,,american ,,lectures ,,on ,,the ,,history ,,of ,,religions ,,series ,,of #aiad-aiae ,mohammedanism ,lectures on ,its ,origin1 ,its ,religious and ,political ,growth1 and ,its ,present ,state by ,c4 ,snouck ,hurgronje ,professor of the ,arabic ,language in the ,university of ,leiden1 ,holland #aiaf ,,announcement4 ,the ,american ,lectures on the ,history of ,religions are delivered under the auspices of the ,american ,committee for ,lectures on the ,history of ,religions4 ,this ,committee was organized in #ahib1 for the purpose of instituting popular courses in the ,history of ,religions1 somewhat after the style of the ,hibbert ,lectures in ,england1 to be delivered by the best scholars of ,europe and this country1 in various cities1 such as ,baltimore1 ,boston1 ,brooklyn1 ,chicago1 ,new ,york1 ,philadelphia4 ,the terms of association under which the ,committee exists are as follows3 #a4--,the object of this ,committee shall be to provide courses of lectures on the history of religions1 to be delivered in various cities4 #b4--,the ,committee shall be composed of delegates from the institutions agreeing to co-operate1 with such additional members as may be chosen by these delegates4 #c4--,these delegates--one from each institution1 with the additional members selected--shall constitute themselves a council under the name of the ,american ,committee for ,lectures on the ,history of ,religions4 #d4--,the ,committee shall elect out of its number a ,chairman1 a ,secretary1 and a ,treasurer4 #e4--;,all matters of local detail shall be left to the co-operating institutions under whose auspices the lectures are to be delivered4 #f4--;,a course of lectures on some religion1 or phase of religion1 from an historical point of view1 or on a subject germane to the study of religions1 shall be delivered annually1 or at such intervals as may be found practicable1 in the different cities represented by this ,committee4 #g4--,the ,committee 7a7 shall be charged with the selection of the lectures1 7b7 shall have charge of the funds1 7c7 shall assign the time for the lectures in each city1 and perform such other functions as may be necessary4 #h4--,polemical subjects1 as well as polemics in the treatment of subjects1 shall be positively excluded4 #i4--,the lectures shall be delivered in the various cities between the months of ,september and ,june4 #aj4--,the copyright of the lectures shall be the property of the ,committee4 #aa4--,the compensation of the lecturer shall be fixed in each case by the ,committee4 #ab4--,the lecturer shall be paid in installments after each course1 until he shall have received half of the entire compensation4 ,of the remaining half1 one half shall be paid to him upon delivery of the manuscript1 properly prepared for the press1 and the second half on the publication of the volume1 less a deduction for corrections made by the author in the proofs4 ,the ,committee as now constituted is as follows3 ,prof4 ,crawford ,h4 ,toy1 ,chairman1 #g ,lowell ,st41 ,cambridge1 ,mass42 ,rev4 ,dr4 ,john ,p4 ,peters1 ,treasurer1 #bbg ,w4 #iith ,st41 ,new ,york ,city2 ,prof4 ,morris ,jastrow1 ,jr41 ,secretary1 #bdh ,so4 #bc;d ,st41 ,philadelphia1 ,pa42 ,president ,francis ,brown1 ,union ,theological ,seminary1 ,new ,york ,city2 ,prof4 ,richard ,gottheil1 ,columbia ,university1 ,new ,york ,city2 ,prof4 ,harry ,pratt ,judson1 ,university of ,chicago1 ,chicago1 ,ill42 ,prof4 ,paul ,haupt1 ,johns ,hopkins ,university1 ,baltimore1 ,md42 ,mr4 ,charles ,d4 ,atkins1 ,director1 ,brooklyn ,institute of ,arts and ,sciences2 ,prof4 ,e4,w4 ,hopkins1 ,yale ,university1 ,new ,haven1 ,conn42 ,prof4 ,edward ,knox ,mitchell1 ,hartford ,theological ,seminary1 ,hartford1 ,conn42 ,president ,f4,k4 ,sanders1 ,washburn ,college1 ,topeka1 ,kan42 ,prof4 ,h4,p4 ,smith1 ,meadville ,theological ,seminary1 ,meadville1 ,pa42 ,prof4 ,w4,j4 ,hinke1 ,auburn ,theological ,seminary1 ,auburn1 ,n4,y42 ,prof4 ,kemper ,fullerton1 ,oberlin ,theological ,seminary1 ,oberlin1 ,n4,y4 ,the lecturers in the course of ,american ,lectures on the ,history of ,religions and the titles of their volumes are as follows3 #ahid-ahie--,prof4 ,t4,w4 ,rhys-,davids1 ,ph4,d41--,buddhism4 #ahif-ahig--,prof4 ,daniel ,g4 ,brinton1 ,m4,d41 ,,ll4,d4--,religions of ,primitive ,peoples4 #ahig-ahih--,rev4 ,prof4 ,t4,k4 ,cheyne1 ,d4,d4--,jewish ,religious ,life after the ,exile4 #ahih-ahii--,prof4 ,karl ,budde1 ,d4,d4--,religion of ,israel to the ,exile4 #aijd-aije--,prof4 ,george ,steindorff1 ,ph4,d4--,the ,religion of the ,ancient ,egyptians4 #aije-aijf--,prof4 ,george ,w4 ,knox1 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,d4--,the ,development of ,religion in ,japan4 #aijf-aijg--,prof4 ,maurice ,bloomfield1 ,ph4,d41 ,,ll4,d4--,the ,religion of the ,veda4 #aijg-aijh--,prof4 ,a4,v4,w4 ,jackson1 ,ph4,d41 ,,ll4,d4--,the ,religion of ,persia4#a #aiji-aiaj--,prof4 ,morris ,jastrow1 ,jr41 ,ph4,d4--,aspects of ,religious ,belief and ,practice in ,babylonia and ,assyria4 #aiaj-aiaa--,prof4 ,j4,j4,m4 ,de,groot--,the ,development of ,religion in ,china4 #aiaa-aiab--,prof4 ,franz ,cumont4#b--;,astrology and ,religion among the ,greeks and ,romans4 ,footnote #a3 ,this course was not published by the ,committee1 but will form part of ,prof4 ,jackson's volume on the ,religion of ,persia in the series of ,handbooks on the ,history of ,religions1 edited by ,prof4 ,morris ,jastrow1 ,jr41 and published by ,messrs4 ,ginn ,company of ,boston4 ,prof4 ,jastrow's volume is1 therefore1 the eighth in the series4 ,footnote #b3 ,owing to special circumstances1 ,prof4 ,cumont's volume was published before that of ,prof4 ,de,groot4 ,it is1 therefore1 the ninth in the series and that of ,prof4 ,de,groot the tenth4 ,the lecturer for #aiad was ,professor ,c4 ,snouck ,hurgronje4 ,born in ,oosterhout1 ,holland1 in #aheg1 he studied ,theology and ,oriental ,languages at the ,university of ,leiden and continued his studies at the ,university of ,strassburg4 ,in #ahhj he published his first important work ,het ,mekkaansch ,feest1 having resolved to devote himself entirely to the study of ,mohammedanism in its widest aspects4 ,after a few years' activity as ,lecturer on ,mohammedan ,law at the ,seminary for ,netherlands-,india in ,leiden1 he spent eight months 7#ahhd-e7 in ,mecca and ,jidda4 ,in #ahhh1 he became lecturer at the ,university of ,leiden and in the same year was sent out as ,professor to ,batavia in ,netherlands-,india1 where he spent the years #ahhi-aijf4 ,upon his return he was appointed ,professor of ,arabic at the ,university of ,leiden4 ,among his principal published works may be mentioned3 ,mekka1 ,the ,hague1 #ahhh-i2 ,de ,beteekenis van den ,islam voor zijne ,belijders in ,oost ,inde1 ,leiden1 #ahhc2 ,mekkanische ,sprichwrter1 ,the ,hague1 #ahhf2 ,de ,atjehers1 ,leiden1 #aijc-d1 ,england tr4 ,london1 #aijf2 ,het ,gajland en zijne ,bezvoners1 ,batavia1 #aijc1 and ,nederland en de ,islm1 ,leiden1 #aiae4 ,the lectures to be found in the present volume were delivered before the following ,institutions3 ,columbia ,university1 ,yale ,university1 ,the ,university of ,pennsylvania1 ,meadville ,theological ,seminary1 ,the ,university of ,chicago1 ,the ,lowell ,institute1 and the ,johns ,hopkins ,university4 ,the ,committee owes a debt of deep gratitude to ,mr4 ,charles ,r4 ,crane for having made possible the course of lectures for the year #aiad4 ,,richard ,,gottheil ,,crawford ,h4 ,,toy ,committee on ,publication4 ,april1 #aiaf4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,contents ,,some ,,points ,,concerning ,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,isl,m4 ,,the ,,religious ,,development ,,of ,,isl,m4 ,,the ,,political ,,development ,,of ,,isl,m4 ,,isl,m ,,and ,,modern ,,thought4 ,,index4 ,mohammedanism ,i ,,some ,,points ,,concerning ,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,isl,m ,there are more than two hundred million people who call themselves after the name of ,mohammed1 would not relinquish that name at any price1 and cannot imagine a greater blessing for the remainder of humanity than to be incorporated into their communion4 ,their ideal is no less than that the whole earth should join in the faith that there is no god but ,allah and that ,mohammed is ,allah's last and most perfect messenger1 who brought the latest and final revelation of ,allah to humanity in ,allah's own words4 ,this alone is enough to claim our special interest for the ,prophet1 who in the seventh century stirred all ,arabia into agitation and whose followers soon after his death founded an empire extending from ,morocco to ,china4 ,even those who--to my mind1 not without gross exaggeration--would seek the explanation of the mighty stream of humanity poured out by the ,arabian peninsula since #fcj over ,western and ,middle ,asia1 ,northern ,africa1 and ,southern ,europe principally in geographic and economic causes1 do not ignore the fact that it was ,mohammed who opened the sluice gates4 ,it would indeed be difficult to maintain that without his preaching the ,arabs of the seventh century would have been induced by circumstances to swallow up the empire of the ,sasanids and to rob the ,byzantine ,empire of some of its richest provinces4 ,however great a weight one may give to political and economic factors1 it was religion1 ,islm1 which in a certain sense united the hitherto hopelessly divided ,arabs1 ,islm which enabled them to found an enormous international community2 it was ,islm which bound the speedily converted nations together even after the shattering of its political power1 and which still binds them today when only a miserable remnant of that power remains4 ,the aggressive manner in which young ,islm immediately put itself in opposition to the rest of the world had the natural consequence of awakening an interest which was far from being of a friendly nature4 ,moreover men were still very far from such a striving towards universal peace as would have induced a patient study of the means of bringing the different peoples into close spiritual relationship1 and therefore from an endeavour to understand the spiritual life of races different to their own4 ,the ,christianity of that time was itself by no means averse to the forcible extension of its faith1 and in the community of ,mohammedans which systematically attempted to reduce the world to its authority by force of arms1 it saw only an enemy whose annihilation was1 to its regret1 beyond its power4 ,such an enemy it could no more observe impartially than one modern nation can another upon which it considers it necessary to make war4 ,everything maintained or invented to the disadvantage of ,islm was greedily absorbed by ,europe2 the picture which our forefathers in the ,middle ,ages formed of ,mohammed's religion appears to us a malignant caricature4 ,the rare theologians#a who1 before attacking the false faith1 tried to form a clear notion of it1 were not listened to1 and their merits have only become appreciated in our own time4 ,a vigorous combating of the prevalent fictions concerning ,islm would have exposed a scholar to a similar treatment to that which1 fifteen years ago1 fell to the lot of any ,englishman who maintained the cause of the ,boers2 he would have been as much of an outcast as a modern inhabitant of ,mecca who tried to convince his compatriots of the virtues of ,european policy and social order4 ,footnote #a3 ,see for instance the reference to the exposition of the ,paderborn bishop ,olivers 7#abbg7 in the ,paderborn review ,theologie und ,glaube1 ,jahrg4 iv41 p4 #ece1 etc4 7,islm1 iv41 p4 #ahf72 also some of the accounts mentioned in ,gterbock1 ,der ,islm im ,lichte der byzantinischen ,polemik1 etc4 ,two and a half centuries ago1 a prominent ,orientalist1#b who wrote an exposition of ,mohammed's teaching1 felt himself obliged to give an elaborate justification of his undertaking in his ,dedicatio4 ,he appeals to one or two celebrated predecessors and to learned colleagues1 who have expressly instigated him to this work4 ,amongst other things he quotes a letter from the ,leiden professor1 ,l',empereur1 in which he conjures ,breitinger by the bowels of ,jesus ,christ 7per viscera ,jesu ,christi7 to give the young man every opportunity to complete his study of the religion of ,mohammed1 which so far has only been treated in a senseless way4 ,as a fruit of this study ,l',empereur thinks it necessary to mention in the first place the better understanding of the 7,christian7 ,holy ,scriptures by the extension of our knowledge of ,oriental manners and customs4 ,besides such promotion of ,christian exegesis and apologetics and the improvement of the works on general history1 ,hottinger himself contemplated a double purpose in his ,historia ,orientalis4 ,the ,roman ,catholics often vilified ,protestantism by comparing the ,reformed doctrine to that of ,mohammedanism2 this reproach of ,crypto-mohammedanism ,hottinger wished talionis lege to fling back at the ,catholics2 and he devotes a whole chapter 7,cap4 #f7 of his book to the demonstration that ,bellarminius' proofs of the truth of the ,church doctrine might have been copied from the ,moslim dogma4 ,in the second place1 conforming to the spirit of the times1 he wished1 just as ,bibliander had done in his refutation of the ,qorn1 to combine the combat against ,mohammedan unbelief with that against the ,turkish ,empire 7in oppugnationem ,mahometanae perfidiae et ,turcici regni74 ,footnote #b3 ,j4,h4 ,hottinger1 ,historia ,orientalis1 ,zrich1 #afea 7#b;d4 edition #affj74 ,the ,turks were feared by the ,europe of that time1 and the significance of their religion for their worldly power was well known2 thus the political side of the question gave ,hottinger's work a special claim to consideration4 ,yet1 in spite of all this1 ,hottinger feared that his labour would be regarded as useless1 or even wicked4 ,especially when he is obliged to say anything favourable of ,mohammed and his followers1 he thinks it necessary to protect himself against misconstruction by the addition of some selected terms of abuse4 ,when mentioning ,mohammed's name1 he says3 at the mention of whom the mind shudders 7ad cujus profecto mentionem inhorrescere nobis debet animus74 ,the learned ,abb ,maracci1 who in #afih produced a ,latin translation of the ,qorn accompanied by an elaborate refutation1 was no less than ,hottinger imbued with the necessity of shuddering at every mention of the false ,prophet1 and ,dr4 ,prideaux1 whose ,vie de ,mahomet appeared in the same year in ,amsterdam1 abused and shuddered with them1 and held up his biography of ,mohammed as a mirror to unbelievers1 atheists1 deists1 and libertines4 ,it was a ,dutch scholar1 ,h4 ,reland1 the ,utrecht professor of theology1 who in the beginning of the eighteenth century frankly and warmly recommended the application of historical justice even towards the ,mohammedan religion2 in his short ,latin sketch of ,islm#a he allowed the ,mohammedan authorities to speak for themselves4 ,in his ,dedicatio to his brother and in his extensive preface he explains his then new method4 ,is it to be supposed1 he asks1 that a religion as ridiculous as the ,islm described by ,christian authors should have found millions of devotees8 ,let the ,moslims themselves describe their own religion for us2 just as the ,jewish and ,christian religions are falsely represented by the heathen and ,protestantism by ,catholics1 so every religion is misrepresented by its antagonists4 ,we are mortals1 subject to error2 especially where religious matters are concerned1 we often allow ourselves to be grossly misled by passion4 ,although it may cause evil-minded readers to doubt the writer's orthodoxy he continues to maintain that truth can only be served by combating her opponents in an honourable way4 ,footnote #a3 ,h4 ,relandi de religione ,mohammedica libri duo1 ,utrecht1 #agjd 7#b;d ed4 #agag74 ,no religion1 says ,reland1 has been more calumniated than ,islm1 although the ,abb ,maracci himself could give no better explanation of the turning of many ,jews and ,christians to this religion than the fact that it contains many elements of natural truth1 evidently borrowed from the ,christian religion1 which seem to be in accordance with the law and the light of nature 7quae naturae legi ac lumini consentanea videntur74 ,more will be gained for ,christianity by friendly intercourse with ,mohammedans than by slander2 above all ,christians who live in the ,east must not1 as is too often the case1 give cause to one ,turk to say to another who suspects him of lying or deceit3 ',do you take me for a ,christian8' 7putasne me ,christianum esse74 ,in truth1 the ,mohammedans often put us to shame by their virtues2 and a better knowledge of ,islm can only help to make our irrational pride give place to gratitude to ,god for the undeserved mercy which ,he bestowed upon us in ,christianity4 ,reland has no illusions that his scientific justice will find acceptance in a wide circle as he becomes daily more and more convinced that the world wishes to be deceived and is governed by prejudice 7qui quotidie magis magisque experior mundum decipi velle et praeconceptis opinionibus regi74 ,it was not long before the scale was turned in the opposite direction1 and ,islm was made by some people the object of panegyrics as devoid of scientific foundation as the former calumnies4 ,in #agcj appeared in ,london the incomplete posthumous work of ,count de ,boulainvilliers1 ,vie de ,mahomet1 in which1 amongst other things1 he says of the ,arabian ,prophet that all that he has said concerning the essential religious dogmas is true1 but he has not said all that is true1 and it is only therein that his religion differs from ours4 ,de ,boulainvilliers tells us with particular satisfaction that ,mohammed1 who respected the devotion of hermits and monks1 proceeded with the utmost severity against the official clergy1 condemning its members either to death or to the abjuration of their faith4 ,this ,vie de ,mahomet was as a matter of fact an anti-clerical romance1 the material of which was supplied by a superficial knowledge of ,islm drawn from secondary sources4 ,that a work with such a tendency was sure to arouse interest at that time1 is shown by a letter from the publisher1 ,coderc1 to ,professor ,gagnier at ,oxford1 in which he writes3 ,he de ,boulainvilliers mixes up his history with many political reflections1 which by their newness and boldness are sure to be well received 7,il mle son ,histoire de plusieurs rflexions politiques1 et qui par leur hardiesse ne manqueront pas d'tre trs bien reues74 ,jean ,gagnier however considered these bold novelties very dangerous and endeavoured to combat them in another ,vie de ,mahomet1 which appeared from his hand in #agdh at ,amsterdam4 ,he strives after a juste milieu between the too violent partisanship of ,maracci and ,prideaux and the ridiculous acclamations of de ,boulainvilliers4 ,yet this does not prevent him in his preface from calling ,mohammed the greatest villain of mankind and the most mortal enemy of ,god 7le plus sclrat de tous les hommes et le plus mortel ennemi de ,dieu74 ,his desire to make his contemporaries proof against the poison of de ,boulainvilliers' dangerous book gains the mastery over the pure love of truth for which ,reland had so bravely striven4 ,although ,sale in his ,preliminary ,discourse to his translation of the ,qorn endeavours to contribute to a fair estimation of ,mohammed and his work1 of which his motto borrowed from ,augustine1 ,there is no false doctrine that does not contain some truth 7nulla falsa doctrina est quae non aliquid veri permisceat71 is proof1 still the prejudicial view remained for a considerable time the prevalent one4 ,mohammed was branded as imposteur even in circles where ,christian fanaticism was out of the question4 ,voltaire did not write his tragedy ,mahomet ou le fanatisme as a historical study2 he was aware that his fiction was in many respects at variance with history4 ,in writing his work he was1 as he himself expresses it1 inspired by l'amour du genre humain et l'horreur du fanatisme4 ,he wanted to put before the public an armed ,tartufe and thought he might lay the part upon ,mohammed1 for1 says he1 is not the man1 who makes war against his own country and dares to do it in the name of ,god1 capable of any ill8 ,the dislike that ,voltaire had conceived for the ,qorn from a superficial acquaintance with it1 ce livre inintelligible qui fait frmir le sens commun chaque page1 probably increased his unfavourable opinion1 but the principal motive of his choice of a representative must have been that the general public still regarded ,mohammed as the incarnation of fanaticism and priestcraft4 ,almost a century lies between ,gagnier's biography of ,mohammed and that of the ,heidelberg professor ,weil 7,mohammed der ,prophet1 sein ,leben and seine ,lehre1 ,stuttgart1 #ahdc72 and yet ,weil did well to call ,gagnier his last independent predecessor4 ,weil's great merit is1 that he is the first in his field who instituted an extensive historico-critical investigation without any preconceived opinion4 ,his final opinion of ,mohammed is1 with the necessary reservations3 ,in so far as he brought the most beautiful teachings of the ,old and the ,new ,testament to a people which was not illuminated by one ray of faith1 he may be regarded1 even by those who are not ,mohammedans1 as a messenger of ,god4 ,four years later ,caussin de ,perceval in his ,essai sur l'histoire des ,arabes1 written quite independently of ,weil1 expresses the same idea in these words3 ,it would be an injustice to ,mohammed to consider him as no more than a clever impostor1 an ambitious man of genius2 he was in the first place a man convinced of his vocation to deliver his nation from error and to regenerate it4 ,about twenty years later the biography of ,mohammed made an enormous advance through the works of ,muir1 ,sprenger1 and ,nldeke4 ,on the ground of much wider and at the same time deeper study of the sources than had been possible for ,weil and ,caussin de ,perceval1 each of these three scholars gave in his own way an account of the origin of ,islm4 ,nldeke was much sharper and more cautious in his historical criticism than ,muir or ,sprenger4 ,while the biographies written by these two men have now only historical value1 ,nldeke's ,history of the ,qorn is still an indispensable instrument of study more than half a century after its first appearance4 ,numbers of more or less successful efforts to make ,mohammed's life understood by the nineteenth century intellect have followed these without much permanent gain4 ,mohammed1 who was represented to the public in turn as deceiver1 as a genius mislead by the ,devil1 as epileptic1 as hysteric1 and as prophet1 was obliged later on even to submit to playing on the one hand the part of socialist and1 on the other hand1 that of a defender of capitalism4 ,these points of view were principally characteristic of the temperament of the scholars who held them2 they did not really advance our understanding of the events that took place at ,mecca and ,medina between #faj and #fcb ,a4,d41 that prologue to a perplexing historical drama4 ,the principal source from which all biographers started and to which they always returned1 was the ,qorn1 the collection of words of ,allah spoken by ,mohammed in those twenty-two years4 ,hardly anyone1 amongst the faithful and the unfaithful1 doubts the generally authentic character of its contents except the ,parisian professor ,casanova4#a ,he tried to prove a little while ago that ,mohammed's revelations originally contained the announcement that the ,,hour1 the final catastrophe1 the ,last judgment would come during his life4 ,when his death had therefore falsified this prophecy1 according to ,casanova1 the leaders of the young community found themselves obliged to submit the revelations preserved in writing or memory to a thorough revision1 to add some which announced the mortality even of the last prophet1 and1 finally to console the disappointed faithful with the hope of ,mohammed's return before the end of the world4 ,this doctrine of the return1 mentioned neither in the ,qorn nor in the eschatological tradition of later times1 according to ,casanova was afterwards changed again into the expectation of the ,mahd1 the last of ,mohammed's deputies1 a ,guided of ,god1 who shall be descended from ,mohammed1 bear his name1 resemble him in appearance1 and who shall fill the world once more before its end with justice1 as it is now filled with injustice and tyranny4 ,footnote #a3 ,paul ,casanova1 ,mohammed et la fin du monde1 ,paris1 #aiaa4 ,his hypotheses are founded upon ,weil's doubts of the authenticity of a few verses of the ,qorn 7iii41 #ach2 xxxix41 #ca1 etc471 which doubts were sufficiently refuted half a century ago by ,nldeke in his ,geschichte des ,qorns1 #ast edition1 p4 #aig1 etc4 ,in our sceptical times there is very little that is above criticism1 and one day or other we may expect to hear that ,mohammed never existed4 ,the arguments for this can hardly be weaker than those of ,casanova against the authenticity of the ,qorn4 ,here we may acknowledge the great power of what has been believed in all times1 in all places1 by all the members of the community 7quod semper1 quod ubique1 quod ab omnibus creditum est74 ,for1 after the death of ,mohammed there immediately arose a division which none of the leading personalities were able to escape1 and the opponents spared each other no possible kind of insult1 scorn1 or calumny4 ,the enemies of the first leaders of the community could have wished for no more powerful weapon for their attack than a well-founded