ISLAM AND PROGRESS.
[TO TR. EDITOR Or Till "SPECTATOR."1 SIB,—In your review of Mr. Sidney Low's work on Egypt in Transition (Spectator, February 21st) you maintain that Islam is inelastic, and incapable of reconciliation with the conduct of a modern progressive State, but at the same time you do not base your assertion on any tangible argument. You set forth, Sir, the difference between the Bible and the Koran as consisting in the fact that, while the Bible in the shape of the New Testament merely lays down general rules applicable in all circumstances, the Koranic ordinances include many points that are impossible of observation by modern civilized man. In making such a statement, Sir, it seems apparent to me—and I may be wrong—that you lose sight of the fact that, whereas the New Testament was a recapitulatory message revealed to a people already endowed, already blessed with a divinely inspired revelation—that is, e.g., the Old Testament—the Koran, on the other band, was a revelation very similar to the Hebrew Scriptures, in that it was a message primarily meant for a nation—in this case the Arabs who bad not yet received the Word of God. It had thus to be a complete compendium of the code of life in all its aspects. And then, again, if the New Testament contains "general principles of life which are applicable for all time," would you initiate me into the causes that lead to the teachings of the Great Nazarene being more honoured in their breach than by their observance P Sir, evil flourishes in every part of the world, and you must admit that disobedience to the ordinances of God is as conspicuous in the West as it is in the East. The world being what it is, vice and iniquity will continue to flourish, in spite of all efforts to the contrary. It must, however, be admitted that the private virtues are of a higher order in persons professing Islam than in the European Christians of the West.
Mohammedanism is neither inelastic nor in discord with modern civilization. Indeed, to my way of thinking, it is perfectly compatible with the highest type of civilization. Simultaneously, it is eminently practical. Instead of con- fining itself to vague philosophical generalizations, it makes a real and successful attempt at grappling with that complex thing—human nature. If Moslems, how- ever, choose to confine themselves only to lip-profession of their religion, with resulting disintegration, decadence, and stagnancy, the fault as well as the blame is theirs, and should by no means be cast upon their faith. If Islam as practised by Moslems does indeed seem hidebound, deficient in pro- gress, this characteristic, Sir, is one that has been assumed and adopted, not inherent in nor native to it. Except in India, Islam has not yet come into touch with Protestantism, with its attendant freedom from dogmatic trammels. Its antagonists and neighbours have been either the Roman Catholic form of worship or the Greek one, and the evils in Islam are but the evils in these other two faiths, which it has assimilated and absorbed. Europeans, and Englishmen in particular—thanks to their large endowment of impudent hypocrisy—delude themselves when they assume that Islam needs reform or repression. It needs neither, but merely a return to its older and purer form, before contact with the mud of Byzantium and of Rome bad soiled and besmirched it. To the impartial student of the history of both Islam and Christianity, it cannot fail to be apparent that centuries ago Islam was blessed with a form of civilization -higher—because leas material—than that attained by Christianity in this, its twentieth century, while the Moslem faith is six hundred years its junior. The present high standard of civilisation, with its consequent proficiency in all arts and sciences, that has been reached by Christian Europe is not the result of its profession of Christianity, but rather the outcome of continuous and persistent effort at progress—of constant toil, with the civilization of ancient Rome and antique Greece as the starting-point of that toil. The condition of Christian Europe prior to the Renaissance, in contrast to its state after that turning.point in the history of the world, alone goes far to refute your assertion that Christianity, and Christianity alone, admits of progress. Was the Greece of Pericles Christian when she attained that intellectual supereminence of which the results have been bequeathed to posterity? What was the condition of Spain for the two centuries prior to the war with the United States as compared with its flourishing condition under Moslem rule P That of Italy prior to the French Revolution P Is Japan Christian P The Peru of Pizarro, the Mexico of Cortes—were they Christian P And the Egypt of the Pharaohs, the Babylonians and the Medea, the Chinese of old, the Moslems in their palmiest days P Religion can aid the march of progress, but it can never in itself be conducive of it. To assert that the religion of the Koran is inelastio—adverse to progress—would be to deny, to shut one's eyes voluntarily to the state of Islam during its first infancy and adolescence. To what was due the past great- ness of Islam but to the progressive, reformative, and assimilative spirit that distinguished that religion P You, Sir, and such as you, should least of all other men be prone to lend your pen to the stock objections to Islam that form the windy paraphernalia of narrow-minded Christian clergy- men, fortified by their fanatic folly.—I am, Sir, &a., ABDUL KLEMM MOONDJI. The Begistry, Supreme Court, Singapore.
[We are always glad to give a bearing to the other side, especially when its views are expressed with such ahility,vigour, and evident sincerity as by our correspondent. Our answer to his argument is to be found in the passage of which he complains. Mohammedanism may be fit for a rude people. It is an impossible creed for a civilized and progressive com- munity. True Christianity, the veritable teaching of our Lord, is not. As the practice of the Christian religion develops with social development it becomes not less but more Christlike.—En. Spectator.]
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