The progress and arrest of Islam in Sumatra

Front matter

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Preface

OUR chief enemy, says Dr. Mirbt, as can be proved from the present state of the world-religions, is Islam. We must therefore meet it with altogether new strategy, we must hurl ourselves against it and take up the battle all along the line." No non-Christian religion is carrying on propaganda to-day to equal that of Islam. Moreover, does not the measure of a religion's propaganda indicate its living force ? How absurd it is, therefore, to regard Islam as already one of the dead religions of the world, and how important it is to study Moslem propaganda.

In many respects the Islam of the Near East may come nearer to the Moslem ideal than that of Eastern Asia, of which we shall chiefly speak in the following pages. The Koran is more widely known there, the knowledge of God is clearer, Mohammedan law and Mohammedan custom are perhaps better established there, but one thing is certain : Islam is displaying its real living power to-day not in the old Mohammedan lands, but among those peoples which have but recently fallen its prey. This has a natural explanation. The strength of Islam lies in propaganda. This has been the case in every age,

Islam has aggressive energy ; but it lacks the power to maintain and build up. The same Islam which carries on such propaganda at its outskirts, fails in the Near East, where much is rotten.

We should not under-estimate Islam's irresistible power ; but neither should we over-estimate it. Its strength, and also its weakness, lies in one-sided propaganda, as is proved by a survey of Islam in the Dutch

East Indies,

ix &

X PREFACE

We are, fortunately, well able to make such a study. In the first place from the researches of Dr. Snouck Hurgronje. In his two great works, The Achehnese and Mekka, he has established the fact that this Islam of the Far East has a significance of its own, from the closeness of its contact with the spiritual centre of the Moslem world, and I have naturally taken this famous scholar as my first authority for the description of the pilgrimage to Mecca. In my copious use of his observations, I would have the reader find a token of gratitude on my own behalf as also on behalf of Christian Missions in general, for he has rendered them also very great service.

But missionary literature on the Dutch East Indies also contains a mass of individual observations. Among many others at a later period we may here mention G. R. K. Niemann and Poensen, a missionary who afterwards became Professor. So that it was not without hesitation that I undertook the compilation of this work. My eleven years' service as a missionary in Sumatra from 1896 to 1907 left me no time for scientific work. I laboured at four Mission stations, to some extent under very difficult conditions ; extended itinerary tours obliged me to spend many a day in the saddle, or my narrow rowing boat, and many a night in Batak villages ; and long tramps through swampy virgin forests and across burning, grassy steppes do not brace the intellect.

However, this very coming and going brought me constantly into intimate contact with the different tribes of the Batak people and I was obliged to be always on the defensive -against Moslem propaganda. This unsettled life was forced upon me. What I have set down in my book is, therefore, what I myself have observed, although I have supported my own experience from a wide range of other people's observations, as far as possible in their original form.

The actual results of Missions to the Mohammedans of Sumatra can lay claim to special interest. To a large extent they are based upon the fact that the work is con-

PREFACE xi

nected with the strong flourishing church of the Heathen- Christian Bataks, which numbers some 117,000 members. The dormant Churches of the Near East have failed in the fight against Islam ; but the new pulsating life of the young Heathen-Christian Church is becoming more and more a menace to Islam. This is a hopeful outlook for the future. The death of the Church in the Near East brought new life to Islam. The Moslem community rose out of its crumbling ruins. The living power of our Heathen-Christian Church will, however, deal Islam a mortal blow. If God but grant us out there Christian communities filled with His Spirit and inspired by a living faith, then Moslem propaganda, rage and storm as it may to-day, must break into foam against this breakwater.

G. SIMON.

Contents

PAGE

Introduction

The " Heathen-Mohammedan " and Christian Missions — The PecuUar Relation between Animism and Islam — The Intellectual Difficulty of the Problem — The Danger to Missions at the Present Time . . . xix

Part I The Turning Of The Heathen To Islam

Chapter I Moslem Pkopaganda in the Dutch East Indies The Islamizing of the Dutch East Indies — Indians and Arabs — Java — Sumatra — The Batak Country — The Antipathy of the Heathen at first — The Imposing Impression of the Mohammedan — Forcible Measures — The Work of Conversion — Its Commercial and Religious Motives — Missionary Preaching . . 1