accusation of falsifying the word of ,god4 ,yet this accusation was never brought against the first collectors of the scattered revelations2 the only reproach that was made against them in connexion with this labour being that verses in which the ,holy ,family 7,ali and ,fatimah7 were mentioned with honour1 and which1 therefore1 would have served to support the claims of the ,alids to the succession of ,mohammed1 were suppressed by them4 ,this was maintained by the ,shi'ites1 who are unsurpassed in ,islm as falsifiers of history2 and the passages which1 according to them1 are omitted from the official ,qorn would involve precisely on account of their reference to the succession1 the mortality of ,mohammed4 ,all sects and parties have the same text of the ,qorn4 ,this may have its errors and defects1 but intentional alterations or mutilations of real importance are not to blame for this4 ,now this rich authentic source--this collection of wild1 poetic representations of the ,day of judgment2 of striving against idolatry2 of stories from ,sacred ,history2 of exhortation to the practice of the cardinal virtues of the ,old and ,new ,testament2 of precepts to reform the individual1 domestic1 and tribal life in the spirit of these virtues2 of incantations and forms of prayer and a hundred things besides--is not always comprehensible to us4 ,even for the parts which we do understand1 we are not able to make out the chronological arrangement which is necessary to gain an insight into ,mohammed's personality and work4 ,this is not only due to the form of the oracles1 which purposely differs from the usual tone of mortals by its unctuousness and rhymed prose1 but even more to the circumstance that all that the hearers could know1 is assumed to be known4 ,so the ,qorn is full of references that are enigmatical to us4 ,we therefore need additional explanation1 and this can only be derived from tradition concerning the circumstances under which each revelation was delivered4 ,and1 truly1 the sacred tradition of ,islm is not deficient in data of this sort4 ,in the canonical and half-canonical collections of tradition concerning what the ,prophet has said1 done1 and omitted to do1 in biographical works1 an answer is given to every question which may arise in the mind of the reader of the ,qorn2 and there are many ,qorn-commentaries1 in which these answers are appended to the verses which they are supposed to elucidate4 ,sometimes the explanations appear to us1 even at first sight1 improbable and unacceptable2 sometimes they contradict each other2 a good many seem quite reasonable4 ,the critical biographers of ,mohammed have therefore begun their work of sifting by eliminating the improbable and by choosing between contradictory data by means of critical comparison4 ,here the gradually increasing knowledge of the spirit of the different parties in ,islm was an important aid1 as of course each group represented the facts in the way which best served their own purposes4 ,however cautiously and acutely ,weil and his successors have proceeded1 the continual progress of the analysis of the legislative as well as of the historical tradition of ,islam since #ahgj has necessitated a renewed investigation4 ,in the first place it has become ever more evident that the thousands of traditions about ,mohammed1 which1 together with the ,qorn1 form the foundation upon which the doctrine and life of the community are based1 are for the most part the conventional expression of all the opinions which prevailed amongst his followers during the first three centuries after the ,hijrah4 ,the fiction originated a long time after ,mohammed's death2 during the turbulent period of the great conquests there was no leisure for such work4 ,our own conventional insincerities differ so much--externally at least--from those of that date1 that it is difficult for us to realize a spiritual atmosphere where pious fraud was practised on such a scale4 ,yet this is literally true3 in the first centuries of ,islm no one could have dreamt of any other way of gaining acceptance for a doctrine or a precept than by circulating a tradition1 according to which ,mohammed had preached the doctrine or dictated it or had lived according to the precept4 ,the whole individual1 domestic1 social1 and political life as it developed in the three centuries during which the simple ,arabian religion was adjusted to the complicated civilization of the great nations of that time1 that all life was theoretically justified by representing it as the application of minute laws supposed to have been elaborated by ,mohammed by precept and example4 ,thus tradition gives invaluable material for the knowledge of the conflict of opinions in the first centuries1 a strife the sharpness of which has been blunted in later times by a most resourceful harmonistic method4 ,but1 it is vain to endeavour to construct the life and teaching of ,mohammed from such spurious accounts2 they cannot even afford us a reliable illustration of his life in the form of table talk1 as an ,english scholar rather navely tried to derive from them4 ,in a collection of this sort1 supported by good external evidence1 there would be attributed to the ,prophet of ,mecca sayings from the ,old and ,new ,testament1 wise saws from classical and ,arabian antiquity1 prescriptions of ,roman law and many other things1 each text of which was as authentic as its fellows4 ,anyone who1 warned by ,goldziher and others1 has realized how matters stand in this respect1 will be careful not to take the legislative tradition as a direct instrument for the explanation of the ,qorn4 ,when1 after a most careful investigation of thousands of traditions which all appear equally old1 we have selected the oldest1 then we shall see that we have before us only witnesses of the first century of the ,hijrah4 ,the connecting threads with the time of ,mohammed must be supplied for a great part by imagination4 ,the historical or biographical tradition in the proper sense of the word has only lately been submitted to a keener examination4 ,it was known for a long time that here too1 besides theological and legendary elements1 there were traditions originating from party motive1 intended to give an appearance of historical foundation to the particular interests of certain persons or families2 but it was thought that after some sifting there yet remained enough to enable us to form a much clearer sketch of ,mohammed's life than that of any other of the founders of a universal religion4 ,it is especially ,prince ,caetani and ,father ,lammens who have disturbed this illusion4 ,according to them1 even the data which had been pretty generally regarded as objective1 rest chiefly upon tendentious fiction4 ,the generations that worked at the biography of the ,prophet were too far removed from his time to have true data or notions2 and1 moreover1 it was not their aim to know the past as it was1 but to construct a picture of it as it ought to have been according to their opinion4 ,upon the bare canvass of verses of the ,qorn that need explanation1 the traditionists have embroidered with great boldness scenes suitable to the desires or ideals of their particular group2 or1 to use a favourite metaphor of ,lammens1 they fill the empty spaces by a process of stereotyping which permits the critical observer to recognize the origin of each picture4 ,in the ,srah 7biography71 the distance of the first describers from their object is the same as in the ,hadth 7legislative tradition72 in both we get images of very distant things1 perceived by means of fancy rather than by sight and taking different shapes according to the inclinations of each circle of describers4 ,now1 it may be true that the latest judges have here and there examined the ,mohammedan traditions too sceptically and too suspiciously2 nevertheless1 it remains certain that in the light of their research1 the method of examination cannot remain unchanged4 ,we must endeavour to make our explanations of the ,qorn independent of tradition1 and in respect to portions where this is impossible1 we must be suspicious of explanations1 however apparently plausible4 ,during the last few years the accessible sources of information have considerably increased1 the study of them has become much deeper and more methodical1 and the result is that we can tell much less about the teaching and the life of ,mohammed than could our predecessors half a century ago4 ,this apparent loss is of course in reality nothing but gain4 ,those who do not take part in new discoveries1 nevertheless1 wish to know now and then the results of the observations made with constantly improved instruments4 ,let me endeavour1 very briefly1 to satisfy this curiosity4 ,that the report of the bookkeeping might make a somewhat different impression if another accountant had examined it1 goes without saying1 and sometimes ,i shall draw particular attention to my personal responsibility in this respect4 ,of ,mohammed's life before his appearance as the messenger of ,god1 we know extremely little2 compared to the legendary biography as treasured by the ,faithful1 practically nothing4 ,not to mention his pre-existence as a ,light1 which was with ,god1 and for the sake of which ,god created the world1 the ,light1 which as the principle of revelation1 lived in all prophets from ,adam onwards1 and the final revelation of which in ,mohammed was prophesied in the ,scriptures of the ,jews and the ,christians2 not to mention the wonderful and mysterious signs which announced the birth of the ,seal of the ,prophets1 and many other features which the later ,srahs 7biographies7 and ,maulids 7pious histories of his birth1 most in rhymed prose or in poetic metre7 produce in imitation of the ,gospels2 even the elaborate discourses of the older biographies on occurrences1 which in themselves might quite well come within the limits of sub-lunary possibility1 do not belong to history4 ,fiction plays such a great part in these stories1 that we are never sure of being on historical ground unless the ,qorn gives us a firm footing4 ,the question1 whether the family to which ,mohammed belonged1 was regarded as noble amongst the ,qoraishites1 the ruling tribe in ,mecca1 is answered in the affirmative by many2 but by others this answer is questioned not without good grounds4 ,the matter is not of prime importance1 as there is no doubt that ,mohammed grew up as a poor orphan and belonged to the needy and the neglected4 ,even a long time after his first appearance the unbelievers reproached him1 according to the ,qorn1 with his insignificant worldly position1 which fitted ill with a heavenly message2 the same scornful reproach according to the ,qorn was hurled at ,mohammed's predecessors by sceptics of earlier generations2 and it is well known that the stories of older times in the ,qorn are principally reflections of what ,mohammed himself experienced4 ,the legends of ,mohammed's relations to various members of his family are too closely connected with the pretensions of their descendants to have any value for biographic purposes4 ,he married late an elderly woman1 who1 it is said1 was able to lighten his material cares2 she gave him the only daughter by whom he had descendants2 descendants1 who1 from the ,arabian point of view1 do not count as such1 as according to their genealogical theories the line of descent cannot pass through a woman4 ,they have made an exception for the ,prophet1 as male offspring1 the only blessing of marriage appreciated by ,arabs1 was withheld from him4 ,in the materialistic commercial town of ,mecca1 where lust of gain and usury reigned supreme1 where women1 wine1 and gambling filled up the leisure time1 where might was right1 and widows1 orphans1 and the feeble were treated as superfluous ballast1 an unfortunate being like ,mohammed1 if his constitution were sensitive1 must have experienced most painful emotions4 ,in the intellectual advantages that the place offered he could find no solace2 the highly developed ,arabian art of words1 poetry with its fictitious amourettes1 its polished descriptions of portions of ,arabian nature1 its venal vain praise and satire1 might serve as dessert to a well-filled dish2 they were unable to compensate for the lack of material prosperity4 ,mohammed felt his misery as a pain too great to be endured2 in some way or other he must be delivered from it4 ,he desired to be more than the greatest in his surroundings1 and he knew that in that which they counted for happiness he could never even equal them4 ,rather than envy them regretfully1 he preferred to despise their values of life1 but on that very account he had to oppose these values with better ones4 ,it was not unknown in ,mecca that elsewhere communities existed acquainted with such high ideals of life1 spiritual goods accessible to the poor1 even to them in particular4 ,apart from commerce1 which brought the inhabitants of ,mecca into contact with ,abyssinians1 ,syrians1 and others1 there were far to the south and less far to the north and north-east of ,mecca1 ,arabian tribes who had embraced the ,jewish or the ,christian religion4 ,perhaps this circumstance had helped to make the inhabitants of ,mecca familiar with the idea of a creator1 ,allah1 but this had little significance in their lives1 as in the ,maker of the ,universe they did not see their ,lawgiver and judge1 but held themselves dependent for their good and evil fortune upon all manner of beings1 which they rendered favourable or harmless by animistic practices4 ,thoroughly conservative1 they did not take great interest in the conceptions of the ,people of the ,scripture1 as they called the ,jews1 ,christians1 and perhaps some other sects arisen from these communities4 ,but ,mohammed's deeply felt misery awakened his interest in them4 ,whether this had been the case with a few others before him in the milieu of ,mecca1 we need not consider1 as it does not help to explain his actions4 ,if wide circles had been anxious to know more about the contents of the ,scripture ,mohammed would not have felt in the dark in the way that he did4 ,we shall probably never know1 by intercourse with whom it really was that ,mohammed at last gained some knowledge of the contents of the sacred books of ,judaism and ,christianity2 probably through various people1 and over a considerable length of time4 ,it was not lettered men who satisfied his awakened curiosity2 otherwise the quite confused ideas1 especially in the beginning of the revelation1 concerning the mutual relations between ,jews and ,christians could not be explained4 ,confusions between ,miryam1 the sister of ,moses1 and ,mary1 the mother of ,jesus1 between ,saul and ,gideon1 mistakes about the relationship of ,abraham to ,isaac1 ,ishmael1 and ,jacob1 might be put down to misconceptions of ,mohammed himself1 who could not all at once master the strange material4 ,but his representation of ,judaism and ,christianity and a number of other forms of revelation1 as almost identical in their contents1 differing only in the place where1 the time wherein1 and the messenger of ,god by whom they came to man2 this idea1 which runs like a crimson thread through all the revelations of the first twelve years of ,mohammed's prophecy1 could not have existed if he had had an intimate acquaintance with ,jewish or ,christian men of letters4 ,moreover1 the many post-biblical features and stories which the ,qorn contains concerning the past of mankind1 indicate a vulgar origin1 and especially as regards the ,christian legends1 communications from people who lived outside the communion of the great ,christian churches2 this is sufficiently proved by the docetical representation of the death of ,jesus and the many stories about his life1 taken from apocryphal sources or from popular oral legends4 ,mohammed's unlearned imagination worked all such material together into a religious history of mankind1 in which ,adam's descendants had become divided into innumerable groups of peoples differing in speech and place of abode1 whose aim in life at one period or another came to resemble wonderfully that of the inhabitants of ,west- and ,central-,arabia in the seventh century ,a4,d4 ,hereby they strayed from the true path1 in strife with the commands given by ,allah4 ,the whole of history1 therefore1 was for him a long series of repetitions of the antithesis between the foolishness of men1 as this was now embodied in the social state of ,mecca1 and the wisdom of ,god1 as known to the ,people of the ,scripture4 ,to bring the erring ones back to the true path1 it was ,allah's plan to send them messengers from out of their midst1 who delivered ,his ritual and ,his moral directions to them in ,his own words1 who demanded the acknowledgment of ,allah's omnipotence1 and if they refused to follow the true guidance1 threatened them with ,allah's temporary or1 even more1 with ,his eternal punishment4 ,the antithesis is always the same1 from ,adam to ,jesus1 and the enumeration of the scenes is therefore rather monotonous2 the only variety is in the detail1 borrowed from biblical and apocryphal legends4 ,in all the thousands of years the messengers of ,allah play the same part as ,mohammed finally saw himself called upon to play towards his people4 ,mohammed's account of the past contains more elements of ,jewish than of ,christian origin1 and he ignores the principal dogmas of the ,christian ,church4 ,in spite of his supernatural birth1 ,jesus is only a prophet like ,moses and others2 and although his miracles surpass those of other messengers1 ,mohammed at a later period of his life is inclined to place ,abraham above ,jesus in certain respects4 ,yet the influence of ,christianity upon ,mohammed's vocation was very great2 without the ,christian idea of the final scene of human history1 of the ,resurrection of the dead and the ,last ,judgment1 ,mohammed's mission would have no meaning4 ,it is true1 monotheism1 in the ,jewish sense1 and after the contrast had become clear to ,mohammed1 accompanied by an express rejection of the ,son of ,god and of the ,trinity1 has become one of the principal dogmas of ,islm4 ,but in ,mohammed's first preaching1 the announcement of the ,day of judgment is much more prominent than the ,unity of ,god2 and it was against his revelations concerning ,doomsday that his opponents directed their satire during the first twelve years4 ,it was not love of their half-dead gods but anger at the wretch who was never tired of telling them1 in the name of ,allah1 that all their life was idle and despicable1 that in the other world they would be the outcasts1 which opened the floodgates of irony and scorn against ,mohammed4 ,and it was ,mohammed's anxiety for his own lot and that of those who were dear to him in that future life1 that forced him to seek a solution of the question3 who shall bring my people out of the darkness of antithesis into the light of obedience to ,allah8 ,we should1 a posteriori1 be inclined to imagine a simpler answer to the question than that which ,mohammed found2 he might have become a missionary of ,judaism or of ,christianity to the ,meccans4 ,however natural such a conclusion may appear to us1 from the premises with which we are acquainted1 it did not occur to ,mohammed4 ,he began--the ,qorn tells us expressly--by regarding the ,arabs1 or at all events his ,arabs1 as heretofore destitute of divine message#a3 to whom ,we have sent no warner before you4 ,moses and ,jesus--not to mention any others--had not been sent for the ,arabs2 and as ,allah would not leave any section of mankind without a revelation1 their prophet must still be to come4 ,apparently ,mohammed regarded the ,jewish and ,christian tribes in ,arabia as exceptions to the rule that an ethnical group 7ummah7 was at the same time a religious unity4 ,he did not imagine that it could be in ,allah's plan that the ,arabs were to conform to a revelation given in a foreign language4 ,no2 ,god must speak to them in ,arabic4#b ,through whose mouth8 ,footnote #a3 ,qorn1 xxxii41 #b2 xxxiv41 #dc2 xxxvi41 #e1 etc4 ,footnote #b3 ,ibid41 xii41 #b2 xiii41 #cg2 ,,xx41 #aab2 ,,xxvi41 #aie2 xli41 #dd1 etc4 ,a long and severe crisis preceded ,mohammed's call4 ,he was convinced that1 if he were the man1 mighty signs from ,heaven must be revealed to him1 for his conception of revelation was mechanical2 ,allah ,himself1 or at least angels1 must speak to him4 ,the time of waiting1 the process of objectifying the subjective1 lived through by the help of an overstrained imagination1 all this laid great demands upon the psychical and physical constitution of ,mohammed4 ,at length he saw and heard that which he thought he ought to hear and see4 ,in feverish dreams he found the form for the revelation1 and he did not in the least realize that the contents of his inspiration from ,heaven were nothing but the result of what he had himself absorbed4 ,he realized it so little1 that the identity of what was revealed to him with what he held to be the contents of the ,scriptures of ,jews and ,christians was a miracle to him1 the only miracle upon which he relied for the support of his mission4 ,in the course of the twenty-three years of ,mohammed's work as ,god's messenger1 the over-excited state1 or inspiration1 or whatever we may call the peculiar spiritual condition in which his revelation was born1 gradually gave place to quiet reflection4 ,especially after the ,hijrah1 when the prophet had to provide the state established by him at ,medina with inspired regulations1 the words of ,god became in almost every respect different from what they had been at first4 ,only the form was retained4 ,in connection with this evolution1 some of our biographers of ,mohammed1 even where they do not deny the obvious honesty of his first visions1 represent him in the second half of his work1 as a sort of actor1 who played with that which had been most sacred to him4 ,this accusation is1 in my opinion1 unjust4 ,mohammed1 who twelve years long1 in spite of derision and contempt1 continued to inveigh in the name of ,allah against the frivolous conservatism of the heathens in ,mecca1 to preach ,allah's omnipotence to them1 to hold up to them ,allah's commands and ,his promises and threats regarding the future life1 without asking any reward for such exhausting work1 is really not another man than the acknowledged ,messenger of ,allah in ,medina1 who saw his power gradually increase1 who was taught by experience the value and the use of the material means of extending it1 and who finally1 by the force of arms compelled all ,arabs to obedience to ,allah and ,his messenger4 ,in our own society1 real enthusiasm in the propagation of an idea generally considered as absurd1 if crowned by success may1 in the course of time1 end in cold1 prosaic calculation without a trace of hypocrisy4 ,nowhere in the life of ,mohammed can a point of turning be shown2 there is a gradual changing of aims and a readjustment of the means of attaining them4 ,from the first the outcast felt himself superior to the well-to-do people who looked down upon him2 and with all his power he sought for a position from which he could force them to acknowledge his superiority4 ,this he found in the next and better world1 of which the ,jews and ,christians knew4 ,after a crisis1 which some consider as psychopathologic1 he knew himself to be sent by ,allah to call the materialistic community1 which he hated and despised1 to the alternative1 either in following him to find eternal blessedness1 or in denying him to be doomed to eternal fire4 ,powerless against the scepticism of his hearers1 after twelve years of preaching followed only by a few dozen1 most of them outcasts like himself1 he hoped now and then that ,allah would strike the recalcitrant multitude with an earthly doom1 as he knew from revelations had happened before4 ,this hope was also unfulfilled4 ,as other messengers of ,god had done in similar circumstances1 he sought for a more fruitful field than that of his birthplace2 he set out on the ,hijrah1 i4e41 emigration to ,medina4 ,here circumstances were more favourable to him3 in a short time he became the head of a considerable community4 ,allah1 who had given him power1 soon allowed him to use it for the protection of the interests of the ,faithful against the unbelievers4 ,once become militant1 ,mohammed turned from the purely defensive to the aggressive attitude1 with such success that a great part of the ,arab tribes were compelled to accept ,islm1 obedience to ,allah and ,his ,messenger4 ,the rule formerly insisted upon3 ,no compulsion in religion1 was sacrificed1 since experience taught him1 that the truth was more easily forced upon men by violence than by threats which would be fulfilled only after the resurrection4 ,naturally1 the religious value of the conversions sank in proportion as their number increased4 ,the ,prophet of world renouncement in ,mecca wished to win souls for his faith2 the ,prophet-,prince in ,medina needed subjects and fighters for his army4 ,yet he was still the same ,mohammed4 ,parallel with his altered position towards the heathen ,arabs went a readjustment of his point of view towards the followers of ,scripture4 ,mohammed never pretended to preach a new religion2 he demanded in the name of ,allah the same ,islm 7submission7 that ,moses1 ,jesus1 and former prophets had demanded of their nations4 ,in his earlier revelations he always points out the identity of his ,qorns with the contents of the sacred books of ,jews and ,christians1 in the sure conviction that these will confirm his assertion if asked4 ,in ,medina he was disillusioned by finding