CHAPTER THREE
THE PERFECT RELIGION
In three summer conferences of American young people, not long ago, the question was asked, "If you were not a Christian, what would you prefer to be?" The large majority of the class in each of the three conferences voted for Islam first, with Confucianism a close second.
Most young people are aware that Islam is a religion that stands for only one God, and that it is opposed to idolatry. In fact, they may have heard that Islam is actually very similar to Christianity in many respects; that the Koran contains many of the Old Testament stories of the prophets, and that Jesus himself is accorded a high place in the estimation of Moslems. In other words, Islam would appeal to such young people because, from what they know of it, it seems to be more like Christianity than any other religion.
If you ask the Moslem, he will tell you that it is not a matter of debate, and not an open question at all whether Islam is better than the other religions of mankind. Islam, he assures you, is the one perfect religion today in the world. The Moslem believes this because the Koran says so. In one of its verses he finds that Allah says to Mohammed: "This day have we perfected for you your religion." The faithful consider that the end of the matter.
The faith must be taken as it is: believed in, and acted upon. For this reason Islam has had little use for critics and reformers. For the most part it has been content to go along with the minimum of change from the traditional way. Therefore, most Moslem reformers have been considered the enemies of Islam. Some of them have had to face persecution, and even death. But all of them have taken the position that, since the people of their day had fallen into serious errors, they were merely trying to bring them back to the purer and more original form of the true Islam.
In Arabia, Mohammed ibn Abdul Wahhab in the eighteenth century sought to abolish the worship of saints and the use of tobacco, claiming both were contrary to the teaching of the Prophet. He was violently opposed, but he and his followers, who have come to be known as Wahhabis, finally won out on the basis that theirs was the purer form of this "perfect religion."
Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan of India in the nineteenth century was confronted with the problem of leading his people out of their deplorably backward condition. It was clear to him that Islam would have to be modernized, the medieval classical Arabic courses would have to be given up, and Western education introduced or the Moslems of India would be left far behind in the struggle for existence. This man was branded as a heretic and infidel and suffered severe persecution. But he took his stand on the position that he was only following the teaching of Mohammed, who said, "One should seek knowledge even unto China."
Sir Sayyid and his enthusiastic associates ultimately gained their point. He is now regarded in India as having been one of the greatest champions of the faith, and the magnificent modern Moslem university at Aligarh is a splendid memorial to his efforts. But these and many other examples of reform have succeeded because they were frankly within the system. They did not attack Islam. They rather sought to bring the expression of it up to date, and into line with modern tendencies. The original system itself was considered perfect. Even today when the current of modernism is running stronger than ever before in India, Egypt, and Turkey, the same argument holds, and all changes and modifications of the manners and customs of the Moslem people are based on the assumption that Islam is elastic, and adaptable to the demands of each age.
why the "perfect religion"?
One may well ask on what grounds Moslems base the claim that theirs is the perfect religion. One reason has already been noted: the authority of the Koran. Since the Koran has stated that Islam is the perfect religion that is the end of the matter, for the Koran is the very word of God. This no Moslem dares to doubt. But there are other reasons which are perfectly obvious to devout followers of the Prophet:
Islam is a revealed religion. It is not man-made. Man had nothing to do with it, not even Mohammed. It is God-made. Mohammed was merely his instrument, and a passive instrument at that. He spoke what God told him to say; and at all times he did only what God told him to do. Therefore, not only in the Koran, but in the Traditions, which treat of what Mohammed said and did, have we the foundations of this religion which came from God in its entirety.
It is the final and last revelation. Since Mohammed is the last of the prophets, this revelation is the very last word in religion. There can never be anything to supersede it, and it supersedes everything else that preceded it. It is the final expression of God's will and wisdom for mankind.
Of all religions it is held to be the one best adapted to man's nature, the one most in accord with his desires and instincts. It meets man on his own natural level. It avoids high and impractical ideals, and brings religion down within easy reach, makes it a matter of simple observance of rules. As one young Moslem once said, "The ideals of Christianity are all very well, but they are too high to be practical. Therefore, why not combine Christianity and Islam, and let one be the ideal and the other the practical expression of religion?"
What then, specifically, is the character of this religion that has such extremely high claims made for it? We shall consider it under two heads: what the Moslem believes, and how the Moslem worships. The remainder of this chapter we shall devote to the first of these points.
