from the faith is also treason to the state, and merits the severest punishment in this world, as well
as everlasting damnation in the world to come.
After the Crimean war in 1856, the death penalty for apostasy was nominally abolished in
the dominions of the Sultan, and in the Berlin Treaty of 1878 liberty of religion (more than mere
toleration) was guaranteed to all existing sects in the Turkish empire, but the old fanaticism will
yield only to superior force, and the guarantee of liberty is not understood to imply the liberty of
propaganda among Moslems. Christian sects have liberty to prey on each other, but woe to them
if they invade the sacred province of Islâm.^162
A Mohammedan tradition contains a curious prophecy that Christ, the son of Mary, will
return as the last Calif to judge the world.^163 The impression is gaining ground among the Moslems
that they will be unable ultimately to withstand the steady progress of Christianity and Western
civilization. The Sultan, the successor of the Califs, is a mere shadow on the throne trembling for
his life. The dissolution of the Turkish empire, which may be looked for at no distant future, will
break the backbone of lslâm, and open the way for the true solution of the Eastern question—the
moral regeneration of the Lands of the Bible by the Christianity of the Bible.
§ 44. The Koran, and the Bible.
"Mohammed’s truth lay in a sacred Book,Christ’s in a holy Life."—Milnes (Palm-Leaves).The Koran^164 is the sacred book, the Bible of the Mohammedans. It is their creed, their code of
laws, their liturgy. It claims to be the product of divine inspiration by the arch-angel Gabriel, who
performed the function assigned to the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures.^165 The Mohammedans
(^162) If Protestant missionaries enjoy more toleration and liberty in Turkey than in Roman Catholic Austria and in Greek
Catholic Russia, it must be understood with the above limitation. Turkish toleration springs from proud contempt of Christianity
in all its forms; Russian and Austrian intolerance, from despotism and bigoted devotion to a particular form of Christianity.
(^163) Among the traditional sayings of Mohammed is this (Gerock, l.c., p. 132): "I am nearest to Jesus, both as to the
beginning and the end; for there is no prophet between me and Jesus; and at the end of time he will be my representative and
my successor. The prophets are all brethren, as they have one father, though their mothers are different. The origin of all their
religions is the same, and between me and Jesus there is no other prophet!’
(^164) Arabic qurân, i.e. the reading or that which should be read, the book. It is read over and over again in all the mosques
and schools.
(^165) Sura 53 (Rodwell, p. 64):
"The Koran is no other than a revelation revealed to him:
One terrible in power [Gabriel, i.e. the Strong one of God] taught it him.
Endued with wisdom, with even balance stood he
In the highest part of the horizon.
He came nearer and approached,
And was at the distance of two bows, or even closer,—
And he revealed to his servant what he revealed."
I add the view of a learned modern Mohammedan, Syed Ahmed Khan Babador, who says (l.c., Essay on the Holy
Koran): "The Holy Koran was delivered to Mohammed neither in the form of graven tablets of stone, nor in that of cloven
tongues of fire; nor was it necessary that the followers of Mohammed, like those of Moses, should be furnished with a copy or
counterpart, in case the original should be lost. No mystery attended the delivery of it, for it was on Mohammed’s heart that it