Chapter X: Arab Civilisation (1)

THE _KORAN_

The _Koran_ is held by the Mohammedans in the greatest veneration. The book must not be touched by anybody but a Moslem; nor even by a believer, except he be free from pollution. Whether the _Koran_ be created or uncreated, has been the subject of a controversy fruitful of the most violent persecutions. The orthodox opinion is that the original has been written from all eternity on the preserved table. Of this, they believe, a complete transcript was brought down to the lower heaven (that of the moon) by the angel Gabriel: and thence taken and shown to Mohammed once every year of his mission; and twice in the last year of his life. They assert however that it was only piecemeal, that the several parts were revealed by the angel to the prophet, and that he immediately dictated what had been revealed to his secretary, who wrote it down. Each part, as soon as it was thus copied out, was communicated to his disciples, to get by heart; and was afterwards deposited in what he called the chest of his apostleship. This chest the prophet left in the custody of his wife Hafsa. The present book was compiled, partly out of these detached scraps, and partly out of the memories of his companions.

When we consider the way in which the _Koran_ was compiled, we cannot wonder that it is so incoherent a piece as we find it; the book is divided into chapters; of these some are very long; others again, especially a few towards the end, very short. Each chapter has a title prefixed, taken from the first word, or from some one particular thing mentioned in it, rarely from the subject-matter of it; for if a chapter be of any length, it usually runs into various subjects that have no connection with each other. A celebrated commentator divides the contents of the _Koran_ into three general heads: (1) Precepts or directions, relating either to religion, as prayers, fasting, pilgrimages; or to civil polity, as marriages, inheritances, judicatures. (2) Histories--whereof some are taken from the Scriptures, but falsified with fabulous additions; others are wholly false, having no foundation in fact. (3) Admonitions: under which head are comprised exhortations to receive Islamism; to fight for it, to practise its precepts, prayer, alms, etc.; the moral duties, such as justice, temperance, etc., promises of everlasting felicity to the obedient, dissuasives from sin, threatenings of the punishments of hell to the unbelieving and disobedient. Many of the threatenings are levelled against particular persons, and those sometimes of Mohammed’s own family, who had opposed him in propagating his religion.

In the _Koran_, God is brought in, saying, “We have given you a book.” By this it appears that the impostor published early, in writing, some of his principal doctrines, as also some of his historical relations. Thus, in his _Life_, p. 16, we find his disciples reading the twentieth chapter of the _Koran_ before his flight from Mecca; after which he pretended many of the revelations in other chapters were brought to him. Undoubtedly, all those said to be revealed at Medina must be posterior to what he had then published at Mecca; because he had not yet been at Medina. Many parts of the _Koran_ he declared were brought to him by the angel Gabriel, on special occasions. Accordingly, the commentators on the _Koran_ often explain passages in it by relating the occasion on which they were first revealed. Without such a key, many of them would be perfectly unintelligible.

There are several contradictions in the _Koran_. To reconcile these, the Moslem doctors have invented the doctrine of abrogation--_i.e._, that what was revealed at one time was revoked by a new revelation. A great deal of it is so absurd, trifling, and full of tautology, that it requires no little patience to read much of it at a time. Notwithstanding, the _Koran_ is cried up by the Mussulmans as inimitable. Accordingly, when Mohammed was called upon, as he often was, to work miracles in proof of his divine mission, he excused himself by various pretences, and appealed to the _Koran_ as a standing miracle. Each chapter of the _Koran_ is divided into verses, that is, lines of different length, terminated with the same letter, so as to make a different rhyme, but without any regard to the measure of the syllables.

The Mohammedan religion consists of two parts, faith and practice. Faith they divide into six articles: (1) A belief in the unity of God, in opposition to those whom they call associators; by which name they mean not only those who, besides the true God, worship idols or inferior gods or goddesses, but the Christians also, who hold Christ’s divinity and the doctrine of the Trinity. (2) A belief in angels, to whom they attribute various shapes, names, and offices, borrowed from the Jews and Persians. (3) The Scriptures. (4) The prophets; on this head the _Koran_ teaches that God revealed his will to various prophets, in divers ages of the world, and gave it in writing to Adam, Seth, Enoch, Abraham, etc.; but these books are lost; that afterwards he gave the Pentateuch to Moses, the Psalms to David, the Gospel to Jesus, and the _Koran_ to Mohammed. The _Koran_ speaks with great reverence of Moses and Jesus, but says the Scriptures left by them have been greatly mutilated and corrupted. Under this pretence, it adds a great many fabulous relations to the history contained in those sacred books, and charges the Jews and Christians with suppressing many prophecies concerning Mohammed (a calumny easily refuted, the Scriptures having been translated into various languages, long before Mohammed was born). (5) The fifth article of belief is the resurrection and day of judgment, while about the intermediate state Mohammedan divines have various opinions. The happiness promised to the Moslems in paradise is wholly sensual, consisting of fine gardens, rich furniture, sparkling with gems and gold, delicious fruits, and wines that neither cloy nor intoxicate; but above all, affording the fruition of all the delights of love in the society of women having large black eyes, and every trait of exquisite beauty, who shall ever continue young and perfect. Some of their writers speak of these females of paradise in very lofty strains; telling us, for instance, that if one of them were to look down from heaven in the night, she would illuminate the earth as the sun does; and if she did but spit into the ocean, it would be immediately turned as sweet as honey. These delights of paradise were certainly, at first, understood literally; however, Mohammedan divines may have since allegorised them into a spiritual sense. As to the punishments threatened to the wicked, they are hell-fire, breathing hot winds, the drinking of boiling and stinking water, eating briers and thorns, and the bitter fruit of the tree Zakum, which in their bellies will feel like boiling pitch. These punishments are to be everlasting to all except those who embrace Islamism; for the latter, after suffering a number of years, in proportion to their demerits, will then, if they have had but so much faith as is equal to the weight of an ant, be released by the mercy of God, and, upon the intercession of Mohammed, admitted into paradise.

