blessings of Christianity, I ask, +which now of the two faiths bears, in its birth and growth, the mark of +a divine hand and which the human stamp? Which looks likest the +handiwork of the God of nature, who "hath laid the measures of the +earth," and "hath stretched the line upon it,"[q] but not the less with an +ever-varying adaptation to time and place? and which the artificial +imitation? + + [Sidenote: Islam.] + "As a reformer, Mohammed did indeed advance his people to a certain + point, but as a prophet he left them fixed immovably at that point + for all time to come. As there can be no return, so neither can + there be any progress. The tree is of artificial planting. Instead + of containing within itself the germ of growth and adaptation to + the various requirements of time, and clime, and circumstance, + expanding with the genial sunshine and the rain from heaven, it + remains the same forced and stunted thing as when first planted + twelve centuries ago."[81] + +[Sidenote: Christianity compared by Christ to the works of nature.] +Such is Islam. Now what is Christianity? Listen to the prophetic words +of the Founder himself, who compares it to the works of nature: + + "_So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the + ground;_ + + "_And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should + spring and grow up, he knoweth not how._ + + "_For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself: first the blade, + then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear._"[r] + +And again: + + "_Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God, or with what + comparison shall we compare it?_ + + "_It is like a grain of mustard-seed, which, when it is sown in the + earth, is less than all seeds that be in the earth;_ + + "_But when it is sown, it groweth up and becometh greater than all + herbs, and shooteth out great branches, so that the fowls of the + air may lodge under the shadow of it._"[s] + +[Sidenote: Islam the work of man; Christianity the work of God.] +Which is _nature_, and which is _art_, let the reader judge. Which bears +the impress of man's hand, and which that of Him who "is wonderful in +counsel, and excellent in working?" + +In fine, of the Arabian it may be said: + + "_Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further, and here shall thy + proud waves be stayed._" + +But of Christ: + + "_His name shall endure forever: his name shall be continued as + long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall + call him blessed._ + + "_He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river + unto the ends of the earth._ + + "_Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth + wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name forever: and let + the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen._"[t] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[e] 1 Cor. vii, 21. + +[f] Gal. iii, 26, 28. + +[g] 1 Cor. vii, 22. + +[h] Philemon 16. + +[i] Matt. xix, 4. + +[j] 1 Cor. vii, 3. + +[k] 1 Thess. iv, 4. + +[l] 1 Tim. v, 2. + +[m] 1 Tim. ii, 9. + +[n] 1 Pet. iii, 7. + +[o] Luke ii, 10. + +[p] Luke i, 77-79. + +[q] Job xxxviii, 5. + +[r] Mark iv, 26-28. + +[s] Mark iv, 30-32. + +[t] Psa. lxxii, 17, 8, 18, 19. + + + THE END. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Barth. + +[2] Bergaigne, in his able treatise, _La Religion Védique_, +insists earnestly on what he calls the "liturgical contamination of the +myths." See vol. iii, p. 320. + +[3] R.V., ix, 42, 4. + +[4] R.V., ix, 97, 24. + +[5] The religion of the Indo-European race, while still united, +"recognized a supreme God; an organizing God; almighty, omniscient, +moral.... This conception was a heritage of the past.... The supreme God +was originally the God of heaven." So Darmesteter, _Contemporary +Review_, October, 1879. Roth had previously written with much learning +and acuteness to the same effect. + +[6] Muir's _Sanskrit Texts_, v, 412. + +[7] R.V., iii, 62, 10. + +[8] The rites, says Haug, "must have existed from times +immemorial."--_Aitareya Brâhmana_, pp. 7, 9. + +[9] Weber, _History of Indian Literature_, p. 38. + +[10] Max Müller, _Ancient Sanskrit Literature_, p. 389. + +[11] "The haughty Indra takes precedence of all gods." R.V., 1, +55. + +[12] "These two personages [Indra and Varuna] sum up the two +conceptions of divinity, between which the religious consciousness of +the Vedic Aryans seems to oscillate."--Bergaigne, _La Religion Védique_, +vol. iii, p. 149. + +[13] The meaning of the term is not quite certain. _Sessions_, +or _Instructions_, may perhaps be the rendering. So Monier Williams. + +[14] For example, Wordsworth: + + "Thou, Thou alone + Art everlasting, and the blessed Spirits + Which Thou includest, as the sea her waves." + --_Excursion_, book iv. + +[15] Or, the thing that really is--the [Greek: ontôs on]. + +[16] _Ekamadvitiyam._ + +[17] This illustration is in the mouth of every Hindu disputant +at the present day. + +[18] Barth, p. 75. + +[19] _Ekamadvitiyam._ + +[20] + Volui tibi suaviloquenti + Carmine Pierio rationem exponere nostram + Et quasi Musĉo dulci contingere melle. + +[21] Dr. J. Muir, in _North British Review_, No. xlix, p. 224. + +[22] _Miscellaneous Writings_ (Macmillan, 1861), vol. i, p. +77. + +[23] But the truth is that every man is accounted a good Hindu +who keeps the rules of caste and pays due respect to the Brahmans. What +he believes, or disbelieves, is of little or no consequence. + +[24] Yaska, probably in the fifth century B.C. + +[25] Weber thinks that Christian elements may have been +introduced, in course of time, into the representation. + +[26] His Ramayana was written in Hindi verse in the sixteenth +century. + +[27] When Jhansi was captured in the times of the great mutiny +English officers were disgusted to see the walls of the queen's palace +covered with what they described as "grossly obscene" pictures. There is +little or no doubt that these were simply representations of the acts of +Krishna. Therefore to the Hindu queen they were religious pictures. When +questioned about such things the Brahmans reply that deeds which would +be wicked in men were quite right in Krishna, who, being God, could do +whatever he pleased. + +[28] Born probably in 1649. + +[29] Raja Narayan Basu (Bose), in enumerating the sacred books +of Hinduism, excluded the philosophical systems and included the +Tantras. He was and, we believe, is a leading man in the Adi Brahma +Somaj. + +[30] Barth, as above, p. 202. + +[31] So writes Vans Kennedy, a good authority. The rites, +however, vary with varying places. + +[32] _Asiatic Researches_, v, p. 356. + +[33] Cicero. + +[34] We learned from his own lips that among the books which +most deeply impressed him were the Bible and the writings of Dr. +Chalmers. + +[35] See _Life of Mohammed_, p. 138. Smith & Elder. + +[36] _Life of Mohammed_, p. 172, where the results are +compared. + +[37] _Life of Mohammed_, p. 341; Sura ii, 257; xxix, 46. + +[38] The only exceptions were the Jews of Kheibar and the +Christians of Najran, who were permitted to continue in the profession +of their faith. They were, however, forced by Omar to quit the +peninsula, which thenceforward remained exclusively Mohammedan. + +"Islam" is a synonym for the Mussulman faith. Its original meaning is +"surrender" of one's self to God. + +[39] _Apology of Al Kindy, the Christian_, p. 18. Smith & +Elder, 1882. This remarkable apologist will be noticed further below. + +[40] Principal Fairbairn: "The Primitive Polity of Islam," +_Contemporary Review_, December, 1882, pp. 866, 867. + +[41] Herr von Kremer, _Culturgeschichte des Orients_, unter den +Chalifen, vol. i, p. 383. + +[42] _Annals of the Early Caliphate_, p. 9. Smith & Elder, +1883. + +[43] Gibbon's _Decline and Fall_, chapter li, and _Annals of +the Early Caliphate_, p. 184. + +[44] _Ibid._; and Sura xliv, v. 25. _We_--that is, the Lord. + +[45] _Annals of the Early Caliphate_, p. 46. + +[46] See, for example, Sura lxxviii: "Verily for the pious +there is a blissful abode: gardens and vineyards; and damsels with +swelling bosoms, of a fitting age; and a full cup. Lovely large-eyed +girls, like pearls hidden in their shells, a reward for that which the +faithful shall have wrought. Verily We have created them of a rare +creation, virgins, young and fascinating.... Modest damsels averting +their eyes, whom no man shall have known before, nor any Jinn," etc. + +The reader will not fail to be struck by the materialistic character of +Mohammed's paradise. + +[47] See Sura _Jehad_; also _Annals of the Early Caliphate_, p. +167, _et. seq._ + +[48] _Annals of the Early Caliphate_, p. 105, _et. seq._ + +[49] See _Annals_, etc., p. 253. + +[50] Sura ix, v. 30. + +[51] So Jews and Christians as possessing the Bible are named +in the Koran. + +[52] See _Annals_, etc., p. 213. + +[53] _The Apology of Al Kindy_, written at the court of Al +Mamun A.H. 215 (A.D. 830), with an essay on its age and authorship, p. +12. Smith & Elder, 1882. + +[54] _Ibid._, p. 34. + +[55] _Apology_, p. 47, _et. seq._ + +[56] Alluding to the "_Ansar_," or mortal "Helpers" of Mohammed +at Medina. Throughout, the apologist, it will be observed, is drawing a +contrast with the means used for the spread of Islam. + +[57] _Apology_, p. 16. + +[58] _Apology_, p. 57. + +[59] I am not here comparing the value of these observances +with those of other religions. I am inquiring only how far the +obligations of Islam may be held to involve hardship or sacrifice such +as might have retarded the progress of Islam by rendering it on its +first introduction unpopular. + +[60] See Sura ii, v. 88. + +[61] Sura iv, 18. "Exchange" is the word used in the Koran. + +[62] Each of his widows had 100,000 golden pieces left her. +_Life of Mohammed_, p. 171. + +[63] "These divorced wives were irrespective of his concubines +or slave-girls, upon the number and variety of whom there was no limit +or check whatever."--_Annals_, p. 418. + +[64] Lane adds: "There are many men in this country who, in the +course of ten years, have married as many as twenty, thirty, or more +wives; and women not far advanced in age have been wives to a dozen or +more husbands successively." Note that all this is entirely within the +religious sanction. + +[65] _Pilgrimage to Mecca_, by her highness the reigning Begum +of Bhopal, translated by Mrs. W. Osborne (1870), pp. 82, 88. Slave-girls +cannot be _married_ until freed by their masters. What her highness +tells of women _divorcing_ their husbands is of course entirely _ultra +vires_, and shows how the laxity of conjugal relations allowed to the +male sex has extended itself to the female also, and that in a city +where, if anywhere, we should have expected to find the law observed. + +[66] In India, for example, there are Mohammedan races among +whom monogamy, as a rule, prevails by custom, and individuals exercising +their right of polygamy are looked upon with disfavor. On the other +hand, we meet occasionally with men who aver that rather against their +will (as they will sometimes rather amusingly say) they have been forced +by custom or family influence to add by polygamy to their domestic +burdens. In Mohammedan countries, however, when we hear of a man +confining himself to _one wife_, it does not necessarily follow that he +has no slaves to consort with in his harem. I may remark that +slave-girls have by Mohammedan laws no conjugal rights whatever, but are +like playthings, at the absolute discretion of their master. + +[67] The case of the Corinthian offender is much in point, as +showing how the strict discipline of the Church must have availed to +make Christianity unpopular with the mere worldling. + +[68] [Sidenote: Laxity among nominal Christians.] +_Apology_, p. 51. I repeat, that in the remarks I have made under this +head, no comparison is sought to be drawn betwixt the morality of +nominally Christian and Moslem peoples. On this subject I may be allowed +to quote from what I have said elsewhere: "The Moslem advocate will urge +... the social evil as the necessary result of inexorable monogamy. The +Koran not only denounces any illicit laxity between the sexes in the +severest terms, but exposes the transgressor to condign punishment. For +this reason, and because the conditions of what is licit are so +accommodating and wide, a certain negative virtue (it can hardly be +called continence or chastity) pervades Mohammedan society, in contrast +with which the gross and systematic immorality in certain parts of every +European community may be regarded by the Christian with shame and +confusion. In a purely Mohammedan land, however low may be the general +level of moral feeling, the still lower depths of fallen humanity are +unknown. The 'social evil' and intemperance, prevalent in Christian +lands, are the strongest weapons in the armory of Islam. We point, and +justly, to the higher morality and civilization of those who do observe +the precepts of the Gospel, to the stricter unity and virtue which +cement the family, and to the elevation of the sex; but in vain, while +the example of our great cities, and too often of our representatives +abroad, belies the argument. And yet the argument is sound. For, in +proportion as Christianity exercises her legitimate influence, vice and +intemperance will wane and vanish, and the higher morality pervade the +whole body; whereas in Islam the deteriorating influences of polygamy, +divorce, and concubinage have been stereotyped for all time."--_The +Koran: its Composition and Teaching, and the Testimony it bears to the +Holy Scriptures_, p. 60. + +[69] [Sidenote: Alleged progress of Islam in Africa.] +Much loose assertion has been made regarding the progress of Islam in +Africa; but I have found no proof of it apart from armed, political, or +trading influence, dogged too often by the slave-trade; to a great +extent a social rather than a religious movement, and raising the fetich +tribes (haply without intemperance) into a somewhat higher stage of +semi-barbarism. I have met nothing which would touch the argument in the +text. The following is the testimony of Dr. Koelle, the best possible +witness on the subject: + +"It is true the Mohammedan nations in the interior of Africa, namely, +the Bornuese, Mandengas, Pulas, etc., invited by the weak and +defenseless condition of the surrounding negro tribes, still +occasionally make conquests, and after subduing a tribe of pagans, by +almost exterminating its male population and committing the most +horrible atrocities, impose upon those that remain the creed of Islam; +but keeping in view the whole of the Mohammedan world this fitful +activity reminds one only of these green branches sometimes seen on +trees, already, and for long, decayed at the core from age."--_Food for +Reflection_, p. 37. + +[70] _Apology_, p. 34. + +[71] _Annals_, pp. 61, 224. + +[72] Sura iv, v. 33. + +[73] _Life of Mohammed_, p. 348. + +[74] _The City of God_, p, 91. Hodder & Stoughton, 1883. + +[75] _The Turks in India_, by H.G. Keene, C.S.I. Allen & Co., +1879. + +[76] _Annals_, etc., p. 457. + +[77] See Sura xxxiv, v. 32. The excepted relations are: +"Husbands, fathers, husbands' fathers, sons, husbands' sons, brothers, +brothers' sons, sisters' sons, the captives which their right hands +possess, such men as attend them and have no need of women, or children +below the age of puberty." + +[78] John xviii, 36, 37. + +[79] Dr. Fairbairn, _Contemporary Review_, p. 865. + +[80] _The Early Caliphate and Rise of Islam_, being the Rede +Lecture for 1881, delivered before the University of Cambridge, p. 28. + +[81] _The Koran_, etc., p. 65. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: The following section was originally at the +beginning of the text. + + +The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle. + +STUDIES FOR 1891-92. + + +Leading Facts of American History. Montgomery, $1 00 + +Social Institutions of the United States. Bryce, 1 00 + +Initial Studies in American Letters. Beers, 1 00 + +Story of the Constitution of the United States. Thorpe, 60 + +Classic German Course in English. Wilkinson, 1 00 + +Two Old Faiths. Mitchell and Muir, 40 + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Two Old Faiths +by J. Murray Mitchell and William Muir + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO OLD FAITHS *** + +***** This file should be named 16996-8.txt or 16996-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/9/9/16996/ + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Stacy Brown Thellend +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Murray Mitchell, M.A., LL.D. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + visibility: hidden; + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .3em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1.5em; + float: right; clear: both; margin-top: .6em; + font-size: 80%; border: 0;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .right {text-align: right;} + .left {text-align: left;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: 0;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right; text-decoration: none;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i19 {display: block; margin-left: 19em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i8 {display: block; margin-left: 8em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Two Old Faiths, by J. Murray Mitchell and William Muir + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Two Old Faiths + Essays on the Religions of the Hindus and the Mohammedans + +Author: J. Murray Mitchell and William Muir + +Release Date: November 4, 2005 [EBook #16996] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO OLD FAITHS *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Stacy Brown Thellend +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> +<h1 style="padding-top: 3em;"><a name="TWO_OLD_FAITHS" id="TWO_OLD_FAITHS"></a>TWO OLD FAITHS</h1> + +<h2>ESSAYS ON THE RELIGIONS OF THE HINDUS<br /> +AND THE MOHAMMEDANS</h2> + +<h5>BY</h5> + +<h3>J. MURRAY MITCHELL, M.A., LL.D.</h3> + +<h5>AND</h5> + +<h3>SIR WILLIAM MUIR, LL.D., D.C.L.</h3> + +<div style="margin-top: 4em; margin-bottom: 4em;"> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +</div> + +<h4 style="letter-spacing: 0.4em; margin-bottom: 0.25em;">NEW YORK<br /> +CHAUTAUQUA PRESS</h4> +<h5 style="margin-top: 0.25em;">C. L. S. C. Department, 150 Fifth Avenue<br /> +1891</h5> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> +<div class="blockquot" style="padding-top: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 1.5em;"> +<p>The required books of the C. L. S. C. are recommended by a Council of +Six. It must, however, be understood that recommendation does not +involve an approval by the Council, or by any member of it, of +every principle or doctrine contained in the book recommended.</p> + +<p>These essays have been selected from the admirable series of +<i>Present Day Tracts</i>, published by the Religious Tract Society, +London, and are reprinted with permission.</p></div> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<p style="padding-top: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 1em;" class="center"><b>THE HINDU RELIGION.</b></p> + +<div class="center"><b> +<a href="#THE_HINDU_RELIGION"><span class="smcap">Outline of the Essay</span></a><br /> +<a href="#INTROH"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></a><br /> +<a href="#I_H"><span class="smcap">The Vedas</span></a><br /> +<a href="#II_H"><span class="smcap">Philosophy, and Ritualism</span></a><br /> +<a href="#III_H"><span class="smcap">Reconstruction—Modern Hinduism</span></a><br /> +<a href="#IV_H"><span class="smcap">Contrast with Christianity</span></a><br /> +<a href="#V_H"><span class="smcap">Hinduism in Contact with Christianity</span></a><br /></b> +</div> + +<p style="padding-top: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 1em;" class="center"><b>THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM.</b></p> + +<div class="center"><b> +<a href="#THE_RISE_AND_DECLINE_OF_ISLAM"><span class="smcap">Outline of the Essay</span></a><br /> +<a href="#INTROI"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></a><br /> +<a href="#I_I"><span class="smcap">The Rapid Spread of Islam</span></a><br /> +<a href="#II_I"><span class="smcap">Why the Spread of Islam was Stayed</span></a><br /> +<a href="#III_I"><span class="smcap">Low Position of Islam in the Scale of Civilization</span></a><br /> +</b> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p> +<h1 style="padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 2em;"><a name="THE_HINDU_RELIGION" id="THE_HINDU_RELIGION"></a>THE HINDU RELIGION.</h1> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="OUTLINE_OF_THE_ESSAY" id="OUTLINE_OF_THE_ESSAY"></a>OUTLINE OF THE ESSAY.</h2> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> place of Hinduism—which is professed by about a hundred and ninety +millions in India—among the religions of the world, and its great +antiquity, are pointed out.</p> + +<p>The comparative simplicity of the system contained in the Vedas, the +oldest sacred books of the Hindus, its almost entire freedom from the +use of images, its gradual deterioration in the later hymns, its gradual +multiplication of gods, the advance of sacerdotalism, and the increasing +complexity of its religious rites are set forth.</p> + +<p>The philosophical speculation that was carried on, the different +philosophical schools, the Buddhist reaction, its conflict with +Brahmanism, its final defeat, and its influence on the victorious system +are discussed.</p> + +<p>The religious reconstruction represented by the Puranas, their +theological character, the modern <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>ritual, the introduction and rise of +caste, and the treatment of women are then considered.</p> + +<p>A contrast is drawn between the leading characteristics of Hinduism and +those of Christianity, and the effect of Christian ideas on modern +Hinduism is exhibited. The history of the Brahmo Somaj under Keshub +Chunder Sen is given at some length.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="INTROH" id="INTROH"></a>THE HINDU RELIGION.</h2> + +<h3 style="font-weight: normal;">INTRODUCTION.</h3> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> system of religious belief which is generally called Hinduism is, on +many accounts, <span class="sidenote">Hinduism deserving of study.</span>eminently deserving of study. If we desire to trace the +history of the ancient religions of the widely extended Aryan or +Indo-European race, to which we ourselves belong, we shall find in the +earlier writings of the Hindus an exhibition of it decidedly more +archaic even than that which is presented in the Homeric poems. Then, +the growth—the historical development—of Hinduism is not less worthy +of attention than its earlier phases. It has endured for upward of three +thousand years, no <span class="sidenote">Its antiquity.</span>doubt undergoing very important changes, yet in many +things retaining its original spirit. The progress of the system has not +been lawless; and it is exceedingly instructive to note the development, +and, if possible, explain it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>We are, then, to endeavor to study Hinduism chronologically. Unless he +does so almost every man who tries to comprehend it is, at first, +overwhelmed with a feeling of utter confusion and bewilderment. Hinduism +spreads out before him as a vast river, or even what seems at first</p> + +<table class="center" summary=""> +<tr><td> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i8">"a dark<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Illimitable ocean, without bound,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Without dimension, where length, breadth, and height,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And time, and place are lost."<br /></span> +</div></div></td></tr> +</table> + +<p>But matters begin to clear up when he begins at <span class="sidenote">The discussion chronological.</span>the beginning, and notes +how one thing succeeded another. It may not be possible as yet to trace +all the windings of the stream or to show at what precise points in its +long course it was joined by such and such a tributary; yet much is +known regarding the mighty river which every intelligent man will find +it profitable to note and understand.</p> + +<p>The Christian ought not to rest satisfied with the vague general idea <span class="sidenote">The Christian's duty in relation to the subject.</span> +that Hinduism is a form of heathenism with which he has nothing to do, +save to help in destroying it. Let him try to realize the ideas of the +Hindu regarding God, and the soul, and sin, and salvation, and heaven, +and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>hell, and the many sore trials of this mortal life. He will then +certainly have a much more vivid perception of the divine origin and +transcendent importance of his own religion. Farther, he will then +extend a helping hand to his Eastern brother with far more of +sensibility and tenderness; and in proportion to the measure of his +loving sympathy will doubtless be the measure of his success. A yearning +heart will accomplish more than the most cogent argument.</p> + +<p>In this Tract we confine ourselves to the laying down of great leading +facts and principles; <span class="sidenote">The purpose of the Tract.</span>but these will be dwelt upon at sufficient length +to give the reader, we trust, an accurate conception of the general +character and history of Hinduism. We shall also briefly contrast the +system with Christianity.</p> + +<p>The history of Hinduism may be divided into three great periods, each +embracing, in round numbers, about a thousand years.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="I_H" id="I_H"></a>I.</h2> + +<h3 style="font-weight: normal;">THE VEDAS.</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">Regarding</span> the earliest form of Hinduism we must <span class="sidenote">The most ancient writings of India.</span>draw our conceptions +from the Veda, or, to speak more accurately, the four Vedas. The most +important of these is the Rig Veda; and internal evidence proves it to +be the most ancient. It contains above a thousand hymns; the earliest of +which may date from about the year 1500 B. C. The Hindus, or, as they +call themselves, the Aryas, had by that time entered India, and were +dwelling in the north-western portion, the Panjab. The hymns, we may +say, are racy of the soil. There is no reference to the life led by the +people before they crossed the Himalaya Mountains or entered by some of +the passes of Afghanistan.</p> + +<p>It would be very interesting if we could discover the pre-Vedic form of +the religion. Inferentially this may, to some extent, be done by +comparing the teachings of the Vedas with those contained in the books +of other branches of the great Aryan family—<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>such as the Greeks, the +Romans, and, above all, the Iranians (ancient Persians).</p> + +<p>The ancient Hindus were a highly gifted, energetic race; civilized to a +considerable extent; not nomadic; chiefly shepherds and herdsmen, but +also acquainted with agriculture. Commerce was not unknown; the river +Indus formed a highway to the Indian Ocean, and at least the Phenicians +availed themselves of it from perhaps the seventeenth century B. C., or +even earlier.</p> + +<p>As soon as we begin to study the hymns of the Veda we are struck by +their strongly religious <span class="sidenote">The hymns are strongly religious.</span>character. Tacitly assuming that the book +contains the whole of the early literature of India, many writers have +expressed themselves in strong terms regarding the primitive Hindus as +religious above all other races. But as we <span class="sidenote">They are a selection.</span>read on we become convinced +that these poems are a selection, rather than a collection, of the +literature; and the conviction grows that the selection has been made by +priestly hands for priestly purposes. An acute critic has affirmed <span class="sidenote">Pre-eminently sacerdotal.</span>that +the Vedic poems are "pre-eminently sacerdotal, and in no sense +popular."<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">1</a> We can thus <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>explain a pervading characteristic of the book +which has taken most readers by surprise. There is a want of simplicity +in the Veda. It is often most elaborate, artificial, overrefined—one +might even say, affected. How could these be the thoughts, or those the +expressions, of the imperfectly civilized shepherds of the Panjab? But +if it be only a hymn-book, with its materials arranged for liturgical +purposes, the difficulty vanishes.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">2</a> We shall accordingly take it for +granted <span class="sidenote">Present the religious thought of the ancient Hindus.</span>that the Veda presents only the religious thought of the ancient +Hindus—and not the whole of the religious thought, but only that of a +very influential portion of the race. With all the qualifications now +stated, the Veda must retain a position of high importance for all who +study Indian thought and life. The religious stamp which the compilers +of the Veda impressed so widely and so deeply has not been obliterated +in the course of thirty centuries.</p> + +<p><span class="sidenote left">Their religion is Nature-worship.</span> +The prevailing aspect of the religion presented in the Vedic hymns may +be broadly designated as Nature-worship.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +All physical phenomena in India are invested with a grandeur which they +do not possess in <span class="sidenote">Physical phenomena in India.</span>northern or even southern Europe. Sunlight, moonlight, +starlight, the clouds purpled with the beam of morning or flaming in the +west like fiery chariots of heaven; to behold these things in their full +magnificence one ought to see them in the East. Even so the sterner +phenomena of nature—whirlwind and tempest, lightning and thunder, flood +and storm-wave, plague, pestilence, and famine; all of these oftentimes +assume in the East a character of awful majesty before which man cowers +in helplessness <span class="sidenote">Their effect on the religion.</span>and despair. The conceptions and feelings hence arising +have from the beginning powerfully affected the religion of the Hindus. +Every-where we can trace the impress of the grander manifestations of +nature—the impress of their beneficence, their beauty, their might, +their mystery, or their terribleness.</p> + +<p>The Sanskrit word for god is <i>deva</i>, which means <i>bright, shining</i>. Of +physical phenomena <span class="sidenote">The deities are "the bright ones," according to the language +of the sacred books of India.</span>it was especially those connected with light that +enkindled feelings of reverence. The black thunder-cloud that enshrouded +nature, in which the demon had bound the life-giving <span class='pagenum'> +<a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>waters, passed +away; for the glittering thunder-bolt was launched, and the streams +rushed down, exulting in their freedom; and then the heaven shone out +again, pure and peaceful as before. But such a wonder as the dawn—with +far-streaming radiance, returning from the land of mystery, fresh in +eternal youth, and scattering the terrors of the night before her—who +could sufficiently admire? And let it be remembered that in the Hindu +mind the interval between admiration and adoration is exceedingly small. +Yet, while it is the dawn which has evoked the truest poetry, she has +not retained the highest place in worship.</p> + +<p>No divinity has fuller worship paid him than Agni, <span class="sidenote">Fire much worshiped.</span>the Fire (<i>Ignis</i>). +More hymns are dedicated to him than to any other being. Astonishment at +the properties of fire; a sense of his condescension in that he, a +mighty god, resides in their dwellings; his importance as the messenger +between heaven and earth, bearing the offerings aloft; his kindness at +night in repelling the darkness and the demons which it hides—all these +things raised Agni to an exalted place. He is fed with pure clarified +butter, and so rises heavenward in his brightness. The physical +conception of fire, however, adheres to him, and he never quite ceases +to be the earthly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>flame; yet mystical conceptions thickly gather round +this root-idea; he is fire pervading all nature; and he often becomes +supreme, a god of gods.</p> + +<p>All this seems natural enough; but one is hardly prepared for the high +exaltation to which <span class="sidenote">Soma highly exalted.</span>Soma is raised. Soma is properly the juice of a +milky plant (<i>asclepias acida</i>, or <i>sarcostemma viminale</i>), which, when +fermented, is intoxicating. The simple-minded Aryas were both astonished +and delighted at its effects; they liked it themselves; and they knew +nothing more precious to present to their gods. Accordingly, all of +these rejoice in it. Indra in particular quaffs it "like a thirsty +stag;" and under its exhilarating effects he strides victoriously to +battle. Soma itself becomes a god, and a very mighty one; he is even the +creator and father of the gods;<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">3</a> the king of gods <span class="sidenote">Soma becomes a very mighty god.</span> +and men;<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">4</a> all +creatures are in his hand. It is surely extraordinary that the Aryas +could apply such hyperbolical laudations to the liquor which they had +made to trickle into the vat, and which they knew to be the juice of a +plant they had cut down on the mountains and pounded in a mortar; and +that intoxication should be confounded with inspiration. Yet <span class='pagenum'> +<a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>of such +aberrations we know the human mind is perfectly capable.</p> + +<p>We have first referred to Agni and Soma, as being the only divinities of +highest rank which still retain <span class="sidenote">Connection with Persian, Greek, and Roman systems.</span>their physical character. The worship +paid to them was of great antiquity; for it is also prescribed in the +Persian Avesta, and must have been common to the Indo-Iranian branch of +the Aryan race before the Hindus entered India. But we can inferentially +go still further back and speak of a deity common to the Greeks, Romans, <span class="sidenote">Varuna, the god of heaven.</span> +Persians, and Hindus. This deity is Varuna, the most remarkable +personality in the Veda. The name, which is etymologically connected +with Ουρανος, signifies "the encompasser," and is applied to +heaven—especially the all-encompassing, extreme vault of heaven—not +the nearer sky, which is the region of cloud and storm. It is in +describing <span class="sidenote">The sublimity of the Vedic description of him.</span>Varuna that the Veda rises to the greatest sublimity which it +ever reaches. A mysterious presence, a mysterious power, a mysterious +knowledge amounting almost to omniscience, are ascribed to Varuna. The +winkings of men's eyes are numbered by him. He upholds order, both +physical and moral, throughout the universe.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +The winds are his breath, the sun his eye, the sky his garment. He +rewards the good and punishes the wicked. Yet to the truly penitent he +is merciful. It is absolutely confounding to pass from a <span class="sidenote">Contrast with the laudations of Agni and Soma.</span> +hymn that +celebrates the serene majesty and awful purity of Varuna to one filled +with measureless laudations of Soma or Agni. Could conceptions of <span class="sidenote">The loftier conceptions of divinity the earlier.</span> +divinity so incongruous co-exist? That they could not spring up in the +same mind, or even in the same age, is abundantly manifest. And, as we +have mentioned, the loftier conceptions of divinity are unquestionably +the earlier. It is vain to speak, as certain writers do, of religion +gradually refining itself, as a muddy stream can run itself pure; +Hinduism resembles the Ganges, which, when it breaks forth from its +mountain cradle at Hardwar, is comparatively pellucid, but, as it rolls +on, becomes more and more muddy, discolored, and unclean.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">5</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +Various scholars affirm that Varuna, in more ancient pre-Vedic times, +held a position still higher than the very high one which he still +retains. This is probable; indeed, it is certain that, before later +divinities had intruded, he held a place of unrivaled majesty. <span class="sidenote">Indra.</span>But, in +the Vedas, Indra is a more conspicuous figure. He corresponds to the +Jupiter Pluvius of the Romans. In north-western India, after the burning +heat, the annual return of the <span class="sidenote">His achievements.</span>rains was hailed with unspeakable joy; it +was like life succeeding death. The clouds that floated up from the +ocean were at first thin and light; ah! a hostile demon was in them, +carrying off the healing waters and not permitting them to fall; but the +thunder-bolt of Indra flashed; the demon was driven away howling, and +the emancipated streams refreshed the thirsty earth. Varuna was not +indeed dethroned, but he was obscured, by the achievements of the +warlike Indra; and the supersensuous, moral conceptions that were +connected with the former gradually faded from the minds of the people, +and Varuna erelong became quite a subordinate figure in the Pantheon.</p> + +<p><span class="sidenote">Number and relations of deities uncertain.</span> +The deities are generally said in the Veda to be "thrice eleven" in +number. We also hear of three thousand three hundred and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>thirty-nine. +There is no <i>system</i>, no fixed order in the hierarchy; a deity who in +one hymn is quite subordinate becomes in another supreme; almost every +god becomes supreme in turn; in one hymn he is the son of some deity and +in another that deity's father, and so (if logic ruled) his own +grandfather. Every poet exalts his favorite god, till the mind becomes +utterly bewildered in tracing the relationships.</p> + +<p>We have already spoken of Agni, Varuna, and Indra, as well as Soma. Next +to these in importance may come the deities of light, namely, the sun, +the dawn, and the two Asvina or beams that accompany the dawn. The winds +come next. The earth is a goddess. The waters are goddesses. It is +remarkable that the stars are very little mentioned; and the moon holds +no distinguished place.</p> + +<p>In the religion of the Rig Veda we hardly see fetichism—if by fetichism +we mean the <span class="sidenote">Hardly any fetichism in the Rig Veda.</span>worship of small physical objects, such as stones, shells, +plants, etc., which are believed to be charged (so to speak) with +divinity, though this appears in the fourth Veda—the Atharva. But even +in the Rig Veda almost any object that is grand, beneficent, or terrible +may be adored; and implements associated with worship are themselves +worshiped.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> Thus, the war-chariot, the plow, the furrow, etc., are +prayed to.</p> + +<p>A pantheistic conception of nature was also present in the Indian mind +<span class="sidenote">Early tendency toward pantheism.</span> +from very early times, although its development was later. Even in the +earliest hymns any portion of nature with which man is brought into +close relation may be adored.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">6</a></p> + +<p>We must on no account overlook the reverence <span class="sidenote">Reverence of the dead.</span>paid to the dead. The +<i>pitris</i> (<i>patres</i>) or fathers are frequently referred to in the Veda. +They are clearly distinguished from the <i>devas</i> or gods. In later +writings they are also distinguished from men, as having been created +separately from them; but this idea does not appear in the Veda. Yama, +the first mortal, traveled the road by which none returns, and now +drinks the Soma in the innermost of heaven, surrounded by the other +fathers. These come also, along with the gods, to the banquets prepared +for them on earth, and, sitting on the sacred grass, rejoice in the +exhilarating draught.</p> + +<p><span class="sidenote">The subjects of the hymns of the Rig Veda.</span> +The hymns of the Rig Veda celebrate the power, exploits, or generosity +of the deity invoked, and sometimes his personal beauty. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>The praises +lavished on the god not only secured his favor but increased his power +to help the worshiper.</p> + +<p>There is one prayer (so called) which is esteemed pre-eminently holy; +generally called—from <span class="sidenote">The holiest prayer.</span>the meter in which it is composed—the +Gayatri.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">7</a> It may be rendered thus:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Let us meditate on that excellent glory of the Divine Son (or +Vivifier); may he enlighten our understandings!"</p></div> + +<p>It has always been frequently repeated in important rites.</p> + +<p>So far we have referred almost exclusively to the Rig Veda. The next in +importance is the <span class="sidenote">Atharva Veda.</span>Atharva, sometimes termed the Brahma Veda; which we +may render the Veda of incantations. It contains six hundred and seventy +<span class="sidenote">Inferior morally and spiritually to the Rig Veda.</span> +hymns. Of these a few are equal to those in the Rig Veda; but, as a +whole, the Atharva is far inferior to the other in a moral and spiritual +point of view. It abounds in imprecations, charms for the destruction of +enemies, and so forth. Talismans, plants, or gems are invoked, as +possessed of irresistible might to kill or heal. The deities are often +different from those of the Rig Veda. The Atharva <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>manifests a great +dread of malignant beings, whose <span class="sidenote">Explanation of deterioration.</span>wrath it deprecates. We have thus +simple demon-worship. How is this great falling-off to be explained? In +one of two ways. Either a considerable time intervened between the +composition of the two books, during which the original faith had +rapidly degenerated, probably through contact with aboriginal races who +worshiped dark and sanguinary deities; or else there had existed from +the beginning two forms of the religion—the higher of which is embodied +in the hymns of the Rig Veda, and the lower in the Atharva. We believe +the latter explanation to be correct, although doubtless the +superstitions of the aborigines must all along have exerted an influence +on the faith of the invaders.</p> + +<p>The offerings presented to the gods consisted chiefly <span class="sidenote">The offerings.</span>of clarified +butter, curdled milk, rice-cakes, and fermented Soma juice, which was +generally mixed with water or milk. All was thrown into the fire, which +bore them or their essences to the gods. The Soma was also sprinkled on +the sacred grass, which was strewn on the floor, and on which the gods +and fathers were invited to come and seat themselves that they might +enjoy the cheering beverage. The remainder was drunk by the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>officiating +priests. The offerings were understood to nourish and gratify the gods +as corporeal beings.</p> + +<p>Animal victims are also offered up. We hear of sheep, goats, bulls, +cows, and buffaloes <span class="sidenote">Animal victims.</span>being sacrificed, and sometimes in large numbers. +But the great offering was the Asvamedha, or sacrifice of the horse. The +body of the horse was hacked to pieces; the fragments were dressed—part +was boiled, part roasted; some of the flesh was then eaten by the +persons present, and the rest was offered to the gods. Tremendous was +the potency—at least as stated in later times—of a hundred such +sacrifices; it rendered the offerer equal or superior to the gods; even +the mighty Indra trembled for his sovereignty and strove to hinder the +consummation of the awful rite.</p> + +<p><span class="sidenote">Human sacrifice.</span> +Human sacrifice was not unknown, though there are very few allusions to +it in the earlier hymns.</p> + +<p>Even from the first, however, the rite of sacrifice occupies a very high +place, and allusions <span class="sidenote">Sacrifice deemed of very high importance.</span> +to it are exceedingly frequent. The observances +connected with it are said to be the "first religious rites." Sacrifice +was early believed to be expiatory; it removed sin. It was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>substitutionary; the victim stood in place of the offerer. All order in +the universe depends upon it; it is "the nave of the world-wheel." +Sometimes Vishnu is said to be the sacrifice; sometimes even the Supreme +Being himself is so. Elaborated ideas and a complex ritual, which we +could have expected to grow up only in the course of ages, appear from +very early times. We seem compelled to draw the inference that sacrifice +formed an essential and very important part of the pre-Vedic faith.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">8</a></p> + +<p>In the Veda worship is a kind of barter. In exchange for praises and +offerings the deity is asked to bestow favors. Temporal blessings are +implored, such as food, wealth, life, children, cows, horses, success in +battle, the destruction of enemies, and so forth. Not much is said +regarding sin and the need of forgiveness. A distinguished scholar<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">9</a> +has said that "the religious notion of sin is wanting altogether;" but +this affirmation is decidedly too sweeping.</p> + +<p><span class="sidenote">No image-worship.</span> +The worship exemplified in the Veda is not image-worship. Images of the +fire, or the winds, or the waters could hardly be required, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>and while +the original nature-worship lasted, idols must have been nearly unknown. +Yet the description of various deities is so precise and full that it +seems to be probably drawn from visible <span class="sidenote">No public worship.</span>representations of them. Worship +was personal and domestic, not in any way public. Indeed, two men +praying at the same time had to pray quite apart, so that neither might +disturb the other. Each dealt with heaven, so to speak, solely on his +own behalf.</p> + +<p><span class="sidenote">No temples.</span>We hear of no places set apart as temples in Vedic times.</p> + +<p>A Veda consists of two parts called <i>Mantra</i> or <i>Sanhita</i>, and +<i>Brahmana</i>. The first is composed of hymns. The second is a statement of +<span class="sidenote">The treatises on ritual.</span> +ritual, and is generally in prose. The existing Brahmanas are several +centuries later than the great body of the hymns, and were probably +composed when the Hindus had crossed the Indus, and were advancing along +the Gangetic valley. The oldest may be about the date of 800 or 700 B. C.</p> + +<p>The Brahmanas are very poor, both in thought and expression. They have +hardly their match in any literature for "pedantry and downright +absurdity."<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">10</a> Poetical feeling and even religious feeling seem <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>gone; +all is dead and dry as dust. By this time the Sanskrit language had +ceased to be generally understood. The original texts could hardly +receive accessions; the most learned man could do little more than +interpret, or perhaps misinterpret, them. The worshiper looked on; he +worshiped now by proxy. Thus the priest had risen greatly in importance. +He alone knew the sacred <span class="sidenote">Growth of priestly power.</span>verses and the sacred rites. +An error in the +pronunciation of the mystic text might bring destruction on the +worshiper; what could he do but lean upon the priest? The latter could +say the prayers if he could not pray. All this worked powerfully for the +elevation of the Brahmans, the "men of prayer;" they steadily grew into +a class, a caste; and into this no one could enter who was not of +priestly <span class="sidenote">Schools for the study of sacred books, rites, and +traditions.</span>descent. Schools were now found necessary for the study of the +sacred books, rites, and traditions. The importance which these attach +to theology—doctrine—is very small; the externals of religion are all +in all. The rites, in fact, now threw the very gods into the shade; +every thing depended on their due performance. And thus the Hindu ritual +gradually grew up into a stupendous system, the most elaborate, complex, +and burdensome which the earth has seen.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>It is time, however, to give a brief estimate of the moral character of +the Veda. The first <span class="sidenote">Moral character of the Veda.</span>thing that strikes us is its inconsistency. Some +hymns—especially those addressed to Varuna—rise as high as Gentile +conceptions regarding deity ever rose; others—even in the Rig +Veda—sink miserably low; and in the Atharva we find, "even in the +lowest depth, a lower still."</p> + +<p>The character of Indra—who has displaced or overshadowed +Varuna<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">11</a> +—has no high attributes. <span class="sidenote">Indra supersedes Varuna.</span>He is "voracious;" his "inebriety is +most intense;" he "dances with delight in battle." His worshipers supply +him abundantly with the drink he loves; and he supports them against +their foes, ninety and more of whose cities he has destroyed. We do not +know that these foes, the Dasyus, were morally worse than the intrusive +Aryas, but the feelings of the latter toward the former were of +unexampled ferocity. Here is one passage out of multitudes similar:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Hurl thy hottest thunder-bolt upon them! Uproot them! Cleave them +asunder! O, Indra, overpower, subdue, slay the demon! Pluck him up! +Cut him through the middle! Crush his head!"</p></div> + +<p>Indra, if provided with Soma, is always indulgent <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>to his votaries; he +supports them <i>per fas et nefas</i>. <span class="sidenote">Deterioration begins early.</span>Varuna, on the other hand, is grave, +just, and to wicked men severe.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">12</a> The supersession of Varuna by Indra, +then, is easily understood. We see the principle on which it rests +stated in the Old Testament. "Ye cannot serve the Lord," said Joshua to +the elders of Israel; "for he is a holy God." Even so Jeremiah points +sorrowfully to the fact that the pagan nations clung to their false +gods, while Israel was faithless to the true. As St. Paul expresses it, +"they did not like to retain God in their knowledge." Unless this +principle is fully taken into account we cannot understand the +historical development of Hinduism.</p> + +<p><span class="sidenote">Varuna the only divinity +possessed of pure and elevated attributes.</span>The Veda frequently ascribes to the gods, to use the language of Max +Müller, "sentiments and passions unworthy of deity." In truth, except in +the case of Varuna, there is not one divinity that is possessed of pure +and elevated attributes.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="II_H" id="II_H"></a>II.</h2> + +<h3 style="font-weight: normal;">PHILOSOPHY, AND RITUALISM.</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">During</span> the Vedic period—certainly toward its conclusion—a tendency to +speculation had <span class="sidenote">Speculation begins.</span>begun to appear. Probably it had all along existed in +the Hindu mind, but had remained latent during the stirring period when +the people were engaged in incessant wars. Climate, also, must have +affected the temperament of the race; and, as the Hindus steadily +pressed down the valley of the Ganges into warmer regions, their love of +repose and contemplative quietism would continually deepen. And when the +Brahmans became a fully developed hierarchy, lavishly endowed, with no +employment except the performance of religious ceremonies, their minds +could avoid stagnation only by having recourse to speculative thought. +Again, asceticism <span class="sidenote">Rise of asceticism.