THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
scale at least, above that scale according to one's inclination; (3) fasting in the daytime during Ramadan; (4) pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime. These things are regarded as most
firmly binding on all Moslems. By 3. System prayer, in Arabic, five times a day of Practise, facing Mecca, the day is mortgaged to
God. Yet the prayers are short, therefore soon over, and consequently not burdensome. On Friday, in addition to the prayers, brief hortatory addresses or sermons are delivered in the mosques. But Friday is not a day of cessation from labor. There can be little doubt that the injunction to turn toward Mecca at prayer does much to support the observance of the injunction to make the pilgrimage. Equally faithful are Mohammedans in observing the command to bestow alms, a consequence of which is the large proportion of beggars found in most Mohammedan centers. In its social system Islam lags centuries behind because of its legitimation of polygamy, of divorce by the husband at will, and of slavery. The charter of Islam is the Surah numbered ix. by Sale, cxiii. by Rodwell, and cxiv. by Muir, and believed to be the last but one delivered. Moslems are to enforce conversion of idolaters with the alternative of death, while to Jews and Christians the alternative is payment of heavy tribute. Force became the basis of the propaganda, the sword was the instrument. Hence the two characteristics which obtrude themselves in contact of Mohammedanism with other faiths are fanaticism and intolerance. Yet it is not improbable that modern Mohammedan success in Africa is not wholly due to the sword. The function of this religion in world history seems to be that of disciplining peoples in a low stage of culture. Its fault is that it is an insuperable obstacle to progress beyond a certain stage. Christianity makes relatively few converts from its adherents.
V. Developments after Mohammed: While the primitive doctrine of Islam was as thus stated, that the Koran would continue alone to be the norm of action was not to be expected. This work summed up merely the phenomena within the founder's horizon. Consequently, just as in Christianity there grew up in the ecumenical councils and in the life of the Church norms as really authoritative in
belief and practise as the New Testa-
1. The ment itself, so in Islam there came to
Four Bases recognition four bases of authority,
of Doc- the Koran, sunnah, ijma, and kiyas.
trine and Sunnah, " custom, usage," sums up
Practise, the doctrine that so far as practicable
not only the injunctions but the practise of the founder is to be followed. This led to a collection of traditions respecting Mohammed, made in the third Mohammedan century, which were compared with the Koran, and this body of tradition, thus sifted, became equally authoritative with the Koran. Ijma is a word which is the Islamic equivalent of the Christian semper, ubique, et ab omnibus, or " universal assent." It is the collection of legal and doctrinal decisions made by the prophet, his companions, and their immediate successors. It is of three kinds, unanimity in opinion, in practise, and; by
tacit consent. Where this unanimity exists with reference to any doctrine, that doctrine is as binding as any explicitly taught in Koran or sunnah. Kiyas is the Mohammedan equivalent of the Jewish Talmud. It is a collection of inferences drawn from the more general pronouncements of Koran, sunnah, and ijma, meant to be applied to special cases such as may at any moment arise. It is therefore the interpretation of the other three collections applied to practical life. It will at once be noticed that these three additions to the Koran added immensely to the elasticity of the system. v
At the death of Mohammed there were three possible candidates for leadership: Ali, nephew and son-in-law of the prophet, of whom it is said that Mohammed indicated him as leader before his death, but that the pronouncement was suppressed
by Ayesha because Ali had accused
2. The her of unchastity; Omar, a father-in-
Early law of Mohammed; and Abu Bekr,
Caliphate, father of Ayesha. Omar refused to
stand, and Abu Bekr was elected. The partizans of Ali were prevented from contesting the election with arms only by the general revolt of the tribes which left Mecca, Medina, and Taif the only faithful centers, while the revolt was quelled only on the return of the army then operating in souths ern Palestine. Under the first caliph (" successor ") Arabia was once more united, and Persia, Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and Egypt came in large part under Moslem rule. Before Abu Bekr died (634) he nominated Omar, who was elected, the conquest of the countries named was nearly completed, and the erection of a Moslem state proceeded under the able administration of Omar. At his death in 644, Ali was again a candidate, but was defeated by Othman supported by the Koraish, against whom uprisings at once began, and Othman, detected in double-dealing, was slain (655). Ali was then elected, and his two rivals fled to Persia and raised a revolt, but this was suppressed, Ayesha was . captured and the two rivals killed (656). The governor of Syria at this time was Mu'awiya, holding a strong position because of the better discipline of the Arabs who formed his army. He espoused the cause of Othman, refused to acknowledge Ali as caliph, and an attempt was made to arbitrate the dispute. Meanwhile Ali's following became divided and a part deserted him, while a conspiracy was formed to murder both parties to the dispute and also the General Amr, who was acting as arbitrator. Ali alone was killed, though Mu'awiya was wounded. Ali's brother Husain went to Mecca to assume the caliphate, but he was slain and Mu'awiya was acknowledged in his place. Thus Mu'awiya became the first of the Ummayad caliphs (so named from Ummaya, greatgrandfather of Mu'awiya), fourteen in number, who ruled at Damascus till 750, and were succeeded by the Abbasids (claiming descent from Abbas, uncle of the prophet). Out of this contest, which involved the first five caliphs, sprang the prime distinction in Islam between Sunnah and Shiah, two forms of doctrine which comprise between them all the lesser distinctions or sects into which Islam has been and is still divided. The Sunnah doctrine is that all