Islam, Turkey, and Armenia, and How They Happened

Front matter

INDEX.

Chapter II.

Chapter III.

Chapter I: The Beginning of Islam or Mohametanism

CHAPTER I.

The Beginning of Islam or Mohametanism.

MOHAMET, THE FOUNDER OF ISLAM.

1. The parentage and traditions about the birth of Mohamet.—Mohamet was born in Mecca, Arabia, 569 A.D., of a noted parentage belonging to the tribe of Koreish. His father was called Abdullah "the Servant of Allah" (God), and his mother Emineh, "the faithful woman." So remarkable was Abdullah for his personal beauty and other qualities that, according to the Arabic traditions, on the day of his marriage with Emineh 200 virgins of the tribe of Koreish died of broken hearts.

Mohamet was the only child of this most envied family. His birth is related to accompany wonderful events. At the moment of his coming into the world a heavenly light enlightened the surrounding regions, and the new-born babe, raising his eyes to heaven, exclaimed: "Alláhu ékber; la iláhe íllallah, ve énna resúluhu." "Allah is the greatest; there is no deity but Allah, and I am his apostle." In that remarkable night the sacred fire of Zoroaster, which, under the care of Persian magi had burnt without ceasing for more than a thousand years, was said to have been extinguished suddenly, and all the idols in the world and the demons among the stars fell down. The river Tigris bursting its bounds, overflowed the neighboring lands; the palace of the Persian monarch shook to its foundation, several of its towers falling down, and the Judge of Persia saw in his dream a ferocious camel conquered by an Arabian courser.

2. The Childhood of Mohamet. His father died either before or shortly after his birth and the child when two months old was given by his relatives, after the fashion of the land, to a Bedouin nurse to be fostered in genuine desert life. On their journey from the city of Mecca to the tent of the nurse, the tradition says the animal which bore the babe, becoming endowed with speech, proclaimed aloud that it bore on its back the greatest of the Prophets and the favorite of Allah. The flocks of sheep and cattle bowed to him as he passed by, and the moon stooped towards him when he was gazing at it in his cradle.

He could stand alone, the tradition continues to say, when three months old; run abroad when seven; at eight months he could speak so intelligibly and fluently as to astonish all his hearers. At the age of three years, when he was playing in the field with the children of the nurse, two bright angels appeared before them, and taking hold of Mohamet laid him gently upon the ground, and opened his breast without causing any pain, and taking forth his heart washed it with snow from all impurities originated from Adam's sin, and after filling it with faith and wisdom and prophetic light replaced it in his bosom. Mohamet in his later life used to show the crescent-shaped scar of that angelic operation to his followers, who afterwards gave it the title of "the Seal of Prophecy." His nurse and her husband being frightened at this event, which they thought to be an epileptic fit caused by demons could not dare to keep the child any longer, so took him back to his kindred.

When six years old he lost his mother also, and was adopted by his grandfather, who died in two years, when the child was taken and protected by his uncle. It is supposed that the favorable disposition of the Mohametan law in regard to the widows' and orphans' rights was the result of this early bereavement of his parents and of the experience of an orphan's hard life.

