Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 1906)
W f ltJ-i - k .' 1 J a. . ! o y - 1 r J !'h '-( -' 'UWWJinpBI1".?? SMrV .' A3!.: .? Win .'. ft A i y y If W ff "fl k . " it . um " rv r, i lit " P. tH i . ... .' k' -"PA ,' ! f I m i b. V v-M ' if ' .il a ' ftf '". . ' itf.ri ?? if ? m 'p'; " til ' '? ' U it J i 1 u r,i i : T hu ... .;. 1 1 i ' -I i, Li ' " "' ' 'i'Vj. ' , i v r i )' i ; '. ;,! ' i'i 'i :' fcilrnriiini l castle gates swung open and the ladies tf the court, closely veiled and accompanied by the chil dren, proceeded to tho mosque in closed carriages drawn by beautiful Arabian horses. As usual in Oriental countries, tho members of tho household were attended by black eunuchs. At tho appointed hour a black robed ilguro appeared upon tho minaret and an echo-like call to prayer floated down, to" the Btreet. This was tho signal for which the spectators had waited and all eyes turned at once to the palace gate through which, in double lino, marched the high officials, preceded by a band and followed by the sultan's body guard and the sultan himself in a carriage with Jiis minister of war. The officers saluted, the soldiers cheered, the visitors raised their hats, and tho sultan bowed and smiled. Hamud If. is mild in appearance and his black beard is but slightly streaked with grey. Ho does not look strong and his figure seems diminutive when contrasted with that of his min- , Ister of war. His imperial majesty, as ho is styled, remained in the mosque for nearly half an hour. When he at last came out he entered a phaeton with his eldest son and, taking the lines himself, drove back to the palace behind one of the hand somest teams in Europe. The horses are a very dark, almost black, dappled chestnut sorrel, with silver mane and tail. They are perfectly matched, weigh thirteen or fourteen hundred pounds and the shining coats give evidence of constant care. We obtained permission to visit the sultan's stables and saw a few, not all, of his more than a thousand horses. The finest, of course, are the Arabian stallions of which he has quite a num ber, the best of the breed. In one room we saw a hundred or more saddles and bridles, many of them richly ornamented. In the . collection are two Texas saddles presented by Minister Terrell when he represented our government in Con stantinople. Before passing from tho Selamlik, as the pro cession is called, it may not be out of place to remind the reader that . the ceremonies were in terrupted less than a year ago by the explosion of a bomb close to the line of march. Near the vm-Rstlue iaa largo gate which the procession pas w see. Outside of this gate a guard Is stationed, but carriages were allowed to line up back of the guard. On that occasion a new carriage made its appearance and secured a place as near tho gate aB was permitted. This carriage, having been expressly built for the purpose, had a large bomb concealed under the driver's seat. The man In charge of the enterprise represented to the driver that he wanted to take a photograph of the pro cession just as the sultan passed, and Instructed mm to press the button at the proper time. He did so and a number of those near the sultan were killed, but the sultan himself escaped with out Injury. Greater precaution is taken now than before, but the head of the church still makes his weekly pilgrimage to the mosque, thus main taining unbroken a record covering nearly three decades. I hope I shall be pardoned for giving so much space to so military and spectacular a perform ance, but it is a scene that can be witnessed no where else and is the last reminder of the pomp and show that formerly characterized all the em pires of the east. It may seem a little incon puous that so many swords and muskets should be brought into requisition at a religious func tion, but it must be remembered that Mohammed anism recognizes tho sword as a legitimate agency In the spread of its creed. , J ave been tGmPted to refer to the tenets of Mohammedanism before, for we began to meet the followers of the prophet as soon as we en tered Asia, but it seemed more appropriate to consider the subject in connection with the high personage who combines the authority of a tem poral ruler with the dignity of Caliph. The Koran is the book of the law and the Moslem is not permitted to doubt its plenary in spiration. After Mahomet announced that he had been selected as a messenger of the Lord and commissioned to preach he began giving out what he declared to be revelations. They read as com mands to him to "speak" and to "say." His cen tral idea was the unity of God and his special mission the overthrow of idolatry. He emphasized the resurrection of the body and the Koran is full-of promises to tho faithful and as full of threats against the infidel. In the Koran God is quoted as promising: "For -those who are devout are prepared with