The sixth article of belief is that God decrees everything that is to happen, not only all events, but the actions and thoughts of men, their belief or infidelity; that everything that has or will come to pass has been, from eternity, written in the preserved or secret table, which is a white stone of an immense size, preserved in heaven, near the throne of God. Agreeable to this notion, one of their poets thus expresses himself: “Whatever is written against thee will come to pass, what is written for thee shall not fail; resign thyself to God, and know thy Lord to be powerful, his decrees will certainly take place; his servants ought to be silent.”

Of their four fundamental points of practice, the first is prayer. This duty is to be performed five times in the twenty-four hours: (1) In the morning before sunrise; (2) when noon is past; (3) a little before sunset; (4) a little after sunset; (5) before the first watch of the night. Previous to prayer they are to purify themselves by washing. Some kinds of pollution require the whole body to be immersed in water, but commonly it is enough to wash some parts only, the head, the face and neck, hands and feet. In the latter ablution, called _wodhu_, fine sand or dust may be used when water cannot be had; in such case, the palm of the hand being first laid upon the sand, is then to be drawn over the part required to be washed. The Mohammedans, out of respect to the divine Majesty before whom they are to appear, are required to be clean and decent when they go to public prayers in their mosques; but are yet forbidden to appear there in sumptuous apparel, particularly clothes trimmed with gold or silver, lest they should make them vain and arrogant. The women are not allowed to be in their mosques at the same time with the men; this they think would make their thoughts wander from their proper business there. On this account they reproach the Christians with the impropriety of the contrary usage.

The next point of practice is alms-giving, which is frequently enjoined in the _Koran_, and looked upon as highly meritorious. Many of them have been very exemplary in the performance of this duty. The third point of practical religion is fasting the whole month Ramadhan, during which they are every day to abstain from eating, or drinking, or touching a woman, from daybreak to sunset; after that they are at liberty to enjoy themselves as at other times. From this fast an exception is made in favour of old persons and children; those also that are sick, or on a journey; and women pregnant or nursing are also excused in this month. But then, the person making use of this dispensation must expiate the omission by fasting an equal number of days in some other month, and by giving alms to the poor. There are also some other days of fasting, which are, by the more religious, observed in the manner above described. The last practical duty is going the pilgrimage to Mecca, which every man who is able is obliged to perform once in his life. In the ceremonies of it they strictly copy those observed by Mohammed. A pilgrimage can be made only in the month of Dhul-Hija; but a visitation to Mecca may be made at any other time of the year.[b]

DOZY’S ESTIMATE OF THE _KORAN_

The book which contains the revelations made to Mohammed, and which is, at the same time, if not the most complete, at least the most trustworthy source of his biography, presents more peculiarities and irregularities than any other. It is a collection of stories, exhortations, laws, etc., placed side by side without attempt at chronological order or any other order. The revelations were seldom long, most frequently they consist of simple verses which were put into writing in Mohammed’s life-time, or simply entrusted to memory; for, as is proved by the genealogies and poems of paganism, which for long were only preserved by oral tradition, Mohammed’s contemporaries had a memory of marvellous power, as is generally the case with people who write little. Mohammed called every complete revelation _sura_, or “_koran_.” The former of these two words is Hebrew, and it literally means a series of stones in a wall, and thence the line of a letter or of a book; in the _Koran_, as we possess it, it has the wider meaning of a chapter. The word _koran_, properly speaking, is an infinitive, and means “to read, to recite, to expose”; this word is also borrowed from the Jews, who use the verb _kara_ (to read) especially in the sense of to study the Scriptures; but Mohammed himself included under the name _Koran_ not only each separate revelation, but also the union of several or even of all of them.

(From an old manuscript of the _Koran_)]

However, in the time of Mohammed no complete collection of the texts of the _Koran_ existed; and had it not been for the care of the first three caliphs it would have run a great risk of being forgotten. What reserves are needed in admitting the entire authenticity of the text of the sacred writings of the East! The example of the Jews shows this clearly. Already in the time of Mohammed it was known that the Jews had altered the text of the Old Testament in several places; they have been blamed for doing so, and the fact has been positively proved; at the same time in the history of Judaism itself reasons have been discovered for these alterations, which from a certain point of view appear necessary. The Mohammedans had not the same reason as the Jews for adding and altering; but that does not prove that they had no other reasons.