THE CREED OF ISLAM
Islam apparently has so much in common with Christian beliefs that it has been called a Christian heresy, or even a form of Christianity. But, as will appear, it really has little in common with Christianity. Nevertheless, they have just enough in common to make the study of Islam a very interesting pursuit. For instance, Moslems believe in one God; they hold Jesus Christ in great respect; they know the stories of many of the Old Testament characters like Abraham, Moses, and Joseph; they recite a creed somewhat like the Apostles' Creed; they recite a prayer that is similar to our Lord's Prayer; and they practise congregational worship.
In fact the longer or traditional Moslem creed or statement of faith (called iman in Arabic) in its form is very much like the Apostles' Creed:
I believe:
That there is no god but Allah; I believe:
In his angels;
In his books;
In his apostles, and that Mohammed is the last of them;
In the Last Day; and
In the predestination by Allah of good and evil.
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But the difference between the two systems of belief is very apparent. The heart of the Christian faith is ignored the cross and all that it means of sacrifice for others. The kernel has been extracted; only the shell is left. But without further comment let us look at the separate articles of the Islamic creed.
THE MOSLEM'S ARTICLES OF FAITH
1. "/ believe that there is no God but Allah." We read in the Koran, "God is one" the very echo, as it were, of the words of Moses, "Hear, Israel, the Lord thy God is one God." This emphasis on the unity of God is asserted in countless ways in the daily life of the Moslem: for example, in the simple creed, or kalima, which must be repeated at every time of worship, "There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is the apostle of Allah," and in the extension of the forefinger of the right hand in one of the postures of prayer. Islam bitterly opposes polytheism, and during the early centuries of expansion the Moslem invaders were ruthless in their destruction of temples and idols throughout the length and breadth of the East.
The Moslem's idea of the character of God, however, is quite different from that of the Christian. In Islam God's will is arbitrary, his power is infinite and his authority is absolute. He creates all that exists and he wills and does everything that happens in the universe. In the Koran Allah is frequently described as kind and loving, as merciful and compassionate, but his will is arbitrary and determines everything apart from intrinsic moral and spiritual values. To be sure, one will find some modern Moslems with Western education who would seriously object to this last statement, but it is nevertheless the commonly accepted view in Islam, and in Moslem countries one very frequently meets the tradition that when Allah had prepared the clay for the creation of mankind he separated it into two parts, saying as he did so, "This portion for hell and I care not; and this portion for heaven and I care not."
God's will is supreme. Man must believe in him or suffer eternal punishment in the final judgment. So far as Islam is concerned mankind has nothing more to anticipate, for the final revelation from God has been delivered. "He leaves to stray whom he wills and whom he wills he guides aright." One very common view of God is that we can know nothing at all about him, for "he is the high, the mighty." This rhyme is frequently heard in Cairo:
No thought that comes into your mind Has permanence of any kind; Nor can you say I tell you flat That God is this or God is that.
Nevertheless, one of the great realities to the Moslem is the fact of God: a God of mighty power, from whom we came and to whom we return when death summons us.
2. "/ believe in his angels" To Moslems these are not meaningless words, for they hold that there are
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three kinds of creatures who belong to a different order from man, and yet are like him in some respects. These are angels, jinn, and devils. They are a species of spiritual creatures who have very direct relations with man, and touch him at many points in his daily life.
So it is that when a Moslem declares his belief in angels, as real beings, he means it literally. 1 He believes that there are unnumbered angelic hosts who were created from light. They have the power of speech, and are rational beings. There are four angels who rank highest among the messengers of God, and two recording angels for each single living individual. One sits on the right shoulder and records one's good deeds; the other sits on the left shoulder and records his evil deeds. At the close of the prayers which all Moslems must recite five times daily the worshiper turns his head to the right and then to the left in formal salutation of these angels. There are also two terrible black angels with blue eyes who meet men in the grave after burial, and ask them if they are Moslems. Should the reply be in the negative severe punishment is meted out to them then and there. There are guardian angels for man who take care of him in times of danger. Eight angels are mentioned who support God's throne, and the fires of hell are said to be in charge of nineteen.
Jinn, the genii of The Arabian Nights, are a sort of
1 Something similar to this belief is vividly portrayed in "Green Pastures" when one sees the idea of angels that the uneducated Negro of the deep South holds. intermediate species between men and angels. There are both good and bad jinn, and they are created from fire. They assume various shapes, grow large and small at will, attack unsuspecting human beings, and are the cause of unending fear in the hearts of multitudes of Moslems who believe in their power over men. The average Moslem in Arabia, India, Iran or North Africa is amply prepared to verify the old tales of the jinn with chapters out of his own experience.
