THE RELIGION OF THE MUSSULMAN
No one unless he be a Mohammedan can hope to experience the sentiments
and emotions born of the Mussulman religion, or explain the fundamental
principles of the Koran. It is a thing apart from all other religions,
and though we may recognize many of its principles as being good and
worthy, only one of the faithful can really absorb them as a part of his
daily life.
The one underlying tenet which we all recognize as being something
understood of all people, be they fanatics or not, is that of the
purification by water. No Mussulman commences his devotions without
first washing himself; he may take a conventional bath; he may wash his
feet, face and hands; or he may go through a mere perfunctory
sprinkling; but the form or ceremony has been complied with, and then,
and then only, may he invoke Allah and his Prophet.
From the Atlantic to the Malay seas, from Turkestan to the Congo, more
than two
[Illustration: The World of Islam]
hundred millions of men proclaim that there is no God but Allah and that
Mohammed is his Prophet. Besides these well-defined geographical limits,
the Mohammedans are everywhere. You find them in China, in Japan, in
India, in the Philippines, and scattered throughout Continental Europe.
The strength of Islam is everywhere in evidence. And whether it is mere
tribal warfare that brings it to our notice, or a "Holy War" against the
infidels of Christians, as is really the case in Morocco at the present
time, it is to be reckoned with as a power, as much so as the "yellow
plague" of the Chinese and Japanese.
In all Islamic lands religion stands first. The Sultans--those of
Constantinople and Fez--are religious heads even before they are
accounted as chiefs of the state. And through its sub-heads and
brotherhoods and secret societies, Islamism is spreading with a rapidity
which most of the supposedly worldly-wise have hitherto ignored
entirely.
In the African possessions of France alone there are in the
neighbourhood of a hundred head-centres of Islamism which, until a very
recent time, preached obstruction to the foreigner--and perhaps still
does so in secret. France came to know and realize this very soon, and
when she took over the civil and military charge of Algeria and Tunisia,
she recognized the only successful policy as being one of coöperation
and not of coercion. Three hundred organizations, then,--more religious
sects or communities than political divisions of a people--were kept
intact in most instances, and the Sheiks who formerly got obedience from
their people as the sub-religious heads of this vast organization became
practically mayors, councillors and justices of the peace. It was the
only thing to do, and how well it has worked is best shown by the fact
that Algeria has become the most flourishing and loyal of all French
colonies.
These Sheiks of Algeria and Tunisia, to whom France has granted so much
complimentary power, contributed in cash, in 1890, the sum of sixteen
millions of francs which they had collected of their fellow Mussulmans.
A gigantic sum when it is realized that it may originally have been paid
to the Sheik in kind, a quintal of wheat, a half dozen sheep, or a few
hundred kilos of dates. The Sheik doubtless makes something for himself
as all this commodity passes through his hands, but what would you,
official sinning is not confined to Mohammedans.
In return for his services the Arab Sheik, the emissary of the French
civil control, gets a more modest salary than would his Gallic
substitute, and he does his work more efficiently. His powers, with the
backing of France, have been largely increased, even with his own
people, and he is a part of a great political machine. He may even be a
very learned person, an expert linguist in French, and the bearer of
many decorations, even the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour. Is it
any wonder that his country is peaceful and everybody satisfied! He
breaks out once and again with some childish, petulant protest and
compromises the whole thing; but then some French official at
headquarters makes him a present of a gross of wax candles, a bird-cage
or a phonograph, and again everything runs smoothly for a space.
Before the time of Mohammed the Arabs professed diverse religions; some
were Christians; some were Jews; some were fire-worshippers; and some
mere idol-worshippers. Among this latter were a sect who made great
idols of dough which in time became baked or very nearly petrified, and
thus served the tribe of the Beni Hafa as food in time of famine. A very
practical religion this!
[Illustration: [Arabic]
"There is no God but Allah
And Mohammed is his prophet."
]
The faith of Islam is an obscure thing. It is supposedly a compound of
the Christian and Hebrew religions--with variations. The sects of Islam
are many, the two chief being the Shiites and the Sunnites. The former
recognized Ali, the cousin of Mohammed, as the true successor of the
Prophet, and collectively they form the major part of the Mussulman
faith of India and Persia.