3. The Young Mohamet and his Environment. In the house of his uncle, who was a wealthy merchant, and at the same time the chief guardian of the Kabeh—the most sacred temple of the Arab races from times immemorial—Mohamet was in contact with the commercial and religious leaders. The unceasing arrival and departure of the pilgrims from all parts of the land, and of commercial caravans from the southern and northern districts, caused Mecca to be the seat of a perpetual fair, where, besides the commercial enterprises, the popular traditions of Arabs were recited and various religions were discussed and enforced, and the heroism of the ancient chiefs and the beauty of fair women were sung by celebrated poets, and poetic contests were held before the people, and the poems to which the prize was awarded were re-written in golden characters and suspended in the Kabeh. All these were exciting events for the young Mohamet and carried his imagination to other parts of the country. At his youthful age and upon his hearty requests his uncle permitted him to accompany some of these caravans in their slow but delightful journeys. The careful observations he made on his way and the interesting tales he heard during his travels, and especially the free and detailed conversations he had with some Nestorian Christian monks residing in a secluded convent, which, being on the way of these caravans, showed great hospitality to them during their journeys from and to home, and other such coincidences, induced the mind of Mohamet to reform the paganish religions of his race by establishing a better system more similar to their original faith supposed to be founded by Abraham and Ishmael, the ancestors of the Arabian races. He was not in favor with the doctrines and practices of Christianity which was divided into various sects, all conflicting with each other and none corresponding with the primitive simplicity of the Apostolic church. He felt much opposition against Judaism of his time and country, calling it a subversion of the ancient religion of Israel, which he mentions very frequently in his later teachings.

4. The Beginning of the Mohametan Religion. While forming the design of a new religious system Mohamet was for years in the habit of retiring to a cave not very far from Mecca, and there spending days and weeks in silent meditation. According to some historians his isolation in that cave was not altogether for thoughtful planning, but was due to epileptic fits to which he was a victim from his childhood. The important crisis having at last arrived—not before his fortieth year, however—he supposed or pretended to have received the first divine communication in the solitude of the cave, where the archangel Gabriel appeared to him in human form, with a written revelation in his hand, which was in Arabic, and giving it to him commanded him to "read." Mohamet, his followers say, did not know how to read, but as soon as he looked over the "waraka" (the writing) he was endowed with a miraculous gift of reading and began to rehearse it fluently and eagerly. This was the first of 114 warakas which Gabriel brought him from time to time and on various occasions, and which, being compiled after the death of Mohamet, composed the book of the Koran.

On the day he received this first divine message he returned home, and at once broke to his wife the solemn news of supernatural visions and heavenly voices in his seclusion, and recited before her the "waraka" which he claimed to be conveyed to him by the archangel Gabriel, and invited her to accept this true religion and to become the first believer among his kindred and countrymen. Being unable to resist such a powerful exhortation, she immediately accepted the invitation and became the first proselyte among the future hosts of the Mohametan world.

5. The Rapid Progress of Islam. Mohamet's teachings, especially those that were against the idols of Kabeh, were very much opposed by his own tribe and kindreds. But owing to the circumstances of his time and country, namely, to the discord and corruption among the Christian sects, and the hostility between the proselyte Jews and the Christians, and to the adaptation of Islamic militio-religious system to the adventurous spirit of the Arab races, and to the sensual and avaricious nature of savage tribes, and to the absence of a mighty power to check its fury, this system was firmly established in Arabia "by the edge of the sword," and these local successes encouraged the followers of Islam to carry on their expeditions by the force and fire of the "Holy Wars" which burned all the surrounding countries, ruined and defiled the Christian churches, killed and enslaved the Jews and the Christians, until, in the short space of 80 years from the death of their prophet they could extend the Mohametan dominion from Egypt to India, and from Lisbon to Samarcand, thus waving the bloody banner of the "Crescent" over the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe. Had it not been for the bravery of Charles Martel Europe would have been overwhelmed by the torrent of Islam, and would most probably be covered with its gloom even unto this day. As an illustration of the rapid progress of Islam, so much would suffice to mention that in the fourth year of his mission Mohamet could only make 40 Proselytes, chiefly slaves and the people of the lower ranks, while towards the twentieth year of his ministry he entered the city of Mecca with 40,000 followers to perform pilgrimage in the Kabeh, the sacred temple that was already Mohametanized. The present number of Mohametans is estimated to be over 200,000,000.

Chapter II: The Koran, the Sacred Book of Islam

CHAPTER II.

THE KORAN, THE SACRED BOOK OF ISLAM.

