In Constantinople one does not fail to meet Greeks and
Armenians who are bright and entertaining and obliging, or
Mohammedans who are noble and courteous, and thoughtful
enough to make their acquaintance an acquisition. But
every study of the people in mass is a revelation of
arrested development, absence of initiative, and general
uselessness by reason of narrow selfishness. The city,
and with it the millions to whom the city is model, seems
hostile to what is best in the world’s work. High-sounding
phrases of lofty principle are heard in the city. Custom
provides for this much of concession to the sensibilities
of others. But the centuries seem to have frayed off
the last semblance of meaning from the words. To quote
a remark of a sage official in India which applies to
the whole of Asia, “Whilst the mouth is proclaiming its
enlightenment and progress, the body is waddling backward
as fast as the nature of the ground will permit.” The bane
of Constantinople is not solely poverty of resources; it
is poverty of ideals.
—HENRY OTIS DWIGHT, LL. D. in
“Constantinople and its Problems.”
While the political and commercial importance of Constantinople is
supreme, when considered in relation to the Powers of Europe and the
far East, this is insignificant in comparison with its religious
importance in relation to the Mohammedan world. So far as we can
learn, this fact did not receive large consideration at the time
missions in Turkey were begun. The truth is that it did not then hold
the commanding relations to the Mohammedans of other countries that
it holds to-day. The present reigning sultan, Hamid II, has done
more than any of his predecessors to secure for himself recognition
by all the faithful as the one supreme head, the caliph of Islam.
He has sent presents with messages of sympathy and encouragement to
Mohammedans in India, China, and Africa, and these have been received
as from the great living head of the Moslem faith. When our government
found itself in possession of a country in which a Mohammedan ruler
was enthroned, it found it convenient to carry on negotiations for
submission through the sultan of Constantinople. There are probably
230,000,000 Mohammedans in Turkey, Europe, Persia, Africa, India,
China and other countries, who look upon the sultan of Turkey as the
representative on earth of their revered prophet Mohammed. As such, he
does not possess or assume temporal authority, or even well-defined
spiritual prerogatives, but he does command an influence that has been
secretly discussed in many European cabinets, and which has been taken
into consideration in dealing with Moslem races and in administering
ultimata to the head of the Ottoman empire. The sultan clearly
represents a temporal and a religious power. The strength of the
temporal influence lies in his relations religiously, not only to his
own mediate and immediate subjects, but to all followers of the prophet
Mohammed, whatever language they speak and in whatever land they dwell.
The official title of the sultan is padishah, father of all the
sovereigns of the earth. This is the name exclusively used by the Turks
in official communications. He is also called Imam-ul-Musselmin, the
supreme pontiff of all Mussulmans or Mohammedans; Zilullah, the shadow
of God; and Hunkiar, the slayer of infidels. By these and other similar
titles he is known as far as the Mohammedan religion has gone. No one
else claims such honors and to him they are conceded. Destroy his
religious power and he would be the most impotent of monarchs, but with
it he has defied for three generations the efforts of the Powers of
Europe to secure some degree of justice and freedom for his oppressed
subjects.
The sultan holds his religious power through two important facts. The
first is that the two sacred cities of Islam in Arabia are within his
empire and under his control—Mecca, the birthplace of the prophet, and
Medina, which contains his tomb. This sacred territory is prohibited
to infidels, but is the goal for tens of thousands of Moslem pilgrims
each year. There is no faithful follower of Mohammed who does not dream
of the time when he will be so blessed as to kiss the black stone of
the Kaaba, drink of the well of Zemzem, or have a part in the prolonged
ritual which shall entitle him during the rest of his life to the
honored name of _Haji_.
[Illustration: THE BOSPORUS, CONSTANTINOPLE]
[Illustration: A MOUNTAIN VILLAGE IN EASTERN TURKEY]
The Mohammedans believe that the black stone came down from heaven and
was connected with all the patriarchs and prophets, beginning with
Adam. This is the great destination of all pilgrimages, as well as the
earthly center of the Mohammedan world. To this point all faithful
Moslems turn five times each day when they pray, and the lips which
are permitted to kiss it are thrice blessed. Around this have grown up
the Kaaba, the enclosing mosque, and other accessories too many even
to name, all together constituting the holy temple of Islam where no
infidel foot is permitted to tread, and upon which no vulgar Christian
eye may look.