The orthodox followers of the Prophet, the faithful of Turkey, Arabia,
Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, have added to the precepts of the
Koran the books of traditional sayings and maxims of the Prophet (a sort
of Apocrypha, it would seem), and recognize as his successors the first
four Kalifs--those of Bagdad, Cairo, Constantinople and Fez--as the
legitimate successors of Mohammed.
This chief orthodox sect is further subdivided into Hanefites,
Malikites, Shafiites and Hanabites,--foundations of various relations of
the Prophet. They vary somewhat in their interpretations of the Koran
and certain conclusions with regard to the "law" of the Prophet, but
they are as one with regard to the precepts of purification, prayer,
fasting, pilgrimage and charity towards their fellow men, and against
the outside world of infidels.
The Arabs and _Berbères Arabisés_ of North Africa are mostly Hanefites
and Malikites.
Five times a day the Mussulman prays: (i) at _fedjeur_ (daybreak--before
sunrise); (ii) at _eulam_ (after meridian); (iii) at _dohar_ (midway
between noon and nightfall); (iv) at _aseur_ (just after sunset, when
his day of labour is finished); and (v) at _mogreb_ (when night actually
falls). There is sometimes a sixth prayer at _eucha_ (supper-time).
Not all professing Mussulmans pray five times a day. There are
backsliders in the Mussulman religion as in other religions; but both in
the cities and the countryside the truly devout, singly, or even in
groups of a score or a hundred at a time, make their "sunset devotions"
with regularity and impressiveness. The devout Arab will dismount from
his horse, mule or camel, will come out of his tent or house, and will
even alight from a railway train or diligence if opportunity offers,
and say his sunset prayer in the open air. The Mussulman does not
invariably need the stimulus of a temple to express himself towards his
God. In that respect he is certainly far ahead of some of the other
sects found throughout the world.
The spectacle of the Mussulman's sunset prayer in the desert--standing
barefooted on his little rug or carpet and facing the east and Mecca--is
impressive beyond words; and not even the most skeptical would deny to
the simple faith of Islam the virtues granted to many religions more
ceremoniously complicated. The ceremonies in the mosques are less
impressive than those in the open air.
The following résumé of the symbolism of the eight positions of the
Mussulmans' prayer explains the attitudes and postures that one remarks
everywhere in the world of Islam.
I. Standing. "I offer my God, with sincere heart and with my face
towards Mecca, two _rakôh_ (prayers).
II. Still standing, but with open palms raised to each side of the face,
the thumbs touching the ears--"God is Great!"
III. Still standing; with the right hand crossing the left over the
chest, he repeats, "Holiness to Thee, oh, God! Praise be to
[Illustration: _The Eight Positions of the Praying Mussulman_]
Thee! Great is Thy name!"--and other prayers from the Koran.
IV. Still standing; the body inclined forward and the hands, with
fingers separated, placed upon the knees. "I extol the Sanctity of the
Great God!"
V. Falling upon the knees--"God is Great!"
VI. Still on the knees he makes a bow (three times repeated), the
forehead and nose touching the ground, "I extol the Sanctity of my God,
the Most High!"
This practically finishes one _rakôh_, but there are usually added
certain recitations from the first chapter of the Koran, with perhaps a
repetition of the postures.
VII. Before finally leaving the place of prayer the act of witness,
_Tashabhud_, is given. He raises the forefinger of his right hand and
repeats: "I affirm that there is no God but God and that Mohammed is the
Apostle of God."
VIII. The last position is the _Munjat_, or supplication, when are
repeated certain suitable verses of the Koran.
Christ enters into the Mussulman religion as one of the Prophets of God.
They believe that Christ was, before the coming of Mohammed, the
greatest of all Prophets.
All good Mussulmans recite the prayers of their beads, just as all good
Catholics say their chaplets. The Mussulman has a string of ninety-nine
beads, each standing for one of the ninety-nine perfections of Allah.
This rosary is often elaborate and costly, interspersed here and there
with jewels; but more often than not, even with wealthy Mussulmans, it
is a string of crude wooden beads. The faith of Islam is a simple one,
not a showy one.
The Friday prayer at the mosques is one of the events to see in a
Mussulman country. Public prayer is a social event with Mohammedans, as
it is with many Christians. Soon after the sun has marked high noon, and
while the siesta is still the chief blessing with many, the throng
follows the first _zoual_ or call of the _muezzin_.
