458 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. IT., No. 93. 



pie. Under their teachings, peaceable blacks, 

 who formerly welcomed trade and civilization, 

 or did not oppose it, have become ferocious 

 bigots ; and large areas have thus been utterly 

 closed to intercourse with the whites, unless 

 accompanied by an army. A brief summary 

 of the history and tenets of the fraternity will 

 not be valueless. 



Of the religious societies which have flour- 

 ished in the bosom of Islam, the present is one 

 of the latest, but, during the forty-seven years 

 of its existence, has attained a far greater suc- 

 cess than any of its predecessors. 



Its founder was of the tribe of Medjaher, 

 from the vicinity of Mostaghanem in Algeria, 

 born during the last phases of the Turkish 

 occupation, of which he was the declared ad- 

 versar}-. Exiled to Morocco, he was initiated 

 through the fraternity of Mulei Taieb into the 

 mystic philosophy known to orientalists as 

 Chadheliya. or Chadhelism. He returned to 

 his native land about the time that Algiers 

 was taken by the French. He travelled as a 

 teacher of law and philosoplry through the 

 highlands of Algeria, gradually making his way 

 eastward toward the holy places of Arabia, at- 

 tracted by the renown of the theologians gath- 

 ered there, and especially of Ahmed Ben Edris, 

 the patriarch of Chadhelism at Mecca. This 

 philosophy- was alread}* tinctured with Wahabi 

 radicalism ; and in the course of his travels, 

 stopping to give courses of instruction, and ex- 

 pound his views in various cities, he became 

 equally obnoxious to the representatives of the 

 established doctrines, and to the government of 

 Egypt. Arrived at Mecca, he became first the 

 pupil, then the successor, of the sheikh Ahmed 

 Ben Edris. His first attempt to make converts 

 in Yemen, on a journey with that end in view, 

 was unsuccessful. He returned to Mecca, and 

 addressed himself more particularly to the Ber- 

 ber pilgrims, to whom he taught what he called 

 the k wa} T of Mohammed,' — a title afterward 

 altered to the 'way of es-Senousi.' B}- this 

 he intended a sort of reformed Chadhelism, 

 partly drawn from the Koran and its commen- 

 tators, and partly from his own meditations, 

 which he presented to his pupils as the pure 

 faith of Islam, disembarrassed of the theologi- 

 cal incrustations of twelve centuries of theo- 

 logians. This religion was distinguished from 

 the first 03- its claims to absolute authority ; 

 and the writings in which his views are sum- 

 marized bear the pretentious title of ' The 

 rising suns.' His resolution of forming a re- 

 ligious order bore fruit about 1837. The object 

 of the fraternity was to teach the following 

 doctrines, among others : the exaltation of 



God, to whom worship is alone reserved ; liv- 

 ing saints may be venerated as permeated with 

 the spirit of God, but this ceases with their 

 death ; their tombs must not be the goal of 

 pilgrimage, nor their names used as intermedi- 

 aries in prayer (even Mohammed forms no 

 exception) ; the novice renounces the world, 

 he will respect the authority of the caliph so 

 long as the latter respects the society ; politi- 

 cal ambition must not be exercised against a 

 true believer, but becomes a duty and a merit 

 as against one who does not accept the true 

 way, that is, the ' wa}' of es-Senousi.' 



Luxury and ornament are prohibited. Gold 

 is reserved for the sword to be drawn in a holy 

 war. Women, however, are excepted from 

 these rules. Drunkenness, tobacco, and coffee 

 are prohibited ; tea allowed, if sweetened with 

 brown sugar, the white sugar being impure, 

 as refined by the use of bones of animals killed 

 by unbelievers. It is forbidden to serve or to 

 speak to a Christian or a Jew, or even to bow 

 to them. Unless the}' are tributaries or slaves 

 of believers, they are to be considered as out- 

 lawed enemies, to be robbed or killed at the 

 most convenient opportunity. The society' is 

 allowed to fraternize with other Chadhelistic 

 orders, — a condition of great importance, and 

 to which much of its success is due. Almost 

 all the Mussulman orders which at first repu- 

 diated the new doctrine have come to ac- 

 knowledge its supremac}', and to conform to its 

 policy. 



The fraternity maintains itself in mystery. 

 The acolytes wear no distinguishing dress or 

 mark, their rosaries are similar to those com- 

 monly in use, and the supplemental^ prayer 

 which they add to the usual matin is commu- 

 nicated only to members of the order. 



The society holds convocations, prescribes 

 pilgrimages to its monasteries, levies a tax of 

 two and a half per cent on the capital of its 

 followers for the treasury of the order. Those 

 too poor to contribute money or stock render 

 service as laborers, artisans, emissaries, spies, 

 or even assassins. All means are held good 

 toward their desired end, even the arts of 

 light women being employed in cases where 

 ruder influences have been repulsed. The 

 order administers justice to its followers and 

 those under its influence. For instance : in 

 the Ottoman vilayet of Ben-Ghazi, in Barca, 

 the authorities have even gone so far as to de- 

 pute the administration of justice to the order. 

 In all north-eastern Africa except Egypt the 

 Mussulman swears by ' the truth of Sidi es- 

 Senousi,' as formerly by that of Mohammed. 

 Mild when weak, the order becomes defiant 



