Murray Thurston Titus

“ But still the fact remains that Islam does offer a challenge to the world, and that great human problems are bound up in it. These Moslem millions are a problem to themselves. Things have not gone as they expected. The great dreams of a vast world empire which were once partly realized have been dashed to the ground. In these modern times a new plan and purpose for life has to be worked out or Islam is lost; and in the process of bringing Islam up to date we find the Moslem nations struggling along shoulder to shoulder with the rest of us in the common task of remaking the world. ”

“ The thrill of the visit to Mecca and Medina lasts a long, long time in the heart of the pilgrim. Back in his native Kashgar after his arduous journey, Mohammed Beg is a respected haji, although so young. He loves to tell his experiences to the other young men he meets, and he does it with a glow that comes from a kind of holy enthusiasm. To help keep the memories alive he has brought back with him some treasures which he guards carefully and shows with pride to his friends. ”

“ Islam challenges the world! To modern ears these words sound strange indeed, and hopelessly unreal. We are familiar with such headlines as "Communism challenges the world"; "The menace of Fascism"; and "Naziism a threat to world peace." But somehow the phrase "Islam challenges the world" seems out of date, and it leaves us cold. At most it reminds us of things we read in our histories about the Crusades, and pre-war Turkish atrocities visited upon the helpless Armenians—things which belong mostly to a dim and distant past and have no challenge in them for the modern world. ”

“ The two pilgrims were so excited they could scarcely eat before the train came. At last with a great ringing of bells and tooting of whistles the train rolled into the station from Peshawar. Gingerly Mohammed Beg and old Abdullah climbed into a thirdclass compartment, crowded with men, women and children from the many provinces and religious groups of India. All stared at the two travelers from Kashgar, with their Mongolian features, and their curious, heavy wool clothes, which were so hot and which seemed so strange beside the loose white garments of the others. ”

“ The Moslem declares the holy Koran is God's supreme revelation of his will to men, but rejects the revelation of God in Jesus Christ and dismisses his supreme sacrifice as an idle tale. The Moslem regards sin as something of small consequence which can easily be righted by good works; he does not see that sin is not so much the outward act as a disease of the inner nature and requires a cure that comes from a power that is beyond oneself. In short, Islam's conception of God is not big enough to serve the deepest needs of man, and neither is its conception of revelation ”

“ Furthermore, the teaching of Jesus is highly impractical. How can one live up to his standards? Non-resistance to evil; turning the other cheek; going the second mile; praying for one's enemies; and maintaining purity not only in action but in the heart as well! How can such things be? After all, this is a life of flesh and blood we live, and man cannot be expected to accomplish the impossible. Christianity is a kill-joy religion, and makes no provision for the weakness of the flesh. Islam does. Christian ideals are unattainable and unworkable. Islam is both easy and workable. ”

“ Little wonder that Sayyid Ibrahim, B.A., LL.B., and his young friends were making every effort to break through their orthodox Moslem society, or evade its conventions, so that they might establish their families in houses where the doors and windows would be open on all sides to admit the fresh air and the health-giving, purifying sunlight; where their wives and their children might know the joy of a normal mingling of the sexes in proper social gatherings; and where the girls would have the advantages of modern education just as their brothers do. ”

“ Later on in Bombay he learned that some of these universities attended by Moslem youth have anti-God societies and that a growing number of these youth have given up Islam in everything but name. Their religion is nothing more to them than a social club. Many of them use it solely to further their own selfish social and political ends. They have come to feel no need for religion, no need for God.
To Mohammed Beg this was a most unholy and blasphemous situation, and he felt that somehow the longer he stayed in such an atmosphere the more chance there was of his being contaminated. ”

“ The rewards of fasting are beyond bounds, for fasting is for God alone, and he will give its rewards." The fast begins before sunrise, and ends at sunset. Not a morsel of food, nor a drop of water, nor a whiff of a pipe or cigarette may be taken during the day, no matter how great the heat, or how long the summer day in the tropics. ”

“ There is no quarrel between the politician and the clergy in Islam, for politics is religion and religion is politics. Islam is not so much a state religion as a religious state. And of course this all goes back to Mohammed's philosophy of religion. In his view Islam was a theocracy, that is, its real king and ruler was God, or Allah, himself, and the Prophet of Allah was to have supreme political power. According to this theory all life belonged to God, and all sensible people would of course submit to him. ”

“ He feels no need for a power beyond himself to enable him to achieve a sense of righteousness according to the Law. He is conscious that he needs the mercy of God, but Mohammed will intercede for him and he needs no other savior. He obeys the law, and avoids doing those things which the law calls sin. This sounds simple and satisfying, but is it an adequate view of man's relation to God? Does it actually meet the realities of life?
Does the Moslem have the last word on this subject of sin and human responsibility? Is the task of walking in the straight path of life as easy as all that? ”

“ But in Western lands, all the objectionable features of life exist in spite of the ideals and standards of Christianity. These evils cannot be fastened on Christianity as part and parcel of the system. One cannot find sanction for them in the teachings or example of Jesus Christ.
The final challenge of Islam to each Christian is to live as a Christian should. That is the hardest challenge of all. That is the last and most convincing argument, and the only adequate response to the Moslem's challenge. How desperately the Moslem world needs this living argument! ”

“ If it were only possible to multiply a hundredfold the mission hospitals of Sheikh Othman, Basrah, Bahrein and Kuweit in Arabia, Quetta and Bannu on the Northwest Frontier of India, Tanta and Old Cairo in Egypt, Teheran and Meshed in Iran and Beirut in Syria, who could tell the mighty results for good that would follow throughout the Moslem world, not only in bringing the healing and the love of Christ to the poor, the suffering and the needy, but in creating better understanding between the peoples of the Moslem and the Christian lands? ”

