Modern Persia Part 3

Now we have in Persia only 15,000 Zoroastrians. The Mohammedans called them gabrees, _i.e._, unG.o.dly. Most of them live in Kerman Yezd on the soil of their motherland. The men are good citizens, humble, honest, and generous, especially to their own brethren, and are industrious, intelligent, handsome, clean in appearance and faithful to their religion. The women are most beautiful, delicate in frame, small hands, small nose, clear complexion, with pink cheeks, black eyes and eyebrows. They do not cover their faces when in public, except to Mohammedans, whom they consider wicked men. The women are good faithful housewives and honest to their husbands.

THEIR RITUALS.

A Pa.r.s.ee child must be born on the ground floor of the house of its parents as a sign of humility and that the child may begin its life with good thoughts, words and actions, and as a sign of loyalty to its parents. The mother cannot go out for forty days. After that she washes herself with holy water which has been sanctified by the priest.

A Pa.r.s.ee rises early, washes his hands and face, and recites his prayers toward the sun. He rejects pork, ham and camel flesh and will not eat anything cooked by one outside of the Pa.r.s.ee religion.

Marriages can be contracted only with persons of their own creed.

Polygamy is forbidden except after nine years of sterility, then a man is allowed to marry another woman. Divorces are entirely forbidden. The crimes of fornication and adultery are very severely punished. They worship the clean creations of the great Hurmizda such as the sun, moon, fire, etc. Aha-ramazda is the origin of light, the sun and fire having come from him, he having first been created by Hurmizda. In the case of a hopelessly sick person the priest will recite some text of the holy bible Avesta, as a consolation to the dying person. After death the body is taken to the ground floor, the place of its birth, to be washed and anointed with perfumes, dressed in white and put upon an iron grating. A dog is brought in to take a last look, and he drives away all evil spirits. The friends and relatives go before the door, bow down and raise their hands to their heads after touching the floor, as an indication of their last respect to the departed soul. The body upon the bier is covered. Two men will bring it out and give it to four pall-bearers dressed in white, who, followed by a great procession take it to the "Tower of Silence." The last prayer will be recited in the holy temple, a building in which the holy fire burns continually through the ages. The body is then taken from the "Tower of Silence"

and, placed on an iron bier, is exposed to the fowls of the air and the dew of heaven and to the sun until the flesh has disappeared, and the bleached bones fall through into a pit beneath, and are afterwards buried in a cave.

They believe the holy fire is brought down from heaven. Only priests can approach it and they must wear a half-mask over the face lest their breath should defile it, and never touch it with hands, but by instruments. Tobacco smoking is prohibited as the smoker would defile the holy fire. They say there are five kinds of fire and great respect is shown to them. I remember having had a conversation with a Pa.r.s.ee in which he said: "Fire purifies all things, is stronger than all things, is cleaner than all other things, more beautiful than all things; therefore, fire is _G.o.d_. Your own Bible says: 'I am a consuming fire.'"

The Pa.r.s.ees have five kinds of sacrifices. These are the slaughtering of animals for the public and poor men; prayer, the Doruns sacrament with its consecrated bread and wine in honor of the founder of the law, Heromah (or Sama) and Dahman. This sacrament resembles our Lord's Supper. It is eaten publicly as a feast of joy. Fourth, the sacrifice of expiation which is offered by all men and is killed in their temples. Lastly the sacrifice for the souls of the dead. The removal of moral and physical impurities is effected by holy water and earth and by prayer. Prayer and holy words from the Avesta are recited several times every day. Fasting and celibacy are hateful to the divinity. The ethical code may be summed up in three words--purity of thought, of words and of deeds. This, they claim, will become the universal religion of the world.

A Pa.r.s.ee believes the soul of a dead man is for three days walking near the tomb where the dead body is laid. The fourth day the gates of heaven will be opened and he will approach the bridge of Chin-vat. Here the good and evil deeds of his life will be weighed in the balances of justice. If the good deeds of his life outweigh the bad, he will pa.s.s over the bridge into heaven. If the bad are heavier than the good the candidate falls beneath the bridge into h.e.l.l. In both heaven and h.e.l.l there are three states. In heaven, good words, thoughts, deeds and words. In h.e.l.l, bad words, thoughts and deeds.