</span>has a deep root in human nature; earnest souls, +conscious of their own weakness, will fly from the temptations of the +world. Various causes thus led numbers of men to seek a life of +seclusion; they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>dwelt chiefly in forests, and there they revolved the +everlasting problems of existence, creation, the soul, and God. The +lively Greeks, for whom, with all their high intellectual endowments, a +happy sensuous existence was nearly all in all, were amazed at the +numbers in northern India who appeared weary of the world and +indifferent to life itself. By and for these recluses were gradually +composed the Aranyakas, or forest treatises; and out of these grew a +series of <span class="sidenote">Upanishads.</span>more regular works, called Upanishads.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">13</a> At least two +hundred and fifty of these are known to exist. They have been called +"guesses at truth;" they are more so than formal solutions of great +questions. Many of them are unintelligible rhapsodies; others rise +almost to sublimity. They frequently contradict each other; the same +writer sometimes contradicts himself. One prevailing characteristic is +all-important; their doctrine is pantheism. The pantheism <span class="sidenote">They are pantheistic.</span>is sometimes +not so much a coldly reasoned system as an aspiration, a yearning, a +deep-felt need of something better than the mob of gods who came in the +train of Indra, and the darker deities who were still crowding in. Even +in spite of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>the counteracting power of the Gospel mysticism has run +easily into pantheism in Europe, and orthodox Christians sometimes slide +unconsciously into it, or at least into its language.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">14</a> But, as has +been already noted, a strain of pantheism existed in the Hindu mind from +early times.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, these hermit sages, these mystic dreamers, soon came to +identify the human soul with God. And the chief end of man was to seek +that the stream derived from God should return to its source, and, +ceasing to wander through the wilderness of this world, should find +repose in the bosom of the illimitable deep, the One, the All. The +Brahmans attached the Upanishads to the Veda proper, and they soon came +to be regarded as its most sacred part. In this way the influence these +treatises have exercised has been immense; more than any other portion +of the earlier Hindu writings they have molded the thoughts of +succeeding generations. Philosophy had thus begun.</p> + +<p>The speculations of which we see the commencement <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>and progress in the +Upanishads were finally developed <span class="sidenote">Six philosophic schools.</span>and classified in a series of writings +called the six Sastras or <i>darsanas</i>. These constitute the regular +official philosophy of India. They are without much difficulty reducible +to three leading schools of thought—the Nyaya, the Sankhya, and the +Vedanta.</p> + +<p>Roundly, and speaking generally, we may characterize these systems as +theistic, atheistic, and pantheistic respectively.</p> + +<p>It is doubtful, however, whether the earlier form <span class="sidenote">The Nyaya.</span>of the Nyaya was +theistic or not. The later form is so, but it says nothing of the moral +attributes of God, nor of his government. The chief end of man, +according to the Nyaya, is deliverance from pain; and this is to be +attained by cessation from all action, whether good or bad.</p> + +<p>The Sankhya declares matter to be self-existent <span class="sidenote">The Sankhya.</span>and eternal. Soul is +distinct from matter, and also eternal. When it attains true knowledge +it is liberated from matter and from pain. The Sankhya holds the +existence of God to be without proof.</p> + +<p>But the leading philosophy of India is unquestionably the Vedanta. The +name means "the end or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>scope of the Veda;" and if the Upanishads were +the Veda, instead of treatises tacked on to <span class="sidenote">The Vedanta.</span>it, the name would be +correct; for the Vedanta, like the Upanishads, inculcates pantheism.</p> + +<p>The form which this philosophy ultimately assumed is well represented in +the treatise called the Vedanta Sara, or essence of the Vedanta. A few +extracts will suffice to exhibit its character. "The unity of the soul +and God—this is the scope of all Vedanta treatises." We have frequent +references made to the "great saying," <i>Tat twam</i>—that is, That art +thou, or Thou art God; and <i>Aham Brahma</i>, that is, I am God. Again it is +said, "The whole universe is God." God is "existence (or more exactly an +existent thing<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">15</a>), knowledge, and joy." Knowledge, not a knower; joy, +not one who rejoices.</p> + +<p>Every thing else has only a seeming existence, which is in consequence +of ignorance (or <span class="sidenote">It teaches absolute idealism.</span>illusion). Ignorance makes the soul think itself +different from God; and it also "projects" the appearance of an external +world.</p> + +<p>"He who knows God becomes God." "When He, the first and last, is +discerned, one's own acts are annihilated."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>Meditation, without distinction of subject and object, is the highest +form of thought. It is a high attainment to say, "I am God;" but the +consummation is when thought exists without an object.</p> + +<p>There are four states of the soul—waking, dreaming, dreamless sleep, +and the "fourth state," or pure intelligence. The working-man is in +dense ignorance; in sleep he is freed from part of this ignorance; in +dreamless sleep he is freed from still more; but the consummation is +when he attains something beyond this, which it seems cannot be +explained, and is therefore called the fourth state.</p> + +<p>The name, which in later writings is most frequently <span class="sidenote">Doctrine of "the Self."</span>given to the "one +without a second,"<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">16</a> is Atman, which properly means self. Much is said +of the way in which the self in each man is to recover, or discover, its +unity with the supreme or real self. For as the one sun shining in the +heavens is reflected, often in distorted images, in multitudes of +vessels filled with water, so the one self is present in all human +minds.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">17</a> There is not—perhaps there could not be—consistency in the +statements <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>of the relation of the seeming to the real. In most of the +older books a practical or conventional <span class="sidenote">Inconsistent statements.</span>existence is admitted of the +self in each man, but not a real existence. But when the conception is +fully formulated the finite world is not admitted to exist save as a +mere illusion. All phenomena are a play—a play without plot or purpose, +which the absolute plays with itself.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">18</a> This is surely transcendent +transcendentalism. One regrets that speculation did not take one step +more, and declare that the illusion was itself illusory. Then we should +have gone round the circle, and returned to <i>sensus communis</i>. We must +be pardoned if we seem to speak disrespectfully of such fantastic +speculations; we desire rather to speak regretfully of the many +generations of men which successively occupied themselves with such +unprofitable dreams; for this kind of thought is traceable even from +Vedic days. It is more fully developed in the Upanishads. In them occurs +the classical sentence so frequently quoted in later literature, which +declares that the absolute being is the "one [thing] without a +second."<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">19</a></p> + +<p>The book which perhaps above all others has molded the mind of India in +more recent days is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>the Bhagavad Gita, or +Song of the Holy One. It <span class="sidenote">The Gita.</span>is +written in stately and harmonious verse, and has achieved the same task +for Indian philosophy as Lucretius did for ancient Epicureanism.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">20</a> It +is eclectic, and succeeds, in a sort of way, in forcing the leading +systems of Indian thought into seeming harmony.</p> + +<p>Some have thought they could discern in these daring speculations +indications of souls groping after God, and saddened because of the +difficulty of finding him. Were it so, all our sympathies would at once +be called forth. But no; we see in these writings <span class="sidenote">Intellectual pride.</span>far more of +intellectual pride than of spiritual sadness. Those ancient dreamers +never learned their own ignorance. They scarcely recognized the +limitations of the human mind. And when reason could take them no +farther they supplemented it by dreams and ecstasy until, in the Yoga +philosophy, they rushed into systematized mysticisms and magic far more +extravagant than the wildest <i>theurgy</i> of the degraded Neoplatonism of +the Roman Empire.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>A learned writer thus expresses himself:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The only one of the six schools that seem to recognize the +doctrine of divine providence is the Yoga. It thus seems that the +consistent followers of these systems can have, in their perfected +state, no religion, no action, and no moral character."<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">21</a></p></div> + +<p>And now to take a brief review of the whole subject. The Hindu sages +were men of acute <span class="sidenote">Indian philosophy a sad failure.</span>and patient thought; but their attempt to solve the +problem of the divine and human natures, of human destiny and duty, has +ended in total failure. Each system baseless, and all mutually +conflicting; systems cold and cheerless, that frown on love and virtuous +exertion, and speak of annihilation or its equivalent, absorption, as +our highest hope: such is the poor result of infinite speculation. "The +world by wisdom knew not God." O, that India would learn the much-needed +lesson of humility which the experience of ages ought to teach her!</p> + +<p>While speculation was thus busy Sacerdotalism was also continually +extending its influence. <span class="sidenote">Sacerdotalism.</span>The Brahman, the man of prayer, had made +himself indispensable in all sacred rites. He alone—as we have +seen—knew the holy text; he alone could rightly pronounce the words of +awful mystery and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>power on which depended all weal or woe. On all +religions occasions the priest must be called in, and, on all occasions, +implicitly obeyed. For a considerable time the princes straggled against +the encroachments of the priests; but in the end they were completely +<span class="sidenote">The tyranny of sacerdotalism.</span> +vanquished. Never was sacerdotal tyranny more absolute; the proudest +pope in mediæval times never lorded it over Western Christendom with +such unrelenting rigor as the Brahmans exercised over both princes and +people. The feeling of the priests is expressed in a well-known stanza:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"All the world is subject to the gods; the gods are subject to the +holy texts; the holy texts are subject to the Brahman; therefore +the Brahman is my god."</p></div> + +<p>Yes, the sacred man could breathe the spell which made earth and hell +and heaven itself to tremble. He therefore logically called himself an +earthly god. Indeed, the Brahman is always logical. He draws conclusions +from premises with iron rigor of reasoning; and with side-issues he has +nothing to do. He stands upon his rights. Woe to the being—god or +man—who comes in conflict with him!</p> + +<p><span class="sidenote">Ritual becomes extravagant.</span> +The priests naturally multiplied religious ceremonies, and made ritual +the soul of worship. Sacrifice especially assumed still more and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>more +exaggerated forms—becoming more protracted, more expensive, more +bloody. A hecatomb of victims was but a small offering. More and more +awful powers were ascribed to the rite.</p> + +<p>But the tension was too great, and the bow snapped. Buddhism arose. We +may call this remarkable <span class="sidenote">Reaction.</span>system the product of the age—an inevitable +rebellion against intolerable sacerdotalism; and yet we must not +overlook the importance of the very distinct and lofty personality of +Buddha (Sakya Muni) as a power molding it into shape.</p> + +<p>Wherever it extended it effected a vast revolution in Indian thought. +Thus in regard to the <span class="sidenote">Buddhism.</span>institution of caste, Buddha did not attack it; he +did not, it would appear, even formally renounce it; as a mere social +institution he seems to have acknowledged it; but then he held that all +the <i>religious</i> were freed from its restrictions. "My law," said he, "is +a law of mercy for all;" and forthwith he proceeded to admit men of +every caste into the closest fellowship with himself and his followers. +Then, he preached—he, though not a Brahman—in the vernacular +languages—an immense innovation, which made his teachings popular. He +put in the forefront of his system certain great fundamental principles +of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>morality. He made religion consist in duty, not +<span class="sidenote">Moral elements of this system.</span>rites. He reduced +duty mainly to mercy or kindness toward all living beings—a marvelous +generalization. This set aside all slaughter of animals. The mind of the +princes and people was weary of priestcraft and ritualism; and the +teaching of the great reformer was most timely. Accordingly +<span class="sidenote">Conflict with Brahmanism.</span>his doctrine +spread with great rapidity, and for a long time it seemed likely to +prevail over Brahmanism. But various causes gradually combined against +it. Partly, it was overwhelmed by its own luxuriance of growth; partly, +<span class="sidenote">Victory of Brahmanism.</span> +Brahmanism, which had all along maintained an intellectual superiority, +adopted, either from conviction or policy, most of the principles of +Buddhism, and skillfully supplied some of its main deficiencies. Thus +the Brahmans retained their position; and, at least nominally, their +religion won the day.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="III_H" id="III_H"></a>III.</h2> + +<h3 style="font-weight: normal;">RECONSTRUCTION—MODERN HINDUISM.</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">But</span> the Hinduism that grew up, as Buddhism faded from Indian soil, was +widely different <span class="sidenote">Revival, in an altered form, of Hinduism.</span>from the system with which early Buddhism had +contended. Hinduism, as it has been developed during the last thousand +or twelve hundred years, resembles a stupendous far-extended building, +or series of buildings, which is still receiving additions, while +portions have crumbled and are crumbling into ruin. Every conceivable +style of architecture, from that of the stately palace to the meanest +hut, is comprehended in it. On a portion of the structure here or there +the eye may rest with pleasure; but as a whole it is an unsightly, +almost monstrous, pile. Or, dismissing figures, we must describe it as +the most extraordinary creation which the world has seen. A jumble of +all things; polytheistic pantheism; much of Buddhism; something +apparently of Christianity, but terribly disfigured; a science wholly +outrageous; shreds of history twisted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>into wild mythology; the bold +poetry of the older books understood as literal prose; any local deity, +any demon of the aborigines, however hideous, identified with some +accredited Hindu divinity; any custom, however repugnant to common sense +or common decency, accepted and explained—in a word, later Hinduism has +been omnivorous; it has partially absorbed and assimilated every system +of belief, every form of worship, with which it has come in contact. +Only <span class="sidenote">Only the position of the Brahman and the restrictions of +caste retained.</span>to one or two things has it remained inflexibly true. It has +steadily upheld the proudest pretensions of the Brahman; and it has +never relaxed the sternest restrictions of caste. We cannot wonder at +the severe judgment pronounced on Hinduism by nearly every Western +author. According to Macaulay, "all is hideous and grotesque and +ignoble;" and the calmer De Tocqueville maintains that "Hinduism is +perhaps the only system of belief that is worse than having no religion +at all."<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">22</a></p> + +<p>When a modern Hindu is asked what are the sacred books of his religion +he generally answers: "The Vedas, the Sastras (that is, philosophical +systems), and the Puranas." Some authorities add the Tantras.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>The modern form of Hinduism is exhibited chiefly in the eighteen +Puranas, and an equal number of Upapuranas (minor Puranas).<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">23</a></p> + +<p>When we compare the religion embodied in the Puranas with that of Vedic +times we are <span class="sidenote">The Puranas.</span>startled at the magnitude of the change. The Pantheon is +largely new; old deities have been superseded; other deities have taken +their place. There has been both accretion from without and evolution +from within. The thirty-three gods of the Vedas have been fantastically +raised to three hundred and thirty millions. Siva, Durga, Rama, Krishna, +Kali—unknown in ancient days—are now mighty divinities; Indra is +almost entirely overlooked, and Varuna has been degraded from his lofty +throne and turned into a regent of the waters.</p> + +<p>The worship of the Linga (phallus) has been introduced. So has the great +dogma of Transmigration, <span class="sidenote">New deities, rites, and customs.</span>which has stamped a deeper impress on later +Hindu mind than almost any other doctrine. Caste is fully established, +though in Vedic days scarcely, if at all, recognized. The dreadful +practice <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>of widow-burning has been brought in, and this by a most +daring perversion of the Vedic texts. Woman, in fact, has fallen far +below the position assigned her in early days.</p> + +<p>One of the notable things in connection with the <span class="sidenote">The Trimurtti, a triad of gods.</span>reconstruction of +Hinduism is the position it gives to the Trimurtti, or triad of +gods—Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. Something like an anticipation of this +has been presented in the later Vedic times: fire, air, and the sun +(Agni, Vayu, and Surya) being regarded by the commentator<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">24</a> as summing +up the divine energies. But in the Vedas the deities often go in pairs; +and little stress should be laid on the idea of a Vedic triad. That +idea, however, came prominently forward in later days. The worship both +of Vishnu and Siva may have existed, from ancient times, as popular +rites not acknowledged by the Brahmans; but both of these deities were +now fully recognized. The god Brahma was an invention of the Brahmans; +he was no real divinity of the people, and had hardly ever been actually +worshiped. It is visual to designate Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva as +Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer respectively; but the generalization +is by no means well maintained in the Hindu books.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>The Puranas are in general violently sectarian; some being Vishnuite, +others Sivite. It is in connection with Vishnu, especially, that the +idea of incarnation becomes prominent. The Hindu term is <i>Avatara</i>, +literally, <i>descent</i>; the deity <span class="sidenote">The Avatara.</span>is represented as descending from heaven +to earth, for vindication of the truth and righteousness, or, to use the +words ascribed to Krishna,</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>For the preservation of the good, and the destruction of the +wicked, For the establishment of religion, I am born from age to +age.</p></div> + +<p>The "descents" of Vishnu are usually reckoned ten. Of these by far the +most celebrated <span class="sidenote">The "descents" of Vishnu.</span>are those of Rama and Krishna. The great importance +attached to these two deities has been traced to the influence of +Buddhism. That system had exerted immense power in consequence of the +gentle and attractive character ascribed to Buddha. The older gods were +dim, distant, and often stern; some near, intelligible, and loving +divinity was longed for. Buddha was a brother-man, and yet a +quasi-deity; and hearts longing for sympathy and succor were strongly +attracted by such a personality.</p> + +<p>The character of Rama—or Ramachandra—is possessed of some high +qualities. The great poem in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>which it is described at fullest +length—the Ramayana of Valmiki—seems <span class="sidenote">The god Rama.</span>to have been an alteration, made +in the interests of Hinduism, of early Buddhist legends; and the +Buddhist quality of gentleness has not disappeared in the history.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">25</a> +Rama, however, is far from a perfect character. His wife Sita is +possessed of much womanly grace and every wifely virtue; and the +sorrowful story of the warrior-god and his faithful spouse has appealed +to deep sympathies in the human breast. The worship of Rama has seldom, +if ever, degenerated into lasciviousness. In spite, however, of the +charm thrown around the life of Rama and Sita by the genius of Valmiki +and Tulsida,<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">26</a> it is Krishna, not Rama, that has attained the greatest +popularity among the "descents" of Vishnu.</p> + +<p>Very different morally from that of Rama is the <span class="sidenote">Krishna.</span>character of Krishna. +While Rama is but a partial manifestation of divinity Krishna is a full +manifestation; yet what a manifestation! He is represented as full of +naughty tricks in his youth, although exercising the highest powers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>of +deity; and, when he grows up, his conduct is grossly immoral and +disgusting. It is most startling to think that this being is by grave +writers—like the authors of the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata +Purana—made the highest of the gods, or, indeed, the only real God. +Stranger still, if possible, is the probability that the early life of +Krishna—in <span class="sidenote">His early life a travesty of the life of Christ, according to +the Gospel of the Infancy.</span>part, at least—is a dreadful travesty of the early life of +Christ, as given in the apocryphal gospels, especially the Gospel of the +Infancy. The falling off in the apocryphal gospels, when compared with +the canonical, is truly sad; but the falling off even from the +apocryphal ones, in the Hindu books, is altogether sickening.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">27</a></p> + +<p>A very striking characteristic of modern Hinduism is what is termed +<i>bhakti</i>, or devotion. There are three great ways of attaining to +salvation: <i>karma marga</i>, or the way of ceremonial works; <i>jnana +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>marga</i>, or the way of knowledge, and <i>bhakti marga</i>, or the way of +devotion.</p> + +<p>The notion of trust in the gods was familiar to the <span class="sidenote">Doctrine of <i>bhakti</i> introduced.</span>mind of India from +Vedic days, but the deity was indistinct and unsympathetic, and there +could hardly be love and attachment to him. But there now arose the +doctrine of <i>bhakti</i> (devotion), which resolved religion into emotion. +It came into the Hindu system rather abruptly; and many learned men have +traced its origin to the influence of Christianity. This is quite +possible; but perhaps the fact is hardly proved. Contact with +Christianity, however, probably accelerated a process <span class="sidenote">Influence of the system.</span>which had +previously begun. At all events, the system of <i>bhakti</i> has had, and +still has, great sway in India, particularly in Bengal, among the +followers of Chaitanya, and the large body of people in western India +who style themselves <i>Vaishnavas</i> or <i>Bhaktas</i> (devotees). The popular +poetry of Maharashtra, as exemplified in such poets as Tukarama, is an +impassioned inculcation of devotion to Vithoba of Pandharpur, who is a +manifestation <span class="sidenote">Mixed with Buddhist elements.</span>of Krishna. Into the <i>bhakti</i> system of western India +Buddhist elements have entered; and the school of devotees is often +denominated <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>Bauddha-Vaishnava. Along with extravagant idolatry it +inculcates generally, at least in the Maratha country, a pure morality; +and the latter it apparently owes to Buddhism. Yet there are many sad +lapses from purity. Almost of necessity the worship of Krishna led to +corruption. The hymns became erotic; and movements hopeful at their +commencement—like that of Chaitanya of Bengal, in the sixteenth +century—soon grievously fell off in character. The attempt to make +religion consist of emotion without thought, of <i>bhakti</i> without +<i>jnana</i>, had disastrous issues. Coincident with the development of +<i>bhakti</i> <span class="sidenote">Exaltation of the <i>guru</i>.</span>was the exaltation of the <i>guru</i>, or religious teacher, which +soon amounted to deification—a change traceable from about the twelfth +century A. D.</p> + +<p>When pressed on the subject of Krishna's evil deeds many are anxious to +explain them <span class="sidenote">Explanations of Krishna's evil deeds.</span>as allegorical representations of the union between the +divinity and true worshipers; but some interpret them in the most +literal way possible. This is done especially by the followers of +Vallabha Acharya.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">28</a> These men attained a most unenviable notoriety +about twenty years ago, when a case was tried <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>in the Supreme Court of +Bombay, which revealed the practice of the most shameful licentiousness +by the religious teachers and their female followers, and this as a part +of worship! The disgust excited was so great and general that it was +believed the influence of the sect was at an end; but this hope +unhappily has not been realized.</p> + +<p>Reformers have arisen from time to time in India; <span class="sidenote">Reforms attempted.</span>men who saw the +deplorable corruption of religion, and strove to restore it to what they +considered purity. Next to Buddha we <span class="sidenote">Kabir.</span>may mention Kabir, to whom are +ascribed many verses still popular. Probably the doctrine of the unity +of God, as maintained by the Mohammedans, had impressed him. He opposed +idolatry, caste, and Brahmanical assumption. Yet his monotheism was a +kind of pantheism. His date may be the beginning of the fifteenth +century. <span class="sidenote">Nanak.</span>Nanak followed and founded the religion of the Sikhs. His +sacred book, the <i>Granth</i>, is mainly pantheistic; it dwells earnestly on +devotion, especially devotion to the <i>guru</i>. The Sikhs now seem slowly +relapsing into idolatry. In truth, the history of all attempts at +reformation in India has been most discouraging. Sect after sect <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>has +successively risen to some elevation above the prevalent idolatry; and +then gradually, as by some irresistible gravitation, it has sunk back +into the <i>mare magnum</i> of Hinduism. If we regard experience, +purification from within is hopeless; the <span class="sidenote">Failure of all reforms.</span>struggle for it is only a +repetition of the toil of Sisyphus, and always with the same sad issue. +Deliverance must come from without—from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.</p> + +<p>We mentioned the Tantras as exerting great influence in later days.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">29</a> +In these the worship of <span class="sidenote">Influence of the Tantras.</span>Siva, and, still more, that of his wife, is +predominant. The deity is now supposed to possess a double nature—one +quiescent, one active; the latter being regarded as the <i>Sakti</i> or +energy of the god, otherwise called his wife. The origin of the system +is not fully explained; nor is the date of its rise ascertained. The +worship <span class="sidenote">Worship of the Sakti.</span>assumes wild, extravagant forms, generally obscene, sometimes +bloody. It is divided into two schools—that of the right hand and that +of the left. The former runs into mysticism and magic in complicated +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>observances, and the latter into the most appalling licentiousness. The +worship of the Sakti, or female principle, has become a most elaborate +system. The beings adored are "the most outrageous divinities which man +has ever conceived."<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">30</a> Sorcery began early in India; but it is in +connection with this system that it attains to full development. Human +sacrifices are a normal part of the worship when fully performed. We +cannot go farther into detail. It is profoundly saddening to think that +such abominations are committed; it is still more saddening to think +that they are performed as a part of divine worship. Conscience, +however, is so far alive that these detestable rites are practiced only +in secret, and few, if any, are willing to confess that they have been +initiated as worshipers.</p> + +<p>We have not yet said much about the ritual of <span class="sidenote">Modern ritual.</span>modern days. It is +exceedingly complicated. In the case of the god Siva the rites are as +follows, when performed by a priest in the temple:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>The Brahman first bathes, then enters the temple and bows to the +god. <span class="sidenote">Worship of Siva.</span>He anoints the image with clarified butter or boiled oil; +pours pure water over it; and then wipes it dry. He grinds some +white powder, mixing it with water; dips <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>the ends of his three +forefingers in it and draws them across the image. He sits down; +meditates; places rice and <i>durwa</i> grass on the image—places a +flower on his own head, and then on the top of the image; then +another flower on the image, and another, and another—accompanying +each act with the recitation of sacred spells; places white powder, +flowers, bilva-leaves, incense, meat-offerings, rice, plantains, +and a lamp before the image; repeats the name of Siva, with +praises, then prostrates himself before the image. In the evening +he returns, washes his feet, prostrates himself before the door, +opens the door, places a lamp within, offers milk, sweet-meats, and +fruits to the image, prostrates himself before it, locks the door, +and departs.</p></div> + +<p>Very similar is the worship paid to Vishnu:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>The priest bathes, and then awakes the sleeping god by blowing a +shell and ringing a bell. More abundant offerings <span class="sidenote">Worship of Vishnu.</span>are made than to +Siva. About noon, fruits, roots, soaked peas, sweet-meats, etc., +are presented. Then, later, boiled rice, fried herbs, and spices; +but no flesh, fish, nor fowl. After dinner, betel-nut. The god is +then left to sleep, and the temple is shut up for some hours. +Toward evening curds, butter, sweet-meats, fruits, are presented. +At sunset a lamp is brought, and fresh offerings made. Lights are +waved before the image; a small bell is rung; water is presented +for washing the mouth, face, and feet, with a towel to dry them. In +a few minutes the offerings and the lamp are removed; and the god +is left to sleep in the dark.</p></div> + +<p>The prescribed worship is not always fully performed. Still, sixteen +things are essential, of which the following are the most important:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Preparing a seat for the god; invoking his presence; bathing the +image; clothing it; putting the string round it; offering perfumes; +flowers; incense; lamps; offerings of fruits and prepared eatables; +betel-nut; prayers; circumambulation. An ordinary worshiper +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>presents some of the offerings, mutters a short prayer or two, +when circumambulating the image, the rest being done by the +priest."<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">31</a></p></div> + +<p>We give one additional specimen of the ritual:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"As an atonement for unwarily eating or drinking what is forbidden +eight hundred repetitions of the Gayatri prayer should be preceded +by three suppressions of the breath, water being touched during the +recital of the following text: 'The bull roars; he has four horns, +three feet, two heads, seven hands, and is bound by a three-fold +cord; he is the mighty, resplendent being, and pervades mortal +men.'"<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">32</a></p></div> + +<p>The bull is understood to be justice personified. All Brahmanical +ceremonies exhibit, we may say, ritualism and symbolism run mad.</p> + +<p>The most prominent and characteristic institution of <span class="sidenote">Caste.</span>Hinduism is caste. +The power of caste is as irrational as it is unbounded; and it works +almost unmixed evil. The touch—even the shadow—of a low caste man +pollutes. The scriptural precept, "Honor all men," appears to a true +Hindu infinitely absurd. He honors and worships a cow; but he shrinks +with horror from the touch of a Mhar or Mang. Even Brahmans, if they +come from different provinces, will not eat together. Thus Hinduism +separates man from man; it goes on dividing and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>still dividing; and new +fences to guard imaginary purity are continually added.</p> + +<p>The whole treatment of women has gradually become most tyrannical and +unjust. In very <span class="sidenote">Treatment of women.</span>ancient days they were held in considerable respect; +but, for ages past, the idea of woman has been steadily sinking lower +and lower, and her rights have been more and more assailed. The burning +of widows has been prohibited by enactment; but the awful rite would in +many places be restored were it not for the strong hand of the British +government. The practice of marrying women in childhood is still +generally—all but universally—prevalent; and when, owing to the zeal +of reformers, a case of widow-marriage occurs, its rarity makes it be +hailed as a signal triumph. Multitudes of the so-called widows were +never really wives, their husbands (so-called) having died in childhood. +Widows are subjected <span class="sidenote">Widows.</span>to treatment which they deem worse than death; and +yet their number, it is calculated, amounts to about twenty-one +millions! More cruel and demoralizing customs than exist in India in +regard to women can hardly be found among the lowest barbarians. We are +glad to escape from dwelling on points so exceedingly painful.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="IV_H" id="IV_H"></a>IV.</h2> + +<h3 style="font-weight: normal;">CONTRAST WITH CHRISTIANITY.</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> immense difference between the Hindu and Christian religions has +doubtless already frequently suggested itself to the reader. It will not +be necessary, therefore, to dwell on this topic at very great length. +The contrast forces itself upon us at every point.</p> + +<p>When, about fifteen centuries B. C., the Aryas <span class="sidenote">The Aryas and Israelites—their probable future, about 1500 +B. C.</span>were victoriously +occupying the Panjab, and the Israelites were escaping from the "iron +furnace" of Egypt, if one had been asked which of the two races would +probably rise to the highest conception of the divine, and contribute +most largely to the well-being of mankind, the answer, quite possibly, +might have been, the Aryas. Egypt, with its brutish idolatries, had +corrupted the faith of the Israelites, and slavery had crushed all +manliness <span class="sidenote">Contrast of their after-history.</span>out of them. Yet how wonderful has been their after-history! +Among ancient religions that of the Old Testament stands absolutely +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>unique, and in the fullness of time it blossomed into Christianity. How +is the marvel to be explained? We cannot account for it except by +ascribing it to a divine election of the Israelites and a providential +training intended to fit them to become the teachers of the world. +"Salvation is of the Jews."</p> + +<p>The contrast between the teachings of the Bible and those of the Hindu +books is simply infinite.</p> + +<p>The conception of a purely immaterial Being, infinite, eternal, and +unchangeable, which is <span class="sidenote">Hindu theology compared with Christian.</span>that of the Bible regarding God, is entirely +foreign to the Hindu books. Their doctrine is various, but, in every +case, erroneous. It is absolute pantheism, or polytheism, or an +inconsistent blending of polytheism and pantheism, or atheism.</p> + +<p>Equally striking is the contrast between Christianity and Hinduism as to +the attributes of God. According to the former, he is omnipresent; +omnipotent; possessed of every excellence—holiness, justice, goodness, +truth. According to the chief Hindu philosophy, the Supreme is devoid of +attributes—devoid of consciousness. According to the popular +conception, when the Supreme becomes conscious he is developed into +three gods, who possess respectively the qualities of truth, passion, +and darkness.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>"God is a Spirit." "God is light." "God is <span class="sidenote">Conception of God.</span>love." These sublime +declarations have no counterparts in Hindustan.</p> + +<p>He is "the Father of spirits," according to the Bible. According to +Hinduism, the individual spirit is a portion of the divine. Even the +common people firmly believe this.</p> + +<p>Every thing is referred by Hinduism to God as its immediate cause. A +Christian is continually shocked by the Hindus ascribing all sin to God +as its source.</p> + +<p>The adoration of God as a Being possessed of every <span class="sidenote">The object of worship.</span>glorious excellence +is earnestly commanded in the Bible. "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy +God; and him only shalt thou serve." In India the Supreme is never +worshiped; but any one of the multitudinous gods may be so; and, in +fact, every thing can be worshiped <i>except</i> God. A maxim in the mouth of +every Hindu is the following: "Where there is faith, there is God." +Believe the stone a god and it is so.</p> + +<p>Every sin being traced to God as its ultimate <span class="sidenote">The sense of sin.</span>source, the sense of +personal guilt is very slight among Hindus. Where it exists it is +generally connected with ceremonial defilement or the breach of some one +of the innumerable and meaningless<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> rites of the religion. How unlike in +all this is the Gospel! The Bible dwells with all possible earnestness +on the evil of sin, not of ceremonial but moral defilement—the +transgression of the divine law, the eternal law of right.</p> + +<p>How important a place in the Christian system is held by atonement, the +great atonement <span class="sidenote">Atonement.</span>made by Christ, it is unnecessary to say. Nor need we +enlarge on the extraordinary power it exercises over the human heart, at +once filling it with contrition, hatred of sin, and overflowing joy. We +turn to Hinduism. Alas! we find that the earnest questionings and higher +views of the ancient thinkers have in a great degree been ignored in +later times. Sacrifice in its original form has passed away. Atonement +is often spoken of; but it is only some paltry device or other, such as +eating the five products of the cow, going on pilgrimage to some sacred +shrine, paying money to the priests, or, it may be, some form of bodily +penance. Such expedients leave no impression on the heart as to the true +nature and essential evil of sin.</p> + +<p>Salvation, in the Christian system, denotes <span class="sidenote">Salvation.</span>deliverance, not only from +the punishment of sin, but from its power, implying a renovation of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>moral nature. The entire man is to be rectified in +<span class="sidenote">Sanctification.</span>heart, speech, and +behavior. The perfection of the individual, and, through that, the +perfection of society, are the objects aimed at; and the consummation +desired is the doing of the will of God on earth as it is done in +heaven. Now, of all this, surely a magnificent ideal, we find in +Hinduism no trace whatever.</p> + +<p>Christianity is emphatically a religion of hope; Hinduism <span class="sidenote">Views of life.</span>may be +designated a religion of despair. The trials of life are many and great. +Christianity bids us regard them as discipline from a Father's hand, and +tells us that affliction rightly borne yields "the peaceable fruits of +righteousness." To death the Christian looks forward without fear; to +him it is a quiet sleep, and the resurrection draws nigh. Then comes the +beatific vision of God. Glorified in soul and body, the companion of +angels and saints, strong in immortal youth, he will serve without let +or hinderance the God and Saviour whom he loves. To the Hindu the trials +of life are penal, not remedial. At death his soul passes into another +body. Rightly, every human soul animates in succession eighty-four lacs +(8,400,000) of bodies—the body of a human being, or a beast, or a bird, +or a fish, or a plant, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>or a stone, according to desert. This weary, all +but endless, round of births fills the mind of a Hindu with the greatest +horror. At last the soul is lost in God as a drop mingles with the +ocean. Individual existence and consciousness then cease. The thought is +profoundly sorrowful that this is the cheerless <span class="sidenote">The great tenet of Hinduism.</span>faith of countless +multitudes. No wonder, though, the great tenet of Hinduism is +this—<i>Existence is misery.</i></p> + +<p>So much for the future of the individual. Regarding the future of the +race Hinduism <span class="sidenote">The future of the race.</span>speaks in equally cheerless terms. Its golden age lies in +the immeasurably distant past; and the further we recede from it the +deeper must we plunge into sin and wretchedness. True, ages and ages +hence the "age of truth" returns, but it returns only to pass away again +and torment us with the memory of lost purity and joy. The experience of +the universe is thus an eternal renovation of hope and disappointment. +In the struggle between <span class="sidenote">The struggle between good and evil.</span>good and evil there is no final triumph for the +good. We tread a fated, eternal round from which there is no escape; and +alike the hero fights and the martyr dies in vain.</p> + +<p>It is remarkable that acute intellectual men, as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>many of the Hindu +poets were, should never have grappled with the problem of the divine +government of the world.</p> + +<p>Equally notable is the unconcern of the Veda <span class="sidenote">The future of the Aryan race.</span>as to the welfare and the +future of even the Aryan race. But how sublime is the promise given to +Abraham that in him and his seed all nations of the earth should be +blessed! Renan has pointed with admiration to the confidence entertained +at all times by the Jew in a brilliant and happy future for mankind. The +ancient Hindu cared not about the future of his neighbors, and doubtless +even the expression "human race" would have been unintelligible to him. +Nor is there any pathos in the Veda. There is no deep sense of the +sorrows of life. Max Müller has affixed the epithet "transcendent" to +the Hindu mind. Its bent was much more toward the metaphysical, the +mystical, the incomprehensible than toward the moral and the practical. +Hence endless subtleties, more meaningless and unprofitable than ever +occupied the mind of Talmudist or schoolman of the Middle Ages.</p> + +<p>But <span class="sidenote">The words of St. Paul illustrated by Hinduism.</span>finally, +on this part of the subject, the development of Indian +religion supplies a striking comment on the words of St. Paul: +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood +from the things that are made. But when they knew God they +glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in +their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened."</p></div> + +<p>Hinduism is deplorably deficient in power to raise and purify the human +soul, from having <span class="sidenote">Moral power.</span>no high example of moral excellence. Its renowned +sages were noted for irritability and selfishness—great men at cursing; +and the gods for the most part were worse. Need we say how gloriously +rich the Gospel is in having in the character of Christ the realized +ideal of every possible excellence?</p> + +<p><i>Summa religionis est imitari quem colis</i>: "It is the sum of religion to +imitate the being <span class="sidenote">Ethical effect of Hinduism.</span>worshiped;" +<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">33</a> or, as the Hindus express it: "As is +the deity such is the devotee." Worship the God revealed in the Bible, +and you become god-like. The soul strives, with divine aid, to "purify +itself even as God is pure." But apply the principle to Hinduism. Alas! +the Pantheon is almost a pandemonium. Krishna, who in these days is the +chief deity to at least a hundred millions of people, does not possess +one elevated attribute. If, in the circumstances, society does not +become a moral pesthouse it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>is only because the people continue better +than their <span class="sidenote">The people better than their religion.</span>religion. The human heart, though fallen, is not fiendish. It +has still its purer instincts; and, when the legends about abominable +gods and goddesses are falling like mildew, these are still to some +extent kept alive by the sweet influences of earth and sky and by the +charities of family life. When the heart of woman is about to be swept +into the abyss her infant's smile restores her to her better self. Thus +family life does not go to ruin; and so long as that anchor holds +society will not drift on the rocks that stand so perilously near. +Still, the state of things is deplorably distressing.</p> + +<p>The doctrine of the incarnation is of fundamental <span class="sidenote">The doctrine of incarnation.</span>importance in +Christianity. It seems almost profanation to compare it with the Hindu +teaching regarding the Avataras, or descents of Vishnu. It is difficult +to extract any meaning out of the three first manifestations, when the +god became in succession a fish, a boar, and a tortoise. Of the great +"descents" in Rama and Krishna we have already spoken. The ninth Avatara +was that of Buddha, in which the deity descended for the purpose of +deceiving men, making them deny the gods, and leading them to +destruction. So blasphemous an idea <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>may seem hardly possible, even for +the bewildered mind of India; but this is doubtless the Brahmanical +explanation of the rise and progress of Buddhism. It was fatal error, +but inculcated by a divine being. Even the sickening tales of Krishna +and his amours are less shocking than this. When we turn from such +representations of divinity to "the Word made flesh" we seem to have +escaped from the pestilential air of a charnel-house to the sweet, pure +breath of heaven.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="V_H" id="V_H"></a>V.</h2> + +<h3 style="font-weight: normal;">HINDUISM IN CONTACT WITH CHRISTIANITY.</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> have used the word <i>reformer</i> in this Tract. <span class="sidenote">Attempted reforms.</span>We formerly noted that, +in India, there have arisen from time to time men who saw and sorrowed +over the erroneous doctrines and degrading rites of the popular system.</p> + +<p>In quite recent times they have had successors. Some account of their +work may form a fitting conclusion to our discussion.</p> + +<p>With the large influx into India of Christian ideas it was to be +expected that some impression would be made on Hinduism. We do not refer +to conversion—the full acceptance of the Christian faith. Christianity +<span class="sidenote">Advance of Christianity in India.</span> +has advanced and is advancing in India more rapidly than is generally +supposed; but far beyond the circle of those who "come out and are +separate" its mighty power is telling on Hinduism. The great fundamental +truths of the Gospel, when once uttered and understood, can hardly be +forgotten. Disliked and denied <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>they may be; but forgotten? No. Thus +they gradually win their way, and multitudes who have no thought of +becoming Christians are ready to admit that they are beautiful and true; +for belief and practice are often widely separated in Hindu minds.</p> + +<p>But it was to be expected that the new ideas pouring into India—and +among these we include not only distinctively Christian ideas, but +Western thought generally—would manifest their presence and activity in +concrete forms, in attempted reconstructions of religion. The most +remarkable example of such a reconstruction is exhibited in <span class="sidenote">The Brahma Samaj.</span>the Brahmo +Somaj (more correctly Brahma Samaj)—which may be rendered the "Church +of God."</p> + +<p>It is traceable to the efforts of a truly distinguished man, Rammohun +Roy. He was a person of <span class="sidenote">Rammohun Roy.</span>studious habits, intelligent, acute, and deeply +in earnest on the subject of religion. He studied not only Hinduism in +its various forms, but Buddhism, Mohammedanism, and Christianity. He was +naturally an eclectic, gathering truth from all quarters where he +thought he could find it. A specially deep impression was made on his +mind by Christianity; and in 1820 he published a book with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>the +remarkable title, <i>The Precepts of Jesus the Guide to Peace and +Happiness</i>. <span class="sidenote">Effect of Christianity upon him.</span>Very frequently he gave expression to the sentiment that the +teachings of Christ were the truest and deepest that he knew. Still, he +did not believe in Christ's divinity.</p> + +<p>In January, 1830, a place of worship was opened by Rammohun Roy and his +friends. It was intended for the worship of one God, without idolatrous +rites of any kind. This was undoubtedly a very important event, and +great was the interest aroused in connection with it. Rammohun Roy, +however, visited Britain in 1831, and died at Bristol in 1833; and the +cause for which he had so earnestly labored in India languished for a +time. But in the year 1841 Debendernath <span class="sidenote">Debendernath Tagore.</span>Tagore, a man of character and +wealth, joined the Brahmo Somaj, and gave a kind of constitution to it. +It was fully organized by 1844. No definite declaration, however, had +been made as to the authority of the Vedas; but, after a lengthened +period of inquiry and discussion, a majority of the Somaj rejected the +doctrine of their infallibility by 1850. "The rock of intuition" now +began to be spoken of; man's reason was his sufficient guide. Still, +great respect was cherished <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>for the ancient belief and customs of the +land. But in 1858 a new champion appeared on the scene, in the +well-known Keshub Chunder Sen. <span class="sidenote">Keshub Chunder Sen.