Chaptek II The Colonial Government Neutrality — Favoritism — Holy War — The Pan-Moslem Movement — The Sultan of Turkey — The Wavering Attitude of Europeans — Sympathies — The Furtherance of Islam by Colonial Institutions — The Native Officials — The Language — The Government School — Means of Commimication ..... 23

Chapter III European Civilization The New Age in Commercial Life — In Political Life — The Pan-Moslem Movement and Magic — Social Incentives — The Desire for Education . . . .36

Chapter IV God The Religious Lassitude of the Heathen — The Search of the Heathen after God — The Heathen Conception of God — Mohammedan Theology — Practical Significance of the Mohammedan's God — His Invincible Power and Arbitrariness — He is Fate — He is Indifferent — The Fear of Spirits is Transferred to God . 46

Chapter V The Gifts of God God as the Dispenser of Supernatural Powers (Magic) — The Connection with Animistic Magic — Moslem Magic, Sorcery, Witchcraft, Visions — Criminal Fea-

ziii xiv CONTENTS

PAGE

tures— Spiritualistic Ideas— The Veneration of Graves and Ancestors — Monotheism Overshadowed by Magic — Fatalism and Magic — Depreciation of the Idea of God— Opportunist Syncretism— Magic, the Bridge between Heathenism and Islam . . . .58

Chapter VI God's Repbesentatives Mediators between Men and Spirits (Gods) in Heathenism — The Prophet Mohammed — His Historical Personality — His Present Place in the Popular Mind — ^Mohammed as a Demi-God — ^Mohammed and the rest of the Prophets — Jesus — Angels and Saints — The Teachers — Their Social Standing as Court Advisers — Their Religious Standing as Mediators — Their Teaching — Their Influence upon the Life of the People — Their Influence upon the Conception of God . . 73

Chapter VII The Book of God The Arabic Koran is not Understood — But it Impresses the People — Has Divine Authority — As a Magical Book it casts a Cloud over God .... 89

Chapter VIII The Hereafter Death — Burial — The Resurrection — Judgment — Hell — Paradise — Hope for the Hereafter is not Foreign to Heathenism — But Islam Promises Increased Enjoyment of Life in the Hereafter — Hence the Power of Attraction — Yet Man Draws no Nearer to God . 96

Chapter IX Man's Surrender to God The Performance of Ritual, the First Religious Duty — The Creed — Prayer — Religious Taxes — Fasting — Pilgrimage to Mecca — Its Significance for the Pan- Moslemi Movement — The Performance of Ritual tends to Self-adulation — Establishes Discipline . .108

Chapter X The Preparation for the Hereafter Preparatory Exercises — Meals for the Dead — Gifts for the Dead — ^Works of Merit — Animistic Merit — Moslem Merit — The Teachers as Guardian Spirits in the Hereafter 134

Chapter XI

Mystical Exercises (Ratib, Zikr, Suluk) — The Significance

of Mysticism — Reaction against the Conception of

God — Animism and Mysticism — The Mystic's Desire

After God— The Mystic, The Ideal Moslem . 143

CONTENTS XV

Part II The Moral And Religious Condition Of The Heathen-mohammedan Page

Introductory

The Heathen does not remain the same when he becomes

a Mohammedan — Has he made Progress ? . .155

Chapter I Animism Islam does not Combat It — Therefore It is Caught in its Toils 157

Chapter II Fanaticism Surprising among Indonesian Peoples— Kindled by the Conception of God — The Conception of the Hereafter and the Pan-Moslem Movement — Also Fostered by Exaggerated Self-Consciousness — The Feeling of Weakness — And the Disillusionment Experienced in Islam 160

Chapter III The Moral Force of Islam It Lacks a Moral Ideal — Neither God, nor the Prophets, ^ nor Mecca, nor Paradise Present such an Ideal — Moral Principle Equally Lacking — Heathen Piety is Supplanted — Surrender to God implies Salvation by Works — Moral Teaching is Dead — ^The Confusion between Ceremonial and Moral Law is a Hindrance — Superficial idea of Sin— Moral Responsibility is Shifted on to the Teachers — Or not Realized at all on Account of Determinism . . . • . . .167

Chapter IV Islam and the Moral Needs of Heathendom Heathen Vice : Islam Forbids Alcohol, but does not Combat Opium or Untruthfulness — The Position of Women : Heathen Family Life Offers a Point of / Contact for Raising the People Morally — But Islam ^ Degrades Woman by Polygamy and Divorce — The Moslem Woman is on a Lower Level than the Heathen Woman 180

Chapter V Islam and Nationality Islam does Violence to National Feeling and the Vernacular — It Ohly Appears to Give Liberty to Individuals — In Reality it Enslaves Them to the Priesthood — In xvi CONTENTS

PAGE

the Observance of the Laws' about Food, it is Conscientious — Common Law Comes into Conflict with the Mohammedan Law of Islam.

