THE FUTURE OF THE MAHOMMEDAN PEOPLES.
WE are often asked what we suppose the future of the Mahommedan peoples will be. "Is the problem," inquires one recent interlocutor, "so absolutely hopeless -as it seems to be on the surface ? Outside Arabia, the Mussulman States, Turkey, Persia, Morocco, are all dying, yet their Mussulman populations never reform or modify or abandon their faith. They do not accept Christianity ; they do not become agnostics ; they refuse to conform in their domestic affairs to the European mode of living. When they reform' themselves they become more .Mahommedan than ever, as has happened in the case of the Wahabees, the Moplahs, and one or two of the tribes of Malaya. What is to become of them if they are sub- merged in a great, though slowly rolling, wave of European -conquest ? They will not all be killed even if they fight to the last, and an immense emigration from Turkey, Persia, and Morocco is improbable, if only because there is no land, except, possibly, the island-continent of Borneo, where there is room for them to live and maintain in independence their own social order. Besides, nations do not emigrate."
The question is becoming one of very immediate interest, and it admits of an answer which, if not quite complete, is as satisfactory as most answers to questions about the political future. There seems to be no final reason why, even if Europe should continue her ceaseless march till she is mistress of the world—a doubtful hypothesis, for the East could defend itself if it pleased—the Mahommedan races outside Arabia, once placed under strong but patient - Governments, such as that of Austria is in Bosnia, should not live quietly by the side of races of other lineage and of -different faiths. Theoretically, this would appear to be impossible, because Mahommed based his rules for social order upon the idea that his followers, wherever they lived, would always be in the ascendant, and because the religious law of Islam now embodies so many rules for maintaining that ascendency. The rejection, for in- stance, of infidel evidence when opposed to Mussulman evidence could not be maintained in any State where Mussulman ideas were not absolutely dominant. It is very doubtful, too, whether a Mussulman can submit himself to any law other than his own without dereliction -from the faith, his duty when submerged in a wave of infidels being to resist in arms and take the conse- quences. In practice, however, the anti-social principles of Islam are, when needful, explained away, and Mahom- anedans live side by side with Christians, as in Bosnia, and with pagans, as in India, without any necessary dis- turbance of the peace. Polygamy, though disastrous to the social life of Mahommedans because it involves the seclusion and subjugation of women, utterly destroys _home life and spoils early education, does not create many legal difficulties. The evidence of Mahommedan ladies can be taken though they are veiled, and the masses of the people cannot in the nature of things either indulge in many wives or keep working women strictly secluded. For the rest, Mussulmans . are just as industrious as anybody else, pay their taxes just as regularly, and can become in all ways just as good citizens. They would not rebel except in their own in- terest, and the outbursts of almost maniacal fury in which they indulge when provoked either by resistance -or by insult grow very rare when they are clearly not in possession of the sovereignty. Outbreaks like those of the Moplahs ought to be very common in India, but they are confined to a single district, and are easily prevented from spreading. The Malays make very good subjects in Singapore, and the troubles in Egypt do • not come from the Mussulman fellaheen. The Ottoman caste, very proud, very Lrave, and accustomed to dominion for four hundred years, would no doubt give European rulers some trouble ; but it would not be imconcileable. Nothing can divest an Asiatic of the idea, that the actual ruler is ruling by the will of God ; he enters his armies quite readily, even if the Colonel is an idol-worshipper, and he is as faithful to his salt as any other mercenary soldier. Many Mussulman sepoys adhered to their colours in the great Mutiny, and the Russian Emperors give Mussulmans commands without any evil consequences. The real political diffi- culty when Mussulmans form only part of the population is to keep them from growing dangerously poor. They lack the money-keeping instinct, and are so immovably conservative in their ways that they fall behind their rivals, a situation which, as they always continue to despise those rivals, is not conducive to good feeling.
Whether after many years of foreign dominance Mahommedans would so alter their ways as to merge into the rest of the population, is a question it is difficult to decide. Probably not. They migut give up polygamy as the Jews have done, and abandon seclusion, as we believe they do in the valleys of the Atlas, and in some degree in Afghanistan ; but although there are Mussulmans in European Turkey, Anatolia, and Persia whose faith sits very lightly on them, it retains over the majority a vary strong grip. There were Mussulman families in Spain, as there were Jewish families, who remained Mussulmans for two hundred years after they had outwardly con- formed, just as there are fire-worshippers in Persia who for centuries have repeated the Mussulman pro- fession of faith. They dislike Christianity, especially in its Roman form, and though there are always sceptics in every large Mussulman group, they rarely become secularists or agnostics. They will, if Europe conquers, probably remain separate, as the Jews have done for ages, carefully avoiding intermarriage, will stereotype rather than develop their faith, and will for the rest be indistinguishable from the remainder of the communities among which or under which they have to live. There are, we believe, several Mussulman officers of rank both in the Russian and the French armies whose faith in no way interferes with their performance of their duties, and is by all except themselves forgotten. A Russian, French, or British Viceroy in a province occupied by men of many faiths need not notice those faiths any more than a Roman Viceroy did. All he needs besides troops to give him the necessary strength is a Code pressing on all alike and indifferently protecting all. You cannot govern Mussulmans peaceably and interfere with the Moollahs' sermons in the mosques, but then you cannot govern Ireland peaceably and interfere either with presbyter or priest while he is within his own domain.
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