neither ,jews nor ,christians prepared to acknowledge an ,arabian prophet1 not even for the ,arabs only2 so he was led to distinguish between the true contents of the ,bible and that which had been made of it by the falsification of later ,jews and ,christians4 ,he preferred now to connect his own revelations more immediately with those of ,abraham1 no books of whom could be cited against him1 and who was acknowledged by ,jews and ,christians without being himself either a ,jew or a ,christian4 ,this turn1 this particular connection of ,islm with ,abraham1 made it possible for him1 by means of an adaptation of the biblical legends concerning ,abraham1 ,hagar1 and ,ishmael1 to include in his religion a set of religious customs of the ,meccans1 especially the hajj4#a ,thus ,islm became more ,arabian1 and at the same time more independent of the other revealed religions1 whose degeneracy was demonstrated by their refusal to acknowledge ,mohammed4 ,footnote #a3 ,a complete explanation of the gradual development of the ,abraham legend in the ,qorn can be found in my book ,het ,mekkaansche ,feest 7,the ,feast of ,mecca71 ,leiden1 #ahhj4 ,all this is to be explained without the supposition of conscious trickery or dishonesty on the part of ,mohammed4 ,there was no other way for the unlettered ,prophet1 whose belief in his mission was unshaken1 to overcome the difficulties entailed by his closer acquaintance with the tenets of other religions4 ,how1 then1 are we to explain the starting-point of it all--,mohammed's sense of vocation8 ,was it a disease of the spirit1 a kind of madness8 ,at all events1 the data are insufficient upon which to form a serious diagnosis4 ,some have called it epilepsy4 ,sprenger1 with an exaggerated display of certainty based upon his former medical studies1 gave ,mohammed's disorder the name of hysteria4 ,others try to find a connection between ,mohammed's extraordinary interest in the fair sex and his prophetic consciousness4 ,but1 after all1 is it explaining the spiritual life of a man1 who was certainly unique1 if we put a label upon him1 and thus class him with others1 who at the most shared with him certain abnormalities8 ,a normal man ,mohammed certainly was not4 ,but as soon as we try to give a positive name to this negative quality1 then we do the same as the heathens of ,mecca1 who were violently awakened by his thundering prophecies3 ,he is nothing but one possessed1 a poet1 a soothsayer1 a sorcerer1 they said4 ,whether we say with the old ,european biographers impostor1 or with the modern ones put epileptic1 or hysteric in its place1 makes little difference4 ,the ,meccans ended by submitting to him1 and conquering a world under the banner of his faith4 ,we1 with the diffidence which true science implies1 feel obliged merely to call him ,mohammed1 and to seek in the ,qorn1 and with great cautiousness in the ,tradition1 a few principal points of his life and work1 in order to see how in his mind the intense feeling of discontent during the misery of his youth1 together with a great self-reliance1 a feeling of spiritual superiority to his surroundings1 developed into a call1 the form of which was largely decided by ,jewish and ,christian influence4 ,while being struck by various weaknesses which disfigured this great personality and which he himself freely confessed1 we must admire the perseverance with which he retained his faith in his divine mission1 not discouraged by twelve years of humiliation1 nor by the repudiation of the ,people of ,scripture1 upon whom he had relied as his principal witnesses1 nor yet by numbers of temporary rebuffs during his struggle for the dominion of ,allah and ,his ,messenger1 which he carried on through the whole of ,arabia4 ,was ,mohammed conscious of the universality of his mission8 ,in the beginning he certainly conceived his work as merely the ,arabian part of a universal task1 which1 for other parts of the world1 was laid upon other messengers4 ,in the ,medina period he ever more decidedly chose the direction of forcing to comply4 ,he was content only when the heathens perceived that further resistance to ,allah's hosts was useless2 their understanding of his clear ,arabic ,qorn was no longer the principal object of his striving4 ,such an ,islm could equally well be forced upon non-,arabian heathens4 ,and1 as regards the ,people of ,scripture1 since ,mohammed's endeavour to be recognized by them had failed1 he had taken up his position opposed to them1 even above them4 ,with the rise of his power he became hard and cruel to the ,jews in ,north-,arabia1 and from ,jews and ,christians alike in ,arabia he demanded submission to his authority1 since it had proved impossible to make them recognize his divine mission4 ,this demand could quite logically be extended to all ,christians2 in the first place to those of the ,byzantine ,empire4 ,but did ,mohammed himself come to these conclusions in the last part of his life8 ,are the words in which ,allah spoke to him3 ,we have sent thee to men in general1#a and a few expressions of the same sort1 to be taken in that sense1 or does humanity here1 as in many other places in the ,qorn1 mean those with whom ,mohammed had especially to do8 ,nldeke is strongly of opinion that the principal lines of the program of conquest carried out after ,mohammed's death1 had been drawn by the ,prophet himself4 ,lammens and others deny with equal vigour1 that ,mohammed ever looked upon the whole world as the field of his mission4 ,this shows that the solution is not evident4#b ,footnote #a3 ,qorn1 xxxiv41 #bg4 ,the translation of this verse has always been a subject of great difference of opinion4 ,at the time of its revelation--as fixed by ,mohammedan as well as by western authorities--the universal conception of ,mohammed's mission was quite out of question4 ,footnote #b3 ,professor ,t4,w4 ,arnold in the #b;d edition 7,london1 #aiac7 of his valuable work ,the ,preaching of ,islm 7especially pp4 #bh-ca71 warmly endeavours to prove that ,mohammed from the beginning considered his mission as universal4 ,he weakens his argument more than is necessary by placing the ,tradition upon an almost equal footing with the ,qorn as a source1 and by ignoring the historical development which is obvious in the ,qorn itself4 ,in this way he does not perceive the great importance of the history of the ,abraham legend in ,mohammed's conception4 ,moreover1 the translation of the verses of the ,qorn on p4 #bi sometimes says more than the original4 ,lil-ns is not to mankind but to men1 in the sense of to everybody4 ,qorn1 xvi41 #hf1 does not say3 ,one day we will raise up a witness out of every nation1 but3 ,on the day 7i4e41 the day of resurrection7 when we will raise up1 etc41 which would seem to refer to the theme so constantly repeated in the ,qorn1 that each nation will be confronted on the ,day of ,judgment with the prophet sent to it4 ,when the ,qorn is called an admonition to the world 7'lamn7 and ,mohammed's mission a mercy to the world 7'lamn71 then we must remember that 'lamn is one of the most misused rhymewords in the ,qorn 7e4g41 ,qorn1 xv41 #gj72 and we should not therefore translate it emphatically as all created beings1 unless the universality of ,mohammed's mission is firmly established by other proofs4 ,and this is far from being the case4 ,in our valuation of ,mohammed's sayings we cannot lay too much stress upon his incapability of looking far ahead4 ,the final aims which ,mohammed set himself were considered by sane persons as unattainable4 ,his firm belief in the realization of the vague picture of the future which he had conceived1 nay1 which ,allah held before him1 drove him to the uttermost exertion of his mental power in order to surmount the innumerable unexpected obstacles which he encountered4 ,hence the variability of the practical directions contained in the ,qorn2 they are constantly altered according to circumstances4 ,allah's words during the last part of ,mohammed's life3 ,this day have ,i perfected your religion for you1 and have ,i filled up the measure of my favours towards you1 and chosen ,islm for you as your religion1 have in no way the meaning of the exclamation3 ,it is finished1 of the dying ,christ4 ,they are only a cry of jubilation over the degradation of the heathen ,arabs by the triumph of ,allah's weapons4 ,at ,mohammed's death everything was still unstable2 and the vital questions for ,islm were subjects of contention between the leaders even before the ,prophet had been buried4 ,the expedient of new revelations completing1 altering1 or abrogating former ones had played an important part in the legislative work of ,mohammed4 ,now1 he had never considered that by his death the spring would be stopped1 although completion was wanted in every respect4 ,for1 without doubt1 ,mohammed felt his weakness in systematizing and his absence of clearness of vision into the future1 and therefore he postponed the promulgation of divine decrees as long as possible1 and he solved only such questions of law as frequently recurred1 when further hesitation would have been dangerous to his authority and to the peace of the community4 ,at ,mohammed's death1 all ,arabs were not yet subdued to his authority4 ,the expeditions which he had undertaken or arranged beyond the northern boundaries of ,arabia1 were directed against ,arabs1 although they were likely to rouse conflict with the ,byzantine and ,persian empires4 ,it would have been contrary to ,mohammed's usual methods if this had led him to form a general definition of his attitude towards the world outside ,arabia4 ,as little as ,mohammed1 when he invoked the ,meccans in wild poetic inspirations to array themselves behind him to seek the blessedness of future life1 had dreamt of the possibility that twenty years later the whole of ,arabia would acknowledge his authority in this world1 as little1 nay1 much less1 could he at the close of his life have had the faintest premonition of the fabulous development which his state would reach half a century later4 ,the subjugation of the mighty ,persia and of some of the richest provinces of the ,byzantine ,empire1 only to mention these1 was never a part of his program1 although legend has it that he sent out written challenges to the six princes of the world best known to him4 ,yet we may say that ,mohammed's successors in the guidance of his community1 by continuing their expansion towards the north1 after the suppression of the apostasy that followed his death1 remained in ,mohammed's line of action4 ,there is even more evident continuity in the development of the empire of the ,omayyads out of the state of ,mohammed1 than in the series of events by which we see the dreaded ,prince-,prophet of ,medina grew out of the possessed one of ,mecca4 ,but if ,mohammed had been able to foresee how the unity of ,arabia1 which he nearly accomplished1 was to bring into being a formidable international empire1 we should expect some indubitable traces of this in the ,qorn2 not a few verses of dubious interpretation1 but some certain sign that the ,revelation1 which had repeatedly1 and with the greatest emphasis1 called itself a plain ,arabic ,qorn intended for those to whom no warner had yet been sent1 should in future be valid for the ',ajam1 the ,barbarians1 as well as for the ,arabs4 ,even if we ascribe to ,mohammed something of the universal program1 which the later tradition makes him to have drawn up1 he certainly could not foresee the success of it4 ,for this1 in the first place1 the economic and political factors to which some scholars of our day would attribute the entire explanation of the ,islm movement1 must be taken into consideration4 ,mohammed did to some extent prepare the universality of his religion and make it possible4 ,but that ,islm1 which came into the world as the ,arabian form of the one1 true religion1 has actually become a universal religion1 is due to circumstances which had little to do with its origin4#a ,this extension of the domain to be subdued to its spiritual rule entailed upon ,islm about three centuries of development and accommodation1 of a different sort1 to be sure1 but not less drastic in character than that of the ,christian ,church4 ,footnote #a3 ,sir ,william ,muir was not wrong when he said3 ,from first to last the summons was to ,arabs and to none other444 ,the seed of a universal creed had indeed been sown2 but that it ever germinated was due to circumstances rather than design4 ,,ii ,,the ,,religious ,,development ,,of ,,isl,m ,we can hardly imagine a poorer1 more miserable population than that of the ,south-,arabian country ,hadramaut4 ,all moral and social progress is there impeded by the continuance of the worst elements of ,jhiliyyah 7,arabian paganism71 side by side with those of ,islm4 ,a secular nobility is formed by groups of people1 who grudge each other their very lives and fight each other according to the rules of retaliation unmitigated by any more humane feelings4 ,the religious nobility is represented by descendants of the ,prophet1 arduous patrons of a most narrow-minded orthodoxy and of most bigoted fanaticism4 ,in a well-ordered society1 making the most of all the means offered by modern technical science1 the dry barren soil might be made to yield sufficient harvests to satisfy the wants of its members2 but among these inhabitants1 paralysed by anarchy1 chronic famine prevails4 ,foreigners wisely avoid this miserable country1 and if they did visit it1 would not be hospitably received4 ,hunger forces many ,hadramites to emigrate2 throughout the centuries we find them in all the countries of ,islm1 in the sacred cities of ,western-,arabia1 in ,syria1 ,egypt1 ,india1 ,indonesia1 where they often occupy important positions4 ,in the ,dutch ,indies1 for instance1 they live in the most important commercial towns1 and though the ,government has never favoured them1 and though they have had to compete with ,chinese and with ,europeans1 they have succeeded in making their position sufficiently strong4 ,before ,european influence prevailed1 they even founded states in some of the larger islands or they obtained political influence in existing native states4 ,under a strong ,european government they are among the quietest1 most industrious subjects1 all earning their own living and saving something for their poor relations at home4 ,they come penniless1 and without any of that theoretical knowledge or practical skill which we are apt to consider as indispensable for a man who wishes to try his fortune in a complicated modern colonial world4 ,yet ,i have known some who in twenty years' time have become commercial potentates1 and even millionaires4 ,the strange spectacle of these latent talents and of the suppressed energy of the people of ,hadramaut that seem to be waiting only for transplantation into a more favourable soil to develop with amazing rapidity1 helps us to understand the enormous consequences of the ,arabian migration in the seventh century4 ,the spiritual goods1 with which ,islm set out into the world1 were far from imposing4 ,it preached a most simple monotheism3 ,allah1 the ,almighty ,creator and ,ruler of heaven and earth1 entirely self-sufficient1 so that it were ridiculous to suppose ,him to have partners or sons and daughters to support ,him2 who has created the angels that they might form ,his retinue1 and men and genii 7jinn7 that they might obediently serve ,him2 who decides everything according to ,his incalculable will and is responsible to nobody1 as the ,universe is ,his2 of whom ,his creatures1 if their minds be not led astray1 must therefore stand in respectful fear and awe4 ,he has made ,his will known to mankind1 beginning at ,adam1 but the spreading of mankind over the surface of the earth1 its seduction by ,satan and his emissaries have caused most nations to become totally estranged from ,him and ,his service4 ,now and then1 when ,he considered that the time was come1 ,he caused a prophet to arise from among a nation to be ,his messenger to summon people to conversion1 and to tell them what blessedness awaited them as a reward of obedience1 what punishments would be inflicted if they did not believe his message4 ,sometimes the disobedient had been struck by earthly judgment 7the flood1 the drowning of the ,egyptians1 etc471 and the faithful had been rescued in a miraculous way and led to victory2 but such things merely served as indications of ,allah's greatness4 ,one day the whole world will be overthrown and destroyed4 ,then the dead will be awakened and led before ,allah's tribunal4 ,the faithful will have abodes appointed them in well-watered1 shady gardens1 with fruit-trees richly laden1 with luxurious couches upon which they may lie and enjoy the delicious food1 served by the ministrants of ,paradise4 ,they may also freely indulge in sparkling wine that does not intoxicate1 and in intercourse with women1 whose youth and virginity do not fade4 ,the unbelievers end their lives in ,hell-fire2 or1 rather1 there is no end1 for the punishment as well as the reward are everlasting4 ,allah gives to each one his due4 ,the actions of ,his creatures are all accurately written down1 and when judgment comes1 the book is opened2 moreover1 every creature carries the list of his own deeds and misdeeds2 the debit and credit sides are carefully weighed against each other in the divine scales1 and many witnesses are heard before judgment is pronounced4 ,allah1 however1 is clement and merciful2 ,he gladly forgives those sinners who have believed in ,him1 who have sincerely accepted ,islm1 that is to say3 who have acknowledged ,his absolute authority and have believed the message of the prophet sent to them4 ,these prophets have the privilege of acting as mediators on behalf of their followers1 not in the sense of redeemers1 but as advocates who receive gracious hearing4 ,naturally1 ,islm1 submission to the ,lord of the ,universe1 ought to express itself in deeds4 ,allah desires the homage of formal worship1 which must be performed several times a day by every individual1 and on special occasions by the assembled faithful1 led by one of them4 ,this4 service1 s4alt1 acquired its strictly binding rules only after ,mohammed's time1 but already in his lifetime it consisted chiefly of the same elements as now3 the recital of sacred texts1 especially taken from the ,revelation1 certain postures of the body 7standing1 inclination1 kneeling1 prostration7 with the face towards ,mecca4 ,this last particular and the language of the ,revelation are the ,arabian elements of the service1 which is for the rest an imitation of ,jewish and ,christian rituals1 so far as ,mohammed knew them4 ,there was no sacrament1 consequently no priest to administer it2 ,islm has always been the lay religion par excellence4 ,teaching and exhortation are the only spiritual help that the pious ,mohammedan wants1 and this simple care of souls is exercised without any ordination or consecration4 ,fasting1 for a month if possible1 and longer if desired1 was also an integral part of religious life and1 by showing disregard of earthly joys1 a proof of faith in ,allah's promises for the world to come4 ,almsgiving1 recommended above all other virtues1 was not only to be practised in obedience to ,allah's law and in faith in retribution1 but it was to testify contempt of all earthly possessions which might impede the striving after eternal happiness4 ,later1 ,mohammed was compelled1 by the need of a public fund and the waning zeal of the faithful as their numbers increased1 to regulate the practice of this virtue and to exact certain minima as taxes 7zakt74 ,when ,mohammed1 taking his stand as opposed to ,judaism and ,christianity1 had accentuated the ,arabian character of his religion1 the ,meccan rites of pagan origin were incorporated into ,islm2 but only after the purification required by monotheism4 ,from that time forward the yearly celebration of the ,hajj was among the ritual duties of the ,moslim community4 ,in the first years of the strife yet another duty was most emphatically impressed on the ,faithful2 jihd1 i4e41 readiness to sacrifice life and possessions for the defence of ,islm1 understood1 since the conquest of ,mecca in #fcj1 as the extension by force of arms of the authority of the ,moslim state1 first over the whole of ,arabia1 and soon after ,mohammed's death over the whole world1 so far as ,allah granted ,his hosts the victory4 ,for the rest1 the legislative revelations regulated only such points as had become subjects of argument or contest in ,mohammed's lifetime1 or such as were particularly suggested by that antithesis of paganism and revelation1 which had determined ,mohammed's prophetical career4 ,gambling and wine were forbidden1 the latter after some hesitation between the inculcation of temperance and that of abstinence4 ,usury1 taken in the sense of requiring any interest at all upon loans1 was also forbidden4 ,all tribal feuds with their consequences had henceforward to be considered as non-existent1 and retaliation1 provided that the offended party would not agree to accept compensation1 was put under the control of the head of the community4 ,polygamy and intercourse of master and female slave were restricted2 the obligations arising from blood-relationship or ownership were regulated4 ,these points suffice to remind us of the nature of the ,qornic regulations4 ,reference to certain subjects in this revealed law while others were ignored1 did not depend on their respective importance to the life of the community1 but rather on what happened to have been suggested by the events in ,mohammed's lifetime4 ,for ,mohammed knew too well how little qualified he was for legislative work to undertake it unless absolutely necessary4 ,this rough sketch of what ,islm meant when it set out to conquer the world1 is not very likely to create the impression that its incredibly rapid extension was due to its superiority over the forms of civilization which it supplanted4 ,lammens's assertion1 that ,islm was the ,jewish religion simplified according to ,arabic wants and amplified by some ,christian and ,arabic traditions1 contains a great deal of truth1 if only we recognize the central importance for ,mohammed's vocation and preaching of the ,christian doctrine of ,resurrection and judgment4 ,this explains the large number of weak points that the book of ,mohammed's revelations1 written down by his first followers1 offered to ,jewish and ,christian polemics4 ,it was easy for the theologians of those religions to point out numberless mistakes in the work of the illiterate ,arabian prophet1 especially where he maintained that he was repeating and confirming the contents of their ,bible4 ,the ,qornic revelations about ,allah's intercourse with men1 taken from apocryphal sources1 from profane legends like that of ,alexander the ,great1 sometimes even created by ,mohammed's own fancy--such as the story of the prophet ,slih1 said to have lived in the north of ,arabia1 and that of the prophet ,hd1 supposed to have lived in the south2 all this could not but give them the impression of a clumsy caricature of true tradition4 ,the principal doctrines of ,synagogue and ,church had apparently been misunderstood1 or they were simply denied as corruptions4 ,the conversion to ,islm1 within a hundred years1 of such nations as the ,egyptian1 the ,syrian1 and the ,persian1 can hardly be attributed to anything but the latent talents1 the formerly suppressed energy of the ,arabian race having found a favourable soil for its development2 talents and energy1 however1 not of a missionary kind4 ,if ,islm is said to have been from its beginning down to the present day1 a missionary religion1#a then mission is to be taken here in a quite peculiar sense1 and special attention must be given to the preparation of the missionary field by the ,moslim armies1 related by history and considered as most important by the ,mohammedans themselves4 ,footnote #a3 ,with extraordinary talent this thesis has been defended by ,professor ,t4,w4 ,arnold in the above quoted work1 ,the ,preaching of ,islam1 which fully deserves the attention also of those who do not agree with the writer's argument4 ,among the many objections that may be raised against ,prof4 ,arnold's conclusion1 we point to the undeniable fact1 that the ,moslim scholars of all ages hardly speak of mission at all1 and always treat the extension of the true faith by holy war as one of the principal duties of the ,moslim community4 ,certainly1 the nations conquered by the ,arabs under the first khalfs were not obliged to choose between living as ,moslims or dying as unbelievers4 ,the conquerors treated them as ,mohammed had treated ,jews and ,christians in ,arabia towards the end of his life1 and only exacted from them submission to ,moslim authority4 ,they were allowed to adhere to their religion1 provided they helped with their taxes to fill the ,moslim exchequer4 ,this rule was even extended to such religions as that of the ,parss1 although they could not be considered as belonging to the ,people of ,scripture expressly recognized in the ,qorn4 ,but the social condition of these subjects was gradually made so oppressive by the ,mohammedan masters1 that rapid conversions in masses were a natural consequence2 the more natural because among the conquered nations intellectual culture was restricted to a small circle1 so that after the conquest their spiritual leaders lacked freedom of movement4 ,besides1 practically very little was required from the new converts1 so that it was very tempting to take the step that led to full citizenship4 ,no1 those who in a short time subjected