“ In Islam blessed is the man who expects mercy for it is a sin to despair of God's goodness.
Still, overemphasis on the certainty of fate cuts the nerve of endeavor, and allows men to settle back into the ruts of custom and fall into ways that lead to degeneration and decay. It is not too much to say that this view of life has been a millstone of despair around the neck of Moslem society and peoples everywhere. This one article of belief in itself is sufficient ultimately to work the complete destruction of any people that lives by it. ”

“ A laborer in the fields has heard the far-away call to prayer coming from the mosque in his village. He stops his work, throws down his rude hoe, places a cloth on the ground for a prayer rug, and there in the twilight after the sun has set, facing Mecca, he bows in worship before God, the mighty and wise, the merciful, the compassionate.
This feeling that God is always with one is a very powerful factor in Islam. It is one of its outstanding values. The Moslem is conscious of his spiritual need and his dependence on Allah. Allah is his master, his king. ”

“ THE CHALLENGE TO CHRISTIANITY Such young people desperately need an interpretation of religion that will justify itself to their intelligence and will help them solve the pressing problems of life: the problems of human brotherhood and social justice, of sex and the position of women, of war and international relationships, yes, and of man and the future of the race. To young people of this sort Islam has lost its meaning for life, and in their ignorance they assume that all religion has lost its meaning and usefulness for life, too. ”

“ One may well ask on what grounds Moslems base the claim that theirs is the perfect religion. One reason has already been noted: the authority of the Koran. Since the Koran has stated that Islam is the perfect religion that is the end of the matter, for the Koran is the very word of God. This no Moslem dares to doubt. But there are other reasons which are perfectly obvious to devout followers of the Prophet:
Islam is a revealed religion. It is not man-made. Man had nothing to do with it, not even Mohammed. It is God-made. Mohammed was merely his instrument, and a passive instrument at that. ”

“ As we conclude our survey of Moslem home life, we must remember that the ideal for the home can never rise higher than the prevailing religious sanctions in respect to marriage and divorce. As long as marriage is regarded as a kind of slavery in which the wife is considered the servant of her husband instead of his equal; as long as he requires her implicit obedience to his will, provided it is not contrary to the laws of Islam; as long as he may marry four wives, and keep as many concubines as he can afford; as long as he may divorce his wives at will and marry others in their place ”

“ Of course, it would be hard to get out of those rugged mountains, thought Mohammed Beg, and it would be many months before he and his grandfather could return to Kashgar. Disease might seize them suddenly, and even death might prevent their return. But he did not dwell long on these possibilities, indeed they but served to emphasize the fact that his poor old grandfather needed a companion to help him in all the difficulties of the long and dangerous journey. At last he said to himself, "I shall go. If it is the will of Allah, I, too, shall see Mecca." ”

“ Islam preaches brotherhood and lives it. Christians preach brotherhood but do not live it. The Moslem missionary goes to a pagan tribe. He marries four wives from the tribe. He has sons and daughters, and he marries his sons to their daughters, and his daughters to their sons. He is one of them. The Christian missionary comes, but does he marry even one wife from their tribe? No! he brings a white wife from his own land, he sends his sons to find white wives in that homeland, and his daughters he would sooner shoot dead than marry to the young men of the tribe. ”

“ In spite of his prejudices for some of which his own religion is responsible, for others, the Christians themselves—Christianity is the one religion of the world besides his own that challenges his attention and interest. ”

“ In such a situation Moslems alone can represent Moslems, Hindus are elected entirely by Hindus, and Christians by Christians. It is as though in America we were to abolish the Democratic, Republican, and Socialist parties, and in their place found our politics on the religious differences of Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Jews. The communal system is a vicious one, and breeds all sorts of evils which are perpetuated in the name of religion. And it is due to Moslems rather than to Hindus that the system of communal representation is being continued in India. ”

“ A meeting of sheikhs from Egypt and India would mean much in defense of Islam against the wave of unbelief from the West and against secularism, which will take away religion from education, wants modern laws instead of clerical, and hopes to weaken Islam under the name of nationalism. These dangers are threatening Islam in its very foundations and will destroy it in the hearts of the next generation. Moslems disobey their religion, and it may be heard said: "Of what use is it to bring outcastes or others into Islam, when some of the Moslem peoples leave Islam?" ”

“ This is the limit of the Moslem ideal. The Christian ideal embraces all mankind in a brotherhood of love; and no matter how far Christians fall short of demonstrating this ideal in practice even among their own number, yet the ideal and the example of Jesus Christ are ever before them, to shame them and to urge them on to more complete realization of his teachings. ”

“ Who was this prophet to whose law Mohammed Beg and millions of his fellow Moslems across Europe, Asia and Africa give such intense loyalty? Here we must turn back the pages of history for a picture of this remarkable founder of Islam, one of the world's greatest religions. He alone is the key to the understanding of the Moslem view of life. Thirteen centuries ago a new religion burst upon the world. ”

“ An amazing challenge, both fresh and urgent, is presented by the educated young Moslems who have lost their way. The question is, Can Christianity be presented to them in such a way that it will appeal as being of such vital and fundamental importance that they cannot meet life successfully without it? Only true disciples of Christ who are themselves living examples of his teachings are equal to this great challenge, the challenge to each one of us to live up to the ideals of Christ. ”

“ The truth of the matter is that while there is much in our Western civilization of which we may be ashamed as our Moslem friend has clearly pointed out, and which we know all too well and while many of us individual Christians and the organized churches fall far short of our ideals, yet no case has been made out for our being ashamed of Christanity. At this point there is a vast difference between Islam and Christianity. Every one of the undesirable elements which have been noted in Islam is something that is rooted in the religion itself. ”