Islam as a Factor of Civilization : the Individuality of the People and the Work of the Colonial Government must be taken into Account — Moslem Education has a Stupefying Effect — The Pan-Moslem Idea is Contrary to Civilization — The Tutelage of and the Exaggerated Hope set upon the Hereafter Life fosters Laziness — The Cruelty of Heathenism is Replaced by Hatred in the Name of God for all those of other Faiths — Egoism remains as strong as ever . 190

J

Part III The Conversion Of The Mohammedan To

CHRISTIANITY

Chaptek I

The Negative Attitude of Mohammedans They do not Want to Become Christians — The Christian is Considered Irreligious : There is no Understanding of the Spiritual Nature of Christianity — Intercourse with Irreligious Europeans.

The Christian is Considered Unclean : this Confirmed by some Christians' Manner of Life.

The Christian is Behind the Times : Because Christ is Superseded by Mohammed — Many Europeans Actually Esteem Islam Very Highly.

Christianity is False Doctrine — The Doctrine of the Trinity — The Worship of Images.

The Moslem is Satisfied : he has what Christianity has — But Christianity knows Nothing of Magic — Has no Visible Guarantees— The Triumphal Assurance of Islam— Christianity has Within it the Seed of Death— The Attitude of the Colonial Government has Sometimes Endorsed this Opinion.

No Fusion — Neither by NationaUzing Christianity —Nor by Emptying the Doctrine of the Trinity of its Content.

Islam not a ProUvangelism : it is not a " Schoolmaster " (7raiSa7U76!)— The Prophet Hinders the Apprehension of Christ— Other Moslem Conceptions (God, the Supernatural World, Law, Sin, Grace) also Render the Understanding of Christian Truth onlv the More Difficult.

The Disintegration of Islam : not Demonstrable— Although there is Ebb and Plow— The Modern InteUectual Movements Within Islam do not lead Men to the Gospel— Islam will have to come to Terms with Tl»em 209

CONTENTS xvii

PAGE

Chapter II The Undermining of Mohammedan Faith Revival of Animism — But Islam has a Deadening Influence upon the Animist.

Christian and Moslem Belief — The Promise of Islam not Fulfilled — Uncertainty Whereas the Christian has Assurance — Although he Rejects Mediators and Works of Merit and Relies on Christ Alone — Interest in Christ Awakened.

Fight for the Faith : the Assurance of the Christian not Levity — Rather his Moral Conduct is the More Strict — His Secret Sin is Overcome by the Power of Christ.

The Foundations of Belief : the Bible and the Koran — The Knowledge of Christ Founded upon the Word of God — This is Comprehensible and Coherent — Its Moral Purity and Simplicity — Those Who Preach the Word Live in Accordance with it — The Effect of the Word in Missionary Work.

The Object of Faith, Christ and Mohammed : Christ inferior to Mohammed — But the Gospels tell the Story of His Life — He Ministers to Others — Has a Corresponding Influence with Men — No Regenerating Influence Associated with Mohammed.

Christian Charity and the Uncharitableness of Islam — Moslem Uncharitableness Rooted in the Religion Itself — Christians Manifest their Love by Continual Readiness to Help — It Proceeds from Christ.

Christian Education and the Illiteracy of Islam : The Christian Elementary School Dispels the Halo of Islam as an Agent of Civilization — It Really Develops the Young and Breaks Down Prejudice — The Christian Teacher Stands out in Contrast to the Moslem Teacher by His Conciliatory Spirit — Even the Ordinary Christian can give a Reason for His Faith.

Christian Fellowship and the Moslem Community — Christianity Protects Nationality — It is not European — Christians become Members of the Universal Church — Christian Worship, Missions and the Organized Community Proves this — Mohammedan Fanaticism Languishes in Contact with Living Christians 246

Chapter III The Triumph of the Gospel Conversion : A Work of God — Connected with the Knowledge of Jesus — He is still an Active Personality — Because He is God, Man Trusts in Him, this is the First Modification of the Moslem Conception of God — God, the Omnipotent One, is Apprehended in Ckrist — but He is also the God of Yearning Love — xviii CONTENTS

PAGE

That Implies a Transformation in the Idea of God — All the More Closely does He Cling to Christ.