However that may be, and whatever may be the judgment which posterity will declare as to the greater or lesser authenticity of the _Koran_, it is quite certain that the arrangement of this book and its division into _suras_ or chapters is entirely arbitrary. And it could not be otherwise; an arrangement according to subject was quite impossible, for Mohammed often spoke in the same revelation of totally different things. Still less could a chronological order be followed: first, because Mohammed himself, in many places, added new revelations to more ancient ones; next, because in those times there was no one still living who knew the exact moment when each verse had been revealed. It was with perfect justice that, at this period, a man who was asked if the fragments of the _Koran_ were arranged in chronological order, replied: “Even if all men and all _jinns_ (demons) attempted it, they could not succeed.” So the length of the _suras_ was taken as a rule of the order to be followed, without keeping too strictly to it; the longest came first, then the one which was nearest in length, and so on; so that the last _sura_ is at the same time the shortest. The consequence is that revelations dating from very different epochs are now mixed without order, so that a similar confusion is found in no other book; and this, above all else, makes the reading of the _Koran_ so difficult and so tedious.

For believing Moslems the _Koran_, that is to say God’s Word which has not been created, is the most perfect book which exists, both in matter and form, and this opinion is what it should be in the natural order of things; but it is somewhat strange that the prejudice of the Moslems should have had more influence on us than would have been expected. The pompous rhetoric and the so frequently foolish accumulation of metaphors which are to be found in the Meccan _suras_ have been taken seriously for poetry and admired in consequence; the style of the whole book has been considered a model of purity of language. It is difficult to argue on the question of taste; every man has his private opinion on this matter, and he can seldom be persuaded to change it. But if we must give our own, we must confess that, among the more famous of ancient Arab books, we know none so wanting in taste and originality, so exceedingly prolix and wearisome as the _Koran_.

Mohammed was not able to compose in verse, an art of which nearly all were masters at that time; so he did not speak in verse, and he even had a marked aversion for poetry. His taste was extremely peculiar; he preferred very mediocre poets who could express pious thoughts in bombastic verse, to the greatest Arab poets who were still living or who had only lately died. Generally speaking he was opposed to poetry, and very naturally; for it was the true expression of the former joyous life of paganism. He was therefore forced to employ rhymed prose for his revelations, which consists in using short sentences, two or more of which rhyme together. In the oldest _suras_ Mohammed closely followed the rules of this style of writing so that they resemble the oracles of the old Arab soothsayers; later on however he neglected them more and more, made sentences longer than they should have been, and took many licences with the rhyme which, far from being attractive, are real blemishes. If they were found in any other book than the Word of God, they would have been severely criticised.

Moreover, he was not master of the language, which partly explains the frequent repetitions to be found in the _Koran_. Mohammed had much trouble in composing; he seldom found at once the right word to express his thought; so he tried all methods, and hence it is that in the _Koran_ the same ideas recur continually and only the expression changes. The _Koran_ is crowded with degenerate words, borrowed from the Jewish, the Syrian, and the Ethiopian languages; the Arab commentators, who knew no other language than their own, wearied their brains in trying to explain them, without succeeding, however, in finding the true meaning. Moreover the _Koran_ contains more than one infraction of the rules of grammar; and if these are less noticeable, it is because Arab grammarians, wishing to justify them, made these errors into rules or exceptions to the rules.

The _Koran_ had, moreover, very little influence on Mohammed’s contemporaries. The Arabs had reached a very high degree of civilisation and of development--I refer to intellectual and not to material civilisation; while Mohammed was a mere enthusiast, like many others elsewhere--a fanatic, who was surpassed in understanding, science, intelligence, and even in morality by more than one of his fellow-citizens. The greater number of his contemporaries were indifferent to his pious effusions. And, in short, to find the _Koran_ fine and sublime, faith must first have stifled common sense. The majority of the nation had not yet reached that stage. So the conversions one reads of which are attributed to certain passages of the _Koran_ belong chiefly to the domain of pious legend and not to history; history, in fact, teaches that the multitude knew little or nothing of the _Koran_, and that they were moreover not at all anxious to know it.

DOCTRINE OF ISLAMISM

There is no religion less original than Islamism. It has as base Hanifitism and Mosaism as it was developed under the influence of Parseeism, together with facts borrowed from the ancient Arabic religion and Christianity, with the additional dogma that Mohammed is the greatest and the last prophet of God. That was the sum of the system preached by the Meccan prophet.

The _Koran_ contains no deep thoughts, no poetic theories depicted in sublime and moving language. It does not try to resolve great problems by clothing them in a borrowed symbolic form. Islamism is certainly the most prosaic and monotonous of religions, and at the same time the least susceptible of modification and development. How explain this phenomenon? By the very character of the Arab people, who, in effect, hold specially to the positive. They seek even poetry in the form rather than the substance; and, everything taken into consideration, they rather resemble a developed and reasoning people of the nineteenth century than an ancient nation, still animated by the poetry of youth which other religions have produced.

Again, Mohammed counts for much. He was not a profound thinker, but an enthusiast of mediocre talent. Far from aspiring to originality, his great glory was to avoid it, since he never ceased repeating that the doctrine he preached had been announced from all time by prophets of old. There is a third reason still which must not be lost sight of: In other countries religion developed gradually--it was not the founder who wrote, but his disciples; thus each author imprinted more or less his individuality on his book, and this circumstance, which naturally excludes uniformity, imposed on future ages the duty of not keeping to the letter but entering into the very spirit of the text. There was nothing of this kind in Arabia. There, a single man regulated everything--faith, customs, even the law. The _Koran_ is a book made by one man who exposes the immutable will of God. Islamism has thus a great fixity. One knows not how to contest it; but, far from being a cause of satisfaction, this must be deplored; for continual progress is a task imposed on humanity.

