514 MOHAMMEDLSM 



with the "Black Stone," the formalities of the holy pilgrimage are 

 all sacra taken over by Muhammad himself from the ancient Arabian 

 religion, over which the veil of monotheism has been spread. 



I esteem the cultivation of thig realm of research and the insight 

 obtained from it into the individualism, stamped differently accord- 

 ing to provinces upon the catholic Islam, to be one of the most 

 valuable acquisitions of the new Islamic studies. We are thus intro- 

 duced to the knowledge of living Islam and to the historical and 

 ethnographical factors of its manifestations of life. We have passed 

 beyond Reland's theoretical Islam, "uti docetur in templis et scholis 

 Mohammedicis," with a mighty step. 



A very peculiar field of remainders turned with an Islamic sense 

 is the ivorship of saints. In the forms of this manifestation of relig- 

 ious life, the remains of the old times have taken shelter unknow- 

 ingly. As in other world-religions, the Muhammadan saints also 

 are often transformed successors of ancient objects of worship. In 

 the local worship of saints, as we just remarked of the tomb of 

 Shaikh Marzuk, near Kastal, remains of pre-Islamic rites are mostly 

 preserved. 



Islam has taken hold even of Buddhist sanctuaries, in countries 

 formerly inhabited by followers of Buddha, and interpreted them 

 to suit its own sense. Buddha's footsteps in Ceylon have easily 

 become the footsteps of 'Ali; a jug of Buddha's venerated in Kanda- 

 har has been transferred to Muhammad. Grenard, companion to 

 the unfortunate explorer Dutreuil de Rhins in his East Turkestan 

 travels and elaborator of their results, could say with right, about 

 the Muhammadan holy places of pilgrimage in ancient Buddhist 

 territory, that the holy personages worshiped there are mostly 

 un avatar Musulman de Buddha. 1 This tenacity of local cults on 

 formerly Buddhistic ground occupied by Muslims has been since 

 confirmed on a larger scale by my fellow countryman Dr. M. A. 

 Stein, in his wonderful explorations in Chinese Turkestan. 2 



It results from all this that it is especially in dealing with the 

 local and provincial worship of saints that we can obtain the inform- 

 ation and collect the materials which we have pointed out in the 

 precedent notices as objects of study in religious history. We do not 

 possess a Legenda aurea of Islam, nor do Bollandists of Islam come to 

 our help, though the sphere of this religion would be extremely rich 

 in materials for such collections. 3 We have to gather our materials 

 ourselves with great pains from a wide branching original literature 

 and from the information furnished by observant travelers. Large 

 tracts of Islam are not so well worked for such a crop as we might 



1 Mission scientifique dans la Haute-Asie (1890-95), m, p. 46. 

 1 Sand-buried Ruins of Khotan (London, 1904), pp. 180 ff.; 226; 329. 

 s C. Trumelet, Les Saints de VI slam, Lfgendes hagiologiques et croyances algcr- 

 iennes. Les Saints du Tell (Paris, 1881). 