CHAPTER II.

MOHAMMEDANISM.

Mohammed means "Praised One." One of the Mohammedan divines once spoke in the presence of the writer of the similarity in the Arabic language of "Ahamad" and the "Holy Spirit" and he claimed to believe that Ahamad or Mohammed was the Holy Spirit which Jesus promised to send into the world. When told in reply that Jesus promised to send the Comforter into the world immediately after His departure, and that Mohammed did not live until 570 years after Christ, the priest had no more to say.

This great prophet of the desert who converted the wild Arabs was born about A.D. 570 at Mecca. He was the only child of Abdulla and his mother Halima, both from the n.o.ble family of Koreish who claimed that they were the descendants of Ismael and that their family was hereditary guardians of the sacred Kaaba mosque in which was kept the holy black stone worshipped by all Arabs.

The Moslems have many legends and traditions regarding the birth of Mohammed. The sun moved from its place and gave a more brilliant light, with the seven colors of the rainbow; the angels bowed themselves to him and sung a new song in heaven; all the trees were shaken as by a strong wind. He was born circ.u.mcised and with his navel cut. A seal of prophecy was written on his back in letters of light. Immediately prostrating himself on the ground he raised his hands and prayed. Three persons as brilliant as the sun, one holding a silver goblet, another an emerald tray and the third a silken towel appeared in company with the angel Gabriel, the latter holding in his hand a knife. Gabriel cut open the child's belly, the first angel poured cleansing water over the child to wash away all sin, the second held the emerald tray beneath him and the third dried him with the silken towel, and then all saluted him and called him the "prince and savior of mankind." His father died at the age of twenty-five years, before his son was born. He left his widow five camels, a few goats and a slave girl, her name being Amina.

At the age of six years Mohammed had a fit of epilepsy. He frequently fell down and foamed at the mouth, and snored like a camel. About this time his mother died and he was reared by his grandfather Abdul-mota-Kalib and his uncle Abu-ta-lif and nursed by his faithful slave Amina. For a time he herded goats, a disreputable occupation among Arabs. But he afterwards glorified in it, pointing to the example of Moses and David and saying that G.o.d never called a prophet who had not before been a shepherd. In appearance he was of medium size, slender but broad-shouldered and of strong muscles, black eyes and hair, white teeth, oval shaped face (which is now much praised among Mohammedans), a long nose, patriarchal beard and a commanding look. His step was quick and firm. He wore common garments of white cotton stuff, and mended his own clothing and did everything possible for himself and aided his wives in household affairs. He had fourteen wives besides concubines. He possessed a vivid imagination and a genius for poetry and religious doctrines, but was not learned and perhaps could not read nor write.

He became servant for a very wealthy widow named Khadijah, and made several caravan journeys for her to Syria and Palestine with great success. Afterwards he won the heart of the widow and married her against the will of her father. He was twenty-five years of age and the widow was forty-five years old. Marriage proved happy and was fruitful with four daughters and two sons, but all died except one little daughter Fa-ti-ma. Mohammed adopted Ali, his nephew, and married his daughter Fa-ti-ma to him. She became the mother of all the prophet's descendants. Mohammed loved his first wife Kha-di-jah, was faithful to her, and after her death always cherished her memory, as she was the first person to believe in his doctrines.