Salvation— The Study of the Life of Jesus Awakens the Sense of Sin — Not Without Secret Opposition — But the Futility of Human Achievement is Obvious — The " Freely " and " For You " is Thankfully Accepted Instead of what is ReUnquished in Islam — The Moslem Conception of God is thus Completely Transformed — God Makes Sacrifice of Himself.

Eternity — Jesus' Work of Salvation also Avails for Eternity — The Sensuality of the Moslem Outlook upon the Hereafter Testifies to its Earthly Origin — Christian Reserve Bears its own Hall-mark — Faith in Christ Cleanses the Eschatological Hope — Fantastic Exaggerated Ideas as to the Hereafter Yield to the Sober Apprehension of One's Duty in this Life 287 Chapter IV The New Life Faith in God — Fear, Fatalism and the Remnants of Animism Vanish — The Vision of the Father is no longer Obscured.

Communion with God — Man now Enters into Communion with God — Through Jesus, Who Rose from the Dead — The Worship of Saints and Spirits comes to an end.

The Prayer of Faith — The Inmost Soul of Man comes into Contact with God — The Outward Form is Non-Essential — Magic and Mysticism are done away with — God's Unapproachableness is Disproved by Experience.

Obedience to God — In Islam Obedience meant Passivity — Man is now Trained in Active Surrender to God — A Life of Cognition and Perception Awakens — The Fight against Sin begins — Many certainly Fail here, hence the Backsliders — The Living Forces of the Gospel are still Bound in many ways — Again and again Fear and Levity, Bondage to Law and Arbitrariness Prevent the Due Apprehension of Grace — Hence the Mohammedan-Christian is neither Superior nor Inferior to the Heathen- Christian— Both have their own Peculiar Hindrances to Overcome as regards Moral Standards ....... 307

Conclusion Mohammedan-Christians Need our Help as Brethren — The Conflict with Islam will mean Enrichment for Ourselves — It Compels us to Rise to the Fulness of Living Power in the Gospel of Christ— Islam Gathers up all the Religious Forces of the Non-Christian World to Point Mankind to God by a Way which Leaves Out Christ ...... 327

INTRODUCTION

ANY one who has tried to fathom the psychology of the Nature peoples knows how difficult it is for a European to grasp their mode of thought. The day is completely past when man in a state of Nature was pronounced barren of mind and his soul as deplete of content as his body is devoid of clothing. For the inner life of man in the state of Nature is saturated with religion : to understand the native, one must understand his religion. Animism. How strange this cult of souls and spirits seems to us. Moreover, the difficulties are increased twofold when the seeds of Islam have found their way into the soul of a heathen people. For Islam too is a strange world to us ; it is only with difficulty that we understand the Moslem Psyche even of the Near East, with which the age-long intercourse between the Near East and the West has brought us into contact and which is so much more akin to us than the Far Eastern type of mind. The new world of ideas introduced by Islam into heathendom is at first as incomprehensible to us as the old Animism ; and together they give rise to that new creation I have called " the Heathen Mohammedan. ' '

This peculiar blending of two conceptions of God and the Universe is what I wish to describe, because that type of Islamized native was the objective of my missionary work for eleven years among the Bataks of Sumatra, from 1896 to 1907, and such is the objective of all my fellow-missionaries' work among the Nature peoples which are either on the point of accepting, or have but recently accepted Islam.

XX INTRODUCTION

I can well understand that one's first impression of these people is that they are only heathen with a veneer of Mohammedanism, that their inner life is unaffected by Islam. The Heathen-Mohammedan meets the same fate as has long befallen the Nature peoples : his inner self is disposed of by simply pronouncing him in no way remarkable.

The mistake is easily explained. It requires more than superficial knowledge of uncivilized man to appreciate the changes wrought within him by Islam ; they are in part microscopic, but for that reason none the less worthy of the attention of the missionary and, as I believe, of the student of Colonial politics. Mortal diseases often begin with invisible changes in the human body, only to be diagnosed under the microscope.