In Calcutta an old Moslem servant threw up his job of pulling the fan, or punkah, which was worked by hand before the days of electricity. The reason he gave was that on the previous night a jinni had hit him a terrible blow on the back of his head, and he would stay there no longer. The truth was that as he was sitting with his back against a brick pillar he fell asleep, and the person for whom he was pulling the punkah awoke in a great perspiration, for the night was terribly hot. Since this was not the first time the old man had stopped pulling, his master rose from his bed, took a bottle of smelling salts and, quietly stealing up behind the pillar, held it under the old man's nose. At the first whiff the old man threw his head back quickly and of course hit it against the pillar. But being entirely unaware of the real cause of all that happened, he believed to his dying day that he had been the victim of some jinni.
Jinn are said to inhabit wells, bath houses, abandoned dwellings and certain secluded regions. The Koran tells of how the jinn were interested auditors
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of Mohammed's preaching, and that a company of them was converted to Islam. One modernist Moslem, Sheikh Mohammed Abduh, of revered memory, was inclined to the view that the germs which cause disease are really jinn!
Satan, called Iblis or the Shaitan, is the prince of all the shaitans or devils. He lost his standing as one of the righteous angels when he refused to obey God's command to bow down and worship Adam. So God cast him and his hosts out of paradise, and ever since Iblis and his shaitans have been the enemies of God and man. One must be continually on guard against them. The Traditions and the Koran are filled with instructions to the faithful on how to protect and preserve themselves from their evil power. In the morning, for instance, one should carefully cleanse the nose three times by snuffing water, because a devil takes up his abode in the nose during the night. Charms are worn by countless numbers of Moslems to ward off evil, and to bring prosperity and success.
3. '7 believe in his books" We have already seen how the Koran originated, and how Mohammed believed that he had been chosen by Allah to receive the final expression of God's guidance for mankind. The Koran cancels all former revelations and supersedes them. It is revelation perfected. It is the climax of God's messages to man.
According to the Moslem belief, God sent down to earth a hundred and four sacred books. Of these Adam was given ten books; Seth, fifty; Enoch received thirty; and ten were given to Abraham. None of these, however, is now in existence. The four books of divine revelation that are still to be found are the Law of Moses, or the first five books of the Bible; the Psalms of David; the Gospel of Jesus; and the Koran, which was revealed to Mohammed. Although the three other books are highly spoken of in the Koran, Moslems hold that the Koran alone of all the revelations now exists in the pure and uncorrupted form in which it was originally revealed. The Law of Moses, the Psalms of David, and the Gospel of Jesus are believed to exist now only in a corrupted form.
And now we must take a closer look at the Koran itself. It is held in the highest reverence, and is believed to have been written by Allah on the "preserved tablet" in heaven, where the original has existed from all eternity. Moslems hold that it is uncreated and eternal, the very speech of God. It is even regarded as the one great miracle with which God honored Mohammed, and hence it is the standing proof of this prophetship. It is an unusual book, and the rhyming prose of its Arabic is full of a mysterious charm for those who recite it in their daily worship, or read it in private or in public. In size it is a little smaller than the New Testament, though it contains one hundred and fourteen chapters. But it has no order, or sequence of thought, or systematic arrangement; and scholars have spent years of effort trying to work out a chronological order of its contents.
Its subjects cover a wide range of human interest.
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There are stories of the prophets and apostles from Adam to Moses, and from David and Solomon to Jesus; it contains laws for the regulation of family life, and for the ordering of personal, tribal, and national affairs; it abounds in sermons, exhortations to good works, warnings for evildoers, and vivid descriptions of the sensual delights of heaven and the fearful torments of hell. In places the sublimity of its thought and language reminds one of the impassioned utterances of the ancient Hebrew Tophets. The following are excellent illustrations:
The Light Verse
God is the Light of the Heavens and of the Earth.
His light is like a niche in which is a lamp
The lamp encased in glass
The glass, as it were, a glistening star.
From a blessed tree is it lighted,
The olive neither of the East nor of the West,
Whose oil would well-nigh shine out,
Even though fire touched it not!
It is light upon light.
God guideth whom he will to his light,
And God setteth forth parables to men,
For God knoweth all things. 1
Sura XXIV
The Fatiha (Opening Chapter)
Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds! The compassionate, the merciful! King on the day of reckoning!