On his journeys to Palestine and Syria he became acquainted with Jews and Christians and got an imperfect knowledge of their religion and traditions. At that time the Jews and Christians had scattered the ideas of monotheism among the Arabs. Some of the Arabs were tired of worshiping false idols and embraced the faith in one G.o.d. One of these men was Mohammed. He became zealous to establish a religion throughout Arabia, to teach and compel men to worship only one G.o.d and to recognize himself as His only prophet. He spent many days and nights in the caves of Mount Hira near Mecca in meditation and prayer. His zealous efforts to establish his faith brought a return of the violent convulsion and epileptic fits of earlier days, and his enemies said he was possessed with demons. He started preaching to the ignorant cla.s.ses of Arabs teaching them that there was only one living G.o.d who created heaven and earth and all mankind. In A.D. 610, his fortieth year he claimed to have received a call from the angel Gabriel while in a trance in Mount Hira, directing him to say: "In the name of G.o.d." Many times after this first meeting he communicated with Gabriel in these caves and saw many visions. Once when almost discouraged he waited for further enlightenment in visions to qualify him for the duties of his office as prophet--if not to commit suicide--when suddenly Gabriel, at the end of the horizon appeared, saying: "I am Gabriel and thou art Mohammed the prophet of G.o.d, fear not." After this a.s.surance he commenced his career as a prophet and founder of a new religion. His doctrines were gathered from three religions, the Jewish, Christian and Arabic. He taught that there is only one Allah--Almighty G.o.d, ever-present and working will. Henceforth the revelations came from time to time, sometimes like the sound of a bell conversing with him; at other times Gabriel came down and spoke to him. For the first three years he worked among his family. Kadijah was his first believer. His father-in-law, Abi-Baker, Omar, a young energetic man, his daughter Fatima, his son-in-law Ali and other faithful followers to the number of forty, were the first disciples of this new religion, and were very influential in spreading the same. Then he publicly announced that he had a command from G.o.d, and had been given the divine office as prophet and lawgiver. As his notoriety spread, pilgrims flocked to Mecca and he preached to them attacking the idolatry of Mecca. When his enemies demanded a miracle from him, he responded by producing the Koran leaf by leaf as occasion demanded. He provoked persecution; and civil war followed. In A.D. 622 he was forced to flee for his life from Mecca to Medina, a distance of 250 miles. This flight is called Higira, meaning the flight, (July 15, 622) from which the era of Islam begins.

In Medina he was generally accepted as a prophet of G.o.d. His method was at first toleration. He said: "Let there be no compulsion in religion,"

but afterwards said: "All infidels must accept one G.o.d and Mohammed his prophet. If men refuse, kill them, plunder their property and their wives and daughters are for you." The wild Arabs were kindled by this command. His followers were all robbers except some of the leaders. In 624 with an army of 305, all citizens of Medina, he gained a victory over his strong enemy, Koreish, whose army was double the size of Mohammed's. By other engagements he rapidly conquered Jews and Christians. After one battle 600 Jews were ma.s.sacred at his order and their wives and daughters were made slaves. In 627 he triumphantly entered Mecca and in 630 he demolished 360 idols; then Koreish, a leading tribe, shouted "There is but one G.o.d and Mohammed is His prophet." Ten years after Higira, with 40,000 Moslems he made his last journey to Mecca, and subdued all Arabia. Upon returning to Medina, he died in his home and in the arms of Ayesha his favorite wife, June 8th, 632, at the age of sixty-three years.

When on his death-bed and suffering extreme pain and anguish his friends expressed surprise that a great prophet should suffer so. He called their attention to the fact that one prophet of olden times was eaten by worms, while another was so poor as to have only a rag to cover his shame, and stated that a prophet is not rewarded here but hereafter. His last words were a prayer for the destruction of all Jews and Christians because they were so hard to convert. He prayed, "O Lord let not my tomb be an object of worship. Let there remain only one faith, that of Islam, in all Arabia. Gabriel come near me, Lord pardon me, grant me joy, accept me into thy companionship on high, etc."

Mohammed did not claim the power of performing miracles but since his death some of his followers have attributed miracles to him such as, when walking the streets, trees and stones would salute him; he caused a flood of water to spring up from dry ground; he rode on his horse Borak through air from Medina to Mecca, Jerusalem to paradise and to the heavenly mansions and again came back to Mecca. The only miracle Mohammed himself claimed was the revelation of Koran.

HIS CHARACTER.

