MOHAMMEDAN MOSQUES AND WORSHIP.
One silver crescent in the twilight sky is hanging,
Another tips the solemn dome of yonder mosque,
And now the Muezzin’s call is heard, sonorous, clanging,
Through thronged bazaar, concealed harem and cool kiosk:
“In the Prophet’s name, God is God, and there is no other.”
On roofs, in streets, or closets, beside his brother,
Each Moslem kneels, his forehead turned toward Mecca’s shrine,
And all the world forgotten in the one thought divine.
WILLIAM ROUNSEVILLE ALGER.
“La Illah il’ Allah!” the Muezzin’s call,
Comes from the minaret, slim and tall,
That looks o’er the distant city wall.
“La Illah il’ Allah!” the Faithful heed,
With God and the Prophet this hour to plead,
Whose ear is open to hear their need.
BAYARD TAYLOR.
[Illustration: MOHAMMEDAN MOSQUE ON THE HOOGHLY RIVER, NEAR
CALCUTTA, INDIA.]
The Mohammedan mosques vary somewhat in their style of architecture
in different countries. Their builders borrowed, generally, from the
style of the various nations who adopted the Moslem faith. In Christian
lands, they seized upon the Christian churches or cathedrals, and
turned them into mosques; in India, the mosques are patterned after
the temples of the Buddhist Jains (this may be seen in the Mohammedan
mosque on the Hooghly River, near Calcutta); and in Turkey, they
accepted the model of the Byzantine architecture of Constantinople. Two
or three features are common in all. The dome is one of the most common
and most beautiful features of the mosques. Sometimes there is an open
square in each mosque, in the centre of which is a tank or fountain,
for the washing required in Mohammedan worship. Arabesques and
sentences from the Koran are inscribed upon the walls; and _never_
is there an image or picture of any living thing to be discovered in
any part of a mosque. Sometimes the floors are covered with mats or
rugs; there are no pews, seats or benches, for the worshiper sits, in
Oriental fashion, with his feet doubled under him, upon the floor.
In one corner--the south-east--is a pulpit for the Imám or teacher.
The Imám is the most honored of Moslem teachers, and always wears a
turban higher than that of the common teachers, readers or Moslems
generally. The people hold them in great reverence. In the direction
of Mecca, there is a niche in every mosque, toward which the faithful
must look whenever they pray. Opposite the pulpit is a platform
having a reading-desk, upon which is a copy of the Koran--in Arabic, of
course--for the Moslems never allow the Koran to be translated; and as
to printing it, that is not permitted them, except from lithographs,
so as to keep up the appearance that it is _written_. No copy for
a public reading would be allowed to be _printed_. Publication in
the languages is not permitted, except far away from Arabia. It would
be thought grossly unholy in Turkey to attempt such a thing.
[Illustration: GORGEOUS EXTERIOR OF A MOHAMMEDAN MOSQUE IN
PERSIA.]
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF MOSQUE AT DELHI, INDIA.]
WORSHIP IN THE MOSQUES.
The congregations of the faithful gather for worship in the mosques
on Fridays. This is the Moslem Sabbath, because, say they, Adam was
created and died on Friday, and because on Friday the world will be
judged. The worship consists simply of prayers and washings, with an
occasional sermon on a text from the Koran. During the service every
one maintains the utmost solemnity; though, after the service they
lounge, chat and even make bargains in the sacred building. On entering
the mosque, the Moslem removes his shoes, carrying them in his left
hand, sole to sole, with great care, putting his right foot first over
the threshold. He then goes through with the necessary ablutions (often
a mere sham, a mere going through the motions,) and takes his place
upon the matting, laying his shoes before him. The worshipers generally
arrange themselves in rows facing the niche toward Mecca. Women seldom
go to the mosques, and if they do, they sit apart from the men. The
reason for this is that the Koran does not say that women must pray,
and many Moslems believe that women have no souls. Yet they believe
that they will enter Paradise, but this is only that they may continue
to be slaves of men; each of the faithful is to have in Paradise, so
they believe, 80,000 slaves and 72 wives, in addition to those he had
in life and who evinced a faithful spirit.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF MOSQUE OF ST. SOPHIA.]
DANCING AND HOWLING DERVISHES.
[Illustration: A WHIRLING DERVISH.]