1. The Asserted Supremacy of the Koran. Mohammetans confess four sacred books, Law of Moses, Psalms of David, Gospel of Jesus and Koran of Mohamet, with these two distinctions, that the Koran, being the last and the best of the revelations, is supreme and authoritative over the others, and that the present books, which Jews and Christians have in their hands, are not the genuine revelations given to Moses, David and Jesus; that the Jewish and Christian scribes intentionally corrupted them in order to conceal all indications about the Latter Day Prophet and his true religion. Hence they have no value as authoritative texts and no Mohametan need be led astray by them, as the substance of the original revelations is given in the book of Koran.

The original text of the Koran, they assert, exists upon a tablet co-existent with the throne of God and adored by the celestial hosts as "the Eternal Word." A copy of it, written with silver and golden letters, descended into the first heaven in the sacred month of Ramazan, and piece by piece communicated to Mohamet by the archangel Gabriel. Each letter of this holy book is said to contain ten thousand mysteries and unmeasurable virtues. Simply the heading of each chapter, "Bismilláh er rahmán errahim" (in the name of the most merciful Allah), being composed of 19 Arabic letters, is be to have sufficient power to dispel the evils of the 19 hours of the day, and united with five daily Mohametan prayers is able to keep the believer from the evils and troubles of a whole day. The mechanical rehearsing of certain passages is taught to be an effectual relief for certain calamities, a sure protection in sacred wars, a lucky success in all enterprises, and an assurance in gaining loves and favors.

2. The Sacredness of the Current Copies of the Koran. A non-Mohametan is not allowed to touch this heaven-descended book; even the Mohametans do not handle it without having first performed the ceremony of ablution—sacred washing. When European or American travelers go to the Turkish Museums at Constantinople and enter, for instance, into the Tomb of Sultan Mahmoud, they will find a Mohametan guide there ready to show and explain the articles of interest, among which are several copies of the Koran wrapped in elegant embroideries and put upon special stands in front of the tomb, both for adornment and for the spiritual benefit of that great Sultan. The guide opens them one by one and explains their authority and dates and estimated prices, always being careful that no infidel's hand shall touch them. If any of the visitors moves his hand toward the finely gilded pages he politely pushes it back, saying, "Please, sir, according to our belief it is not lawful to touch the sacred Koran without first performing the legal ceremony of ablution. I can not myself touch it without." The writer had the opportunity to examine the very fine pages and richly ornamented covers while the white-turbaned guide was busy in telling stories about the out-of-order "golden clock," which was presented to a previous Sultan by the Emperor Napoleon, and the heavy embroidered green curtains used many years in the "Sacred Kabeh," and forwarded to him as a compliment to his religious zeal; and the chest in which "the sacred beard" of the Prophet is still preserved, which no one is allowed to open but the Sultan himself when he comes to kiss the sacred relics kept in that magnificent shrine of white marbles.

Such a book of boundless mysteries and rich blessings can never be translated into other languages; hence the Arabs, the Hindoos, the Moors, the Persians, the Turks and the Albanians, all different races with different dialects, read it in the same original Arabic language with the strictest care of correct articulation. A great many learned people make it their life work to commit the whole Koran (a book about the size of the New Testament) to memory and rehearse it continually. Even the majority of the blind men among Mohametans learn the whole book by heart, and on various occasions are invited into the Harems to rehearse certain portions for their own interest and for the benefit of the household. They are called "Hafiz," the Preserver (of the ancient Word).

It is not an unusual thing to see a pious Mohametan sit before the window of his house, or even at his shop, and engage in repeating or reading his Koran in a monotonous tone and with continual vibrations of the upper part of his body, at the same time noticing all things about, having occasional talks with other, trying to catch the neighbors' customers, bargaining, joking, swearing, cursing, as the circumstances may demand, and yet trying to finish the portion he began to recite. The great majority can not read the Koran, but they are privileged to carry about them some portions of it written upon a narrow and very long piece of paper, and wrapped in cloth very tightly and put in a tin or silver case and hung around the neck. The Simple carrying of such a relic entitles the owner to the same blessings, and he is requested to take it out from time to time—once in a few years, for example—and hand it to a teacher and listen to his reading it. Many children, sleepless babies, idiots and even mad animals are furnished with such relics in order to be protected from "bad eyes" and possible injuries.