The laws of the _Koran_ still flourish and will do so as long as Islamism exists. That they were good for those times, and then constituted real progress, may be admitted without difficulty. But the laws of Charlemagne were just as excellent for their epoch; yet where would now be all the people over whom he reigned, had they been condemned always to preserve and follow these laws? Would not progress have been impossible for western Europe? The legislation of the _Koran_ hardly enters into the scope of our subject, and we will keep to its doctrines. It has been so often analysed, and moreover presents so little originality, that we shall make a very rapid survey of it.

The unity of God is the first article of faith; the second, the divine mission of Mohammed. The God of Mohammed resembles the Allah Taala of the primitive Arabic religion, the Jehovah of Mosaism, and the Ahuramazda of the Parsee monotheist not yet corrupted. The story of creation is borrowed from the Jews. The jinns of primitive religion have been preserved, transformed into angels and demons. That is what Zoroaster did with regard to the Indian divinities, the devas. It is forbidden to honour the angels, they are perishable and will die in the day of judgment. The arch-fiend also has the Hebrew name of Satan and the Greek one of Iblis (Diabolos); but as Ahriman of the duallist Neopardism has never taken his true signification in Judaism, the idea the _Koran_ gives of the arch-fiend and his subjects is more Christian than Jewish. However, Mohammed diverges in one point from church doctrine--the impossibility of converting devils. According to him devils may be converted, and he himself has converted many.

The revelations of God are worked by means of prophets and holy books. Each period has its revelation which God modifies according to the needs of the time, and this idea, beautiful in itself, would be fecund if Mohammed had not given his revelation as the last and most perfect. Adam had already received the gift of prophecy, and the number of prophets was not inconsiderable, seeing they were ordinarily reckoned at 124,000, but the six greatest are Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed. The _Koran_ admits the miraculous birth of Jesus--for brevity’s sake we will not speak of all the others--but he was not the Son of God but a man in the proper sense of the word, and witnessed in speaking of himself that he was only a servant of the Divinity; he declares that not he but God alone is omniscient. On the judgment day, Allah will say: “Oh, Jesus, Son of Mary, hast thou said to men, place my mother and myself as gods by the side of God?” And Jesus will answer, “Far be the thought from me; how can I pretend to a name which does not belong to me?” It is not so clearly seen whether the _Koran_ admits the Ascension. As to miracles, Jesus did a great number, even when his mother was still feeding him, and later he raised the dead, etc. To crown all, it was not he who was crucified, but a man whom they took for him. The principal object of his doctrine was, like that of all prophets, to announce the unity of God.

Man has five great duties to fulfil. He must admit the two principal dogmas of Islamism, pray, fast, give alms, and go on pilgrimage to Mecca. These duties are called the Pillars of Islamism. According to the revelation made to Mohammed when he journeyed to heaven, and which is not noted in the _Koran_ (for this book only orders prayers three times a day), all believers ought, after having gone through the prescribed purifications, to pray at a given time for five minutes each day, by preference at the mosque. Mohammed is a great deal more occupied with the ceremonies of prayer than with the prayer itself, for there are designated passages of the _Koran_ and consecrated formulas to be recited; so there can be no question of spontaneous prayer, and if in the Moslem countries the degenerate cult consists in a mechanical movement of the lips, the fault to a large extent must be attributed to the prophet himself. The attitudes, gestures, inflexions of the head and body are exactly regulated by Mohammed himself, and even more by theologians who came after. On Fridays there is gathering for common prayer, but the day is not a time of repose like the Jewish Sabbath or the Christian Sunday. With the exception of prayer-time, each follows his daily occupation.

Fasting is prescribed for the whole month of Ramadhan. It is only after sunset that eating and drinking are permitted. Mohammed decreed this law at Medina, in a time when the fixed lunar year was still followed--that is, when the solar year was made up by the intercalation of a supplementary month; consequently the month of Ramadhan regularly fell in winter. But when afterwards Mohammed had established the vague lunar year and the month of Ramadhan fell by chance in summer, it was a severe trial not to dare to take a drop of water all through the long and stifling summer day. It is not astonishing, then, that the Moslem is generally morose and bad tempered during the fast and awaits its end with impatience. But, once over, there is celebrated on the first day of the month of Khauwal, the most joyous fête known to Islamism, that of the fast-breaking (_aid-al-fitr_) or “little fête” (the little _bairam_ of the Turks), which, in certain countries, lasts three days. The fifth great duty, which all Moslems of age and free, and of no matter which sex, have to accomplish once in a life-time is the pilgrimage to Mecca.

THE PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA

This pilgrimage was borrowed from the ancient religion with all the ceremonies which accompany it, although they have been modified in some respects and received a touch of Islamism. In spite of their great antiquity, they were not much observed by Arabs in the time of Mohammed except mechanically. But, as Islamism retained them, it was necessary to justify them.