</span>Ardent, impetuous, ambitions—full of +ideas derived from Christian sources<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">34</a>—he could not brook the slow +movements of the Somaj in the path of reform. Important changes, both +religious and social, were pressed by him; and the more conservative +Debendernath somewhat reluctantly consented to their introduction. +Matters were, however, brought to a crisis by the marriage of two +persons of different castes in 1864. In February, 1865, the progressive +party formally severed their connection with the original Somaj; and in +August, 1869, <span class="sidenote">Formation of a new Samaj.</span>they opened a new place of worship of their own. Since +this time the original or Adi Somaj has been little heard of, and its +movement—if it has moved at all—has been retrogressive. The new +Somaj—the Brahmo Somaj of India, as it called itself—under the +guidance of Mr. Sen became very active. A missionary institute was set +up, and preachers were sent over a great part of India. Much was +accomplished on behalf of women; and in 1872 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>a Marriage Act for members +of the Somaj was passed by the Indian legislature, which legalized union +between people of different castes, and fixed on fourteen as the lowest +age for the marriage of females. These were important reforms.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sen's influence was naturally and necessarily great; but in opposing +the venerable leader of the original Somaj he had set an example which +others were quite willing to copy.</p> + +<p>Several of his followers began to demand more <span class="sidenote">Discontent growing.</span>radical reforms than he +was willing to grant. The autocracy exercised by Mr. Sen was strongly +objected to, and a constitution of the Somaj was demanded. Mr. Sen +openly maintained that heaven from time to time raises up men endowed +with special powers, and commissioned to introduce new forms or +"dispensations" of religion; and his conduct fully proved that he +regarded himself as far above his followers. Complaints became louder; +and although the eloquence and genius of Keshub were able to keep the +rebellious elements from exploding it was evident, as early as 1873, +that a crisis was approaching. This came in 1878, when Mr. Sen's +daughter was married to the Maharaja of Kuch Behar. The bride was not +fourteen, and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>bridegroom was sixteen. Now, Mr. Sen had been earnest +and successful in getting the Brahmo Marriage Act passed, which ruled +that the lowest marriageable age for a woman was fourteen, and for a man +eighteen. Here was gross inconsistency. What could explain it? +"Ambition," exclaimed great numbers; "the wish to exalt himself and his +daughter by alliance with a prince." But Mr. Sen declared that he had +consented to the marriage in consequence of an express intimation that +such was the will of heaven. Mr. Sen denied miracles, but believed in +inspiration; and of his own inspiration he seems to have entertained no +doubt. We thus obtain a glimpse into the peculiar working of his mind. +Every full conviction, every strong wish of his own he ascribed to +divine suggestion. This put him in a position of extreme peril. It was +clear that an enthusiastic, imaginative, self-reliant nature like his +might thus be borne on to any extent of fanaticism.</p> + +<p>A great revolt from Mr. Sen's authority now took place, and the Sadharan +Samaj was organized <span class="sidenote">Revolt; a third Samaj.</span>in May, 1878. An appeal had been made to the members +generally, and no fewer than twenty-one provincial Samajes, with more +than <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>four hundred members, male and female, joined the new society. +This number amounted to about two thirds of the whole body. Keshub and +his friends denounced the rebels in very bitter language; and yet, in +one point of view, their secession was a relief. Men of abilities equal, +and education superior, to his own had hitherto acted as a drag on his +movements; he was now delivered from their interference and could deal +with the admiring and submissive remnant as he pleased. Ideas that had +been working in his mind now attained rapid development. Within two +<span class="sidenote">"New Dispensation."</span>years the flag of the "New Dispensation" was raised; and of that +dispensation Mr. Sen was the undoubted head. Very daring was the +language Mr. Sen used in a public lecture regarding this new creation. +He claimed equality for it with the Jewish and Christian dispensations, +and for himself "singular" authority and a divine commission.</p> + +<p><span class="sidenote">Its creed.</span>In the Creed of the New Dispensation the name of Christ does not occur. +The articles were as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><i>a.</i> One God, one Scripture, one Church. <i>b.</i> Eternal progress of +the soul. <i>c.</i> Communion of prophets and saints. <i>d.</i> Fatherhood +and motherhood of God. <i>e.</i> Brotherhood of man and sisterhood of +woman. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span><i>f.</i> Harmony of knowledge and holiness, love and work, yoga +and asceticism in their highest development. <i>g.</i> Loyalty to +sovereign.</p></div> + +<p>The omission of Christ's name is the more remarkable because Mr. Sen +spoke much of him <span class="sidenote">Omission of Christ's name.</span>in his public lectures. He had said in May, 1879, +"None but Jesus, none but Jesus, none but Jesus ever deserved this +precious diadem, India; and Jesus shall have it." But he clearly +indicated that the Christ he sought was an Indian Christ; one who was "a +Hindu in faith," and who would help the Hindus to "realize their +national idea of a yogi" (ascetic).</p> + +<p>Let it be noted that, from the beginning of his career, Mr. Sen had +spoken earnestly of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of +man—though, these great conceptions are not of Hindu origin. It is +difficult to see why, in later days, he insisted so much on the +"motherhood of God." <span class="sidenote">"Motherhood of God."</span>Perhaps it was a repetition—he probably would have +called it an exaltation—of the old Hindu idea, prevalent especially +among the worshipers of Siva, that there is a female counterpart—a +Sakti—of every divinity. Or, possibly, it may have been to conciliate +the worshipers of Durga and Kali, those great goddesses of Bengal.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +A public proclamation was soon issued, purporting <span class="sidenote">Public proclamation said to be from God.</span>to be from God +himself, as India's mother. The whole thing was very startling; many, +even of Keshub's friends, declared it blasphemous. Next, in the "Flag +Ceremony," the flag or banner of the New Dispensation received a homage +scarcely distinguishable from worship. Then—as if in strict imitation +of the ancient adoration of Agni, or Fire—a pile of wood was lighted, +clarified butter poured on it, and prayers addressed to it, ending +thus—"O, brilliant Fire! in thee we behold our resplendent Lord." This +was, at least, symbolism run wild; and every one, except those who were +prepared to follow their leader to all lengths, saw that in a land like +India, wedded to idolatry, it was fearfully perilous.</p> + +<p>In March, 1881, Mr. Sen and his friends introduced celebrations which, +to Christian minds, seemed a distressing caricature of the Christian +sacraments. Other <span class="sidenote">"Apostolic Durbar."</span>institutions followed; an Apostolic Durbar (Court of +Apostles), for instance, was established. There was no end to Mr. Sen's +inventiveness.</p> + +<p>In a public lecture delivered in January, 1883, on "Asia's message to +Europe," he elaborately expounded the idea that all the great religions +are of Asiatic <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>origin, and that all of them are true, and that the one +thing required to constitute the faith of the future—the religion of +humanity—is the blending of all these varied Oriental systems into one.</p> + +<p>It was not easy to reconcile Mr. Sen's public utterances with his +private ones—though far <span class="sidenote">Inconsistencies between Mr. Sen's public and private +utterances.</span>be it from us to tax him with insincerity. +Thus, in an interview extending over two hours, which the writer and two +missionary friends had with him a week or so before the lecture now +referred to, he said he accepted as true and vital all the leading +doctrines of the Christian faith, with the exception of the resurrection +of Christ. But another fundamental difference remained—he avowedly +dissented from the orthodox creed in rejecting the miraculous element in +Scripture. At an interview I had with him some time before he earnestly +disclaimed all intention to put Christ on a level with Buddha or +Mohammed. "I am educating my friends," he said, "to understand and +approve of Christianity; I have not yet said my last word about Christ." +It is a solemn question, Had he said it when his career was ended? If +so, it was far from a satisfactory <span class="sidenote">Mr. Sen's policy of reserve.</span>word. His policy of reserve and +adaptation had probably kept him from uttering all that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>was in his +heart; but it was a sorely mistaken policy. Had he temporized less he +would have accomplished more.</p> + +<p>Since the death of Mr. Sen there has been a violent dispute between his +family and the "Apostolic Durbar," on one side, and one of his ablest +followers, on the other; and the New Dispensation will probably split in +two, if it does not perish altogether.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, the Sadharan Samaj, which broke off <span class="sidenote">The Sadharan Samaj.</span>from Keshub's party +in 1878, has been going on with no small vigor. Vagaries, either in +doctrine or rites, have been carefully shunned; its partisans profess a +pure Theistic creed and labor diligently in the cause of social reform. +Their position is nearly that of Unitarian Christianity, and we fear +they are not at present approximating to the full belief of the Church +Catholic.</p> + +<p><span class="sidenote">Movements in western India.</span>Very similar in character to the Brahmo Somaj is the Prarthana Somaj in +western India. As far back as 1850, or a little earlier, <span class="sidenote">Tenets of the Prarthana Sabha.</span>there was +formed a society called the Prarthana Sabha (Prayer-meeting). Its +leading tenets were as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>1. I believe in one God. 2. I renounce idol-worship. 3. I will do +my best to lead a moral life. 4. If I commit any sin through the +weakness of my moral nature I will repent of it and ask the pardon +of God.</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>The society, after some time, began to languish; but in 1867 it was +revived under the name of Prarthana Somaj. Its chief branches are in +Bombay, Poona, Ahmedabad, and Surat.</p> + +<p>An interesting movement called the Arya Samaj was commenced a few years +ago by a Pandit—Dayanand <span class="sidenote">Arya Samaj.</span>Sarasvati. He received the Vedas as fully +inspired, but maintained that they taught monotheism—Agni, Indra, and +all the rest being merely different names of God. It was a desperate +effort to save the reputation of the ancient books; but, as all Sanskrit +scholars saw at a glance, the whole idea was a delusion. The Pandit is +now dead; and the Arya Samaj may not long survive him.</p> + +<p>At the time we write we hear of an attempt to defend idolatry and caste +made by men of considerable education.</p> + +<p>The so-called "Theosophists" have, for several years, been active in +India. Of existing <span class="sidenote">Theosophists.</span>religions, Buddhism is their natural ally. They are +atheists. A combination which they formed with the Arya Samaj speedily +came to an end.</p> + +<p>Lastly, the followers of Mr. Bradlaugh are diligent in supplying their +books to Indian students.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>Poor India! No wonder if her mind is bewildered as she listens to such +a Babel of voices. The state of things in India now strikingly resembles +that which existed in the Roman Empire at the rise of Christianity; when +East and West were brought into the closest contact, and a great +conflict of systems of thought took place in consequence.</p> + +<p>But even as one hostile form of gnostic belief rose after another, and +rose only to fall—and as the greatest and best-disciplined foe of early +Christianity—- the later Platonism—gave way before the steady, +irresistible march of gospel truth, so—we have every reason to hope—it +will be yet again. The Christian feels his heart swell in his breast as +he thinks what, in all human probability, India will be a century, or +even half a century, hence. O what a new life to that fairest of Eastern +lands when she casts herself in sorrow and supplication at the feet of +the living God, and then rises to proclaim to a listening world</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Her deep repentance and her new-found joy!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>May God hasten the advent of that happy day!</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> +<h1 style="padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 2em;"><a name="THE_RISE_AND_DECLINE_OF_ISLAM" id="THE_RISE_AND_DECLINE_OF_ISLAM"></a>THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM.</h1> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> +<h2>OUTLINE OF THE ESSAY.</h2> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> progress of Islam was slow until Mohammed cast aside the precepts of +toleration and adopted an aggressive, militant policy. Then it became +rapid. The motives which animated the armies of Islam were +mixed—material and spiritual. Without the truths contained in the +system success would have been impossible, but neither without the sword +would the religion have been planted in Arabia, nor beyond. The +alternatives offered to conquered peoples were Islam, the sword, or +tribute. The drawbacks and attractions of the system are examined. The +former were not such as to deter men of the world from embracing the +faith. The sexual indulgences sanctioned by it are such as to make Islam +"the Easy way."</p> + +<p>The spread of Islam was stayed whenever military success was checked. +The Faith was meant for Arabia and not for the world, hence it is +constitutionally incapable of change or development. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>degradation of +woman hinders the growth of freedom and civilization under it.</p> + +<p>Christianity is contrasted in the means used for its propagation, the +methods it employed in grappling with and overcoming the evils that it +found existing in the world, in the relations it established between the +sexes, in its teaching with regard to the respective duties of the civil +and spiritual powers, and, above all, in its redeeming character, and +then the conclusion come to that Christianity is divine in its origin.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="INTROI" id="INTROI"></a>THE</h3> +<h2>RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<h3 style="font-weight: normal;">INTRODUCTION.</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">Among</span> the religions of the earth Islam must take the precedence in the +rapidity and force <span class="sidenote">Islam pre-eminent in its rapid spread.</span>with which it spread. Within a very short time from +its planting in Arabia the new faith had subdued great and populous +provinces. In half a dozen years, counting from the death of the +founder, the religion prevailed throughout Arabia, Syria, Persia, and +Egypt, and before the close of the century it ruled supreme over the +greater part of the vast populations from Gibraltar to the Oxus, from +the Black Sea to the river Indus.</p> + +<p>In comparison with this grand outburst the first efforts of Christianity +were, to the outward <span class="sidenote">Propagation far quicker than of Christianity.</span>eye, faint and feeble, and its extension so gradual +that what the Mohammedan religion achieved in ten or twenty years it +took the faith of Jesus long centuries to accomplish.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +The object of these few pages is, <i>first</i>, to inquire briefly into the +causes which led to the marvelous <span class="sidenote">Object of the Tract.</span>rapidity of the first movement of +Islam: <i>secondly</i>, to consider the reasons which eventually stayed its +advance; and, <i>lastly</i>, to ascertain why Mohammedan countries have kept +so far in the rear of other lands in respect of intellectual and social +progress. In short, the question is how it was that, Pallas-like, the +faith sprang ready-armed from the ground, conquering and to conquer, and +why, the weapons dropping from its grasp, Islam began to lose its +pristine vigor, and finally relapsed into inactivity.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="I_I" id="I_I"></a>I.</h2> + +<h3 style="font-weight: normal;">THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM.</h3> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> personal ministry of Mohammed divides itself into two distinct +periods: first, his <span class="sidenote">Two periods in the mission of Mohammed.</span>life at Mecca as a preacher and a prophet; second, +his life at Medina as a prophet and a king.</p> + +<p>It is only in the first of these periods that Islam at all runs parallel +with Christianity. The <span class="sidenote">I. Ministry at Mecca, A. D. 609-622.</span>great body of his fellow-citizens rejected the +ministry of Mohammed and bitterly opposed his claims. His efforts at +Mecca were, therefore, confined to teaching and preaching and to the +publishing of the earlier "Suras," or chapters of his "Revelation." +After some thirteen years spent thus his converts, to the number of +about a hundred and fifty men and women, were forced by the persecution +of the Coreish (the ruling tribe at Mecca, from which Mohammed was +descended) to quit their <span class="sidenote">Success at Mecca limited.</span>native city and emigrate to Medina.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">35</a> A +hundred more had previously fled from Mecca for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>the same cause, and +found refuge at the court of the Negus, or king of Abyssinia; and there +was already a small company of followers among the citizens of Medina. +At the utmost, therefore, the number of disciples gained over by the +simple resort to teaching and preaching did not, during the first twelve +years of Mohammed's ministry, exceed a few hundreds. It is true that the +soil of Mecca was stubborn and (unlike that of Judea) wholly unprepared. +The cause also, at times, became the object of sustained and violent +opposition. Even so much of success was consequently, under the peculiar +circumstances, remarkable. But it was by no means singular. The progress +fell far short of that made by Christianity during the corresponding +period of its existence,<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">36</a> and indeed by many reformers who have been +the preachers of a new faith. It gave no promise whatever of the +marvelous spectacle that was about to follow.</p> + + +<p>Having escaped from Mecca and found a new and <span class="sidenote">II. Change of policy at Medina, A. D. 622-632.</span>congenial home in Medina, +Mohammed was not long in changing his front. At Mecca, surrounded by +enemies, he taught toleration. He was simply the preacher commissioned +to deliver a message, and bidden to leave the responsibility <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>with his +Master and his hearers. He might argue with the disputants, but it must +be <span class="sidenote">Arabia converted from Medina at the point of the sword.</span>"in a way most mild and gracious;" for "in religion" (such was his +teaching before he reached Medina) "there should be neither violence nor +constraint."<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">37</a> At Medina the precepts of toleration were quickly cast +aside and his whole policy reversed. No sooner did Mohammed begin to be +recognized and obeyed as the chief of Medina than he proceeded to attack +the Jewish tribes settled in the neighborhood because they refused to +acknowledge his claims and believe in him as a prophet foretold in their +Scriptures; two of these tribes were exiled, and the third exterminated +in cold <span class="sidenote">A. D. 623.</span>blood. In the second year after the Hegira, or flight from Mecca +(the period from which the Mohammedan era dates), he began to plunder +the caravans of the Coreish, which passed near to Medina on their +mercantile journeys between Arabia and Syria. So popular did the cause +of the now militant and marauding prophet speedily become among the +citizens of Medina and the tribes around <span class="sidenote">A. D. 630.</span>that, after many battles fought +with varying success, he was able, in the eighth year of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>Hegira to +re-enter his native city at the head of ten thousand armed followers. +Thenceforward success <span class="sidenote">A. D. 632.</span>was assured. None dared to oppose his pretensions. +And before his death, in the eleventh year of the Hegira, all Arabia, +from Bab-el-Mandeb and Oman to the confines of the Syrian desert, was +forced to submit to the supreme authority of the now kingly prophet and +to recognize the faith and obligations of Islam.<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">38</a></p> + +<p>This <i>Islam</i>, so called from its demanding the entire <span class="sidenote">Religion of Mohammed described.</span>"surrender" of the +believer to the will and service of God, is based on the recognition of +Mohammed as a prophet foretold in the Jewish and Christian +Scriptures—the last and greatest of the prophets. On him descended the +Koran from time to time, an immediate revelation from the Almighty. +Idolatry and polytheism are with iconoclastic zeal denounced as sins of +the deepest dye; while the unity of the Deity is proclaimed as the grand +and cardinal doctrine of the faith. Divine <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>providence pervades the +minutest concerns of life, and predestination is taught in its most +naked form. Yet prayer is enjoined as both meritorious and effective; +and at five stated times every day must it be specially performed. The +duties generally of the moral law are enforced, though an evil laxity is +given in the matter of polygamy and divorce. Tithes are demanded as alms +for the poor. A fast during the month of Ramzan must be kept throughout +the whole of every day; and the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca—an ancient +institution, the rites of which were now divested of their heathenish +accompaniments—maintained. The existence of angels and devils is +taught, and heaven and hell are depicted in material colors—the one of +sensuous pleasure, the other of bodily torment. Finally, the +resurrection, judgment, and retribution of good and evil are set forth +in great detail. Such was the creed—"<i>There is no god but the</i> +<span class="smcap">Lord</span>, <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Mohammed</span> <i>is his prophet</i>"—to which +Arabia now became obedient.</p> + +<p>But immediately on the death of Mohammed the entire peninsula relapsed +into apostasy. <span class="sidenote">Arabia apostatizes; but is speedily reconquered and +reclaimed, A. D. 633.</span>Medina and Mecca remained faithful; but every-where else +the land seethed with rebellion. Some tribes joined the "false +prophets," of whom four had arisen in different parts <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>of Arabia; some +relapsed into their ancient heathenism; while others proposed a +compromise—they would observe the stated times of prayer, but would be +excused the tithe. Every-where was rampant anarchy. The apostate tribes +attacked Medina, but were repulsed by the brave old Caliph Abu Bekr, who +refused to abate one jot or tittle, as the successor of Mohammed, of the +obligations of Islam. Eleven columns were sent forth under as many +leaders, trained in the warlike school of Mohammed. These fought their +way, step by step, successfully; and thus, mainly through the wisdom and +firmness of Abu Bekr and the valor and genius of Khalid, "the Sword of +God," the Arab tribes, one by one, were overcome and forced back into +their allegiance and the profession of Islam. The reconquest of Arabia +and re-imposition of Mohammedanism as the national faith, which it took +a whole year to accomplish, is thus described by an Arabian author, who +wrote at the close of the second century of the Mohammedan era:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>After his decease there remained not one of the followers of the +prophet that did not apostatize, saving only a small company of his +"Companions" and kinsfolk, who hoped thus to secure the government +to themselves. Hereupon Abu Bekr displayed marvelous skill, energy, +and address, so that the power passed into his hands.... And thus +he persevered until the apostate tribes were all brought <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>back to +their allegiance, some by kindly treatment, persuasion, and craft; +some through terror and fear of the sword; and others by the +prospect of power and wealth as well as by the lusts and pleasures +of this life. And so it came to pass that all the Bedouin tribes +were in the end converted outwardly, but not from inward +conviction.<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">39</a></p></div> + +<p>The temper of the tribes thus reclaimed by force of arms was at the +first strained and sullen. <span class="sidenote">The Arabs thus reclaimed were, at the first, sullen.</span>But the scene soon changed. Suddenly the +whole peninsula was shaken, and the people, seized with a burning zeal, +issued forth to plant the new faith in other lands. It happened on this +wise:</p> + +<p>The columns sent from Medina to reduce the rebellious tribes to the +north-west on <span class="sidenote">Roused by war-cry, they issue from the peninsula, A. D. 634, +<i>et. seq.</i></span>the Gulf of Ayla, and to the north-east on the Persian +Gulf, came at once into collision with the Christian Bedouins of Syria +on the one hand and with those of Mesopotamia on the other. These again +were immediately supported by the neighboring forces <span class="sidenote">The opposing forces.</span>of the Roman and +Persian empires, whose vassals respectively they were. And so, before +many months, Abu Bekr found his generals opposed by great and imposing +armies on either side. He was, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>in fact, waging mortal combat at one and +the same moment with the Kaiser and the Chosroes, the Byzantine emperor +and the great king of Persia. The risk was imminent, and an appeal went +forth for help to meet the danger. The battle-cry resounded from one end +of Arabia to the other, and <span class="sidenote">Arab enthusiasm.</span>electrified the land. Levy after levy, <i>en +masse</i>, started up at the call from every quarter of the peninsula, and +the Bedouin tribes, as bees from their hive, streamed forth in swarms, +animated by the prospect of conquest, plunder, and captive damsels, or, +if slain in battle, by the still more coveted prize of the "martyr" in +the material paradise of Mohammed. With a military ardor and new-born +zeal in which carnal and spiritual aspirations were strangely blended, +the Arabs rushed forth to the field, like the war-horse of Job, "that +smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains and the +shouting." Sullen constraint was in a moment transformed into an +absolute devotion and fiery resolve to spread the faith. The Arab +warrior became the missionary of Islam.</p> + +<p>It was now the care of Omar, the second caliph or ruler of the new-born +empire, to establish a system <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>whereby the spirit militant, called into +existence with such force and fervor, might be rendered permanent. The +entire Arabian people was subsidized. <span class="sidenote">Arabs, a military body, subsidized and mobilized by Omar.</span>The surplus revenues which in +rapidly increasing volume began to flow from the conquered lands into +the Moslem treasuries were to the last farthing distributed among the +soldiers of Arabian descent. The whole nation was enrolled, and the name +of every warrior entered upon the roster of Islam. Forbidden to settle +anywhere, and relieved from all other work, the Arab hordes became, in +fact, a standing army threatening the world. Great bodies of armed men +were kept thus ever mobilized, separate and in readiness for new +enterprise.</p> + +<p>The change which came over the policy of the Founder of the Faith at +Medina, and <span class="sidenote">Mission of Islam described by Fairbairn.</span>paved the way for this marvelous system of world-wide rapine +and conversion to Islam, is thus described by a thoughtful and sagacious +writer:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Medina was fatal to the higher capabilities of Islam. Mohammed +became then a king; his religion was incorporated in a State that +had to struggle for its life in the fashion familiar to the +rough-handed sons of the desert. The prophet was turned into the +legislator and commander;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> his revelations were now laws, and now +military orders and manifestoes. The mission of Islam became one +that only the sword could accomplish, robbery of the infidel became +meritorious, and conquest the supreme duty it owed to the world....</p> + +<p>The religion which lived an unprospering and precarious life, so +long as it depended on the prophetic word alone, became an +aggressive and victorious power so soon as it was embodied in a +State.<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">40</a></p></div> + +<p><span class="sidenote">And by Von Kremer.</span>Another learned and impartial authority tells us:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The Mussulman power under the first four caliphs was nothing but a +grand religio-political association of Arab tribes for universal +plunder and conquest under the holy banner of Islam, and the +watch-word, "There is no god but <span class="smcap">the Lord</span>, and Mohammed is +his apostle." On pretext of spreading the only true religion the +Arabs swallowed up fair provinces lying all around, and, driving a +profitable business, enriched themselves simultaneously in a +worldly sense.<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">41</a></p></div> + +<p>The motives which nerved the armies of Islam <span class="sidenote">Religious merit of "fighting in the ways of the Lord."</span>were a strange combination +of the lower instincts of nature with the higher aspirations of the +spirit. To engage in the Holy War was the rarest and most blessed of all +religious virtues, and conferred on the combatant a special merit; and +side by side with it lay the bright prospect of spoil and female slaves, +conquest and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>glory. "Mount thy horse," said Osama ibn Zeid to Abu Bekr +as he accompanied the Syrian army a little way on its march, out of +Medina. "Nay," replied the caliph, "I will not ride, but I will walk and +soil my feet a little space in the ways of the Lord. Verily, every +footstep in the ways of the Lord is equal in merit to manifold good +works, and wipeth away a multitude of sins."<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">42</a> And of the "martyrs," +those who fell in these crusading campaigns, Mohammed thus described the +blessed state:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Think not, in any wise, of those killed in the ways of the Lord, as +if they were dead. Yea, they are alive, and are nourished with +their Lord, exulting in that which God hath given them of his +favor, and rejoicing in behalf of those who have not yet joined +them, but are following after. No terror afflicteth them, neither +are they grieved.—Sura iii.</p></div> + +<p>The material fruits of their victories raised the Arabs at once from +being the needy inhabitants <span class="sidenote">Material fruits of Moslem crusade.</span>of a stony, sterile soil, where, with +difficulty, they eked out a hardy subsistence, to be the masters of rich +and luxuriant lands flowing with milk and honey. After one of his great +victories on the plains of Chaldea, Khalid called together his troops, +flushed with conquest, and lost in wonder at the exuberance around them, +and thus <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>addressed them: "Ye see the riches of the land. Its paths drop +fatness and plenty, so that the fruits of the earth are scattered abroad +even as stones are in Arabia. If but as a provision for this present +life, it were worth our while to fight for these fair fields and banish +care and penury forever from us." Such were the aspirations dear to the +heart of every Arab warrior. Again, after the battle of Jalola, a few +years later, the treasure and spoil of the Persian monarch, captured by +the victors, was valued at thirty million of dirhems (about a million +sterling). The royal fifth (the crown share of the booty) was sent as +usual to Medina under charge of Ziad, who, in the presence of the Caliph +Omar, harangued the citizens in a glowing description of what had been +won in Persia, fertile lands, rich cities, and endless spoil, besides +captive maids and princesses.</p> + +<p>In relating the capture of Medain (the ancient Ctesiphon) tradition +revels in the untold wealth <span class="sidenote">Rich booty taken in the capital of Persia, A. D. 637.</span>which fell into the hands of Sad, the +conqueror, and his followers. Besides millions of treasure, there was +endless store of gold and silver vessels, rich vestments, and rare and +precious things. The Arabs gazed bewildered at the tiara, brocaded +vestments, jeweled armor, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>splendid surroundings of the throne. They +tell of a camel of silver, life-size, with a rider of gold, and of a +golden horse with emeralds for teeth, the neck set with rubies, the +trappings of gold. And we may read in Gibbon of the marvelous banqueting +carpet, representing a garden, the ground of wrought gold, the walks of +silver, the meadows of emeralds, rivulets of pearls, and flowers and +fruits of diamonds, rubies, and rare gems. The precious metals lost +their conventional value, gold was parted with for its weight in silver; +and so on.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">43</a></p> + +<p>It is the virtue of Islam that it recognizes a special providence, +seeing the hand of God, as <span class="sidenote">Success in battle ascribed to divine aid.</span>in every thing, so pre-eminently also in +victory. When Sad, therefore, had established himself in the palace of +the Chosroes he was not forgetful to render thanks in a service of +praise. One of the princely mansions was turned for the moment into a +temple, and there, followed by his troops, he ascribed the victory to +the Lord of Hosts. The lesson accompanying the prayers was taken from a +Sura (or chapter of the Koran) which speaks of Pharaoh and his riders +being overwhelmed in the Red Sea, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>and contains this passage, held to be +peculiarly appropriate to the occasion:</p> + +<table class="center" summary=""> +<tr><td> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"How many gardens and fountains did they leave behind,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And fields of corn, and fair dwelling-places,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And pleasant things which they enjoyed!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Even thus have <span class="smcap">We</span> made another people to inherit the same."<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">44</a><br /></span> +</div></div></td></tr> +</table> + +<p>Such as fell in the conflict were called martyrs; a <span class="sidenote">"Martyrdom" in the field coveted by Moslem crusaders.</span>halo of glory +surrounded them, and special joys awaited them even on the battlefield. +And so it came to pass that the warriors of Islam had an unearthly +longing for the crown of martyrdom. The Caliph Omar was inconsolable at +the loss of his brother, Zeid, who fell in the fatal "Garden of Death," +at the battle of Yemama: "Thou art returned home," he said to his son, +Abdallah, "safe and sound, and Zeid is dead. Wherefore wast not thou +slain before him? I wish not to see thy face." "Father," answered +Abdallah, <span class="sidenote">The Moslem crown of martyrdom.</span>"he asked for the crown of martyrdom, and the Lord granted it. +I strove after the same, but it was not given unto me."<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">45</a> It was the +proud boast of the Saracens in their summons to the craven Greeks and +Persians that "they loved death more than their foes loved life." +Familiar with the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>pictures drawn in the Koran of the beautiful +"houries" of Paradise,<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">46</a> the Saracens believed that immediate fruition +on the field of battle was the martyr's special prize. We are told of a +Moslem soldier, four-score years of age, who, seeing a comrade fall by +his side, cried out, "O Paradise! how close art thou beneath the arrow's +point and the falchion's flash! O Hashim! even now I see heaven opened, +and black-eyed maidens all bridally attired, clasping thee in their fond +embrace." And shouting thus the aged warrior, fired again with the ardor +of youth, rushed upon the enemy and met the envied fate. For those who +survived there was the less ethereal but closer prospect of Persian, +Greek, or Coptic women, both maids and matrons, who, on "being taken +captive by their right hand," were forthwith, according to the Koran, +without stint of number, at the conqueror's will and pleasure. These, +immediately they were made prisoners, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>might (according to the example +of Mohammed himself at Kheibar) be carried off without further ceremony +to the victor's tent; and in this respect the Saracens certainly were +nothing loath to execute upon the heathen the judgment written in their +law. So strangely was religious fanaticism fed and fostered in the +Moslem camp by incentives irresistible to the Arab—fight and foray, the +spoil of war and captive charms.</p> + +<p>The courage of the troops was stimulated by <span class="sidenote">Martial passages from Koran recited on field of battle.</span>the divine promises of +victory, which were read (and on like occasions still are read) at the +head of each column drawn up for battle. Thus, on the field of Cadesiya, +<span class="sidenote">A. D. 635.</span>which decided the fate of Persia, the Sura <i>Jehad</i>, with the stirring +tale of the thousand angels that fought on the Prophet's side at Bedr +was recited, and such texts as these:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><i>Stir up the faithful unto battle. If there be twenty steadfast among +you they shall put two hundred to flight of the unbelievers, and a +hundred shall put to flight a thousand. Victory is from the Lord. He is +mighty and wise. I the Lord will cast terror into the hearts of the +infidels. Strike off their heads and their fingers' ends. Beware lest ye +turn your back in</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> <i>battle. Verily, he that turneth his back shall draw +down upon himself the wrath of God. His abode shall be hell fire; an +evil journey thither.</i></p></div> + +<p>And we are told that on the recital of these verses "the heart of the +people was refreshed and their eyes lightened, and they felt the +tranquillity that ensueth thereupon." Three days they fought, and on the +morning of the fourth, returning with unabated vigor to the charge, they +scattered to the winds the vast host of Persia.<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">47</a></p> + +<p>Nor was it otherwise in the great battle of the Yermuk, which laid Syria +at the feet of the <span class="sidenote">Defeat of Byzantine army on the Yermuk, A. D. 634.</span>Arabs. The virgin vigor of the Saracens was fired by +a wild fanatical zeal "to fight in the ways of the Lord," obtaining thus +heavenly merit and a worldly prize—the spoil of Syria and its fair +maidens ravished from their homes; or should they fall by the sword, the +black-eyed houries waiting for them on the field of battle. "Of warriors +nerved by this strange combination of earth and heaven, of the flesh and +of the spirit, of the incentives at once of faith and rapine, of +fanatical devotion to the prophet and deathless passion for the sex, ten +might chase a hundred half-hearted Romans. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>forty thousand Moslems +were stronger far than the two hundred and forty thousand of the enemy." +The combat lasted for weeks; but at the last the Byzantine force was +utterly routed, and thousands hurled in wild confusion over the beetling +cliffs of the Yermuk into the yawning chasm of Wacusa.<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">48</a></p> + +<p>Such, then, was the nature of the Moslem propaganda, <span class="sidenote">Islam planted by aid of material force.</span>such the agency by +which the faith was spread, and such the motives at once material and +spiritual by which its martial missionaries were inspired. No wonder +that the effete empires of Rome and Persia recoiled and quivered at the +shock, and that province after province quickly fell under the sway of +Islam. It is far from my intention to imply that the truths set forth by +the new faith had nothing to do with its success. On the contrary, it +may well be admitted that but for those truths success might have been +impossible. The grand enunciation of the Divine Unity, and the duty of +an absolute submission to the same; the recognition of a special +providence reaching to the minutest details of life; the inculcation of +prayer and other religious duties; the establishment of a code in which +the leading principles of morality are enforced, and the acknowledgment +of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>previous revelations in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, told +not only on the idolaters of Arabia and the fire-worshipers of Persia, +but on Jews and Samaritans and the followers of a debased and +priest-ridden Christianity. All this is true; but it is still not the +less true that without the sword Islam would never have been planted +even in Arabia, much less ever have spread to the countries beyond. The +weapons of its warfare were "carnal," material, and earthly; and by them +it conquered.</p> + +<p>The pressure brought to bear on the inhabitants of the countries overrun +by Saracen arms was of the most stringent character. They were offered +<span class="sidenote">Alternatives offered to the conquered nations: Islam, the +Sword, or Tribute.</span>the triple alternative—<span class="smcap">Islam</span>, the <span class="smcap">Sword</span>, or +<span class="smcap">Tribute</span>. The first brought immediate relief. Acceptance of the +faith not only stayed the enemy's hand, and conferred immunity from the +perils of war, but associated the convert with his conquerors in the +common brotherhood and in all the privileges of Islam.</p> + +<p>Reading the story of the spread of Islam, we are constantly told of this +and that enemy, <span class="sidenote">Acceptance of Islam, immediate relief from the sword.</span>that "being beaten, he <i>believed</i> and embraced the +faith." Take as an example of an every-day occurrence the story of +Hormuzan.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> A Persian prince of high rank long maintained a border +warfare against the Moslems. At last he was taken prisoner and sent in +chains to Medina. As he was conducted into the Great Mosque, Omar +exclaimed, "Blessed be the Lord, that hath humbled this man and the like +of him!" He bade them disrobe the prisoner and clothe him in sackcloth. +Then, whip in hand, he upbraided him for his oft-repeated attacks and +treachery. Hormuzan made as if fain to reply; then gasping, like one +faint from thirst, he begged for water to drink. "Give it him," said the +caliph, "and let him drink in peace." "Nay," cried the wretched captive, +trembling, "I fear to drink, lest some one slay me unawares." "Thy life +is safe," said Omar, "until thou hast drunk the water up." The words +were no sooner said than Hormuzan emptied the vessel on the ground. "I +wanted not the water," he said, "but quarter, and thou hast given it +me." "Liar!" cried Omar, angrily, "thy life is forfeit." "But not," +interposed the by-standers, "until he drink the water up." "Strange," +said Omar, "the fellow hath deceived me; and yet I cannot spare the life +of one who hath slain so many noble Moslems. I swear that thou shalt not +gain by thy deceit unless thou wilt forthwith embrace Islam."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> Upon +that, "<i>believing</i>, he made profession of the true faith upon the spot;" +and thenceforth, residing at Medina, he received a pension of the +highest grade.<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">49</a></p> + +<p>On the other hand, for those who held to their ancestral faith there was +no escape from the <span class="sidenote">Tribute and humiliation.</span>second or the third alternative. If they would avoid +the sword, or, having wielded it, were beaten, they must become +tributary. Moreover, the payment of tribute is not the only condition +enjoined by the Koran. "Fight against them (the Jews and Christians) +until they pay tribute with the hand, <i>and are humbled</i>."<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">50</a> The +command fell on willing ears. An ample interpretation was given to it. +And so it came to pass that, though Jews and Christians were, on the +payment of tribute, tolerated in the profession of their ancestral +faith, they were yet subjected (and still are subjected) to severe +humiliation. <span class="sidenote">Disabilities imposed on Jews and Christians.</span>The nature and extent of the degradation to which they were +brought down, and the strength of the inducement to purchase exemption +and the equality of civil rights, by surrendering their religion, may be +learned from the provisions which were embodied in the code named <i>The +Ordinance of Omar</i>, which has been more or less enforced from the +earliest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>times. Besides the tribute and various other imposts levied +from the "People of the Book,"<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">51</a> and the duty of receiving Moslem +travelers quartered upon them, the dress of both sexes must be +distinguished by broad stripes of yellow. They are forbidden to appear +on horseback, and if mounted on a mule or ass their stirrups must be of +wood, and their saddles known by knobs of the same material. Their +graves must not rise above the level of the soil, and the devil's mark +is placed upon the lintel of their doors. Their children must be taught +by Moslem masters, and the race, however able or well qualified, +proscribed from any office of high emolument or trust. Besides the +churches spared at the time of conquest no new buildings can be erected +for the purposes of worship; nor can free entrance into their holy +places at pleasure be refused to the Moslem. No cross must remain in +view outside, nor any church-bells be rung. They must refrain from +processions in the street at Easter, and other solemnities; and from any +thing, in short, whether by outward symbol, word, or deed, which could +be construed into rivalry, or competition with the ruling faith. Such +was the so-called <i>Code of Omar</i>. Enforced <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>with less or greater +stringency, according to the intolerance and caprice of the day, by +different dynasties, it was, and (however much relaxed in certain +countries) it still remains, the law of Islam. One must admire the rare +tenacity of the Christian faith, which, with but scanty light and hope, +held its ground through weary ages of insult and depression, and still +survives to see the dawning of a brighter day.<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">52</a></p> + +<p>Such, then, was the hostile attitude of Islam militant in its early +days; such the pressure <span class="sidenote">Continuing inducements in times of peace.</span>brought to bear on conquered lands for its +acceptance; and such the disabilities imposed upon recusant Jews and +Christians. On the one hand, rapine, plunder, slavery, tribute, civil +disability; on the other, security, peace, and honor. We need not be +surprised that, under such constraint, conquered peoples succumbed +before Islam. Nor were the temporal inducements to conversion confined +to the period during which the Saracens were engaged in spreading Islam +by force of arms. Let us come down a couple of centuries from the time +of Mohammed, and take the reign of the tolerant and liberal-minded +sovereign, Al Mamun.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> +Among the philosophers of all creeds whom that <span class="sidenote">Evidence of Al Kindy in second century of Hegira, A. D. 830.</span>great caliph gathered +around him at Bagdad was a noble Arab of the Nestorian faith, descended +from the kingly tribe of the Beni Kinda, and hence called <i>Al Kindy</i>. A +friend of this Eastern Christian, himself a member of the royal family, +invited Al Kindy to embrace Islam in an epistle enlarging on the +distinguished rank which, in virtue of his descent, he would (if a true +believer) occupy at court, and the other privileges, spiritual and +material, social and conjugal, which he would enjoy. In reply the +Christian wrote an apology of singular eloquence and power, throwing a +flood of light on the worldly inducements which, even at that +comparatively late period, abounded in a Moslem state to promote +conversion to Islam. Thus Al Mamun himself, in a speech delivered before +<span class="sidenote">Speech of Al Mamun.</span> +his council, characterizes certain of his courtiers accused as secret +adherents of the Zoroastrian faith:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Though professing Islam, they are free from the same. This they do +to be seen of me, while their convictions, I am well aware, are +just the opposite of that which they profess. They belong to a +class which embrace Islam, not from any love of this our faith, but +thinking thereby to gain access to our court, and share in the +honor, wealth, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>and power of the realm. They have no inward +persuasion of that which they outwardly profess."<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">53</a></p></div> + +<p>Again, speaking of the various classes brought over to Islam by sordid +and unworthy <span class="sidenote">Converts from sordid motives.</span>motives, Al Kindy says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Moreover, there are the idolatrous races—Magians and Jews—low +people aspiring by the profession of Islam to raise themselves to +riches and power and to form alliances with the families of the +learned and honorable. There are, besides, hypocritical men of the +world, who in this way obtain indulgences in the matter of marriage +and concubinage which are forbidden to them by the Christian faith. +Then we have the dissolute class given over wholly to the lusts of +the flesh. And lastly there are those who by this means obtain a +more secure and easy livelihood.<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">54</a></p></div> + +<p>Before leaving this part of our subject it may be opportune to quote a +few more passages <span class="sidenote">Al Kindy contrasts the Christian confessor with the Moslem +"martyr."</span>from Al Kindy, in which he contrasts the inducements +that, under the military and political predominance of Islam, promoted +its rapid spread, and the opposite conditions under which Christianity +made progress, <span class="sidenote">The Christian confessor and the Moslem martyr.