A Critical Exposition of the Popular 'Jihad' Part 11

"And think within thine ownself on G.o.d, with lowliness and with fear and without loud-spoken words, at even and at morn; and be not of the heedless."--Sura VII, 203, 204.

[Sidenote: Pretentious prayers and ostentatious almsgiving condemned.]

The Koran condemns pretentious prayers and ostentatious almsgiving.

"Verily the hypocrites would deceive G.o.d; but he will deceive them!

When they stand up for prayer, they stand carelessly to be seen of men, and they remember G.o.d but little"--Sura IV, 141.

"Woe then to those who pray,"

"Who in their prayer are careless;"

"Who make a show of devotion,"

"But refuse help _to the needy_."--Sura CVII, 4-7.

"And they fall down on their faces weeping, and it increaseth the humility."--Sura XVII, 110.

"O ye who believe! make not your alms void by reproaches and injury; like him who spendeth his substance to be seen of men, and believeth not in G.o.d and in the latter day. The likeness of such an one is that of a rock with a thin soil upon it, on which a heavy rain falleth, but leaveth it hard. No profit from their works shall they be able to gain; for G.o.d guideth not the unbelieving people."--Sura II, 266.

"We have made ready a shameful chastis.e.m.e.nt for the unbelievers, and for those who bestow their substance in alms to be seen of men, and believe not in G.o.d and in the last day. Whoever hath satan for his companion, an evil companion hath he!"--Sura IV, 42.

[Sidenote: No indispensable hours or places for prayers.]

There are no indispensable hours or places to be observed for prayers.

In Suras XI, 116; and IV, 104, the time of prayer is set down in general terms without specifying any fixed hour. There are some more times named in Suras XVII, 81, 82; XX, 130; L, 38, 39; and LII, 48, 49, but they are special cases for Mohammad himself, and "as an excess in the service."

_Vide_ Sura XVII, 81. On this subject Dr. Marcus Dods observes:--

"There are two features of the devout character which the Mohammedans have the merit of exhibiting with much greater distinctness than we do. They show not the smallest hesitation or fear in confessing G.o.d, and they reduce to practice the great principle that the worship of G.o.d is not confined to temples or any special place:--

"Most honour to the men of prayer, Whose mosque is in them everywhere!

Who amid revel's wildest din, In war's severest discipline, On rolling deck, in thronged bazaar, In stranger land, however far, However different in their reach Of thought, in manners, dress or speech,-- Will quietly their carpet spread.

To Mekkeh turn the humble head, And, as if blind to all around, And deaf to each distracting sound, In ritual language G.o.d adore, In spirit to his presence soar, And in the pauses of the prayer, Rest, as if rapt in glory there."

"There are of course formalists and hypocrites in Islam as well as in religions of which we have more experience. The uniformity and regularity of their prostrations resemble the movements of a well-drilled company of soldiers or of machines, but the Koran denounces "woe upon those who pray, but in their prayers are careless, who make a show of devotion, but refuse to help the needy;" while nowhere is formalism more pungently ridiculed than in the common Arabic proverb, "His head is towards the Kibleh, but his heels among the weeds." We could almost excuse a touch of formalism for the sake of securing that absolute stillness and outward decorum in worship which deceives the stranger as he enters a crowded mosque into the belief that it is quite empty. Persons who hold themselves excused from the duty of worship by every slight obstacle might do worse than get infected with the sublime formalism of Cais, son of Sad, who would not shift his head an inch from the place of his prostration, though a huge serpent lifted its fangs close to his face and finally coiled itself round his neck.

And if some are formal, certainly many are very much in earnest."[157]

[Sidenote: Ablutions.]

The ablutions have not been imposed as burdens, or as having any mysterious merit, but merely as a measure of cleanliness.

"G.o.d desireth not to lay a burden upon you, but he desireth to purify you."

[Footnote 156: The inst.i.tution of pilgrimage is a harmless one, and conducive to unity in religion for Arabs, and gives moreover an impetus to trade at large.]

[Footnote 157: Mohammed, Buddha, and Christ, by Marcus Dods, D.D., pp.

30-1.]

[Sidenote: Koran both abstract and concrete in morals.]

41. (4) The Koran seems fully aware of the danger of the precise and fixed system of positive precepts moulding and regulating every department of life. The danger is that the system of formalism in which men are tied down to the performance of certain religious functions, minutely and precisely fixed in respect to time, place and manner, so that neither less nor more is required of them, retains too tight a grip upon them, when the circ.u.mstances which justified it have changed or vanished away. The moral growth of those who live under such a system of minute and punctilious restraint is stunted and r.e.t.a.r.ded. The tendency of mankind to formalism is so strong that they very commonly, though often unconsciously, fall into the error of imagining that there is a peculiar intrinsic merit and virtue in the mere discharge of those prescribed forms of duties and religious ceremonies. Morality is with them not in the abstract but in the concrete, as consisting of a ma.s.s of religious observances, rather than of a certain disposition of heart towards G.o.d and man. The Koran deals with vice and virtue as a whole as well as in fragmentary details. It treats of inward motives as much as of outward practice, of exhortations equally with precepts and commands.