Everything is burning and brilliant under an ardent southern sun, and a
scintillating, dazzling reflection comes from each whitewashed wall
until one is almost blinded. After this the cool shadows of the mosque
are most refreshing. Barefooted the Mussulman throng threads its way
among the myriad pillars of the court and enters the sanctuary where
daylight filters dimly through a sieve of iron-latticed windows.
Praying men are everywhere,--men of the town, and nomad Arabs from the
desert whose business has brought them thither. The women are all at the
cemetery talking scandal, for except on special occasions, the Mussulman
women are not admitted to the Holy Day (Friday) prayers in the mosques.
This is in accordance to the law of the Prophet. Under a great dome a
ruddier, more brilliant light showers down on the students and
professors who psalm the verses of the Koran in a monotonous wail; while
still farther to the rear is the infants' school, whose pupils repeat
their lessons in crackling singsong voices all day long to a pair of
bearded, turbaned elders. Here and there, backed up against a pillar, a
_taleb_ recites his litany to the Prophet. All these voices blend in a
murmur undistinguishable from any other conglomerate sound, except that
it is manifestly human.
Suddenly, from high above, on the gallery of the minaret, rings out the
_muezzin's_ second call to prayer, and like the reverberant light, it
seems to filter down from the unknown.
With face towards Mecca the _imam_ reads
[Illustration: _The Muezzin's Call to Prayer_]
the Khotba, a long, dreary prayer of exhortation, but no more monotonous
than the cut and dried sermon which one mostly gets in Christian
churches. The _imam_ is not a priest as is known of Christendom; the
religion of Islam has no regular clergy; he is simply the wisest elder
among the personnel of the mosque.
All through the service, as indeed at all times, a great calm reigns
throughout every Mohammedan mosque. At the end of the last exhorting
couplet issuing from between the lips of the _imam_ a naïve joy, as of a
relief from a great oppression, spreads over the assembled faithful and
all rush for the open, as do congregations of other faiths. One religion
is not so very different from another after all. It is only a matter of
belief, not of the mode of expressing one's adherence to that belief.
"_May peace be thine, O Mohammed, Prophet of God. Ruler of Mecca and
Medina and Lord of all Mussulmans now and always._"
This finishes the service of the mosque.
From the opaque obscurity of the maze of the mosque's interior one comes
suddenly again into the light of day. To a burning African landscape
from the humidity of a cloister.
Woman's position in Islam is peculiar. It is not according to our
notions of what is right and proper, and there is no looked-for or
hoped-for emancipation to be thought of. The question is both a social
and a religious one. Those few Europeans who have really studied the
harem as an institution have found, however, that its establishment and
continuance is a plan that works well, and that the majority of these
supposedly unhappy wives really love their husbands, and their destiny.
If this is so, what business is it of ours to criticize the conduct of
the _ménage_ of the Arab or the Turk. The Prophet himself said that
woman was the jewel and the perfume of this world.
Theoretically the Mussulman idea is that man is the superior creature
physically, and that it is his business alone to mingle and rub
shoulders with the world, leaving his wives, members of the fragile sex,
to raise his family, embellish his life and console him in time of
grief. All other things apart, surely these are good enough principles
for anybody to found domestic bliss upon. And these are the principal
tenets of the domestic creed of the Moslem. He is often not the villain
he is painted. To continue the words of the Prophet--Mohammed said one
day to his companions: "Would you know the most valuable possession of
man? It is, then, an honest woman. She charms the eye, and is obedient,
and guards his reputation intact during his absence from home." Really
the Islamic faith goes a bit farther, for it counsels man to "cloister
his wife as a prevention of jealousy and doubt, the mortal poisons, the
terrible unpitying destroyers of conjugal quietude." This, too, seems
good advice, like many other of the precepts of the Koran.
Many of these Arab women were born within the harem's walls, and know
not any other modes of life as preferable to their own. They regard the
daily round of liberty of the European woman as an unreal, undesirable
state. The harem has been the theatre of their joys since infancy, and
they have become so habituated to it that their life of seclusion
becomes a second nature. They would not flee the sill of the great
doorway into the outer world if they could, and their only change of
_locale_ is to pass from the harem of the husband of their mother to
that of their spouse. In the harem the Arab woman is cared for with an
unthought-of luxury. All the goods and chattels that their husband
values most go to enrich the harem walls and floors. The harem is a
sumptuous, glorious apartment compared to the simplicity with which the
master of the house surrounds himself in his own quarters.
