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ISLAM
HER MORAL AND SPIRITUAL VALUE
ISLAM
HER MORAL AND SPIRITUAL VALUE
A Rational and Psychological Study
By
MAJOR ARTHUR GLYN LEONARD
LATE 2ND BATT. EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT
_Author of “The Camel, Its Uses and Management,” “How we made
Rhodesia,” “The Lower Niger and its Tribes”_
With a Foreword by
SYED AMEER ALI, M.A., C.I.E.
_Author of “The Spirit of Islam,” “Life and Teachings of Mohammed,”
“Mohammedan Law,” “Personal Law of the
Mohammedans,” etc._
LONDON
LUZAC & CO
46, GREAT RUSSELL STREET
1909
FOREWORD
I am glad to introduce this book with an expression of the pleasure and
interest with which I have read Major Leonard’s admirable psychological
study of a subject, the importance of which it is hardly possible to
overrate.
Unfortunately it has been too common hitherto to regard Islam as an
antagonistic force to Christendom; to depreciate its Founder and to
discount its Ideals. As the author justly observes, it is hardly
possible for a student really anxious to acquaint himself with the inner
spirit of another Faith, to gain an insight into its true character
until he has divested himself of ancient prejudices that narrow his
perspective and prevent his taking a broad view of the aims and
aspirations of the great men who from time to time have tried to uplift
humanity.
Major Leonard has dealt with his subject in this broad spirit; he has
approached it with sympathy born of intimate acquaintance with races
and peoples who profess the Faith of Islam. His is eminently a
philosophical study of its Founder, of its true moral and spiritual
utility, and of the great impetus it gave to the progress of the world.
In the eight chapters that constitute this book he has discussed the
entire range of questions affecting the personality of Mohammed and the
tendency of his religion. In his treatment he shows himself a
philosophical rationalist animated with a reverence for the Arabian
Teacher--the evident outcome of a true appreciation of the mainspring of
his actions.
In the first chapter the author has applied himself to expose the
absurdity and hollowness of the Pan-Islamic “bogey.” That the growing
_rapprochement_ between Moslem communities, hitherto divided by
sectarian feuds, should be viewed with disfavour by Europe as indicating
a danger to its predominance and selfish ambitions is intelligible. But
that it should be regarded as a deliberate challenge to, or intended as
a hostile demonstration against Christendom, is a mere chimera. Major
Leonard proves conclusively that the Pan-Islamic movement is no modern
political movement; but that morally and spiritually Islam, in its very
essence, is Pan-Islamic; in other words, a creed that recognizes in
practice the brotherhood of man to a degree unknown in any other
religion, and admits in its commonwealth no difference of race, colour
or rank.
Moslems, laymen and scholars, will probably not agree with some of Major
Leonard’s remarks in his outline of the Prophet’s character and
temperament; but they must all acknowledge his sincerity. He describes
Mohammed as a great and true man--great not only as a teacher, but as a
patriot and statesman; a material as well as a spiritual builder, who
constructed a nation and an enduring Faith, which holds, to a greater
degree than most others, the hearts of millions of human beings; a man
true to himself and his people, but above all to his God.
The author has gone to the Koran itself for the animating purpose of
Mohammed’s strenuous and noble life. He believes that the national good
to be obtained only by the recognition of the conception of a God who is
both “national and universal” was the dominant idea that impelled and
inspired the Prophet of Arabia. In his appreciation of Mohammed’s
teachings, Major Leonard has grasped the real spirit of Islam; and both
as regards his moral and spiritual precepts, as also the enunciations
respecting the duties of every-day life, the author has given the
Arabian Prophet his due. He dwells on Mohammed’s affection and sympathy
for the weak, the afflicted and suffering, with the orphan and the
stricken; on his humanity to the dumb creatures of God; on the duties of
parents to children, and of children to parents; on his burning
denunciations of the terrible crime of female infanticide.
