UNKNOWN

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10580, 8 October 1910, Page 3 (Supplement)

UNKNOWN

frank G. Carpenter.)

■ ~(j by the mighty ruins of Jehan, the MohamCnerors ot India's past, I feo Jlohammedans of India's •"fJo"all know how the Moguls country six or seven hun- ' „ro.~ They ravaged it from other, enslaved the j built here (Delhi) some of Leous palaces and mightiest l the world has ever seen. j; C d a great Government, Rations they ruled supreme.; (ondcrs of their remains, I farther on. This letter is - descendants. The Moliam[ndia now number one-fifth" j e population. We are acJ look upon India as a-land jjjßicdan for every three. j in muscle and in inde- ; spirit he is the stronger.' , big element in tlie unrest 'jj,,! if a civil war should ocBritish leave India, he will SJianil from one end to the

erer thought of the extent e t are scattered all over d and in some of the pfoI'lts in the majority! There dfijO all told. This is more s rire population of the Ger4 fr? It is almost twice- as £ ? \lohammedans of Turkey, tfistine. and Syria, and about ■,l all the Mohammedans of

".1,-ee years ago there was a , [cnfcrenee at Cairo,' which ('piiiumhcr of followers of the \ put it at 232,000,000., A authority makes the jus 259,000,000; and I have At-, which claim that they ;]old as much as 300,000,000. : s t 210.000,000 to be on the 'ie Indian Mohammedans are \& tho whole. They stand '.lye of the Turkish Empire, 2,000,000, and after them jOt China, Persia, and various •> African continent. Europe lint 5,00U,000 Mohammedans. ,*Asia has 14,000,000, and } least- one-third of a million j s Moras of the Philippine |

jllohammedans all over the t Indies. They are in 80r,53. and the Celebes. There : han *3,000,000 of them in ;. and one finds their mosques 'iroiighoi.it the settlements itraits of Malacca and about if Siam. The kingdom of goosed to be Buddhist, but -Jon Mohammedans. I met (as in Burma, and I have praying with their faces toil in different parte of the jpire. Indeed, I was sur:jA so many of this religion China all told has from fcrty million followers of the It has one province which JitUOOO. another which has Ed' mother 4,000,000. Al-E-Sfth of the whole populasis Mohammedan, and they ring element in Afghanissm. Persia, Arabia, PalesiAsia Elinor, and Chinese £s, that- is a- Mohammedan iih.it it lias more Moham--3 members of any other rer«or four years ago I went swolo of Africa, and I was :ei sight of a Mohammedan 1 Morocco lias magnificent Hia Algeria and Tunis there 2s»o .frequently endanger ;: Christians .__ There are Lilonfc the Niger, and es;fecountry about Timbuktu. ;::t!ie Sahara has them, and 3»me of the most intolerant isi'%. Egypt is almost alfcrnmedan, and, in fact, ■tjrrees. 90 per cent, of the iioir prayers facing Mecca. Mohammedans in la States and others south is. In both Northern and' ba the Mohammedans are sshgion is spreading from rEe toward the Congo wateriisgorag in German East sad from Zanzibar. There iaffisin Egypt and I found as? da holy war against the is> jLroeoo, Algeria, and i> a % awakening of the fen India. In the reform s proposed they are asking nil share in the Council of 'J. A delegation recently den.'aits in that Council from pvhiees. to bo elected ex,»J Joliamniedan voters, aii&. ' -feimmedans elected by Mors, as vrell as one to be ; '■>< the Viceroy of Belucis-:-K already been decided to iaiiij; representation, and -Stacy will ask for more and *Aes. So far the Hindoos '. frffiinjr more than their ;ine -Uuhnmmedans feel it. iuev have l)oen pounded -by"* Mtish and people of other nucnt reason. In a recent ; c: 1 hem compared tlieir posi- ~ «<« of the toad in the ; ! *. Said the man to the ■' iK you throwing stones at Jawad:--' "i'es," was the pov. -and I'll larn it to