J. M. RodwelPs translation of the Koran, pp. 46-47. New York, E. P. Button & Co., 1909. Thee only do we worship, and to thee do we cry for help. Guide thou us on the straight path,
The path of those to whom thou hast been gracious; with whom thou art not angry, and who go not astray. 1
Sura I
The first of these examples may be likened to one of the psalms, and the second is not unlike our Lord's Prayer, and is used by Moslems in much the same way.
Moslems regard the Koran as the central truth for the world. It is not Mohammed but the Koran that is the revelation of God's will; not a personality but a book. Being of divine origin it is not subject to ordinary literary and historical criticism, and the means by which it was revealed is not open to investigation. Even the best-educated Moslems who have been trained in the latest scientific knowledge of Western universities dare not seriously advance any modern opinions about the origin of the Koran, or call in question the method of its production. This doctrine of revelation is the cornerstone of faith on which Islam is founded; and one may well say that if this is lost, then all is lost. The question is, How long can such a belief withstand the advance of knowledge and the ultimate demands of truth?
In addition to the Koran, the Moslems regard the genuine Traditions concerning Mohammed as being second only in divine authority to the Koran itself. They are considered of immense importance because
1 From J. M. RodwelTs translation of the Koran, p. 28.
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of the belief that Mohammed was divinely guided in all that he said and all that he did. Everything that the Prophet said in his table talk or at other times in ordinary conversation, everything he did or did not do, has been collected in the form of thousands and tens of thousands of traditions, sifted, edited and finally preserved in six accepted collections.
The following specimen traditions will give an idea of this class of inspired writing that is held in such high regard by Moslems as a basis for faith, and as a rule for life:
The Apostle of God said, "When a dead person is placed in the grave, then two black angels with blue eyes come to him one of whom is called Munkar and the other Nakir. . . ."
Ayesha was once asked what the Apostle of God did the first thing when he entered his house. She replied: "He began to use a twig for cleaning his teeth."
The Apostle of God said: "He who builds a mosque for God, God will build a house for him in paradise."
"Verily, God does not accept the prayer of a man clothed in long trousers."
It is not the Koran alone but the traditions as well which give the true understanding of Islamic faith and practice.
4. "/ believe in his apostles." Islam distinguishes between prophets and apostles and puts the latter in a higher class than the former. It is said that there have been one hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets, and only three hundred and fifteen apostles, and of these six are placed in the highest category. These six are Adam, the chosen of God; Noah, the preacher of God; Abraham, die friend of God; Moses, the spokesman of God; Jesus, the word of God; and Mohammed, the apostle of God.
These prophets and apostles are in the sacred succession of those who have been honored and chosen by God to communicate his guidance to mankind down the centuries. Mohammed is the last and the best of them. He will never have a successor, and it is firmly believed that ultimately the whole world will accept Islam.
5. "/ believe in the Last Day" The fifth article of belief in the Moslem creed has to do with the happenings of what is called the Last Day. It is also known as the Day of Resurrection, or Separation, or Reckoning, when the good and bad deeds of men will be reckoned up as a bookkeeper reckons his accounts. Most dreadful will be the terrors of that day and hour. There will be a literal resurrection of the physical bodies, and .so the afterlife, Moslems believe, will be one either of everlasting physical pleasures or of physical punishments. Many modern Moslems today would treat the descriptions of heaven and hell as found in the Koran and Traditions as allegorical, and give to them spiritual meanings. But by the standard orthodox writers and ordinary believers these descriptions are accepted literally as set forth.
Paradise or heaven as described in the Koran is like a huge banqueting hall, or lovely "gardens of
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delight . . . with goblets and ewers and a cup of flowing wine; their brows ache not from it, nor fails the sense; . . . theirs shall be the houris . . . ever virgins." * The greatest spiritual pleasure in heaven is the sight of the face of God. But the ideal virtues are not glorified in the Koran in vivid and concrete imagery.
The torments of hell are portrayed in lurid language. There are seven gates, and each gate is strongly guarded. Its terrifically hot fires burn with fuel consisting of sinners and stones. Its inhabitants are given nothing to drink but liquid pus, and their garments are burning pitch.
Men will know when the Day of Judgment is approaching because the sun will rise in the west; there will be a terrific world war between the opposing hosts of Gog and Magog; the Antichrist will come, and Jesus as a leader of the Moslems will descend from heaven, alighting first on the minaret of the ancient mosque at Damascus. The Mahdi, 2 too, will come, and will eventually lead Islam to universal victory.
