THEIR ORIGIN, HISTORY, TENETS, AND INFLUENCE. 821 
prophet diligently, “ Kill the unbelievers wherever ye find 
them.” 
Other points of difference there are of less importanee, 
and some of such trivial character as to be ridiculous. But 
enough have been enumerated to show that the Wahabis 
are not altogether like “ orthodox” Moslems. It is scarcely 
evident from these teachings why some European writers 
have called the Wahabi movement the Eastern Reformation. 
It did indeed resemble the Reformation under Luther in 
three respeets. It was iconoclastic and waged war against 
every form of saint-worship. It acknowledged the right ot 
private judgment and demanded a return to primitive 
beliefs. It was fruitful in results beyond its own horizon. 
“Just as the Lutheran Reformation in Europe, although it 
failed to convert the Christian Church, caused its real 
reform, so Wahabiism has produced a real desire for reform, 
if not reform itself, in Mussulmans. Islam is no longer 
asleep, and were another and a wiser Abd ul Wahab to 
appear, not as a heretic, but in the body of the orthodox 
sect, he might play the part of Loyola or Borromeo with 
success ” (Blunt’s Muture of Islam). 
But in spite of these points of resemblance the Wahabi 
movement differed utterly from the Reformation in that it 
was from the outset antagonistic to modern thought and the 
progress of civilization. It was an advance backward and 
progress toward an impasse. Luther emancipated the 
intellect; Abd ul Wahab enchained it, even thoagh he gave 
it the right to think. The European Reformation was ac- 
companied by a revival of learning. The Arabian reformation 
was a retrogression to “the time of ignorance.” The one 
used the “Sword of the Spirit,” the other the sword of steel. 
The one was eminently practical, the other fanatical. And 
above and beyond all this, the results of the Lutheran 
Reformation were incalculably greater and more blessed than 
the efforts at reform made by the Arabian Moslems. 
Before we dismiss this division of our subject, a few words 
regarding the character of the Wahabi government are 
necessary. Their ideal state was founded on the old method 
of the Koran and the sword. In not passing over this 
element of Islam they were truly consistent with the 
teaching and example of their prophet. This we have 
already referred to in enumerating their teachings, but it is 
worthy of emphasis, and therefore we repeat it. The 
Wahabis believed in jihad. Modern apologists for Islam try 
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