millions of non-,arabs to the state founded by ,mohammed1 and thus prepared their conversion1 were no apostles4 ,they were generals whose strategic talents would have remained hidden but for ,mohammed1 political geniuses1 especially from ,mecca and ,taif1 who1 before ,islm1 would have excelled only in the organization of commercial operations or in establishing harmony between hostile families4 ,now they proved capable of uniting the ,arabs commanded by ,allah1 a unity still many a time endangered during the first century by the old party spirit2 and of devising a division of labour between the rulers and the conquered which made it possible for them to control the function of complicated machines of state without any technical knowledge4 ,moreover1 several circumstances favoured their work2 both the large realms which extended north of ,arabia1 were in a state of political decline2 the ,christians inhabiting the provinces that were to be conquered first1 belonged1 for the larger part1 to heretical sects and were treated by the orthodox ,byzantines in such a way that other masters1 if tolerant1 might be welcome4 ,the ,arabian armies consisted of hardened ,bedouins with few wants1 whose longing for the treasures of the civilized world made them more ready to endure the pressure of a discipline hitherto unknown to them4 ,the use that the leaders made of the occasion commands our admiration2 although their plan was formed in the course and under the influence of generally unforeseen events4 ,circumstances had changed ,mohammed the ,prophet into ,mohammed the ,conqueror2 and the leaders1 who continued the conqueror's work1 though not driven by fanaticism or religious zeal1 still prepared the conversion of millions of men to ,islm4 ,it was only natural that the new masters adopted1 with certain modifications1 the administrative and fiscal systems of the conquered countries4 ,for similar reasons ,islm had to complete its spiritual store from the well-ordered wealth of that of its new adherents4 ,recent research shows most clearly1 that ,islm1 in after times so sharply opposed to other religions and so strongly armed against foreign influence1 in the first century borrowed freely and simply from the ,people of ,scripture whatever was not evidently in contradiction to the ,qorn4 ,this was to be expected2 had not ,mohammed from the very beginning referred to the people of the ,book as those who know8 ,when painful experience induced him afterwards to accuse them of corruption of their ,scriptures1 this attitude necessitated a certain criticism but not rejection of their tradition4 ,the ritual1 only provisionally regulated and continually liable to change according to prophetic inspiration in ,mohammed's lifetime1 required unalterable rules after his death4 ,recent studies#a have shown in an astounding way1 that the ,jewish ritual1 together with the religious rites of the ,christians1 strongly influenced the definite shape given to that of ,islm1 while indirect influence of the ,pars religion is at least probable4 ,footnote #a3 ,the studies of ,professors ,c4,h4 ,becker1 ,e4 ,mittwoch1 and ,a4,j4 ,wensinck1 especially taken in connection with older ones of ,ignaz ,goldziher1 have thrown much light upon this subject4 ,so much for the rites of public worship and the ritual purity they require4 ,the method of fasting seems to follow the ,jewish model1 whereas the period of obligatory fasting depends on the ,christian usage4 ,mohammed's fragmentary and unsystematic accounts of sacred history were freely drawn from ,jewish and ,christian sources and covered the whole period from the creation of the world until the first centuries of the ,christian era4 ,of course1 features shocking to the ,moslim mind were dropped and the whole adapted to the monotonous conception of the ,qorn4 ,with ever greater boldness the story of ,mohammed's own life was exalted to the sphere of the supernatural2 here the ,gospel served as example4 ,though ,mohammed had repeatedly declared himself to be an ordinary man chosen by ,allah as the organ of ,his revelation1 and whose only miracle was the ,qorn1 posterity ascribed to him a whole series of wonders1 evidently invented in emulation of the wonders of ,christ4 ,the reason for this seems to have been the idea that none of the older prophets1 not even ,jesus1 of whom the ,qorn tells the greatest wonders1 could have worked a miracle without ,mohammed1 the ,seal of the prophets1 having rivalled or surpassed him in this respect4 ,only ,jesus was the ,messiah2 but this title did not exceed in value different titles of other prophets1 and ,mohammed's special epithets were of a higher order4 ,a relative sinlessness ,mohammed shared with ,jesus2 the acceptance of this doctrine1 contradictory to the original spirit of the ,qorn1 had moreover a dogmatic motive3 it was considered indispensable to raise the text of the ,qorn above all suspicion of corruption1 which suspicion would not be excluded if the organ of the ,revelation were fallible4 ,this period of naively adopting institutions1 doctrines1 and traditions was soon followed by an awakening to the consciousness that ,islm could not well absorb any more of such foreign elements without endangering its independent character4 ,then a sorting began2 and the assimilation of the vast amount of borrowed matter1 that had already become an integral part of ,islm1 was completed by submitting the whole to a peculiar treatment4 ,it was carefully divested of all marks of origin and labelled hadth1#a so that henceforth it was regarded as emanations from the wisdom of the ,arabian ,prophet1 for which his followers owed no thanks to foreigners4 ,footnote #a3 ,hadth1 the ,arabic word for record1 story1 has assumed the technical meaning of tradition concerning the words and deeds of ,mohammed4 ,it is used as well in the sense of a single record of this sort as in that of the whole body of sacred traditions4 ,at first1 it was only at ,medina that some pious people occupied themselves with registering1 putting in order1 and systematizing the spiritual property of ,islm2 afterwards similar circles were formed in other centres1 such as ,mecca1 ,kufa1 ,basra1 ,misr 7,cairo71 and elsewhere4 ,at the outset the collection of divine sayings1 the ,qorn1 was the only guide1 the only source of decisive decrees1 the only touchstone of what was true or false1 allowed or forbidden4 ,reluctantly1 but decidedly at last1 it was conceded that the foundations laid by ,mohammed for the life of his community were by no means all to be found in the ,holy ,book2 rather1 that ,mohammed's revelations without his explanation and practice would have remained an enigma4 ,it was understood now that the rules and laws of ,islm were founded on ,god's word and on the ,sunnah1 i4e41 the way pointed out by the ,prophet's word and example4 ,thus it had been from the moment that ,allah had caused ,his light to shine over ,arabia1 and thus it must remain1 if human error was not to corrupt ,islm4 ,at the moment when this conservative instinct began to assert itself among the spiritual leaders1 so much foreign matter had already been incorporated into ,islm1 that the theory of the sufficiency of ,qorn and ,sunnah could not have been maintained without the labelling operation which we have alluded to4 ,so it was assumed that as surely as ,mohammed must have surpassed his predecessors in perfection and in wonders1 so surely must all the principles and precepts necessary for his community have been formulated by him4 ,thus1 by a gigantic web of fiction1 he became after his death the organ of opinions1 ideas1 and interests1 whose lawfulness was recognized by every influential section of the ,faithful4 ,all that could not be identified as part of the ,prophet's ,sunnah1 received no recognition2 on the other hand1 all that was accepted had1 somehow1 to be incorporated into the ,sunnah4 ,it became a fundamental dogma of ,islm1 that the ,sunnah was the indispensable completion of the ,qorn1 and that both together formed the source of ,mohammedan law and doctrine2 so much so that every party assumed the name of ,people of the ,sunnah to express its pretension to orthodoxy4 ,the contents of the ,sunnah1 however1 was the subject of a great deal of controversy2 so that it came to be considered necessary to make the ,prophet pronounce his authoritative judgment on this difference of opinion4 ,he was said to have called it a proof of ,god's special mercy1 that within reasonable limits difference of opinion was allowed in his community4 ,of that privilege ,mohammedans have always amply availed themselves4 ,when the difference touched on political questions1 especially on the succession of the ,prophet in the government of the community1 schism was the inevitable consequence4 ,thus arose the party strifes of the first century1 which led to the establishment of the sects of the ,sh'ites and the ,khrijites1 separate communities1 severed from the great whole1 that led their own lives1 and therefore followed paths different from those of the majority in matters of doctrine and law as well as in politics4 ,the sharpness of the political antithesis served to accentuate the importance of the other differences in such cases and to debar their acceptance as the legal consequence of the difference of opinion that ,god's mercy allowed4 ,that the political factor was indeed the great motive of separation1 is clearly shown in our own day1 now that one ,mohammedan state after the other sees its political independence disappearing and efforts are being made from all sides to re-establish the unity of the ,mohammedan world by stimulating the feeling of religious brotherhood4 ,among the most cultivated ,moslims of different countries an earnest endeavour is gaining ground to admit ,sh'ites1 ,khrijites1 and others1 formerly abused as heretics1 into the great community1 now threatened by common foes1 and to regard their special tenets in the same way as the differences existing between the four law schools3 ,hanafites1 ,mlikites1 ,shfi'ites and ,hanbalites1 which for centuries have been considered equally orthodox4 ,although the differences that divide these schools at first caused great excitement and gave rise to violent discussions1 the strong catholic instinct of ,islm always knew how to prevent schism4 ,each new generation either found the golden mean between the extremes which had divided the preceding one1 or it recognized the right of both opinions4 ,though the dogmatic differences were not necessarily so dangerous to unity as were political ones1 yet they were more apt to cause schism than discussions about the law4 ,it was essential to put an end to dissension concerning the theological roots of the whole system of ,islm4 ,mohammed had never expressed any truth in dogmatic form2 all systematic thinking was foreign to his nature4 ,it was again the non-,arabic ,moslims1 especially those of ,christian origin1 who suggested such doctrinal questions4 ,at first they met with a vehement opposition that condemned all dogmatic discussion as a novelty of the ,devil4 ,in the long run1 however1 the contest of the conservatives against specially objectionable features of the dogmatists' discussions forced them to borrow arms from the dogmatic arsenal4 ,hence a method with a peculiar terminology came in vogue1 to which even the boldest imagination could not ascribe any connection with the ,sunnah of ,mohammed4 ,yet some traditions ventured to put prophetic warnings on ,mohammed's lips against dogmatic innovations that were sure to arise1 and to make him pronounce the names of a couple of future sects4 ,but no one dared to make the ,prophet preach an orthodox system of dogmatics resulting from the controversies of several centuries1 all the terms of which were foreign to the ,arabic speech of ,mohammed's time4 ,indeed1 all the subjects which had given rise to dogmatic controversy in the ,christian ,church1 except some too specifically ,christian1 were discussed by the mutakallims1 the dogmatists of ,islm4 ,free will or predestination2 ,god omnipotent1 or first of all just and holy2 ,god's word created by ,him1 or sharing ,his eternity2 ,god one in this sense1 that ,his being admitted of no plurality of qualities1 or possessed of qualities1 which in all eternity are inherent in ,his being2 in the world to come only bliss and doom1 or also an intermediate state for the neutral4 ,we might continue the enumeration and always show to the ,christian church-historian or theologian old acquaintances in ,moslim garb4 ,that is why ,maracci and ,reland could understand ,jews and ,christians yielding to the temptation of joining ,islm1 and that also explains why ,catholic and ,protestant dogmatists could accuse each other of ,crypto-mohammedanism4 ,not until the beginning of the tenth century ,a4,d4 did the orthodox ,mohammedan dogma begin to emerge from the clash of opinions into its definite shape4 ,the ,mu'tazilites had advocated man's free will2 had given prominence to justice and holiness in their conception of ,god1 had denied distinct qualities in ,god and the eternity of ,god's ,word2 had accepted a place for the neutral between ,paradise and ,hell2 and for some time the favour of the powers in authority seemed to assure the victory of their system4 ,al-,ash'ar contradicted all these points1 and his system has in the end been adopted by the great majority4 ,the ,mu'tazilite doctrines for a long time still enthralled many minds1 but they ended by taking refuge in the political heresy of ,sh'itism4 ,in the most conservative circles1 opponents to all speculation were never wanting2 but they were obliged unconsciously to make large concessions to systematic thought2 for in the ,moslim world as elsewhere religious belief without dogma had become as impossible as breathing is without air4 ,thus1 in ,islm1 a whole system1 which could not even pretend to draw its authority from the ,sunnah1 had come to be accepted4 ,it was not difficult to justify this deviation from the orthodox abhorrence against novelties4 ,islm has always looked at the world in a pessimistic way1 a view expressed in numberless prophetic sayings4 ,the world is bad and will become worse and worse4 ,religion and morality will have to wage an ever more hopeless war against unbelief1 against heresy and ungodly ways of living4 ,while this is surely no reason for entering into any compromise with doctrines which depart but a hair's breadth from ,qorn and ,sunnah1 it necessitates methods of defence against heresy as unknown in ,mohammed's time as heresy itself4 ,necessity knows no law is a principle fully accepted in ,islam2 and heresy is an enemy of the faith that can only be defeated with dialectic weapons4 ,so the religious truths preached by ,mohammed have not been altered in any way2 but under the stress of necessity they have been clad in modern armour1 which has somewhat changed their aspect4 ,moreover1 ,islm has a theory1 which alone is sufficient to justify the whole later development of doctrine as well as of law4 ,this theory1 whose importance for the system can hardly be overestimated1 and which1 nevertheless1 has until very recent times constantly been overlooked by ,western students of ,islm1 finds its classical expression in the following words1 put into the mouth of ,mohammed3 ,my community will never agree in an error4 ,in terms more familiar to us1 this means that the ,mohammedan ,church taken as a whole is infallible2 that all the decisions on matters practical or theoretical1 on which it is agreed1 are binding upon its members4 ,nowhere else is the catholic instinct of ,islm more clearly expressed4 ,a faithful ,mohammedan student1 after having struggled through a handbook of law1 may be vexed by a doubt as to whether these endless casuistic precepts have been rightly deduced from the ,qorn and the ,sacred ,tradition4 ,his doubt1 however1 will at once be silenced1 if he bears in mind that ,allah speaks more plainly to him by this infallible ,agreement 7,ijm'7 of the ,community than through ,qorn and ,tradition2 nay1 that the contents of both those sacred sources1 without this perfect intermediary1 would be to a great extent unintelligible to him4 ,even the differences between the schools of law may be based on this theory of the ,ijm'2 for1 does not the infallible ,agreement of the ,community teach us that a certain diversity of opinion is a merciful gift of ,god8 ,it was through the ,agreement that dogmatic speculations as well as minute discussions about points of law became legitimate4 ,the stamp of ,ijm' was essential to every rule of faith and life1 to all manners and customs4 ,all sorts of religious ideas and practices1 which could not possibly be deduced from ,mohammed's message1 entered the ,moslim world by the permission of ,ijm'4 ,here we need think only of mysticism and of the cult of saints4 ,some passages of the ,qorn may perhaps be interpreted in such a way that we hear the subtler strings of religious emotion vibrating in them4 ,the chief impression that ,mohammed's ,allah makes before the ,hijrah is that of awful majesty1 at which men tremble from afar2 they fear ,his punishment1 dare hardly be sure of ,his reward1 and hope much from ,his mercy4 ,this impression is a lasting one2 but1 after the ,hijrah1 ,allah is also heard quietly reasoning with ,his obedient servants1 giving them advice and commands1 which they have to follow in order to frustrate all resistance to ,his authority and to deserve ,his satisfaction4 ,he is always the ,lord1 the ,king of the world1 who speaks to ,his humble servants4 ,but the lamp which ,allah had caused ,mohammed to hold up to guide mankind with its light1 was raised higher and higher after the ,prophet's death1 in order to shed its light over an ever increasing part of humanity4 ,this was not possible1 however1 without its reservoir being replenished with all the different kinds of oil that had from time immemorial given light to those different nations4 ,the oil of mysticism came from ,christian circles1 and its ,neo-,platonic origin was quite unmistakable2 ,persia and ,india also contributed to it4 ,there were those who1 by asceticism1 by different methods of mortifying the flesh1 liberated the spirit that it might rise and become united with the origin of all being2 to such an extent1 that with some the profession of faith was reduced to the blasphemous exclamation3 ,i am ,allah4 ,others tried to become free from the sphere of the material and the temporal by certain methods of thought1 combined or not combined with asceticism4 ,here the necessity of guidance was felt1 and congregations came into existence1 whose purpose it was to permit large groups of people under the leadership of their sheikhs1 to participate simultaneously in the mystic union4 ,the influence which spread most widely was that of leaders like ,ghazl1 the ,father of the later ,mohammedan ,church1 who recommended moral purification of the soul as the only way by which men should come nearer to ,god4 ,his mysticism wished to avoid the danger of pantheism1 to which so many others were led by their contemplations1 and which so often engendered disregard of the revealed law1 or even of morality4 ,some wanted to pass over the gap between the ,creator and the created along a bridge of contemplation2 and so1 driven by the fire of sublime passion1 precipitate themselves towards the object of their love1 in a kind of rapture1 which poets compare with intoxication4 ,the evil world said that the impossibility to accomplish this heavenly union often induced those people to imitate it for the time being with the earthly means of wine and the indulgence in sensual love4 ,characteristic of all these sorts of mysticism is their esoteric pride4 ,all those emotions are meant only for a small number of chosen ones4 ,even ,ghazl's ethical mysticism is not for the multitude4 ,the development of ,islm as a whole1 from the ,hijrah on1 has always been greater in breadth than in depth2 and1 consequently1 its pedagogics have remained defective4 ,even some of the noblest minds in ,islm restrict true religious life to an aristocracy1 and accept the ignorance of the multitude as an irremediable evil4 ,throughout the centuries pantheistic and animistic forms of mysticism have found many adherents among the ,mohammedans2 but the infallible ,agreement has persisted in calling that heresy4 ,ethical mysticism1 since ,ghazl1 has been fully recognized2 and1 with law and dogma1 it forms the sacred trio of sciences of ,islm1 to the study of which the ,arabic humanistic arts serve as preparatory instruments4 ,all other sciences1 however useful and necessary1 are of this world and have no value for the world to come4 ,the unfaithful appreciate and study them as well as do the ,mohammedans2 but1 on ,mohammedan soil they must be coloured with a ,mohammedan hue1 and their results may never clash with the three religious sciences4 ,physics1 astronomy1 and philosophy have often found it difficult to observe this restriction1 and therefore they used to be at least slightly suspected in pious circles4 ,mysticism did not only owe to ,ijm' its place in the sacred trio1 but it succeeded1 better than dogmatics1 in confirming its right with words of ,allah and ,his ,prophet4 ,in ,islm mysticism and allegory are allied in the usual way2 for the illuminati the words had quite a different meaning than for common1 every-day people4 ,so the ,qorn was made to speak the language of mysticism2 and mystic commentaries of the ,holy ,book exist1 which1 with total disregard for philological and historical objections1 explain the verses of the ,revelation as expressions of the profoundest soul experiences4 ,clear utterances in this spirit were put into the ,prophet's mouth2 and1 like the canonists1 the leaders on the mystic ,way to ,god boasted of a spiritual genealogy which went back to ,mohammed4 ,thus the ,prophet is said to have declared void all knowledge and fulfillment of the law which lacks mystic experience4 ,of course only true mysticism is justified by ,ijm' and confirmed by the evidence of ,qorn and ,sunnah2 but1 about the bounds between true and false or heretical mysticism1 there exists in a large measure the well-known diversity of opinion allowed by ,god's grace4 ,the ethical mysticism of al-,ghazl is generally recognized as orthodox2 and the possibility of attaining to a higher spiritual sphere by means of methodic asceticism and contemplation is doubted by few4 ,the following opinion has come to prevail in wide circles3 the ,law offers the bread of life to all the faithful1 the dogmatics are the arsenal from which the weapons must be taken to defend the treasures of religion against unbelief and heresy1 but mysticism shows the earthly pilgrim the way to ,heaven4 ,it was a much lower need that assured the cult of saints a place in the doctrine and practice of ,islm4 ,as strange as is ,mohammed's transformation from an ordinary son of man1 which he wanted to be1 into the incarnation of ,divine ,light1 as the later biographers represent him1 it is still more astounding that the intercession of saints should have become indispensable to the community of ,mohammed1 who1 according to ,tradition1 cursed the ,jews and ,christians because they worshipped the shrines of their prophets4 ,almost every ,moslim village has its patron saint2 every country has its national saints2 every province of human life has its own human rulers1 who are intermediate between the ,creator and common mortals4 ,in no other particular has ,islm more fully accommodated itself to the religions it supplanted4 ,the popular practice1 which is in many cases hardly to be distinguished from polytheism1 was1 to a great extent1 favoured by the theory of the intercession of the pious dead1 of whose friendly assistance people might assure themselves by doing good deeds in their names and to their eternal advantage4 ,the ordinary ,moslim visitor of the graves of saints does not trouble himself with this ingenious compromise between the severe monotheism of his prophet and the polytheism of his ancestors4 ,he is firmly convinced1 that the best way to obtain the satisfaction of his desire after earthly or heavenly goods is to give the saint whose special care these are what he likes best2 and he confidently leaves it to the venerated one to settle the matter with ,allah1 who is far too high above the ordinary mortal to allow of direct contact4 ,in support even of this startling deviation from the original1 traditions have been devised4 ,moreover1 the veneration of human beings was favoured by some forms of mysticism2 for1 like many saints1 many mystics had their eccentricities1 and it was much to the advantage of mystic theologians if the vulgar could be persuaded to accept their aberrations from normal rules of life as peculiarities of holy men4 ,but ,ijm' did more even than tradition and mysticism to make the veneration of legions of saints possible in the temples of the very men who were obliged by their ritual law to say to ,allah several time daily3 ,thee only do we worship and to ,thee alone do we cry for help4 ,in the tenth century of our era ,islm's process of accommodation was finished in all its essentials4 ,from this time forward1 if circumstances were favourable1 it could continue the execution of its world conquering plans without being compelled to assimilate any more foreign elements4 ,against each spiritual asset that another universal religion could boast1 it could now put forward something of a similar nature1 but which still showed characteristics of its own1 and the superiority of which it could sustain by arguments perfectly satisfactory