Moreover, the Nature peoples under the influence of Islam receive but little sympathy. I personally understand this very well. My life-long desire has been to work among a people as nearly in the state of Nature as possible, but God has sent me again and again into the fight against Islam. In my last field. Eastern Sumatra, I did come into contact with heathen from the interior of Sumatra, with the inhabitants of North Samosir. How refreshing it was, after a long ride across the hot coast plain, at last to get up into the mountains and meet the fresh mountain breeze on the shores of the Toba Lake, 2,700 feet above the sea. And equally invigorating were the people themselves.

A missionary is certainly not likely to be accused of idealizing the heathen ; we generally meet the opposite reproach ; and yet, I found those heathen very attractive.

Of course, they are dirty, both outwardly and inwardly. But they are men cast in one mould. Their Animistic outlook and their life are uniform. Their religion is an unbroken whole. Just as their single tree trunk carries them quickly across the lake with amazing seamanship, just as their tiny, hollowed-out craft suits

INTRODUCTION xxi

them so picturesquely and is so handy for them, just as their handwoven garment clothes them so simply and is so practical, so it is also with their religious usage. Nothing is made a mystery. The heathen is an Animist and wants to be one. He deceives his spirits, and does not deny the fact.

How altogether different is it with the Mohammedan ! The whole man is rent asunder. His soul now nibbles at the old forbidden pap of Animism, now it boldly snatches at the sublimest problems of human thought which Islam has digested and of which it offers an extract to the Animist of the distant islands of the East. With his lips he emphatically renounces heathenism and inwardly his soul still dallies with heathen conceptions, hopes and fears.

There is a continual wavering between the old and new in the soul of the distracted man. This life seems pleasant, and yet it is to be despised because of the vision of the Hereafter. His religious zeal blazons itself abroad and he is consumed with acts of piety, but all the time he suffers from the old languor of fatalism, which does not satisfy the soul, and from an icy coldness which will not melt in the presence of the imperturbable Lord of Heaven, the new, distant, terrible God. Cringing flattery on the one hand, which, however, only serves to conceal the most outrageous arrogance. Smooth words full of respect for the gifted European, but carefully concealed behind them, the deepest contempt on the other hand for the unclean, accursed unbeliever. All this rends the Heathen-Mohammedan soul asunder. Just as, after the death of Mohammed, his teaching was preserved on rags, scraps of leather and fragments of camel shoulder-blades and all mixed up together, the present Koran emerging from the medley, so also is it with the soul of the Heathen-Mohammedan : it is confused, disordered, torn in pieces and replete with irreconcilable contradictions.!

Hence the difference of opinion : " They are simply xxii INTRODUCTION

heathen," say some ; " They are hopeless," say others, " they are really Mohammedans."

The difficulty lies in the fact that it is a case of conversion from one religion to another, both of which are strange to us. One has only to try and grasp the mental outlook of the heathen Animist and the Moslem conception of God to realize the difficulty of the problem. I can therefore only undertake to try and solve the problem ; but it is perhaps well that it should at least once be tackled.

We shall really get clear upon this matter only when there are converts from Mohammedanism who can describe their own conversion. Such are to be found in the Near East, e.g., B. John Awetaranian ; and in India, e.g., B. Imad ed Din ; but as yet there are none in the Indian Archipelago. And such as might describe from personal experience what happened within their inner self when they passed from Animism to Islam, we shall perhaps never find. For even among our Christian converts from Animism, we notice that they no longer understand their old religion, nor really ever have understood it. They may still preserve many remnants of Animism — and here lies the main work of all missions to Animistic peoples — but they have lost any understanding for Animism. For Animists who have gone over to Islam the experience is too immediate for them to be able to give us an insight into their development. Therefore, however difficult it may be for us to understand the Heathen-Mohammedan, we must endeavour to probe his secret for ourselves ; for the Heathen-Mohammedan is the most important objective of Missions to the Animistic peoples in the future.

Since Islam conquered the Sudan, it has pressed perpetually onwards in Africa. Missions in West and East Africa and also on the Congo have come into contact with it. Whether or not we are to carry on Missions among Mohammedans is an idle question nowadays.

It is we who are attacked. Already the flood-tide of

INTRODUCTION xxiii

Mohammedanism is swirling round the dam of many a Heathen-Christian community ; and Islam will write no tracts as to whether it shall attack us or not ; it will turn the battle against us wherever we seek to arrest its triumphal progress among the uncivilized peoples of Africa.