In the eighth and last chapter Major Leonard speaks of the debt Europe
owes to Islam, and endeavours to show that the religion of Mohammed, far
from being antagonistic to human development, has materially helped in
the progress of the world. It is part of Major Leonard’s thesis that
Christianity and Islam belong to “different spheres of influence”; in
other words, whilst Christianity is suited to certain races, Islam is
peculiarly suited to others. Races and peoples adapt their religions to
their own respective advancement, and the same religion varies among
different communities according to the stage of their development. The
Christianity of the barbarous South American Gaucho is not the same as
that of the cultured Englishman, nor is the Islam of the cultivated
Moslem identical with that professed by ignorant followers of the Faith.
But it would be hard to say that philosophical Christianity exactly
answers the needs of the lower strata of Christendom to whom the
positive directions of a simple practical faith might appeal with
greater force. Might not Islam, with its emphatic prohibition of drink,
the primary cause of all the vice and crime in Europe, prove a far
greater civilizing agency in the slums of European cities, and do far
more good in reclaiming the debased, than a religion which does not
possess that positive character and is only adapted for idealistic
minds?
Whatever view a rationalist may hold on this point, I feel that Major
Leonard has laid the world of literature under a debt for his admirable
monograph on a peculiarly interesting subject.
AMEER ALI.
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I
THE SO-CALLED MOSLEM MENACE! 13
CHAPTER II
AN OUTLINE OF MOHAMMED’S TEMPERAMENT
AND CHARACTERISTICS 23
CHAPTER III
THE ENVIRONMENT THAT MOULDED MOHAMMED 51
CHAPTER IV
MOHAMMED’S PRINCIPLES AND BELIEFS 71
CHAPTER V
THE MATERIAL AND OTHER SIDES OF THE PROPHET’S
CHARACTER 84
CHAPTER VI
A BRIEF SUMMARY OF MOHAMMED’S WORK
AND WORTH 101
CHAPTER VII
MOSLEM MORALITY AND CHRISTENDOM’S ATTITUDE
TOWARDS ISLAM 121
CHAPTER VIII
EUROPE’S DEBT TO ISLAM: ETHNIC SPHERES OF
INFLUENCE 142
CHAPTER I
THE SO-CALLED MOSLEM MENACE!
For some time past, but more especially during the last year or two, it
has become quite the fashion in Europe to rail at and to suspect the
good faith and motives of the Moslem world. If we are to believe the
European Press, Europe is in deadly danger. The “_Yellow Peril_” of a
few years ago has, by means of the juggling of modern journalism,
cleverly transformed itself into the “_Moslem Menace_.” According to
this trenchant successor of the ancient oracle, there is unrest and
seething turmoil everywhere. In Egypt, a national confederation; in
Morocco, a crisis; in the heart of Africa, the Senussi movement; in
Turkey and Arabia, secret associations and agitation; in Persia even,
disaffection but co-operation. In one word, Europe--Christian, civilized
and unoffending Europe--is confronted with a Pan-Islamic confederation,
that is co-operating to achieve the unity and the nationalization of all
Islam, with the express object of ultimately turning upon Christendom,
and rending her into a thousand tattered fragments.
That there has been no revival of “the chronic conspiracy” within our
Indian Empire, is, however, easily explained. This, which purposed to be
a religious agitation among Indian Moslems, was an expression more
familiar twenty-five years ago and was attributed to the influence of
Wahabite oratory. It is, of course, possible that the present agitation
and unrest among the Hindus generally, but the Bengalis in particular,
has for the time being at all events diverted the attention of the
outside world in other directions. But it is also more or less generally
taken for granted that the Moslem population of India has sunk into a
state of political lethargy, which if it does not betoken loyalty,
obviously demonstrates a dumb and passive revolutionary torpor that is
tantamount to it.
That agitation and unrest exist throughout the Moslem world would be
nothing either new or unusual. In a human sense, Islam is identical with
Christendom. She too has her social functions, her political parties,
associations, confederations and societies. She has her religious sects
and denominations. As with us, so with Islam, there are affinities, and
antipathies, emulations and jealousies, competitions and rivalries,
likes and dislikes, envy, malice, hatred and all uncharitableness. The
interest of self predominates before all else. In kind there is
certainly no difference, in degree it is possible that Europe may be a
step or two higher. But this is not the point that I would here
emphasize. To fall back on the time-honoured maxim, immortalized by
Shakespeare, comparisons of this kind are incompatible if not odious.
