AND RELIGION 123
acy in Moslem lands, and that education remains the privilege of the few.
Until recent years Moslem religious leaders would not permit their people to be contaminated by the study of modern science, or English and other European languages; but gradually the opposition to this has been broken down, and today even in the famous Azhar University in Cairo, stronghold of all things Islamic, one may find a fairly up-to-date curriculum offered to the students. All through the Moslem world there are schools and colleges, conducted for girls as well as boys on the most approved Western lines. Religious leaders have had to consent to these changes because of the great demand for progress, but in spite of this the real standards of Islamic culture are maintained by those ancient Moslem schools which still follow the traditional Arabic curriculum. Needless to say, the orthodox do not regard with favor any introduction of liberalism into education, though up to the present they have not been able to stem the tide. The opinion is undoubtedly gaining ground that one may study English and Western science and wear European trousers and hat, and even that a woman may go unveiled, and still be a faithful follower of the Prophet.
2. Prohibition of alcoholic drinks. The prohibition of alcoholic beverages is one of the cardinal points of Islam, and a very good point it is. Among Moslems there simply is no discussion as to whether the use of alcoholic drinks is permissible. It is forbidden in the