When Adam had been driven from the terrestrial paradise and sent into the world, he lamented to God: “Alas! I shall hear no more the angels’ voices.” “That,” said God, “is the result of your sin. But build me a temple and walk around it thinking of me as you have seen the angels do around my throne.” Adam arrived in the neighbourhood of Mecca, and laid there the foundations of the holy temple whilst the angels, aiding him, brought large blocks of rock from five mountains. It was on to these foundations that the temple itself descended from heaven. Adam also received from paradise a tent formed of red hyacinth, in which the place of repose was the angular stone. Also a white hyacinth, only blackened because sinners had touched it. This is the famous Black Stone.

At the time of the deluge both temple and tent were taken up to heaven, but the Black Stone was hidden in the mountain of Abu Kobais, which is near Mecca. Afterwards the spot where the temple had stood remained known to men and was visited as a sacred place. It was there, in fact, that Abraham came with Hagar and Ishmael and left them to their fate. The water which Hagar had brought being soon exhausted, she and her son suffered greatly from thirst. As far as her eyes could see there was no living being near. So to get a wider view she climbed Mount Safa, then the Merwa heights which are opposite, but still saw no one. On returning she found her son dying of thirst. Not knowing what to do, she returned in haste to the two hills, and in her misery ran several times from one to the other. When in desperation she returned, there was water bubbling near her son. She hastened to pile sand round that it should not escape before she had filled her pitcher; then she and her son drank. This spring ran in that place where the wells of Zemzem were afterwards dug.

When on a visit to Ishmael, Abraham told him that God had ordered him to build a temple in a certain spot; father and son set immediately to work, and in digging came across the old foundations laid by Adam. Abraham wanted to set in one of the angles a recognisable stone to mark the spot where the procession should begin round the temple; but while Ishmael was seeking a suitable stone the angel Gabriel brought Abraham the Black Stone, which he had been to fetch from Mount Abu Kobais. Abraham took and placed it in the angle. When the wall was too high for him to reach up he mounted on a big stone which Ishmael placed before him and removed when necessary.

The temple finished, both father and son on Gabriel’s order walked round it seven times, carefully touching the four corners each time. Then, bowing twice, they prayed behind the large stone on which Abraham had stood. Gabriel also taught them the rites which they had to accomplish in other sacred spots. First they had to hurry rapidly seven times on the path between the two hills of Safa and Merwa, in memory of the journeys Hagar had made in her agony. Then he led them to the valley of Mina; but on their arrival the devil (Iblis) showed himself. “Throw something at him,” said Gabriel. Abraham obeyed by throwing seven little stones, upon which Iblis went away. In the middle and at the foot of the valley he was seen again, but each time Abraham drove him away with little stones. Thence arose the custom of throwing stones in the Mina valley during the pilgrimage. But when, led by Gabriel, he had also visited Mozdalifa and Arafa and learned what ceremonies there were to be performed he received orders to tell all men they were to go on a pilgrimage to the Kaaba and other sacred spots. “My voice cannot reach to them,” he answered. “Do what I command you,” then said God; “I know what to do so that they may hear.”

Abraham stood up on the big stone, and it rose so high that it was above all the mountains. Turning himself successively to the four cardinal points, he cried, “O men, a pilgrimage to the ancient house is ordered. Obey your Lord.” Then from all countries came the answer: “_Labbaika, Allahomma, labbaika_;” which means, according to the explanation which the Arabs love to give to this old formula: “We are ready to serve thee, O God, we are ready.” It is in perpetual memory of this fact that the print of Abraham’s feet have remained on this stone. Even to this day it is called Makam Ibrahim or “Abraham’s station.” This is how the theologians, aided by a well-known story in Genesis and a Jewish legend which speaks of Abraham making a journey into Arabia, came to resolve the difficult problem of making very old customs agree with the new religion and explain it. The explanation has not satisfied everyone, but it has sufficed for the majority, and must certainly be praised for its ingenuity. Being acquainted with what the majority think about pilgrimages and the meaning they set on ceremonies, we will here give a brief description of these customs:

First when the boundaries of the sacred territory are crossed and the pilgrim is purified, the ordinary clothes are doffed and the pilgrim’s garment or _ihram_ is put on. This is composed of two pieces of linen, wool, or cotton; one tied round the loins, the other thrown over the neck and shoulders so as to leave bare a part of the right arm. All head-dress is forbidden, save for old men and invalids, who have to purchase this dispensation with alms. Instead of shoes sandals are worn, or the upper part of the boot is cut away so as to form a kind of sandal. The _ihram_ for women is composed of a mantle and veil.

On the seventh day of the month of Dhul-Hija, the fête is opened by a sermon which the kadi of Mecca delivers after the midday prayer, and in which he reminds the worshippers of the ceremonies they have to accomplish. On the eighth all repair to Mina, arriving there after a slow walk of two hours. The journey continues to Mount Arafa, which is six hours’ march from Mecca. It is on this sacred mountain and in the long valley, that the night is passed, but very few think of sleep. The devout pray aloud, the others sing joyful songs, or pass the time in the cafés. The grand ceremony at Arafa consists in a long preaching which begins on the ninth at three in the afternoon and continues till sunset. This is regarded as so important that those who have not heard it, even if they have visited all the sacred spots in Mecca, cannot pretend to the title of _haji_ (pilgrim). The preacher, who is generally the kadi of Mecca, is seated on a camel and reads his sermon in Arabic. Every four or five minutes he stops and raises his arms to implore the benediction of heaven. During this interval the audience flap the folds of their pilgrim’s garment and make the air resound with their cries of “_Labbaika, Allahomma, labbaika_.” According to the law the preacher must show visible signs of emotion, so he seldom ceases wiping his eyes with his handkerchief. The audience must also be deeply moved, recognise their deep sinfulness, and shed abundant tears.