God has granted present-day Missions great success among uncivilized peoples. Among the Waganda, the Kols, the Alfuros in Celebes and the Bataks in Sumatra, great national native Churches have arisen during the last century. Islam is questioning our right of possession.

But not only that. We distinctly see the first signs of a great, new missionary epoch among the peoples at this level of civilization. Great conquests lie here before the missionary enterprise, movements of a religious, political and social character are preparing the way for Christianity. There is appearing however beside the Gospel its hideous counterpart, the Koran ; beside the missionary, the clever Moslem propagandist. Again we are realizing the terrible truth in modern Missions that Islam closes the door to Christianity in the very heathen hearts which have already opened gladly to receive it.

The conquest of the uncivilized races is a question we must inevitably settle with this mighty rival of Christianity. Let anyone who doubts the fact consider the Dutch East Indies. This flourishing Island Empire has fallen a prey to Islam simply and solely because Missions arrived too late. Last century showed what mighty kingdoms our Lord Jesus Christ might have conquered there, if Christians had come at the right time, namely, before Islam. In so far as the heathen were untouched by Islam, they flocked into the fold of Christianity.

And yet another reassuring experience justifies our basing a discussion of this problem upon missionary observation in the Dutch East Indies. In no other xxiv INTRODUCTION

mission field have Evangelical Missions met with such success among Moslems.^ This fact utterly disposes of the anxious fear even in missionary circles that Mohammedans are lost to the Gospel. The Gospel has enough for all ; even the soul of the Heathen-Mohammedan yields at last, if it is only brought into actual contact with the Gospel.

This fact should encourage and reassure us in face of the Moslem peril. Do not let us speak of the hopelessness of work among Mohammedans until we have seriously tried it. We need confidence. More than is desirable, Islam is beginning to prescribe the line of march for Evangelical Missions. Doubtless, we must succour first the peoples in immediate danger. But missionary work is also possible among those who have been already overtaken. May this prevent our undue haste. A people that has gone over to Islam is not on that account lost to the Gospel.

And further. The political revolution in the Near East has aroused enthusiasm in Christian Europe in a way that has warmed our hearts. We on the outskirts of Islam watch with anxious expectation what goes on at its centre. We would, however, emphatically impress upon Christendom that God long since set Missions at war against Islam, long before there were any Young Turks or New Persians. God, we know not why, introduced us into the Moslem world by this byepath, as it seems to us, and has pressed into our hand the battleaxe against this the most formidable enemy of His Kingdom. Come and see.

» In the Dutch East Indies we may reckon 35,000 Christian converts from Mohammedanism. It is impossible to give an exact figure ; the statistics of Christian converts from Heathenism and Mohammedanism in any mission field are seldom given separately.

PART I The Turning of the Heathen to Islam

Chapter I

MOSLEM PROPAGANDA IN THE DUTCH EAST

INDIES

ISLAM has had the missionary instinct from its cradle. The Koran is an admonition to all mankind (cf. Koran xxxvii. 87). Even the Prophet himself endeavoured to spread his teaching by peaceable methods beyond the confines of Arabia. The amazing expansion of Islam at the present time, extending as it does from Morocco to New Guinea, the growth of the Moslem missionary orders, its apparently irresistible advance in East, West and Central Africa, all go to prove that this mighty impulse has lost none of its original force down through the centuries.

Political conditions have doubtless obliged Islam to abandon its old missionary method of fire and sword. That it has nevertheless become a world religion shows that the message must have found a hearing among the nations. The present state of the Mohammedan world therefore raises this question : " Why does the heathen turn Mohammedan, and in particular, why and how does the heathen turn Mohammedan with no further incentive than his own desire ? " Let the Mohammedan propaganda as already closed and as still going forward in Indonesia to-day furnish the answer.

Indonesia did not receive Islam direct from Arabia, but by way of an intermediate people, the Hindus. Islam had reached India at the beginning of the eighth century. Its method of conversion was the sword. For five centuries the governing influence in India was in the hands of Mohammedan rulers ; at almost every court it was advantageous to turn Mohammedan. That nevertheless only one-fifth of the population went over to Islam testifies to the power of resistance in the Hindu religion. Long before Mohammed's time there had been active commercial intercourse between the Archipelago and India. The result of this intercourse was the founding of the Hindu kingdoms in Java. Later on Mohammedan Hindus also came and their doctrine met with peculiar success.