</span>slow, indeed, comparatively, but sure and steady. First, +he compares the Christian confessor with the Moslem "martyr:"</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I marvel much, he says, that ye call those <i>martyrs</i> that fall in +war. Thou hast read, no doubt, in history of the followers of +Christ put to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>death in the persecutions of the kings of Persia and +elsewhere. Say, now, which are the more worthy to be called +martyrs, these, or thy fellows that fall fighting for the world and +the power thereof? How diverse were the barbarities and kinds of +death inflicted on the Christian confessors! The more they were +slain the more rapidly spread the faith; in place of one sprang up +a hundred. On a certain occasion, when a great multitude had been +put to death, one at court said to the king, "The number of them +increaseth instead of, as thou thinkest, diminishing." "How can +that be?" exclaimed the king. "But yesterday," replied the +courtier, "thou didst put such and such a one to death, and lo, +there were converted double that number; and the people say that a +man appeared to the confessors from heaven strengthening them in +their last moments." Whereupon the king himself was converted. In +those days men thought not their lives dear unto them. Some were +transfixed while yet alive; others had their limbs cut off one +after another; some were cast to the wild beasts and others burned +in the fire. Such continued long to be the fate of the Christian +confessors. No parallel is found thereto in any other religion; and +all was endured with constancy and even with joy. One smiled in the +midst of his great suffering. "Was it cold water," they asked, +"that was brought unto thee?" "No," answered the sufferer, "it was +one like a youth that stood by me and anointed my wounds; and that +made me smile, for the pain forthwith departed."</p> + +<p>Now tell me seriously, my friend, which of the two hath the best +claim to be called a <i>martyr</i>, "slain in the ways of the Lord:" he +who surrendereth his life rather than renounce his faith; who, when +it is said, Fall down and worship the sun and moon, or the idols of +silver and gold, work of men's hands, instead of the true God, +refuseth, choosing rather to give up life, abandon wealth, and +forego even wife and family; or he that goeth forth, ravaging and +laying waste, plundering and spoiling, slaying the men, carrying +away their children into captivity, and ravishing their wives and +maidens in his unlawful embrace, and then shall call it "Jehad in +the ways of the Lord!" ... And not content therewith, instead of +humbling thyself before the Lord, and seeking pardon for the crime, +thou sayest of such a one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>slain in the war that "he hath earned +paradise," and thou namest him "a martyr in the ways of the +Lord!"<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">55</a></p></div> + +<p>And again, contrasting the spread of Islam, "its rattling quiver and its +glittering sword," with the silent progress of Christianity, our +apologist, after dwelling on the teaching and the miracles of the +apostles, writes:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>They published their message by means of these miracles; and thus +great and powerful kings and philosophers and learned men and +judges of the earth hearkened unto them, without lash or rod, with +neither sword nor spear, nor the advantages of birth or +"Helpers;"<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">56</a> with no wisdom of this world, or eloquence or power +of language, or subtlety of reason; with no worldly inducement, nor +yet again with any relaxation of the moral law, but simply at the +voice of truth enforced by miracles beyond the power of man to +show. And so there came over to them the kings and great ones of +the earth. And the philosophers abandoned their systems, with all +their wisdom and learning, and betook them to a saintly life, +giving up the delights of this world together with their +old-established usages, and became followers of a company of poor +men, fishers and publicans, who had neither name nor rank nor any +claim other than that they were obedient to the command of the +Messiah—he that gave them power to do such wonderful works.<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">57</a></p></div> + +<p>And yet once more, comparing the <span class="sidenote">The apostles compared with the chiefs of Islam.</span>apostles with the military chiefs of +Islam, Al Kindy proceeds:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>After the descent of the Holy Ghost and the gift of tongues the +apostles separated each to the country to which he was called. They +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>wrote out in every tongue the holy Gospel, and the story and +teaching of Christ, at the dictation of the Holy Ghost. So the +nations drew near unto them, believing their testimony; and, giving +up the world and their false beliefs, they embraced the Christian +faith as soon as ever the dawn of truth and the light of the good +tidings broke in upon them. Distinguishing the true from the false, +and error from the right direction, they embraced the Gospel and +held it fast without doubt or wavering, when they saw the wonderful +works and signs of the apostles, and their lives and conversation +set after the holy and beautiful example of our Saviour, the traces +whereof remain even unto the present day.... How different this +from the life of thy Master (Mohammed) and his companions, who +ceased not to go forth in battle and rapine, to smite with the +sword, to seize the little ones, and ravish the wives and maidens, +plundering and laying waste, and carrying the people into +captivity. And thus they continue unto this present day, inciting +men to these evil deeds, even as it is told of Omar the Caliph. "If +one among you," said he, "hath a heathen neighbor and is in need, +let him seize and sell him." And many such things they say and +teach. Look now at the lives of Simon and Paul, who went about +healing the sick and raising the dead, by the name of Christ our +Lord; and mark the contrast.<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">58</a></p></div> + +<p>Such are the reflections of one who lived at a Mohammedan <span class="sidenote">Such are the conclusions of a native of Chaldea.</span>court, and +who, moreover, flourishing as he did a thousand years ago, was +sufficiently near the early spread of Islam to be able to contrast what +he saw and heard and read of the causes of its success with those of the +Gospel, and had the courage to confess the same.</p> + +<p>Apart, now, from the outward and extraneous aids <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>given to Islam by the +sword and by the civil arm I will inquire for a moment what <span class="sidenote">Hinderances or inducements inherent in the faith itself.</span>natural +effect the teaching of Islam itself had in attracting or repelling +mankind. I do not now speak of any power contained in the truths it +inculcated to convert to Islam by the rousing and quickening of +spiritual impulses; for that lies beyond my present purpose, which is to +inquire whether there is not in material causes and secular motives +enough in themselves to account for success. I speak rather of the +effect of the indulgences granted by Islam, on the one hand, as +calculated to attract; and of the restraints imposed and sacrifices +required, on the other, as calculated to repel. How far, in fact, did +there exist inducements or hinderances to its adoption inherent in the +religion itself?</p> + +<p>What may be regarded as the most constant and irksome of the obligations +of Islam is the <span class="sidenote">Requirements of Islam: prayer.</span>duty of prayer, which must be observed at stated +intervals, five times every day, with the contingent ceremony of +lustration. The rite consists of certain forms and passages to be +repeated with prescribed series of prostrations and genuflexions. These +must be repeated at the right times—but anywhere, in the house or by +the wayside, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>as well as in the mosque; and the ordinance is obligatory +in whatever state of mind the worshiper may be, or however occupied. As +the appointed hour comes round the Moslem is bound to turn aside to +pray—so much so that in Central Asia we read of the police driving the +backward worshiper by the lash to discharge the duty. Thus, with the +mass of Mussulmans, the obligation becomes a mere formal ceremony, and +one sees it performed anywhere and every-where by the whole people, like +any social custom, as a matter of course. No doubt there are exceptions; +but with the multitude it does not involve the irksomeness of a +spiritual service, and so it sits lightly on high and low. The Friday +prayers should as a rule be attended in the mosque; but neither need +there be much devotion there; and, once performed, the rest of the day +is free for pleasure or for business.<span class="sidenote">Prohibition of wine, games of chance, and usury.</span><a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">59</a> The prohibition of wine is a +restriction which was severely felt in the early days of the faith; but +it was not long before the universal sentiment (though eluded <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>in some +quarters) supported it. The embargo upon games of chance was certainly +unpopular; and the prohibition of the receipt of interest was also an +important limitation, tending as it did to shackle the freedom of +mercantile speculation; but they have been partially evaded on various +pretexts. The fast throughout the month of Ramzan was a <span class="sidenote">Fast of Ramzan.</span>severer test; +but even this lasts only during the day; and at night, from sunset till +dawn, all restrictions are withdrawn, not only in respect of food, but +of all otherwise lawful gratifications.<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">60</a></p> + +<p>There is nothing, therefore, in the <span class="sidenote">Little that is unpopular in these ordinances.</span>requirements and ordinances of +Islam, excepting the fast, that is very irksome to humanity, or which, +as involving any material sacrifice, or the renunciation of the +pleasures or indulgences of life, should lead a man of the world to +hesitate in embracing the new faith.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the license allowed by the Koran between the +sexes—at least in <span class="sidenote">Indulgences allowed in the matter of wives and concubines.</span>favor of the male sex—is so wide that for such as +have the means and the desire to take advantage of it there need be no +limit whatever to sexual indulgence. It is true <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>that adultery is +punishable by death and fornication with stripes. But then the Koran +gives the believer permission to have four wives at a time. And he may +exchange them—that is, he may divorce them at pleasure, taking others +in their stead.<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">61</a> And, as if this were not license enough, the divine +law permits the believer to consort with all female slaves whom he may +be the master of—such, namely, as have been taken in war, or have been +acquired by gift or purchase. These he may receive into his harem +instead of wives, or in addition to them; and without any limit of +number or restraint whatever he is at liberty to cohabit with them.</p> + +<p>A few instances taken at random will enable the <span class="sidenote">Polygamy, concubinage, and divorce. Practice at the rise of +Islam.</span>reader to judge how the +indulgences thus allowed by the religion were taken advantage of in the +early days of Islam. In the great plague which devastated Syria seven +years after the prophet's death Khalid, the Sword of God, lost <i>forty</i> +sons. Abdal Rahman, one of the "companions" of Mohammed, had issue by +sixteen wives, not counting slave-girls.<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">62</a> Moghira <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>ibn Shoba, another +"companion," and governor of Kufa and Bussorah, had in his harem eighty +consorts, free and servile. Coming closer to the Prophet's household, we +find that Mohammed himself at one period had in his harem no fewer than +nine wives and two slave-girls. Of his grandson Hasan we read that his +vagrant passion gained for him the unenviable sobriquet of <i>The +Divorcer</i>; for it was only by continually divorcing his consorts that he +could harmonize his craving for fresh nuptials with the requirements of +the divine law, which limited the number of his free wives to four. We +are told that, as a matter of simple caprice, he exercised the power of +divorce seventy (according to other traditions ninety) times. When the +leading men complained to Aly of the licentious practice of his son his +only reply was that the remedy lay in their own hands, of refusing Hasan +their daughters altogether.<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">63</a> Such are the material inducements, the +"works of the flesh," which Islam makes lawful to its votaries, and +which promoted thus its early spread.</p> + +<p>Descending now to modern times, we still find that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>this sexual license +is taken advantage of more <span class="sidenote">Practice in modern times.</span>or less in different countries and conditions +of society. The following examples are simply meant as showing to what +excess it is possible for the believer to carry these indulgences, +<span class="sidenote">The Malays of Penang.</span> +<i>under the sanction of his religion</i>. Of the Malays in Penang it was +written not very long ago: "Young men of thirty to thirty-five years of +age may be met with who have had from fifteen to twenty wives, and +children by several of them. These women have been divorced, married +others, and had children by them." Regarding <span class="sidenote">Lane's testimony concerning Egypt.</span>Egypt, Lane tells us: "I +have heard of men who have been in the habit of marrying a new wife +almost every month."<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">64</a> Burkhardt speaks of an Arab forty-five years +old who had had fifty wives, "so that he must have divorced two wives +and married two fresh ones on the average every year." <span class="sidenote">The princess of Bhopal's account of Mecca.</span>And not to go +further than the sacred city of Mecca, the late reigning princess of +Bhopal, in central India, herself an orthodox follower <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>of the Prophet, +after making the pilgrimage of the holy places, writes thus:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Women frequently contract as many as ten marriages, and those who +have only been married twice are few in number. If a woman sees her +husband growing old, or if she happen to admire any one else, she +goes to the Shereef (the spiritual and civil head of the holy +city), and after having settled the matter with him she puts away +her husband and takes to herself another, who is, perhaps, +good-looking and rich. In this way a marriage seldom lasts more +than a year or two.</p></div> + +<p>And of slave-girls the same high and impartial authority, still writing +of the holy city and of her fellow-Moslems, tells us:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Some of the women (African and Georgian girls) are taken in +marriage; and after that, on being sold again, they receive from +their masters a divorce, and are sold in their houses—that is to +say, they are sent to the purchaser from their master's house on +receipt of payment, and are not exposed for sale in the +slave-market. They are only <i>married</i> when purchased for the first +time.... When the poorer people buy (female) slaves they keep them +for themselves, and change them every year as one would replace old +things by new; but the women who have children are not sold.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">65</a></p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +What I desire to make clear is the fact that <span class="sidenote">Islam sanctions a license between the sexes which +Christianity forbids.</span>such things may be +practiced <i>with the sanction</i> of the Scripture which the Moslem holds to +be divine, and that these same indulgences have from the first existed +as inducements which helped materially to forward the spread of the +faith. I am very far, indeed, from implying that excessive indulgence in +polygamy is the universal state of Moslem society. Happily this is not +the case. There are not only individuals, but tribes and districts, +which, either from custom or preference, voluntarily restrict the +license given them in the Koran; while the natural influence of the +family, even in Moslem countries, has an antiseptic tendency that often +itself tends greatly to neutralize the evil.<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">66</a> Nor am I seeking to +institute any contrast between <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>the morals at large of Moslem countries +and the rest of the world. If Christian nations are (as with shame it +must be confessed) in some strata of society immoral, it is in the teeth +of their divine law. And the restrictions of that law are calculated, +and in <span class="sidenote">The laws of Christianity deter men from carnal indulgences.</span>the early days of Christianity did tend, in point of fact, <i>to +deter men</i> devoted to the indulgences of the flesh from embracing the +faith.<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">67</a> The religion of Mohammed, on the other hand, gives direct +sanction to the sexual indulgences we have been speaking of. Thus it +panders to the lower instincts of humanity and makes its spread the +easier. In direct opposition to the precepts of Christianity it "makes +provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof." Hence <span class="sidenote">Islam the "Easy Way."</span>Islam has +been well called by its own votaries the <i>Easy Way</i>. Once more, to quote +Al Kindy:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Thou invitest me (says our apologist to his friend) into the "Easy +way of faith and practice." Alas, alas! for our Saviour in the +Gospel telleth us, "When ye have done all that ye are commanded, +say, We are unprofitable servants; we have but done that which was +commanded us." Where then is our merit? The same Lord Jesus saith, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>"How strait is the road which leadeth unto life, and how few they +be that walk therein! How wide the gate that leadeth to +destruction, and how many there be that go in thereat!" Different +this, my friend, from the comforts of thy wide and easy gate, and +the facilities for enjoying, as thou wouldst have me, the pleasures +offered by thy faith in wives and damsels!<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">68</a></p></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="II_I" id="II_I"></a>II.</h2> + +<h3 style="font-weight: normal;">WHY THE SPREAD OF ISLAM WAS STAYED.</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">Having</span> thus traced the rapid early spread of Islam to its proper source, +I proceed to the <span class="sidenote">Islam stationary in area, and in civilization retrograde.</span>remaining topics, namely, the causes which have checked +its further extension, and those likewise which have depressed the +followers of this religion in the scale of civilization. I shall take +the former first—just remarking here, in respect of the latter, that +the depression of Islam is itself one of the causes which retard the +expansion of the faith.</p> + +<p>As the first spread of Islam was due to the sword, so when the sword was +sheathed Islam ceased <span class="sidenote">The Arabs ceased, in second century, to be a crusading +force.</span>to spread. The apostles and missionaries of Islam +were, as we have seen, the martial tribes of Arabia—that is to say, the +grand military force organized by Omar, and by him launched upon the +surrounding nations. Gorged with the plunder of the world, these began, +after a time, to settle on their lees and to mingle with the ordinary +population. So soon as this came to pass <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>they lost the fiery zeal which +at the first had made them irresistible. By the second and third +centuries the Arabs had disappeared as the standing army of the +caliphate, or, in other words, as a body set apart for the dissemination +of the faith. The crusading spirit, indeed, ever and anon burst +forth—and it still bursts forth, as opportunity offers—simply for the +reason that this spirit pervades the Koran, and is ingrained in the +creed. But with the special agency created and maintained during the +first ages for the spread of Islam the incentive of crusade ceased as a +distinctive missionary spring of action, and degenerated into the common +lust of conquest which we meet with in the world at large.</p> + +<p>The extension of Islam, depending upon military <span class="sidenote">With cessation of conquest, Islam ceased to spread.</span>success, stopped +wherever that was checked. The religion advanced or retired, speaking +broadly, as the armed predominance made head or retroceded. Thus the +tide of Moslem victory, rushing along the coast of Africa, extinguished +the seats of European civilization on the Mediterranean, overwhelmed +Spain, and was rapidly advancing north, when the onward wave was stemmed +at Tours; and as with the arms, the faith also of Islam was driven back +into Spain and bounded by the Pyrenees. So, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>likewise, the hold which +the religion seized both of Spain and Sicily came to an end with +Mussulman defeat. It is true that when once long and firmly rooted, as +in India and China, Islam may survive the loss of military power, and +even flourish. But it is equally true that in no single country has +Islam been planted, nor has it anywhere materially spread, saving under +the banner of the Crescent or the political ascendency of some +neighboring State. Accordingly, we find that, excepting some barbarous +zones in Africa which have been raised thereby a step above the +groveling level of fetichism, the faith has in modern times made no +advance worth mentioning.<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">69</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>From the Jewish and Christian religions there has (again speaking +broadly) been no secession whatever to Islam since the wave of Saracen +victory was stayed, excepting by the force of arms. Even in the palmy +days of the Abbasside caliphs, our apologist could challenge his +adversary to produce a single conversion otherwise than by reason of +some powerful material inducement. Here is his testimony:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Now tell me, hast thou ever seen, my Friend, (the Lord be <span class="sidenote">Al Kindy's challenge to produce a Christian convert to Islam +apart from material inducements.</span>gracious +unto thee!) or ever heard of a single person of sound mind—any one +of learning and experience, and acquainted with the Scriptures, +renouncing Christianity otherwise than for some worldly object to +be reached only through thy religion, or for some gratification +withheld by the faith of Jesus? Thou wilt find none. For, excepting +the tempted ones, all continue steadfast in their faith, secure +under our most gracious sovereign, in the profession of their own +religion.<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">70</a></p></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="III_I" id="III_I"></a>III.</h2> + +<h3 style="font-weight: normal;">LOW POSITION OF ISLAM IN THE SCALE OF CIVILIZATION.</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">I pass</span> on to consider why Mohammedan nations occupy so low a position, +halting as almost <span class="sidenote">Social and intellectual depression.</span>every-where they do, in the march of social and +intellectual development.</p> + +<p>The reason is not far to find. Islam was meant for Arabia, not for the +world; for the Arabs <span class="sidenote">Islam intended for the Arabs.</span>of the seventh century, not for the Arabs of all +time; and being such, and nothing more, its claim of divine origin +renders change or development impossible. It has within itself neither +the germ of natural growth nor the lively spring of adaptation. Mohammed +declared himself a prophet to the Arabs;<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">71</a> and however much in his +later days he may have contemplated the reformation of other religions +beyond the Peninsula, or the further spread of his own (which is +doubtful), still the rites and ceremonies, the customs and the laws +enjoined upon his people, were suitable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>(if suitable at all) for the +Arabs of that day, and in many respects for them alone. Again, the code +containing these injunctions, social and ceremonial, as well as +doctrinal and didactic, is embodied with every particularity of detail, +as part of the divine law, in the Koran; and so defying, as sacrilege, +all human touch, it stands unalterable forever. From the stiff and rigid +shroud in which it is thus swathed the <span class="sidenote">Wants the faculty of adaptation.</span>religion of Mohammed cannot +emerge. It has no plastic power beyond that exercised in its earliest +days. Hardened now and inelastic, it can neither adapt itself nor yet +shape its votaries, nor even suffer them to shape themselves to the +varying circumstances, the wants and developments, of mankind.</p> + +<p>We may judge of the local and inflexible <span class="sidenote">Local ceremonies: pilgrimage.</span>character of the faith from one +or two of its ceremonies. To perform the pilgrimage to Mecca and Mount +Arafat, with the slaying of victims at Mina, and the worship of the +Kaaba, is an ordinance obligatory (with the condition only that they +have the means) on all believers, who are bound to make the journey even +from the furthest ends of the earth—an ordinance intelligible enough in +a local worship, but unmeaning and impracticable when required <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>of a +world-wide religion. The same may be said of the fast of Ramzan. It is +prescribed in the <span class="sidenote">Fast of Ramzan.</span>Koran to be observed by all with undeviating +strictness during the whole day, from earliest dawn till sunset +throughout the month, with specified exemptions for the sick and +penalties for every occasion on which it is broken. The command, imposed +thus with an iron rule on male and female, young and old, operates with +excessive inequality in different seasons, lands, and climates. However +suitable to countries near the equator, where the variations of day and +night are immaterial, the fast becomes intolerable to those who are far +removed either toward the north or the south; and still closer to the +poles, where night merges into day and day into night, impracticable. +Again, with the lunar year (itself an institution divinely imposed), the +month of Ramzan travels in the third of a century from month to month +over the whole cycle of a year. The fast was established at a time when +Ramzan fell in winter, and the change of season was probably not +foreseen by the Prophet. But the result is one which, under some +conditions of time and place, involves the greatest hardship. For when +the fast comes round to summer the trial in a sultry climate, like that +of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>the burning Indian plains, of passing the whole day without a morsel +of bread or a drop of water becomes to many the occasion of intense +suffering. Such is the effect of the Arabian legislator's attempt at +circumstantial legislation in matters of religious ceremonial.</p> + +<p>Nearly the same is the case with all the religions <span class="sidenote">Political and social depression owing to relations between +the sexes.</span>obligations of Islam, +prayer, lustration, etc. But although the minuteness of detail with +which these are enjoined tends toward that jejune and formal worship +which we witness every-where in Moslem lands, still there is nothing in +these observances themselves which (religion apart) should lower the +social condition of Mohammedan populations and prevent their emerging +from that normal state of semi-barbarism and uncivilized depression in +which we find all Moslem peoples. For the cause of this we must look +elsewhere; and it may be recognized, without doubt, in the relations +established by the Koran between the sexes. Polygamy, divorce, servile +concubinage, and the veil are at the root of Moslem decadence.</p> + +<p>In respect of married life the condition <span class="sidenote">Depression of the female sex.</span>allotted by the Koran to woman +is that of an inferior dependent creature, destined only for the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>service of her master, liable to be cast adrift without the assignment +of a single reason or the notice of a single hour. While the husband +possesses the power of a divorce—absolute, immediate, unquestioned—no +privilege of a corresponding nature has been reserved for the wife. She +hangs on, however unwilling, neglected, or superseded, the perpetual +slave of her lord, if such be his will. When actually divorced she can, +indeed, claim her dower—her <i>hire</i>, as it is called in the too plain +language of the Koran; but the knowledge that the wife can make this +claim is at the best a miserable security against capricious taste; and +in the case of bondmaids even that imperfect check is wanting. The power +of divorce is not the only power that may be exercised by the tyrannical +husband. Authority to <i>confine</i> and to <i>beat</i> his wives is distinctly +vested in his discretion.<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">72</a> "Thus restrained, secluded, degraded, the +mere minister of enjoyment, liable at the caprice or passion of the +moment to be turned adrift, it would be hard to say that the position of +a wife was improved by the code of Mohammed."<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">73</a> Even if the privilege +of divorce <span class="sidenote">Divorce.</span>and marital tyranny be not exercised, the knowledge of its +existence as a potential right must <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>tend to abate the self-respect, and +in like degree to weaken the influence of the sex, impairing thus the +ameliorating and civilizing power which she was meant to exercise upon +mankind. And the evil has been stereotyped by the Koran for all time.</p> + +<p>I must quote one <span class="sidenote">Principal Fairbairn on home-life under Islam.</span>more passage from Principal Fairbairn on the lowering +influence of Moslem domestic life:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The God of Mohammed ... "spares the sins the Arab loves. A religion +that does not purify the home cannot regenerate the race; one that +depraves the home is certain to deprave humanity. Motherhood is to +be sacred if manhood is to be honorable. Spoil the wife of sanctity +and for the man the sanctities of life have perished. And so it has +been with Islam. It has reformed and lifted savage tribes; it has +depraved and barbarized civilized nations. At the root of its +fairest culture a worm has ever lived that has caused its blossoms +soon to wither and die. Were Mohammed the hope of man, then his +state were hopeless; before him could only be retrogression, +tyranny, and despair."<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">74</a></p></div> + +<p>Still worse is the <span class="sidenote">Demoralizing influence of servile concubinage.</span>influence of servile concubinage. The following is +the evidence of a shrewd and able observer in the East:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>All zenana life must be bad for men at all stages of their +existence.... In youth it must be ruin to be petted and spoiled by +a company of submissive slave-girls. In manhood it is no less an +evil that when a man enters into private life his affections should +be put up to auction <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>among foolish, fond competitors full of +mutual jealousies and slanders. We are not left entirely to +conjecture as to the effect of female influence on home-life when +it is exerted under these unenlightened and demoralizing +conditions. That is plainly an element <i>lying at the root of all +the most important features that differentiate progress from +stagnation</i>.<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">75</a></p></div> + +<p>Such are the institutions which gnaw at the root of Islam and prevent +the growth of freedom <span class="sidenote">Deteriorating influence of relations established between the +sexes.</span>and civilization. "By these the unity of the +household is fatally broken and the purity and virtue of the family tie +weakened; the vigor of the dominant classes is sapped; the body politic +becomes weak and languid, excepting for intrigues, and the throne itself +liable to fall a prey to a doubtful or contested +succession"<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">76</a>—contested by the progeny of the various rivals crowded +into the royal harem. From the palace downward polygamy and servile +concubinage lower the moral tone, loosen the ties of domestic life, and +hopelessly depress the people.</p> + +<p>Nor is the veil, albeit under the circumstances a necessary precaution, +less detrimental, <span class="sidenote">The veil.</span>though in a different way, to the interests of Moslem +society. This strange custom owes its <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>origin to the Prophet's jealous +temperament. It is forbidden in the Koran for women to appear unveiled +before any member of the other sex with the exception of certain near +relatives of specified propinquity.<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">77</a> And this law, coupled with other +restrictions of the kind, has led to the imposition of the <i>boorka</i> or +<i>purdah</i> (the dress which conceals the person and the veil) and to the +greater or less seclusion of the harem and zenana.</p> + +<p>This ordinance and the practices flowing from it <span class="sidenote">Society vitiated by the withdrawal of the female sex.</span>must survive, more or +less, so long as the Koran remains the rule of faith. It may appear at +first sight a mere negative evil, a social custom comparatively +harmless; but in truth it has a more debilitating effect upon the Moslem +race perhaps than any thing else, for by it <i>woman is totally withdrawn +from her proper place in the social circle</i>. She may, indeed, in the +comparatively laxer license of some lands be seen flitting along the +streets or driving in her carriage; but even so it is like one belonging +to another world, veiled, shrouded, and cut <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>off from intercourse with +those around her. Free only in the retirement of her own secluded +apartments, she is altogether shut out from her legitimate sphere in the +duties and enjoyments of life. But the blight on the sex itself from +this unnatural regulation, sad as it is, must be regarded as a minor +evil. The mischief extends beyond her. The tone and framework of society +as it came from the Maker's hands are altered, damaged, and +deteriorated. From the veil there flows this double injury. The bright, +refining, softening influence of woman is withdrawn from the outer +world, and social life, wanting the gracious influences of the female +sex, becomes, as we see throughout Moslem lands, forced, hard, +<span class="sidenote">Mohammedan society, thus truncated, incapable of progress.</span> +unnatural, and morose. Moreover, the Mohammedan nations, for all +purposes of common elevation and for all efforts of philanthropy and +liberty, are (as they live in public and beyond the inner recesses of +their homes) but a truncated and imperfect exhibition of humanity. They +are wanting in one of its constituent parts, the better half, <span class="sidenote">The defects +of Mohammedan society.</span>the +humanizing and the softening element. And it would be against the nature +of things to suppose that the body, thus shorn and mutilated, can +possess in itself the virtue and power of progress, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>reform, and +elevation. The link connecting the family with social and public life is +detached, and so neither is <i>en rapport</i>, as it should be, with the +other. Reforms fail to find entrance into the family or to penetrate the +domestic soil where alone they could take root, grow into the national +mind, live, and be perpetuated. Under such conditions the seeds of +civilization refuse to germinate. No real growth is possible in free and +useful institutions, nor any permanent and healthy force in those great +movements which elsewhere tend to uplift the masses and elevate mankind. +There may, it is true, be some advance, from time to time, in science +and in material prosperity; but the social groundwork for the same is +wanting, and the people surely relapse into the semi-barbarism forced +upon them by an ordinance which is opposed to the best instincts of +humanity. Sustained progress becomes impossible. Such is the outcome of +an attempt to improve upon nature and banish woman, the help-meet of +man, from the position assigned by God to her in the world.</p> + +<p><span class="sidenote">Yet the veil necessary under existing circumstances.</span>At the same time I am not prepared to say that in view of the laxity of +the conjugal relations inherent in the institutions of Islam some such +social check as that of the veil<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> (apart from the power to confine and +castigate) is not needed for the repression of license and the +maintenance of outward decency. There is too much reason to apprehend +that free social intercourse might otherwise be dangerous to morality +under the code of Mohammed, and with the example before men and women of +the early worthies of Islam. So long as the sentiments and habits of the +Moslem world remain as they are some remedial or preventive measure of +the kind seems indispensable. But the peculiarity of the Mussulman +polity, as we have seen, is such that the sexual laws and institutions +which call for restrictions of the kind as founded on the Koran are +incapable of change; they must co-exist with the faith itself, and last +while it lasts. So long, then, as this polity prevails the depression of +woman, as well as her exclusion from the social circle, must injure the +health and vitality of the body politic, impair its purity and grace, +paralyze vigor, retard progress in the direction of freedom, +philanthropy, and moral elevation, and generally perpetuate the normal +state of Mohammedan peoples, as one of semi-barbarism.</p> + +<p>To recapitulate, we have seen:</p> + +<p><i>First.</i> That Islam was propagated <span class="sidenote">Recapitulation.</span>mainly by the sword. With the tide of +conquest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>the religion went forward; where conquest was arrested made no +advance beyond; and at the withdrawal of the Moslem arms the faith also +commonly retired.</p> + +<p><i>Second.</i> The inducements, whether material or spiritual, to embrace +Islam have proved insufficient of themselves (speaking broadly) to +spread the faith, in the absence of the sword, and without the influence +of the political or secular arm.</p> + +<p><i>Third.</i> The ordinances of Islam, those especially having respect to the +female sex, have induced an inherent weakness, which depresses the +social system and retards its progress.</p> + +<p>If the reader should have followed me in the argument <span class="sidenote">Contrast with Christianity.</span>by which these +conclusions have been reached the contrast with the Christian faith has +no doubt been suggesting itself at each successive step.</p> + +<p>Christianity, as Al Kindy has so forcibly put it, <span class="sidenote">Christianity not propagated by force.</span>gained a firm footing +in the world without the sword, and without any aid whatever from the +secular arm. So far from having the countenance of the State it +triumphed in spite of opposition, persecution, and discouragement. "My +kingdom," said Jesus, "is not of this world. If my <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>kingdom were of this +world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to +the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from hence.... For this end came I +into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Every one that +is of the truth, heareth my voice."<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">78</a></p> + +<p>The religion itself, in its early days, offered no worldly attractions +or indulgences. It was not, <span class="sidenote">Nor by worldly inducements.</span>like Islam, an "easy way." Whether in +withdrawal from social observances deeply tainted with idolatry, the +refusal to participate in sacrificial ceremonies insisted on by the +rulers, or in the renunciation of indulgences inconsistent with a +saintly life, the Christian profession required self-denial at every +step.</p> + +<p>But otherwise the teaching of Christianity nowhere interfered with the +civil institutions of the <span class="sidenote">Adaptive principles and plastic faculty of Christianity.</span>countries into which it penetrated or with any +social customs or practices that were not in themselves immoral or +idolatrous. It did not, indeed, neglect to guide the Christian life. But +it did so by the enunciation of principles and rules of wide and +far-reaching application. These, no less than the injunctions of the +Koran, served amply for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>the exigencies of the day. But they have done a +vast deal more. They have proved themselves capable of adaptation to the +most advanced stages of social development and intellectual elevation. +And, what is infinitely more, it may be claimed for the lessons embodied +in the Gospel that they have been themselves promotive, if indeed they +have not been the immediate cause, of all the most important reforms and +philanthropies that now prevail in Christendom. The principles thus laid +down contained germs endowed with the power of life and growth which, +expanding and flourishing, slowly it may be, but surely, have at the +last borne the fruits we see.</p> + +<p>Take, for example, the institution of slavery. It <span class="sidenote">Examples: slavery.</span>prevailed in the Roman +Empire at the introduction of Christianity, as it did in Arabia at the +rise of Islam. In the Moslem code, as we have seen, the practice has +been perpetuated. Slavery must be held permissible so long as the Koran +is taken to be the rule of faith. The divine sanction thus impressed +upon the institution, and the closeness with which by law and custom it +intermingles with social and domestic life, make it impossible for any +Mohammedan people to impugn slavery as contrary to sound morality or for +any body of loyal <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>believers to advocate its abolition upon the ground +of principle. There are, moreover, so many privileges and gratifications +accruing to the higher classes from its maintenance that (excepting +under the strong pressure of European diplomacy) no sincere and hearty +effort can be expected from the Moslem race in the suppression of the +inhuman traffic, the horrors of which, as pursued by Moslem +slave-traders, their Prophet would have been the first to denounce. Look +now at the wisdom with which the Gospel treats the institution. It is +nowhere in so many words proscribed, for that would, under the +circumstances, have led to the abnegation of relative duties and the +disruption of society. It is accepted as a prevailing institution +recognized by the civil powers. However desirable freedom might be, +slavery was not inconsistent with the Christian profession: "Art thou +called being a servant? care not for <span class="sidenote">1 Cor. vii, 21.</span>it: but if thou mayest be made +free, use it rather." The duty of obedience to his master is enjoined +upon the slave, and the duty of mildness and urbanity toward his slave +is enjoined upon the master. But with all this was laid the seed which +grew into emancipation. "<i>Our Father</i>," gave the key-note of freedom. +"Ye are <i>all</i> the children of God by faith <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>in Christ Jesus." "There is +neither bond nor free, <span class="sidenote">Gal. iii, 26, 28.</span>... for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." "He that +is called in the Lord, being a <span class="sidenote">1 Cor. vii, 22.</span>servant, is the Lord's freeman." The +converted slave is to be received "not now as a servant, but above <span class="sidenote">Philemon 16.</span>a +servant, a brother beloved." The seed has borne its proper harvest. Late +in time, no doubt, but by a sure and certain development, the grand +truth of the equality of the human race, and the right of every man and +woman to freedom of thought and (within reasonable limit of law) to +freedom of action, has triumphed; and it has triumphed through the +Spirit and the precepts inculcated by the Gospel eighteen hundred years +ago. Nor is it otherwise with the relations established <span class="sidenote">Relations between the sexes.</span>between the +sexes. Polygamy, divorce, and concubinage with bondmaid's have been +perpetuated, as we have seen, by Islam for all time; and the ordinances +connected therewith have given rise, in the laborious task of defining +the conditions and limits of what is lawful, to a mass of prurient +casuistry defiling the books of Mohammedan <span class="sidenote">Matt. xix, 4.</span>law. Contrast with this our +Saviour's words, "<i>He which made them at the beginning made them male +and female.... What therefore <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>God hath joined together let not man put +asunder</i>." From which simple utterance have resulted monogamy and (in +the absence of adultery) the indissolubility of the marriage bond. While +in respect of conjugal duties we have such large, but sufficiently +<span class="sidenote">1 Cor. vii, 3.</span> +intelligible, commands as "to render due benevolence," whereby, while +the obligations of the marriage state are maintained, Christianity is +saved from the impurities which, in expounding the ordinances of +Mohammed, surround the sexual ethics of Islam, and cast so foul a stain +upon its literature.</p> + +<p>Take, again, the place of woman in the world. We need no injunction of +the veil or the <span class="sidenote">Elevation of woman.</span>harem. As the temples of the Holy Ghost, the body is to +be kept undefiled, and every one is "to possess his vessel in +sanctification <span class="sidenote">1 Thess. iv, 4.</span>and honor." +Men are to treat "the <span class="sidenote">1 Tim. v, 2.</span>elder women as mothers; +the younger as sisters, with all purity." Women are to "adorn themselves +<span class="sidenote">1 Tim. ii, 9.</span> +in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety." These, and such +like maxims embrace the whole moral fitness of the several relations and +duties which they define. They are adapted for all ages of time and for +all conditions of men. They are capable of being taken <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>by every +individual for personal guidance, according to his own sense of +propriety, and they can be accommodated by society at large with a due +reference to the habits and customs of the day. The attempt of Mohammed +to lay down, with circumstantial minuteness, the position of the female +sex, the veiling of her person, and her withdrawal from the gaze of man, +has resulted in seclusion and degradation; while the spirit of the +Gospel, and injunctions <span class="sidenote">1 Pet. iii, 7.</span>like that of "giving honor to the wife as to the +weaker vessel," have borne the fruit of woman's elevation, and have +raised her to the position of influence, honor, and equality which +(notwithstanding the marital superiority of the husband in the ideal of +a Christian family) she now occupies in the social scale.</p> + +<p>In the type of Mussulman government which (though <span class="sidenote">Relations with the State.</span>not laid down in the +Koran) is founded upon the spirit of the faith and the precedent of the +Prophet the civil is indissolubly blended with the spiritual authority, +to the detriment of religious liberty and political progress. The +<i>Ameer</i>, or commander of the faithful, should, as in the early times, so +also in all ages, be the <i>Imam</i>, or religious chief; and as such he +should preside at the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>weekly cathedral service. It is not a case of the +Church being subject to the State, or the State being subject to the +Church. Here (as we used to see in the papal domains) the Church is the +State, and the State the Church. They both are one. And in this we have +another cause of the backwardness <span class="sidenote">Christianity leaves humanity free to expand.</span>and depression of Mohammedan society. +Since the abolition of the temporal power in Italy we have nowhere in +Christian lands any such theocratic union of Cæsar and the Church, so +that secular and religious advance is left more or less unhampered; +whereas in Islam the hierarchico-political constitution has hopelessly +welded the secular arm with the spiritual in one common scepter, to the +furthering of despotism, and elimination of the popular voice from its +proper place in the concerns of State.</p> + +<p>And so, throughout the whole range of political, religious, social, and +domestic relations, the <span class="sidenote">The Koran checks progress.</span>attempt made by the founder of Islam to provide +for all contingencies, and to fix every thing aforehand by rigid rule +and scale, has availed to cramp and benumb the free activities of life +and to paralyze the natural efforts of society at healthy growth, +expansion, and reform. As an author already quoted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>has so well put it, +"<i>The Koran has frozen Mohammedan thought; to obey it is to abandon +progress</i>."<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">79</a></p> + +<p>Writers have indeed been found who, dwelling <span class="sidenote">Is Islam suitable for any nation?</span>upon the benefits conferred +by Islam on idolatrous and savage nations, have gone so far as to hold +that the religion of Mohammed may in consequence be suited to certain +portions of mankind—as if the faith of Jesus might peaceably divide +with it the world. But surely to acquiesce in a system which reduces the +people to a dead level of social depression, despotism, and +semi-barbarism would be abhorrent from the first principles of +philanthropy. With the believer, who holds the Gospel to be "good <span class="sidenote">Luke ii, 10.</span> +tidings of great joy, <i>which shall be to all people</i>," such a notion is +on higher grounds untenable; but even in view of purely secular +considerations it is not only untenable, but altogether unintelligible. +As I have said elsewhere:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The eclipse in the East, which still sheds its blight on the +ancient seats of Jerome and Chrysostom, and shrouds in darkness the +once bright and famous sees of Cyprian and Augustine, has been +disastrous every-where to liberty and progress, equally as it has +been to Christianity. And it is only as that eclipse shall pass +away and the Sun of righteousness again shine forth that we can +look to the nations now dominated by Islam sharing with us those +secondary but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>precious fruits of divine teaching. Then with the +higher and enduring blessings which our faith bestows, but not till +then, we may hope that there will follow likewise in their wake +freedom and progress, and all that tends to elevate the human +race.<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">80</a></p></div> + +<p>Although with the view of placing the argument on independent ground I +have refrained <span class="sidenote">No sacrifice for sin or redemptive grace.