When at last the sun has set behind the mountains, the preacher closes his book and the pilgrims run with all their might towards Mozdalifa. A scene of indescribable confusion arises, for everyone runs as hard as he can, and the caravans from different countries make it a point of honour to arrive first at the destination. Foot-travellers, litters, camels are always being knocked over, there is fighting with sticks and other weapons. At night there is a magnificent illumination, “so grand that one might imagine that all the stars from heaven had come down to earth.”

On the tenth is the greatest fête of the year, the “day of sacrifice,” or the great _bairam_ of the Turks. At daybreak the kadi delivers another sermon of the same kind as that of the previous day, except that it is shorter; then the prayers for the fête are read, and when finished all go slowly to the narrow Mina valley, where there is a village. There they begin to throw stones about the size of a kidney bean, which, strictly, ought to have been picked up at Mozdalifa. But many get them in Mina or use them a second time, although this is forbidden by law. The first seven little stones are aimed against a species of pillar or altar of rough stone which is at the entrance of the valley, in the middle of the route, and which measures six or seven feet in height. Then seven stones are thrown in the middle of the valley against a pillar of the same kind, and seven more at the western end against a stone wall. At the same time they cry: “In the name of God! God is great! We throw stones to be safe against the devil and his hosts.”

After this the sacrifices begin. The pilgrims immolate the victims they have brought; and all Mohammedans, in whatsoever part of the world, sacrifice at the same time. That, generally speaking, ends the pilgrimage. The pilgrims’ robes may now be doffed, everyday clothes resumed, and many return to Mecca to make a tour of the Kaaba. But ordinarily a stay of another two days is made at Mina, and stone-throwing is recommenced. The eleventh is the day of rest, and a return to Mecca is made on the twelfth. The pilgrim goes to the Kaaba, which in the interval has received its new veil, says some prayers, stands in front of the Black Stone, touches it with the right hand or kisses it, if not hindered by the crowd, and begins the seven tours, the first three being made rapidly. To each tour belong certain prescribed prayers to be said; at the end of each one he again touches or kisses the stone. Then, asking pardon for his sins, he goes to the station of Abraham, which is quite near, and prays again. Thence he goes to the sacred well of Zemzem, from which he drinks as much as he wishes, or as much as the crowd permits; finally he runs seven times rapidly from the Safa to the Merwa hill. This done, he has accomplished all the ceremonies, which are so regulated as to their least details that few pilgrims know them by heart. The strangeness of these ceremonies has even struck some pious Moslem theologians who do not put very great faith in the legends. They admit that the act of walking round a temple, running swiftly between two hills, throwing little stones, etc., does not increase piety; but they get out of the difficulty by saying the ceremonies are a sign of divine wisdom, impenetrable to our weak understanding, or a trial of man’s submission to the mysterious and incomprehensible will of God.

We can pass over the other moral duties imposed by the Moslem religion, for morals do not vary much in any religion. There is just one peculiar duty, the holy war, of which we will say a few words.

THE HOLY WAR

European opinion for a long time has not been exact. The _Koran_, if its sequence of ideas is well studied, gives no order relative to this war against all infidels; and Mohammed, to begin with, shows himself extremely tolerant, admitting the possibility of salvation for all those who believe in God and the last judgment and practice virtue, whatever may be their form of worship. But the opposition he met with modified his way of looking at things, and it was then that Islamism became the only religion that could save. Nevertheless the holy war is not imposed as a duty except and only in the case of enemies to Islamism being the aggressors. Only an arbitrary interpretation by theologians can take the orders otherwise.

Another equal error is to think that Islamism has been propagated by force. Political power, certainly, has been extended in that way, not religion. The caliphs, far from seeking to make proselytes, for reasons of pecuniary interest saw with much displeasure the conversion of conquered peoples.

Mohammed also forbade games of chance and wine. As events then stood, he had to ask for all in order to obtain anything. The Arabs were great drinkers and took a certain pride in being so. Even among Mohammed’s disciples at Medina there were those who came drunk to the mosque. It was then necessary to agitate against drunkenness, and as warnings on the subject of this abuse of wine did not produce any effect, he forbade it altogether. Omar sanctioned the prohibition by adding the penalty of the whip. The success has not been great. All the time Islamism has existed wine has been drunk, a great deal of it, indeed; only, out of respect for the law, it has not been done openly. The alimentary laws are much less rigorous than with the Jews. Pork, for which moreover the Arabs had a repugnance, has been forbidden, and as the use of fat generally causes fearful and hideous diseases in hot countries, it must be recognised that the prohibition in question is a very wise law in Eastern religions.[c]

ARAB CULTURE

In the Middle Ages the Arabs were the sole representatives of civilisation. They opposed that barbarism which spread over Europe, shaken as it was by invasions of northern peoples, and went back to “the perennial source of Greek philosophy”; far from resting content with acquired treasures, they enlarged and opened up new ways to the study of nature.