It is the opinion of that indefatigable traveller and student of exotic
things, Edmond de Amicis, that the Arab concedes nothing to the European
in his chivalrous treatment of woman. "No Arab dares lift an offending
hand against a woman in public." "No Arab soldier, even in the tumult of
attack, would think of maltreating even the most insolent of womenkind."
And yet Europeans of most nationalities have been known to do both these
things.
In her cloister, or to be more exact, in her boudoir, the Arab woman,
and particularly the mother, receives the most respectful homage and
solicitude from all the household. According to the Koran the children
are admonished to respect the persons of those who bore them, and a
verbal declaration of the Prophet is set down as: "A child may gain
Paradise only by following in the footsteps of its mother."
The educated and advanced Arabs of the towns have done much to disabuse
the public of any false preconceived ideas concerning Arab womenfolk.
Contrary to common belief the Arab woman is often the intellectual and
social equal of her spouse. It was only the absurd jealousy of the
old-school Mussulmans that annihilated for ever the faculties of their
wives.
The portrait gallery of celebrated Mussulman women is not large, but one
does not forget Zobeïdah, who inspired and aided the illustrious
Haroun-Al-Rachid. Islam is not in its decadence, but its sponsors are
awakening to the fact that they must keep abreast of the times.
The Friday promenade of the Mussulman woman of the towns to the cemetery
is her only outing, the only day off allowed her. She makes as much of
it as possible, but it is a sad proceeding at best.
The Arab tomb is, generally speaking, a thing of simplicity, a simple
slab bearing the Arab words for the sentiment "_Hic jacet_." The
exception is in the _marabout_ tombs or _koubas_, which are often
monumental, though of comparatively small dimensions, well built,
symmetrical, and surmounted by a dome or cupola.
The word _marabout_ signifies first of all a holy man of the Mohammedan
sect, a _réligieux_ in fact, one whose vows, life and service is devoted
to his God. Furthermore the same word is applied to the tiny
mosque-like tombs distributed throughout the Arab peopled lands, which
are served by a _marabout_. The two entities have become somehow
indistinguishable as to name.
The _mosque-marabout_ is practically a tiny house of worship, its four
box-like walls surmounted by one great dome or others smaller, with
never, never a minaret, the invariable adjunct of a full-grown mosque.
The quaint, kindly welcome of the marabout of Algeria and Tunisia will
long remain in the memory of those who have come under its influence, as
did the author in the course of some months' sojourn in a little desert
oasis, peopled only by _indigènes_ and the small garrison of a French
military post. An excursion to visit the marabout in his humble
dwelling, some kilometres away under another little clump of palm-trees,
was an almost weekly occurrence. Conversation was difficult, but we all
sat and looked at each other and made signs, and nodded, and clasped
hands, and again nodded a farewell, the white-clad marabout's kindly,
bearded face lighting up meanwhile as if in appreciation of the glimmer
of light from the outside world which had filtered through to his
tranquil abode. Nothing ever more belied the words
[Illustration: _A Marabout_]
of a proverb than a marabout. The French have a remark in which he is
made out an ugly, uncouth man: "_Affreux comme un marabout_." The
illustration herewith belies these words.
If you are a clergyman of the Christian church, and there are many
"conducted tourists" of that order in Algeria to-day, you need have no
hesitancy in making your profession of faith known to the marabout. Say
simply that you are a "_marabout d'Aïssa_." He will recognize and
respect your religion, which is more than the Confucian or Buddhist
will, who simply rolls his tongue in his cheek and smiles blandly. The
Mohammedan's religion is a very plausible and a very well-working one.
He has no false gods or idols. That's a good thing of itself. And
superstition plays a very small part therein. That's another good thing.
The marabout is not a Mussulman priest, but a member, merely, of a
religious order,--a monk virtually, and, as there are communities of
monkish orders elsewhere, there are also whole tribes in Africa composed
entirely of marabouts. They are looked up to by the Mussulman faithful
as shepherds of the flock in the absence of a specially credentialled
priest or father.