to its followers4 ,from that time on1 ,islm strove to distinguish itself ever more sharply from its most important rivals4 ,there was no absolute stagnation1 the evolution was not entirely stopped2 but it moved at a much quieter pace1 and its direction was governed by internal motives1 not by influences from outside4 ,moslim catholicism had attained its full growth4 ,we cannot within the small compass of these lectures consider the excrescences of the normal ,islm1 the ,sh'itic ultras1 who venerated certain descendants of ,mohammed as infallible rulers of the world1 ,ishma'ilites1 ,qarmatians1 ,assassins2 nor the modern bastards of ,islm1 such as the ,sheikhites1 the ,bb's1 the ,beh's--who have found some adherents in ,america--and other sects1 which indeed sprang up on ,moslim soil1 but deliberately turned to non-,mohammedan sources for their inspirations4 ,we must draw attention1 however1 to protests raised by certain minorities against some of the ideas and practices which had been definitely adopted by the majority4 ,in the midst of ,mohammedan ,catholicism there always lived and moved more or less freely protestant elements4 ,the comparison may even be continued1 with certain qualifications1 and we may speak also of a conservative and of a liberal protestantism in ,islm4 ,the conservative ,protestantism is represented by the ,hanbalitic school and kindred spirits1 who most emphatically preached that the ,agreement 7,ijm'7 of every period should be based on that of the pious ancestors4 ,they therefore tested every dogma and practice by the words and deeds of the ,prophet1 his contemporaries1 and the leaders of the ,community in the first decades after ,mohammed's death4 ,in their eyes the ,church of later days had degenerated2 and they declined to consider the agreement of its doctors as justifying the penetration into ,islm of ideas and usages of foreign origin4 ,the cult of saints was rejected by them as altogether contradictory to the ,qorn and the genuine tradition4 ,these protestants of ,islm may be compared to those of ,christianity also in this respect1 that they accepted the results of the evolution and assimilation of the first three centuries of ,islm1 but rejected later additions as abuse and corruption4 ,when on the verge of our nineteenth century1 they tried1 as true ,moslims1 to force by material means their religious conceptions on others1 they were combated as heretics by the authorities of catholic ,islm4 ,central and ,western ,arabia formed the battlefield on which these zealots1 called ,wahhbites after their leader1 were defeated by ,mohammed ,ali1 the first ,khedive1 and his ,egyptian army4 ,since they have given up their efforts at violent reconstitution of what they consider to be the original ,islm1 they are left alone1 and their ideas have found adherents far outside ,arabia1 e4g41 in ,british ,india and in ,northern and ,central ,africa4 ,in still quite another way many ,moslims who found their freedom of thought or action impeded by the prevailing law and doctrine1 have returned to the origin of their religion4 ,too much attached to the traditions of their faith1 deliberately to disregard these impediments1 they tried to find in the ,qorn and ,tradition arguments in favour of what was dictated to them by ,reason2 and they found those arguments as easily as former generations had found the bases on which to erect their casuistry1 their dogma1 and their mysticism4 ,this implied an interpretation of the oldest sources independent from the catholic development of ,islm1 and in contradiction with the general opinion of the canonists1 according to whom1 since the fourth or fifth century of the ,hijrah1 no one is qualified for such free research4 ,a certain degree of independence of mind1 together with a strong attachment to their spiritual past1 has given rise in the ,moslim world to this sort of liberal protestantism1 which in our age has many adherents among the ,mohammedans who have come in contact with modern civilization4 ,that the partisans of all these different conceptions could remain together as the children of one spiritual family1 is largely owing to the elastic character of ,ijm'1 the importance of which is to some extent acknowledged by catholics and protestants1 by moderns and conservatives4 ,it has never been contested that the community1 whose agreement was the test of truth1 should not consist of the faithful masses1 but of the expert elect4 ,in a ,christian church we should have spoken of the clergy1 with a further definition of the organs through which it was to express itself synod1 council1 or ,pope4 ,islm has no clergy1 as we have seen2 the qualification of a man to have his own opinion depends entirely upon the scope of his knowledge or rather of his erudition4 ,there is no lack of standards1 fixed by ,mohammedan authorities1 in which the requirements for a scholar to qualify him for ,ijm' are detailed4 ,the principal criterion is the knowledge of the canon law2 quite what we should expect from the history of the evolution of ,islm4 ,but1 of course1 dogmatists and mystics had also their own agreements on the questions concerning them1 and through the compromise between ,law1 ,dogma1 and ,mysticism1 there could not fail to come into existence a kind of mixed ,ijm'4 ,moreover1 the standards and definitions could have only a certain theoretical value1 as there never has existed a body that could speak in the name of all4 ,the decisions of ,ijm' were therefore to be ascertained only in a vague and general way4 ,the speakers were individuals whose own authority depended on ,ijm'1 whereas ,ijm' should have been their collective decision4 ,thus it was possible for innumerable shades of ,catholicism and protestantism to live under one roof2 with a good deal of friction1 it is true1 but without definite breach or schism1 no one sect being able to eject another from the community4 ,moslim political authorities are bound not only to extend the domain of ,islm1 but also to keep the community in the right path in its life and doctrine4 ,this task they have always conceived in accordance with their political interests2 ,islm has had its religious persecutions but tolerance was very usual1 and even official favouring of heresy not quite exceptional with ,moslim rulers4 ,regular maintenance of religious discipline existed nowhere4 ,thus in the bond of political obedience elements which might otherwise have been scattered were held together4 ,the political decay of ,islm in our a day has done away with what had been left of official power to settle religious differences and any organization of spiritual authority never existed4 ,hence it is only natural that the diversity of opinion allowed by the grace of ,allah now shows itself on a greater scale than ever before4 ,,iii ,,the ,,political ,,development ,,of ,,isl,m ,in the first period of ,islm1 the functions of what we call ,church and what we call ,state were exercised by the same authority4 ,its political development is therefore of great importance for the understanding of its religious growth4 ,the ,prophet1 when he spoke in the name of ,god1 was the lawgiver of his community1 and it was rightly understood by the later ,faithful that his indispensable explanations of ,god's word had also legislative power4 ,from the time of the ,hijrah the nature of the case made him the ruler1 the judge1 and the military commander of his theocratic state4 ,moreover1 ,allah expressly demanded of the ,moslims that they should obey the ,messenger of ,god1 and those amongst them who have authority4#a ,we see by this expression that ,mohammed shared his temporal authority with others4 ,his co-rulers were not appointed1 their number was nowhere defined1 they were not a closed circle2 they were the notables of the tribes or other groups who had arrayed themselves under ,mohammed's authority1 and a few who had gained influence by their personality4 ,in their councils ,mohammed's word had no decisive power1 except when he spoke in the name of ,allah2 and we know how careful he was to give oracles only in cases of extreme need4 ,footnote #a3 ,qorn1 iv41 #fb4 ,in the last years of ,mohammed's life his authority became extended over a large part of ,arabia2 but he did very little in the way of centralization of government4 ,he sent 'mils1 i4e41 agents1 to the conquered tribes or villages1 who had to see that1 in the first place1 the most important regulations of the ,qorn were followed1 and1 secondly1 that the tax into which the duty of almsgiving had been converted was promptly paid1 and that the portion of it intended for the central fund at ,medina was duly delivered4 ,after the great conquests1 the governors of provinces of the ,moslim ,empire1 who often exercised a despotic power1 were called by the same title of 'mils4 ,the agents of ,mohammed1 however1 did not possess such unlimited authority4 ,it was only gradually that the ,arabs learned the value of good discipline and submission to a strong guidance1 and adopted the forms of orderly government as they found them in the conquered lands4 ,through the death of ,mohammed everything became uncertain4 ,the combination under one leadership of such a heterogeneous mass as that of his ,arabs would have been unthinkable a few years before4 ,it became quite natural1 though1 as soon as the ,prophet's mouth was recognized as the organ of ,allah's voice4 ,must this monarchy be continued after ,allah's mouthpiece had ceased to exist8 ,it was not at all certain4 ,the force of circumstances and the energy of some of ,mohammed's counsellors soon led to the necessary decisions4 ,a number of the notables of the community succeeded in forcing upon the hesitating or unwilling members the acceptance of the monarchy as a permanent institution4 ,there must be a khalf1 a deputy of the ,prophet in all his functions 7except that of messenger of ,god71 who would be ruler and judge and leader of public worship1 but above all amr al-mu'minn1 ,commander of the ,faithful1 in the struggle both against the apostate ,arabs and against the hostile tribes on the northern border4 ,but for the military success of the first khalifs ,islm would never have become a universal religion4 ,every exertion was made to keep the troops of the ,faithful complete4 ,the leaders followed only ,mohammed's example when they represented fighting for ,allah's cause as the most enviable occupation4 ,the duty of military service was constantly impressed upon the ,moslims2 the lust of booty and the desire for martyrdom1 to which the ,qorn assigned the highest reward1 were excited to the utmost4 ,at a later period1 it became necessary in the interests of order to temper the result of this excitement by traditions in which those of the ,faithful who died in the exercise of a peaceful1 honest profession were declared to be witnesses to the ,faith as well as those who were slain in battle against the enemies of ,god1--traditions in which the real and greater holy war was described as the struggle against evil passions4 ,the necessity of such a mitigating reaction1 the spirit in which the chapters on holy war of ,mohammedan lawbooks are conceived1 and the galvanizing power which down to our own day is contained in a call to arms in the name of ,allah1 all this shows that in the beginning of ,islm the love of battle had been instigated at the expense of everything else4 ,the institution of the ,khalifate had hardly been agreed upon when the question of who should occupy it became the subject of violent dissension4 ,the first four khalfs1 whose reigns occupied the first thirty years after ,mohammed's death1 were ,qoraishites1 tribesmen of the ,prophet1 and moreover men who had been his intimate friends4 ,the sacred tradition relates a saying of ,mohammed3 ,the imms are from ,qoraish1 intended to confine the ,khalifate to men from that tribe4 ,history1 however1 shows that this edict was forged to give the stamp of legality to the results of a long political struggle4 ,for at ,mohammed's death the ,medinese began fiercely contesting the claims of the ,qoraishites2 and during the reign of ,al1 the fourth ,khalf1 the ,khrijites rebelled1 demanding1 as democratic rigorists1 the free election of khalfs without restriction to the tribe of ,qoraish or to any other descent4 ,their standard of requirements contained only religious and moral qualities2 and they claimed for the community the continual control of the chosen leader's behaviour and the right of deposing him as soon as they found him failing in the fulfilment of his duties4 ,their anarchistic revolutions1 which during more than a century occasionally gave much trouble to the ,khalifate1 caused ,islm to accentuate the aristocratic character of its monarchy4 ,they were overcome and reduced to a sect1 the survivors of which still exist in ,south-,eastern ,arabia1 in ,zanzibar1 and in ,northern ,africa2 however1 the actual life of these communities resembles that of their spiritual forefathers to a very remote degree4 ,another democratic doctrine1 still more radical than that of the ,khrijites1 makes even non-,arabs eligible for the ,khalifate4 ,it must have had a considerable number of adherents1 for the tradition which makes the ,prophet responsible for it is to be found in the canonic collections4 ,later generations1 however1 rendered it harmless by exegesis2 they maintained that in this text commander meant only subordinate chiefs1 and not the ,commander of the ,faithful4 ,it became a dogma in the orthodox ,mohammedan world1 respected up to the sixteenth century1 that only members of the tribe of ,qoraish could take the place of the ,messenger of ,god4 ,the chance of success was greater for the legitimists than for the democratic party4 ,the former wished to make the ,khalifate the privilege of ,al1 the cousin and son-in-law of the ,prophet1 and his descendants4 ,at first the community did not take much notice of that ,house of ,mohammed2 and it did not occur to any one to give them a special part in the direction of affairs4 ,al and ,ftima themselves asked to be placed in possession only of certain goods which had belonged to ,mohammed1 but which the first khalfs would not allow to be regarded as his personal property2 they maintained that the ,prophet had had the disposal of them not as owner1 but as head of the state4 ,this narrow greed and absence of political insight seemed to be hereditary in the descendants of ,ali and ,ftima2 for there was no lack of superstitious reverence for them in later times1 and if one of them had possessed something of the political talent of the best ,omayyads and ,abbasids he would certainly have been able to supplant them4 ,after the third ,khalf1 ,othmn1 had been murdered by his political opponents1 ,ali became his successor2 but he was more remote than any of his predecessors from enjoying general sympathy4 ,at that time the ,sh'ah1 the ,party of the ,house of the ,prophet1 gradually arose1 which maintained that ,ali should have been the first ,khalf1 and that his descendants should succeed him4 ,the veneration felt for those descendants increased in the same proportion as that for the ,prophet himself2 and moreover1 there were at all times malcontents1 whose advantage would be in joining any revolution against the existing government4 ,yet the ,alids never succeeded in accomplishing anything against the dynasties of the ,omayyads1 the ,abbasids1 and the ,ottomans1 except in a few cases of transitory importance only4 ,the ,fatimite dynasty1 of rather doubtful descent1 which ruled a part of ,northern ,africa and ,egypt in the tenth century ,a4,d41 was completely suppressed after some two and a half centuries4 ,the ,sherfs who have ruled ,morocco for more than #iej years were not chiefs of a party that considered the legality of their leadership a dogma2 they owe their local ,khalifate far more to the out-of-the-way position of their country which prevented ,abbasids and ,turks from meddling with their affairs4 ,otherwise1 they would have been obliged at any rate to acknowledge the sovereignty of the ,great ,lord of ,constantinople4 ,this was the case with the ,sherfs of ,mecca1 who ever since the twelfth century have regarded the sacred territory as their domain4 ,their principality arose out of the general political disturbance and the division of the ,mohammedan empire into a number of kingdoms1 whose mutual strife prevented them from undertaking military operations in the desert4 ,these ,sherfs raised no claim to the ,khalifate2 and the ,sh'itic tendencies they displayed in the ,middle ,ages had no political significance1 although they had intimate relations with the ,zaidites of ,southern ,arabia4 ,as first ,egypt and afterwards ,turkey made their protectorate over the holy cities more effective1 the princes of ,mecca became orthodox4 ,the ,zaidites1 who settled in ,yemen from the ninth century on1 are really ,sh'ites1 although of the most moderate kind4 ,without striving after expansion outside ,arabia1 they firmly refuse to give up their own ,khalifate and to acknowledge the sovereignty of any non-,alid ruler2 the efforts of the ,turks to subdue them or to make a compromise with them have had no lasting results4 ,this is the principal obstacle against their being included in the orthodox community1 although their admission is defended1 even under present circumstances1 by many non-political ,moslim scholars4 ,the ,zaidites are the remnant of the original ,arabian ,sh'ah1 which for centuries has counted adherents in all parts of the ,moslim world1 and some of whose tenets have penetrated ,mohammedan orthodoxy4 ,the almost general veneration of the sayyids and sherfs1 as the descendants of ,mohammed are entitled1 is due to this influence4 ,the ,sh'ah outside ,arabia1 whose adherents used to be persecuted by the official authorities1 not without good cause1 became the receptacle of all the revolutionary and heterodox ideas maintained by the converted peoples4 ,alongside of the visible political history of ,islm of the first centuries1 these circles built up their evolution of the unseen community1 the only true one1 guided by the ,holy ,family1 and the reality was to them a continuous denial of the postulates of religion4 ,their first imm or successor of the ,prophet was ,al1 whose divine right had been unjustly denied by the three usurpers1 ,abu ,bakr1 ,omar1 and ,othmn1 and who had exercised actual authority for a few years in constant strife with ,khrijites and ,omayyads4 ,the efforts of his legitimate successors to assert their authority were constantly drowned in blood2 until1 at last1 there were no more candidates for the dangerous office4 ,this prosaic fact was converted by the adherents of the ,house of ,mohammed into the romance1 that the last imm of a line of seven according to some1 and twelve according to others1 had disappeared in a mysterious way1 to return at the end of days as ,mahd1 the ,guided ,one1 who should restore the political order which had been disturbed ever since ,mohammed's death4 ,until his reappearance there is nothing left for the community to do but to await his advent1 under the guidance of their secular rulers 7e4g41 the shhs of ,persia7 and enlightened by their authoritative scholars 7mujtahids71 who explain faith and law to them from the tradition of the ,sacred ,family4 ,the great majority of ,mohammedans1 as they do not accept this legitimist theory1 are counted by the ,sh'ah outside ,arabia as unclean heretics1 if not as unbelievers4 ,at the beginning of the fifteenth century this ,sh'ah found its political centre in ,persia1 and opposed itself fanatically to the ,sultan of ,turkey1 who at about the same time came to stand at the head of orthodox ,islm4 ,all differences of doctrine were now sharpened and embittered by political passion1 and the efforts of single enlightened princes or scholars to induce the various peoples to extend to each other1 across the political barriers1 the hand of brotherhood in the principles of faith1 all failed4 ,it is only in the last few years that the general political distress of ,islm has inclined the estranged relatives towards reconciliation4 ,besides the veneration of the ,alids1 orthodox ,islm has adopted another ,shitic element1 the expectation of the ,mahd1 which we have just mentioned4 ,most ,sunnites expect that at the end of the world there will come from the ,house of ,mohammed a successor to him1 guided by ,allah1 who will maintain the revealed law as faithfully as the first four khalfs did according to the idealized history1 and who will succeed with ,god's help in making ,islm victorious over the whole world4 ,that the chiliastic kingdom of the ,mahd must in the end be destroyed by ,anti-,christ1 in order that ,jesus may be able once more to re-establish the holy order before the ,resurrection1 was a necessary consequence of the amalgamation of the political expectations formed under ,sh'itic influence1 with eschatological conceptions formerly borrowed by ,islm from ,christianity4 ,the orthodox ,mahd differs from that of the ,sh'ah in many ways4 ,he is not an imm returning after centuries of disappearance1 but a descendant of ,mohammed1 coming into the world in the ordinary way to fulfill the ideal of the ,khalifate4 ,he does not re-establish the legitimate line of successors of the ,prophet2 but he renews the glorious tradition of the ,khalifate1 which after the first thirty years was dragged into the general deterioration1 common to all human things4 ,the prophecies concerning his appearance are sometimes of an equally supernatural kind as those of the ,shites1 so that the period of his coming has passed more and more from the political sphere to which it originally belonged1 into that of eschatology4 ,yet1 naturally1 it is easier for a popular leader to make himself regarded as the orthodox ,mahd than to play the part of the returned imm4 ,mohammedan rulers have had more trouble than they cared for with candidates for the dignity of the ,mahd2 and it is not surprising that in official ,turkish circles there is a tendency to simplify the ,messianic expectation by giving the fullest weight to this traditional saying of ,mohammed ,there is no mahd but ,jesus1 seeing that ,jesus must come from the clouds1 whereas other mahds may arise from human society4 ,in the orthodox expectation of the ,mahdi the ,moslim theory has most sharply expressed its condemnation of the later political history of ,islm4 ,in the course of the first century after the ,hijrah the ,qorn scholars 7grs7 arose2 and these in turn were succeeded by the men of tradition 7ahl al-hadth7 and by the canonists 7faqhs7 of later times4 ,these learned men 7ulam'7 would not endure any interference with their right to state with authority what ,islm demanded of its leaders4 ,they laid claim to an interpretative authority concerning the divine law1 which bordered upon supreme legislative power2 their agreement 7,ijm'7 was that of the infallible community4 ,but just as beside this legislative agreement1 a dogmatic and a mystic agreement grew up1 in the same way there was a separate ,ijm' regarding the political government1 upon which the canonists could exercise only an indirect influence4 ,in other words since the accession of the ,omayyad khalfs1 the actual authority rested in the hands of dynasties1 and under the ,abbasids government assumed even a despotic character4 ,this relation between the governors and governed1 originally alien to ,islm1 was not changed by the transference of the actual power into the hands of wezrs and officers of the bodyguard2 nor yet by the disintegration of the empire into a number of small despotisms1 the investiture of which by the khalf became a mere formality4 ,dynastic and political questions were settled in a comparatively small circle1 by court intrigue1 stratagems1 and force2 and the canonists1 like the people1 were bound to accept the results4 ,politically inclined interpreters of the law might try to justify their compulsory assent to the facts by theories about the ,ijm' of the notables residing in the capital1 who took the urgent decisions about the succession1 which decisions were subsequently confirmed by general homage to the new prince2 but they had no illusions about the real influence of the community upon the choice of its leader4 ,the most independent scholars made no attempt to disguise the fact that the course which political affairs had taken was the clearest proof of the moral degeneration which had set in1 and they pronounced an equally bold and merciless criticism upon the government in all its departments4 ,it became a matter of course that a pious scholar must keep himself free from all intercourse with state officials1 on pain of losing his reputation4 ,the bridge across the gulf that separated the spiritual from the temporal authorities was formed by those state officials who1 for the practice of their office1 needed a knowledge of the divine law1 especially the qdhs4 ,it was originally the duty of these judges to decide all legal differences between ,mohammedans1 or men of other creeds under ,mohammedan protection1 who called for their decision4 ,the actual division between the rulers and the interpreters of the law caused an ever-increasing limitation of the authority of the qdhs4 ,the laws of marriage1 family1 and inheritance remained1 however1 their inalienable territory2 and a number of other matters1 in which too great a religious interest was involved to leave them to the caprice of the governors or to the customary law outside ,islm1 were usually included4 ,but as the qdhs were appointed by the governors1 they were obliged in the exercise of their office to give