Besides, recrimination is as futile as it is injudicious and
undignified.
It is not of moral discrepancies on either side that I would speak. Nor
have I any wish to rake up the low-lying sediment, or to disturb the
still waters which are running deep in the great ocean of Moslem life.
Under the conditions that prevail, it is assuredly best to let sleeping
dogs lie. Left alone they are much less troublesome. There is always the
possibility that they may oversleep themselves and fall into a dormant
and inactive state. In this way the still waters of sedition and
agitation soon find their own level--the embers of revolt may at times
flare up, but they soon flicker out.
It is of the moral and spiritual utility, with the soul of Islam, that I
am now about to deal. For Islam, believe me, has a soul--a sincere and
earnest soul, a great and profound soul--that is worth knowing. It is in
this soul that the whole kernel and essence of Islam lies. A thorough
knowledge and a clear comprehension of this great spirit will alone
enable the statesmen and thinkers of Europe to understand the complex
problems of so-called Pan-Islamism. To obtain this grasp, however,
certain qualifications are absolutely essential. It is necessary--e.g.,
to approach the subject from a rational and reasonable standpoint--to
detach the mind from all preconceived dogmas and opinions; to lay aside
all prejudices, racial, religious, social and otherwise, and all
bigotries and intolerance; to be confined to no one creed, sect or
denomination of any kind, sort or description, but the one great world
of Humanity that, in the eyes of Nature, is of one soul and body. This
may be a large, or as cousin Jonathan would call it, a tall, order. It
bulks big and sounds ponderous. In face of what human nature is, it
appears impracticable. But even in human nature there are exceptions and
possibilities. An aspect such as this, then, though improbable, is
certainly possible, if exceptional. Let us presume at least that in this
instance it is so. It is, at all events, on these broad lines that the
following pages have been written. It is the true spirit of human
sympathy and fellowship that has moved me--the sympathy and fellowship
that would draw together, or at least nearer to each other, the worlds
of Christendom and Islam.
The better to achieve my object, I have consulted no works on either
Mohammed or Islam, but have gone straight to the source or fountain
head--to Mohammed himself, the Koran, and to Moslems of various
nationalities with whom I have been brought into close and personal
touch during a wide and a varied experience. It is here in the man and
his work that the true soul of Islam is to be found. Just as in its
founders and foundations lies the heart and essence of Christianity, it
is in and out of the merits as well as demerits of Mohammed’s work, that
we shall form the true estimate of Islamic utility. By their fruits ye
shall know them. Men do not gather figs of thorns, or grapes of
thistles. Mohammed most certainly did not. As he sowed, so he has
reaped! So he is still reaping. The Koran was the immediate consequence
of his concentration and communion with Nature and Nature’s God: Islam
the natural result. In other words, Islam is the devotion of Moslems to
Mohammed and the Koran--his work, plus their patient resignation and
entire submission to God, His will and His service! The man of fixed and
unchanging purpose has a supreme contempt for obstacles. But when, as in
Mohammed’s case, that purpose is the glorification of God, he has at
hand a lever that can move the world. In this peculiar sense the great
Prophet of Arabia was self-contained. He had everything within himself:
that everything centred in God and Arabian unity. He sought only what he
needed. This was to unify God and his country. How he succeeded is a
matter of history.
D’Aubigné in his history of the Reformation, speaking of Luther, says:
“Men, when designed by God to influence their contemporaries, are first
seized and drawn along by the peculiar tendencies of their age.”
Undoubtedly this, in a great measure, is so. It is quite evident that
Mohammed was influenced in this way. Yet it is also obvious that he was
not so much seized by the peculiar tendencies of his age (for in many
ways he was far in advance of it), as that he was obsessed and dominated
by the energy or spirit of God, and utilized these special features with
the design of disseminating this overmastering God possession to others.
“There are but three sorts of persons,” Pascal used to say: “those who
serve God, having found Him; those who employ themselves in seeking Him,
not having found Him; and those who live without seeking Him or having
found Him. The first are reasonable and happy; the last are mad and
miserable; the intermediate are miserable and reasonable.”