Wars of invasion, scarcely interrupted by civil discord, far-away expeditions, and striking triumphs, filled the first century of the Hegira. Even in 760, after the fall of the Omayyads, there was no evidence that to the tumult of arms would succeed in the caliph empire a period noted only for intellectual progress. But under the Abbasids a noble emulation, and above all the example and protection of the sovereigns, dissipated the ignorance and coarseness with which the disciples of Mohammed were justly charged. Men’s minds were permeated with new ideas, a number of writings of all kinds sprang into existence and in their turn gave birth to an infinity of others, which made Arabic the medium of learning for the East and all the Moslem states. Nearly all these writings are still extant, and form one of the vastest literatures ever known.

To the caliph Abu Jafar al-Mansur belongs the credit of the first impulse given to the study of exact science. Among the confused and incomplete traditions that exist concerning the ancient Arabs, one catches a glimpse of notions of practical astronomy. The spectacle of the heavens had attracted their attention, as it does that of all peoples enjoying a mild climate and clear air, although without invariably inspiring to consideration of the celestial laws. All that they had gathered in their intercourse with surrounding nations was a knowledge of the names of planets and certain stars, which they deified, an exact indication of the dwellings in the moon, and purely astrological learning. They went by the lunar year, but it does not appear they had ever tried to mark time by eras and epochs in general usage. Thus it is almost impossible to establish a regular order in the long series of facts which make up the Arabian annals, until that epoch when a timely revolution broke up the various beliefs of its nomad populations, writing them under the law of the _Koran_ and developing new desires.

“The Arabs,” says Humboldt,[d] “were admirably adapted to the rôle of mediator and to influence the peoples included in the area between the Euphrates and the Guadalquivir and the southern part of central Africa. They possessed an unexampled activity which marked a distinct epoch in the world’s history, a tendency opposed to the intolerant spirit of the Jews, which led them to mingle with conquered peoples without always abjuring their national character or traditional remembrances of their native country, and this in spite of a perpetual change of land. Whilst the German races did not acquire polish until a long time after their migrations, the Arabs brought with them not only their religion but also a perfected language and a wealth of poetry, which was not to be forever lost but was to be found again among the troubadours and minnesingers of Provence.”

M. Girault de Prangey[e] has studied carefully Arab art, and compared the architectural monuments of Spain and the East. In the peninsula he distinguishes three successive epochs. The first, from the eighth to the tenth century, shows a badly disguised imitation of Christian and Roman buildings. The mosque of Cordova is doubtless in the same style as that of Damascus, which it surpassed in magnificence. There is no doubt that the churches described by Eusebius of Cæsarea,[f] with courts, porticoes, fountains, and priests’ lodgings, served as models for the mosques of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. Byzantine mosaics are found in them. But already in 965 a sumptuous Greek ornamentation seemed insufficient. Details were multiplied, arches were complicated with festoons and varied curves, such as one sees at Cordova in the Villaviciosa chapel constructed in the caliphate of Hakim.

The second epoch, from the tenth to the twelfth century, marks the first development of that Moorish architecture encouraged by the Almoravid and Almohad princes. The Arabs then strayed from the beaten path. The ogee arch, porcelain mosaics, fantastic embroideries, ornaments run in stucco, became fashionable. Inscriptions abounded and became part of the decorations.

Finally the third epoch, when Arab art attained its apogee, was contemporary with the splendour of the kingdom of Granada. The Alhambra is the highest expression of it. The exterior of the palace, so simple yet imposing, is in conformity with the Moorish habit of hiding from the eyes of strangers. The entrance is only an immense arch decorated with some emblems and an inscription recording the founder’s name. The walls are of a species of mortar mixed with little pebbles which glint in the sunlight. In the interior, on the contrary, man’s genius has expended its utmost resources. Vast painted and gilded galleries, adorned with arcades of every shape cut up with festoons, in stalactites, and loaded with stucco open-work, the rooms lighted by uncasemented windows, the Ambassadors’ hall, that of the Two Sisters, the Infantes room, the Comares tower, the court and fountain of Lions, the Alberca court, below which are baths modelled in the ancient style--all offer admirable effects. Here water gushes among millions of beautiful little columns isolated or grouped picturesquely, there it flows in marble trenches, now forming cascades, now jets thrown in spray to feed the basins in the patios surrounded by shrubs and flowers. Everywhere inscriptions skilfully combined with sculptures express noble and elevated sentiments, adding fresh charm to the marvel of a palace which Christian kings partly destroyed.

The interior ornaments of the principal halls of this ancient residence of Moorish kings are in plaster. The fashion of the relief is geometrical, and although constantly repeated has none the less beauty and delicacy. The paintings, artfully distributed and protected by the Andalusian climate, are to-day as they were in the times of the Abencerrages. In some of the halls which surround the court of Lions the colours put on by the Arabs still retain their lustre. They are very pure, composed only of reds, blues, yellows, and greens. In a recent analysis the blue and red matter was found to be of ultramarine and vermilion or sulphate of mercury.

It is, moreover, to be regretted that a general study has not been made of the Arabic buildings in Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, and even India, of the different epochs of Arabic rule. It would offer peculiar characters useful in an exact determination of style. We have reason to hope that skilful artists will soon supply this want.