due consideration to the wishes of their constituents2 and moreover they were often tainted by what was regarded in ,mohammedan countries as inseparable from government employment3 bribery4 ,on this account1 the canonists1 although it was from their ranks that the officials of the qdh court were to be drawn1 considered no words too strong to express their contempt for the office of qdh4 ,in handbooks of the ,law of all times1 the qdhs of our time are represented as unscrupulous beings1 whose unreliable judgments were chiefly dictated by their greed4 ,such an opinion would not have acquired full force1 if it had not been ascribed to ,mohammed2 in fact1 the ,prophet1 according to a tradition1 had said that out of three qdhs two are destined to ,hell4 ,anecdotes of famous scholars who could not be prevailed upon by imprisonment or castigation to accept the office of qdhs are innumerable4 ,those who succumbed to the temptation forfeited the respect of the circle to which they had belonged4 ,i once witnessed a case of this kind1 and the former friends of the qdh did not spare him their bitter reproaches4 ,he remarked that the judge1 whose duty it was to maintain the divine law1 verily held a noble office4 ,they refuted this by saying that this defence was admissible only for earlier and better times1 but not for the qdhs of our time4 ,to which he cuttingly replied ,and ye1 are ye canonists of the better1 the ancient time8 ,in truth1 the students of sacred science are just as much of our time as the qdhs4 ,even in the eleventh century the great theologian ,ghazl counted them all equal4#a ,not a few of them give their authoritative advice according to the wishes of the highest bidder or of him who has the greatest influence1 hustle for income from pious institutions1 and vie with each other in a revel of casuistic subtleties4 ,but among those scholars there are and always have been some who1 in poverty and simplicity1 devote their life to the study of ,allah's law with the sole object of pleasing him2 among the qdhs such are not easily to be found4 ,amongst the other state officials the title of qdh may count as a spiritual one1 and the public may to a certain extent share this reverence2 but in the eyes of the pious and of the canonists such glory is only reflected from the clerical robe1 in which the worldling disguises himself4 ,footnote #a3 ,ghazl1 ,ihya1 book i41 ch4 #f1 quotes the words of a pious scholar of the olden time3 ,the 'ulam' will 7on the ,day of judgment7 be gathered amongst the prophets1 but the qdhs amongst the temporal rulers4 ,ghazli adds alike with these qdhs are all those canonists who make use of their learning for worldly purposes4 ,to the muft criticism is somewhat more favourable than to the qdh4 ,a muft is not necessarily an official2 every canonist who1 at the request of a layman1 expounds to him the meaning of the law on any particular point and gives a fatwa1 acts as a muft4 ,be the question in reference to the behaviour of the individual towards ,god or towards man1 with regard to his position in a matter of litigation1 in criticism of a state regulation or of a sentence of a judge1 or out of pure love of knowledge1 the scholar is morally obliged to the best of his knowledge to enlighten the enquirer4 ,he ought to do this for the love of ,god2 but he must live1 and the enquirer is expected to give him a suitable present for his trouble4 ,this again gives rise to the danger that he who offers most is attended to first2 and that for the liberal rich man a dish is prepared from the casuistic store1 as far as possible according to his taste4 ,the temptation is by no means so great as that to which the qdh is exposed2 especially since the office of judge has become an article of commerce1 so that the very first step towards the possession of it is in the direction of ,hell4 ,moreover in these degenerate times--which have existed for about ten centuries--the acceptance of an appointment to the function of qdh is not regarded as a duty1 while a competent scholar may only refuse to give a fatwa under exceptional circumstances4 ,still1 an unusually strong character is needed by the muft1 if he is not to fall into the snares of the world4 ,besides qdhs who settle legal disputes of a certain kind according to the revealed law1 the state requires its own advisers who can explain that law1 i4e41 official mufts4 ,firstly1 the government itself may be involved in a litigation2 moreover in some government regulations it may be necessary to avoid giving offence to canonists and their strict disciples4 ,in such cases it is better to be armed beforehand with an expert opinion than to be exposed to dangerous criticism which might find an echo in a wide circle4 ,the official muft must therefore be somewhat pliable1 to say the least4 ,moreover1 any private person has the right to put questions to the state muft2 and the qdh court is bound to take his answers into account in its decisions4 ,in this way the mufts have absorbed a part of the duties of the qdhs1 and so their office is dragged along in the degradation that the unofficial canonists denounce unweariedly in their writings and in their teaching4 ,the way in which the most important muft places are filled and above all the position which the head-muft of the ,turkish ,empire1 the ,sheikh-ul-,islm1 holds at any particular period1 may well serve as a touchstone of the influence of the canonists on public life4 ,if this is great1 then even the most powerful sultan has only the possibility of choice between a few great scholars1 put forward or at all events not disapproved of by their own guild1 strengthened by public opinion4 ,if1 on the other hand1 there is no keen interest felt in the ,shar'ah 7,divine ,law71 then the temporal rulers can do pretty much what they like with these representatives of the canon law4 ,under the tyrannical sway of ,sultan ,abd-ul-,hamid1 the ,sheikh-ul-,islm was little more than a tool for him and his palace clique1 and for their own reasons1 the members of the ,committee of ,union and ,progress1 who rule at ,constantinople since #aijh1 made no change in this3 each new ministry had its own ,sheikh-ul-,islm1 who had to be1 above everything1 a faithful upholder of the constitutional theory held by the ,committee4 ,the time is past when the ,sultan and the ,porte1 in framing even the most pressing reform1 must first anxiously assure themselves of the position that the hojas1 tolbas1 softas1 the theologians in a word1 would take towards it1 and of the influence that the ,sheikh-ul-,islm could use in opposition to their plans4 ,the political authority makes its deference to the canonists dependent upon their strict obedience4 ,this important change is a natural consequence of the modernization of ,mohammedan political life1 a movement through which the expounders of a law which has endeavoured to remain stationary since the year #ajjj must necessarily get into straits4 ,this explains also why the religious life of ,mohammedans is in some respects freer in countries under non-,mohammedan authority1 than under a ,mohammedan government4 ,under ,english1 ,dutch1 or ,french rule the 'ulams are less interfered with in their teaching1 the mufts in their recommendations1 and the qdhs in their judgments of questions of marriage and inheritance than in ,turkey1 where the life of ,islm1 as state religion1 lies under official control4 ,in indirectly governed native states the relation of ,mohammedan ,church and ,state may much more resemble that in ,turkey1 and this is sometimes to the advantage of the sovereign ruler4 ,under the direct government of a modern state1 the ,mohammedan group is treated as a religious community1 whose particular life has just the same claim to independence as that of other denominations4 ,the only justifiable limitation is that the program of the forcible reduction of the world to ,mohammedan authority be kept within the scholastic walls as a point of eschatology1 and not considered as a body of prescriptions1 the execution of which must be prepared4 ,the extensive political program of ,islm1 developed during the first centuries of astounding expansion1 has yet not prevented millions of ,mohammedans from resigning themselves to reversed conditions in which at the present time many more ,mohammedans live under foreign authority than under their own4 ,the acceptance of this change was facilitated by the historical pessimism of ,islm1 which makes the mind prepared for every sort of decay1 and by the true ,moslim habit of resignation to painful experiences1 not through fatalism1 but through reverence for ,allah's inscrutable will4 ,at the same time1 it would be a gross mistake to imagine that the idea of universal conquest may be considered as obliterated4 ,this is the case with the intellectuals and with many practical commercial or industrial men2 but the canonists and the vulgar still live in the illusion of the days of ,islm's greatness4 ,the legists continue to ground their appreciation of every actual political condition on the law of the holy war1 which war ought never to be allowed to cease entirely until all mankind is reduced to the authority of ,islm--the heathen by conversion1 the adherents of acknowledged ,scripture by submission4 ,even if they admit the improbability of this at present1 they are comforted and encouraged by the recollection of the lengthy period of humiliation that the ,prophet himself had to suffer before ,allah bestowed victory upon his arms2 and they fervently join with the ,friday preacher1 when he pronounces the prayer1 taken from the ,qorn3 ,and lay not on us1 ,o our ,lord1 that for which we have not strength1 but blot out our sins and forgive us and have pity upon us4 ,thou art our ,master2 grant us then to conquer the unbelievers6 ,and the common people are willingly taught by the canonists and feed their hope of better days upon the innumerable legends of the olden time and the equally innumerable apocalyptic prophecies about the future4 ,the political blows that fall upon ,islm make less impression upon their simple minds than the senseless stories about the power of the ,sultan of ,stambul1 that would instantly be revealed if he were not surrounded by treacherous servants1 and the fantastic tidings of the miracles that ,allah works in the ,holy ,cities of ,arabia which are inaccessible to the unfaithful4 ,the conception of the ,khalifate still exercises a fascinating influence1 regarded in the light of a central point of union against the unfaithful4 ,apart from the 'mils1 ,mohammed's agents amongst the ,arabian tribes1 the ,khalifate was the only political institution which arose out of the necessity of the ,moslim community1 without foreign influence4 ,it rescued ,islm from threatening destruction1 and it led the ,faithful to conquest4 ,no wonder that in historic legend the first four occupiers of that leadership1 who1 from ,medina1 accomplished such great things1 have been glorified into saints1 and are held up to all the following generations as examples to put them to shame4 ,in the ,omayyads the ancient aristocracy of ,mecca came to the helm1 and under them1 the ,mohammedan state was above all1 as ,wellhausen styled it1 the ,arabian ,empire4 ,the best khalfs of this house had the political wisdom to give the governors of the provinces sufficient independence to prevent schism1 and to secure to themselves the authority in important matters4 ,the reaction of the non-,arabian converts against the suppression of their own culture by the ,arabian conquerors found support in the opposition parties1 above all with the ,sh'ah4 ,the ,abbasids1 cleverer politicians than the notoriously unskillful ,alids1 made use of the ,alid propaganda to secure the booty to themselves at the right moment4 ,the means which served the ,alids for the establishment only of an invisible dynasty of princes who died as martyrs1 enabled the descendants of ,mohammed's uncle ,abbas to overthrow the ,omayyads1 and to found their own ,khalifate at ,bagdad1 shining with the brilliance of an ,eastern despotism4 ,when it is said that the ,abbasid ,khalifate maintained itself from #gej till the ,mongol storm in the middle of the thirteenth century1 that only refers to external appearance4 ,after a brief success1 the actual power of these khalfs was transferred to the hands1 first1 of the captains of their bodyguard1 then of sultan-dynasties1 whose forcibly acquired powers1 were legalized by a formal investiture4 ,in the same way the large provinces developed into independent kingdoms1 whose rulers considered the nomination-diplomas from ,bagdad in the light of mere ornaments4 ,compared to this irreparable disintegration of the empire1 temporary schisms such as the ,omayyad ,khalifate in ,spain1 the ,fatimid ,khalifate in ,egypt1 and here and there an independent organization of the ,khrijites were of little significance4 ,it seems strange that the ,moslim peoples1 although the theory of ,islm never attributed an hereditary character to the ,khalifate1 attached so high a value to the ,abbasid name1 that they continued unanimously to acknowledge the ,khalifate of ,bagdad for centuries during which it possessed no influence4 ,but the idea of hereditary rulers was deeply rooted in most of the peoples converted to ,islm1 and the glorious period of the first ,abbasids so strongly impressed itself on the mind of the vulgar1 that the appearance of continuation was easily taken for reality4 ,its voidness would sooner have been realized1 if lack of energy had not prevented the later ,abbasids from trying to recover the lost power by the sword1 or if amongst their rivals who could also boast of a popular tradition--e4g41 the ,omayyads1 or still more the ,alids--a political genius had succeeded in forming a powerful opposition4 ,but the sultans who ruled the various states did not want to place all that they possessed in the balance on the chance of gaining the title of ,khalf4 ,the ,moslim world became accustomed to the idea that the honoured ,house of the ,prophet's uncle ,abbas existed for the purpose of lending an additional glory to ,mohammedan princes by a diploma4 ,even after the destruction of ,bagdad by the ,mongols in #abeh1 from which only a few ,abbasids escaped alive1 ,indian princes continued to value visits or deeds of appointment granted them by some begging descendant of the ,glorious ,house4 ,the sultans of ,egypt secured this luxury permanently for themselves by taking a branch of the family under their protection1 who gave the glamour of their approval to every new result of the never-ending quarrels of succession1 until in the beginning of the sixteenth century ,egypt1 together with so many other lands1 was swallowed up by the ,turkish conqueror4 ,these new rulers1 who added the ,byzantine ,empire to ,islm1 who with ,egypt brought ,southern and ,western ,arabia with the ,holy ,cities also under their authority1 and caused all the neighbouring princes1 ,moslim and ,christian alike1 to tremble on their thrones1 thought it was time to abolish the senseless survival of the ,abbasid glory4 ,the prestige of the ,ottomans was as great as that of the ,khalifate in its most palmy days had been2 and they would not be withheld from the assumption of the title4 ,there is a doubtful tale of the abdication of the ,abbasids in their favour1 but the question is of no importance4 ,the ,ottomans owed their ,khalifate to their sword2 and this was the only argument used by such canonists as thought it worth their while to bring such an incontestable fact into reconciliation with the law4 ,this was not strictly necessary1 as they had been accustomed for eight centuries to acquiesce in all sorts of unlawful acts which history demonstrated to be the will of ,allah4 ,the sense of the tradition that established descent from the tribe of ,qoraish as necessary for the highest dignity in the community was capable of being weakened by explanation2 and1 even without that1 the leadership of the irresistible ,ottomans was of more value to ,islm than the chimerical authority of a powerless ,qoraishite4 ,in our own time1 you can hear ,qoraishites1 and even ,alids1 warmly defend the claims of the ,turkish sultans to the ,khalifate1 as they regard these as the only ,moslim princes capable of championing the threatened rights of ,islm4 ,even the sultans of ,stambul could not think of restoring the authority of the ,khalf over the whole ,mohammedan world4 ,this was prevented not only by the schismatic kingdoms1 khalifates1 or immates like ,sh'itic ,persia1 which was consolidated just in the sixteenth century1 by the unceasing opposition of the ,imms of ,yemen1 and ,khrijite principalities at the extremities of the ,mohammedan world4 ,besides these1 there were numerous princes in ,central ,asia1 in ,india1 and in ,central ,africa1 whom either the ,khalifate had always been obliged to leave to themselves1 or who had become so estranged from it that1 unless they felt the power of the ,turkish arms1 they preferred to remain as they were4 ,moreover1 ,islm had extended itself not only by political means1 but also by trade and colonization into countries even the existence of which was hardly known in the political centres of ,islm1 e4g41 into ,central ,africa or the ,far ,east of ,asia4 ,without thinking of rivalling the ,abbasids or their successors1 some of the princes of such remote kingdoms1 e4g41 the sherfs of ,morocco1 assumed the title of ,commander of the ,faithful1 bestowed upon them by their flatterers4 ,today1 there are petty princes in ,east ,india under ,dutch sovereignty who decorate themselves with the title of ,khalf1 without suspecting that they are thereby guilty of a sort of arrogant blasphemy4 ,such exaggeration is not supported by the canonists2 but these have devised a theory1 which gives a foundation to the authority of ,mohammedan princes1 who never had a real or fictitious connection with a real or fictitious ,khalifate4 ,authority there must be1 everywhere and under all circumstances2 far from the centre this should be exercised1 according to them1 by the one who has been able to gain it and who knows how to hold it2 and all the duties are laid upon him1 which1 in a normal condition1 would be discharged by the ,khalf or his representative4 ,for this kind of authority the legists have even invented a special name3 shaukah1 which means actual influence1 the authority which has spontaneously arisen in default of a chief who in one form or another can be considered as a mandatary of the ,khalifate4 ,now1 it is significant that many of those ,mohammedan governors1 who owe their existence to wild growth in this way1 seek1 especially in our day1 for connection with the ,khalifate1 or1 at least1 wish to be regarded as naturally connected with the centre4 ,the same is true of such whose former independence or adhesion to the ,turkish ,empire has been replaced by the sovereignty of a ,western state4 ,even amongst the ,moslim peoples placed under the direct government of ,european states a tendency prevails to be considered in some way or another subjects of the ,sultan-,khalf4 ,some scholars explain this phenomenon by the spiritual character which the dignity of ,khalf is supposed to have acquired under the later ,abbasids1 and retained since that time1 until the ,ottoman princes combined it again with the temporal dignity of sultan4 ,according to this view the later ,abbasids were a sort of popes of ,islm2 while the temporal authority1 in the central districts as well as in the subordinate kingdoms1 was in the hands of various sultans4 ,the sultans of ,constantinople govern1 then1 under this name1 as much territory as the political vicissitudes allow them to govern--i4e41 the ,turkish ,empire2 as khalfs1 they are the spiritual heads of the whole of ,sunnite ,islm4 ,though this view1 through the ignorance of ,european statesmen and diplomatists1 may have found acceptance even by some of the great powers1 it is nevertheless entirely untrue2 unless by spiritual authority we are to understand the empty appearance of worldly authority4 ,this appearance was all that the later ,abbasids retained after the loss of their temporal power2 spiritual authority of any kind they never possessed4 ,the spiritual authority in catholic ,islm reposes in the legists1 who in this respect are called in a tradition the heirs of the prophets4 ,since they could no longer regard the khalfs as their leaders1 because they walked in worldly ways1 they have constituted themselves independently beside and even above them2 and the rulers have been obliged to conclude a silent contract with them1 each party binding itself to remain within its own limits4#a ,if this contract be observed1 the legists not only are ready to acknowledge the bad rulers of the world1 but even to preach loyalty towards them to the laity4 ,the most supremely popular part of the ideal of ,islm1 the reduction of the whole world to ,moslim authority1 can only be attempted by a political power4 ,notwithstanding the destructive criticism of all ,moslim princes and state officials by the canonists1 it was only from them that they could expect measures to uphold and extend the power of ,islm2 and on this account they continually cherished the ideal of the ,khalifate4 ,footnote #a3 ,that the ,khalifate is in no way to be compared with the ,papacy1 that ,islm has never regarded the ,khalif as its spiritual head1 ,i have repeatedly explained since #ahhb 7in ,nieuwe ,bijdragen tot de kennis van den ,islam1 in ,bijdr4 tot de ,taal1 ,landen ,volkenkunde van ,nederl4 ,indi1 ,volgr4 #d1 ,deel vi1 in an article1 ,de ,islam1 in ,de ,gids1 ,may1 #ahhf1 in ,questions ,diplomatiques et ,coloniales1 #eme anne1 ,no4 #ajf1 etc474 ,i am pleased to find the same views expressed by ,prof4 ,m4 ,hartmann in ,die ,welt des ,islams1 ,bd4 i41 pp4 #adg-h4 ,in the first centuries it was the duty of ,mohammedans who had become isolated1 and who had for instance been conquered by unbelievers1 to do hijrah1 i4e41 emigration for ,allah's sake1 as the converted ,arabs had done in ,mohammed's time by emigrating to ,medina to strengthen the ranks of the ,faithful4 ,this soon became impracticable1 so that the legists relaxed the prescription by concessions to the force of necessity4 ,resignation was thus permitted1 even recommended2 but the submission to non-,musulmans was always to be regarded as temporary and abnormal4 ,although the partes infidelium have grown larger and larger1 the eye must be kept fixed upon the centre1 the ,khalifate1 where every movement towards improvement must begin4 ,a ,western state that admits any authority of a khalf over its ,mohammedan subjects1 thus acknowledges1 not the authority of a pope of the ,moslim ,church1 but in simple ignorance is feeding political programs1 which1 however vain1 always have the power of stirring ,mohammedan masses to confusion and excitement4 ,of late years ,mohammedan statesmen in their intercourse with their ,western colleagues are glad to take the latter's point of view2 and1 in discussion1 accept the comparison of the ,khalifate with the ,papacy1 because they are aware that only in this form the ,khalifate can be made acceptable to powers who have ,mohammedan subjects4 ,but for these subjects the ,khalif is then their true prince1 who is temporarily hindered in the exercise of his government1 but whose right is acknowledged even by their unbelieving masters4 ,in yet another respect the canonists need the aid of the temporal rulers4 ,an alert police is counted by them amongst the indispensable means of securing purity of doctrine and life4 ,they count it to the credit of princes and governors that they enforced by violent measures seclusion and veiling of the women1 abstinence from drinking1 and that they punished by flogging the negligent with regard to fasting or attending public worship4 ,the political decay of ,islm1 the increasing number of ,mohammedans under foreign rule1 appears to them1 therefore1 doubly dangerous1 as they have little faith in the proof of ,islam's spiritual goods against life in a freedom which to them means license4 ,they find that every political change1 in these terrible times1 is to the prejudice of ,islm1 one ,moslim people after another losing its independent existence2 and they regard it as equally dangerous that ,moslim princes are induced to accommodate their policy and government to new international ideas of individual freedom1 which threaten the very life of ,islm4 ,they see the antagonism to all foreign ideas1 formerly considered as a virtue by every true ,moslim1 daily losing ground1 and they are filled with consternation by observing in their own ranks the contamination of modernist ideas4 ,the brilliant development of the system of ,islm followed the establishment of its material power2 so the rapid decline of that political power which we are witnessing makes the question urgent1 whether ,islm has a spiritual essence able to survive the fall of such a material support4 ,it is certainly not the canonists who will detect the kernel2 verily we are ,god's and verily to ,him do we return1 they cry in helpless amazement1 and their consolation is in the old prayer3 ,and lay not on us1 ,o our ,lord1 that for which we have no strength1 but blot out our sins and forgive us and have mercy upon us4 ,thou art our ,master2 grant us then to conquer the ,unbelievers6 ,,iv ,,isl,m ,,and ,,modern ,,thought ,one of the most powerful factors of religious life in its higher forms is the need of man to find in this world of changing things an imperishable essence1 to separate the eternal from the temporal and then to attach himself to the former4 ,where