their Lord gardens through which rivers flow; therein shall they continue forever and they shall enjoy wives freo from impurity ahd the favor of God." For tho infidel, which includes all who do not accept tho prophet, the following punishment is threatened: The Commoner; "Verily; thoso 'who disbelieve our signs, we will surely cast to be broiled in hell fire; so often as their skin shall be well burned, we will give them other skins in exchange, that they may taste tho sharper punishment; for God is mighty and wise." Through the Koran he not only 'credited God with the creation and with a care for all the wants of mail, but he also declared that God deceived and misled somo while He guided others aright. In one revelation he makes God say: "They who accuse our signs of falsehood, are deaf and dumb, walking in darkness; God will lead into error whom He pleaseth, and whom He pleaseth He will put in the right way." He accepted the Old Testament and counted Christ among the prophets. In one of the revel ations, he declares that he is commanded to say: "We believe in God and that which hath been sent down unto us, and that which hath been sent down unto Abraham, and Ishmael and Isaac, and Jacob, and tho tribes, and that which was delivered unto Moses, and Jesus, and that which was delivered unto the prophets from their Lord; we make no distinction between any of them and to God we are resigned." In the beginning of his ministry, hiB revelations were friendly to the Jews whom he at first attempted to conciliate, but when they rejected him, he gave out other revelations which treated the Jews with great severity. He started out to rely upon reason and an appeal to conscience and by persuasion he formed the nucleus of his church, but as he grew stronger his revelations became more warlike in tone and at last he committed the Almighty to relentless -warfare against the infidel. Here is the language which he Imputes to God: "0 . Prophet, wage war against the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and be severe unto them, for their dwelling shall be hell; an unhappy journey shall it be thither!" At another time, he told his followers that they would be asked whether it was proper. to war in the sacred month and he instructed them to answer: "The temptation to idolatry is more grievious than to kill in the sacred months." ' - On many questions the advice which he gave through the Koran was all that could be desired. Ho urged justice in dealings between man and man and. strict administration of trusts, care for the brphan and widow and charity toward the poor. He condemned the use of intoxicating liquor and gambling, saying: "They will aBk thee concerning wine and lots; answer, in both" there is great Sin, and also some things of use unto men; but their sinfulness is greater than their use." As to alms-giving the measure wa3 to be, "what ye have to spare." While plurality of wives was allowed and Mahomet exercised the privilege to the limit, furnishing a new revelation "when necessary to justify a new marriage the virtue of the women Is scrupulously guarded by the Moslem code. The women are not allowed to mingle with men and this Is one of the weaknesses of Moham medanism. In Mohemmedan society the influence of women counts for little and as a result the followers of Islam are sluggards in intellectual pursuits. In the Philippines the Mohammedans form the lowest stratum of the population; in Java they are just awakening to the necessity for education; in India they are behind the Hindu and still farther behind the Parsee; in Egypt they bring up the rear as they do also in Syria and Palestine. Only where they have come into con tact with Christian civilization have they been stimulated to the discussion of schools and ques tions of government. It must be admitted, however, that some of the customs of Europe and America have tended to prejudice the followers of Mahomet against western civilization. One who was in attendance at a banquet given during the recent Morocco conference told me of the astonishment of some of the Mohammedan representatives at what they saw. When the ladies appeared in evening dress they, remembering the veiled ladies of their own land, asked: "Do your women always dress this way?" When wine was brought on, they asked: "Do all of your people drink wine?" And when, after dinnor, dancing began they asked: "Do the women dance with their own husbands only?" The answers to some of these inquiries seemed to astonish them. While Mohammedanism as established by its founder still holds the allegiance of many scores of millions, influencing them for good in many respects and for evil in some; while these ortho dox followers of the prophet kneel at stated hours ench day and pray toward Mecca, all of them, who have not done so, hoping to make thev pil grimage commanded of them while those are