Some people have the impression that Mohammed was a man of good character and great simplicity. Possibly this was true of him in the earlier part of his life, but he degenerated as Solomon, but unlike the wise preacher of "vanity" he never repented. Mohammed was a slave of sensual pa.s.sion. The doctrine of polygamy which he taught was the result of his own sensuality. Ayesha his favorite wife said: "The prophet loves three things, women, perfumes and food." He, at the age of fifty-three years, married this woman when she was at the age of nine years. Again he claimed to have a special revelation from heaven to marry Zey-nab the wife of his adopted son. To gratify this wish, it was necessary for Zeyd, his faithful son, to get a divorce from Zey-nab.

THE CONQUEST OF ISLAM.

"The secret of success for Islam is in the sword," said Mohammed. His faith teaches that one drop of blood shed for Allah, or G.o.d, avails more than all prayer, fastings and sacrifices. One night spent in the holy armies of Islam will be rewarded by Allah more than human reason can think. Everyone that falls in battle is received in heaven as a martyr and rewarded for his devotion to the faith. After Mohammed's death, his successor became aggressive as his forces grew stronger. His command to his armies was: "Before you is paradise, behind you is h.e.l.l." Inspired by this belief, the wild and superst.i.tious Arabs rushed forward and subdued Syria, Palestine and Egypt. The churches in the large cities of these lands were converted into mosques for the worship of Mohammed. In 668 and 717 they besieged Constantinople and in 707 subdued the northern provinces of Africa. In 711 they established a Califat in Spain at Cordova. The Arabs crossed the Pyrenees and made the threat that they would soon stable their horses in St. Paul's cathedral at Rome. But they were defeated by Charles Martel in 732.

Ferdinand drove them out of Spain into Africa. In the East the Moslems had, in the ninth century subdued Persia, Afghan, Bloogiston, a large part of India, also a large part of Brahmanism and Buddhism. The Turks were conquered in the eleventh century; the Mongols in the thirteenth century. Constantinople fell into the hands of the unspeakable Turks in 1453. The magnificent church of St. Sophia in which Chrysostom preached the gospel with a fiery tongue and many church fathers chanted in it the true Word of G.o.d was converted into a mosque. To-day the Koran is read there in instead of the gospel. The Sultan occupies the throne of Constantine and calls himself the "shadow of Almighty," boasts in his fanatical religion, and scorns Christian powers. On the other hand the Christian powers look at him with the cold spirit of Christianity but I believe the time will come and is near when the Gospel will be preached again in the church of St. Sophia instead of the Koran.

CHAPTER III.

THE MOHAMMEDAN RELIGION.

The Koran is the Mohammedan's holy bible, creed, and code of laws. The holy Koran was delivered to Mohammed neither in graven tablets of stone, nor by cloven tongues of fire, but it was engraven on Mohammed's heart and was communicated by his tongue to the Arabs. His heart was the Sinai where he received his revelation and his tablets of stone were the hearts of believers. The Koran contains 114 chapters and 6225 verses. Each chapter begins with formula, "In the name of G.o.d the merciful and the compa.s.sionate." The chapter is named from the chief subject treated therein; as "praise," "the light," "the spider," "the woman," etc. Mohammed received all of his revelation at once but when occasion required he dictated new chapters to Zeid. Another notion is that the Koran was delivered orally and was scattered until after the prophet's death when it was collected by Ayesha, his youngest wife, and Zeid. All of it was written in the best cla.s.sical poetry. It is sweet in the Arabic language but it looses its beauty when translated into other languages.

Mohammed did not invent a new religion but collected most of his doctrines from the Jewish, heathen and Christian religions and Christian tradition. Mohammed was greatly indebted to a Nestorian monk named Sargius Be-hi-ra, a man of rare ability, whom the prophet kept in his home for several years and learned all he knew about Christian doctrines and traditions. Many of the wise counsels, stories, teachings of our duties to G.o.d and brethren in the faith, that are related in the Old and New Testament are reproduced in the Koran, but the language is changed and the order of their occurrences is reversed. The Koran contains mistakes such as making the Virgin Mary the mother of our Lord the same person as Mary the sister of Moses and Aaron. But without question the Koran is one of the greatest books of the world in the number of adherents it has. It is a code of civil and religious law; 200,000,000 Mohammedans scattered all over the world to-day are following the teaching of the Koran. The book contains much that is good and wise but one of its most dangerous defects is the prominence and approval given to polygamy and sensualism.