6. "/ believe in the predestination by Allah of good and evil." This is the last article of the Islamic creed, and in it we find the key to much of the course that history and human life have taken in Moslem lands. While it is impossible to prove from Koranic
J. M. RodwelPs translation of the Koran, pp. 66-67. 2 Literally, the Directed One; a ruler who will appear upon the earth in the last days. See Chapter Eight, p. 151. texts that Islam is exclusively fatalistic, denying free will to man, yet in practice, as well as in the teaching of most of the Moslem sects, man's destiny is regarded as entirely in the hands of God. To such an extent is this fatalistic view of life held that it colors and affects life at every point. The individual not only ceases but refuses to accept responsibility for his actions and their consequences. If he misses a train, it was not his fault the train left before he got there. It was God's will, why worry? If he fails to pass his examination, it was written in his destiny that he should fail, and that is the end of the matter. If a Moslem promises to do a certain thing, he will always protect himself with the reservation, "If God wills," and so leave open a back door of escape from fulfilling an inconvenient promise. Since God wills both the good and the evil that happen in the world, man never knows whether he will have success or not. In Islam blessed is the man who expects mercy for it is a sin to despair of God's goodness.
Still, overemphasis on the certainty of fate cuts the nerve of endeavor, and allows men to settle back into the ruts of custom and fall into ways that lead to degeneration and decay. It is not too much to say that this view of life has been a millstone of despair around the neck of Moslem society and peoples everywhere. This one article of belief in itself is sufficient ultimately to work the complete destruction of any people that lives by it. Unless Islam can sufficiently reconstruct its practical philosophy of life so that a
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new and different principle of action can be offered to man, one that inspires him and challenges him to better effort, it is difficult to see how its followers can avoid being left far behind in the march of time.
The efforts being made today in certain Moslem countries, such as Turkey, Iran, and Iraq, to make progress along the lines of Western civilization have come about largely because their leaders have abandoned the fatalistic view of life as found in Islam, and have struck out on new paths. In Turkey, national progress is undoubtedly the guiding ideal and motive for the leadership of President Kamal Ataturk. Islam as a religion appears to be of interest to the present regime at Angora only in so far as it furthers the purposes of nationalism. After all that has happened in Russia, and even in Turkey itself, it is not impossible to imagine that the Turkish rulers might even yet bow Islam completely off the stage should it appear to stand in the way of national development.
THE SECTS OF ISLAM
The simple faith and practice as originally transmitted to the Moslem people by the Prophet Mohammed in the form of Islam, "the perfect religion," later lost its unity and simplicity with the development of different sects. If sectarianism is a hindrance and a weakness to Christianity, it is equally so for Islam. The Prophet is credited with having said that his people would be ultimately divided into seventythree sects, only one of which would be orthodox and be saved!
In general, Moslems may be roughly classified as belonging to two main sects, the Sunnites and the Shiites. The first sect is by far the largest, and it is the sect that adheres most closely to the path which Mohammed followed. The Sunnites predominate in most Moslem lands, and it is they who hold the belief that the caliph is the visible successor of Mohammed. The Shiites are comparatively few in number. They are found chiefly in Iran, where they predominate, in Iraq and in India. The Shiites do not accept the doctrine of the caliph as the leader of the Moslems, and they have a theory of divine leadership of the Moslem people and especially of their own sect by an imam, a belief which has led to many bitter and bloody wars between the two communities.
Of more recent origin are two other groups: the Wahhabis, who as we have seen earlier in this chapter conducted a campaign of reform in the eighteenth century, and who are today a powerful force in Arabia; and the Ahmadiyas, followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of India, who just before the beginning of the present century organized a great revival movement for the purpose of spreading Islam to all the countries of the world. The Ahmadiya movement is active today, and carries on missionary propaganda in many lands. 1
x The Ahmadiya movement is described more fully in Chapter Eight.
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THE DERVISH ORDERS
There has grown up alongside ritualistic worship in Islam a belief in a more direct and mystic approach to God. The belief is that God can best be known through the experience of religious ecstasy and emotion. Those who become most practised and experienced in this sort of knowledge of God are known as pirs, or guides, and it is their business to guide their disciples into similar emotional experiences of God. These pirs and their disciples are organized into dervish orders or brotherhoods throughout the Moslem world. They .are very similar to the religious orders or brotherhoods in the Roman Catholic church, such as the Dominicans and Franciscans. The word dervish literally means one who goes from door to door. It signifies also that the member of the order is one who is poor in this world's goods.