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

The empire of the caliphs, in its extent, its rich soil, varied climate, people, and regulated condition of its provinces, naturally excited commercial speculation. The productions of Spain, Barbary, Egypt, Abyssinia, Arabia, Persia, and Russia, those of countries bordering on the Caspian Sea, as well as all Indian and China merchandise, came to Mecca, Medina, Cufa, Bassorah, Damascus, Baghdad, Mosul, and Madain (Modein). The founding of colonies had created new business centres and opened up important routes.

The Arabs were, moreover, devoted to industry by that same law which made of work a duty, and commended commerce and agriculture as meritorious and pleasing to God. Merchants and their callings elicited equal respect. Governors of provinces, generals, and servants did not blush to be known as Khayat the tailor, Atari the druggist, Jauhari the jeweller, etc. Free passage for merchandise through armies and the safety of the high-roads were maintained at all points. Wells and cisterns were dug in the desert, caravanseries were built at certain distances where travellers could find necessary help at a moderate cost.

Relations existed between Spain and the limits of eastern Asia; an Arab fleet had gone through the Straits of Gibraltar, and a tempest which drove them ashore hindered the possible honour of discovering the Azores, and perhaps America. But though restricted to the old world, the Moslems gave a strong impulse to every kind of human industry. Spain enriched herself with the products of Arabian agriculture and manufactures. Cane sugar, rice, cotton, saffron, ginger, myrrh, ambergris, pistachio, bananas, henna for dyeing, mohaleb to promote plumpness, were objects of exchange in the peninsula; tapestry of Cordova leather, Toledo blades, Murcia cloth made from beautiful wool, Granadan, Almerian, and Sevillian silks, and gun-cotton were sought in all parts of the world. Sulphur, mercury, copper, iron were exploited successfully; the finely tempered Spanish steel caused the helmets and cuirasses coming from its foundries to be quickly bought up. The environs of Seville were covered with olive trees, and contained one hundred thousand oil farms or oil-mills. The province of Valencia gave to Europe southern fruits. From the ports of Malaga, Cartagena, Barcelona, and Cadiz there were large exportations; and Christian nations patterned their maritime regulations upon those of the Arabs.

Under the Moors, as M. Darny has said, Toledo had 200,000 inhabitants and Seville 300,000; to-day the population is rated at 21,000 for the one, and 143,000 for the other. Cordova was eight leagues in circumference, had 60,000 palaces, and 283,000 houses. To-day she has scarcely 56,000 inhabitants. The diocese of Salamanca then included 125 towns or boroughs; this number is now reduced to 13. Seville had 6000 workers on silk alone, yet in 1742 only 10,000 could be counted in the peninsula among both silk and wool factories.

The geographer Edrisi, who visited Spain in the middle of the eleventh century, assures us there were in the royal kingdom of Jaen more than 600 towns and hamlets working in silk. The expulsion of the Moors had for Spain as disastrous results as the revocation of the Edict of Nantes had for French commerce; and Cardinal Ximenes, desiring that even the remembrance of the service they had rendered should be destroyed, ordered in a decree worthy of barbarous times 84,000 Arabian manuscripts to be burned in the public squares of Granada.

The northerly coasts of Africa had also shown great commercial development. Numerous factories arose, and the Mauretanian Tingitana rivalled the peninsula in its manufacturing and rural activity. The country of Sous recalled Andalusia in its fertility and in the intelligence of its inhabitants. The East caught the infection of this general industry; at Siraf and Aden there was an exchange of goods between China, India, Persia, Ethiopia, and Egypt. Nubian slaves and Habasch, tiger skins, silk, cotton, ivory, and gold-dust from Zanzibar came from Ethiopia. India and China sent stuffs, saddles, sandalwood, spices, ebony, lead, tin, pearls, and precious stones. From Aden these goods were transported to Jiddah, then to Suez, and shared among Egyptian ports and Syrian coast towns. Countries bordering on the Caspian Sea bought stores at the Cabul fair; caravans from Samarcand to Aleppo distributed Chinese silks, cashmere cloth, musk, and medicinal drugs of Turkestan.

We have set forth the causes and principal effects of the great wave of civilisation poured forth in the Middle Ages by the Arabs, which rolled from the columns of Hercules to the confines of Asia. It remains, to complete this vast picture, only to say a few words on certain Arabian discoveries, which altered the literary, political, and military conditions of the entire world. These were paper, the compass, and gunpowder.

PAPER, COMPASS, AND GUNPOWDER

One has already seen how many useful and important inventions have been transmitted to us by the Arabs, and even although they were not perhaps the originators they must not be refused the glory of having brought them to the light and of having propagated them from one end of the world to the other. This is really what they did with paper, the compass, and gunpowder.

A belief, founded on certain apocryphal writing, that the Chinese knew the use thereof at a far distant epoch, has been considered sufficient to rob the Arabs of the honour of having bequeathed these inventions to Europe, but this is an injustice. It might be said that printing existed in China from the eighth century; yet the names of Gutenberg, Faust, and Schoeffer are not less illustrious. Would not the Arabs, if they had taken tissue paper from them, have also borrowed the art of printing had it then been known? Would those of the Celestial Empire ever practically have used chance discoveries? What use have they made of the compass, they who still believed in 1850 that there was a burning furnace at the South Pole; and have they ever applied gunpowder and utilized its power in as many ways as the Arabs?