*. claimed that tho other 'png to "larn" tho Moham-

* a wad. Ho claimed ijhnt f weir action for vears. and ;■' Myms that the MohamJ' "to that of Shakespeare, f!! e , a '"Precious jewel in its '"olio-ikl be properly treat-

?* ot India have practical- .■« tho schools. Thev . are ,f'Mtion, and especially so jHwcriinient office. They " learn, and thev comprise :.P? r - <>t the 5,000,000 stu-;;t'm-onmK.,it schools. The -■■■1 are naturally illiterate. *P«' <-i thou- reliaion that ! d ; 1 -rdod outside" the- '.? the past the onlv inceii- ;'• t'< learn has been that their 1 15 ib Accord- ;-" L iVimiLiti.'s, about 90 per of Tripoli, .I,'r-M.tt. cannot read and ~l ic* mnis arc all illiterate, i'I r( 'o-. al,l, ' ,st as bad, and :;:' •"' P''i- cent, of the -J cainmt ivafi. That is, ~",; ! .' M| f persons in- ever-v. y th.. m who can read and -;,. ,ln -' 1( '-' tho English :' .1 -H'tni-oivilisccl country. have been dis- , ''.;.">iti..ii since the JapaniarVi 11 "''' \'' A t,!at jt is ti* ;r l„ .t'Ky have not a greater J wtvrmnout. The' desire :•;. « spreading. Cheap UtH * af " r °d books are •*„„- i! , -issociations for Is-,,' ' '"'d. elevation of the CI; ° ' K ' ln S forined.. The Tf-r',,.' iU '° 11( , ! "' sending their ~ -eat «-lmol s , and manv Sri, Col-iJnj'-s '■'■ ls institution is eld f';\- !n . flllln here in n,-jw "~" as a small school, > ,"". r 'l>-to-clate, modern '^rfV' 1 ' barfu, lor of !, Jatc-; L ; + " f Ml.iV tea '-lii'rs», but" its and many to it ' lr ° -, ot i ' lafc religion. ill 71 °[ dl '' a iV- studies, it 1 p "Uention to Sanscrit, Jintn,"; : V ld * ho st"dents sjaf t, m tllc *dnr, Koiau is read in motions U ' CC:i as the y S° !<? li< !" lts a '"e devoted to isoL -"7 ium> a cricket 4 u, fl 0t tLc i" India",, HSo? n, &»t football and. t'tiiP r hc roll cge is int«no,l r' c^ment - a "d is :edans. contributions : «io^* !s seho ° l th ere are citi es s !VlV le of the Mo- % mr>>„ ," 6 missionaries their \v. an ? more Moham*licf P i? all , y so witli the in wWi it > a rding clubs ; 'og and °4rv,n; T T W ? means much «me;t • Ind,a - The mis- '•■ IU, 1S n -, 10rG difficult to fj*> Jammedans than tho e arc tho lc ey are better fed and