The Dervishes are Mohammedan monks. They are among the most curious
devotees of the Moslem religion. They perform their wonderful feats
on Friday afternoons in the mosques. Dr. Philip Schaff writes of one
of their performances which he witnessed: “After the preliminary
exercises of prayer and prostration, they whirl around on their toes,
ring within ring, without touching each other, for about an hour, until
they are utterly exhausted. I saw thirteen of them all dressed in
flowing gowns, and with high white hats of stiff woolen stuff; their
hands were stretched or raised to heaven, their eyes half closed, and
their minds apparently absorbed in the contemplation of Allah. They
made about forty or fifty turnings a minute. The Howling Dervishes
swing their heads up and down, crying incessantly with all their might,
‘La llaha, ill’ Allah!’ and some other phrases, until they are stopped
by sheer exhaustion.” All this is done for the same reasons for which
the Fakirs of India, and the devotees of other nations torment their
bodies.
THE SMART AND SMARTING ANSWER OF A DERVISH.
In the north-west provinces of India there lived a Dervish who was
never guilty of using his tongue too freely in conversation. If a nod
or a sign would do, he would spare his words. He was considered a
quiet, inoffensive, but shrewd man. He went by the name of “the holy
Dervish.”
In the same place there lived a rich, native gentleman, good-natured,
but given now and then to frolics.
One day he proposed to some friends to go together and pay the holy
Dervish a visit. “I wish,” the gentleman said, “to puzzle him with
three questions which he will never be able to answer.” They found the
holy man sitting near his hut in a newly-plowed field.
The Mohammedan gentleman walked up to him, and with great mock humility
said unto him, “Holy father, I am troubled with three questions; will
you kindly answer them to me?” The Dervish gave an affirmative nod.
The gentleman began. “The first question, holy father, is about God.
People say that there is a God; but I cannot see Him, and no one can
show Him to me, and therefore, I cannot believe that there is a God.
Will you answer this question?” A nod was the answer of the Dervish.
“My second question,” the gentleman continued, “is about Satan. The
Koran says that Satan is created of fire. Now, if Satan be created of
fire, how can hell-fire hurt him? Will you explain that too?” A nod.
“The third question refers to myself. It is said in the Koran, that
every action of man is decreed; now, if it be decreed that I must
commit a certain action, how can God bring me into judgment for that
action, Himself having decreed it? Please, holy father, answer me.”
A nod was given by the Dervish, and whilst the party were standing and
gazing at him, he quietly seized a clod from the newly-plowed field
and sent it with all his might at the gentleman’s face. The gentleman
became furious, and had the Dervish carried before the judge.
Arriving in court the gentleman stated his complaint, saying the pain
in his head was so severe that he hardly knew how to bear it.
The judge looked at the Dervish, and asked whether these things were
so? A nod was the reply; but the judge said, “Please explain yourself,
for nods will not do in my court.”
The Dervish replied, “This gentleman came to me with his companions,
and asked three questions which I carefully answered.”
“He did no such thing,” the gentleman exclaimed; “a clod of earth he
threw into my face--and oh, how it pains me!”
The judge looked at the Dervish, and said, “Explain yourself.”
“I will,” was the answer. “Please, your honor, this gentleman said to
me that people maintained that there was a God, but he could not see
Him, nor could any one show him God, and therefore he could not believe
that there was a God. Now he says he has pain in his face from the clod
I threw at him, but I cannot see his pain. Will your honor kindly ask
him to show us his pain, for how can I believe he has any if I cannot
see it?”
“Again, this gentleman asked, that if Satan was created of fire, how
could hell-fire hurt him? Now, the gentleman will admit that Father
Adam was created of earth, and that himself also is earth. Now if he be
earth, how could a clod of earth hurt him?”
And as to the third question, the Dervish drew himself up and said with
great dignity, “Sir, if it be written in my fate to throw a clod at
this gentleman’s face, how can and dare he bring me before the judge?”
The judge allowed that the Dervish had answered the three questions
with his clod, but admonished him to answer questions in future in a
more becoming way, as he might not be able to get himself off so easily
from the usual penalties at another time.
DAILY WORSHIP.
[Illustration: MOSLEM BOY STUDYING THE KORAN.]
Five times daily the Moslem says his prayers. On the ship, in the
street, in the house or store, wherever he may be, and forgetful of
all his surroundings, at the hour of prayer he spreads his mat, sits
upon it, turning his face toward Mecca, raises his hands to heaven,
then bends until his forehead almost touches the ground. His prayer
is, generally, a recital of the first chapter of the Koran. The five
hours of prayer are, first, between daybreak and sunrise, a little past
noon, in the afternoon, four minutes after sunset, and at night-fall.