3. Bible Stories as Recorded in the Koran. By his accidental contact with the Christians and Jews Mohamet seems to have received some vague idea of the Old and New Testaments and the apocryphal and Talmudic writings of his time. The Mohametan so-called Bible story is full of mistakes, as it will be seen from the following examples:

The Story of Adam and Eve. After creating Adam God brought him into the presence of angels and commanded them to bow before this human being [the reason of this command will be given else ], Which they all have done except Azazil, one of the four distinguished archangels, who refused, saying, "Why should I, whom Thou hast created of fire, bow down to one whom Thou hast formed of clay?" For this offense and rebellion he was accursed and cast out of Paradise, and his name changed to Iblis, which signifies "despair." In revenge for his abasement he works all kinds of mischief against the posterity of Adam.

After eating the forbidden fruit, and being expelled from Paradise, which was in heaven, Adam was cast down to India and Eve to Jiddeh in Arabia, where they wandered alone 200 years without being able to find each other. On Adam's lamenting, God forgave his sin and led him to the districts of Mecca, where he found his wife, no more to separate. Eve gave twenty births, two children each time, one male and the other female. And God commanded each male to marry his next younger sister. Cain (they call Cabil) being disobedient to this divine order, wanted to marry the girl who was born with him. So God being displeased with him, did not accept his offering as He did that of Abel. Adam lived a thousand years and saw 40,000 of his descendants, after which he died on a Friday (the sacred day of the Mohametans) and was buried in the island of Serendib, Ceylon.

Seth, the son of Adam, being the most beautiful among mankind and a favorite of his father, received fifty pieces of revelation from God, and also built the Kabeh with stone and lime.

The Tradition about Kabeh, tle Holy Temple in Mecca. Adam one day, in the depth of his sorrow and repentance, raised his hands and eyes to heaven and implored the kindness of God that a shrine might be granted to him similar to that which he had worshiped while in Paradise, and around which the angels used to move in adoring processions. The prayer of Adam was heard and a tabernacle formed of radiant clouds which was lowered down by the angels. Toward this shrine Adam thenceforth turned when in prayer, and around it he daily made seven circuits in imitation of the angelic procession. At the death of Adam it passed away or was drawn up to heaven, but another of the same form and on the same spot was built of stone and clay by Seth. This was swept away by the deluge.

After many generations, when Hagar and her child, Ishmael, were near perishing from thirst in the desert, an angel revealed to them a spring of water near the ancient site of that tabernacle. This spring or well, called Zemzem, is held sacred by the descendants of Ishmael to the present day. In process of time, by the command of God, Ishmael undertook to rebuild the Kabeh, assisted by his father, Abraham. While they were thus occupied the angel Gabriel brought them a stone which was originally the guardian angel appointed to watch over Adam in Paradise, but changed into a stone and thrown out with him as a punishment for not being more watchful. This stone Abraham and Ishmael received with proper reverence and put it in a corner of the exterior wall of the tem , where it remains to the present day, devoutly kissed by worshipers each time they make a circuit around the building. When first inserted in the wall it was a single jacinth of dazzling whiteness, but became gradually blackened by the kisses of sinful mortals. At the resurrection day it will recover its angelic form and stand forth a testimony before God in favor of those who have performed the holy pilgrimage.

The Story of the Phrophets and Abraham. Mohametans accept 200,000 prophets or holy men, 313 of whom, being endowed by special pieces of divine revelation, are called the apostles or the messengers. Six of this latter class, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohamet, had preference over all by special mission to establish new religious systems among mankind.