better bred. Tlicy do not believe in child marriage and tlioy encourage the | remarriage of widows. The: im;st of them live in cities and cat meat. The I majority of the Hindoos live in tire country, subsist upon vegetables and have barely enough to keep soul and body together. The Mohammedans hate the Hindoos and would start a religious war against them at any time if the British should leave. I have often been asked by Christians at home whether the Mohammedans were hypocrites or really believed in their religion I can assure jou there is no doubt of their behct. They have as strong a faith as Me have and are much less backward in showing it. When we pray we sneak back of the barn, behind the woodpile, or at least kneel in our in the same room we may pray m, bed.' The Mohammedan,, when the hour "of prayer comes, bobs'down upon his knees" m the open -and v goes "through his long devotions wherever be may be. You, may see, him reading tlie Koran—while in bis shop, and you will find him praying _everynhere. It he is at all devout he goes to the mosque every day and. prays there in public. He always nasties heroic lie prays, and he takes off' his shoes before lie steps upon the holy floor of his church. He make the stranger do likewise or requires him to put on slippers' over his shoes, that the sacred paVements may not be defiled. This is what I had to do when I went with a highpriest through the Jamraa Musjid today, although his holiness, told me I might keep my hat'on. And this brings me to India's great.est mosque.- It is called, the Jamma Musjid and it is situated here on the banks of the Jumna on a plateau of rock" between Delhi fort'and the city. It is something like SOU years old, having been built by Shah Jehan, the same man who erected the Taj Mahal at Agra, considered the most beautiful building of the whole world. The Jamma Musjid' is. of red sandstone inlaid with white marble. It has three great domes'and mighty minarets from the tops of which the linans call the hours of prayer- five times a day. It is | the biggest mosque in the world, surpassing anything in Cairo or Constantinople and larger than the famed Mohammedan churches of Kairouan. The Jamma Musjid .has a paved court of more than four acres in front of it, and this is walled by cloisters which run around its three sides. The floor of the mosque is divided into kneeling places of white; marblebordered with black. Elach is large enough to accommodate enc man upon his knees, with sufficient space in front for him to bow his head to the stone. All point toward Mecca, and as I walked through the building 1 saw many praying.- In the alcoves worshippers were reading their Korans, and off at one l side a crowd of women shrouded in white veils was sitting. As we walked through the high priest pointed out the beauties of the mosque, translating the tests of the Koran inlaid here and there. He took me to.the .pulpit, which is cut out. of a' single block of solid marble, and as a special favor showed me the greatest treasure possessed by the church. ' _This is kept in'a vault of stone with* numerous doors, which are guarded by two gray-bearded followers of the prophet; At the direction of the high priest these doors were opened. .My curiosity rose as key after key was used,: and when at last I was shown a casket covered with glass I expected a great diamond or some collection of rubies and pearls. I looked in and saw nothing until his holiness pointed to a single rough, red, - wiry hair in the centre. The hair was about two inches long and so fastened by glue to the casket that it stood straight up. I was told that it was a real hair from the moustache of Mohammed and that it made the mosque especially holy. It reminded me of a mosque which I visited at Kairouan in Tunisia. This was built by the barber of Mohammed, who buried under its foundation three hairs from the . beard of the. prophet. The barber stole these hairs one day while .shaving Mohammed and-carried them about with .him for the rest of his life. One he kept under his tongue, another >over his v heart and the third glued to his right aria. Jpori his death they were planted and the mosque built above 'them. The Golden Pagoda of Bangoon, the most famous Buddhist monument of the world,-is erected over seven or eight hairs of 'Buddha, and down in Ceylon there is- a wonderful temple which contains- Buddha's favorite tooth

Another beautiful mosque "here is known as the Moti Musjid, or Pearl Mosque. It was built about two hundred and fifty years ago by Arungzeb, one of the Mohammedan emperors, ana it is the sister to the Pearl Mosque at Agra, built by Shah Jehan. Both of these, structures are of white marble exquisitely carved and. inlaid. That at Agra is perhaps the i»ost beautiful religious building of the whole world. .Bayard Taylor said that it seemed to him so pure and stainless and so absolutely perfect in revealing,the spirit of worship that he felt humbled to think that the Christian religion had never inspired its architects to surpass it. This temple to God and Mohammed is of the purest white marble, with three great silvery domes rising above it. The court is of marble squares, and inside are prayer spaces like those .of the Jamma Musjid. There is a great marble tank in the centre of the court, and upon the walls are inscriptions "inlaid in black, Which compare the building to a pearl and describe its builder as the king of kings arid the shadow of God. .

I find the Mohammedans here somewhat different from; those of Egypt, Turkey, and Arabia. The religion has changed greatly according to the countries where it has been believed. Moros are among the most ignorant followers of the faith, and the same is true of certain districts of this "country where the people have mixed the principles of the Koran with those of Hindooism. In some villages the followers of the prophet believe in witches. They employ the Hindoo astrologists to fix lucky da\s for their marriages and also pray to the Hindoo gods to. give them sons. There.are some sects which have castes, and in the Punjab there is one led bv a man who claims to be the Messiah ofthe Mohammedans.; He : preaches against modern education and says that the."day of resurrection is at hand.