The times of prayer are announced from the minaret, or tower, of each
mosque, by the Muezzin, one of the under-officers of the mosque. He
chants the words “Allah is great. I testify that there is no God but
Allah. I testify that Mohammed is the apostle of Allah. Come to prayer.
Come to security. Allah is most great. There is no Deity but Allah!”
In the morning he adds, “Prayer is better than sleep.” At night, for
the sake of the very pious, two extra calls for prayer are sounded.
Blind men are often chosen to be Muezzins, because the high position of
the minaret would enable one who could see to get too full a view of
the interior of the neighboring houses and harems. The faithful from
earliest childhood are required to be diligent students of the Koran.
THE MOSQUE OF ST. SOPHIA.
[Illustration: MOSQUE OF ST. SOPHIA, AT CONSTANTINOPLE,
TURKEY.]
One of the most celebrated mosques is that of St. Sophia, at
Constantinople. This was once a Christian cathedral. It was originally
built by Constantine the Great, in 325 A.D. It was destroyed in
404 A.D., rebuilt, and again destroyed in 532. After this Justinian
restored it. It took seven years to build it. Ten thousand workmen were
employed in its erection. It was built of materials gathered from all
over the Roman Empire, and comprised remains of almost every celebrated
heathen temple of ancient times. The dome of the tabernacle was of
solid gold, and was surmounted by a solid golden cross, encrusted
with precious stones, in all weighing seventy-five pounds. The whole
cathedral is said to have cost more than $65,000,000 (Mr. Neale’s
estimate, in his volume on the “Eastern Church.”) In the year 1453
A.D., when the Turks entered Constantinople, they appropriated this
cathedral for a mosque. The Christian emblems were removed, destroyed
or covered up with plaster; the crosses were chiseled out of the walls;
the great cross on the summit of the dome was removed, and the crescent
took its place. The crescent is a half moon, with the horns turned
upward. It is the distinctive Turkish emblem, and, in some sense, the
Mohammedan symbol also.
THE JUMMAH MUSJID AT DELHI, INDIA.
[Illustration: MOSQUE AT DELHI, CONTAINING A HAIR FROM
MOHAMMED’S BEARD.]
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE MOSQUE AT DELHI.]
[Illustration: TOWER OF THE KOUTUB, INDIA.]
In Delhi itself is probably the finest Mohammedan mosque in all
India. This is called the Jummah Musjid (the Pearl Mosque). It is
built entirely of sandstone, and is raised upon a high terrace. This
masterpiece of Indo-Mohammedan architecture is the most venerable
monument of the Moslems in India. Vivid though severe colors clothe
every part of the building. After mounting long flights of steps, the
visitor passes through huge bronze doors into a large, open court,
with a fountain in its centre. At one side is a piece of black marble,
in which is the print of Mohammed’s foot--at least, the priests say
so. In the interior, the roof, pillars and pavement are of the purest
white marble, embroidered with finest arabesques. These arabesques
are composed of colored marbles, and precious stones inlaid in the
marble in various patterns of scroll-work or of inscription. Bishop
Heber said of this structure: “This spotless sanctuary, showing such
a pure spirit of adoration, made me, a Christian, feel humbled, when
I considered that no architect of our religion had ever been able to
produce anything equal to this temple of Allah.” But the worship
is not now so pure. The building is reverenced by the Mohammedans,
not merely on account of its age or wondrous beauty, but because it
contains a most highly esteemed relic of Mohammed. From a small nook of
solid marble, with a carefully-locked door, the priests take, for the
inspection of visitors and devotees, a small silver case; with slowest,
most cautious reverence, the casket is unlocked, and the priest exposes
to view--_a hair from Mohammed’s beard_. What would that fierce
hater of relics and idols, Mohammed, say, could he but see how far
his modern disciples have departed from his teachings? Besides the
hair, they retain as relics a garment and a pair of sandals which once
belonged to the prophet.
Delhi is to the Moslems of India what Mecca is to the Moslems of Arabia
and Egypt. The city is surrounded by walls seven miles in extent In
the suburbs one rides through miles of ruins of mosques, towers and
tombs. Few cities have had as splendid a career as Delhi, and few have
suffered as greatly. One of the marks of the Mohammedan conquest in
India, 600 years ago, is the giant tower of the Koutub, near Agra.
