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.