376 PSYCHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION. [PART II. 



trines. Thus neither the Mohammedan nor the Christian re- 

 ligion has at all times and in all regions produced the same 

 effects. The Mohammedan religion has made the Arabs a 

 people of great historical importance by giving them unity, 

 and rousing their enthusiasm for common enterprises, whilst 

 it was unable to secure its conquests of Babylon and Egypt. 

 This religion is, nevertheless, such an incubus on intellectual 

 and moral progress, that its professors will always remain in- 

 ferior to Christian peoples. Whoever professes a belief in 

 Allah and the Prophet is acknowledged as a brother. The 

 monotheism of the Mohammedans loses its moral force by 

 their God being only the God of the faithful, to whom He has 

 given the world. Their notion of God does not include the 

 world as a whole, and all mankind as one family ; but only a 

 God of the faithful, all the rest being considered as God's 

 enemies, which may be killed or reduced to slavery, and to 

 fight against whom is meritorious. The doctrine of immorta- 

 lity promises sensual enjoyments to the faithful. The belief in 

 predestination may impart submission to fate, but it deadens 

 at the same time every effort, mental and corporeal. " J Tis the 

 will of God," is among Mohammedans not merely an expres- 

 sion of religious faith and resignation, but of superstition. 

 The permission of polygamy, in connexion with the doctrine 

 that women possess no souls and do not enter heaven, leads 

 to an undignified position of the female sex. The prohibition 

 to make images of men and animals, prevents any attempts in 

 the plastic arts. To use knives, spoons, or forks, is considered 

 irreligious by the Arabs in Africa ; and the faith in the sanctity 

 of the Koran, which gives rise to a number of superstitious 

 customs, explains why the Arabs in Africa are but little 

 superior in intellectual culture to many heathen peoples. 

 Moreover, the Koran contains many contradictions, by incul- 

 cating fanaticism against all infidels, and in teaching tole- 

 ration. Submission to authority is not inculcated as a re- 

 ligious duty. The Turks, the Syrians, Egyptian Arabs, 

 though they utter witji their tongues the most beautiful moral 

 sentences, possess, in fact, but little piety, compassion, or 