It is the highest tower, standing alone, in the world; built of red
sandstone, fluted, and has five stories. The mention of Agra recalls
one of the most famous structures of the world, erected by a Moslem
Mogul of India. Shortly after a visit to this famous Mohammedan
monument, Dr. H. M. Field wrote the accompanying description of it and
of his visit:
THE TAJ MAHAL, THE “JEWEL OF INDIA.”
[Illustration: TAJ MAHAL, THE TOMB OF THE EMPRESS MUMTAJ
MAHAL, AT AGRA, INDIA.]
The jewel of India--the Koh-i-noor of its beauty--is the Taj, the tomb
built by the Emperor Shah Jehan, the grandson of Akbar, for his wife,
whom he loved with an idolatrous affection, and on her death-bed
promised to rear to her memory such a mausoleum as had never been
erected before. To carry out his purpose, he gathered architects
from all countries, who rivaled each other in the extravagance and
costliness of their designs. The result was a structure which
cost fabulous sums of money (the whole empire being placed under
contribution for it, as were the Jews for the Temple of Solomon),
and employed 20,000 workmen for seventeen years. The building thus
erected is one of the most famous in the world--like the Alhambra or St
Peter’s--and of which enthusiastic travelers are apt to say that it is
worth going around the world to see. This would almost discourage the
attempt to describe it, but I will try and give some faint idea of its
marvelous beauty.
But how can I describe to others what is but a picture in my memory?
Descriptions of architecture are apt to be vague, unless aided by
pictorial illustrations. Mere figures and measurements are dry and
cold. The most I shall aim at will be to give a general (but I hope
not indistinct) _impression_ of it. For this, let us approach it
gradually.
[Illustration: A SCENE ON THE JUMNA.]
It stands on the banks of the Jumna, a mile below the tort at Agra. As
you approach it, it is not exposed abruptly to view, but is surrounded
by a garden. You enter under a lofty gate-way, and before you is an
avenue of cypresses, a third of a mile long, whose dark foliage is
a setting for a form of dazzling whiteness at the end. That is the
TAJ. It stands, not on the level of your eye, but on a double
terrace; the first, of red sandstone, 20 feet high and 1,000 feet
broad, at the extremities of which stand two mosques, of the same dark
stone, facing each other. Midway between rises the second terrace,
of marble, 15 feet high and 300 feet square, on the corners of which
stand four marble minarets. In the centre of all, thus “reared in air,”
stands the TAJ. It is built of marble--no other material than
this, of pure and stainless white, was fit for a purpose so sacred. It
is 150 feet square (or rather, it is eight-sided, since the corners
are truncated), and surmounted by a dome, which rises nearly 200
feet above the pavement below.
These figures rather belittle the TAJ, or, at least,
disappoint those who looked for great size. There are many larger
buildings in the world. But that which distinguishes it from all
others, and gives it a rare and ideal beauty, is the union of majesty
and grace. This is the peculiar effect of Saracenic architecture. The
slender columns, the springing arches, the swelling domes, the tall
minarets, all combine to give an impression of airy lightness, which is
not destroyed even when the foundations are laid with massive solidity.
But it is in the finish of their structure that they excelled all the
world. Bishop Heber said truly: “They built like Titans and finished
like jewelers.” This union of two opposite features makes the beauty
of the TAJ. While its walls are thick and strong, they are
pierced by high arched windows which relieve their heaviness. Vines
and arabesques running over the stone-work give it the lightness of
foliage, of trees blossoming with flowers. In the interior there is
an extreme and almost feminine grace, as if here the strength of man
would pay homage to the delicacy of woman. Inclosing the sacred place
is a screen of marble, carved into a kind of fret-work, and so pure
and white that light shines through it as through alabaster, falling
softly on that which is within. The Emperor, bereaved of his wife,
lavished riches on her very dust, casting precious stones upon her tomb
as if he were placing a string of pearls around her neck. It is overrun
with vines and flowers, cut in stone, and set with onyx, and jasper,
and lapis-lazuli, carnelians and turquoises, and chalcedonies, and
sapphires.
But the body rests in the crypt below. We descend a few steps and stand
by the very sarcophagus in which all that loveliness is enshrined.
