Is there a Turkey in Asia as well as a Turkey in Europe?
Yes, there is; and it is governed by the same sultan, and filled by the
same sort of persons. All the Turks are Mahomedans.
You may know a Mahomedan city at a distance. When we look at a Christian
city we see the steeples and spires of churches; but when we look at a
Mahomedan city we see rising above the houses and trees the domes and
minarets of mosques. What are domes and minarets? A dome is the round top
of a mosque: and the minarets are the tall slender towers. A minaret is
of great use to the Mahomedans.
Do you see the little narrow gallery outside the minaret. There is a man
standing there. He is calling people to say their prayers. He calls so
loud that all the people below can hear, and the sounds he utters are
like sweet music. But would it not make you sad to hear them when you
remembered what he was telling people to do? To pray to the god of
Mahomet, not to the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ; but to a
false god: to no God. This man goes up the dark narrow stairs winding
inside the minaret five times a day: first he goes as soon as the sun
rises, then at noon, next in the afternoon, then at sunset, and last of
all in the night. Ascending and descending those steep stairs is all his
business, and it is hard work, and fatigues him very much.
In the court of the mosque there is a fountain. There every one washes
before he goes into the mosque to repeat his prayers, thinking to please
God by clean hands instead of a clean heart. Inside the mosque there are
no pews or benches, but only mats and carpets spread on the floor. There
the worshippers kneel and touch the ground with their foreheads. The
minister of the mosque is called the Imam. He stands in a niche in the
wall, with his back to the people, and repeats prayers.
But he is not the preacher. The sheikh, or chief man of the town,
preaches; not on Sunday, but on Friday. He sits on a high place and talks
to the people--not about pardon and peace, and heaven and holiness--but
about the duty of washing their hands before prayers, and of bowing down
to the ground, and such vain services.
In the mosque there are two rows of very large wax candles, much higher
than a man, and as thick as his arm, and they are lighted at night.
It is considered right to go to the mosque for prayers five times a day;
but very few Mahomedans go so often. Wherever people may be, they are
expected to kneel down and repeat their prayers, whether in the house or
in the street. But very few do so. While they pray, Mahomedans look about
all the time, and in the midst speak to any one, and then go on again;
for their hearts are not in their prayers; they do not worship in spirit
and in truth.
There are no images or pictures in the mosques, because Mahomet forbid
his followers to worship idols. There are Korans on reading stands in
various parts of the mosque for any one to read who pleases.
The people leave their red slippers at the door, keeping on their yellow
boots only; but they do not uncover their heads as Christians do.
Was Christ ever known in this Mahomedan land? Yes, long before he was
known in England. Turkey in Asia used to be called Asia Minor, (or Asia
the less,) and there it was that Paul the apostle was born, and there he
preached and turned many to Christ. But at last the Christians began to
worship images, and the fierce Turks came and turned the churches into
mosques. This was the punishment God sent the Christians for breaking his
law. In some of the mosques you may see the marks of the pictures which
the Christians painted on the walls, and which the Turks nearly scraped
off.
How dreadful it would be if our churches should ever be turned into
mosques! May God never send us this heavy punishment.