Medina, which contains a mosque supposed to cover the burial-place of
Mohammed, is some seventy miles away. All faithful Moslems should visit
Mecca once during their lives, but to add a visit to Medina increases
their merit in the world to come. Outside of these sacred precincts all
may travel, but woe be to the bold investigator who seeks to penetrate
to the holy of holies of Islam. For the protection of these sacred
cities the sultan of Turkey makes provision. He guards their sanctity
against infidel invasion, and provides, as occasion may demand, a holy
carpet for the holiest place. His soldiers safeguard the pilgrims, and
his name is constantly appealed to as the slayer of infidels and shadow
of God. The pilgrims from Africa, from Mindanao, from China and India
and Ceylon, all return from these shrines of their faith indelibly
impressed with the mighty power of him who rules at Constantinople.
The other fact which gives the sultan power over all Mohammedans is his
custody of the Hall of the Holy Garment, which is next to the Kaaba,
and perhaps upon a parity with it for sanctity. This hall is in the
seraglio, upon the point of old Byzantium, which projects out into the
Bosporus, dividing it from the Sea of Marmora. In it lie the mantle of
the prophet Mohammed, his staff, his saber, his standard, and other
relics. Among these, enclosed in a casket of gold, are two hairs from
his beard. The sultan is supposed to make an annual visit to these
sacred relics, of which he alone is keeper and guardian. The standard
of Mohammed is the standard of Islam, consisting of a green silk flag
about two feet square, embroidered with the inscription “There is no
God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet.” It is said to have been
carried by Mohammed himself and has since been regarded as the sacred
standard of the entire Moslem world. If publicly borne by the sultan
in the great mosques of Constantinople it would, it is said, be the
signal for a general religious war. It is thought by many that should
the sultan choose to use the power he possesses in this standard he
could with it summon to his assistance all true Moslems and hurl them
in fanatical zeal and fury against any infidel force. It is known
everywhere that this standard and these relics are in the possession of
the ruler of the Ottoman empire, and thus the sultan stands almost in
the place of the prophet himself.
When Moslems pray they pray towards Arabia under the rule of the
sultan, and when they think of their holy prophet their minds turn to
the relics at Constantinople. In the face of these facts, it requires
no demonstration to show that Constantinople and the Turkish empire
constitute the political and religious center of Islam. Other countries
may be important, this is supreme. Mecca and Medina cannot yet be
entered, but Constantinople and all the rest of the Turkish empire is,
by treaty, accessible for residence to the Christian of every race and
name. To begin mission work here was to start at the fountainhead.
The fact that Christian preachers and teachers are permitted to reside
at Constantinople and freely preach their faith, cannot but have
favorable influence over intolerant Moslems in remote parts. They all
have faith in the power of the sultan as well as in his supreme wisdom.
If _he_ permits this, why should _they_ object? In several instances in
India, when the writer was conversing with Mohammedans, it was almost
amusing to see the keen interest they manifested in the progress of
Christianity in Turkey. They were ignorant but were ready to listen,
and undoubtedly went away to ponder upon what they had heard. Evidently
one thing that impressed them was that while the sultan of Turkey is a
mighty ruler he does not prohibit the teaching of Christianity, even
within the Throne City. If he does not prohibit it, perhaps it is not
so bad a religion after all.
It is also of no little value to print and send out from Constantinople
large quantities of Turkish literature, and from Beirut, Arabic
literature, the two languages which are most widely read by the
Mohammedans. Every volume thus printed bears the stamp of approval by
the government of his imperial majesty the sultan, assuring all who
read that the book was issued with his sanction and authority. Under
these circumstances a publishing house at Constantinople is calculated,
by its very location, to reach millions who might otherwise refuse to
read what is printed. In Arabia an Arabic Bible, at first rejected
because it is an infidel book, is later accepted because it bears upon
its title page the authoritative permission of his imperial majesty.
As a strategic center for Christian work, calculated directly and
indirectly to reach the two hundred and thirty million who bear the
name of the prophet of Arabia, there is no place that can compare with
Constantinople, resting upon two continents and swaying the most mighty
religious empire on earth.