Another sarcophagus contains the body of her husband. Their tombs were
covered with fresh flowers, a perpetual tribute to that love which was
so strong even on the throne, to those who were thus united in life,
and in death are not divided.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE TAJ, THE TOMB OF MAHAL.]
Here sentiment comes in to affect our sense of the beauty of the place.
If it were not for the touching history connected with it, I could not
agree with those who pronounce the TAJ the most beautiful
building in the world. Merely as a building, it does not “overcome” me
so much as another marble structure--the Cathedral of Milan. I could
not say with Bishop Heber that the mosques of Islam are more beautiful,
or more in harmony with the spirit of devotion, than Christian churches
or cathedrals. But the TAJ is not a mosque, it is a tomb--a
monument to the dead. And that gives it a tender interest, which
spiritualizes the cold marble, and makes it more than a building--a
poem and a dream.
As we came out the moon was riding high overhead, flooding the marble
pile with beauty. Round and round we walked, looking up at arch and
dome and minaret. At such an hour the TAJ was so pale and
ghost-like, that it did not seem like a building reared by human hands,
but to have grown where it stood--like a night-blooming Cereus, rising
slowly in the moonlight--lifting its domes and pinnacles (like branches
growing heavenward) toward that world which is the home of the love
which it was to preserve in perpetual memory.
With such thoughts we kept our eyes fixed on that glittering vision, as
if we feared that even as we gazed it might vanish out of our sight.
Below us the Jumna, flowing silently, seemed like an image of human
life as it glided by. And so at last we turned to depart, and bade
farewell to the TAJ, feeling that we should never look at it
again; but hoping that it might stand for ages to tell its history
of faithful love to future generations. Flow on, sweet Jumna, by the
marble walls, reflecting the moonbeams on thy placid breast; and in thy
gentle murmurs whispering evermore of Love and Death, and Love that
cannot die!
PILGRIMAGES AND FESTIVALS.
[Illustration: MOHAMMADEN FEAST OF MOHURRIM.]
Mecca, the birthplace of Mohammed, is _the_ holy place of the
Moslems. The Kaaba, Mohammed’s homestead, is _the_ holy place of
Mecca. From all over Moslemdom once in every year great caravans
go to visit the birth place of the prophet. This is _the event_ in
the lives of the faithful. The long processions, mounted on camels,
gorgeously caparisoned, file out from the cities, and across hill,
and plain, and over the desert to Mecca. Mohammedanism is probably
the most active of the non-Christian religions. The pilgrimages, the
numbers of missionaries and the seeming devotion of the people, as
manifested in their attendance at the mosques, and on the occasions of
festivals indicate this. One of their festivals, celebrated in India,
arouses their religious zeal, and carries it to the highest pitch
of fanaticism. This is the feast of Mohurrim, the Moslem “Feast of
Martyrs,” commemorating the bloody death of Mohammed’s grandsons. “The
martyrdom of these Moslem saints is commemorated by little shrines in
their houses, made of paper and tinsel, and on the great day of the
feast they go in procession out of the city (of Delhi) to a cemetery
five miles distant where they bury them in newly-opened graves.
Men, women and children by tens of thousands on foot, and others in
bullock-carts or mounted on horses, camels and elephants. Immense
crowds gather by the roadside, mounting the steps of old palaces or
climbing to the tops of houses, to see this mighty procession pass, as
it goes rolling forward in a wild frenzy to the cemetery. There they
lay down these images of their saints as they would bury their dead.”
CONCLUSION.
The Mohammedan religion was established by the sword, it has constantly
suffered by the sword, it seems destined to perish by the sword. Its
history is tracked with blood. It has kept back the nations that have
accepted it, retarding their progress. It has degraded woman. It has
no teachings of sin or a Sacrifice or a Saviour. God is the “All
merciful,” but His mercy is, according to Moslem teachings, with
utter disregard of justice. To be a Moslem is all that is necessary
to obtain mercy, to refuse to yield to the faith of Mohammed is all
that is needed to deprive one of God’s mercy. The idea of God is cold
and cruel, with no idea of the Father. But Mohammedanism has rendered
this service to the world, it has greatly lessened idolatry. The
most stubborn opposition to Christian missionary work comes from the
Mohammedans. But the whole building of Mohammedanism, especially in its
political relations, seems to be tottering and crumbling, and threatens
soon to fall in ruins.
May the Cross soon gain a peaceful, bloodless triumph over the
Crescent!