the possibility of this operation is despaired of1 there may arise a pessimism1 which finds no path of liberation from the painful vicissitudes of life other than the annihilation of individuality4 ,a firm belief in a sphere of life freed from the category of time1 together with the conviction that the poetic images of that superior world current among mankind are images and nothing else1 is likely to give rise to definitions of the ,absolute by purely negative attributes and to mental efforts having for their object the absorption of individual existence in the indescribable infinite4 ,generally speaking1 a high development of intellectual life1 especially an intimate acquaintance with different religious systems1 is not favourable to the continuance of elaborate conceptions of things eternal2 it will rather increase the tendency to deprive the idea of the ,transcendent of all colour and definiteness4 ,the nave ideas concerning the other world in the clear-cut form outlined for them by previous generations are most likely to remain unchanged in a religious community where intellectual intercourse is chiefly limited to that between members of the community4 ,there the belief is fostered that things most appreciated and cherished in this fading world by mankind will have an enduring existence in a world to come1 and that the best of the changing phenomena of life are eternal and will continue free from that change1 which is the principal cause of human misery4 ,material death will be followed by awakening to a purer life1 the idealized continuation of life on earth1 and for this reason already during this life the faithful will find their delight in those things which they know to be everlasting4 ,the less faith is submitted to the control of intellect1 the more numerous the objects will be to which durable value is attributed4 ,this is true for different individuals as well as for one religious community as compared to another4 ,there are ,christians attached only to the spirit of the ,gospel1 ,mohammedans attached only to the spirit of the ,qorn4 ,others give a place in their world of imperishable things to a particular translation of the ,bible in its old-fashioned orthography or to a written ,qorn in preference to a printed one4 ,orthodox ,judaism and orthodox ,islm have marked with the stamp of eternity codes of law1 whose influence has worked as an impediment to the life of the adherents of those religions and to the free intercourse of other people with them as well4 ,so the ,roman ,catholic and many ,protestant ,churches have in their organizations and in their dogmatic systems eternalized institutions and ideas whose unchangeableness has come to retard spiritual progress4 ,among all conservative factors of human life religion must necessarily be the most conservative1 were it only because its aim is precisely to store up and keep under its guardianship the treasures destined for eternity to which we have alluded4 ,now1 every new period in the history of civilization obliges a religious community to undertake a general revision of the contents of its treasury4 ,it is unavoidable that the guardians on such occasions should be in a certain measure disappointed1 for they find that some of1 the goods under their care have given way to the wasting influence of time1 whilst others are in a state which gives rise to serious doubt as to their right of being classified with lasting treasures4 ,in reality the loss is only an apparent one2 far from impoverishing the community1 it enhances the solidity of its possessions4 ,what remains after the sifting process may be less imposing to the inexperienced mind2 gradually the consideration gains ground that what has been rejected was nothing but useless rubbish which had been wrongly valued4 ,sometimes it may happen that the general movement of spiritual progress goes almost too fast1 so that one revision of the stores of religion is immediately followed by another4 ,then dissension is likely to arise among the adherents of a religion2 some of them come to the conclusion that there must be an end of sifting and think it better to lock up the treasuries once for all and to stop the dangerous enquiries2 whereas others begin to entertain doubt concerning the value even of such goods as do not yet show any trace of decay4 ,the treasuries of ,islm are excessively full of rubbish that has become entirely useless2 and for nine or ten centuries they have not been submitted to a revision deserving that name4 ,if we wish to understand the whole or any important part of the system of ,islm1 we must always begin by transporting ourselves into the third or fourth century of the ,hijrah1 and we must constantly bear in mind that from the ,medina period downwards ,islm has always been considered by its adherents as bound to regulate all the details of their life by means of prescriptions emanating directly or indirectly from ,god1 and therefore incapable of being reformed4 ,at the time when these prescriptions acquired their definite form1 ,islm ruled an important portion of the world2 it considered the conquest of the rest as being only a question of time2 and1 therefore1 felt itself quite independent in the development of its law4 ,there was little reason indeed for the ,moslim canonists to take into serious account the interests of men not subject to ,mohammedan authority or to care for the opinion of devotees of other religions4 ,islm might act1 and did almost act1 as if it were the only power in the world2 it did so in the way of a grand seigneur1 showing a great amount of generosity towards its subjugated enemies4 ,the adherents of other religions were or would become subjects of the ,commander of the ,faithful2 those subjects were given a full claim on ,mohammedan protection and justice2 while the independent unbelievers were in general to be treated as enemies until in submission4 ,their spiritual life deserved not even so much attention as that of ,islm received from ,abb ,maracci or ,doctor ,prideaux4 ,the false doctrines of other peoples were of no interest whatever in themselves2 and1 since there was no fear of ,mohammedans being tainted by them1 polemics against the abrogated religions were more of a pastime than an indispensable part of theology4 ,the ,mohammedan community being in a sense ,allah's army1 with the conquest of the world as its object1 apostasy deserved the punishment of death in no lesser degree than desertion in the holy war1 nay more so2 for the latter might be the effect of cowardice1 whereas the former was an act of inexcusable treachery4 ,in the attitude of ,islm towards other religions there is hardly one feature that has not its counterpart in the practice of ,christian states during the ,middle ,ages4 ,the great difference is that the ,mohammedan community erected this medieval custom into a system unalterable like all prescriptions based on its infallible ,agreement 7,ijm'74 ,here lay the great difficulty when the nineteenth and twentieth centuries placed the ,moslim world face to face with a civilization that had sprung up outside its borders and without its collaboration1 that was from a spiritual point of view by far its superior and at the same time possessed of sufficient material power to thrust the ,mohammedans aside wherever they seemed to be an impediment in its way4 ,a long series of the most painful experiences1 meaning as many encroachments upon the political independence of ,mohammedan territories1 ended by teaching ,islm that it had definitely to change its lines of conduct4 ,the times were gone when relations with the non-,musulman world quite different from those foreseen by the mediaeval theory might be considered as exceptions to the rule1 as temporary concessions to transitory necessities4 ,in ever wider circles a thorough revision of the system came to be considered as a requirement of the time4 ,the fact that the number of ,mohammedans subject to foreign rule increased enormously1 and by far surpassed those of the citizens of independent ,mohammedan states1 made the problem almost as interesting to ,western nations as to the ,mohammedans themselves4 ,both parties are almost equally concerned in the question1 whether a way will be found to associate the ,moslim world to modern civilization1 without obliging it to empty its spiritual treasury altogether4 ,nobody can in earnest advocate the idea of leaving the solution of the problem to rude force4 ,the ,moslim of yore1 going through the world with the ,qorn in one hand1 the sword in the other1 giving unbelievers the choice between conversion or death1 is a creation of legendary fancy4 ,we can but hope that modern civilization will not be so fanatical against ,moslims1 as the latter were unjustly said to have been during the period of their power4 ,if the modern world were only to offer the ,mohammedans the choice between giving up at once the traditions of their ancestors or being treated as barbarians1 there would be sure to ensue a struggle as bloody as has ever been witnessed in the world4 ,it is worth while indeed to examine the system of ,islm from this special point of view1 and to try to find the terms on which a durable modus vivendi might be established between ,islm and modern thought4 ,the purely dogmatic part is not of great importance4 ,some of us may admire the tenets of the ,mohammedan doctrine1 others may as heartily despise them2 to the participation of ,mohammedans in the civilized life of our days they are as innoxious as any other mediaeval dogmatic system that counts its millions of adherents among ourselves4 ,the details of ,mohammedan dogmatics have long ceased to interest other circles than those of professional theologians2 the chief points arouse no discussion and the deviations in popular superstition as well as in philosophical thought which in practice meet with toleration are almost unlimited4 ,the ,mohammedan ,hell claims the souls of all heterodox people1 it is true2 but this does not prevent benevolent intercourse in this world1 and more enlightened ,moslims are inclined to enlarge their definition of the word faithful so as to include their non-,mohammedan friends4 ,the faith in a ,mahd1 who will come to regenerate the world1 is apt to give rise to revolutionary movements led by skilful demagogues pretending to act as the ,guided ,one1 or1 at least1 to prepare the way for his coming4 ,most of the ,european powers having ,mohammedan subjects have had their disagreeable experiences in this respect4 ,but ,moslim chiefs of states have their obvious good reasons for not liking such movements either2 and even the majority of ordinary ,moslims look upon candidates for ,mahdi-ship with suspicion4 ,a contented prosperous population offers such candidates little chance of success4 ,the ritual laws of ,islm are a heavy burden to those who strictly observe them2 a man who has to perform worship five times a day in a state of ritual purity and during a whole month in a year has to abstain from food and drink and other enjoyments from daybreak until sunset1 is at a disadvantage when he has to enter into competition with non-,musulmans for getting work of any kind4 ,but since most of the ,moslims have become subjects of foreign powers and religious police has been practically abolished in ,mohammedan states1 there is no external compulsion4 ,the ever smaller minority of strict practisers make use of a right which nobody can contest4 ,drinking wine or other intoxicating drinks1 taking interest on money1 gambling--including even insurance contracts according to the stricter interpretation--are things which a ,moslim may abstain from without hindering non-,mohammedans2 or which in our days he may do1 notwithstanding the prohibition of divine law1 even without losing his good name4 ,those who want to accentuate the antithesis between ,islm and modern civilization point rightly to the personal law2 here is indeed a great stumbling-block4 ,the allowance of polygamy up to a maximum of four wives is represented by ,mohammedan authors as a progress if compared with the irregularity of pagan ,arabia and even with the acknowledgment of unlimited polygamy during certain periods of ,biblical history4 ,the following subtle argument is to be found in some schoolbooks on ,mohammedan law3 ,the law of ,moses was exceedingly benevolent to males by permitting them to have an unlimited number of wives2 then came the law of ,jesus1 extreme on the other side by prescribing monogamy2 at last ,mohammed restored the equilibrium by conceding one wife to each of the four humours which make up the male's constitution4 ,this theory1 which leaves the question what the woman is to do with three of her four humours undecided1 will hardly find fervent advocates among the present canonists4 ,at the same time1 very few of them would venture to pronounce their preference for monogamy in a general way1 polygamy forming a part of the law that is to prevail1 according to the infallible ,agreement of the ,community1 until the ,day of ,resurrection4 ,on the other side polygamy1 although allowed1 is far from being recommended by the majority of theologians4 ,many of them even dissuade men capable of mastering their passion from marriage in general1 and censure a man who takes two wives if he can live honestly with one4 ,in some ,mohammedan countries social circumstances enforce practical monogamy4 ,the whole question lies in the education of women2 when this has been raised to a higher level1 polygamy will necessarily come to an end4 ,it is therefore most satisfactory that among male ,mohammedans the persuasion of the necessity of a solid education for girls is daily gaining ground4 ,this year 7#aiac71 a young ,egyptian took his doctor's degree at the ,paris ,university by sustaining a dissertation on the position of women in the ,moslim world1 in which he told his co-religionists the full truth concerning this rather delicate subject#a4 ,if social evolution takes the right course1 the practice of polygamy will be abolished2 and the maintenance of its lawfulness in canonical works will mainly be a survival of a bygone phase of development4 ,footnote #a3 ,mansour ,fahmy1 ,la condition de la femme dans la tradition et l'volution de l',islamisme1 ,paris1 ,flix ,alcan1 #aiac4 ,the sometimes imprudent form in which the young reformer enounced his ideas caused him to be very badly treated by his compatriots at his return from ,europe4 ,the facility with which a man can divorce his wife at his pleasure1 contrasted with her rights against him1 is a still more serious impediment to the development of family life than the institution of polygamy2 more serious1 also1 than veiling and seclusion of women4 ,where the general opinion is favourable to the improvement of the position of women in society1 there is always found a way to secure it to them without conflicting with the divine law2 but a radical reform will remain most difficult so long as that law which allows the man to repudiate his wife without any reason1 whereas it delivers the woman almost unarmed into the power of her husband1 is considered to be one of the permanent treasures of ,islm4 ,it is a pity indeed that thus far women vigorously striving for liberation from those mediaeval institutions are rare exceptions in ,mohammedan countries4 ,were ,mohammedan women capable of the violent tactics of suffragettes1 they would rather try to blow up the houses of feminists than those of the patrons of the old rgime4 ,the ordinary ,mohammedan woman looks upon the endeavour of her husband to induce her to partake freely in public life as a want of consideration2 it makes on her about the same impression as that which a respectable woman in our society would receive from her husband encouraging her to visit places generally frequented by people of bad reputation4 ,it is the girls' school that will awaken those sleeping ones and so1 slowly and gradually1 prepare a better future1 when the ,moslim woman will be the worthy companion of her husband and the intelligent educator of her children4 ,this will be due1 then1 neither to the ,prophet's ,sunnah nor to the infallible ,agreement of the ,community of the first centuries of ,islm1 but to the irresistible power of the evolution of human society1 which is merciless to laws even of divine origin and transfers them1 when their time is come1 from the treasury of everlasting goods to a museum of antiquities4 ,slavery1 and in its consequence free intercourse of a man with his own female slaves without any limitation as to their number1 has also been incorporated into the sacred law1 and therefore has been placed on the wrong side of the border that is to divide eternal things from temporal ones4 ,this should not be called a mediaeval institution2 the most civilized nations not having given it up before the middle of the nineteenth century4 ,the law of ,islm regulated the position of slaves with much equity1 and there is a great body of testimony from people who have spent a part of their lives among ,mohammedan nations which does justice to the benevolent treatment which bondmen generally receive from their masters there4 ,besides that1 we are bound to state that in many ,western countries or countries under ,western domination whole groups of the population live under circumstances with which those of ,mohammedan slavery may be compared to advantage4 ,the only legal cause of slavery in ,islm is prisonership of war or birth from slave parents4 ,the captivity of enemies of ,islm has not at all necessarily the effect of enslaving them2 for the competent authorities may dispose of them in any other way1 also in the way prescribed by modern international law or custom4 ,in proportion to the realization of the political ideal of ,islm the number of its enemies must diminish and the possibilities of enslaving men must consequently decrease4 ,setting slaves free is one of the most meritorious pious works1 and1 at the same time1 the regular atonement for certain transgressions of the sacred law4 ,so1 according to ,mohammedan principles1 slavery is an institution destined to disappear4 ,when1 in the last century1 ,mohammedan princes signed international treaties for the suppression of slavery1 from their point of view this was a premature anticipation of a future political and social development--a step which they felt obliged to take out of consideration for the great powers4 ,in ,arabia1 every effort of the ,turkish ,government to put such international agreements into execution has thus far given rise to popular sedition against the ,ottoman authority4 ,therefore1 the promulgation of decrees of abolition was stopped2 and slavery continued to exist4 ,the import of slaves from ,africa has1 in fact1 considerably diminished2 but ,i am not quite sure of the proportional increase of the liberty which the natives of that continent enjoy at home4 ,slavery as well as polygamy is in a certain sense to ,mohammedans a sacred institution1 being incorporated in their ,holy ,law2 but the practice of neither of the two institutions is indispensable to the integrity of ,islm4 ,all those antiquated institutions1 if considered from the point of view of modern international intercourse1 are only a trifle in comparison with the legal prescriptions of ,islm concerning the attitude of the ,mohammedan community against the parts of the world not yet subject to its authority1 the ,abode of ,war as they are technically called4 ,it is a principal duty of the ,khalif1 or of the chiefs considered as his substitutes in different countries1 to avail themselves of every opportunity to extend by force the dominion of ,allah and ,his ,messenger4 ,with unsubdued unbelievers peace is not allowed2 a truce for a period not exceeding ten years may be concluded if the interest of ,islm requires it4 ,the chapters of the ,mohammedan law on holy war and on the conditions on which the submission of the adherents of tolerated religions is to be accepted seem to be a foolish pretension if we consider them by the light of the actual division of political power in the world4 ,but here1 too1 to understand is better than to ridicule4 ,in the centuries in which the system of ,islm acquired its maturity1 such an aspiration after universal dominion was not at all ridiculous2 and many ,christian states of the time were far from reaching the ,mohammedan standard of tolerance against heterodox creeds4 ,the delicate point is this1 that the petrification or at least the process of stiffening that has attacked the whole spiritual life of ,islm since about #ajjj ,a4,d4 makes its accommodation to the requirements of modern intercourse a most difficult problem4 ,but it is not only the ,mohammedan community that needed misfortune and humiliation before it was able to appreciate liberty of conscience2 or that took a long time to digest those painful lessons of history4 ,there are still ,christian ,churches which accept religious liberty only in circumstances that make supreme authority unattainable to them2 and which1 elsewhere1 would not disdain the use of material means to subdue spirits to what they consider the absolute truth4 ,to judge such things with equity1 we must remember that every man possessed of a firm conviction of any kind is more or less a missionary2 and the belief in the possibility of winning souls by violence has many adherents everywhere4 ,one of my friends among the young-,turkish state officials1 who wished to persuade me of the perfect religious tolerance of ,turkey of today1 concluded his argument by the following reflection3 ,formerly men used to behead each other for difference of opinion about the ,hereafter4 ,nowadays1 praise be to ,allah1 we are permitted to believe what we like2 but people continue to kill each other for political or social dissension4 ,that is most pitiful indeed2 for the weapons in use being more terrible and more costly than before1 mankind lacks the peace necessary to enjoy the liberty of conscience it has acquired4 ,the truthful irony of these words need not prevent us from considering the independence of spiritual life and the liberation of its development from material compulsion as one of the greatest blessings of our civilization4 ,we feel urged by missionary zeal of the better kind to make the ,mohammedan world partake in its enjoyment4 ,in the ,turkish ,empire1 in ,egypt1 in many ,mohammedan countries under ,western control1 the progressive elements of ,moslim society spontaneously meet us half-way4 ,but behind them are the millions who firmly adhere to the old superstition and are supported by the canonists1 those faithful guardians of what the infallible ,community declared almost one thousand years ago to be the doctrine and rule of life for all centuries to come4 ,will it ever prove possible to move in one direction a body composed of such different elements1 or will this body be torn in pieces when the movement has become irresistible8 ,we have more than once pointed to the catholic character of orthodox ,islm4 ,in fact1 the diversity of spiritual tendencies is not less in the ,moslim world than within the sphere of ,christian influence2 but in ,islm1 apart from the political schisms of the first centuries1 that diversity has not given rise to anything like the division of ,christianity into sects4 ,there is a prophetic saying1 related by ,tradition1 which later generations have generally misunderstood to mean that the ,mohammedan community would be split into seventy-three different sects4 ,moslim heresiologists have been induced by this prediction to fill up their lists of seventy-three numbers with all sorts of names1 many of which represent nothing but individual opinions of more or less famous scholars on subordinate points of doctrine or law4 ,almost ninety-five per cent4 of all ,mohammedans are indeed bound together by a spiritual unity that may be compared with that of the ,roman ,catholic ,church1 within whose walls there is also room for religious and intellectual life of very different origin and tendency4 ,in the sense of broadness1 ,islm has this advantage1 that there is no generally recognized palpable authority able to stop now and then the progress of modernism or similar deviations from the trodden path with an imperative ,halt6 ,there is no lack indeed of mutual accusation of heresy2 but this remains without serious consequences because of the absence of a high ecclesiastical council competent to decide once for all4 ,the political authorities1 who might be induced by fanatical theologians to settle disputes by violent inquisitorial means1 have been prevented for a long time from such interference by more pressing affairs4 ,a knowledge alone of the orthodox system of ,islm1 however complete1 would give us an even more inadequate idea of the actual world of catholic ,islm than the notion we should acquire of the spiritual currents moving the ,roman ,catholic world by merely studying the dogma and the canonical law of the ,church of ,rome4 ,nevertheless1 the unity of ,islamic thought is by no means a word void of sense4 ,the ideas of ,mohammedan philosophers1 borrowed for a great part from ,neoplatonism1 the pantheism and the emanation theory of ,mohammedan mystics are certainly still further distant from the simplicity of ,qornic religion than the orthodox dogmatics2 but all those conceptions alike show indubitable marks of having grown up on ,mohammedan soil4 ,in the works even of those mystics who efface the limits between things human and divine1 who put ,judaism1 ,christianity1 and ,paganism on the same line with the revelation of ,mohammed1 and who are therefore duly anathematized by the whole orthodox