</span>from touching the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, and +the inestimable benefits which flow to mankind therefrom, I may be +excused, before I conclude, if I add a word regarding them. The +followers of Mohammed have no knowledge of God as a <i>Father</i>; still less +have they knowledge of him as "<i>Our</i> Father"—the God and Father of the +Lord Jesus Christ. They acknowledge, indeed, that Jesus was a true +prophet sent of God; but they deny his crucifixion and death, and they +know nothing of the power of his resurrection. To those who have found +redemption and peace in these the grand and distinctive truths of the +Christian faith, it may be allowed to mourn over the lands in which the +light of the Gospel has been quenched, and these blessings blotted out, +by the material forces of Islam; where, together with civilization and +liberty, Christianity has given place to gross darkness, and it is as if +now <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>"there were no more sacrifice for sins." We may, and we do, look +forward with earnest expectation to the day when knowledge of salvation +shall be given to these nations "by the remission of their sins, through +the tender mercy of our God, whereby the <span class="sidenote">Luke i, 77-79.</span>Dayspring from on high hath +visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow +of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."</p> + +<p>But even apart from these, the special blessings of <span class="sidenote">Contrast between divine and human work.</span>Christianity, I ask, +which now of the two faiths bears, in its birth and growth, the mark of +a divine hand and which the human stamp? Which looks likest the +handiwork of the God of nature, who "hath laid the <span class="sidenote">Job xxxviii, 5.</span>measures of the +earth," and "hath stretched the line upon it," but not the less with an +ever-varying adaptation to time and place? and which the artificial +imitation?</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"As a reformer, Mohammed did indeed advance his people to a <span class="sidenote">Islam.</span>certain +point, but as a prophet he left them fixed immovably at that point +for all time to come. As there can be no return, so neither can +there be any progress. The tree is of artificial planting. Instead +of containing within itself the germ of growth and adaptation to +the various requirements of time, and clime, and circumstance, +expanding with the genial sunshine and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>rain from heaven, it +remains the same forced and stunted thing as when first planted +twelve centuries ago."<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">81</a></p></div> + +<p>Such is Islam. Now what is Christianity? <span class="sidenote">Christianity compared by Christ to the works of nature.</span>Listen to the prophetic words +of the Founder himself, who compares it to the works of nature:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"<i>So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the +ground</i>;</p> + +<p>"<i>And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should +spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.</i><span class="sidenote">Mark iv, 26-28.</span></p> + +<p>"<i>For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself: first the blade, +then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.</i>"</p></div> + +<p>And again:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God, or with what +comparison shall we compare it?</i></p> + +<p>"<i>It is like a grain of mustard-seed, which, when it is sown in the +earth, is less than all seeds that be in the earth</i>;<span class="sidenote">Mark iv, 30-32.</span></p> + +<p>"<i>But when it is sown, it groweth up and becometh greater than all +herbs, and shooteth out great branches, so that the fowls of the +air may lodge under the shadow of it.</i>"</p></div> + +<p>Which is <i>nature</i>, and which is <i>art</i>, let <span class="sidenote">Islam the work of man; Christianity the work of God.</span>the reader judge. Which bears +the impress of man's hand, and which that of Him who "is wonderful in +counsel, and excellent in working?"</p> + +<p>In fine, of the Arabian it may be said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further, and here shall thy +proud waves be stayed.</i>"</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>But of Christ:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>His name shall endure forever: his name shall be continued as +long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall +call him blessed.</i><span class="sidenote">Psa. lxxii, 17, 8, 18, 19.</span></p> + +<p>"<i>He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river +unto the ends of the earth.</i></p> + +<p>"<i>Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth +wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name forever: and let +the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen.</i>"</p></div> + + +<h5>THE END.</h5> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="FOOTNOTES" id="FOOTNOTES"></a>FOOTNOTES:</h2> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">1</span></a> Barth.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">2</span></a> Bergaigne, in his able treatise, <i>La Religion Védique</i>, +insists earnestly on what he calls the "liturgical contamination of the +myths." See vol. iii, p. 320.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">3</span></a> R. V., ix, 42, 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">4</span></a> R. V., ix, 97, 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">5</span></a> The religion of the Indo-European race, while still united, +"recognized a supreme God; an organizing God; almighty, omniscient, +moral.... This conception was a heritage of the past.... The supreme God +was originally the God of heaven." So Darmesteter, <i>Contemporary +Review</i>, October, 1879. Roth had previously written with much learning +and acuteness to the same effect.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">6</span></a> Muir's <i>Sanskrit Texts</i>, v, 412.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">7</span></a> R. V., iii, 62, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">8</span></a> The rites, says Haug, "must have existed from times +immemorial."—<i>Aitareya Brâhmana</i>, pp. 7, 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">9</span></a> Weber, <i>History of Indian Literature</i>, p. 38.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">10</span></a> Max Müller, <i>Ancient Sanskrit Literature</i>, p. 389.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">11</span></a> "The haughty Indra takes precedence of all gods." R. V., 1, +55.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">12</span></a> "These two personages [Indra and Varuna] sum up the two +conceptions of divinity, between which the religious consciousness of +the Vedic Aryans seems to oscillate."—Bergaigne, <i>La Religion Védique</i>, +vol. iii, p. 149.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">13</span></a> The meaning of the term is not quite certain. <i>Sessions</i>, +or <i>Instructions</i>, may perhaps be the rendering. So Monier Williams.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">14</span></a> For example, Wordsworth: +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i8">"Thou, Thou alone<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Art everlasting, and the blessed Spirits<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which Thou includest, as the sea her waves."<br /></span> +<span class="i0">—<i>Excursion</i>, book iv.<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">15</span></a> Or, the thing that really is—the +οντως ον.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">16</span></a> <i>Ekamadvitiyam.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">17</span></a> This illustration is in the mouth of every Hindu disputant +at the present day.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">18</span></a> Barth, p. 75.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">19</span></a> <i>Ekamadvitiyam.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">20</span></a> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">Volui tibi suaviloquenti<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Carmine Pierio rationem exponere nostram<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Et quasi Musæo dulci contingere melle.<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">21</span></a> Dr. J. Muir, in <i>North British Review</i>, No. xlix, p. 224.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">22</span></a> <i>Miscellaneous Writings</i> (Macmillan, 1861), vol. i, p. +77.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">23</span></a> But the truth is that every man is accounted a good Hindu +who keeps the rules of caste and pays due respect to the Brahmans. What +he believes, or disbelieves, is of little or no consequence.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">24</span></a> Yaska, probably in the fifth century B. C.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">25</span></a> Weber thinks that Christian elements may have been +introduced, in course of time, into the representation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">26</span></a> His Ramayana was written in Hindi verse in the sixteenth +century.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">27</span></a> When Jhansi was captured in the times of the great mutiny +English officers were disgusted to see the walls of the queen's palace +covered with what they described as "grossly obscene" pictures. There is +little or no doubt that these were simply representations of the acts of +Krishna. Therefore to the Hindu queen they were religious pictures. When +questioned about such things the Brahmans reply that deeds which would +be wicked in men were quite right in Krishna, who, being God, could do +whatever he pleased.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">28</span></a> Born probably in 1649.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">29</span></a> Raja Narayan Basu (Bose), in enumerating the sacred books +of Hinduism, excluded the philosophical systems and included the +Tantras. He was and, we believe, is a leading man in the Adi Brahma +Somaj.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">30</span></a> Barth, as above, p. 202.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">31</span></a> So writes Vans Kennedy, a good authority. The rites, +however, vary with varying places.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">32</span></a> <i>Asiatic Researches</i>, v, p. 356.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">33</span></a> Cicero.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">34</span></a> We learned from his own lips that among the books which +most deeply impressed him were the Bible and the writings of Dr. +Chalmers.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">35</span></a> See <i>Life of Mohammed</i>, p. 138. Smith & Elder.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">36</span></a> <i>Life of Mohammed</i>, p. 172, where the results are +compared.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">37</span></a> <i>Life of Mohammed</i>, p. 341; Sura ii, 257; xxix, 46.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">38</span></a> The only exceptions were the Jews of Kheibar and the +Christians of Najran, who were permitted to continue in the profession +of their faith. They were, however, forced by Omar to quit the +peninsula, which thenceforward remained exclusively Mohammedan. +</p><p> +"Islam" is a synonym for the Mussulman faith. Its original meaning is +"surrender" of one's self to God.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">39</span></a> <i>Apology of Al Kindy, the Christian</i>, p. 18. Smith & +Elder, 1882. This remarkable apologist will be noticed further below.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">40</span></a> Principal Fairbairn: "The Primitive Polity of Islam," +<i>Contemporary Review</i>, December, 1882, pp. 866, 867.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">41</span></a> Herr von Kremer, <i>Culturgeschichte des Orients</i>, unter den +Chalifen, vol. i, p. 383.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">42</span></a> <i>Annals of the Early Caliphate</i>, p. 9. Smith & Elder, +1883.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">43</span></a> Gibbon's <i>Decline and Fall</i>, chapter li, and <i>Annals of +the Early Caliphate</i>, p. 184.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">44</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>; and Sura xliv, v. 25. <i>We</i>—that is, the Lord.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">45</span></a> <i>Annals of the Early Caliphate</i>, p. 46.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">46</span></a> See, for example, Sura lxxviii: "Verily for the pious +there is a blissful abode: gardens and vineyards; and damsels with +swelling bosoms, of a fitting age; and a full cup. Lovely large-eyed +girls, like pearls hidden in their shells, a reward for that which the +faithful shall have wrought. Verily We have created them of a rare +creation, virgins, young and fascinating.... Modest damsels averting +their eyes, whom no man shall have known before, nor any Jinn," etc. +</p><p> +The reader will not fail to be struck by the materialistic character of +Mohammed's paradise.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">47</span></a> See Sura <i>Jehad</i>; also <i>Annals of the Early Caliphate</i>, p. +167, <i>et. seq.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">48</span></a> <i>Annals of the Early Caliphate</i>, p. 105, <i>et. seq.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">49</span></a> See <i>Annals</i>, etc., p. 253.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">50</span></a> Sura ix, v. 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">51</span></a> So Jews and Christians as possessing the Bible are named +in the Koran.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">52</span></a> See <i>Annals</i>, etc., p. 213.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">53</span></a> <i>The Apology of Al Kindy</i>, written at the court of Al +Mamun A. H. 215 (A. D. 830), with an essay on its age and authorship, p. +12. Smith & Elder, 1882.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">54</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">55</span></a> <i>Apology</i>, p. 47, <i>et. seq.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">56</span></a> Alluding to the "<i>Ansar</i>," or mortal "Helpers" of Mohammed +at Medina. Throughout, the apologist, it will be observed, is drawing a +contrast with the means used for the spread of Islam.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">57</span></a> <i>Apology</i>, p. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">58</span></a> <i>Apology</i>, p. 57.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">59</span></a> I am not here comparing the value of these observances +with those of other religions. I am inquiring only how far the +obligations of Islam may be held to involve hardship or sacrifice such +as might have retarded the progress of Islam by rendering it on its +first introduction unpopular.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">60</span></a> See Sura ii, v. 88.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">61</span></a> Sura iv, 18. "Exchange" is the word used in the Koran.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">62</span></a> Each of his widows had 100,000 golden pieces left her. +<i>Life of Mohammed</i>, p. 171.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">63</span></a> "These divorced wives were irrespective of his concubines +or slave-girls, upon the number and variety of whom there was no limit +or check whatever."—<i>Annals</i>, p. 418.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">64</span></a> Lane adds: "There are many men in this country who, in the +course of ten years, have married as many as twenty, thirty, or more +wives; and women not far advanced in age have been wives to a dozen or +more husbands successively." Note that all this is entirely within the +religious sanction.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">65</span></a> <i>Pilgrimage to Mecca</i>, by her highness the reigning Begum +of Bhopal, translated by Mrs. W. Osborne (1870), pp. 82, 88. Slave-girls +cannot be <i>married</i> until freed by their masters. What her highness +tells of women <i>divorcing</i> their husbands is of course entirely <i>ultra +vires</i>, and shows how the laxity of conjugal relations allowed to the +male sex has extended itself to the female also, and that in a city +where, if anywhere, we should have expected to find the law observed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">66</span></a> In India, for example, there are Mohammedan races among +whom monogamy, as a rule, prevails by custom, and individuals exercising +their right of polygamy are looked upon with disfavor. On the other +hand, we meet occasionally with men who aver that rather against their +will (as they will sometimes rather amusingly say) they have been forced +by custom or family influence to add by polygamy to their domestic +burdens. In Mohammedan countries, however, when we hear of a man +confining himself to <i>one wife</i>, it does not necessarily follow that he +has no slaves to consort with in his harem. I may remark that +slave-girls have by Mohammedan laws no conjugal rights whatever, but are +like playthings, at the absolute discretion of their master.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">67</span></a> The case of the Corinthian offender is much in point, as +showing how the strict discipline of the Church must have availed to +make Christianity unpopular with the mere worldling.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">68</span></a> +</p> +<p> +<i>Apology</i>, p. 51. I repeat, that in the remarks I have made under this +head, no comparison is sought to be drawn betwixt the morality of +nominally Christian and Moslem peoples. On this subject I may be allowed +to quote from what I have said elsewhere: <span class="sidenote">Laxity among nominal Christians.</span>"The Moslem advocate will urge +... the social evil as the necessary result of inexorable monogamy. The +Koran not only denounces any illicit laxity between the sexes in the +severest terms, but exposes the transgressor to condign punishment. For +this reason, and because the conditions of what is licit are so +accommodating and wide, a certain negative virtue (it can hardly be +called continence or chastity) pervades Mohammedan society, in contrast +with which the gross and systematic immorality in certain parts of every +European community may be regarded by the Christian with shame and +confusion. In a purely Mohammedan land, however low may be the general +level of moral feeling, the still lower depths of fallen humanity are +unknown. The 'social evil' and intemperance, prevalent in Christian +lands, are the strongest weapons in the armory of Islam. We point, and +justly, to the higher morality and civilization of those who do observe +the precepts of the Gospel, to the stricter unity and virtue which +cement the family, and to the elevation of the sex; but in vain, while +the example of our great cities, and too often of our representatives +abroad, belies the argument. And yet the argument is sound. For, in +proportion as Christianity exercises her legitimate influence, vice and +intemperance will wane and vanish, and the higher morality pervade the +whole body; whereas in Islam the deteriorating influences of polygamy, +divorce, and concubinage have been stereotyped for all time."—<i>The +Koran: its Composition and Teaching, and the Testimony it bears to the +Holy Scriptures</i>, p. 60.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">69</span></a> +</p><p> +Much loose assertion has been made regarding the progress of Islam in +Africa; but I have found no proof of it <span class="sidenote">Alleged progress of Islam in Africa.</span>apart from armed, political, or +trading influence, dogged too often by the slave-trade; to a great +extent a social rather than a religious movement, and raising the fetich +tribes (haply without intemperance) into a somewhat higher stage of +semi-barbarism. I have met nothing which would touch the argument in the +text. The following is the testimony of Dr. Koelle, the best possible +witness on the subject: +</p><p> +"It is true the Mohammedan nations in the interior of Africa, namely, +the Bornuese, Mandengas, Pulas, etc., invited by the weak and +defenseless condition of the surrounding negro tribes, still +occasionally make conquests, and after subduing a tribe of pagans, by +almost exterminating its male population and committing the most +horrible atrocities, impose upon those that remain the creed of Islam; +but keeping in view the whole of the Mohammedan world this fitful +activity reminds one only of these green branches sometimes seen on +trees, already, and for long, decayed at the core from age."—<i>Food for +Reflection</i>, p. 37.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">70</span></a> <i>Apology</i>, p. 34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">71</span></a> <i>Annals</i>, pp. 61, 224.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">72</span></a> Sura iv, v. 33.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">73</span></a> <i>Life of Mohammed</i>, p. 348.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">74</span></a> <i>The City of God</i>, p, 91. Hodder & Stoughton, 1883.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">75</span></a> <i>The Turks in India</i>, by H. G. Keene, C.S.I. Allen & Co., +1879.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">76</span></a> <i>Annals</i>, etc., p. 457.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">77</span></a> See Sura xxxiv, v. 32. The excepted relations are: +"Husbands, fathers, husbands' fathers, sons, husbands' sons, brothers, +brothers' sons, sisters' sons, the captives which their right hands +possess, such men as attend them and have no need of women, or children +below the age of puberty."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">78</span></a> John xviii, 36, 37.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">79</span></a> Dr. Fairbairn, <i>Contemporary Review</i>, p. 865.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">80</span></a> <i>The Early Caliphate and Rise of Islam</i>, being the Rede +Lecture for 1881, delivered before the University of Cambridge, p. 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">81</span></a> <i>The Koran</i>, etc., p. 65.</p></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p class="center">Transcriber's Note: The following section was originally at the beginning of the book.</p> + +<table style="border: 1px solid black;" class="center" summary=""> +<tr><td colspan="2"> +<p style="font-size: 110%;" class="center"><b>The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle.</b></p> +</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"> +<p class="center">STUDIES FOR 1891-92.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr><td> +Leading Facts of American History. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Two Old Faiths + Essays on the Religions of the Hindus and the Mohammedans + +Author: J. Murray Mitchell and William Muir + +Release Date: November 4, 2005 [EBook #16996] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO OLD FAITHS *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Stacy Brown Thellend +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + +The footnotes marked with lower-case letters were originally sidenotes +which referred to sentences within the paragraph. I placed them at the +end of chapters to avoid confusion with the footnotes marked with numbers, +which were footnotes in the original and are at the end of the text. + + + + +TWO OLD FAITHS + +ESSAYS ON THE RELIGIONS OF THE HINDUS AND THE MOHAMMEDANS + +BY + +J. MURRAY MITCHELL, M.A., LL.D. + +AND + +SIR WILLIAM MUIR, LL.D., D.C.L. + + +NEW YORK CHAUTAUQUA PRESS C.L.S.C. Department, 150 Fifth Avenue 1891 + + The required books of the C.L.S.C. are recommended by a Council of + Six. It must, however, be understood that recommendation does not + involve an approval by the Council, or by any member of it, of + every principle or doctrine contained in the book recommended. + + * * * * * + + These essays have been selected from the admirable series of + _Present Day Tracts_, published by the Religious Tract Society, + London, and are reprinted with permission. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +THE HINDU RELIGION. PAGE + +Outline of the Essay 7 + +Introduction 9 + +The Vedas 12 + +Philosophy, and Ritualism 31 + +Reconstruction--Modern Hinduism 43 + +Contrast with Christianity 58 + +Hinduism in Contact with Christianity 68 + + +THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. + +Outline of the Essay 83 + +Introduction 85 + +The Rapid Spread of Islam 87 + +Why the Spread of Islam was Stayed 125 + +Low Position of Islam in the Scale of Civilization 129 + + + + +THE HINDU RELIGION. + + + + +OUTLINE OF THE ESSAY. + + +The place of Hinduism--which is professed by about a hundred and ninety +millions in India--among the religions of the world, and its great +antiquity, are pointed out. + +The comparative simplicity of the system contained in the Vedas, the +oldest sacred books of the Hindus, its almost entire freedom from the +use of images, its gradual deterioration in the later hymns, its gradual +multiplication of gods, the advance of sacerdotalism, and the increasing +complexity of its religious rites are set forth. + +The philosophical speculation that was carried on, the different +philosophical schools, the Buddhist reaction, its conflict with +Brahmanism, its final defeat, and its influence on the victorious system +are discussed. + +The religious reconstruction represented by the Puranas, their +theological character, the modern ritual, the introduction and rise of +caste, and the treatment of women are then considered. + +A contrast is drawn between the leading characteristics of Hinduism and +those of Christianity, and the effect of Christian ideas on modern +Hinduism is exhibited. The history of the Brahmo Somaj under Keshub +Chunder Sen is given at some length. + + + + +THE HINDU RELIGION. + +INTRODUCTION. + + +[Sidenote: Hinduism deserving of study. +Its antiquity.] +The system of religious belief which is generally called Hinduism is, on +many accounts, eminently deserving of study. If we desire to trace the +history of the ancient religions of the widely extended Aryan or +Indo-European race, to which we ourselves belong, we shall find in the +earlier writings of the Hindus an exhibition of it decidedly more +archaic even than that which is presented in the Homeric poems. Then, +the growth--the historical development--of Hinduism is not less worthy +of attention than its earlier phases. It has endured for upward of three +thousand years, no doubt undergoing very important changes, yet in many +things retaining its original spirit. The progress of the system has not +been lawless; and it is exceedingly instructive to note the development, +and, if possible, explain it. + +We are, then, to endeavor to study Hinduism chronologically. Unless he +does so almost every man who tries to comprehend it is, at first, +overwhelmed with a feeling of utter confusion and bewilderment. Hinduism +spreads out before him as a vast river, or even what seems at first + + "a dark + Illimitable ocean, without bound, + Without dimension, where length, breadth, and height, + And time, and place are lost." + +[Sidenote: The discussion chronological.] +But matters begin to clear up when he begins at the beginning, and notes +how one thing succeeded another. It may not be possible as yet to trace +all the windings of the stream or to show at what precise points in its +long course it was joined by such and such a tributary; yet much is +known regarding the mighty river which every intelligent man will find +it profitable to note and understand. + +[Sidenote: The Christian's duty in relation to the subject.] +The Christian ought not to rest satisfied with the vague general idea +that Hinduism is a form of heathenism with which he has nothing to do, +save to help in destroying it. Let him try to realize the ideas of the +Hindu regarding God, and the soul, and sin, and salvation, and heaven, +and hell, and the many sore trials of this mortal life. He will then +certainly have a much more vivid perception of the divine origin and +transcendent importance of his own religion. Farther, he will then +extend a helping hand to his Eastern brother with far more of +sensibility and tenderness; and in proportion to the measure of his +loving sympathy will doubtless be the measure of his success. A yearning +heart will accomplish more than the most cogent argument. + +[Sidenote: The purpose of the Tract.] +In this Tract we confine ourselves to the laying down of great leading +facts and principles; but these will be dwelt upon at sufficient length +to give the reader, we trust, an accurate conception of the general +character and history of Hinduism. We shall also briefly contrast the +system with Christianity. + +The history of Hinduism may be divided into three great periods, each +embracing, in round numbers, about a thousand years. + + + + +I. + +THE VEDAS. + + +[Sidenote: The most ancient writings of India.] +Regarding the earliest form of Hinduism we must draw our conceptions +from the Veda, or, to speak more accurately, the four Vedas. The most +important of these is the Rig Veda; and internal evidence proves it to +be the most ancient. It contains above a thousand hymns; the earliest of +which may date from about the year 1500 B.C. The Hindus, or, as they +call themselves, the Aryas, had by that time entered India, and were +dwelling in the north-western portion, the Panjab. The hymns, we may +say, are racy of the soil. There is no reference to the life led by the +people before they crossed the Himalaya Mountains or entered by some of +the passes of Afghanistan. + +It would be very interesting if we could discover the pre-Vedic form of +the religion. Inferentially this may, to some extent, be done by +comparing the teachings of the Vedas with those contained in the books +of other branches of the great Aryan family--such as the Greeks, the +Romans, and, above all, the Iranians (ancient Persians). + +The ancient Hindus were a highly gifted, energetic race; civilized to a +considerable extent; not nomadic; chiefly shepherds and herdsmen, but +also acquainted with agriculture. Commerce was not unknown; the river +Indus formed a highway to the Indian Ocean, and at least the Phenicians +availed themselves of it from perhaps the seventeenth century B.C., or +even earlier. + +[Sidenote: The hymns are strongly religious. +They are a selection. +Pre-eminently sacerdotal. +Present the religious thought of the ancient Hindus.] +As soon as we begin to study the hymns of the Veda we are struck by +their strongly religious character. Tacitly assuming that the book +contains the whole of the early literature of India, many writers have +expressed themselves in strong terms regarding the primitive Hindus as +religious above all other races. But as we read on we become convinced +that these poems are a selection, rather than a collection, of the +literature; and the conviction grows that the selection has been made by +priestly hands for priestly purposes. An acute critic has affirmed that +the Vedic poems are "pre-eminently sacerdotal, and in no sense +popular."[1] We can thus explain a pervading characteristic of the book +which has taken most readers by surprise. There is a want of simplicity +in the Veda. It is often most elaborate, artificial, overrefined--one +might even say, affected. How could these be the thoughts, or those the +expressions, of the imperfectly civilized shepherds of the Panjab? But +if it be only a hymn-book, with its materials arranged for liturgical +purposes, the difficulty vanishes.[2] We shall accordingly take it for +granted that the Veda presents only the religious thought of the ancient +Hindus--and not the whole of the religious thought, but only that of a +very influential portion of the race. With all the qualifications now +stated, the Veda must retain a position of high importance for all who +study Indian thought and life. The religious stamp which the compilers +of the Veda impressed so widely and so deeply has not been obliterated +in the course of thirty centuries. + +[Sidenote: Their religion is Nature-worship.] +The prevailing aspect of the religion presented in the Vedic hymns may +be broadly designated as Nature-worship. + +[Sidenote: Physical phenomena in India. +Their effect on the religion.] +All physical phenomena in India are invested with a grandeur which they +do not possess in northern or even southern Europe. Sunlight, moonlight, +starlight, the clouds purpled with the beam of morning or flaming in the +west like fiery chariots of heaven; to behold these things in their full +magnificence one ought to see them in the East. Even so the sterner +phenomena of nature--whirlwind and tempest, lightning and thunder, flood +and storm-wave, plague, pestilence, and famine; all of these oftentimes +assume in the East a character of awful majesty before which man cowers +in helplessness and despair. The conceptions and feelings hence arising +have from the beginning powerfully affected the religion of the Hindus. +Every-where we can trace the impress of the grander manifestations of +nature--the impress of their beneficence, their beauty, their might, +their mystery, or their terribleness. + +[Sidenote: The deities are "the bright ones," according to the language +of the sacred books of India.] +The Sanskrit word for god is _deva_, which means _bright, shining_. Of +physical phenomena it was especially those connected with light that +enkindled feelings of reverence. The black thunder-cloud that enshrouded +nature, in which the demon had bound the life-giving waters, passed +away; for the glittering thunder-bolt was launched, and the streams +rushed down, exulting in their freedom; and then the heaven shone out +again, pure and peaceful as before. But such a wonder as the dawn--with +far-streaming radiance, returning from the land of mystery, fresh in +eternal youth, and scattering the terrors of the night before her--who +could sufficiently admire? And let it be remembered that in the Hindu +mind the interval between admiration and adoration is exceedingly small. +Yet, while it is the dawn which has evoked the truest poetry, she has +not retained the highest place in worship. + +[Sidenote: Fire much worshiped.] +No divinity has fuller worship paid him than Agni, the Fire (_Ignis_). +More hymns are dedicated to him than to any other being. Astonishment at +the properties of fire; a sense of his condescension in that he, a +mighty god, resides in their dwellings; his importance as the messenger +between heaven and earth, bearing the offerings aloft; his kindness at +night in repelling the darkness and the demons which it hides--all these +things raised Agni to an exalted place. He is fed with pure clarified +butter, and so rises heavenward in his brightness. The physical +conception of fire, however, adheres to him, and he never quite ceases +to be the earthly flame; yet mystical conceptions thickly gather round +this root-idea; he is fire pervading all nature; and he often becomes +supreme, a god of gods. + +[Sidenote: Soma highly exalted. +Soma becomes a very mighty god.] +All this seems natural enough; but one is hardly prepared for the high +exaltation to which Soma is raised. Soma is properly the juice of a +milky plant (_asclepias acida_, or _sarcostemma viminale_), which, when +fermented, is intoxicating. The simple-minded Aryas were both astonished +and delighted at its effects; they liked it themselves; and they knew +nothing more precious to present to their gods. Accordingly, all of +these rejoice in it. Indra in particular quaffs it "like a thirsty +stag;" and under its exhilarating effects he strides victoriously to +battle. Soma itself becomes a god, and a very mighty one; he is even the +creator and father of the gods;[3] the king of gods and men;[4] all +creatures are in his hand. It is surely extraordinary that the Aryas +could apply such hyperbolical laudations to the liquor which they had +made to trickle into the vat, and which they knew to be the juice of a +plant they had cut down on the mountains and pounded in a mortar; and +that intoxication should be confounded with inspiration. Yet of such +aberrations we know the human mind is perfectly capable. + +[Sidenote: Connection with Persian, Greek, and Roman systems. +Varuna, the god of heaven. +The sublimity of the Vedic description of him.] +We have first referred to Agni and Soma, as being the only divinities of +highest rank which still retain their physical character. The worship +paid to them was of great antiquity; for it is also prescribed in the +Persian Avesta, and must have been common to the Indo-Iranian branch of +the Aryan race before the Hindus entered India. But we can inferentially +go still further back and speak of a deity common to the Greeks, Romans, +Persians, and Hindus. This deity is Varuna, the most remarkable +personality in the Veda. The name, which is etymologically connected +with [Greek: Ouranos], signifies "the encompasser," and is applied to +heaven--especially the all-encompassing, extreme vault of heaven--not +the nearer sky, which is the region of cloud and storm. It is in +describing Varuna that the Veda rises to the greatest sublimity which it +ever reaches. A mysterious presence, a mysterious power, a mysterious +knowledge amounting almost to omniscience, are ascribed to Varuna. The +winkings of men's eyes are numbered by him. He upholds order, both +physical and moral, throughout the universe. + +[Sidenote: Contrast with the laudations of Agni and Soma. +The loftier conceptions of divinity the earlier.] +The winds are his breath, the sun his eye, the sky his garment. He +rewards the good and punishes the wicked. Yet to the truly penitent he +is merciful. It is absolutely confounding to pass from a hymn that +celebrates the serene majesty and awful purity of Varuna to one filled +with measureless laudations of Soma or Agni. Could conceptions of +divinity so incongruous co-exist? That they could not spring up in the +same mind, or even in the same age, is abundantly manifest. And, as we +have mentioned, the loftier conceptions of divinity are unquestionably +the earlier. It is vain to speak, as certain writers do, of religion +gradually refining itself, as a muddy stream can run itself pure; +Hinduism resembles the Ganges, which, when it breaks forth from its +mountain cradle at Hardwar, is comparatively pellucid, but, as it rolls +on, becomes more and more muddy, discolored, and unclean.[5] + +[Sidenote: Indra. +His achievements.] +Various scholars affirm that Varuna, in more ancient pre-Vedic times, +held a position still higher than the very high one which he still +retains. This is probable; indeed, it is certain that, before later +divinities had intruded, he held a place of unrivaled majesty. But, in +the Vedas, Indra is a more conspicuous figure. He corresponds to the +Jupiter Pluvius of the Romans. In north-western India, after the burning +heat, the annual return of the rains was hailed with unspeakable joy; it +was like life succeeding death. The clouds that floated up from the +ocean were at first thin and light; ah! a hostile demon was in them, +carrying off the healing waters and not permitting them to fall; but the +thunder-bolt of Indra flashed; the demon was driven away howling, and +the emancipated streams refreshed the thirsty earth. Varuna was not +indeed dethroned, but he was obscured, by the achievements of the +warlike Indra; and the supersensuous, moral conceptions that were +connected with the former gradually faded from the minds of the people, +and Varuna erelong became quite a subordinate figure in the Pantheon. + +[Sidenote: Number and relations of deities uncertain.] +The deities are generally said in the Veda to be "thrice eleven" in +number. We also hear of three thousand three hundred and thirty-nine. +There is no _system_, no fixed order in the hierarchy; a deity who in +one hymn is quite subordinate becomes in another supreme; almost every +god becomes supreme in turn; in one hymn he is the son of some deity and +in another that deity's father, and so (if logic ruled) his own +grandfather. Every poet exalts his favorite god, till the mind becomes +utterly bewildered in tracing the relationships. + +We have already spoken of Agni, Varuna, and Indra, as well as Soma. Next +to these in importance may come the deities of light, namely, the sun, +the dawn, and the two Asvina or beams that accompany the dawn. The winds +come next. The earth is a goddess. The waters are goddesses. It is +remarkable that the stars are very little mentioned; and the moon holds +no distinguished place. + +[Sidenote: Hardly any fetichism in the Rig Veda.] +In the religion of the Rig Veda we hardly see fetichism--if by fetichism +we mean the worship of small physical objects, such as stones, shells, +plants, etc., which are believed to be charged (so to speak) with +divinity, though this appears in the fourth Veda--the Atharva. But even +in the Rig Veda almost any object that is grand, beneficent, or terrible +may be adored; and implements associated with worship are themselves +worshiped. Thus, the war-chariot, the plow, the furrow, etc., are +prayed to. + +[Sidenote: Early tendency toward pantheism.] +A pantheistic conception of nature was also present in the Indian mind +from very early times, although its development was later. Even in the +earliest hymns any portion of nature with which man is brought into +close relation may be adored.[6] + +[Sidenote: Reverence of the dead.] +We must on no account overlook the reverence paid to the dead. The +_pitris_ (_patres_) or fathers are frequently referred to in the Veda. +They are clearly distinguished from the _devas_ or gods. In later +writings they are also distinguished from men, as having been created +separately from them; but this idea does not appear in the Veda. Yama, +the first mortal, traveled the road by which none returns, and now +drinks the Soma in the innermost of heaven, surrounded by the other +fathers. These come also, along with the gods, to the banquets prepared +for them on earth, and, sitting on the sacred grass, rejoice in the +exhilarating draught. + +[Sidenote: The subjects of the hymns of the Rig Veda.] +The hymns of the Rig Veda celebrate the power, exploits, or generosity +of the deity invoked, and sometimes his personal beauty. The praises +lavished on the god not only secured his favor but increased his power +to help the worshiper. + +[Sidenote: The holiest prayer.] +There is one prayer (so called) which is esteemed pre-eminently holy; +generally called--from the meter in which it is composed--the +Gayatri.[7] It may be rendered thus: + + "Let us meditate on that excellent glory of the Divine Son (or + Vivifier); may he enlighten our understandings!" + +It has always been frequently repeated in important rites. + +[Sidenote: Atharva Veda. +Inferior morally and spiritually to the Rig Veda. +Explanation of deterioration.] +So far we have referred almost exclusively to the Rig Veda. The next in +importance is the Atharva, sometimes termed the Brahma Veda; which we +may render the Veda of incantations. It contains six hundred and seventy +hymns. Of these a few are equal to those in the Rig Veda; but, as a +whole, the Atharva is far inferior to the other in a moral and spiritual +point of view. It abounds in imprecations, charms for the destruction of +enemies, and so forth. Talismans, plants, or gems are invoked, as +possessed of irresistible might to kill or heal. The deities are often +different from those of the Rig Veda. The Atharva manifests a great +dread of malignant beings, whose wrath it deprecates. We have thus +simple demon-worship. How is this great falling-off to be explained? In +one of two ways. Either a considerable time intervened between the +composition of the two books, during which the original faith had +rapidly degenerated, probably through contact with aboriginal races who +worshiped dark and sanguinary deities; or else there had existed from +the beginning two forms of the religion--the higher of which is embodied +in the hymns of the Rig Veda, and the lower in the Atharva. We believe +the latter explanation to be correct, although doubtless the +superstitions of the aborigines must all along have exerted an influence +on the faith of the invaders. + +[Sidenote: The offerings.] +The offerings presented to the gods consisted chiefly of clarified +butter, curdled milk, rice-cakes, and fermented Soma juice, which was +generally mixed with water or milk. All was thrown into the fire, which +bore them or their essences to the gods. The Soma was also sprinkled on +the sacred grass, which was strewn on the floor, and on which the gods +and fathers were invited to come and seat themselves that they might +enjoy the cheering beverage. The remainder was drunk by the officiating +priests. The offerings were understood to nourish and gratify the gods +as corporeal beings. + +[Sidenote: Animal victims.] +Animal victims are also offered up. We hear of sheep, goats, bulls, +cows, and buffaloes being sacrificed, and sometimes in large numbers. +But the great offering was the Asvamedha, or sacrifice of the horse. The +body of the horse was hacked to pieces; the fragments were dressed--part +was boiled, part roasted; some of the flesh was then eaten by the +persons present, and the rest was offered to the gods. Tremendous was +the potency--at least as stated in later times--of a hundred such +sacrifices; it rendered the offerer equal or superior to the gods; even +the mighty Indra trembled for his sovereignty and strove to hinder the +consummation of the awful rite. + +[Sidenote: Human sacrifice.] +Human sacrifice was not unknown, though there are very few allusions to +it in the earlier hymns. + +[Sidenote: Sacrifice deemed of very high importance.] +Even from the first, however, the rite of sacrifice occupies a very high +place, and allusions to it are exceedingly frequent. The observances +connected with it are said to be the "first religious rites." Sacrifice +was early believed to be expiatory; it removed sin. It was +substitutionary; the victim stood in place of the offerer. All order in +the universe depends upon it; it is "the nave of the world-wheel." +Sometimes Vishnu is said to be the sacrifice; sometimes even the Supreme +Being himself is so. Elaborated ideas and a complex ritual, which we +could have expected to grow up only in the course of ages, appear from +very early times. We seem compelled to draw the inference that sacrifice +formed an essential and very important part of the pre-Vedic faith.[8] + +In the Veda worship is a kind of barter. In exchange for praises and +offerings the deity is asked to bestow favors. Temporal blessings are +implored, such as food, wealth, life, children, cows, horses, success in +battle, the destruction of enemies, and so forth. Not much is said +regarding sin and the need of forgiveness. A distinguished scholar[9] +has said that "the religious notion of sin is wanting altogether;" but +this affirmation is decidedly too sweeping. + +[Sidenote: No image-worship. +No public worship.] +The worship exemplified in the Veda is not image-worship. Images of the +fire, or the winds, or the waters could hardly be required, and while +the original nature-worship lasted, idols must have been nearly unknown. +Yet the description of various deities is so precise and full that it +seems to be probably drawn from visible representations of them. Worship +was personal and domestic, not in any way public. Indeed, two men +praying at the same time had to pray quite apart, so that neither might +disturb the other. Each dealt with heaven, so to speak, solely on his +own behalf. + +[Sidenote: No temples.] +We hear of no places set apart as temples in Vedic times. + +[Sidenote: The treatises on ritual.] +A Veda consists of two parts called _Mantra_ or _Sanhita_, and +_Brahmana_. The first is composed of hymns. The second is a statement of +ritual, and is generally in prose. The existing Brahmanas are several +centuries later than the great body of the hymns, and were probably +composed when the Hindus had crossed the Indus, and were advancing along +the Gangetic valley. The oldest may be about the date of 800 or 700 B.C. + +[Sidenote: Growth of priestly power. +Schools for the study of sacred books, rites, and +traditions.] +The Brahmanas are very poor, both in thought and expression. They have +hardly their match in any literature for "pedantry and downright +absurdity."[10] Poetical feeling and even religious feeling seem gone; +all is dead and dry as dust. By this time the Sanskrit language had +ceased to be generally understood. The original texts could hardly +receive accessions; the most learned man could do little more than +interpret, or perhaps misinterpret, them. The worshiper looked on; he +worshiped now by proxy. Thus the priest had risen greatly in importance. +He alone knew the sacred verses and the sacred rites. An error in the +pronunciation of the mystic text might bring destruction on the +worshiper; what could he do but lean upon the priest? The latter could +say the prayers if he could not pray. All this worked powerfully for the +elevation of the Brahmans, the "men of prayer;" they steadily grew into +a class, a caste; and into this no one could enter who was not of +priestly descent. Schools were now found necessary for the study of the +sacred books, rites, and traditions. The importance which these attach +to theology--doctrine--is very small; the externals of religion are all +in all. The rites, in fact, now threw the very gods into the shade; +every thing depended on their due performance. And thus the Hindu ritual +gradually grew up into a stupendous system, the most elaborate, complex, +and burdensome which the earth has seen. + +[Sidenote: Moral character of the Veda.] +It is time, however, to give a brief estimate of the moral character of +the Veda. The first thing that strikes us is its inconsistency. Some +hymns--especially those addressed to Varuna--rise as high as Gentile +conceptions regarding deity ever rose; others--even in the Rig +Veda--sink miserably low; and in the Atharva we find, "even in the +lowest depth, a lower still." + +[Sidenote: Indra supersedes Varuna.] +The character of Indra--who has displaced or overshadowed +Varuna[11]--has no high attributes. He is "voracious;" his "inebriety is +most intense;" he "dances with delight in battle." His worshipers supply +him abundantly with the drink he loves; and he supports them against +their foes, ninety and more of whose cities he has destroyed. We do not +know that these foes, the Dasyus, were morally worse than the intrusive +Aryas, but the feelings of the latter toward the former were of +unexampled ferocity. Here is one passage out of multitudes similar: + + "Hurl thy hottest thunder-bolt upon them! Uproot them! Cleave them + asunder! O, Indra, overpower, subdue, slay the demon! Pluck him up! + Cut him through the middle! Crush his head!" + +[Sidenote: Deterioration begins early.] +Indra, if provided with Soma, is always indulgent to his votaries; he +supports them _per fas et nefas_. Varuna, on the other hand, is grave, +just, and to wicked men severe.[12] The supersession of Varuna by Indra, +then, is easily understood. We see the principle on which it rests +stated in the Old Testament. "Ye cannot serve the Lord," said Joshua to +the elders of Israel; "for he is a holy God." Even so Jeremiah points +sorrowfully to the fact that the pagan nations clung to their false +gods, while Israel was faithless to the true. As St. Paul expresses it, +"they did not like to retain God in their knowledge." Unless this +principle is fully taken into account we cannot understand the +historical development of Hinduism. + +[Sidenote: Varuna the only divinity possessed of pure and elevated +attributes.] +The Veda frequently ascribes to the gods, to use the language of Max +Mueller, "sentiments and passions unworthy of deity." In truth, except in +the case of Varuna, there is not one divinity that is possessed of pure +and elevated attributes. + + + + +II. + +PHILOSOPHY, AND RITUALISM. + + +[Sidenote: Speculation begins. +Rise of asceticism. +Upanishads. +They are pantheistic.] +During the Vedic period--certainly toward its conclusion--a tendency to +speculation had begun to appear. Probably it had all along existed in +the Hindu mind, but had remained latent during the stirring period when +the people were engaged in incessant wars. Climate, also, must have +affected the temperament of the race; and, as the Hindus steadily +pressed down the valley of the Ganges into warmer regions, their love of +repose and contemplative quietism would continually deepen. And when the +Brahmans became a fully developed hierarchy, lavishly endowed, with no +employment except the performance of religious ceremonies, their minds +could avoid stagnation only by having recourse to speculative thought. +Again, asceticism has a deep root in human nature; earnest souls, +conscious of their own weakness, will fly from the temptations of the +world. Various causes thus led numbers of men to seek a life of +seclusion; they dwelt chiefly in forests, and there they revolved the +everlasting problems of existence, creation, the soul, and God. The +lively Greeks, for whom, with all their high intellectual endowments, a +happy sensuous existence was nearly all in all, were amazed at the +numbers in northern India who appeared weary of the world and +indifferent to life itself. By and for these recluses were gradually +composed the Aranyakas, or forest treatises; and out of these grew a +series of more regular works, called Upanishads.