The marabouts are most numerous in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, though
their vocation properly belongs to the entire Mussulman religion.
A whole tribe of the sect of marabouts, under the pretext of wishing to
be free to practise their rites away from worldly contaminating
influences, voluntarily exiled themselves centuries ago in the Atlas
range bordering the northern limits of the Sahara. This was in 1050.
From this procedure these religionists grew to such power and influence
that they became virtually political rulers as well. They conquered the
kingdoms of Fez and Morocco, and even sought to conquer Spain,
emigrating to the southern peninsula in vast numbers, only to be chased
from there to seek a refuge in Majorca, which they were able to do
because of the bounty of the Mussulman King of Cordova, to whom the
suzerainty belonged. Here they were known under the name of
_Almoravides_, and to them was due the invention of the Spanish money
known as _maravédis_.
The marabout is caricatured a little, too, in the name given to a
fat-bellied copper coffee-pot frequently met with in the Mediterranean
countries. Balzac describes the _batterie de cuisine_ of one of his
characters as consisting of _un chaudron, un gril, une casserole et
trois marabouts_.
One of the greatest Mussulman saints, and the one who is the most
frequently invoked, was Sidi-el-Hadji-Abd-el-Kader-el-Djilali. His tomb
is at Bagdad, but all Algeria is strewn with _koubas_ in his honour. He
is particularly the patron saint of the blind, but the lame and the halt
invoke his aid as well, for he has the reputation of being the most
potent and efficacious of all Mussulman saints. A marabout is generally
in charge of these _koubas_, as he is with the proper tombs of other
holy men. The marabout tombs, the _koubas_ and the mosques are all
Mussulman shrines of the same rank so far as their being holy,
sanctified places is concerned.
The pilgrimage to Mecca from all Mohammedan lands is the event of their
lives for the faithful who participate therein. The pilgrims going from
Algeria and Tunisia are yearly becoming greater in numbers. It is as
queer a composite caravan as one has ever seen which lines up at the
wharves of Bona or Sfax, there to take ship for the East. By this time
it has ceased to be a caravan, and has become a personally conducted
excursion. The return is quite as impressive as the departure. It is
then that a sort of cantata is sung or chanted, running something like
the following:--
First the waiting folk on shore shout out,--
"O pilgrims from the house of God
Hast thou seen the Prophet of God."
Then the pilgrims reply:--
"We have seen! We have seen!
And we have left him in the House of God:
There he makes his devotions,
There he reads his holy books."
The marabouts then endorse it all,--
"Our Seigneur Abraham is the beloved of God,
Our Seigneur Moses is the mouthpiece of God,
Our Seigneur Aïssa[1] is the spirit of God,
But our Seigneur Mohammed is the Prophet of God."
[1] The name the Arabs give Jesus Christ.
The memory of a Mussulman who has departed this life is not put lightly
aside with the rising of the next day's sun, but a real devotion, if a
silent one, goes out towards the departed for many months, and perhaps
years, after his corpse is first laid out on its mat of straw in the
courtyard of his domicile or before his tent.
At this moment the vague, rigid form compels the devotion of all who
were near and dear to him in life. In soft cadence they bewail his
death, and prayers of the utmost fervour are sent upward on his behalf.
All is calm, solemn, and well-ordered, there is no hysterical
excitement, no wailing clamour, and no jealous quarrellings among the
heirs.
Above all others one voice cries out a sad voluminous chant. It is the
"_Borda_," the funeral elegy of a departed soul.
An Arab funeral is a solemn affair, though not necessarily imposing. A
little group of indeterminate numbers lead off, then four others
carrying a litter, covered with a flowing white cloth, on their
shoulders. All this is usually in the first hour after sunrise. On a
little plateau of desert sand, just above the deep-dug grave, the corpse
is finally placed, the company ranged about in a semicircle for one
last, long, lingering prayer. The face of the corpse is turned always
towards the holy city, Mecca, and when the body has been lowered into
its eternal sandy cradle, and covered with a layer of sun-baked clay,
and then more sand, three tiny palms are planted above. They soon wither
and die, or they live, accordingly as chance favours or not, but the
thing is that they be planted.
This is the end; nothing remains but for the women to come along after a
decent interval and weep, never by any chance missing a Friday.
[Illustration: _In an Arab Cemetery_]