It holds up before man the hatefulness and ugliness of vice _as a whole_. It does not enclose the whole of the practical morality and piety within the narrow compa.s.s of a fixed number of precepts. It lays the foundation of that far-reaching charity which regards all men as equal in the sight of G.o.d, and recognizes no distinction of races and cla.s.ses.

120. "And abandon the semblance of wickedness and wickedness itself. They, verily, whose _only_ acquirement is iniquity shall be repaid for what they have gained."

152. "Say: Come, I will rehea.r.s.e what your Lord hath made binding on you, that ye a.s.sign not aught to Him as sharers of his Divine honour, and that ye be good to your parents; _and_ that ye slay not your children because of poverty, for them and for you will We provide; and that ye come not near to pollutions, outward or inward; and that ye slay not anyone whom G.o.d hath forbidden you, unless for a just cause. This hath He enjoined on you: haply ye will understand."--Sura VI.

31. "Say: Only hath my Lord forbidden filthy actions, whether open or secret, and iniquity, and unjust violence, and to a.s.sociate with G.o.d that for which He hath sent down no warranty, and to speak of G.o.d that of which ye have no knowledge."--Sura VII.

33. "To those who avoid great crimes and scandals, but commit only lighter faults, verily, thy Lord will be rich in forgiveness. He well knew you when He produced you out of the earth, and when ye were embryos in your mothers' womb. a.s.sert not then your own purity. He best knoweth who feareth him."--Sura LIII.

13. "O men! verily We have created you of a male and a female: and We have divided you into peoples and tribes that ye might take knowledge one of another. Truly the most worthy of honour in the sight of G.o.d is he who feareth Him most. Verily G.o.d is Knowing, Cognizant."--Sura XLIX.

143. "And every _nation_ has a quarter _of the Heavens_. It is G.o.d who turneth them _towards it_: hasten then emulously after good: wheresover ye be, G.o.d will one day bring you all together: verily G.o.d is all powerful."--Sura II.

52. "And to thee We have sent down the Book _of the Koran_ with truth, confirmatory of previous scripture and its safeguard. Judge therefore between them by what G.o.d hath sent down, and follow not their desires, after the truth which hath come unto thee. To everyone of you have We given a rule and an open way."

53. "And if G.o.d had pleased He had surely made you all one people; but He would test you by what He hath given to each. Be emulous then in good deeds. To G.o.d do ye _all_ return, and He will tell you concerning the subjects of your disputes."--Sura V.

127 "And vie in haste for pardon from your Lord, and a Paradise, vast as the Heavens and the Earth, prepared for the G.o.d-fearing."

128. "Who gives alms, _alike_ in prosperity and _in_ distress, and who master their anger, and forgive others! And G.o.d loveth the doer of good."

129. "And who, after they have done a base deed or committed a wrong against their own souls, remember G.o.d and implore forgiveness of their sins--and who can forgive sins but G.o.d only?--and persevere not in what they have willingly done amiss."--Sura III.

21. "Vie in hasting after pardon from your Lord, and Paradise--whose outspread is as the outspread of the Heaven and of the Earth. Prepared is it for those who believed in G.o.d and his apostles. Such is the bounty of G.o.d: to whom He will He giveth it: and of immense bounty is G.o.d!"--Sura LII.

183. "Ye shall a.s.suredly be tried in your possessions and in yourselves. And many hurtful things shall ye a.s.suredly hear from those to whom the scriptures were given before you, and from those who join other G.o.ds with G.o.d. But if ye be steadfast and fear G.o.d, then this verily is _G.o.d's_ decree for the affairs of _life_."--Sura III.

16. "O my son! observe prayer and enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and be patient under whatever shall betide thee: verily this is a bounden duty."--Sura x.x.xI.

38. "Yet let the recompense of evil be only a like evil; but he who forgiveth and maketh peace, shall find his reward for it from G.o.d; verily He loveth not those who act unjustly."

39. "And there shall be no way _open_ against those who, after being wronged, avenge themselves."

40. "Only shall there be a way _open_ against those who unjustly wrong others, and act insolently on the earth in disregard of justice. These! a grievous punishment doth await them."

41. "And whoso beareth _wrongs_ with patience and forgiveth,--this verily is a bounden duty."--Sura XLII.

[Sidenote: Adaptability of the Koran to surrounding circ.u.mstances.]

42. (5) The Koran keeps pace with the most fully and rapidly-developing civilization, if it is rationally interpreted, not as expounded by the Ulema in the Common Law Book and enforced by the sentiment of a nation.

It is only the Mohammadan Common Law, with all its traditions or oral sayings of the Prophet,--very few of which are genuine reports, and the supposed chimerical concurrence of the learned Moslem Doctors and mostly their a.n.a.logical reasonings (called _Hadees_, _Ijma_, and _Kias_), pa.s.sed under the name of _Fiqah_ or _Shariat_, that has blended together the spiritual and the secular, and has become a barrier in some respects regarding certain social and political innovations for the higher civilization and progress of the nation. But the Koran is not responsible for this all.

Mr. Stanley Lane Poole writes:--