[13] At least two +hundred and fifty of these are known to exist. They have been called +"guesses at truth;" they are more so than formal solutions of great +questions. Many of them are unintelligible rhapsodies; others rise +almost to sublimity. They frequently contradict each other; the same +writer sometimes contradicts himself. One prevailing characteristic is +all-important; their doctrine is pantheism. The pantheism is sometimes +not so much a coldly reasoned system as an aspiration, a yearning, a +deep-felt need of something better than the mob of gods who came in the +train of Indra, and the darker deities who were still crowding in. Even +in spite of the counteracting power of the Gospel mysticism has run +easily into pantheism in Europe, and orthodox Christians sometimes slide +unconsciously into it, or at least into its language.[14] But, as has +been already noted, a strain of pantheism existed in the Hindu mind from +early times. + +Accordingly, these hermit sages, these mystic dreamers, soon came to +identify the human soul with God. And the chief end of man was to seek +that the stream derived from God should return to its source, and, +ceasing to wander through the wilderness of this world, should find +repose in the bosom of the illimitable deep, the One, the All. The +Brahmans attached the Upanishads to the Veda proper, and they soon came +to be regarded as its most sacred part. In this way the influence these +treatises have exercised has been immense; more than any other portion +of the earlier Hindu writings they have molded the thoughts of +succeeding generations. Philosophy had thus begun. + +[Sidenote: Six philosophic schools.] +The speculations of which we see the commencement and progress in the +Upanishads were finally developed and classified in a series of writings +called the six Sastras or _darsanas_. These constitute the regular +official philosophy of India. They are without much difficulty reducible +to three leading schools of thought--the Nyaya, the Sankhya, and the +Vedanta. + +Roundly, and speaking generally, we may characterize these systems as +theistic, atheistic, and pantheistic respectively. + +[Sidenote: The Nyaya.] +It is doubtful, however, whether the earlier form of the Nyaya was +theistic or not. The later form is so, but it says nothing of the moral +attributes of God, nor of his government. The chief end of man, +according to the Nyaya, is deliverance from pain; and this is to be +attained by cessation from all action, whether good or bad. + +[Sidenote: The Sankhya.] +The Sankhya declares matter to be self-existent and eternal. Soul is +distinct from matter, and also eternal. When it attains true knowledge +it is liberated from matter and from pain. The Sankhya holds the +existence of God to be without proof. + +[Sidenote: The Vedanta.] +But the leading philosophy of India is unquestionably the Vedanta. The +name means "the end or scope of the Veda;" and if the Upanishads were +the Veda, instead of treatises tacked on to it, the name would be +correct; for the Vedanta, like the Upanishads, inculcates pantheism. + +The form which this philosophy ultimately assumed is well represented in +the treatise called the Vedanta Sara, or essence of the Vedanta. A few +extracts will suffice to exhibit its character. "The unity of the soul +and God--this is the scope of all Vedanta treatises." We have frequent +references made to the "great saying," _Tat twam_--that is, That art +thou, or Thou art God; and _Aham Brahma_, that is, I am God. Again it is +said, "The whole universe is God." God is "existence (or more exactly an +existent thing[15]), knowledge, and joy." Knowledge, not a knower; joy, +not one who rejoices. + +[Sidenote: It teaches absolute idealism.] +Every thing else has only a seeming existence, which is in consequence +of ignorance (or illusion). Ignorance makes the soul think itself +different from God; and it also "projects" the appearance of an external +world. + +"He who knows God becomes God." "When He, the first and last, is +discerned, one's own acts are annihilated." + +Meditation, without distinction of subject and object, is the highest +form of thought. It is a high attainment to say, "I am God;" but the +consummation is when thought exists without an object. + +There are four states of the soul--waking, dreaming, dreamless sleep, +and the "fourth state," or pure intelligence. The working-man is in +dense ignorance; in sleep he is freed from part of this ignorance; in +dreamless sleep he is freed from still more; but the consummation is +when he attains something beyond this, which it seems cannot be +explained, and is therefore called the fourth state. + +[Sidenote: Doctrine of "the Self." +Inconsistent statements.] +The name, which in later writings is most frequently given to the "one +without a second,"[16] is Atman, which properly means self. Much is said +of the way in which the self in each man is to recover, or discover, its +unity with the supreme or real self. For as the one sun shining in the +heavens is reflected, often in distorted images, in multitudes of +vessels filled with water, so the one self is present in all human +minds.[17] There is not--perhaps there could not be--consistency in the +statements of the relation of the seeming to the real. In most of the +older books a practical or conventional existence is admitted of the +self in each man, but not a real existence. But when the conception is +fully formulated the finite world is not admitted to exist save as a +mere illusion. All phenomena are a play--a play without plot or purpose, +which the absolute plays with itself.[18] This is surely transcendent +transcendentalism. One regrets that speculation did not take one step +more, and declare that the illusion was itself illusory. Then we should +have gone round the circle, and returned to _sensus communis_. We must +be pardoned if we seem to speak disrespectfully of such fantastic +speculations; we desire rather to speak regretfully of the many +generations of men which successively occupied themselves with such +unprofitable dreams; for this kind of thought is traceable even from +Vedic days. It is more fully developed in the Upanishads. In them occurs +the classical sentence so frequently quoted in later literature, which +declares that the absolute being is the "one [thing] without a +second."[19] + +[Sidenote: The Gita.] +The book which perhaps above all others has molded the mind of India in +more recent days is the Bhagavad Gita, or Song of the Holy One. It is +written in stately and harmonious verse, and has achieved the same task +for Indian philosophy as Lucretius did for ancient Epicureanism.[20] It +is eclectic, and succeeds, in a sort of way, in forcing the leading +systems of Indian thought into seeming harmony. + +[Sidenote: Intellectual pride.] +Some have thought they could discern in these daring speculations +indications of souls groping after God, and saddened because of the +difficulty of finding him. Were it so, all our sympathies would at once +be called forth. But no; we see in these writings far more of +intellectual pride than of spiritual sadness. Those ancient dreamers +never learned their own ignorance. They scarcely recognized the +limitations of the human mind. And when reason could take them no +farther they supplemented it by dreams and ecstasy until, in the Yoga +philosophy, they rushed into systematized mysticisms and magic far more +extravagant than the wildest _theurgy_ of the degraded Neoplatonism of +the Roman Empire. + +A learned writer thus expresses himself: + + "The only one of the six schools that seem to recognize the + doctrine of divine providence is the Yoga. It thus seems that the + consistent followers of these systems can have, in their perfected + state, no religion, no action, and no moral character."[21] + +[Sidenote: Indian philosophy a sad failure.] +And now to take a brief review of the whole subject. The Hindu sages +were men of acute and patient thought; but their attempt to solve the +problem of the divine and human natures, of human destiny and duty, has +ended in total failure. Each system baseless, and all mutually +conflicting; systems cold and cheerless, that frown on love and virtuous +exertion, and speak of annihilation or its equivalent, absorption, as +our highest hope: such is the poor result of infinite speculation. "The +world by wisdom knew not God." O, that India would learn the much-needed +lesson of humility which the experience of ages ought to teach her! + +[Sidenote: Sacerdotalism. +The tyranny of sacerdotalism.] +While speculation was thus busy Sacerdotalism was also continually +extending its influence. The Brahman, the man of prayer, had made +himself indispensable in all sacred rites. He alone--as we have +seen--knew the holy text; he alone could rightly pronounce the words of +awful mystery and power on which depended all weal or woe. On all +religions occasions the priest must be called in, and, on all occasions, +implicitly obeyed. For a considerable time the princes straggled against +the encroachments of the priests; but in the end they were completely +vanquished. Never was sacerdotal tyranny more absolute; the proudest +pope in mediaeval times never lorded it over Western Christendom with +such unrelenting rigor as the Brahmans exercised over both princes and +people. The feeling of the priests is expressed in a well-known stanza: + + "All the world is subject to the gods; the gods are subject to the + holy texts; the holy texts are subject to the Brahman; therefore + the Brahman is my god." + +Yes, the sacred man could breathe the spell which made earth and hell +and heaven itself to tremble. He therefore logically called himself an +earthly god. Indeed, the Brahman is always logical. He draws conclusions +from premises with iron rigor of reasoning; and with side-issues he has +nothing to do. He stands upon his rights. Woe to the being--god or +man--who comes in conflict with him! + +[Sidenote: Ritual becomes extravagant.] +The priests naturally multiplied religious ceremonies, and made ritual +the soul of worship. Sacrifice especially assumed still more and more +exaggerated forms--becoming more protracted, more expensive, more +bloody. A hecatomb of victims was but a small offering. More and more +awful powers were ascribed to the rite. + +[Sidenote: Reaction.] +But the tension was too great, and the bow snapped. Buddhism arose. We +may call this remarkable system the product of the age--an inevitable +rebellion against intolerable sacerdotalism; and yet we must not +overlook the importance of the very distinct and lofty personality of +Buddha (Sakya Muni) as a power molding it into shape. + +[Sidenote: Buddhism. +Moral elements of this system. +Conflict with Brahmanism. +Victory of Brahmanism.] +Wherever it extended it effected a vast revolution in Indian thought. +Thus in regard to the institution of caste, Buddha did not attack it; he +did not, it would appear, even formally renounce it; as a mere social +institution he seems to have acknowledged it; but then he held that all +the _religious_ were freed from its restrictions. "My law," said he, "is +a law of mercy for all;" and forthwith he proceeded to admit men of +every caste into the closest fellowship with himself and his followers. +Then, he preached--he, though not a Brahman--in the vernacular +languages--an immense innovation, which made his teachings popular. He +put in the forefront of his system certain great fundamental principles +of morality. He made religion consist in duty, not rites. He reduced +duty mainly to mercy or kindness toward all living beings--a marvelous +generalization. This set aside all slaughter of animals. The mind of the +princes and people was weary of priestcraft and ritualism; and the +teaching of the great reformer was most timely. Accordingly his doctrine +spread with great rapidity, and for a long time it seemed likely to +prevail over Brahmanism. But various causes gradually combined against +it. Partly, it was overwhelmed by its own luxuriance of growth; partly, +Brahmanism, which had all along maintained an intellectual superiority, +adopted, either from conviction or policy, most of the principles of +Buddhism, and skillfully supplied some of its main deficiencies. Thus +the Brahmans retained their position; and, at least nominally, their +religion won the day. + + + + +III. + +RECONSTRUCTION--MODERN HINDUISM. + + +[Sidenote: Revival, in an altered form, of Hinduism. +Only the position of the Brahman and the restrictions of +caste retained.] +But the Hinduism that grew up, as Buddhism faded from Indian soil, was +widely different from the system with which early Buddhism had +contended. Hinduism, as it has been developed during the last thousand +or twelve hundred years, resembles a stupendous far-extended building, +or series of buildings, which is still receiving additions, while +portions have crumbled and are crumbling into ruin. Every conceivable +style of architecture, from that of the stately palace to the meanest +hut, is comprehended in it. On a portion of the structure here or there +the eye may rest with pleasure; but as a whole it is an unsightly, +almost monstrous, pile. Or, dismissing figures, we must describe it as +the most extraordinary creation which the world has seen. A jumble of +all things; polytheistic pantheism; much of Buddhism; something +apparently of Christianity, but terribly disfigured; a science wholly +outrageous; shreds of history twisted into wild mythology; the bold +poetry of the older books understood as literal prose; any local deity, +any demon of the aborigines, however hideous, identified with some +accredited Hindu divinity; any custom, however repugnant to common sense +or common decency, accepted and explained--in a word, later Hinduism has +been omnivorous; it has partially absorbed and assimilated every system +of belief, every form of worship, with which it has come in contact. +Only to one or two things has it remained inflexibly true. It has +steadily upheld the proudest pretensions of the Brahman; and it has +never relaxed the sternest restrictions of caste. We cannot wonder at +the severe judgment pronounced on Hinduism by nearly every Western +author. According to Macaulay, "all is hideous and grotesque and +ignoble;" and the calmer De Tocqueville maintains that "Hinduism is +perhaps the only system of belief that is worse than having no religion +at all."[22] + +When a modern Hindu is asked what are the sacred books of his religion +he generally answers: "The Vedas, the Sastras (that is, philosophical +systems), and the Puranas." Some authorities add the Tantras. + +The modern form of Hinduism is exhibited chiefly in the eighteen +Puranas, and an equal number of Upapuranas (minor Puranas).[23] + +[Sidenote: The Puranas.] +When we compare the religion embodied in the Puranas with that of Vedic +times we are startled at the magnitude of the change. The Pantheon is +largely new; old deities have been superseded; other deities have taken +their place. There has been both accretion from without and evolution +from within. The thirty-three gods of the Vedas have been fantastically +raised to three hundred and thirty millions. Siva, Durga, Rama, Krishna, +Kali--unknown in ancient days--are now mighty divinities; Indra is +almost entirely overlooked, and Varuna has been degraded from his lofty +throne and turned into a regent of the waters. + +[Sidenote: New deities, rites, and customs.] +The worship of the Linga (phallus) has been introduced. So has the great +dogma of Transmigration, which has stamped a deeper impress on later +Hindu mind than almost any other doctrine. Caste is fully established, +though in Vedic days scarcely, if at all, recognized. The dreadful +practice of widow-burning has been brought in, and this by a most +daring perversion of the Vedic texts. Woman, in fact, has fallen far +below the position assigned her in early days. + +[Sidenote: The Trimurtti, a triad of gods.] +One of the notable things in connection with the reconstruction of +Hinduism is the position it gives to the Trimurtti, or triad of +gods--Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. Something like an anticipation of this +has been presented in the later Vedic times: fire, air, and the sun +(Agni, Vayu, and Surya) being regarded by the commentator[24] as summing +up the divine energies. But in the Vedas the deities often go in pairs; +and little stress should be laid on the idea of a Vedic triad. That +idea, however, came prominently forward in later days. The worship both +of Vishnu and Siva may have existed, from ancient times, as popular +rites not acknowledged by the Brahmans; but both of these deities were +now fully recognized. The god Brahma was an invention of the Brahmans; +he was no real divinity of the people, and had hardly ever been actually +worshiped. It is visual to designate Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva as +Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer respectively; but the generalization +is by no means well maintained in the Hindu books. + +[Sidenote: The Avatara.] +The Puranas are in general violently sectarian; some being Vishnuite, +others Sivite. It is in connection with Vishnu, especially, that the +idea of incarnation becomes prominent. The Hindu term is _Avatara_, +literally, _descent_; the deity is represented as descending from heaven +to earth, for vindication of the truth and righteousness, or, to use the +words ascribed to Krishna, + + For the preservation of the good, and the destruction of the wicked, + For the establishment of religion, I am born from age to age. + +[Sidenote: The "descents" of Vishnu.] +The "descents" of Vishnu are usually reckoned ten. Of these by far the +most celebrated are those of Rama and Krishna. The great importance +attached to these two deities has been traced to the influence of +Buddhism. That system had exerted immense power in consequence of the +gentle and attractive character ascribed to Buddha. The older gods were +dim, distant, and often stern; some near, intelligible, and loving +divinity was longed for. Buddha was a brother-man, and yet a +quasi-deity; and hearts longing for sympathy and succor were strongly +attracted by such a personality. + +[Sidenote: The god Rama.] +The character of Rama--or Ramachandra--is possessed of some high +qualities. The great poem in which it is described at fullest +length--the Ramayana of Valmiki--seems to have been an alteration, made +in the interests of Hinduism, of early Buddhist legends; and the +Buddhist quality of gentleness has not disappeared in the history.[25] +Rama, however, is far from a perfect character. His wife Sita is +possessed of much womanly grace and every wifely virtue; and the +sorrowful story of the warrior-god and his faithful spouse has appealed +to deep sympathies in the human breast. The worship of Rama has seldom, +if ever, degenerated into lasciviousness. In spite, however, of the +charm thrown around the life of Rama and Sita by the genius of Valmiki +and Tulsida,[26] it is Krishna, not Rama, that has attained the greatest +popularity among the "descents" of Vishnu. + +[Sidenote: Krishna. +His early life a travesty of the life of Christ, according to +the Gospel of the Infancy.] +Very different morally from that of Rama is the character of Krishna. +While Rama is but a partial manifestation of divinity Krishna is a full +manifestation; yet what a manifestation! He is represented as full of +naughty tricks in his youth, although exercising the highest powers of +deity; and, when he grows up, his conduct is grossly immoral and +disgusting. It is most startling to think that this being is by grave +writers--like the authors of the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata +Purana--made the highest of the gods, or, indeed, the only real God. +Stranger still, if possible, is the probability that the early life of +Krishna--in part, at least--is a dreadful travesty of the early life of +Christ, as given in the apocryphal gospels, especially the Gospel of the +Infancy. The falling off in the apocryphal gospels, when compared with +the canonical, is truly sad; but the falling off even from the +apocryphal ones, in the Hindu books, is altogether sickening.[27] + +A very striking characteristic of modern Hinduism is what is termed +_bhakti_, or devotion. There are three great ways of attaining to +salvation: _karma marga_, or the way of ceremonial works; _jnana +marga_, or the way of knowledge, and _bhakti marga_, or the way of +devotion. + +[Sidenote: Doctrine of _bhakti_ introduced. +Influence of the system. +Mixed with Buddhist elements. +Exaltation of the _guru_.] +The notion of trust in the gods was familiar to the mind of India from +Vedic days, but the deity was indistinct and unsympathetic, and there +could hardly be love and attachment to him. But there now arose the +doctrine of _bhakti_ (devotion), which resolved religion into emotion. +It came into the Hindu system rather abruptly; and many learned men have +traced its origin to the influence of Christianity. This is quite +possible; but perhaps the fact is hardly proved. Contact with +Christianity, however, probably accelerated a process which had +previously begun. At all events, the system of _bhakti_ has had, and +still has, great sway in India, particularly in Bengal, among the +followers of Chaitanya, and the large body of people in western India +who style themselves _Vaishnavas_ or _Bhaktas_ (devotees). The popular +poetry of Maharashtra, as exemplified in such poets as Tukarama, is an +impassioned inculcation of devotion to Vithoba of Pandharpur, who is a +manifestation of Krishna. Into the _bhakti_ system of western India +Buddhist elements have entered; and the school of devotees is often +denominated Bauddha-Vaishnava. Along with extravagant idolatry it +inculcates generally, at least in the Maratha country, a pure morality; +and the latter it apparently owes to Buddhism. Yet there are many sad +lapses from purity. Almost of necessity the worship of Krishna led to +corruption. The hymns became erotic; and movements hopeful at their +commencement--like that of Chaitanya of Bengal, in the sixteenth +century--soon grievously fell off in character. The attempt to make +religion consist of emotion without thought, of _bhakti_ without +_jnana_, had disastrous issues. Coincident with the development of +_bhakti_ was the exaltation of the _guru_, or religious teacher, which +soon amounted to deification--a change traceable from about the twelfth +century A.D. + +[Sidenote: Explanations of Krishna's evil deeds.] +When pressed on the subject of Krishna's evil deeds many are anxious to +explain them as allegorical representations of the union between the +divinity and true worshipers; but some interpret them in the most +literal way possible. This is done especially by the followers of +Vallabha Acharya.[28] These men attained a most unenviable notoriety +about twenty years ago, when a case was tried in the Supreme Court of +Bombay, which revealed the practice of the most shameful licentiousness +by the religious teachers and their female followers, and this as a part +of worship! The disgust excited was so great and general that it was +believed the influence of the sect was at an end; but this hope +unhappily has not been realized. + +[Sidenote: Reforms attempted. +Kabir. +Nanak. +Failure of all reforms.] +Reformers have arisen from time to time in India; men who saw the +deplorable corruption of religion, and strove to restore it to what they +considered purity. Next to Buddha we may mention Kabir, to whom are +ascribed many verses still popular. Probably the doctrine of the unity +of God, as maintained by the Mohammedans, had impressed him. He opposed +idolatry, caste, and Brahmanical assumption. Yet his monotheism was a +kind of pantheism. His date may be the beginning of the fifteenth +century. Nanak followed and founded the religion of the Sikhs. His +sacred book, the _Granth_, is mainly pantheistic; it dwells earnestly on +devotion, especially devotion to the _guru_. The Sikhs now seem slowly +relapsing into idolatry. In truth, the history of all attempts at +reformation in India has been most discouraging. Sect after sect has +successively risen to some elevation above the prevalent idolatry; and +then gradually, as by some irresistible gravitation, it has sunk back +into the _mare magnum_ of Hinduism. If we regard experience, +purification from within is hopeless; the struggle for it is only a +repetition of the toil of Sisyphus, and always with the same sad issue. +Deliverance must come from without--from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. + +[Sidenote: Influence of the Tantras. +Worship of the Sakti.] +We mentioned the Tantras as exerting great influence in later days.[29] +In these the worship of Siva, and, still more, that of his wife, is +predominant. The deity is now supposed to possess a double nature--one +quiescent, one active; the latter being regarded as the _Sakti_ or +energy of the god, otherwise called his wife. The origin of the system +is not fully explained; nor is the date of its rise ascertained. The +worship assumes wild, extravagant forms, generally obscene, sometimes +bloody. It is divided into two schools--that of the right hand and that +of the left. The former runs into mysticism and magic in complicated +observances, and the latter into the most appalling licentiousness. The +worship of the Sakti, or female principle, has become a most elaborate +system. The beings adored are "the most outrageous divinities which man +has ever conceived."[30] Sorcery began early in India; but it is in +connection with this system that it attains to full development. Human +sacrifices are a normal part of the worship when fully performed. We +cannot go farther into detail. It is profoundly saddening to think that +such abominations are committed; it is still more saddening to think +that they are performed as a part of divine worship. Conscience, +however, is so far alive that these detestable rites are practiced only +in secret, and few, if any, are willing to confess that they have been +initiated as worshipers. + +[Sidenote: Modern ritual.] +We have not yet said much about the ritual of modern days. It is +exceedingly complicated. In the case of the god Siva the rites are as +follows, when performed by a priest in the temple: + + [Sidenote: Worship of Siva.] + The Brahman first bathes, then enters the temple and bows to the + god. He anoints the image with clarified butter or boiled oil; + pours pure water over it; and then wipes it dry. He grinds some + white powder, mixing it with water; dips the ends of his three + forefingers in it and draws them across the image. He sits down; + meditates; places rice and _durwa_ grass on the image--places a + flower on his own head, and then on the top of the image; then + another flower on the image, and another, and another--accompanying + each act with the recitation of sacred spells; places white powder, + flowers, bilva-leaves, incense, meat-offerings, rice, plantains, + and a lamp before the image; repeats the name of Siva, with + praises, then prostrates himself before the image. In the evening + he returns, washes his feet, prostrates himself before the door, + opens the door, places a lamp within, offers milk, sweet-meats, and + fruits to the image, prostrates himself before it, locks the door, + and departs. + +Very similar is the worship paid to Vishnu: + + [Sidenote: Worship of Vishnu.] + The priest bathes, and then awakes the sleeping god by blowing a + shell and ringing a bell. More abundant offerings are made than to + Siva. About noon, fruits, roots, soaked peas, sweet-meats, etc., + are presented. Then, later, boiled rice, fried herbs, and spices; + but no flesh, fish, nor fowl. After dinner, betel-nut. The god is + then left to sleep, and the temple is shut up for some hours. + Toward evening curds, butter, sweet-meats, fruits, are presented. + At sunset a lamp is brought, and fresh offerings made. Lights are + waved before the image; a small bell is rung; water is presented + for washing the mouth, face, and feet, with a towel to dry them. In + a few minutes the offerings and the lamp are removed; and the god + is left to sleep in the dark. + +The prescribed worship is not always fully performed. Still, sixteen +things are essential, of which the following are the most important: + + "Preparing a seat for the god; invoking his presence; bathing the + image; clothing it; putting the string round it; offering perfumes; + flowers; incense; lamps; offerings of fruits and prepared eatables; + betel-nut; prayers; circumambulation. An ordinary worshiper + presents some of the offerings, mutters a short prayer or two, + when circumambulating the image, the rest being done by the + priest."[31] + +We give one additional specimen of the ritual: + + "As an atonement for unwarily eating or drinking what is forbidden + eight hundred repetitions of the Gayatri prayer should be preceded + by three suppressions of the breath, water being touched during the + recital of the following text: 'The bull roars; he has four horns, + three feet, two heads, seven hands, and is bound by a three-fold + cord; he is the mighty, resplendent being, and pervades mortal + men.'"[32] + +The bull is understood to be justice personified. All Brahmanical +ceremonies exhibit, we may say, ritualism and symbolism run mad. + +[Sidenote: Caste.] +The most prominent and characteristic institution of Hinduism is caste. +The power of caste is as irrational as it is unbounded; and it works +almost unmixed evil. The touch--even the shadow--of a low caste man +pollutes. The scriptural precept, "Honor all men," appears to a true +Hindu infinitely absurd. He honors and worships a cow; but he shrinks +with horror from the touch of a Mhar or Mang. Even Brahmans, if they +come from different provinces, will not eat together. Thus Hinduism +separates man from man; it goes on dividing and still dividing; and new +fences to guard imaginary purity are continually added. + +[Sidenote: Treatment of women. +Widows.] +The whole treatment of women has gradually become most tyrannical and +unjust. In very ancient days they were held in considerable respect; +but, for ages past, the idea of woman has been steadily sinking lower +and lower, and her rights have been more and more assailed. The burning +of widows has been prohibited by enactment; but the awful rite would in +many places be restored were it not for the strong hand of the British +government. The practice of marrying women in childhood is still +generally--all but universally--prevalent; and when, owing to the zeal +of reformers, a case of widow-marriage occurs, its rarity makes it be +hailed as a signal triumph. Multitudes of the so-called widows were +never really wives, their husbands (so-called) having died in childhood. +Widows are subjected to treatment which they deem worse than death; and +yet their number, it is calculated, amounts to about twenty-one +millions! More cruel and demoralizing customs than exist in India in +regard to women can hardly be found among the lowest barbarians. We are +glad to escape from dwelling on points so exceedingly painful. + + + + +IV. + +CONTRAST WITH CHRISTIANITY. + + +The immense difference between the Hindu and Christian religions has +doubtless already frequently suggested itself to the reader. It will not +be necessary, therefore, to dwell on this topic at very great length. +The contrast forces itself upon us at every point. + +[Sidenote: The Aryas and Israelites--their probable future, about 1500 B.C. +Contrast of their after-history.] +When, about fifteen centuries B.C., the Aryas were victoriously +occupying the Panjab, and the Israelites were escaping from the "iron +furnace" of Egypt, if one had been asked which of the two races would +probably rise to the highest conception of the divine, and contribute +most largely to the well-being of mankind, the answer, quite possibly, +might have been, the Aryas. Egypt, with its brutish idolatries, had +corrupted the faith of the Israelites, and slavery had crushed all +manliness out of them. Yet how wonderful has been their after-history! +Among ancient religions that of the Old Testament stands absolutely +unique, and in the fullness of time it blossomed into Christianity. How +is the marvel to be explained? We cannot account for it except by +ascribing it to a divine election of the Israelites and a providential +training intended to fit them to become the teachers of the world. +"Salvation is of the Jews." + +The contrast between the teachings of the Bible and those of the Hindu +books is simply infinite. + +[Sidenote: Hindu theology compared with Christian.] +The conception of a purely immaterial Being, infinite, eternal, and +unchangeable, which is that of the Bible regarding God, is entirely +foreign to the Hindu books. Their doctrine is various, but, in every +case, erroneous. It is absolute pantheism, or polytheism, or an +inconsistent blending of polytheism and pantheism, or atheism. + +Equally striking is the contrast between Christianity and Hinduism as to +the attributes of God. According to the former, he is omnipresent; +omnipotent; possessed of every excellence--holiness, justice, goodness, +truth. According to the chief Hindu philosophy, the Supreme is devoid of +attributes--devoid of consciousness. According to the popular +conception, when the Supreme becomes conscious he is developed into +three gods, who possess respectively the qualities of truth, passion, +and darkness. + +[Sidenote: Conception of God.] +"God is a Spirit." "God is light." "God is love." These sublime +declarations have no counterparts in Hindustan. + +He is "the Father of spirits," according to the Bible. According to +Hinduism, the individual spirit is a portion of the divine. Even the +common people firmly believe this. + +Every thing is referred by Hinduism to God as its immediate cause. A +Christian is continually shocked by the Hindus ascribing all sin to God +as its source. + +[Sidenote: The object of worship.] +The adoration of God as a Being possessed of every glorious excellence +is earnestly commanded in the Bible. "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy +God; and him only shalt thou serve." In India the Supreme is never +worshiped; but any one of the multitudinous gods may be so; and, in +fact, every thing can be worshiped _except_ God. A maxim in the mouth of +every Hindu is the following: "Where there is faith, there is God." +Believe the stone a god and it is so. + +[Sidenote: The sense of sin.] +Every sin being traced to God as its ultimate source, the sense of +personal guilt is very slight among Hindus. Where it exists it is +generally connected with ceremonial defilement or the breach of some one +of the innumerable and meaningless rites of the religion. How unlike in +all this is the Gospel! The Bible dwells with all possible earnestness +on the evil of sin, not of ceremonial but moral defilement--the +transgression of the divine law, the eternal law of right. + +[Sidenote: Atonement.] +How important a place in the Christian system is held by atonement, the +great atonement made by Christ, it is unnecessary to say. Nor need we +enlarge on the extraordinary power it exercises over the human heart, at +once filling it with contrition, hatred of sin, and overflowing joy. We +turn to Hinduism. Alas! we find that the earnest questionings and higher +views of the ancient thinkers have in a great degree been ignored in +later times. Sacrifice in its original form has passed away. Atonement +is often spoken of; but it is only some paltry device or other, such as +eating the five products of the cow, going on pilgrimage to some sacred +shrine, paying money to the priests, or, it may be, some form of bodily +penance. Such expedients leave no impression on the heart as to the true +nature and essential evil of sin. + +[Sidenote: Salvation. +Sanctification.] +Salvation, in the Christian system, denotes deliverance, not only from +the punishment of sin, but from its power, implying a renovation of the +moral nature. The entire man is to be rectified in heart, speech, and +behavior. The perfection of the individual, and, through that, the +perfection of society, are the objects aimed at; and the consummation +desired is the doing of the will of God on earth as it is done in +heaven. Now, of all this, surely a magnificent ideal, we find in +Hinduism no trace whatever. + +[Sidenote: Views of life. +The great tenet of Hinduism.] +Christianity is emphatically a religion of hope; Hinduism may be +designated a religion of despair. The trials of life are many and great. +Christianity bids us regard them as discipline from a Father's hand, and +tells us that affliction rightly borne yields "the peaceable fruits of +righteousness." To death the Christian looks forward without fear; to +him it is a quiet sleep, and the resurrection draws nigh. Then comes the +beatific vision of God. Glorified in soul and body, the companion of +angels and saints, strong in immortal youth, he will serve without let +or hinderance the God and Saviour whom he loves. To the Hindu the trials +of life are penal, not remedial. At death his soul passes into another +body. Rightly, every human soul animates in succession eighty-four lacs +(8,400,000) of bodies--the body of a human being, or a beast, or a bird, +or a fish, or a plant, or a stone, according to desert. This weary, all +but endless, round of births fills the mind of a Hindu with the greatest +horror. At last the soul is lost in God as a drop mingles with the +ocean. Individual existence and consciousness then cease. The thought is +profoundly sorrowful that this is the cheerless faith of countless +multitudes. No wonder, though, the great tenet of Hinduism is +this--_Existence is misery._ + +[Sidenote: The future of the race. +The struggle between good and evil.] +So much for the future of the individual. Regarding the future of the +race Hinduism speaks in equally cheerless terms. Its golden age lies in +the immeasurably distant past; and the further we recede from it the +deeper must we plunge into sin and wretchedness. True, ages and ages +hence the "age of truth" returns, but it returns only to pass away again +and torment us with the memory of lost purity and joy. The experience of +the universe is thus an eternal renovation of hope and disappointment. +In the struggle between good and evil there is no final triumph for the +good. We tread a fated, eternal round from which there is no escape; and +alike the hero fights and the martyr dies in vain. + +It is remarkable that acute intellectual men, as many of the Hindu +poets were, should never have grappled with the problem of the divine +government of the world. + +[Sidenote: The future of the Aryan race.] +Equally notable is the unconcern of the Veda as to the welfare and the +future of even the Aryan race. But how sublime is the promise given to +Abraham that in him and his seed all nations of the earth should be +blessed! Renan has pointed with admiration to the confidence entertained +at all times by the Jew in a brilliant and happy future for mankind. The +ancient Hindu cared not about the future of his neighbors, and doubtless +even the expression "human race" would have been unintelligible to him. +Nor is there any pathos in the Veda. There is no deep sense of the +sorrows of life. Max Mueller has affixed the epithet "transcendent" to +the Hindu mind. Its bent was much more toward the metaphysical, the +mystical, the incomprehensible than toward the moral and the practical. +Hence endless subtleties, more meaningless and unprofitable than ever +occupied the mind of Talmudist or schoolman of the Middle Ages. + +[Sidenote: The words of St. Paul illustrated by Hinduism.] +But finally, on this part of the subject, the development of Indian +religion supplies a striking comment on the words of St. Paul: + + "The invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood + from the things that are made. But when they knew God they + glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in + their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." + +[Sidenote: Moral power.] +Hinduism is deplorably deficient in power to raise and purify the human +soul, from having no high example of moral excellence. Its renowned +sages were noted for irritability and selfishness--great men at cursing; +and the gods for the most part were worse. Need we say how gloriously +rich the Gospel is in having in the character of Christ the realized +ideal of every possible excellence? + +[Sidenote: Ethical effect of Hinduism. +The people better than their religion.] +_Summa religionis est imitari quem colis_: "It is the sum of religion to +imitate the being worshiped;"[33] or, as the Hindus express it: "As is +the deity such is the devotee." Worship the God revealed in the Bible, +and you become god-like. The soul strives, with divine aid, to "purify +itself even as God is pure." But apply the principle to Hinduism. Alas! +the Pantheon is almost a pandemonium. Krishna, who in these days is the +chief deity to at least a hundred millions of people, does not possess +one elevated attribute. If, in the circumstances, society does not +become a moral pesthouse it is only because the people continue better +than their religion. The human heart, though fallen, is not fiendish. It +has still its purer instincts; and, when the legends about abominable +gods and goddesses are falling like mildew, these are still to some +extent kept alive by the sweet influences of earth and sky and by the +charities of family life. When the heart of woman is about to be swept +into the abyss her infant's smile restores her to her better self. Thus +family life does not go to ruin; and so long as that anchor holds +society will not drift on the rocks that stand so perilously near. +Still, the state of things is deplorably distressing. + +[Sidenote: The doctrine of incarnation.] +The doctrine of the incarnation is of fundamental importance in +Christianity. It seems almost profanation to compare it with the Hindu +teaching regarding the Avataras, or descents of Vishnu. It is difficult +to extract any meaning out of the three first manifestations, when the +god became in succession a fish, a boar, and a tortoise. Of the great +"descents" in Rama and Krishna we have already spoken. The ninth Avatara +was that of Buddha, in which the deity descended for the purpose of +deceiving men, making them deny the gods, and leading them to +destruction. So blasphemous an idea may seem hardly possible, even for +the bewildered mind of India; but this is doubtless the Brahmanical +explanation of the rise and progress of Buddhism. It was fatal error, +but inculcated by a divine being. Even the sickening tales of Krishna +and his amours are less shocking than this. When we turn from such +representations of divinity to "the Word made flesh" we seem to have +escaped from the pestilential air of a charnel-house to the sweet, pure +breath of heaven. + + + + +V. + +HINDUISM IN CONTACT WITH CHRISTIANITY. + + +[Sidenote: Attempted reforms.] +We have used the word _reformer_ in this Tract. We formerly noted that, +in India, there have arisen from time to time men who saw and sorrowed +over the erroneous doctrines and degrading rites of the popular system. + +In quite recent times they have had successors. Some account of their +work may form a fitting conclusion to our discussion. + +[Sidenote: Advance of Christianity in India.] +With the large influx into India of Christian ideas it was to be +expected that some impression would be made on Hinduism. We do not refer +to conversion--the full acceptance of the Christian faith. Christianity +has advanced and is advancing in India more rapidly than is generally +supposed; but far beyond the circle of those who "come out and are +separate" its mighty power is telling on Hinduism. The great fundamental +truths of the Gospel, when once uttered and understood, can hardly be +forgotten. Disliked and denied they may be; but forgotten? No. Thus +they gradually win their way, and multitudes who have no thought of +becoming Christians are ready to admit that they are beautiful and true; +for belief and practice are often widely separated in Hindu minds. + +[Sidenote: The Brahma Samaj.] +But it was to be expected that the new ideas pouring into India--and +among these we include not only distinctively Christian ideas, but +Western thought generally--would manifest their presence and activity in +concrete forms, in attempted reconstructions of religion. The most +remarkable example of such a reconstruction is exhibited in the Brahmo +Somaj (more correctly Brahma Samaj)--which may be rendered the "Church +of God." + +[Sidenote: Rammohun Roy. +Effect of Christianity upon him.] +It is traceable to the efforts of a truly distinguished man, Rammohun +Roy. He was a person of studious habits, intelligent, acute, and deeply +in earnest on the subject of religion. He studied not only Hinduism in +its various forms, but Buddhism, Mohammedanism, and Christianity. He was +naturally an eclectic, gathering truth from all quarters where he +thought he could find it. A specially deep impression was made on his +mind by Christianity; and in 1820 he published a book with the +remarkable title, _The Precepts of Jesus the Guide to Peace and +Happiness_. Very frequently he gave expression to the sentiment that the +teachings of Christ were the truest and deepest that he knew. Still, he +did not believe in Christ's divinity. + +[Sidenote: Debendernath Tagore. +Keshub Chunder Sen. +Formation of a new Samaj.] +In January, 1830, a place of worship was opened by Rammohun Roy and his +friends. It was intended for the worship of one God, without idolatrous +rites of any kind. This was undoubtedly a very important event, and +great was the interest aroused in connection with it. Rammohun Roy, +however, visited Britain in 1831, and died at Bristol in 1833; and the +cause for which he had so earnestly labored in India languished for a +time. But in the year 1841 Debendernath Tagore, a man of character and +wealth, joined the Brahmo Somaj, and gave a kind of constitution to it. +It was fully organized by 1844. No definite declaration, however, had +been made as to the authority of the Vedas; but, after a lengthened +period of inquiry and discussion, a majority of the Somaj rejected the +doctrine of their infallibility by 1850. "The rock of intuition" now +began to be spoken of; man's reason was his sufficient guide. Still, +great respect was cherished for the ancient belief and customs of the +land. But in 1858 a new champion appeared on the scene, in the +well-known Keshub Chunder Sen. Ardent, impetuous, ambitions--full of +ideas derived from Christian sources[34]--he could not brook the slow +movements of the Somaj in the path of reform. Important changes, both +religious and social, were pressed by him; and the more conservative +Debendernath somewhat reluctantly consented to their introduction. +Matters were, however, brought to a crisis by the marriage of two +persons of different castes in 1864. In February, 1865, the progressive +party formally severed their connection with the original Somaj; and in +August, 1869, they opened a new place of worship of their own. Since +this time the original or Adi Somaj has been little heard of, and its +movement--if it has moved at all--has been retrogressive. The new +Somaj--the Brahmo Somaj of India, as it called itself--under the +guidance of Mr. Sen became very active. A missionary institute was set +up, and preachers were sent over a great part of India. Much was +accomplished on behalf of women; and in 1872 a Marriage Act for members +of the Somaj was passed by the Indian legislature, which legalized union +between people of different castes, and fixed on fourteen as the lowest +age for the marriage of females. These were important reforms. + +Mr. Sen's influence was naturally and necessarily great; but in opposing +the venerable leader of the original Somaj he had set an example which +others were quite willing to copy. + +[Sidenote: Discontent growing.] +Several of his followers began to demand more radical reforms than he +was willing to grant. The autocracy exercised by Mr. Sen was strongly +objected to, and a constitution of the Somaj was demanded. Mr. Sen +openly maintained that heaven from time to time raises up men endowed +with special powers, and commissioned to introduce new forms or +"dispensations" of religion; and his conduct fully proved that he +regarded himself as far above his followers. Complaints became louder; +and although the eloquence and genius of Keshub were able to keep the +rebellious elements from exploding it was evident, as early as 1873, +that a crisis was approaching. This came in 1878, when Mr. Sen's +daughter was married to the Maharaja of Kuch Behar. The bride was not +fourteen, and the bridegroom was sixteen. Now, Mr. Sen had been earnest +and successful in getting the Brahmo Marriage Act passed, which ruled +that the lowest marriageable age for a woman was fourteen, and for a man +eighteen. Here was gross inconsistency. What could explain it? +"Ambition," exclaimed great numbers; "the wish to exalt himself and his +daughter by alliance with a prince." But Mr. Sen declared that he had +consented to the marriage in consequence of an express intimation that +such was the will of heaven. Mr. Sen denied miracles, but believed in +inspiration; and of his own inspiration he seems to have entertained no +doubt. We thus obtain a glimpse into the peculiar working of his mind. +Every full conviction, every strong wish of his own he ascribed to +divine suggestion. This put him in a position of extreme peril. It was +clear that an enthusiastic, imaginative, self-reliant nature like his +might thus be borne on to any extent of fanaticism. + +[Sidenote: Revolt; a third Samaj. +"New Dispensation."] +A great revolt from Mr. Sen's authority now took place, and the Sadharan +Samaj was organized in May, 1878. An appeal had been made to the members +generally, and no fewer than twenty-one provincial Samajes, with more +than four hundred members, male and female, joined the new society. +This number amounted to about two thirds of the whole body. Keshub and +his friends denounced the rebels in very bitter language; and yet, in +one point of view, their secession was a relief. Men of abilities equal, +and education superior, to his own had hitherto acted as a drag on his +movements; he was now delivered from their interference and could deal +with the admiring and submissive remnant as he pleased. Ideas that had +been working in his mind now attained rapid development. Within two +years the flag of the "New Dispensation" was raised; and of that +dispensation Mr. Sen was the undoubted head. Very daring was the +language Mr. Sen used in a public lecture regarding this new creation. +He claimed equality for it with the Jewish and Christian dispensations, +and for himself "singular" authority and a divine commission. + +[Sidenote: Its creed.] +In the Creed of the New Dispensation the name of Christ does not occur. +The articles were as follows: + + _a._ One God, one Scripture, one Church. _b._ Eternal progress of + the soul. _c._ Communion of prophets and saints. _d._ Fatherhood + and motherhood of God. _e._ Brotherhood of man and sisterhood of + woman. _f._ Harmony of knowledge and holiness, love and work, yoga + and asceticism in their highest development. _g._ Loyalty to + sovereign. + +[Sidenote: Omission of Christ's name.] +The omission of Christ's name is the more remarkable because Mr. Sen +spoke much of him in his public lectures. He had said in May, 1879, +"None but Jesus, none but Jesus, none but Jesus ever deserved this +precious diadem, India; and Jesus shall have it." But he clearly +indicated that the Christ he sought was an Indian Christ; one who was "a +Hindu in faith," and who would help the Hindus to "realize their +national idea of a yogi" (ascetic). + +[Sidenote: "Motherhood of God."] +Let it be noted that, from the beginning of his career, Mr. Sen had +spoken earnestly of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of +man--though, these great conceptions are not of Hindu origin. It is +difficult to see why, in later days, he insisted so much on the +"motherhood of God." Perhaps it was a repetition--he probably would have +called it an exaltation--of the old Hindu idea, prevalent especially +among the worshipers of Siva, that there is a female counterpart--a +Sakti--of every divinity. Or, possibly, it may have been to conciliate +the worshipers of Durga and Kali, those great goddesses of Bengal. + +[Sidenote: Public proclamation said to be from God.] +A public proclamation was soon issued, purporting to be from God +himself, as India's mother. The whole thing was very startling; many, +even of Keshub's friends, declared it blasphemous. Next, in the "Flag +Ceremony," the flag or banner of the New Dispensation received a homage +scarcely distinguishable from worship. Then--as if in strict imitation +of the ancient adoration of Agni, or Fire--a pile of wood was lighted, +clarified butter poured on it, and prayers addressed to it, ending +thus--"O, brilliant Fire! in thee we behold our resplendent Lord." This +was, at least, symbolism run wild; and every one, except those who were +prepared to follow their leader to all lengths, saw that in a land like +India, wedded to idolatry, it was fearfully perilous. + +[Sidenote: "Apostolic Durbar."] +In March, 1881, Mr. Sen and his friends introduced celebrations which, +to Christian minds, seemed a distressing caricature of the Christian +sacraments. Other institutions followed; an Apostolic Durbar (Court of +Apostles), for instance, was established. There was no end to Mr. Sen's +inventiveness. + +In a public lecture delivered in January, 1883, on "Asia's message to +Europe," he elaborately expounded the idea that all the great religions +are of Asiatic origin, and that all of them are true, and that the one +thing required to constitute the faith of the future--the religion of +humanity--is the blending of all these varied Oriental systems into one. + +[Sidenote: Inconsistencies between Mr. Sen's public and private +utterances. +Mr. Sen's policy of reserve.] +It was not easy to reconcile Mr. Sen's public utterances with his +private ones--though far be it from us to tax him with insincerity. +Thus, in an interview extending over two hours, which the writer and two +missionary friends had with him a week or so before the lecture now +referred to, he said he accepted as true and vital all the leading +doctrines of the Christian faith, with the exception of the resurrection +of Christ. But another fundamental difference remained--he avowedly +dissented from the orthodox creed in rejecting the miraculous element in +Scripture. At an interview I had with him some time before he earnestly +disclaimed all intention to put Christ on a level with Buddha or +Mohammed. "I am educating my friends," he said, "to understand and +approve of Christianity; I have not yet said my last word about Christ." +It is a solemn question, Had he said it when his career was ended? If +so, it was far from a satisfactory word. His policy of reserve and +adaptation had probably kept him from uttering all that was in his +heart; but it was a sorely mistaken policy. Had he temporized less he +would have accomplished more. + +Since the death of Mr. Sen there has been a violent dispute between his +family and the "Apostolic Durbar," on one side, and one of his ablest +followers, on the other; and the New Dispensation will probably split in +two, if it does not perish altogether. + +[Sidenote: The Sadharan Samaj.] +In the meantime, the Sadharan Samaj, which broke off from Keshub's party +in 1878, has been going on with no small vigor. Vagaries, either in +doctrine or rites, have been carefully shunned; its partisans profess a +pure Theistic creed and labor diligently in the cause of social reform. +Their position is nearly that of Unitarian Christianity, and we fear +they are not at present approximating to the full belief of the Church +Catholic. + +[Sidenote: Movements in western India. +Tenets of the Prarthana Sabha.] +Very similar in character to the Brahmo Somaj is the Prarthana Somaj in +western India. As far back as 1850, or a little earlier, there was +formed a society called the Prarthana Sabha (Prayer-meeting). Its +leading tenets were as follows: + + 1. I believe in one God. 2. I renounce idol-worship. 