Occasionally the pir makes a tour to visit his disciples and to make new ones. When he comes to a city he is literally besieged by his followers, who garland him with flowers, vie with each other for an opportunity to kiss his hand, and seek his blessing. During the course of such a visit the pir will conduct a zikr, or special prayer meeting, for those who have been initiated into the order. The pir will sit on the floor in the middle of a circle of his disciples, and lead them in swaying movements of the body as they recite in unison: "La ilaha illa-llah" "There is no god but Allah." As they proceed in the meeting, which may last for hours, they are supposed to enter into a wonderful experience of ecstasy and nearness to God. Many of them fall down in utter exhaustion.
The pir, too, is expected to be able to work miracles for his followers. Some are noted for being able to work cures for snakebite, for healing all sorts of diseases, and for removing the curse of sterility from childless women. One of the functions of the pir is to supply charms for his people. These charms usually consist of verses from the Koran written on small pieces of paper which are folded and placed in a small case of silver or gold and worn around the neck or the arm of the person to ward off evil. They are placed on children to protect them from the effects of the evil eye, curses, disease, and accidents of all sorts. Conversely they are worn to bring good luck, safety during journeys, and success in examinations or in business. In Egypt and Syria drivers of automobiles will ordinarily not venture out without hanging a string of blue beads over the front of the radiator to protect them from accident.
Many localities are associated with the protection of some particular saint. In the Vale of Kashmir, for example, the patron saint of the Jhelum River valley is one Abdul Qadir Jilani, whose tomb is in Baghdad. The Kashmiris call him Pir Dastgir (The Helpful Pir). His help is continually sought, especially by the Moslem boatmen of the valley. The following verses, written by the author during a vacation in Kashmir, will perhaps show how the common people look to the pir for help in their everyday life.
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On the waters of the Jhelum, With their voices ringing clear, Call the boatmen, as they labor, On their Pir Dastgir.
It is he who helps them onward From the leafy Bagh Chenar, Through the Dai-gate and the channels To the smiling Shalimar;
While up the winding river Shining like a silver thread On the bosom of the landscape, With the blue sky overhead;
Or beneath the templed summit Of the Throne of Solomon, You can hear them calling, calling, Be it late at night, or dawn.
For the guardian of the valley Is the famous Pir Dastgir; And without his aid no boatman Ventures forth in fair Kashmir.
BAHAISM
An offshoot from Islam that has established itself in Western countries and that may well be considered here briefly is Bahaism. The name is taken from its founder, Mirza Husain AH, entitled Baha'ullah (The Splendor of God), who claimed to be a manifestation of Deity.
Orthodox Islam has been bitterly hostile to it. It claims to include and supersede all other religions, and is highly eclectic in character. It includes many humanitarian principles, largely assimilated into its teachings after contact with the West. As met with on its native heath of Iran, its principle of taqiya, or concealment of one's religious faith as a method of escaping persecution, is characteristic. It carries on an active propaganda abroad and makes extraordinary and unsubstantiated claims of successes. 1
The whole question of the finality of religion is raised by this chapter on the "perfect religion." We see now why Moslems describe their religion in these terms of perfection and finality. Islam is a religion of external divine authority. It rests its entire claim to truth and perfection on its accepted theory of revelation. If this theory is valid, and if the Koran was revealed in the manner asserted by Moslems, then of course that settles the matter, and we should all be very foolish not to become followers of Mohammed. If it is not valid, then the claim for perfection and finality falls to the ground.
In a sense Moslems themselves have perceived this difficulty, and have sought to base their practical religious life on two other elements vital to real religion: one of these is a personal example of the ideal way of life, and the other is a personal and direct experience of God possible to the believer. For the first they have idealized the life and character of Mohammed; and for the second they have introduced and popularized the teachings and practices of mysticism. The highest aim of the Moslem is to imitate him in
1 Mecca and Beyond, Ly Edward M. Dodd and Rose Wilson Dodd, p. 146. Boston, Central Committee on the United Study of Foreign Missions and Missionary Education Movement, 1937.
THE whom the one true religion was perfected, and to come into direct and personal contact with God through the exercises of the mystics.
In the last analysis, however, the real test of finality in any religion is whether it is actually able to meet the growing demands of life. If it can always keep ahead of man with its ideals, its principles, and its basic conceptions of life and the universe in which we live, then in truth it may be regarded as final. But if life should outgrow and go beyond the principles and ideals of any religion, then, of course, it will in time be classed among the antiquities—interesting but no longer useful. Islam must submit to this test. The question is, Can Islam meet such a test? The Moslem says it can.