If ever man on this earth found God, if ever man devoted his life to
God’s service with a good and a great motive, it is certain that the
Prophet of Arabia was that man. That on the whole and in the truest
sense of the word he was reasonable, is best seen in the result which
his labour achieved. That he was happy, is quite another matter. Real as
is our existence, happiness at best is but an ephemeral phase of it. Yet
there is much truth in the assertion, that gaiety seeks the crowd, while
happiness loves silence and solitude as Mohammed himself did. In any
case, if the satisfaction which ensues as the consequence of duty done,
and well done, is happiness; if the consciousness that he has done his
best in all sincerity and conscientiousness, gives happiness to the ego,
then it is possible to assume that in bequeathing the grand heritage of
Islam to posterity, Mohammed must have gone to his final rest in a state
of supreme happiness.
Self-belief--“that thing given to man by his Creator,” as Carlyle calls
it--was, as I shall show, a salient feature in Mohammed’s character.
More than half a Bedawin (or what was practically the same thing,
passing a great part of his life in deserts), this was only natural. But
he did not allow this self-consciousness to degenerate, either into
vanity or egotism. It neither spoilt nor conquered him. He knew his own
weakness--none better--therefore relied all the more on the power of
God. It was this outside influence which reacted on him so powerfully
from within. It was this judicious blend or amalgam of two seemingly
different thought-currents, which were in reality only a bifurcation of
the same current, that gave him all his strength. It was this unique
combination of an apparent dualism (through intense mental
concentration) in one divine Monism that gave Mohammed victory over
every obstacle. It was this compressed one-ness--the most sublime
triumph of individual concentration in the world’s history--that carried
Islam into the uttermost parts of the earth. It was this centralization
of moral or religious gravity that swelled the belief of one man--a
modest camel-driving trader only--into the perfervid belief of hundreds
of millions. “For given a sincere man, you have given a thing worth
attending to. Since sincerity, what is it but a divorce from earth and
earthly feelings?”
One thing more. To thoroughly comprehend the spirit of Mohammed or the
soul of Islam, the student himself must be thoroughly in earnest and
sincere. He must in addition possess that moral, mental and intellectual
sympathy which gives the ego an insight into human subtleties as well as
simplicities. He must take Mohammed and Islam as he finds them--in the
same intensely sincere spirit that constituted the one and inculcated
the other. He must at the outset recognize that Mohammed was no mere
spiritual pedlar, no vulgar time-serving vagrant, but one of the most
profoundly sincere and earnest spirits of any age or epoch. A man not
only great, but one of the greatest--i.e. truest--men that Humanity has
ever produced. Great, i.e. not simply as a prophet, but as a patriot and
a statesman: a material as well as a spiritual builder who constructed a
great nation, a greater empire, and more even than all these, a still
greater Faith. True, moreover, because he was true to himself, to his
people, and above all to his God. Recognizing this, he will thus
acknowledge that Islam is a profound and true cult, which strives to
uplift its votaries from the depths of human darkness upwards into the
higher realm of Light and Truth. It is in this deep sense of
earnestness, and in this tense but even-minded spirit of equity, that I
have endeavoured to make my study both rational and psychological: in
other words, reasonable and true to the spirit. Naturally, therefore, I
have avoided those narrow and devilish pitfalls of racial, creedal and
colour prejudices--that awful curse of Humanity, that insuperable
barrier to the cult of Humanitarianism--which leads to the deadly cancer
of _Misconception_. Finally--making due allowance for space
limitations--I have endeavoured to the best of my ability to get to the
root of all that is good and great in the immortal work of this leader
of men who was so good and so great in every sense. In this way only is
it possible to get at the truth. Shallow, superficial and paradoxical
inquiries are mere empty vanities as utterly useless, from a human
standpoint, as those which are biassed and one-sided. To reach the
depths, to touch the bottom, to get to the root of any true man’s
motives, sincerity and thoroughness are as essential as intellectual
acumen and profundity.
In this short study my one idea all through has been to delineate
Mohammed as he was and Islam as she is. For this reason I have neither
painted them with my own colouring, nor introduced into their natural
complexion any outside flesh tints. In plain English, I have not placed
upon their beliefs and principles a construction that, being ethnically
foreign to the entire sociological system upon which they are based,
would have been a fundamental error, at complete variance with them.