keeping tho letter of tho Koran there is a reform VOLUME 6, NUMBER 33 at work which may yet leaven the whole lump. Abbas Effendi, now a political prisoner at Akka, in Palestine, is the head of the reform movement. He was born in Persia and is carry, ing on the work to which his father and grand father devoted their lives. He discards force as a means of propagating truth, and while he does not command monogamy has set the example by having but one wife. While Abbas Effendi's father preached moral suasion his followers were charged- with revolutionary designs and the fam ily was exiled. After remaining a time at Con stantinople under the surveillance of the sultan, the reform leaders were removed to Akka, a sea port not far from Haifa. Here, surrounded by a .few followers, the son holds such communication ae he can with the rest of the church in Persia, his doctrines having as yet taken but little root among the Turks and Arabs. It is believed in Akka that he receives financial aid from a num ber of wealthy Americans who have become in terested in his work. We called upon Abbas Effendi as we were leaving Palestine and found him an earnest old man with a careworn but kindly face. His hair and beard are gray and he speaks 'with animation when his favorite topic is under discussion. His doctrines are something like those of Tolstoy but he does not carry the doctrine of non-resistance so far as does the Russian philosopher. How much he may be able to do In the way of elimin ating the objectionable features of Mohammed anism no one can say, but it is a hopeful sign that there is among the followers of Mahomet an organized effort to raise the plane of discussion from brute force to an appeal to intelligence. The government of the sultan is the worst on earth. It Is more despotic than the Russian government ever was and adds corruption to despotism. The czar has convoked a douma, the dowager empress of China has sent her commis sioners abroad with a view to establishing a con stitution, and even the khedive of Egypt has a council, but the sultan still rules by his arbitrary will, taking life or granting favor according to his pleasure. He lives in constant fear of assassina tion and yet he does not seem to have learned that his own happiness, as well as justice to tho peoplo, demands that the government shall rest upon the will of the governed. While in the sultan's realm we lear,netl some thing of the cruelty practiced by his officials let us hope without his knowledge, for while he is responsible for the conduct of his appointees he may not know all the evil done in his name. Not long ago a young student was arrested" and Imprisoned because a paper was found in his house which Contained Gladstone's statement that 4he sultan was an assassim It was only a scrap of paper and had been given him because the other side contained an advertisement for a hair restorer and he, in taking the paper to his house, did not know of the offensive quotation. Another young man was kept in prison until he died be cause a book was found in his possession contain ing a picture of the sultan under which some one, unknown to him, had written the word dog. A third man was arrested because in ordering an engine he sent a telegram containing the words: "Seventy revolutions." In his original order he neglected to state the number of revolutions and sent the telegram in answer to an inquiry. A fourth man was imprisoned because he received a telegram inquiring about a burglary, the au thorities mistaking the word "burglary" for tho word "Bulgaria," where the authorities were ex pecting an uprising. These Instances and we heard of many more are given simply to show that the citizen of Turkey is in constant dangor of. imprisonment, however innocent he may be of any intention to violate the law. But it is in the realm of tho censor that tho most amusing cases have occurred. The officials are destroying a great many books just now in Turkey and are very careful about the introduc tion of new ones. Recently the wife of a justice of the peace, frightened by the confiscation of books in the houses of her neighbors, thought to avoid all possible danger by burning her husband's library, but her hope was vain for her husband was arrested as a dangerous character on the ground that he must have had a library. As he was holding a judicial position the fact that he no longer had books was a sufficient ground for suspicion. Religious publications are subjected to very strict censorship. Sunday school lessons have been cut out because they quoted from tho Old Testament in regard to the killing of kings and - the word "Christian" is often added before sin ners in order to make the text exclude Moham medans. A Sunday school lesson about Joash, the Boy King, was objected to becauseVhc autho- '. A J '' XaujW.v JSM a &iJjmiiJw&'tfrtiwifr1l( ,i p tJUJU'-'Al-.;