3. I will do + my best to lead a moral life. 4. If I commit any sin through the + weakness of my moral nature I will repent of it and ask the pardon + of God. + +The society, after some time, began to languish; but in 1867 it was +revived under the name of Prarthana Somaj. Its chief branches are in +Bombay, Poona, Ahmedabad, and Surat. + +[Sidenote: Arya Samaj.] +An interesting movement called the Arya Samaj was commenced a few years +ago by a Pandit--Dayanand Sarasvati. He received the Vedas as fully +inspired, but maintained that they taught monotheism--Agni, Indra, and +all the rest being merely different names of God. It was a desperate +effort to save the reputation of the ancient books; but, as all Sanskrit +scholars saw at a glance, the whole idea was a delusion. The Pandit is +now dead; and the Arya Samaj may not long survive him. + +At the time we write we hear of an attempt to defend idolatry and caste +made by men of considerable education. + +[Sidenote: Theosophists.] +The so-called "Theosophists" have, for several years, been active in +India. Of existing religions, Buddhism is their natural ally. They are +atheists. A combination which they formed with the Arya Samaj speedily +came to an end. + +Lastly, the followers of Mr. Bradlaugh are diligent in supplying their +books to Indian students. + +Poor India! No wonder if her mind is bewildered as she listens to such +a Babel of voices. The state of things in India now strikingly resembles +that which existed in the Roman Empire at the rise of Christianity; when +East and West were brought into the closest contact, and a great +conflict of systems of thought took place in consequence. + +But even as one hostile form of gnostic belief rose after another, and +rose only to fall--and as the greatest and best-disciplined foe of early +Christianity--the later Platonism--gave way before the steady, +irresistible march of gospel truth, so--we have every reason to hope--it +will be yet again. The Christian feels his heart swell in his breast as +he thinks what, in all human probability, India will be a century, or +even half a century, hence. O what a new life to that fairest of Eastern +lands when she casts herself in sorrow and supplication at the feet of +the living God, and then rises to proclaim to a listening world + + "Her deep repentance and her new-found joy!" + +May God hasten the advent of that happy day! + + + + +THE RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. + + + + +OUTLINE OF THE ESSAY. + + +The progress of Islam was slow until Mohammed cast aside the precepts of +toleration and adopted an aggressive, militant policy. Then it became +rapid. The motives which animated the armies of Islam were +mixed--material and spiritual. Without the truths contained in the +system success would have been impossible, but neither without the sword +would the religion have been planted in Arabia, nor beyond. The +alternatives offered to conquered peoples were Islam, the sword, or +tribute. The drawbacks and attractions of the system are examined. The +former were not such as to deter men of the world from embracing the +faith. The sexual indulgences sanctioned by it are such as to make Islam +"the Easy way." + +The spread of Islam was stayed whenever military success was checked. +The Faith was meant for Arabia and not for the world, hence it is +constitutionally incapable of change or development. The degradation of +woman hinders the growth of freedom and civilization under it. + +Christianity is contrasted in the means used for its propagation, the +methods it employed in grappling with and overcoming the evils that it +found existing in the world, in the relations it established between the +sexes, in its teaching with regard to the respective duties of the civil +and spiritual powers, and, above all, in its redeeming character, and +then the conclusion come to that Christianity is divine in its origin. + + + + +THE + +RISE AND DECLINE OF ISLAM. + + * * * * * + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +[Sidenote: Islam pre-eminent in its rapid spread.] +Among the religions of the earth Islam must take the precedence in the +rapidity and force with which it spread. Within a very short time from +its planting in Arabia the new faith had subdued great and populous +provinces. In half a dozen years, counting from the death of the +founder, the religion prevailed throughout Arabia, Syria, Persia, and +Egypt, and before the close of the century it ruled supreme over the +greater part of the vast populations from Gibraltar to the Oxus, from +the Black Sea to the river Indus. + +[Sidenote: Propagation far quicker than of Christianity.] +In comparison with this grand outburst the first efforts of Christianity +were, to the outward eye, faint and feeble, and its extension so gradual +that what the Mohammedan religion achieved in ten or twenty years it +took the faith of Jesus long centuries to accomplish. + +[Sidenote: Object of the Tract.] +The object of these few pages is, _first_, to inquire briefly into the +causes which led to the marvelous rapidity of the first movement of +Islam: _secondly_, to consider the reasons which eventually stayed its +advance; and, _lastly_, to ascertain why Mohammedan countries have kept +so far in the rear of other lands in respect of intellectual and social +progress. In short, the question is how it was that, Pallas-like, the +faith sprang ready-armed from the ground, conquering and to conquer, and +why, the weapons dropping from its grasp, Islam began to lose its +pristine vigor, and finally relapsed into inactivity. + + + + +I. + +THE RAPID SPREAD OF ISLAM. + + +[Sidenote: Two periods in the mission of Mohammed.] +The personal ministry of Mohammed divides itself into two distinct +periods: first, his life at Mecca as a preacher and a prophet; second, +his life at Medina as a prophet and a king. + +[Sidenote: I. Ministry at Mecca, A.D. 609-622. +Success at Mecca limited.] +It is only in the first of these periods that Islam at all runs parallel +with Christianity. The great body of his fellow-citizens rejected the +ministry of Mohammed and bitterly opposed his claims. His efforts at +Mecca were, therefore, confined to teaching and preaching and to the +publishing of the earlier "Suras," or chapters of his "Revelation." +After some thirteen years spent thus his converts, to the number of +about a hundred and fifty men and women, were forced by the persecution +of the Coreish (the ruling tribe at Mecca, from which Mohammed was +descended) to quit their native city and emigrate to Medina.[35] A +hundred more had previously fled from Mecca for the same cause, and +found refuge at the court of the Negus, or king of Abyssinia; and there +was already a small company of followers among the citizens of Medina. +At the utmost, therefore, the number of disciples gained over by the +simple resort to teaching and preaching did not, during the first twelve +years of Mohammed's ministry, exceed a few hundreds. It is true that the +soil of Mecca was stubborn and (unlike that of Judea) wholly unprepared. +The cause also, at times, became the object of sustained and violent +opposition. Even so much of success was consequently, under the peculiar +circumstances, remarkable. But it was by no means singular. The progress +fell far short of that made by Christianity during the corresponding +period of its existence,[36] and indeed by many reformers who have been +the preachers of a new faith. It gave no promise whatever of the +marvelous spectacle that was about to follow. + +[Sidenote: II. Change of policy at Medina, A.D. 622-632. +Arabia converted from Medina at the point of the sword.] +Having escaped from Mecca and found a new and congenial home in Medina, +Mohammed was not long in changing his front. At Mecca, surrounded by +enemies, he taught toleration. He was simply the preacher commissioned +to deliver a message, and bidden to leave the responsibility with his +Master and his hearers. He might argue with the disputants, but it must +be "in a way most mild and gracious;" for "in religion" (such was his +teaching before he reached Medina) "there should be neither violence nor +constraint."[37] At Medina the precepts of toleration were quickly cast +aside and his whole policy reversed. No sooner did Mohammed begin to be +recognized and obeyed as the chief of Medina than he proceeded to attack +the Jewish tribes settled in the neighborhood because they refused to +acknowledge his claims and believe in him as a prophet foretold in their +Scriptures; two of these tribes were exiled, and the third exterminated +in cold blood. In the second year after the Hegira[a], or flight from Mecca +(the period from which the Mohammedan era dates), he began to plunder +the caravans of the Coreish, which passed near to Medina on their +mercantile journeys between Arabia and Syria. So popular did the cause +of the now militant and marauding prophet speedily become among the +citizens of Medina and the tribes around that, after many battles fought +with varying success, he was able, in the eighth year of the Hegira[b] to +re-enter his native city at the head of ten thousand armed followers. +Thenceforward success was assured. None dared to oppose his pretensions. +And before his death, in the eleventh year of the Hegira[c], all Arabia, +from Bab-el-Mandeb and Oman to the confines of the Syrian desert, was +forced to submit to the supreme authority of the now kingly prophet and +to recognize the faith and obligations of Islam.[38] + +[Sidenote: Religion of Mohammed described.] +This _Islam_, so called from its demanding the entire "surrender" of the +believer to the will and service of God, is based on the recognition of +Mohammed as a prophet foretold in the Jewish and Christian +Scriptures--the last and greatest of the prophets. On him descended the +Koran from time to time, an immediate revelation from the Almighty. +Idolatry and polytheism are with iconoclastic zeal denounced as sins of +the deepest dye; while the unity of the Deity is proclaimed as the grand +and cardinal doctrine of the faith. Divine providence pervades the +minutest concerns of life, and predestination is taught in its most +naked form. Yet prayer is enjoined as both meritorious and effective; +and at five stated times every day must it be specially performed. The +duties generally of the moral law are enforced, though an evil laxity is +given in the matter of polygamy and divorce. Tithes are demanded as alms +for the poor. A fast during the month of Ramzan must be kept throughout +the whole of every day; and the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca--an ancient +institution, the rites of which were now divested of their heathenish +accompaniments--maintained. The existence of angels and devils is +taught, and heaven and hell are depicted in material colors--the one of +sensuous pleasure, the other of bodily torment. Finally, the +resurrection, judgment, and retribution of good and evil are set forth +in great detail. Such was the creed--"_There is no god but the_ +Lord, _and_ Mohammed _is his prophet_"--to which Arabia now became +obedient. + +[Sidenote: Arabia apostatizes; but is speedily reconquered and +reclaimed, A.D. 633.] +But immediately on the death of Mohammed the entire peninsula relapsed +into apostasy. Medina and Mecca remained faithful; but every-where else +the land seethed with rebellion. Some tribes joined the "false +prophets," of whom four had arisen in different parts of Arabia; some +relapsed into their ancient heathenism; while others proposed a +compromise--they would observe the stated times of prayer, but would be +excused the tithe. Every-where was rampant anarchy. The apostate tribes +attacked Medina, but were repulsed by the brave old Caliph Abu Bekr, who +refused to abate one jot or tittle, as the successor of Mohammed, of the +obligations of Islam. Eleven columns were sent forth under as many +leaders, trained in the warlike school of Mohammed. These fought their +way, step by step, successfully; and thus, mainly through the wisdom and +firmness of Abu Bekr and the valor and genius of Khalid, "the Sword of +God," the Arab tribes, one by one, were overcome and forced back into +their allegiance and the profession of Islam. The reconquest of Arabia +and re-imposition of Mohammedanism as the national faith, which it took +a whole year to accomplish, is thus described by an Arabian author, who +wrote at the close of the second century of the Mohammedan era: + + After his decease there remained not one of the followers of the + prophet that did not apostatize, saving only a small company of his + "Companions" and kinsfolk, who hoped thus to secure the government + to themselves. Hereupon Abu Bekr displayed marvelous skill, energy, + and address, so that the power passed into his hands.... And thus + he persevered until the apostate tribes were all brought back to + their allegiance, some by kindly treatment, persuasion, and craft; + some through terror and fear of the sword; and others by the + prospect of power and wealth as well as by the lusts and pleasures + of this life. And so it came to pass that all the Bedouin tribes + were in the end converted outwardly, but not from inward + conviction.[39] + +[Sidenote: The Arabs thus reclaimed were, at the first, sullen.] +The temper of the tribes thus reclaimed by force of arms was at the +first strained and sullen. But the scene soon changed. Suddenly the +whole peninsula was shaken, and the people, seized with a burning zeal, +issued forth to plant the new faith in other lands. It happened on this +wise: + +[Sidenote: Roused by war-cry, they issue from the peninsula, A.D. 634, +_et. seq._ +The opposing forces. +Arab enthusiasm.] +The columns sent from Medina to reduce the rebellious tribes to the +north-west on the Gulf of Ayla, and to the north-east on the Persian +Gulf, came at once into collision with the Christian Bedouins of Syria +on the one hand and with those of Mesopotamia on the other. These again +were immediately supported by the neighboring forces of the Roman and +Persian empires, whose vassals respectively they were. And so, before +many months, Abu Bekr found his generals opposed by great and imposing +armies on either side. He was, in fact, waging mortal combat at one and +the same moment with the Kaiser and the Chosroes, the Byzantine emperor +and the great king of Persia. The risk was imminent, and an appeal went +forth for help to meet the danger. The battle-cry resounded from one end +of Arabia to the other, and electrified the land. Levy after levy, _en +masse_, started up at the call from every quarter of the peninsula, and +the Bedouin tribes, as bees from their hive, streamed forth in swarms, +animated by the prospect of conquest, plunder, and captive damsels, or, +if slain in battle, by the still more coveted prize of the "martyr" in +the material paradise of Mohammed. With a military ardor and new-born +zeal in which carnal and spiritual aspirations were strangely blended, +the Arabs rushed forth to the field, like the war-horse of Job, "that +smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains and the +shouting." Sullen constraint was in a moment transformed into an +absolute devotion and fiery resolve to spread the faith. The Arab +warrior became the missionary of Islam. + +[Sidenote: Arabs, a military body, subsidized and mobilized by Omar.] +It was now the care of Omar, the second caliph or ruler of the new-born +empire, to establish a system whereby the spirit militant, called into +existence with such force and fervor, might be rendered permanent. The +entire Arabian people was subsidized. The surplus revenues which in +rapidly increasing volume began to flow from the conquered lands into +the Moslem treasuries were to the last farthing distributed among the +soldiers of Arabian descent. The whole nation was enrolled, and the name +of every warrior entered upon the roster of Islam. Forbidden to settle +anywhere, and relieved from all other work, the Arab hordes became, in +fact, a standing army threatening the world. Great bodies of armed men +were kept thus ever mobilized, separate and in readiness for new +enterprise. + +[Sidenote: Mission of Islam described by Fairbairn.] +The change which came over the policy of the Founder of the Faith at +Medina, and paved the way for this marvelous system of world-wide rapine +and conversion to Islam, is thus described by a thoughtful and sagacious +writer: + + Medina was fatal to the higher capabilities of Islam. Mohammed + became then a king; his religion was incorporated in a State that + had to struggle for its life in the fashion familiar to the + rough-handed sons of the desert. The prophet was turned into the + legislator and commander; his revelations were now laws, and now + military orders and manifestoes. The mission of Islam became one + that only the sword could accomplish, robbery of the infidel became + meritorious, and conquest the supreme duty it owed to the world.... + + The religion which lived an unprospering and precarious life, so + long as it depended on the prophetic word alone, became an + aggressive and victorious power so soon as it was embodied in a + State.[40] + +[Sidenote: And by von Kremer.] +Another learned and impartial authority tells us: + + The Mussulman power under the first four caliphs was nothing but a + grand religio-political association of Arab tribes for universal + plunder and conquest under the holy banner of Islam, and the + watch-word, "There is no god but the Lord, and Mohammed is + his apostle." On pretext of spreading the only true religion the + Arabs swallowed up fair provinces lying all around, and, driving a + profitable business, enriched themselves simultaneously in a + worldly sense.[41] + +[Sidenote: Religious merit of "fighting in the ways of the Lord."] +The motives which nerved the armies of Islam were a strange combination +of the lower instincts of nature with the higher aspirations of the +spirit. To engage in the Holy War was the rarest and most blessed of all +religious virtues, and conferred on the combatant a special merit; and +side by side with it lay the bright prospect of spoil and female slaves, +conquest and glory. "Mount thy horse," said Osama ibn Zeid to Abu Bekr +as he accompanied the Syrian army a little way on its march, out of +Medina. "Nay," replied the caliph, "I will not ride, but I will walk and +soil my feet a little space in the ways of the Lord. Verily, every +footstep in the ways of the Lord is equal in merit to manifold good +works, and wipeth away a multitude of sins."[42] And of the "martyrs," +those who fell in these crusading campaigns, Mohammed thus described the +blessed state: + + Think not, in any wise, of those killed in the ways of the Lord, as + if they were dead. Yea, they are alive, and are nourished with + their Lord, exulting in that which God hath given them of his + favor, and rejoicing in behalf of those who have not yet joined + them, but are following after. No terror afflicteth them, neither + are they grieved.--Sura iii. + +[Sidenote: Material fruits of Moslem crusade.] +The material fruits of their victories raised the Arabs at once from +being the needy inhabitants of a stony, sterile soil, where, with +difficulty, they eked out a hardy subsistence, to be the masters of rich +and luxuriant lands flowing with milk and honey. After one of his great +victories on the plains of Chaldea, Khalid called together his troops, +flushed with conquest, and lost in wonder at the exuberance around them, +and thus addressed them: "Ye see the riches of the land. Its paths drop +fatness and plenty, so that the fruits of the earth are scattered abroad +even as stones are in Arabia. If but as a provision for this present +life, it were worth our while to fight for these fair fields and banish +care and penury forever from us." Such were the aspirations dear to the +heart of every Arab warrior. Again, after the battle of Jalola, a few +years later, the treasure and spoil of the Persian monarch, captured by +the victors, was valued at thirty million of dirhems (about a million +sterling). The royal fifth (the crown share of the booty) was sent as +usual to Medina under charge of Ziad, who, in the presence of the Caliph +Omar, harangued the citizens in a glowing description of what had been +won in Persia, fertile lands, rich cities, and endless spoil, besides +captive maids and princesses. + +[Sidenote: Rich booty taken in the capital of Persia, A.D. 637.] +In relating the capture of Medain (the ancient Ctesiphon) tradition +revels in the untold wealth which fell into the hands of Sad, the +conqueror, and his followers. Besides millions of treasure, there was +endless store of gold and silver vessels, rich vestments, and rare and +precious things. The Arabs gazed bewildered at the tiara, brocaded +vestments, jeweled armor, and splendid surroundings of the throne. They +tell of a camel of silver, life-size, with a rider of gold, and of a +golden horse with emeralds for teeth, the neck set with rubies, the +trappings of gold. And we may read in Gibbon of the marvelous banqueting +carpet, representing a garden, the ground of wrought gold, the walks of +silver, the meadows of emeralds, rivulets of pearls, and flowers and +fruits of diamonds, rubies, and rare gems. The precious metals lost +their conventional value, gold was parted with for its weight in silver; +and so on.[43] + +[Sidenote: Success in battle ascribed to divine aid.] +It is the virtue of Islam that it recognizes a special providence, +seeing the hand of God, as in every thing, so pre-eminently also in +victory. When Sad, therefore, had established himself in the palace of +the Chosroes he was not forgetful to render thanks in a service of +praise. One of the princely mansions was turned for the moment into a +temple, and there, followed by his troops, he ascribed the victory to +the Lord of Hosts. The lesson accompanying the prayers was taken from a +Sura (or chapter of the Koran) which speaks of Pharaoh and his riders +being overwhelmed in the Red Sea, and contains this passage, held to be +peculiarly appropriate to the occasion: + + "How many gardens and fountains did they leave behind, + And fields of corn, and fair dwelling-places, + And pleasant things which they enjoyed! + Even thus have We made another people to inherit the same."[44] + +[Sidenote: "Martyrdom" in the field coveted by Moslem crusaders. +The Moslem crown of martyrdom.] +Such as fell in the conflict were called martyrs; a halo of glory +surrounded them, and special joys awaited them even on the battlefield. +And so it came to pass that the warriors of Islam had an unearthly +longing for the crown of martyrdom. The Caliph Omar was inconsolable at +the loss of his brother, Zeid, who fell in the fatal "Garden of Death," +at the battle of Yemama: "Thou art returned home," he said to his son, +Abdallah, "safe and sound, and Zeid is dead. Wherefore wast not thou +slain before him? I wish not to see thy face." "Father," answered +Abdallah, "he asked for the crown of martyrdom, and the Lord granted it. +I strove after the same, but it was not given unto me."[45] It was the +proud boast of the Saracens in their summons to the craven Greeks and +Persians that "they loved death more than their foes loved life." +Familiar with the pictures drawn in the Koran of the beautiful +"houries" of Paradise,[46] the Saracens believed that immediate fruition +on the field of battle was the martyr's special prize. We are told of a +Moslem soldier, four-score years of age, who, seeing a comrade fall by +his side, cried out, "O Paradise! how close art thou beneath the arrow's +point and the falchion's flash! O Hashim! even now I see heaven opened, +and black-eyed maidens all bridally attired, clasping thee in their fond +embrace." And shouting thus the aged warrior, fired again with the ardor +of youth, rushed upon the enemy and met the envied fate. For those who +survived there was the less ethereal but closer prospect of Persian, +Greek, or Coptic women, both maids and matrons, who, on "being taken +captive by their right hand," were forthwith, according to the Koran, +without stint of number, at the conqueror's will and pleasure. These, +immediately they were made prisoners, might (according to the example +of Mohammed himself at Kheibar) be carried off without further ceremony +to the victor's tent; and in this respect the Saracens certainly were +nothing loath to execute upon the heathen the judgment written in their +law. So strangely was religious fanaticism fed and fostered in the +Moslem camp by incentives irresistible to the Arab--fight and foray, the +spoil of war and captive charms. + +[Sidenote: Martial passages from Koran recited on field of battle.] +The courage of the troops was stimulated by the divine promises of +victory, which were read (and on like occasions still are read) at the +head of each column drawn up for battle. Thus, on the field of Cadesiya[d], +which decided the fate of Persia, the Sura _Jehad_, with the stirring +tale of the thousand angels that fought on the Prophet's side at Bedr +was recited, and such texts as these: + +_Stir up the faithful unto battle. If there be twenty steadfast among +you they shall put two hundred to flight of the unbelievers, and a +hundred shall put to flight a thousand. Victory is from the Lord. He is +mighty and wise. I the Lord will cast terror into the hearts of the +infidels. Strike off their heads and their fingers' ends. Beware lest ye +turn your back in battle. Verily, he that turneth his back shall draw +down upon himself the wrath of God. His abode shall be hell fire; an +evil journey thither._ + +And we are told that on the recital of these verses "the heart of the +people was refreshed and their eyes lightened, and they felt the +tranquillity that ensueth thereupon." Three days they fought, and on the +morning of the fourth, returning with unabated vigor to the charge, they +scattered to the winds the vast host of Persia.[47] + +[Sidenote: Defeat of Byzantine army on the Yermuk, A.D. 634.] +Nor was it otherwise in the great battle of the Yermuk, which laid Syria +at the feet of the Arabs. The virgin vigor of the Saracens was fired by +a wild fanatical zeal "to fight in the ways of the Lord," obtaining thus +heavenly merit and a worldly prize--the spoil of Syria and its fair +maidens ravished from their homes; or should they fall by the sword, the +black-eyed houries waiting for them on the field of battle. "Of warriors +nerved by this strange combination of earth and heaven, of the flesh and +of the spirit, of the incentives at once of faith and rapine, of +fanatical devotion to the prophet and deathless passion for the sex, ten +might chase a hundred half-hearted Romans. The forty thousand Moslems +were stronger far than the two hundred and forty thousand of the enemy." +The combat lasted for weeks; but at the last the Byzantine force was +utterly routed, and thousands hurled in wild confusion over the beetling +cliffs of the Yermuk into the yawning chasm of Wacusa.[48] + +[Sidenote: Islam planted by aid of material force.] +Such, then, was the nature of the Moslem propaganda, such the agency by +which the faith was spread, and such the motives at once material and +spiritual by which its martial missionaries were inspired. No wonder +that the effete empires of Rome and Persia recoiled and quivered at the +shock, and that province after province quickly fell under the sway of +Islam. It is far from my intention to imply that the truths set forth by +the new faith had nothing to do with its success. On the contrary, it +may well be admitted that but for those truths success might have been +impossible. The grand enunciation of the Divine Unity, and the duty of +an absolute submission to the same; the recognition of a special +providence reaching to the minutest details of life; the inculcation of +prayer and other religious duties; the establishment of a code in which +the leading principles of morality are enforced, and the acknowledgment +of previous revelations in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, told +not only on the idolaters of Arabia and the fire-worshipers of Persia, +but on Jews and Samaritans and the followers of a debased and +priest-ridden Christianity. All this is true; but it is still not the +less true that without the sword Islam would never have been planted +even in Arabia, much less ever have spread to the countries beyond. The +weapons of its warfare were "carnal," material, and earthly; and by them +it conquered. + +[Sidenote: Alternatives offered to the conquered nations: Islam, the +Sword, or Tribute.] +The pressure brought to bear on the inhabitants of the countries overrun +by Saracen arms was of the most stringent character. They were offered +the triple alternative--Islam, the Sword, or Tribute. The first brought +immediate relief. Acceptance of the faith not only stayed the enemy's +hand, and conferred immunity from the perils of war, but associated the +convert with his conquerors in the common brotherhood and in all the +privileges of Islam. + +[Sidenote: Acceptance of Islam, immediate relief from the sword.] +Reading the story of the spread of Islam, we are constantly told of this +and that enemy, that "being beaten, he _believed_ and embraced the +faith." Take as an example of an every-day occurrence the story of +Hormuzan. A Persian prince of high rank long maintained a border +warfare against the Moslems. At last he was taken prisoner and sent in +chains to Medina. As he was conducted into the Great Mosque, Omar +exclaimed, "Blessed be the Lord, that hath humbled this man and the like +of him!" He bade them disrobe the prisoner and clothe him in sackcloth. +Then, whip in hand, he upbraided him for his oft-repeated attacks and +treachery. Hormuzan made as if fain to reply; then gasping, like one +faint from thirst, he begged for water to drink. "Give it him," said the +caliph, "and let him drink in peace." "Nay," cried the wretched captive, +trembling, "I fear to drink, lest some one slay me unawares." "Thy life +is safe," said Omar, "until thou hast drunk the water up." The words +were no sooner said than Hormuzan emptied the vessel on the ground. "I +wanted not the water," he said, "but quarter, and thou hast given it +me." "Liar!" cried Omar, angrily, "thy life is forfeit." "But not," +interposed the by-standers, "until he drink the water up." "Strange," +said Omar, "the fellow hath deceived me; and yet I cannot spare the life +of one who hath slain so many noble Moslems. I swear that thou shalt not +gain by thy deceit unless thou wilt forthwith embrace Islam." Upon +that, "_believing_, he made profession of the true faith upon the spot;" +and thenceforth, residing at Medina, he received a pension of the +highest grade.[49] + +[Sidenote: Tribute and humiliation. +Disabilities imposed on Jews and Christians.] +On the other hand, for those who held to their ancestral faith there was +no escape from the second or the third alternative. If they would avoid +the sword, or, having wielded it, were beaten, they must become +tributary. Moreover, the payment of tribute is not the only condition +enjoined by the Koran. "Fight against them (the Jews and Christians) +until they pay tribute with the hand, _and are humbled_."[50] The +command fell on willing ears. An ample interpretation was given to it. +And so it came to pass that, though Jews and Christians were, on the +payment of tribute, tolerated in the profession of their ancestral +faith, they were yet subjected (and still are subjected) to severe +humiliation. The nature and extent of the degradation to which they were +brought down, and the strength of the inducement to purchase exemption +and the equality of civil rights, by surrendering their religion, may be +learned from the provisions which were embodied in the code named _The +Ordinance of Omar_, which has been more or less enforced from the +earliest times. Besides the tribute and various other imposts levied +from the "People of the Book,"[51] and the duty of receiving Moslem +travelers quartered upon them, the dress of both sexes must be +distinguished by broad stripes of yellow. They are forbidden to appear +on horseback, and if mounted on a mule or ass their stirrups must be of +wood, and their saddles known by knobs of the same material. Their +graves must not rise above the level of the soil, and the devil's mark +is placed upon the lintel of their doors. Their children must be taught +by Moslem masters, and the race, however able or well qualified, +proscribed from any office of high emolument or trust. Besides the +churches spared at the time of conquest no new buildings can be erected +for the purposes of worship; nor can free entrance into their holy +places at pleasure be refused to the Moslem. No cross must remain in +view outside, nor any church-bells be rung. They must refrain from +processions in the street at Easter, and other solemnities; and from any +thing, in short, whether by outward symbol, word, or deed, which could +be construed into rivalry, or competition with the ruling faith. Such +was the so-called _Code of Omar_. Enforced with less or greater +stringency, according to the intolerance and caprice of the day, by +different dynasties, it was, and (however much relaxed in certain +countries) it still remains, the law of Islam. One must admire the rare +tenacity of the Christian faith, which, with but scanty light and hope, +held its ground through weary ages of insult and depression, and still +survives to see the dawning of a brighter day.[52] + +[Sidenote: Continuing inducements in times of peace.] +Such, then, was the hostile attitude of Islam militant in its early +days; such the pressure brought to bear on conquered lands for its +acceptance; and such the disabilities imposed upon recusant Jews and +Christians. On the one hand, rapine, plunder, slavery, tribute, civil +disability; on the other, security, peace, and honor. We need not be +surprised that, under such constraint, conquered peoples succumbed +before Islam. Nor were the temporal inducements to conversion confined +to the period during which the Saracens were engaged in spreading Islam +by force of arms. Let us come down a couple of centuries from the time +of Mohammed, and take the reign of the tolerant and liberal-minded +sovereign, Al Mamun. + +[Sidenote: Evidence of Al Kindy in second century of Hegira, A.D. 830. +Speech of Al Mamun.] +Among the philosophers of all creeds whom that great caliph gathered +around him at Bagdad was a noble Arab of the Nestorian faith, descended +from the kingly tribe of the Beni Kinda, and hence called _Al Kindy_. A +friend of this Eastern Christian, himself a member of the royal family, +invited Al Kindy to embrace Islam in an epistle enlarging on the +distinguished rank which, in virtue of his descent, he would (if a true +believer) occupy at court, and the other privileges, spiritual and +material, social and conjugal, which he would enjoy. In reply the +Christian wrote an apology of singular eloquence and power, throwing a +flood of light on the worldly inducements which, even at that +comparatively late period, abounded in a Moslem state to promote +conversion to Islam. Thus Al Mamun himself, in a speech delivered before +his council, characterizes certain of his courtiers accused as secret +adherents of the Zoroastrian faith: + + "Though professing Islam, they are free from the same. This they do + to be seen of me, while their convictions, I am well aware, are + just the opposite of that which they profess. They belong to a + class which embrace Islam, not from any love of this our faith, but + thinking thereby to gain access to our court, and share in the + honor, wealth, and power of the realm. They have no inward + persuasion of that which they outwardly profess."[53] + +[Sidenote: Converts from sordid motives.] +Again, speaking of the various classes brought over to Islam by sordid +and unworthy motives, Al Kindy says: + + Moreover, there are the idolatrous races--Magians and Jews--low + people aspiring by the profession of Islam to raise themselves to + riches and power and to form alliances with the families of the + learned and honorable. There are, besides, hypocritical men of the + world, who in this way obtain indulgences in the matter of marriage + and concubinage which are forbidden to them by the Christian faith. + Then we have the dissolute class given over wholly to the lusts of + the flesh. And lastly there are those who by this means obtain a + more secure and easy livelihood.[54] + +[Sidenote: Al Kindy contrasts the Christian confessor with the Moslem +"martyr." +The Christian confessor and the Moslem martyr.] +Before leaving this part of our subject it may be opportune to quote a +few more passages from Al Kindy, in which he contrasts the inducements +that, under the military and political predominance of Islam, promoted +its rapid spread, and the opposite conditions under which Christianity +made progress, slow, indeed, comparatively, but sure and steady. First, +he compares the Christian confessor with the Moslem "martyr:" + + I marvel much, he says, that ye call those _martyrs_ that fall in + war. Thou hast read, no doubt, in history of the followers of + Christ put to death in the persecutions of the kings of Persia and + elsewhere. Say, now, which are the more worthy to be called + martyrs, these, or thy fellows that fall fighting for the world and + the power thereof? How diverse were the barbarities and kinds of + death inflicted on the Christian confessors! The more they were + slain the more rapidly spread the faith; in place of one sprang up + a hundred. On a certain occasion, when a great multitude had been + put to death, one at court said to the king, "The number of them + increaseth instead of, as thou thinkest, diminishing." "How can + that be?" exclaimed the king. "But yesterday," replied the + courtier, "thou didst put such and such a one to death, and lo, + there were converted double that number; and the people say that a + man appeared to the confessors from heaven strengthening them in + their last moments." Whereupon the king himself was converted. In + those days men thought not their lives dear unto them. Some were + transfixed while yet alive; others had their limbs cut off one + after another; some were cast to the wild beasts and others burned + in the fire. Such continued long to be the fate of the Christian + confessors. No parallel is found thereto in any other religion; and + all was endured with constancy and even with joy. One smiled in the + midst of his great suffering. "Was it cold water," they asked, + "that was brought unto thee?" "No," answered the sufferer, "it was + one like a youth that stood by me and anointed my wounds; and that + made me smile, for the pain forthwith departed." + + Now tell me seriously, my friend, which of the two hath the best + claim to be called a _martyr_, "slain in the ways of the Lord:" he + who surrendereth his life rather than renounce his faith; who, when + it is said, Fall down and worship the sun and moon, or the idols of + silver and gold, work of men's hands, instead of the true God, + refuseth, choosing rather to give up life, abandon wealth, and + forego even wife and family; or he that goeth forth, ravaging and + laying waste, plundering and spoiling, slaying the men, carrying + away their children into captivity, and ravishing their wives and + maidens in his unlawful embrace, and then shall call it "Jehad in + the ways of the Lord!" ... And not content therewith, instead of + humbling thyself before the Lord, and seeking pardon for the crime, + thou sayest of such a one slain in the war that "he hath earned + paradise," and thou namest him "a martyr in the ways of the + Lord!"[55] + +And again, contrasting the spread of Islam, "its rattling quiver and its +glittering sword," with the silent progress of Christianity, our +apologist, after dwelling on the teaching and the miracles of the +apostles, writes: + + They published their message by means of these miracles; and thus + great and powerful kings and philosophers and learned men and + judges of the earth hearkened unto them, without lash or rod, with + neither sword nor spear, nor the advantages of birth or + "Helpers;"[56] with no wisdom of this world, or eloquence or power + of language, or subtlety of reason; with no worldly inducement, nor + yet again with any relaxation of the moral law, but simply at the + voice of truth enforced by miracles beyond the power of man to + show. And so there came over to them the kings and great ones of + the earth. And the philosophers abandoned their systems, with all + their wisdom and learning, and betook them to a saintly life, + giving up the delights of this world together with their + old-established usages, and became followers of a company of poor + men, fishers and publicans, who had neither name nor rank nor any + claim other than that they were obedient to the command of the + Messiah--he that gave them power to do such wonderful works.[57] + +[Sidenote: The apostles compared with the chiefs of Islam.] +And yet once more, comparing the apostles with the military chiefs of +Islam, Al Kindy proceeds: + + After the descent of the Holy Ghost and the gift of tongues the + apostles separated each to the country to which he was called. They + wrote out in every tongue the holy Gospel, and the story and + teaching of Christ, at the dictation of the Holy Ghost. So the + nations drew near unto them, believing their testimony; and, giving + up the world and their false beliefs, they embraced the Christian + faith as soon as ever the dawn of truth and the light of the good + tidings broke in upon them. Distinguishing the true from the false, + and error from the right direction, they embraced the Gospel and + held it fast without doubt or wavering, when they saw the wonderful + works and signs of the apostles, and their lives and conversation + set after the holy and beautiful example of our Saviour, the traces + whereof remain even unto the present day.... How different this + from the life of thy Master (Mohammed) and his companions, who + ceased not to go forth in battle and rapine, to smite with the + sword, to seize the little ones, and ravish the wives and maidens, + plundering and laying waste, and carrying the people into + captivity. And thus they continue unto this present day, inciting + men to these evil deeds, even as it is told of Omar the Caliph. "If + one among you," said he, "hath a heathen neighbor and is in need, + let him seize and sell him." And many such things they say and + teach. Look now at the lives of Simon and Paul, who went about + healing the sick and raising the dead, by the name of Christ our + Lord; and mark the contrast.[58] + +[Sidenote: Such are the conclusions of a native of Chaldea.] +Such are the reflections of one who lived at a Mohammedan court, and +who, moreover, flourishing as he did a thousand years ago, was +sufficiently near the early spread of Islam to be able to contrast what +he saw and heard and read of the causes of its success with those of the +Gospel, and had the courage to confess the same. + +[Sidenote: Hinderances or inducements inherent in the faith itself.] +Apart, now, from the outward and extraneous aids given to Islam by the +sword and by the civil arm I will inquire for a moment what natural +effect the teaching of Islam itself had in attracting or repelling +mankind. I do not now speak of any power contained in the truths it +inculcated to convert to Islam by the rousing and quickening of +spiritual impulses; for that lies beyond my present purpose, which is to +inquire whether there is not in material causes and secular motives +enough in themselves to account for success. I speak rather of the +effect of the indulgences granted by Islam, on the one hand, as +calculated to attract; and of the restraints imposed and sacrifices +required, on the other, as calculated to repel. How far, in fact, did +there exist inducements or hinderances to its adoption inherent in the +religion itself? + +[Sidenote: Requirements of Islam: prayer. +Prohibition of wine, games of chance, and usury. +Fast of Ramzan.] +What may be regarded as the most constant and irksome of the obligations +of Islam is the duty of prayer, which must be observed at stated +intervals, five times every day, with the contingent ceremony of +lustration. The rite consists of certain forms and passages to be +repeated with prescribed series of prostrations and genuflexions. These +must be repeated at the right times--but anywhere, in the house or by +the wayside, as well as in the mosque; and the ordinance is obligatory +in whatever state of mind the worshiper may be, or however occupied. As +the appointed hour comes round the Moslem is bound to turn aside to +pray--so much so that in Central Asia we read of the police driving the +backward worshiper by the lash to discharge the duty. Thus, with the +mass of Mussulmans, the obligation becomes a mere formal ceremony, and +one sees it performed anywhere and every-where by the whole people, like +any social custom, as a matter of course. No doubt there are exceptions; +but with the multitude it does not involve the irksomeness of a +spiritual service, and so it sits lightly on high and low. The Friday +prayers should as a rule be attended in the mosque; but neither need +there be much devotion there; and, once performed, the rest of the day +is free for pleasure or for business.[59] The prohibition of wine is a +restriction which was severely felt in the early days of the faith; but +it was not long before the universal sentiment (though eluded in some +quarters) supported it. The embargo upon games of chance was certainly +unpopular; and the prohibition of the receipt of interest was also an +important limitation, tending as it did to shackle the freedom of +mercantile speculation; but they have been partially evaded on various +pretexts. The fast throughout the month of Ramzan was a severer test; +but even this lasts only during the day; and at night, from sunset till +dawn, all restrictions are withdrawn, not only in respect of food, but +of all otherwise lawful gratifications.[60] + +[Sidenote: Little that is unpopular in these ordinances.] +There is nothing, therefore, in the requirements and ordinances of +Islam, excepting the fast, that is very irksome to humanity, or which, +as involving any material sacrifice, or the renunciation of the +pleasures or indulgences of life, should lead a man of the world to +hesitate in embracing the new faith. + +[Sidenote: Indulgences allowed in the matter of wives and concubines.] +On the other hand, the license allowed by the Koran between the +sexes--at least in favor of the male sex--is so wide that for such as +have the means and the desire to take advantage of it there need be no +limit whatever to sexual indulgence. It is true that adultery is +punishable by death and fornication with stripes. But then the Koran +gives the believer permission to have four wives at a time. And he may +exchange them--that is, he may divorce them at pleasure, taking others +in their stead.[61] And, as if this were not license enough, the divine +law permits the believer to consort with all female slaves whom he may +be the master of--such, namely, as have been taken in war, or have been +acquired by gift or purchase. These he may receive into his harem +instead of wives, or in addition to them; and without any limit of +number or restraint whatever he is at liberty to cohabit with them. + +[Sidenote: Polygamy, concubinage, and divorce. Practice at the rise of +Islam.] +A few instances taken at random will enable the reader to judge how the +indulgences thus allowed by the religion were taken advantage of in the +early days of Islam. In the great plague which devastated Syria seven +years after the prophet's death Khalid, the Sword of God, lost _forty_ +sons. Abdal Rahman, one of the "companions" of Mohammed, had issue by +sixteen wives, not counting slave-girls.[62] Moghira ibn Shoba, another +"companion," and governor of Kufa and Bussorah, had in his harem eighty +consorts, free and servile. Coming closer to the Prophet's household, we +find that Mohammed himself at one period had in his harem no fewer than +nine wives and two slave-girls. Of his grandson Hasan we read that his +vagrant passion gained for him the unenviable sobriquet of _The +Divorcer_; for it was only by continually divorcing his consorts that he +could harmonize his craving for fresh nuptials with the requirements of +the divine law, which limited the number of his free wives to four. We +are told that, as a matter of simple caprice, he exercised the power of +divorce seventy (according to other traditions ninety) times. When the +leading men complained to Aly of the licentious practice of his son his +only reply was that the remedy lay in their own hands, of refusing Hasan +their daughters altogether.