In general thereare about as many sects among the Mohammedans as the Christians. Mohaniined told his followers that after he died the religion would be divided; arid seventy-three sects w T ould-arise.. There are more,than this in the -Mohammedan world. . In India the four principal schools are.the Sunnites, the Sliiahs, the '\Vahabis, and the new- progressive school, which is 111 favor of education and almost eveijthing modern. It is. from this last, school that the chief ur.rest comes,. The college at Aligarh represents it, and among its members arc those who belong t-o the various Moslem leagues and Moslem agitators. The Sunnites and Shiahs have long been the most prominent pacts throughcut the Mohammedan world. The Sun-

nites acknowledge the four caliphs to have been the rigbxf.il tuecessois ot Mohammed, uhereas the Shiahs claim that Ali, tho v cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, should, have succeeded him. There aro something like on© hundred and forty million Snnnites in the world, and "only fifteen million Shiahs. As the Wahabis, they are the Unitarians of Mohammedanism. They claim to have the purest religion and to found tlieir-faith notMipon saints, but solely upon the "Koran and Mohammed. They do not worship t thc tomb of Mohqmmed, and' when they captured Medina about a century ago, they destroyed the relies and stripped off the ornaments of that sacred, ipot. . There is another sect' here known' as the Order of Assassins, which is also found in Arabia and' Persia. . It ,w'as instituted by a Mahdi who -appeared at the time of the Crusades, and who believed", in political assassination as a cure for various ills. In the main, however, the Indian Mohammedans believe much the same as their brothers of this religion in other parts 'of the world. They believe in one God and his of which the chief is Mohammed. They have faith in predestination of good and ill, and think the l").i> «l Judgment will come. They believe in ung-r-ls ;uid witches and devils. The angels aro legion, and they are headed by Gabriel. Every mail hci<= .in .ni'_£el upon, each side of iiini at all times. Each of these has a notebook and he writes down the good and ill that the man does at the time b? does it. Thr recording an"<J ,-,f 1 the good stands on his right hand 3nd

of evil on his left, and when the Mohammedan spits he alwavs spits to the left.. -

j As to-the ivitcbes or genii, they are ■ much liki tlio'e described m the Ara- ■ binn Nights. They are made of fire j and can assume all sorts of shapes. All I Mohammedans believe in them and that" j they live in the mountains which surI round the world. j 1 lie Indian Mohammedans give credit to most of the prophets of the, Bible. Mohammed said" there were 124,000 prophets and over 300 apostles; among the latter were Adam, 'Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed. They rank Jesus-among the greatest of the prophets, and reverence Adam, -Noah, and - Abraham as well. They Jbelieyo,iin Jesus, but their prophet Jesus is "different -from our Saviour. According to'them He was sent to reveal the-'.Gospel to .man, and foretold that Mohammend., would come. They do not believe. ihat he was crucified, but that another man was put in'his place, and He was miraculously taken to Heaven. At the last day He will come again and break the cross and make many reforms. He will reign as a kmg for a time and then die and be buried tomb of I wish I could describe the Mohammedan hell. The Buddhists have hslls of ice and hells of fire, and there are certain hells believed in by the Chinese in which the devil saws the ungodly to pieces. The hell of the Mohammendans is o'f fires kept hot by burning men. The fatter the sinner the more fire he makes for his fellows. The clothes of the damned are burning pitch, and their torments are varied by the continued stinging of scorpions, serpents, and other reptiles. """ On the other, hand, the Mohammedan Heaven is a garden of delight, where the saved rest upon couches, with ever-beautiful maidens to wait upon them. Every believer upon his arrival in paradise is given 72 blackeyed wives, who will be. ever, beautiful and ever young. The moment he reaches there his body goes back to the prime of manhood, and his soul regains its full capacity for enjoyment of dl kinds.