he has the matter prepared. It is to be hoped that in this he may prove to be in error. 3. This volume clearly supports the opinion expressed in advance by me, tliat those who talked of this commentary as being about to furnish a refutation of Colenso were simply guilty of idle gossip. It contains on the Noachian del- uge a respectable compilation, from archdeacon Pratt mainly, of certain arguments in favor of a partial del- uge ; but there is not an original respectable argument in it, so far as I know, bearing on tlie controversy with Colenso and the Reviewers. Nor is any one who knew the Jlohammedan mind disappointed in this, simply because none such expected it to be otherwise than it is. It contains, true to the Mohammedan mind, an
j amount of mere puerilities, amid a mass of matter that
j shows a keen appreciation of nice points in a contro- versy. It adds nothing to European, though it does
. add much to Asiatic Biblical criticism."
The literar)' aspect of the subject — not, however, wholly free from controversj- — was opened by White in the Hampton Lectures for 1784, and abundant sources
; have lately been furnished. Among them are a new translation of the Koran by the Kev. J. M. Rodwell, where the Suras are arranged chronologically. The f(dlowing ought also to be added : Dr. JIacbride's Mo- hammedan lieliijion Explained (1857) ; Arnold, Koran and Jiible (1st edit. 1859; 2d edit. 1806) ; Tholuck, Ver- mischte Schriften, i, 1-27; Die Wander Mohammed's und der Charakter des Religionstifters ; Dr. Stanley's Lectures on the History of tlie. Eastern Church (lect. viii, and the references there given) ; Maurice, Reliyions of the World; licxmxi. Etudes d'llistoire Rtliyieuse, ess. i%-. The modern study has been directed more especially to attain a greater knowledge of Mohammed's life, char- acter, and writings, the antecedent religious condition of Arabia, and the characteristics of ilohammedanism when put into comparison with other creeds, and when viewed psychologically in relation to the human mind. The materials also for a study of the Mohammedan form of philosophy, both in itself and in its relation to the religion, have been furnished by Aug. Schmoelders, Essai sur les Ecoles I'hilosophiques chez les A rabes (1842). See also fitter's Christliche Fhilosnphie, iii, 065 sq.; iv, 1-181.
V. statistics.— It remains for us to consider the num- ber of Islam's adherents in our day, and the countries that contain them. There arc believed to be over 185,000,000 of :\Iohammedans in the world, and there are a number of countries, outside of Turkey and Egypt, in which Mohammedanism is the predommant religion, or at least a great power. Europe contains only 0,500,000 of the Crescent's adherents, but Asia is the home of nearly 80,000,000 Mohammedans, and Africa is assert- ed to have even many more. Islamism is still the predominant religion of the entire north of Africa, and its rule extends far down eastward, and into the centre of the continent; and it is believed that fully one half, or about 100,000,000 souls, may be set do\vn as iloham- medans. It is a remarkable circumstance, however, that by far the most powerful Jlohammcdan ruler of the globe — the sultan of Turkey — resides in Europe, where the Islam has only a population of about 4,500,000 in the Turkish and 2,000,000 in the Jtussian dominions. Even the sultan himself has in the Euro]iean division of his empire more Christian subjects tiian Moham- medan. In Asia, Jlohammedanism strongly predomi- nates in Asiatic Turkey, which has a Jlohainmedan pop- ulation of at least i:!,(iiHt,0(it). Persia, with its 5.000,000, is an almost exclusively ^lohammedan country. The same is the case with Afghanistan, lieloochistan, and the khanates of Independent Tartary. In China the Jlohaminedans constitute a comi).act body, both in the north-west and in the south-western provinces. In both places they have endeavored to establish their in- dependence. In the nortli-west they have so far suc- ceeded that the new Mohammedan empire of Yakoob Kushbegi has for several years successfully maiutained
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its independence, and is still extending its boundaries. On the other hand, the Mohammedan rebels in the south-west, the so-called Panthay, have during the pres- ent year succumbed to the victorious Chinese armies. The death of their sultan and the destruction of ttieir capital, Talifu, and their other principal places, seem for the present to have put an end, not only to their rule in those regions, but even to their political intiuence. In the vast British empire of India the IMohammedan population is estimated at about 40,000,000, and pre- dominates in a number of the native states which are British dependencies. The Mohammedans also consti- tute a majority of the population of the large and im- portant island of Java, where they are rapidly increas- ing ; and on the island of Sumatra they control, among others, the kingdom of Achln, which has recently at- tracted attention by its contiict with the Netherlands. Russia has in its Asiatic possessions a Mohammedan population of about 4,500,000. In Africa, Jlohamme- danism has, since the beginning of the present century, made great progress in the negro states, and has in par- ticular become the controlling power of Central Africa, and advanced westward as far as Liberia. Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Tripoli, Egypt, Zanzibar, are all Mo- hammedan states ; in the south and south-west they do not anywhere predominate, although they are found everywhere in increasing numbers. But although Mo- hammedanism, since the beginning of the present cen- tury, has been making these advances in Central Africa, the number of real and thorough believers is infinitely small ; and since it has left off conquering, it has lost also that energy and elasticity which promises great things. Its future fate will depend chiefly, we should say, on the progress of European conquest in the East, and the amount of Western civilization which this will, for good or evil, import into those parts.