CHAPTER IV.

THE CREED OF ISLAM.

Monotheism is the corner-stone of Islam. Their creed consists of six articles. G.o.d, predestination, the angels good and bad, the books and the traditions of the 124,000 prophets, the resurrection and judgment, eternal reward and punishment. The formula continually repeated by the Mohammedans is this: "There is no G.o.d but G.o.d and Mohammed is His prophet." Allah or G.o.d has infinite power and wisdom and is holy, omnipotent, omnipresent, creator of the universe, upholder of all. He is an arbitrary ruler but deals justly with men. He is an object of fear and reverence, rather than of love and grat.i.tude. The Mohammedan does not look upon G.o.d as the Father. He says G.o.d is the almighty creator and men ought to fear and tremble before Him as slaves. The writer was reasoning with a Mohammedan one day and spoke of G.o.d as "our heavenly Father." He said "you blaspheme. Don't call G.o.d a father." This could not be as he never had a wife. Allah has foreordained all things, good and evil. An unconditional resignation to Him is true wisdom. He is known because He has revealed Himself through chosen messengers, angelic and human, such as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, our great and chief prophets, but Mohammed is the last and the greatest above all.

CHAPTER V.

THE PRIESTHOOD.

The Muj-ta-hid is the highest order of the priesthood but this order is divided into four degrees. The members of the highest degree reside at Karbala, the sacred city. The chief of this degree is called Naib-el-emam and in the belief of Shiite Moslems he is the representative of Mohammed. His position is the same as that of the pope in the Roman Catholic Church; and he is believed to be infallible.

His authority extends over the entire clergy and in some respects over government. He resides in the most holy mosque which was built on the tombs of Ha.s.san and Hussein, children of Ali, who were Martyrs in the war between the Shi-ites and Sun-neh Moslems. He has power to declare holy war. Vast sums of money are contributed into his keeping every year which he spends in defraying the expenses of thousands of pilgrims who flock to this shrine, and also for students who study in that mosque. He leads a simple life but it was stated by one of the pilgrims that he makes considerable money for his children. When this great chief dies there is a day of lamentation throughout Persia and lords and counts feed thousands of poor men and divide money among them. All business is suspended for the day.

The late Shah, it is said, sent three different messengers to this high Church official before he could get an interview, the churchman pleading humility and unworthiness to receive the king but before the latter departed after the interview he was charged to be a good and faithful ruler.

The second degree in the Muj-ta-hid is called Arch-Muj-tahid. It is composed of four priests who reside in the four places known as Era-wa-nee Shirazee, Khorasonee and Isphahonee, and one of these officials succeeds Na-ib-el emam at the death of the latter.

The third degree is the common Muj-ta-hid who are numerous. In my city Oroomiah of 30,000 inhabitants there are ten or more priests of this degree. Sometimes they are called Eulama meaning divines.

THE METHOD OF THEIR LIVING.

They are executors of civil and religious law; no man can be a judge or lawyer unless he is a Muj-ta-hid. These priests judge such cases as the division of property for which he charges a fee. Where the interested parties are rich they are frequently required to appear before the priest several times before a decision is given that he may charge them a larger fee. As a general rule the man who pays these priest-magistrates the most money will win the case, even if it is necessary to pervert the law. Many a well-to-do man has been brought to poverty by the extortions of these Muj-ta-hid. Government cannot resist them. When lords or counts or rich people marry they charge large sums of money for performing the ceremony. Large fees are also made for writing legal doc.u.ments in the transference of land or other valuable property. The common people consider it a privilege to make presents to the Muj-ta-hid. These men are usually very rich, and own one or more beautiful palaces and have from two to four wives. Every young widow who has beauty and riches is sought in marriage by some of the priests.