"GRASS NEVER GROWS WHERE TURKISH HOOF HAS TROD" 1147 



is a ruler by divine right, and Christians 

 are, or ought to be, his rayaiis. Never- 

 theless, in India he fails to compete suc- 

 cessfully with the adherents of other, 

 and even non-Christian, faiths, just as 

 his co-religionist in Turkey fails in gen- 

 eral progress when matched with the 

 Christians. 



Of course, to men who hold such opin- 

 ions regarding their relationship to the 

 professors of other creeds, all suggestion 

 of equality before the law, or of equal 

 rights with themselves, is nonsense. 

 They have no desire to assimilate races 

 whom Allah has placed in subjection to 

 them. 



It is this pride which has prevented the 

 Turk from profiting by the learning and 

 experience of the West. It is this proud 

 and domineering spirit, engendered by 

 conquest and strengthened and sanc- 

 tioned by religious belief, which makes 

 the Moslem incapable of being a just 

 ruler of Christians. 



THK DEGRADATION OF WOMAN BY ISI^AM 



The other characteristics of Moham- 

 medanism which tend to prevent the 

 Turk from acting justly to subject races 

 are mainly two — viz., the position as- 

 signed to woman, and the deep-rooted 

 belief in and influence of fatalism. 

 Though these are of great importance in 

 examining the influence of Islam upon 

 the Turkish race, the space allotted for- 

 bids me to do more than indicate their 

 efifect. Each checks the moral and ma- 

 terial progress of the race and renders 

 the individual less intelligent than he 

 would otherwise be. 



The position assigned to woman is re- 

 garded by thoughtful Turks themselves 

 as the most unfortunate part of the 

 teaching of their religion. Polygamy is 

 permitted. Repudiation of a wife, rather 

 than formal divorce, is the common 

 practice. The separation of the house- 

 hold is the inflexible rule. The common 

 belief in Mohammedan countries — 

 though such belief is declared by many 

 competent authorities to be contrary to 

 the true teaching of the Koran — is that 

 woman has no soul. Family life or home 



life, as the term is understood in all 

 Christian countries, is unknown. 



The churches have rendered an in- 

 estimable service to the subject races of 

 the Empire by the preservation of family 

 life. Where woman is by law and cus- 

 tom degraded, the oflrspring, and in time 

 the race itself, comes to be less intelli- 

 gent, and, using the word in a large 

 sense, less educated than in countries 

 where children are brought up in the 

 companionship of both parents. Being 

 less intelligent, they are unable to become 

 as prosperous as their neighbors of the 

 Christian faith, whom they have been 

 brought up to despise and speak of as- 

 cattle. 



"no TREATY WITH INEIDEES CAN BE 



binding" 



The influence of fatalism prevents the 

 Turk from providing for the future. 

 Those who know the Turkish population 

 best are the most deeply impressed with 

 the hindrance to material progress and 

 to mental development which arises from 

 this belief. It operates upon every ac- 

 tion in their lives. It has certainly 

 helped to make the Osmanlis fearless 

 soldiers ; but the same belief destroys in 

 the average Turk the desire to get on and 

 the inducements to work. The answer 

 of the poorer Turk, when asked why he 

 does not do something by which he could 

 profit, is: "What is written (in the 

 Eternal Books) is written." 



The resistance to reforms suggested 

 by Europe which the Turk has so often 

 displayed during the last century, has- 

 been, in fact, largely due to his religion. 

 However enlightened a Sultan and a 

 handful of reformers — like the famous 

 Rashid, Fuad, and Aali of the Crimean 

 War period — may have been, they have 

 against them the vis inertice of the bulk 

 of the Moslem population. Any change 

 proposed by Europeans appears to them 

 an invasion of their sacred rights. To 

 demand that Christian rayahs shall be 

 placed on an equality with Moslems is 

 to invoke the silent if not spoken retort 

 that no treaty with infidels can be bind- 

 ing:. 