Mohamet being the last and the greatest of this group of six is called "The Prophet of the Latter Days," "The Favorite of God," "The Glory of the Universe," "The Prince of Two Worlds," "The Seal of the Prophets,," "The Unique Pearl," "The Chief of the Apostles," etc.

Next in excellence comes Abraham, "Halil Ullah," the Friend of God, upon whose faith, they say, the religion of Islam was founded. They give preference to Ishmael, the patriarch of Arabs, over Isaac, the patriarch of Jews. Among the many Arabic traditions of Abraham the following is selected to be the fact related in the Koran: Abraham, a worshiper of the Almighty, was persecuted by his tribe and by his own family. One day the infidel king of his country, hearing about the heresy of young Abraham, summoned him into his presence and commanded him to give up the worship of God and worship the statue of his king, who was greater than God. Abraham not obeying his command was cast into a furnace of fire: which by the divine power was immediately changed to a shining glory. Seeing this miraculous heavenly light many unbelievers turned to God, but the haughty ruler was still more obstinate and insisted upon his supremacy over all gods. One day in a dispute Abraham said unto him, "Verily my God bringeth the sun from the east, now do thou bring it from the west if thou art equal to God." Upon this challenge the infidel was confounded and ordered Abraham out of his dominion. As soon as Abraham left the city a mighty wind was sent by God and destroyed it even to its foundations. When Abraham saw the city in this condition he deplored and thought in his heart, how shall God quicken this city. Then God caused him to die for a hundred years and afterwards raised him to life and said unto him, "How long hast thou tarried here?" He answered, "A day, or part of it." God said, "Nay, thou hast tarried here a hundred years; now look on thy food and drink, they are not yet corrupted; but look on thine animal, which is long dead and the bones scattered. See how I will raise them and clothe them with flesh." And He did according to His word. Then in order to make the doctrine of resurrection plainer to him he told Abraham to take four birds and divide them into pieces, and lay a part of them on every mountain and then call them together, which he did, and the birds being restored to life came swiftly unto him.

The Story of Jesus Christ. Mohametans regard "Isa el Mesih," Jesus, the Christ, with high reverence, and attribute his miraculous birth to the power of God, but condemn the Christians with utmost severity for calling him "God," or "the Son of God." Among the thousand and one Arabic names of divinity they never accept the title of "Father."

The outline of his life as taken from the Koran is as follows: Mary retired fro her family to a place towards the east, and took a veil to conceal herself from men. One day the angel Gabriel appeared unto her and said, "Verily I am the messenger of thy Lord, and sent to give thee a holy son for a sign unto men." Wherefore she conceived and retired aside to a more distant place. And when the pains of childbirth came upon her she reclined upon the trunk of a palm tree and cried, saying, "Would to God I had died before this and lost in oblivion!" When the child came she took him in her arms and brought to her people, who being unaware of all these things, with great contempt said unto her, "O Mary, sister of Aaron, now thou hast done a strange thing; thy father was not a bad man, neither was thy mother a harlot!" But she made signs unto the new-born child to answer them and tell the truth all about himself, whereupon he said "Verily I am the servant of God, he hath given me the book of the gospel and hath appointed me a prophet, and hath commanded me to observe prayer and to give alms so long as I shall live. Peace be on me the day whereon I was born and the day whereon I shall die and the day whereon I shall be raised to life." When Jesus was grown enough to begin his prophecy he took clay from earth and made it in the figure of a bird, and breathing thereon it became a living bird by God's permission. On another occasion he caused a table to descend unto his apostles from heaven, and the day of its descent became a festival day unto Christians. In one of his discourses Jesus is related to speak unto his followers that in latter days there will arise a greater prophet called "Ahmed," glorious (another title of Mohamet), and the world shall obey him. Mohametans assert that the Jewish and Christian scribes maliciously corrupted the books of law and gospel and took out the name of Mohamet from the original writings.