[63] Such are the material inducements, the +"works of the flesh," which Islam makes lawful to its votaries, and +which promoted thus its early spread. + +[Sidenote: Practice in modern times. +The Malays of Penang. +Lane's testimony concerning Egypt. +The princess of Bhopal's account of Mecca.] +Descending now to modern times, we still find that this sexual license +is taken advantage of more or less in different countries and conditions +of society. The following examples are simply meant as showing to what +excess it is possible for the believer to carry these indulgences, +_under the sanction of his religion_. Of the Malays in Penang it was +written not very long ago: "Young men of thirty to thirty-five years of +age may be met with who have had from fifteen to twenty wives, and +children by several of them. These women have been divorced, married +others, and had children by them." Regarding Egypt, Lane tells us: "I +have heard of men who have been in the habit of marrying a new wife +almost every month."[64] Burkhardt speaks of an Arab forty-five years +old who had had fifty wives, "so that he must have divorced two wives +and married two fresh ones on the average every year." And not to go +further than the sacred city of Mecca, the late reigning princess of +Bhopal, in central India, herself an orthodox follower of the Prophet, +after making the pilgrimage of the holy places, writes thus: + + Women frequently contract as many as ten marriages, and those who + have only been married twice are few in number. If a woman sees her + husband growing old, or if she happen to admire any one else, she + goes to the Shereef (the spiritual and civil head of the holy + city), and after having settled the matter with him she puts away + her husband and takes to herself another, who is, perhaps, + good-looking and rich. In this way a marriage seldom lasts more + than a year or two. + +And of slave-girls the same high and impartial authority, still writing +of the holy city and of her fellow-Moslems, tells us: + + Some of the women (African and Georgian girls) are taken in + marriage; and after that, on being sold again, they receive from + their masters a divorce, and are sold in their houses--that is to + say, they are sent to the purchaser from their master's house on + receipt of payment, and are not exposed for sale in the + slave-market. They are only _married_ when purchased for the first + time.... When the poorer people buy (female) slaves they keep them + for themselves, and change them every year as one would replace old + things by new; but the women who have children are not sold.[65] + +[Sidenote: Islam sanctions a license between the sexes which +Christianity forbids. +The laws of Christianity deter men from carnal indulgences. +Islam the "Easy Way."] +What I desire to make clear is the fact that such things may be +practiced _with the sanction_ of the Scripture which the Moslem holds to +be divine, and that these same indulgences have from the first existed +as inducements which helped materially to forward the spread of the +faith. I am very far, indeed, from implying that excessive indulgence in +polygamy is the universal state of Moslem society. Happily this is not +the case. There are not only individuals, but tribes and districts, +which, either from custom or preference, voluntarily restrict the +license given them in the Koran; while the natural influence of the +family, even in Moslem countries, has an antiseptic tendency that often +itself tends greatly to neutralize the evil.[66] Nor am I seeking to +institute any contrast between the morals at large of Moslem countries +and the rest of the world. If Christian nations are (as with shame it +must be confessed) in some strata of society immoral, it is in the teeth +of their divine law. And the restrictions of that law are calculated, +and in the early days of Christianity did tend, in point of fact, _to +deter men_ devoted to the indulgences of the flesh from embracing the +faith.[67] The religion of Mohammed, on the other hand, gives direct +sanction to the sexual indulgences we have been speaking of. Thus it +panders to the lower instincts of humanity and makes its spread the +easier. In direct opposition to the precepts of Christianity it "makes +provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof." Hence Islam has +been well called by its own votaries the _Easy Way_. Once more, to quote +Al Kindy: + + Thou invitest me (says our apologist to his friend) into the "Easy + way of faith and practice." Alas, alas! for our Saviour in the + Gospel telleth us, "When ye have done all that ye are commanded, + say, We are unprofitable servants; we have but done that which was + commanded us." Where then is our merit? The same Lord Jesus saith, + "How strait is the road which leadeth unto life, and how few they + be that walk therein! How wide the gate that leadeth to + destruction, and how many there be that go in thereat!" Different + this, my friend, from the comforts of thy wide and easy gate, and + the facilities for enjoying, as thou wouldst have me, the pleasures + offered by thy faith in wives and damsels![68] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] A.D. 623. + +[b] A.D. 630. + +[c] A.D. 632. + +[d] A.D. 635. + + + + +II. + +WHY THE SPREAD OF ISLAM WAS STAYED. + + +[Sidenote: Islam stationary in area, and in civilization retrograde.] +Having thus traced the rapid early spread of Islam to its proper source, +I proceed to the remaining topics, namely, the causes which have checked +its further extension, and those likewise which have depressed the +followers of this religion in the scale of civilization. I shall take +the former first--just remarking here, in respect of the latter, that +the depression of Islam is itself one of the causes which retard the +expansion of the faith. + +[Sidenote: The Arabs ceased, in second century, to be a crusading +force.] +As the first spread of Islam was due to the sword, so when the sword was +sheathed Islam ceased to spread. The apostles and missionaries of Islam +were, as we have seen, the martial tribes of Arabia--that is to say, the +grand military force organized by Omar, and by him launched upon the +surrounding nations. Gorged with the plunder of the world, these began, +after a time, to settle on their lees and to mingle with the ordinary +population. So soon as this came to pass they lost the fiery zeal which +at the first had made them irresistible. By the second and third +centuries the Arabs had disappeared as the standing army of the +caliphate, or, in other words, as a body set apart for the dissemination +of the faith. The crusading spirit, indeed, ever and anon burst +forth--and it still bursts forth, as opportunity offers--simply for the +reason that this spirit pervades the Koran, and is ingrained in the +creed. But with the special agency created and maintained during the +first ages for the spread of Islam the incentive of crusade ceased as a +distinctive missionary spring of action, and degenerated into the common +lust of conquest which we meet with in the world at large. + +[Sidenote: With cessation of conquest, Islam ceased to spread.] +The extension of Islam, depending upon military success, stopped +wherever that was checked. The religion advanced or retired, speaking +broadly, as the armed predominance made head or retroceded. Thus the +tide of Moslem victory, rushing along the coast of Africa, extinguished +the seats of European civilization on the Mediterranean, overwhelmed +Spain, and was rapidly advancing north, when the onward wave was stemmed +at Tours; and as with the arms, the faith also of Islam was driven back +into Spain and bounded by the Pyrenees. So, likewise, the hold which +the religion seized both of Spain and Sicily came to an end with +Mussulman defeat. It is true that when once long and firmly rooted, as +in India and China, Islam may survive the loss of military power, and +even flourish. But it is equally true that in no single country has +Islam been planted, nor has it anywhere materially spread, saving under +the banner of the Crescent or the political ascendency of some +neighboring State. Accordingly, we find that, excepting some barbarous +zones in Africa which have been raised thereby a step above the +groveling level of fetichism, the faith has in modern times made no +advance worth mentioning.[69] + +From the Jewish and Christian religions there has (again speaking +broadly) been no secession whatever to Islam since the wave of Saracen +victory was stayed, excepting by the force of arms. Even in the palmy +days of the Abbasside caliphs, our apologist could challenge his +adversary to produce a single conversion otherwise than by reason of +some powerful material inducement. Here is his testimony: + + [Sidenote: Al Kindy's challenge to produce a Christian convert to + Islam apart from material inducements.] + Now tell me, hast thou ever seen, my Friend, (the Lord be gracious + unto thee!) or ever heard of a single person of sound mind--any one + of learning and experience, and acquainted with the Scriptures, + renouncing Christianity otherwise than for some worldly object to + be reached only through thy religion, or for some gratification + withheld by the faith of Jesus? Thou wilt find none. For, excepting + the tempted ones, all continue steadfast in their faith, secure + under our most gracious sovereign, in the profession of their own + religion.[70] + + + + + + +III. + +LOW POSITION OF ISLAM IN THE SCALE OF CIVILIZATION. + + +[Sidenote: Social and intellectual depression.] +I pass on to consider why Mohammedan nations occupy so low a position, +halting as almost every-where they do, in the march of social and +intellectual development. + +[Sidenote: Islam intended for the Arabs. +Wants the faculty of adaptation.] +The reason is not far to find. Islam was meant for Arabia, not for the +world; for the Arabs of the seventh century, not for the Arabs of all +time; and being such, and nothing more, its claim of divine origin +renders change or development impossible. It has within itself neither +the germ of natural growth nor the lively spring of adaptation. Mohammed +declared himself a prophet to the Arabs;[71] and however much in his +later days he may have contemplated the reformation of other religions +beyond the Peninsula, or the further spread of his own (which is +doubtful), still the rites and ceremonies, the customs and the laws +enjoined upon his people, were suitable (if suitable at all) for the +Arabs of that day, and in many respects for them alone. Again, the code +containing these injunctions, social and ceremonial, as well as +doctrinal and didactic, is embodied with every particularity of detail, +as part of the divine law, in the Koran; and so defying, as sacrilege, +all human touch, it stands unalterable forever. From the stiff and rigid +shroud in which it is thus swathed the religion of Mohammed cannot +emerge. It has no plastic power beyond that exercised in its earliest +days. Hardened now and inelastic, it can neither adapt itself nor yet +shape its votaries, nor even suffer them to shape themselves to the +varying circumstances, the wants and developments, of mankind. + +[Sidenote: Local ceremonies: pilgrimage. +Fast of Ramzan.] +We may judge of the local and inflexible character of the faith from one +or two of its ceremonies. To perform the pilgrimage to Mecca and Mount +Arafat, with the slaying of victims at Mina, and the worship of the +Kaaba, is an ordinance obligatory (with the condition only that they +have the means) on all believers, who are bound to make the journey even +from the furthest ends of the earth--an ordinance intelligible enough in +a local worship, but unmeaning and impracticable when required of a +world-wide religion. The same may be said of the fast of Ramzan. It is +prescribed in the Koran to be observed by all with undeviating +strictness during the whole day, from earliest dawn till sunset +throughout the month, with specified exemptions for the sick and +penalties for every occasion on which it is broken. The command, imposed +thus with an iron rule on male and female, young and old, operates with +excessive inequality in different seasons, lands, and climates. However +suitable to countries near the equator, where the variations of day and +night are immaterial, the fast becomes intolerable to those who are far +removed either toward the north or the south; and still closer to the +poles, where night merges into day and day into night, impracticable. +Again, with the lunar year (itself an institution divinely imposed), the +month of Ramzan travels in the third of a century from month to month +over the whole cycle of a year. The fast was established at a time when +Ramzan fell in winter, and the change of season was probably not +foreseen by the Prophet. But the result is one which, under some +conditions of time and place, involves the greatest hardship. For when +the fast comes round to summer the trial in a sultry climate, like that +of the burning Indian plains, of passing the whole day without a morsel +of bread or a drop of water becomes to many the occasion of intense +suffering. Such is the effect of the Arabian legislator's attempt at +circumstantial legislation in matters of religious ceremonial. + +[Sidenote: Political and social depression owing to relations between +the sexes.] +Nearly the same is the case with all the religions obligations of Islam, +prayer, lustration, etc. But although the minuteness of detail with +which these are enjoined tends toward that jejune and formal worship +which we witness every-where in Moslem lands, still there is nothing in +these observances themselves which (religion apart) should lower the +social condition of Mohammedan populations and prevent their emerging +from that normal state of semi-barbarism and uncivilized depression in +which we find all Moslem peoples. For the cause of this we must look +elsewhere; and it may be recognized, without doubt, in the relations +established by the Koran between the sexes. Polygamy, divorce, servile +concubinage, and the veil are at the root of Moslem decadence. + +[Sidenote: Depression of the female sex. +Divorce.] +In respect of married life the condition allotted by the Koran to woman +is that of an inferior dependent creature, destined only for the +service of her master, liable to be cast adrift without the assignment +of a single reason or the notice of a single hour. While the husband +possesses the power of a divorce--absolute, immediate, unquestioned--no +privilege of a corresponding nature has been reserved for the wife. She +hangs on, however unwilling, neglected, or superseded, the perpetual +slave of her lord, if such be his will. When actually divorced she can, +indeed, claim her dower--her _hire_, as it is called in the too plain +language of the Koran; but the knowledge that the wife can make this +claim is at the best a miserable security against capricious taste; and +in the case of bondmaids even that imperfect check is wanting. The power +of divorce is not the only power that may be exercised by the tyrannical +husband. Authority to _confine_ and to _beat_ his wives is distinctly +vested in his discretion.[72] "Thus restrained, secluded, degraded, the +mere minister of enjoyment, liable at the caprice or passion of the +moment to be turned adrift, it would be hard to say that the position of +a wife was improved by the code of Mohammed."[73] Even if the privilege +of divorce and marital tyranny be not exercised, the knowledge of its +existence as a potential right must tend to abate the self-respect, and +in like degree to weaken the influence of the sex, impairing thus the +ameliorating and civilizing power which she was meant to exercise upon +mankind. And the evil has been stereotyped by the Koran for all time. + +[Sidenote: Principal Fairbairn on home-life under Islam.] +I must quote one more passage from Principal Fairbairn on the lowering +influence of Moslem domestic life: + + The God of Mohammed ... "spares the sins the Arab loves. A religion + that does not purify the home cannot regenerate the race; one that + depraves the home is certain to deprave humanity. Motherhood is to + be sacred if manhood is to be honorable. Spoil the wife of sanctity + and for the man the sanctities of life have perished. And so it has + been with Islam. It has reformed and lifted savage tribes; it has + depraved and barbarized civilized nations. At the root of its + fairest culture a worm has ever lived that has caused its blossoms + soon to wither and die. Were Mohammed the hope of man, then his + state were hopeless; before him could only be retrogression, + tyranny, and despair."[74] + +[Sidenote: Demoralizing influence of servile concubinage.] +Still worse is the influence of servile concubinage. The following is +the evidence of a shrewd and able observer in the East: + + All zenana life must be bad for men at all stages of their + existence.... In youth it must be ruin to be petted and spoiled by + a company of submissive slave-girls. In manhood it is no less an + evil that when a man enters into private life his affections should + be put up to auction among foolish, fond competitors full of + mutual jealousies and slanders. We are not left entirely to + conjecture as to the effect of female influence on home-life when + it is exerted under these unenlightened and demoralizing + conditions. That is plainly an element _lying at the root of all + the most important features that differentiate progress from + stagnation_.[75] + +[Sidenote: Deteriorating influence of relations established between the +sexes.] +Such are the institutions which gnaw at the root of Islam and prevent +the growth of freedom and civilization. "By these the unity of the +household is fatally broken and the purity and virtue of the family tie +weakened; the vigor of the dominant classes is sapped; the body politic +becomes weak and languid, excepting for intrigues, and the throne itself +liable to fall a prey to a doubtful or contested +succession"[76]--contested by the progeny of the various rivals crowded +into the royal harem. From the palace downward polygamy and servile +concubinage lower the moral tone, loosen the ties of domestic life, and +hopelessly depress the people. + +[Sidenote: The veil.] +Nor is the veil, albeit under the circumstances a necessary precaution, +less detrimental, though in a different way, to the interests of Moslem +society. This strange custom owes its origin to the Prophet's jealous +temperament. It is forbidden in the Koran for women to appear unveiled +before any member of the other sex with the exception of certain near +relatives of specified propinquity.[77] And this law, coupled with other +restrictions of the kind, has led to the imposition of the _boorka_ or +_purdah_ (the dress which conceals the person and the veil) and to the +greater or less seclusion of the harem and zenana. + +[Sidenote: Society vitiated by the withdrawal of the female sex. +Mohammedan society, thus truncated, incapable of progress. +The defects of Mohammedan society.] +This ordinance and the practices flowing from it must survive, more or +less, so long as the Koran remains the rule of faith. It may appear at +first sight a mere negative evil, a social custom comparatively +harmless; but in truth it has a more debilitating effect upon the Moslem +race perhaps than any thing else, for by it _woman is totally withdrawn +from her proper place in the social circle_. She may, indeed, in the +comparatively laxer license of some lands be seen flitting along the +streets or driving in her carriage; but even so it is like one belonging +to another world, veiled, shrouded, and cut off from intercourse with +those around her. Free only in the retirement of her own secluded +apartments, she is altogether shut out from her legitimate sphere in the +duties and enjoyments of life. But the blight on the sex itself from +this unnatural regulation, sad as it is, must be regarded as a minor +evil. The mischief extends beyond her. The tone and framework of society +as it came from the Maker's hands are altered, damaged, and +deteriorated. From the veil there flows this double injury. The bright, +refining, softening influence of woman is withdrawn from the outer +world, and social life, wanting the gracious influences of the female +sex, becomes, as we see throughout Moslem lands, forced, hard, +unnatural, and morose. Moreover, the Mohammedan nations, for all +purposes of common elevation and for all efforts of philanthropy and +liberty, are (as they live in public and beyond the inner recesses of +their homes) but a truncated and imperfect exhibition of humanity. They +are wanting in one of its constituent parts, the better half, the +humanizing and the softening element. And it would be against the nature +of things to suppose that the body, thus shorn and mutilated, can +possess in itself the virtue and power of progress, reform, and +elevation. The link connecting the family with social and public life is +detached, and so neither is _en rapport_, as it should be, with the +other. Reforms fail to find entrance into the family or to penetrate the +domestic soil where alone they could take root, grow into the national +mind, live, and be perpetuated. Under such conditions the seeds of +civilization refuse to germinate. No real growth is possible in free and +useful institutions, nor any permanent and healthy force in those great +movements which elsewhere tend to uplift the masses and elevate mankind. +There may, it is true, be some advance, from time to time, in science +and in material prosperity; but the social groundwork for the same is +wanting, and the people surely relapse into the semi-barbarism forced +upon them by an ordinance which is opposed to the best instincts of +humanity. Sustained progress becomes impossible. Such is the outcome of +an attempt to improve upon nature and banish woman, the help-meet of +man, from the position assigned by God to her in the world. + +[Sidenote: Yet the veil necessary under existing circumstances.] +At the same time I am not prepared to say that in view of the laxity of +the conjugal relations inherent in the institutions of Islam some such +social check as that of the veil (apart from the power to confine and +castigate) is not needed for the repression of license and the +maintenance of outward decency. There is too much reason to apprehend +that free social intercourse might otherwise be dangerous to morality +under the code of Mohammed, and with the example before men and women of +the early worthies of Islam. So long as the sentiments and habits of the +Moslem world remain as they are some remedial or preventive measure of +the kind seems indispensable. But the peculiarity of the Mussulman +polity, as we have seen, is such that the sexual laws and institutions +which call for restrictions of the kind as founded on the Koran are +incapable of change; they must co-exist with the faith itself, and last +while it lasts. So long, then, as this polity prevails the depression of +woman, as well as her exclusion from the social circle, must injure the +health and vitality of the body politic, impair its purity and grace, +paralyze vigor, retard progress in the direction of freedom, +philanthropy, and moral elevation, and generally perpetuate the normal +state of Mohammedan peoples, as one of semi-barbarism. + +To recapitulate, we have seen: + +[Sidenote: Recapitulation.] +_First._ That Islam was propagated mainly by the sword. With the tide of +conquest the religion went forward; where conquest was arrested made no +advance beyond; and at the withdrawal of the Moslem arms the faith also +commonly retired. + +_Second._ The inducements, whether material or spiritual, to embrace +Islam have proved insufficient of themselves (speaking broadly) to +spread the faith, in the absence of the sword, and without the influence +of the political or secular arm. + +_Third._ The ordinances of Islam, those especially having respect to the +female sex, have induced an inherent weakness, which depresses the +social system and retards its progress. + +[Sidenote: Contrast with Christianity.] +If the reader should have followed me in the argument by which these +conclusions have been reached the contrast with the Christian faith has +no doubt been suggesting itself at each successive step. + +[Sidenote: Christianity not propagated by force.] +Christianity, as Al Kindy has so forcibly put it, gained a firm footing +in the world without the sword, and without any aid whatever from the +secular arm. So far from having the countenance of the State it +triumphed in spite of opposition, persecution, and discouragement. "My +kingdom," said Jesus, "is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this +world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to +the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from hence.... For this end came I +into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Every one that +is of the truth, heareth my voice."[78] + +[Sidenote: Nor by worldly inducements.] +The religion itself, in its early days, offered no worldly attractions +or indulgences. It was not, like Islam, an "easy way." Whether in +withdrawal from social observances deeply tainted with idolatry, the +refusal to participate in sacrificial ceremonies insisted on by the +rulers, or in the renunciation of indulgences inconsistent with a +saintly life, the Christian profession required self-denial at every +step. + +[Sidenote: Adaptive principles and plastic faculty of Christianity.] +But otherwise the teaching of Christianity nowhere interfered with the +civil institutions of the countries into which it penetrated or with any +social customs or practices that were not in themselves immoral or +idolatrous. It did not, indeed, neglect to guide the Christian life. But +it did so by the enunciation of principles and rules of wide and +far-reaching application. These, no less than the injunctions of the +Koran, served amply for the exigencies of the day. But they have done a +vast deal more. They have proved themselves capable of adaptation to the +most advanced stages of social development and intellectual elevation. +And, what is infinitely more, it may be claimed for the lessons embodied +in the Gospel that they have been themselves promotive, if indeed they +have not been the immediate cause, of all the most important reforms and +philanthropies that now prevail in Christendom. The principles thus laid +down contained germs endowed with the power of life and growth which, +expanding and flourishing, slowly it may be, but surely, have at the +last borne the fruits we see. + +[Sidenote: Examples: slavery. +Relations between the sexes.] +Take, for example, the institution of slavery. It prevailed in the Roman +Empire at the introduction of Christianity, as it did in Arabia at the +rise of Islam. In the Moslem code, as we have seen, the practice has +been perpetuated. Slavery must be held permissible so long as the Koran +is taken to be the rule of faith. The divine sanction thus impressed +upon the institution, and the closeness with which by law and custom it +intermingles with social and domestic life, make it impossible for any +Mohammedan people to impugn slavery as contrary to sound morality or for +any body of loyal believers to advocate its abolition upon the ground +of principle. There are, moreover, so many privileges and gratifications +accruing to the higher classes from its maintenance that (excepting +under the strong pressure of European diplomacy) no sincere and hearty +effort can be expected from the Moslem race in the suppression of the +inhuman traffic, the horrors of which, as pursued by Moslem +slave-traders, their Prophet would have been the first to denounce. Look +now at the wisdom with which the Gospel treats the institution. It is +nowhere in so many words proscribed, for that would, under the +circumstances, have led to the abnegation of relative duties and the +disruption of society. It is accepted as a prevailing institution +recognized by the civil powers. However desirable freedom might be, +slavery was not inconsistent with the Christian profession: "Art thou +called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made +free, use it rather."[e] The duty of obedience to his master is enjoined +upon the slave, and the duty of mildness and urbanity toward his slave +is enjoined upon the master. But with all this was laid the seed which +grew into emancipation. "_Our Father_," gave the key-note of freedom. +"Ye are _all_ the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." "There is +neither bond nor free, ... for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."[f] "He that +is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman."[g] The +converted slave is to be received "not now as a servant, but above a +servant, a brother beloved."[h] The seed has borne its proper harvest. Late +in time, no doubt, but by a sure and certain development, the grand +truth of the equality of the human race, and the right of every man and +woman to freedom of thought and (within reasonable limit of law) to +freedom of action, has triumphed; and it has triumphed through the +Spirit and the precepts inculcated by the Gospel eighteen hundred years +ago. Nor is it otherwise with the relations established between the +sexes. Polygamy, divorce, and concubinage with bondmaid's have been +perpetuated, as we have seen, by Islam for all time; and the ordinances +connected therewith have given rise, in the laborious task of defining +the conditions and limits of what is lawful, to a mass of prurient +casuistry defiling the books of Mohammedan law. Contrast with this our +Saviour's words, "_He which made them at the beginning made them male +and female.... What therefore God hath joined together let not man put +asunder_."[i] From which simple utterance have resulted monogamy and (in +the absence of adultery) the indissolubility of the marriage bond. While +in respect of conjugal duties we have such large, but sufficiently +intelligible, commands as "to render due benevolence,"[j] whereby, while +the obligations of the marriage state are maintained, Christianity is +saved from the impurities which, in expounding the ordinances of +Mohammed, surround the sexual ethics of Islam, and cast so foul a stain +upon its literature. + +[Sidenote: Elevation of woman.] +Take, again, the place of woman in the world. We need no injunction of +the veil or the harem. As the temples of the Holy Ghost, the body is to +be kept undefiled, and every one is "to possess his vessel in +sanctification and honor."[k] Men are to treat "the elder women as mothers; +the younger as sisters, with all purity."[l] Women are to "adorn themselves +in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety."[m] These, and such +like maxims embrace the whole moral fitness of the several relations and +duties which they define. They are adapted for all ages of time and for +all conditions of men. They are capable of being taken by every +individual for personal guidance, according to his own sense of +propriety, and they can be accommodated by society at large with a due +reference to the habits and customs of the day. The attempt of Mohammed +to lay down, with circumstantial minuteness, the position of the female +sex, the veiling of her person, and her withdrawal from the gaze of man, +has resulted in seclusion and degradation; while the spirit of the +Gospel, and injunctions like that of "giving honor to the wife as to the +weaker vessel,"[n] have borne the fruit of woman's elevation, and have +raised her to the position of influence, honor, and equality which +(notwithstanding the marital superiority of the husband in the ideal of +a Christian family) she now occupies in the social scale. + +[Sidenote: Relations with the State. +Christianity leaves humanity free to expand.] +In the type of Mussulman government which (though not laid down in the +Koran) is founded upon the spirit of the faith and the precedent of the +Prophet the civil is indissolubly blended with the spiritual authority, +to the detriment of religious liberty and political progress. The +_Ameer_, or commander of the faithful, should, as in the early times, so +also in all ages, be the _Imam_, or religious chief; and as such he +should preside at the weekly cathedral service. It is not a case of the +Church being subject to the State, or the State being subject to the +Church. Here (as we used to see in the papal domains) the Church is the +State, and the State the Church. They both are one. And in this we have +another cause of the backwardness and depression of Mohammedan society. +Since the abolition of the temporal power in Italy we have nowhere in +Christian lands any such theocratic union of Caesar and the Church, so +that secular and religious advance is left more or less unhampered; +whereas in Islam the hierarchico-political constitution has hopelessly +welded the secular arm with the spiritual in one common scepter, to the +furthering of despotism, and elimination of the popular voice from its +proper place in the concerns of State. + +[Sidenote: The Koran checks progress.] +And so, throughout the whole range of political, religious, social, and +domestic relations, the attempt made by the founder of Islam to provide +for all contingencies, and to fix every thing aforehand by rigid rule +and scale, has availed to cramp and benumb the free activities of life +and to paralyze the natural efforts of society at healthy growth, +expansion, and reform. As an author already quoted has so well put it, +"_The Koran has frozen Mohammedan thought; to obey it is to abandon +progress_."[79] + +[Sidenote: Is Islam suitable for any nation?] +Writers have indeed been found who, dwelling upon the benefits conferred +by Islam on idolatrous and savage nations, have gone so far as to hold +that the religion of Mohammed may in consequence be suited to certain +portions of mankind--as if the faith of Jesus might peaceably divide +with it the world. But surely to acquiesce in a system which reduces the +people to a dead level of social depression, despotism, and +semi-barbarism would be abhorrent from the first principles of +philanthropy. With the believer, who holds the Gospel to be "good +tidings of great joy, _which shall be to all people_,"[o] such a notion is +on higher grounds untenable; but even in view of purely secular +considerations it is not only untenable, but altogether unintelligible. +As I have said elsewhere: + + The eclipse in the East, which still sheds its blight on the + ancient seats of Jerome and Chrysostom, and shrouds in darkness the + once bright and famous sees of Cyprian and Augustine, has been + disastrous every-where to liberty and progress, equally as it has + been to Christianity. And it is only as that eclipse shall pass + away and the Sun of righteousness again shine forth that we can + look to the nations now dominated by Islam sharing with us those + secondary but precious fruits of divine teaching. Then with the + higher and enduring blessings which our faith bestows, but not till + then, we may hope that there will follow likewise in their wake + freedom and progress, and all that tends to elevate the human + race.[80] + +[Sidenote: No sacrifice for sin or redemptive grace.] +Although with the view of placing the argument on independent ground I +have refrained from touching the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, and +the inestimable benefits which flow to mankind therefrom, I may be +excused, before I conclude, if I add a word regarding them. The +followers of Mohammed have no knowledge of God as a _Father_; still less +have they knowledge of him as "_Our_ Father"--the God and Father of the +Lord Jesus Christ. They acknowledge, indeed, that Jesus was a true +prophet sent of God; but they deny his crucifixion and death, and they +know nothing of the power of his resurrection. To those who have found +redemption and peace in these the grand and distinctive truths of the +Christian faith, it may be allowed to mourn over the lands in which the +light of the Gospel has been quenched, and these blessings blotted out, +by the material forces of Islam; where, together with civilization and +liberty, Christianity has given place to gross darkness, and it is as if +now "there were no more sacrifice for sins." We may, and we do, look +forward with earnest expectation to the day when knowledge of salvation +shall be given to these nations "by the remission of their sins, through +the tender mercy of our God, whereby the Dayspring from on high hath +visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow +of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."[p] + +[Sidenote: Contrast between divine and human work.] +But even apart from these, the special blessings of Christianity, I ask, +which now of the two faiths bears, in its birth and growth, the mark of +a divine hand and which the human stamp? Which looks likest the +handiwork of the God of nature, who "hath laid the measures of the +earth," and "hath stretched the line upon it,"[q] but not the less with an +ever-varying adaptation to time and place? and which the artificial +imitation? + + [Sidenote: Islam.] + "As a reformer, Mohammed did indeed advance his people to a certain + point, but as a prophet he left them fixed immovably at that point + for all time to come. As there can be no return, so neither can + there be any progress. The tree is of artificial planting. Instead + of containing within itself the germ of growth and adaptation to + the various requirements of time, and clime, and circumstance, + expanding with the genial sunshine and the rain from heaven, it + remains the same forced and stunted thing as when first planted + twelve centuries ago."[81] + +[Sidenote: Christianity compared by Christ to the works of nature.] +Such is Islam. Now what is Christianity? Listen to the prophetic words +of the Founder himself, who compares it to the works of nature: + + "_So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the + ground;_ + + "_And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should + spring and grow up, he knoweth not how._ + + "_For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself: first the blade, + then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear._"[r] + +And again: + + "_Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God, or with what + comparison shall we compare it?_ + + "_It is like a grain of mustard-seed, which, when it is sown in the + earth, is less than all seeds that be in the earth;_ + + "_But when it is sown, it groweth up and becometh greater than all + herbs, and shooteth out great branches, so that the fowls of the + air may lodge under the shadow of it._"[s] + +[Sidenote: Islam the work of man; Christianity the work of God.] +Which is _nature_, and which is _art_, let the reader judge. Which bears +the impress of man's hand, and which that of Him who "is wonderful in +counsel, and excellent in working?" + +In fine, of the Arabian it may be said: + + "_Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further, and here shall thy + proud waves be stayed._" + +But of Christ: + + "_His name shall endure forever: his name shall be continued as + long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall + call him blessed._ + + "_He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river + unto the ends of the earth._ + + "_Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth + wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name forever: and let + the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen._"[t] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[e] 1 Cor. vii, 21. + +[f] Gal. iii, 26, 28. + +[g] 1 Cor. vii, 22. + +[h] Philemon 16. + +[i] Matt. xix, 4. + +[j] 1 Cor. vii, 3. + +[k] 1 Thess. iv, 4. + +[l] 1 Tim. v, 2. + +[m] 1 Tim. ii, 9. + +[n] 1 Pet. iii, 7. + +[o] Luke ii, 10. + +[p] Luke i, 77-79. + +[q] Job xxxviii, 5. + +[r] Mark iv, 26-28. + +[s] Mark iv, 30-32. + +[t] Psa. lxxii, 17, 8, 18, 19. + + + THE END. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Barth. + +[2] Bergaigne, in his able treatise, _La Religion Vedique_, +insists earnestly on what he calls the "liturgical contamination of the +myths." See vol. iii, p. 320. + +[3] R.V., ix, 42, 4. + +[4] R.V., ix, 97, 24. + +[5] The religion of the Indo-European race, while still united, +"recognized a supreme God; an organizing God; almighty, omniscient, +moral.... This conception was a heritage of the past.... The supreme God +was originally the God of heaven." So Darmesteter, _Contemporary +Review_, October, 1879. Roth had previously written with much learning +and acuteness to the same effect. + +[6] Muir's _Sanskrit Texts_, v, 412. + +[7] R.V., iii, 62, 10. + +[8] The rites, says Haug, "must have existed from times +immemorial."--_Aitareya Brahmana_, pp. 7, 9. + +[9] Weber, _History of Indian Literature_, p. 38. + +[10] Max Mueller, _Ancient Sanskrit Literature_, p. 389. + +[11] "The haughty Indra takes precedence of all gods." R.V., 1, +55. + +[12] "These two personages [Indra and Varuna] sum up the two +conceptions of divinity, between which the religious consciousness of +the Vedic Aryans seems to oscillate."--Bergaigne, _La Religion Vedique_, +vol. iii, p. 149. + +[13] The meaning of the term is not quite certain. _Sessions_, +or _Instructions_, may perhaps be the rendering. So Monier Williams. + +[14] For example, Wordsworth: + + "Thou, Thou alone + Art everlasting, and the blessed Spirits + Which Thou includest, as the sea her waves." + --_Excursion_, book iv. + +[15] Or, the thing that really is--the [Greek: ontos on]. + +[16] _Ekamadvitiyam._ + +[17] This illustration is in the mouth of every Hindu disputant +at the present day. + +[18] Barth, p. 75. + +[19] _Ekamadvitiyam._ + +[20] + Volui tibi suaviloquenti + Carmine Pierio rationem exponere nostram + Et quasi Musaeo dulci contingere melle. + +[21] Dr. J. Muir, in _North British Review_, No. xlix, p. 224. + +[22] _Miscellaneous Writings_ (Macmillan, 1861), vol. i, p. +77. + +[23] But the truth is that every man is accounted a good Hindu +who keeps the rules of caste and pays due respect to the Brahmans. What +he believes, or disbelieves, is of little or no consequence. + +[24] Yaska, probably in the fifth century B.C. + +[25] Weber thinks that Christian elements may have been +introduced, in course of time, into the representation. + +[26] His Ramayana was written in Hindi verse in the sixteenth +century. + +[27] When Jhansi was captured in the times of the great mutiny +English officers were disgusted to see the walls of the queen's palace +covered with what they described as "grossly obscene" pictures. There is +little or no doubt that these were simply representations of the acts of +Krishna. Therefore to the Hindu queen they were religious pictures. When +questioned about such things the Brahmans reply that deeds which would +be wicked in men were quite right in Krishna, who, being God, could do +whatever he pleased. + +[28] Born probably in 1649. + +[29] Raja Narayan Basu (Bose), in enumerating the sacred books +of Hinduism, excluded the philosophical systems and included the +Tantras. He was and, we believe, is a leading man in the Adi Brahma +Somaj. + +[30] Barth, as above, p. 202. + +[31] So writes Vans Kennedy, a good authority. The rites, +however, vary with varying places. + +[32] _Asiatic Researches_, v, p. 356. + +[33] Cicero. + +[34] We learned from his own lips that among the books which +most deeply impressed him were the Bible and the writings of Dr. +Chalmers. + +[35] See _Life of Mohammed_, p. 138. Smith & Elder. + +[36] _Life of Mohammed_, p. 172, where the results are +compared. + +[37] _Life of Mohammed_, p. 341; Sura ii, 257; xxix, 46. + +[38] The only exceptions were the Jews of Kheibar and the +Christians of Najran, who were permitted to continue in the profession +of their faith. They were, however, forced by Omar to quit the +peninsula, which thenceforward remained exclusively Mohammedan. + +"Islam" is a synonym for the Mussulman faith. Its original meaning is +"surrender" of one's self to God. + +[39] _Apology of Al Kindy, the Christian_, p. 18. Smith & +Elder, 1882. This remarkable apologist will be noticed further below. + +[40] Principal Fairbairn: "The Primitive Polity of Islam," +_Contemporary Review_, December, 1882, pp. 866, 867. + +[41] Herr von Kremer, _Culturgeschichte des Orients_, unter den +Chalifen, vol. i, p. 383. + +[42] _Annals of the Early Caliphate_, p. 9. Smith & Elder, +1883. + +[43] Gibbon's _Decline and Fall_, chapter li, and _Annals of +the Early Caliphate_, p. 184. + +[44] _Ibid._; and Sura xliv, v. 25. _We_--that is, the Lord. + +[45] _Annals of the Early Caliphate_, p. 46. + +[46] See, for example, Sura lxxviii: "Verily for the pious +there is a blissful abode: gardens and vineyards; and damsels with +swelling bosoms, of a fitting age; and a full cup. Lovely large-eyed +girls, like pearls hidden in their shells, a reward for that which the +faithful shall have wrought. Verily We have created them of a rare +creation, virgins, young and fascinating.... Modest damsels averting +their eyes, whom no man shall have known before, nor any Jinn," etc. + +The reader will not fail to be struck by the materialistic character of +Mohammed's paradise. + +[47] See Sura _Jehad_; also _Annals of the Early Caliphate_, p. +167, _et. seq._ + +[48] _Annals of the Early Caliphate_, p. 105, _et. seq._ + +[49] See _Annals_, etc., p. 253. + +[50] Sura ix, v. 30. + +[51] So Jews and Christians as possessing the Bible are named +in the Koran. + +[52] See _Annals_, etc., p. 213. + +[53] _The Apology of Al Kindy_, written at the court of Al +Mamun A.H. 215 (A.D. 830), with an essay on its age and authorship, p. +12. Smith & Elder, 1882. + +[54] _Ibid._, p. 34. + +[55] _Apology_, p. 47, _et. seq._ + +[56] Alluding to the "_Ansar_," or mortal "Helpers" of Mohammed +at Medina. Throughout, the apologist, it will be observed, is drawing a +contrast with the means used for the spread of Islam. + +[57] _Apology_, p. 16. + +[58] _Apology_, p. 57. + +[59] I am not here comparing the value of these observances +with those of other religions. I am inquiring only how far the +obligations of Islam may be held to involve hardship or sacrifice such +as might have retarded the progress of Islam by rendering it on its +first introduction unpopular. + +[60] See Sura ii, v. 88. + +[61] Sura iv, 18. "Exchange" is the word used in the Koran. + +[62] Each of his widows had 100,000 golden pieces left her. +_Life of Mohammed_, p. 171. + +[63] "These divorced wives were irrespective of his concubines +or slave-girls, upon the number and variety of whom there was no limit +or check whatever."--_Annals_, p. 418. + +[64] Lane adds: "There are many men in this country who, in the +course of ten years, have married as many as twenty, thirty, or more +wives; and women not far advanced in age have been wives to a dozen or +more husbands successively." Note that all this is entirely within the +religious sanction. + +[65] _Pilgrimage to Mecca_, by her highness the reigning Begum +of Bhopal, translated by Mrs. W. Osborne (1870), pp. 82, 88. Slave-girls +cannot be _married_ until freed by their masters. What her highness +tells of women _divorcing_ their husbands is of course entirely _ultra +vires_, and shows how the laxity of conjugal relations allowed to the +male sex has extended itself to the female also, and that in a city +where, if anywhere, we should have expected to find the law observed. + +[66] In India, for example, there are Mohammedan races among +whom monogamy, as a rule, prevails by custom, and individuals exercising +their right of polygamy are looked upon with disfavor. On the other +hand, we meet occasionally with men who aver that rather against their +will (as they will sometimes rather amusingly say) they have been forced +by custom or family influence to add by polygamy to their domestic +burdens. In Mohammedan countries, however, when we hear of a man +confining himself to _one wife_, it does not necessarily follow that he +has no slaves to consort with in his harem. I may remark that +slave-girls have by Mohammedan laws no conjugal rights whatever, but are +like playthings, at the absolute discretion of their master. + +[67] The case of the Corinthian offender is much in point, as +showing how the strict discipline of the Church must have availed to +make Christianity unpopular with the mere worldling. + +[68] [Sidenote: Laxity among nominal Christians.] +_Apology_, p. 51. I repeat, that in the remarks I have made under this +head, no comparison is sought to be drawn betwixt the morality of +nominally Christian and Moslem peoples. On this subject I may be allowed +to quote from what I have said elsewhere: "The Moslem advocate will urge +... the social evil as the necessary result of inexorable monogamy. The +Koran not only denounces any illicit laxity between the sexes in the +severest terms, but exposes the transgressor to condign punishment. For +this reason, and because the conditions of what is licit are so +accommodating and wide, a certain negative virtue (it can hardly be +called continence or chastity) pervades Mohammedan society, in contrast +with which the gross and systematic immorality in certain parts of every +European community may be regarded by the Christian with shame and +confusion. In a purely Mohammedan land, however low may be the general +level of moral feeling, the still lower depths of fallen humanity are +unknown. The 'social evil' and intemperance, prevalent in Christian +lands, are the strongest weapons in the armory of Islam. We point, and +justly, to the higher morality and civilization of those who do observe +the precepts of the Gospel, to the stricter unity and virtue which +cement the family, and to the elevation of the sex; but in vain, while +the example of our great cities, and too often of our representatives +abroad, belies the argument. And yet the argument is sound. For, in +proportion as Christianity exercises her legitimate influence, vice and +intemperance will wane and vanish, and the higher morality pervade the +whole body; whereas in Islam the deteriorating influences of polygamy, +divorce, and concubinage have been stereotyped for all time."--_The +Koran: its Composition and Teaching, and the Testimony it bears to the +Holy Scriptures_, p. 60. + +[69] [Sidenote: Alleged progress of Islam in Africa.] +Much loose assertion has been made regarding the progress of Islam in +Africa; but I have found no proof of it apart from armed, political, or +trading influence, dogged too often by the slave-trade; to a great +extent a social rather than a religious movement, and raising the fetich +tribes (haply without intemperance) into a somewhat higher stage of +semi-barbarism. I have met nothing which would touch the argument in the +text. The following is the testimony of Dr. Koelle, the best possible +witness on the subject: + +"It is true the Mohammedan nations in the interior of Africa, namely, +the Bornuese, Mandengas, Pulas, etc., invited by the weak and +defenseless condition of the surrounding negro tribes, still +occasionally make conquests, and after subduing a tribe of pagans, by +almost exterminating its male population and committing the most +horrible atrocities, impose upon those that remain the creed of Islam; +but keeping in view the whole of the Mohammedan world this fitful +activity reminds one only of these green branches sometimes seen on +trees, already, and for long, decayed at the core from age."--_Food for +Reflection_, p. 37. + +[70] _Apology_, p. 34. + +[71] _Annals_, pp. 61, 224. + +[72] Sura iv, v. 33. + +[73] _Life of Mohammed_, p. 348. + +[74] _The City of God_, p, 91. Hodder & Stoughton, 1883. + +[75] _The Turks in India_, by H.G. Keene, C.S.I. Allen & Co., +1879. + +[76] _Annals_, etc., p. 457. + +[77] See Sura xxxiv, v. 32. The excepted relations are: +"Husbands, fathers, husbands' fathers, sons, husbands' sons, brothers, +brothers' sons, sisters' sons, the captives which their right hands +possess, such men as attend them and have no need of women, or children +below the age of puberty." + +[78] John xviii, 36, 37. + +[79] Dr. Fairbairn, _Contemporary Review_, p. 865. + +[80] _The Early Caliphate and Rise of Islam_, being the Rede +Lecture for 1881, delivered before the University of Cambridge, p. 28. + +[81] _The Koran_, etc., p. 65. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: The following section was originally at the +beginning of the text. + + +The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle. + +STUDIES FOR 1891-92. + + +Leading Facts of American History. Montgomery, $1 00 + +Social Institutions of the United States. Bryce, 1 00 + +Initial Studies in American Letters. Beers, 1 00 + +Story of the Constitution of the United States. Thorpe, 60 + +Classic German Course in English. Wilkinson, 1 00 + +Two Old Faiths. Mitchell and Muir, 40 + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Two Old Faiths +by J. Murray Mitchell and William Muir + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO OLD FAITHS *** + +***** This file should be named 16996.txt or 16996.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/9/9/16996/ + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Stacy Brown Thellend +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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