world1 almost every page testifies to the relation of the ideas enounced with ,mohammedan civilization4 ,most of the treatises on science1 arts1 or law written by ,egyptian students for their doctor's degree at ,european universities make no exception to this rule2 the manner in which these authors conceive the problems and strive for their solution is1 in a certain sense1 in the broadest sense of course1 ,mohammedan4 ,thus1 if we speak of ,mohammedan thought1 civilization1 spirit1 we have to bear in mind the great importance of the system which1 almost unchanged1 has been delivered for about one thousand years by one generation of doctors of ,islm to the other1 although it has become ever more unfit to meet the needs of the ,community1 on whose infallible ,agreement it rests4 ,but1 at the same time1 we ought to consider that beside the agreement of canonists1 of dogmatists1 and of mystics1 there are a dozen more agreements1 social1 political1 popular1 philosophical1 and so on1 and that however great may be the influence of the doctors1 who pretend to monopolize infallibility for the opinions on which they agree1 the real ,agreement of ,islm is the least common measure of all the agreements of the groups which make up the ,community4 ,it would require a large volume to review the principal currents of thought pervading the ,moslim world in our day2 but a general notion may be acquired by a rapid glance at two centres1 geographically not far distant from each other1 but situated at the opposite poles of spiritual life3 ,mecca and ,cairo4 ,in ,mecca yearly two or three hundred thousand ,moslims from all parts of the world come together to celebrate the hajj1 that curious set of ceremonies of pagan ,arabian origin which ,mohammed has incorporated into his religion1 a durable survival that in ,islm makes an impression as singular as that of jumping processions in ,christianity4 ,mohammed never could have foreseen that the consequence of his concession to deeply rooted ,arabic custom would be that in future centuries ,chinese1 ,malays1 ,indians1 ,tatars1 ,turks1 ,egyptians1 ,berbers1 and negroes would meet on this barren desert soil and carry home profound impressions of the international significance of ,islm4 ,still more important is the fact that from all those countries young people settle here for years to devote themselves to the study of the sacred science4 ,from the second to the tenth month of the ,mohammedan lunar year1 the ,haram1 i4e41 the mosque1 which is an open place with the ,ka'bah in its midst and surrounded by large roofed galleries1 has free room enough between the hours of public service to allow of a dozen or more circles of students sitting down around their professors to listen to as many lectures on different subjects1 generally delivered in a very loud voice4 ,arabic grammar and style1 prosody1 logic1 and other preparatory branches1 the sacred trivium2 canonic law1 dogmatics1 and mysticism1 and1 for the more advanced1 exegesis of ,qorn and ,tradition and some other branches of supererogation1 are taught here in the mediaeval way from mediaeval text-books or from more modern compilations reproducing their contents and completing them more or less by treating modern questions according to the same methods4 ,it is now almost thirty years since ,i lived the life of a ,meccan student during one university year1 after having become familiar with the matter taught by the professors of the temple of ,mecca1 the ,haram1 by privately studying it1 so that ,i could freely use all my time in observing the mentality of people learning those things not for curiosity1 but in order to acquire the only true direction for their life in this world and the salvation of their souls in the world to come4 ,for a modern man there could hardly be a better opportunity imagined for getting a true vision of the ,middle ,ages than is offered to the ,orientalist by a few months' stay in the ,holy ,city of ,islm4 ,in countries like ,china1 ,tibet1 or ,india there are spheres of spiritual life which present to us still more interesting material for comparative study of religions than that of ,mecca1 because they are so much more distant from our own2 but1 just on that account1 the ,western student would not be able to adapt his mind to their mental atmospheres as he may do in ,mecca4 ,no one would think for one moment of considering ,confucianism1 ,hinduism1 or ,buddhism as specially akin to ,christianity1 whereas ,islm has been treated by some historians of the ,christian ,church as belonging to the heretical offspring of the ,christian religion4 ,in fact1 if we are able to abstract ourselves for a moment from all dogmatic prejudice and to become a ,meccan with the ,meccans1 one of the neighbours of ,allah1 as they call themselves1 we feel in their temple1 the ,haram1 as if we were conversing with our ancestors of five or six centuries ago4 ,here scholasticism with a rabbinical tint forms the great attraction to the minds of thousands of intellectually highly gifted men of all ages4 ,the most important lectures are delivered during the forenoon and in the evening4 ,a walk1 at one of those hours1 through the square and under the colonnades of the mosque1 with ears opened to all sides1 will enable you to get a general idea of the objects of mental exercise of this international assembly4 ,here you may find a sheikh of pure ,arab descent explaining to his audience1 composed of white ,syrians or ,circassians1 of brown and yellow ,abyssinians and ,egyptians1 of negroes1 ,chinese1 and ,malays1 the probable and improbable legal consequences of marriage contracts1 not excepting those between men and genii2 there a negro scholar is explaining the ontological evidence of the existence of a ,creator and the logical necessity of ,his having twenty qualities1 inseparable from1 but not identical with1 ,his essence2 in the midst of another circle a learned muft of indeterminably mixed extraction demonstrates to his pupils from the standard work of al-,ghazl the absolute vanity of law and doctrine to those whose hearts are not purified from every attachment to the world4 ,most of the branches of ,mohammedan learning are represented within the walls of this temple by more or less famous scholars2 and still there are a great number of private lectures delivered at home by professors who do not like to be disturbed by the unavoidable noise in the mosque1 which during the whole day serves as a meeting place for friends or business men1 as an exercise hall for ,qorn reciters1 and even as a passage for people going from one part of the town to the other4 ,in order to complete your mediaeval dream with a scene from daily life1 you have only to leave the mosque by the ,bb ,dereybah1 one of its twenty-two gates1 where you may see human merchandise exhibited for sale by the slave-brokers1 and then to have a glance1 outside the wall1 at a camel caravan1 bringing firewood and vegetables into the town1 led by ,beduins whose outward appearance has as little changed as their minds since the day when ,mohammed began here to preach the ,word of ,allah4 ,to the greater part of the world represented by this international exhibition of ,islm1 as a modern ,musulman writer calls it1 our modern world1 with all its problems1 its emotions1 its learning and science1 hardly exists4 ,on the other hand1 the average modern man does not understand much more of the mental life of the two hundred millions to whom the barren ,mecca has become the great centre4 ,in former days1 other centres were much more important1 although ,mecca has always been the goal of pilgrimage and the cherished abode of many learned men4 ,many capitals of ,islm offered the students an easier life and better accommodations for their studies2 while in ,mecca four months of the year are devoted to the foreign guests of ,allah1 by attending to whose various needs all ,meccans gain their livelihood4 ,for centuries ,cairo has stood unrivalled as a seat of ,mohammedan learning of every kind2 and even now the ,uaram of ,mecca is not to be compared to the ,azhar-mosque as regards the number and the fame of its professors and the variety of branches cultivated4 ,in the last half-century1 however1 the ancient repute of the ,egyptian metropolis has suffered a good deal from the enormous increase of ,european influence in the land of the ,pharaohs2 the effects of which have made themselves felt even in the ,azhar4 ,modern programs and methods of instruction have been adopted2 and1 what is still worse1 modernism itself1 favoured by the late ,muft ,muhammed ,abduh1 has made its entrance into the sacred lecture-halls1 which until a few years ago seemed inaccessible to the slightest deviation from the decrees of the ,infallible ,agreement of the ,community4 ,strenuous efforts have been made by eminent scholars to liberate ,islm from the chains of the authority of the past ages on the basis of independent interpretation of the ,qorn2 not in the way of the ,wahhb reformers1 who tried a century before to restore the institutions of ,mohammed's time in their original purity1 but on the contrary with the object of adapting ,islm by all means in their power to the requirements of modern life4 ,official protection of the bold innovators prevented their conservative opponents from casting them out of the ,azhar1 but the assent to their doctrines was more enthusiastic outside its walls than inside4 ,the ever more numerous adherents of modern thought in ,egypt do not generally proceed from the ranks of the ,azhar students1 nor do they generally care very much in their later life for reforming the methods prevailing there1 although they may be inclined to applaud the efforts of the modernists4 ,to the intellectuals of the higher classes the ,azhar has ceased to offer great attraction2 if it were not for the important funds 7wagf7 for the benefit of professors and students1 the numbers of both classes would have diminished much more than is already the case1 and the faithful cultivators of mediaeval ,mohammedan science would prefer to live in ,mecca1 free from ,western influence and control4 ,even as it is1 the predilection of foreign students of law and theology is turning more and more towards ,mecca4 ,as one of the numerous interesting specimens of the mental development effected in ,egypt in the last years1 ,i may mention a book that appeared in ,cairo two years ago#a1 containing a description of the present ,khedive's pilgrimage to ,mecca and ,medina1 performed two years before4 ,the author evidently possesses a good deal of the scholastic learning to be gathered in the ,azhar and no ,european erudition in the stricter sense of the word4 ,in an introductory chapter he gives a summary of the geography and history of the ,arabian peninsula1 describes the ,hijz in a more detailed manner1 and in his very elaborate account of the journey1 on which he accompanied his princely master1 the topography of the holy cities1 the peculiarities of their inhabitants and of the foreign visitors1 the political institutions1 and the social conditions are treated almost as fully and accurately as we could desire from the hand of the most accomplished ,european scholar4 ,the work is illustrated by good maps and plans and by a great number of excellent photographs expressly taken for this purpose by the ,khedive's order4 ,the author intersperses his account with many witty remarks as well as serious reflections on religious and political topics1 thus making it very readable to those of us who are familiar with the ,arabic language4 ,he adorns his description of the holy places and of the pilgrimage-rites with the unctuous phrases used in handbooks for the hajji1 and he does not disturb the mind of the pious reader by any historical criticism of the traditions connected with the ,house of ,allah1 the ,black ,stone1 and the other sanctuaries1 but he loses no opportunity to show his dislike of all superstition2 sometimes1 as if to prevent ,western readers from indulging in mockery1 he compares ,meccan rites or customs with superstitious practices current amongst ,jews or ,christians of today4 ,footnote #a3 ,ar-rihlah al-,hijaziyyah1 by ,muhammed ,labib al-,batanunf1 #b;d edition1 ,cairo1 #acbi ,hijrah4 ,this book1 at whose contents many a ,meccan scholar of the old style will shake his head and exclaim3 ,we seek refuge near ,allah from ,satan1 the cursed6 has been adopted by the ,egyptian ,department of ,public ,instruction as a reading-book for the schools4 ,what surprised me more than anything else was the author's quoting as his predecessors in the description of ,mecca and ,medina1 ,burckhardt1 ,burton1 and myself1 and his sending me1 although personally unacquainted with him1 a presentation copy with a flattering dedication4 ,this author and his book would have been impossible in the ,moslim world not more than thirty years ago4 ,in ,egypt such a man is nowadays already considered as one of those more conservative moderns1 who prefer the rationalistic explanation of the ,azhar lore to putting it aside altogether4 ,within the ,azhar1 his book is sure to meet with hearty approval from the followers of ,muhammed ,abduh1 but not less hearty disapproval from the opponents of modernism who make up the majority of the professors as well as of the students4 ,in these very last years a new progress of modern thought has manifested itself in ,cairo in the foundation1 under the auspices of ,fu'd ,pasha1 an uncle of the present ,khedive1 of the ,egyptian ,university4 ,cairo has had for a long time its schools of medicine and law1 which could be turned easily into university faculties2 therefore1 the founders of the university thought it urgent to establish a faculty of arts1 and1 if this proved a success1 to add a faculty of science4 ,in the meantime1 gifted young men were granted subsidies to learn at ,european universities what they needed to know to be the professors of a coming generation1 and1 for the present1 ,christian as well as ,mohammedan natives of ,egypt and ,european scholars living in the country were appointed as lecturers2 professors being borrowed from the universities of ,europe to deliver lectures in ,arabic on different subjects chosen more or less at random before an audience little prepared to digest the lessons offered to them4 ,the rather hasty start and the lack of a well-defined scheme have made the ,egyptian ,university a subject of severe criticism4 ,nevertheless1 its foundation is an unmistakable expression of the desire of intellectual ,egypt to translate modern thought into its own language1 to adapt modern higher instruction to its own needs4 ,this same aim is pursued in a perhaps more efficacious manner by the hundreds of ,egyptian students of law1 science1 and medicine at ,french1 ,english1 and some other ,european universities4 ,the ,turks could not freely follow such examples before the revolution of #aijh2 but they have shown since that time that their abstention was not voluntary4 ,england1 ,france1 ,holland1 and other countries governing ,mohammedan populations are all endeavouring to find the right way to incorporate their ,mohammedan subjects into their own civilization4 ,fully recognizing that it was the material covetousness of past generations that submitted those nations to their rule1 the so-called colonial powers consider it their duty now to secure for them in international intercourse the place which their natural talent enables them to occupy4 ,the question whether it is better simply to leave the ,moslims to ,islm as it was for centuries is no longer an object of serious discussion1 the reforming process being at work everywhere--in some parts with surprising rapidity4 ,we can only try to prognosticate the solution which the near future reserves for the problem1 how the ,moslim world is to be associated with modern thought4 ,in this problem the whole civilized world and the whole world of ,islm are concerned4 ,the ethnic difference between ,indians1 ,north-,africans1 ,malays1 etc41 may necessitate a difference of method in detail2 the ,islm problem lies at the basis of the question for all of them4 ,on the other hand1 the future development of ,islm does not only interest countries with ,mohammedan dominions1 it claims as well the attention of all the nations partaking in the international exchange of material and spiritual goods4 ,this would be more generally recognized if some knowledge of ,islm were more widely spread amongst ourselves2 if it were better realized that ,islm is next akin to ,christianity4 ,it is the ,christian mission that shows the deepest consciousness of this state of things1 and the greatest activity in promoting an association of ,mohammedan thought with that of ,western nations4 ,the solid mass of experience due to the efforts of numerous missionaries is not of an encouraging nature4 ,there is no reasonable hope of the conversion of important numbers of ,mohammedans to any ,christian denomination4 ,broad-minded missionary societies have therefore given up the old fruitless proselytizing methods and have turned to social improvement in the way of education1 medical treatment1 and the like4 ,it cannot be denied1 that what they want above all to bring to ,mohammedans is just what these most energetically decline to accept4 ,on the other hand the advocates of a purely civilizing mission are bound to acknowledge that1 but for rare exceptions1 the desire of incorporating ,mohammedan nations into our world of thought does not rouse the devoted1 self-denying enthusiasm inspired by the vocation of propagating a religious belief4 ,the ardour displayed by some missionaries in establishing in the ,dr al-,islm ,christian centres from which they distribute to the ,mohammedans those elements of our civilization which are acceptable to them deserves cordial praise2 the more so because they themselves entertain but little hope of attaining their ultimate aim of conversion4 ,mohammedans who take any interest in ,christianity are taught by their own teachers that the revelation of ,jesus1 after having suffered serious corruption by the ,christians themselves1 has been purified and restored to its original simplicity by ,mohammed1 and are therefore inaccessible to missionary arguments2 nay1 amongst uncivilized pagans the lay mission of ,islm is the most formidable competitor of clerical propagation of the ,christian faith4 ,people who take no active part in missionary work are not competent to dissuade ,christian missionaries from continuing their seemingly hopeless labour among ,mohammedans1 nor to prescribe to them the methods they are to adopt2 their full autonomy is to be respected4 ,but all agree that ,mohammedans1 disinclined as they are to reject their own traditions of thirteen centuries and to adopt a new religious faith1 become ever better disposed to associate their intellectual1 social1 and political life with that of the modern world4 ,here lies the starting point for two divisions of mankind which for centuries have lived their own lives separately in mutual misunderstanding1 from which to pursue their way arm in arm to the greater advantage of both4 ,we must leave it to the ,mohammedans themselves to reconcile the new ideas which they want with the old ones with which they cannot dispense2 but we can help them in adapting their educational system to modern requirements and give them a good example by rejecting the detestable identification of power and right in politics which lies at the basis of their own canonical law on holy war as well as at the basis of the political practice of modern ,western states4 ,this is a work in which we all may collaborate1 whatever our own religious conviction may be4 ,the principal condition for a fruitful friendly intercourse of this kind is that we make the ,moslim world an object of continual serious investigation in our intellectual centres4 ,having spent a good deal of my life in seeking for the right method of associating with modern thought the thirty-five millions of ,mohammedans whom history has placed under the guardianship of my own country1 ,i could not help drawing some practical conclusions from the lessons of history which ,i have tried to reduce to their most abridged form4 ,there is no lack of pessimists1 whose wisdom has found its poetic form in the words of ,kipling3 ,east is ,east and ,west is ,west1 ,and never the twain shall meet4 ,to me1 with regard to the ,moslim world1 these words seem almost a blasphemy4 ,the experience acquired by adapting myself to the peculiarities of ,mohammedans1 and by daily conversation with them for about twenty years1 has impressed me with the firm conviction that between ,islm and the modern world an understanding is to be attained1 and that no period has offered a better chance of furthering it than the time in which we are living4 ,to ,kipling's poetical despair ,i think we have a right to prefer the words of a broad-minded modern ,hindu writer3 ,the pity is that men1 led astray by adventitious differences1 miss the essential resemblances#a4 ,footnote #a3 ,s4,m4 ,mitra1 ,anglo-,indian ,studies1 ,london1 ,longmans1 ,green ,co41 #aiac1 ,p4 #bcb4 ,it would be a great satisfaction to me if my lectures might cause some of my hearers to consider the problem of ,islm as one of the most important of our time1 and its solution worthy of their interest and of a claim on their exertion4 ,,index ,a ,abbas 7,mohammed's uncle7 ,abbasids government ,khalifate ,abd-ul-,hamid1 ,sultan ,abduh1 ,muft ,muhammed ,abraham ,abu ,bakr ,abyssinians ,africa ,africans ,agreement of the ,community1 see ',ijm' ,ahl al-hadth 7men of tradition7 ',ajam ,al-,ash'ar ,alexander the ,great ,al1 the fourth ,khalf ,ali1 ,mohammed1 the first ,khedive ,alids 'mils 7agents7 ,anti-,christ ,arabia ,arabian1 view in regard to the line of descent through a woman tribes prophet heathens migration race armies ,shi'ah conquerors origin of hajj peninsula ,arabic1 traditions speech arts custom grammar language ,arabs the nations conquered by the of ,christian origin ,arnold1 ,professor ,t4,w4 ,asia ,assassins ,augustin ,azhar-mosque ,b ,bb ,dereybah ,bbs ,bagdad ,barbarians ,basra ,beduins ,beh's ,bellarminius ,berber ,bible ,see ,scriptures ,bibliander ,black ,stone ,boulainvilliers1 ,count de ,breitinger ,buddhism ,burckhardt ,burton ,byzantine ,empire ,byzantines ,c ,caetani1 ,prince ,cairo ,casanova1 ,professor of ,paris ,caussin de ,perceval ,china ,chinese ,christian religion influence rituals traditions model of obligatory fasting princes states natives of ,egypt missions demonstrations centres in ,dar al-,islam faith and missionaries ,christian ,church ,roman ,catholic ,protestant ,christianity ,christians religious rites of ,circassians ,coderc ,commander of the ,faithful ,committee of ,union and ,progress ,confucianism ,constantinople ,crypto-,mohammedanism ,d ,dar al-,islm ,day of judgment ,doomsday ,dutch1 ,indies ,e ,egypt ,egyptian1 nation students ,department of ,public ,instruction university ,egyptians ,england ,english university ,f ,faqihs 7canonists7 ,faithful ,ftima ,ftimite1 dynasty ,khalifate ,fatwa ,french university ,fu'd ,pasha ,g ,ghazal ,gideon ,goldziher ,gospels ,see ,scriptures ,h ,hadith 7legislative tradition7 ,hadramaut ,hadramites ,hagar ,hajj 7pilgrimage7 ,hanafites ,hanbalites ,haram 7mosque7 ,hell ,hijz ,hijrah1 ,hinduism ,holy ,cities ,see ,mecca and ,medina ,holy ,family 7,ali and ,fatimah7 ,hottinger ,hd1 the prophet ,i ',ijm' 7,agreement of the ,community7 ,imms of ,yemen ,india ,indians1 ,indonesia ,isaac ,ishmael ,ishma'ilites ,islm ,j ,jacob ,jhiliyyah 7,arabian paganism7 ,jesus ,christ as ,mehdi ,jewish1 religion influence rituals model of fasting ,jews ,jihd ,judaism ,k ,ka'bah ,khalf1 the first ,khalifate ,khalfs1 the first four ,khrijites1 ,khedive ,kipling ,kufa ,l ,lammens1 ,father ,m ,mahd ,malays ,mlikites ,maracci1 ,abb ,mary 7mother of ,jesus7 ,maulid ,mecca ,meccans ,medina ,medinese ,messiah ,middle ,ages ,misr1 see ,cairo ,mohammedan1 religion masters state orthodox dogma authorities law books countries political life church princes world governors subjects masses statesmen protection community territories dogmatics ,hell authors law women nations slavery principles standard of tolerance philosophers mystics thought lunar year learning science populations dominions ,mohammedans natives of ,egypt ,mongols ,morocco ,moses ,moslim princes people authority church canonists world chiefs of states woman society heresiologists ,muft ,muir ,mujtahids ,mutakallim ,mu'tazilites ,n ,neo-,platonic origin of mysticism ,neo-,platonism ,nldeke ,non-,alids ,non-,arabian converts ,non-,arabic ,moslims ,o ,omar ,omayyads ,othmn authority ,ottoman princes ,ottomans ,p ,paganism ,papacy ,paradise ,parss ,persia ,persian ,empire ,porte1 the ,prideaux1 ,dr4 ,protestantism ,q ,qdhs ,qrs 7,qoran scholars7 ,qarmatians ,qoraish ,qorn scolars reciters ,qornic1 revelations religion ,r ,reland1 ,h4 ,resurrection ,roman ,catholics ,s ,salt ,sale ,slih1 the prophet ,sasanids ,saul ,sayyids ,scriptures people of the ,shfi'ites ,shhs of ,persia ,shar'ah 7,divine ,law7 ,shaukah 7actual influence7 ,sheikhites ,sheikh-ul-,islm ,sherfs ,sherfs of ,mecca ,sherfs1 rulers of ,morocco ,sh'ah 7the ,party of the ,house7 ,sh'ites ,srah 7biography7 ,spain ,sprenger ,stambul ,sultan ,sunnah ,sunnites ,syria ,syrians ,t ,taif ,tatars ,testament1 see ,scriptures ,tibet ,tradition1 see ,hadith ,trinity ,turkey ,sultan of ,turkish1 ,empire circles conqueror ,sultan arms government state officials ,turks ,u ',ulam' 7learned men7 ,v ,voltaire ,w ,wahhb reformers ,weil ,wellhausen ,wezrs ,y ,yemen ,imms of ,z ,zaidites ,zakt 7taxes7 ,zanzibar