They never believe that Jesus was actually held, crucified and murdered by the Jews, but simply they were deceived by a divine trick in taking Simon, the betrayer, for Jesus, because God has given, him the resemblance of his master in order to punish him for his treason, and to annul the bad intention of the enemies while he took Jesus into heaven, whence he shall come in the last day to testify for Mohamet. In that day God shall say unto Jesus before all Christians, "O Jesus, son of Mary, hast thou said unto men to take thee and thy mother for two gods beside God?" He shall answer solemnly, "Praise be unto Thee! It is not for me to say that which I ought not; thou knowest what is in me. I have not spoken to them any other than what thou didst command me."

These few illustrations of the so-called Mohametan bible story will be enough to show that the illiterate founder of that false religion, partly misled, of course, by the apocryphal Christian writings of his age, tried to conceal his fraud by childish stories, by unnecessary details and wholly false representations, at the same time making gross mistakes in geographical and historical facts; e.g., he makes the prophet Elijah contemporary with Moses; Ishmael to have been offered in sacrifice instead of Isaac; Saul to have led the ten thousand down to the river bank instead of Gideon, and by the most monstrous error represents Mary, the mother of Jesus, to have been the same person with Miriam, the sister of Aaron and Moses!

4. A Few Quotations from the Koran. In order to get a clearer idea about. the moral character of this sacred book let us read some pieces from it. The first chapter reads as follows: "In the name of the most merciful Allah. Praise be to Allah, the Lord of all creatures, the most gracious, the king of the day of judgment. Thee do we worship, and of thee do we beg assistance. Direct us in the right way, in the way of those to whom thou hast been gracious; not of those against whom thou art incensed, nor those who go astray." For the sake of impartiality we have quoted one of the best portions, which any Mohametan himself would bring in favor of the Koran; but before giving any decision let us read some other portions, as

From the 2nd Chapter. "When the Lord said unto the angels, 'I will place a substitute on earth' (he referred to Adam), they said, 'Wilt thou place there one who will do evil therein and shed blood? but we celebrate thy praise and sanctify Thee.' God answered, 'Verily I know that which ye know not;' and he taught Adam the names of all things, and then proposed them to the angels and said, 'Declare unto me now the names of these things if ye say truth.' They answered, 'Praise be unto thee, we have no knowledge but what thou teachest us, for thou art knowing and wise.' God said, 'O Adam, tell them now their names;' and when he had told them their names, God said, 'Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of heaven and earth?' and when he said unto the angels, 'Now worship Adam,' they all worshiped him except Iblis, who refused and was puffed up with pride, and became of the number of unbelievers," etc. This is an example of illogical and objectionable stories with which "the Ancient Word" is full. God's resentful consultation with the angels, their knowledge about the future condition of mankind and at the same time their ignorance in telling the names of things; God's fraud in teaching Adam secretly, yet in showing the angels that he (Adam) knew the names himself, and thus gaining a false name for Adam, whom he decided to appoint a substitute in spite of the angels. These are some of the contradictions and blasphemous points.

Another example from the 56th Chapter. "Those who have preceded others in the faith shall precede them to paradise. These are they who shall approach near unto God; they shall dwell in gardens of delight, reposing on couches adorned with gold and precious stones, sitting opposite to one another thereon. Youth, which shall continue in their bloom forever, shall go round about to attend them with goblets and beakers and a cup of flowing wine; their head shall not ache by drinking the same, neither shall their reason be disturbed; and with fruits of the sorts which they shall choose, and the flesh of birds of the kind which they shall desire. And there shall accompany them fair damsels having large black eyes, resembling pearls hidden in their shells, as a reward for that which they shall have wrought. Verily we have created the damsels of Paradise by a peculiar creation, and we (God is the speaker) have made them virgins, beloved by their husbands, of equal age with them, for the delight of the companions of the right hand," etc. This is the sketch of the description of Mohametan Paradise, with which the sacred Koran is full.