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THE CONGRESS OF WOMEN.
God.” The ethics of the Koran are essentially those of the New Testament. Our Saviour was held in highest reverence as an inspired prophet, His benign precepts are incorporated therein, thus: “ He is righteous who believeth in God and who for love of God shares his wealth with the needy, who observeth prayer, is faithful to promises, patient under hardships and quiet in seasons of distress.” “ Deal not unjustly with others and ye shall suffer no injustice.” “ Scorn not thy fellow-man, neither walk the earth with pride, for God loveth not the arrogant and boastful.” (Sir William Muir asserts that to this day devout Mussulmen never mention the Saviour’s name without adding “ on whom be peace.” “ Say unto the Christians, their God and my God is one.” The Koran.)
Mohammed fully realized the inherent evils in polygamy and slavery, and though their practices are recognized in the Koran, he greatly alleviated the wrongs of both. The impositions he placed upon polygamy were a great advance upon the unrestrained licentiousness before prevalent. The legal number of a man’s wives was reduced to four. These limitations Mohammed relaxed in his own case, not, however it is believed, through grossness, but because of intense desire for male heirs. The transmission of wives as chattels was forbidden, and the rights of a woman to share in her father’s or husband’s estate declared.
Slavery had always existed in a mild form in Arabia. Mohammed did much to ameliorate its evils. Slavery and polygamy should not be associated with Islam any more than with Christianity. Both Moses and Mohammed took the institutions of their people as they found them and sought to mitigate their severest features. (Have not Christians tried to justify human slavery in this century, in our own land?) The vices most prevalent in Arabia were sternly denounced and absolutely forbidden. Drunkenness, female infanticide, incestuous marriages, gambling, art of divination and magic entirely disappeared. (What efforts is nineteenth-century Christendom making against the alarming growth of gambling?) Mohammed solved the “temperance question ” for his people. Neither “ high license ” nor “ low license ” vexed his soul; he was a strict Prohibitionist. All pictures or representatives of living objects were wisely prohibited, being considered a violation of the second commandment. (Mohammed recognized the authority of the Pentateuch, psalms, etc.)
The four acts or duties of faith are “ prayer, fasting, alms-giving and the pilgrimage.” “ Cleanliness,” says the prophet, “ is the key to prayer.” Minute rules for ablutions before prayer were given. The entire body was to be washed daily, parts of it oftener—all the while appropriate prayers were repeated. Thus “ I am going to purify my bodily uncleanliness, preparatory to commencing prayer, that holy act of duty which draws my soul near to God. In the name of God, great and mighty, praise be to Him who has given me grace to be a Moslem. Islam is a truth, infidelity a falsehood.” When cleansing the teeth: “Vouchsafe, O Lord, as I cleanse my teeth, to purify me from all fault and accept my homage. May the purity of my teeth be a pledge of the whiteness of my soul at the day of judgment,” and so on throughout the entire body.
The third duty was that of fasting. The Koran prescribes the month “ Ramadan ” as a very strict fast. (This fast is so strictly enjoined that it is broken if they but smell a perfume, take a bath or injection, or purposely swallow spittle, kiss or touch a woman. Some devout Moslems will not open their mouths to speak lest they breathe the air too freely.) The command is, “ from sunrise to sunset neither food nor drink might pass the lips. ” In the course of time, the Mohammedan year being lunar, “ Ramadan ” falls in the midst of summer, and necessitates real suffering in the hot countries of Arabia and the East.
Almsgiving, the third duty, is obligatory. One-tenth of a man’s income was devoted to the poor.
The last duty was the pilgrimage to Mecca. This was enjoined at least once in a lifetime. Those dying on the way were considered as martyrs. Each step toward Mecca blotted out a sin.